Severed ties and living in a dilapidated house? No worries, the poor thing has a space.

Just as he was looking anxious, the curtain he was staring at moved. A hand lifted the curtain, and Xiao Jingqi walked out from inside.

Upon seeing this air of wealth and power, Fang Youcai thought to himself, "This must be the lord." With certainty, he knelt down once more: "This humble subject, Fang Youcai, pays his respects to the lord. Please, lord, do justice for this humble subject."

With one hand behind his back and the other in front of his abdomen, Xiao Jingqi certainly exuded the air of an official compared to before. He glanced at Fang Youcai's head and said in a calm voice, "If you have any grievances, you can go to the yamen to beat the drum and appeal for justice. Qingshan City is not under my jurisdiction, so I cannot interfere at will."

Fang Youcai felt that Xiao Jingqi's words were clearly intended to protect Fang Yu. He didn't know where he got the audacity to point at Fang Yu and say, "Sir, this woman is my niece. She is ruthless and broke my leg. She is extremely rebellious and should be imprisoned and sent to hell. Everyone says that you are a good official, sir. Are you just going to stand by and watch me be wronged without doing anything? Sir!"

He shouted hoarsely, kowtowing repeatedly, looking as if he had suffered a great injustice.

Fang Youcai did it on purpose; he didn't believe that the Li mother and her two daughters would reveal in public that he had sold Fang Xin.

He kept his head down and continued, "Sir, you must not be deceived by this woman's sweet words, nor should you soften your heart just because you see that she and her two daughters are women."

"Insolence!" Mo Jiu shouted from beside him, "Are you implying that my master is covering for someone?"

"This humble subject would never dare!" Fang Youcai hurriedly explained, "This humble subject is only afraid that Your Excellency will be bewitched by this wretched girl. Your Excellency must do justice for this humble subject."

Fang Yu stood leisurely to the side, hardly resembling a defendant, but she was stealing glances at Xiao Jingqi. He was now coldly putting on airs like an official, quite different from his shy and blushing demeanor in private.

Madam Li walked over and quietly took Fang Yu's hand, whispering, "Yu'er, what should we do? If things get out of hand, Xin'er will be sold to Ningxin Courtyard... How will we find a husband in the future?"

This was what Li was worried about. As for Fang Youcai's leg, he deserved it.

Fang Yu gently patted Li Shi's hand, subconsciously glanced at Xiao Jingqi, and whispered to comfort her, "It's alright, Lord Xiao will make his own decision."

The onlookers at the entrance were whispering among themselves, occasionally pointing at Fang Youcai and then at Fang Yu.

Fang Youcai remained kneeling on the ground, and although he didn't say anything, his actions undoubtedly put Xiao Jingqi in a very difficult position.

If he didn't accept the accusation, it would be seen as protecting someone; if he did, then Fang Xin... Xiao Jingqi glanced at Fang Yu almost imperceptibly.

His voice was indifferent and cold: "If that's the case, then get up and answer me."

Fang Youcai was overjoyed and kowtowed again, saying, "This humble subject thanks Your Excellency."

Zhu hurriedly picked up the cane and gave it to him.

Xiao Jingqi's gaze towards Fang Yu was stern and impartial, yet it still held a hint of tenderness that no outsider could detect: "Fang Yu, do you acknowledge what Fang Youcai just said?"

"Yu'er..." Madam Li called out worriedly. Just now she thought Lord Xiao was approachable, but now he was so ruthless. Madam Li was really a little scared.

Fang Xin clenched her fists. Although she didn't care about her reputation, she was afraid that saying it in public would implicate her mother and sister.

Li wanted to step forward to argue, but Fang Yu was faster and had already stepped forward and bowed respectfully.

“Lord Xiao, I broke Fang Youcai’s leg, but he is not my uncle. Please see the truth.”

Fang Yu took out the letter severing ties from his bosom, and Mo Jiu stepped forward to take it and hand it to Xiao Jingqi.

After reading it, Xiao Jingqi narrowed his eyes, his gaze gradually darkening: "Fang Youcai, you want to sue Fang Yu for breaking your leg as a junior, which is extremely disrespectful. But this letter severing ties is written in black and white. How do you explain that?"

Fang Youcai had completely forgotten about the matter, but he vehemently denied it, saying, "Sir, this is just a piece of waste paper and doesn't count."

I heard that something bad has happened to the Fang family again, and the village chief is already on his way.

"How can it not count?" Li's chest heaved with suppressed anger as she stepped forward to confront Fang Youcai: "I personally signed and sealed this document, with the village chief and everyone else as witnesses. How can it not count?"

"The village chief is here!" someone shouted, and the people gathered at the door quickly made way for him.

The village chief straightened his clothes before bowing to Xiao Jingqi, but Xiao Jingqi raised his hand to interrupt: "No need for formalities. Since you are the village chief, then you wrote the letter severing ties with the Fang family. Is that true?"

The village chief naturally told the truth: "Your Honor, this letter of severance was indeed written by me, and it has already been sent to the yamen for record-keeping, so it is valid."

Fang Youcai was a little dumbfounded.

Fang Yu almost burst out laughing, and immediately turned the tables: "Lord Xiao, you heard it too, I have no relation to Fang Youcai, breaking his leg is not considered a great act of treason."

Since Fang Youcai had already come all this way, he had to vent his anger. He said fiercely, "Even if we've severed ties, and you broke my leg for no reason, you still have to give me an explanation!"

"What do you mean by 'for no reason'?" Fang Yu sneered. "My family went to the city twice to sell our game. I'm sure everyone in the village knows how much silver we made."

As soon as she said this, the onlookers nodded in agreement.

She continued, "It was clearly you who got greedy and broke into my house in the dead of night to steal, which is why I caught you and broke your leg. You still dare to distort the truth? Do you think that because Lord Xiao is a good official, you can be fooled by me?"

"You're talking nonsense!" Fang Youcai's voice was loud, which perfectly expressed his guilty conscience, but he was still very self-righteous: "What evidence do you have that I committed the theft?"

"I'm talking nonsense?" Fang Yu glanced at him up and down, slightly disdainful: "Then why don't you tell me yourself why I would break your legs?"

“It’s clear that you three women did something shameful. The Fang family kicked you out, and you were resentful, so you broke my leg. They can all testify to that!” Fang Youcai turned and pointed at Zhang and Zhu.

Fang Youcai thought he had made a good move. Since Li was a widow, as long as he used his innocence as an excuse, the three of them would have no choice but to swallow their anger and obediently pay the money.

Zhang immediately chimed in, "Yes, Your Honor, you must stand up for my son."

She pointed at Li and began to spout nonsense: "As soon as my son died, this widow couldn't stand the loneliness and started seducing men everywhere. The Fang family can't tolerate such a woman."

As she spoke, Zhang started to act unreasonably: "My family depends on my son to work in the fields and earn money. Now that things have come to this, he has to compensate us with at least fifty taels of silver, otherwise this matter is not over!"

Fang Yu almost couldn't help but laugh. He didn't know where Zhang got the confidence to ask for fifty taels of silver.

Zhang wanted fifty taels of silver so she could redeem the land she had sold.