The abstinent and powerful minister is cold and aloof during the day, but he adores her in his dream

Chapter 33 Dirtying Lu Zhan's Robes
Upon hearing this, Ouyang Lei and his two companions couldn't help but feel sympathy for the two men's plight.

The two were childhood sweethearts. If it weren't for Xiao Cui's snobbish brother and sister-in-law, they would have been married long ago and lived a happy life.

but--

Ouyang Lei frowned and said in a deep voice, "Just because Guo Yong treated you like that, you harbored hatred in your hearts. So that night, you conspired to steal that soldier's dagger, killed Guo Yong, and made that soldier take the blame."

While crying, Zhong shook her head and defended herself, saying, "Before that night, we never thought of killing Guo Yong. It was Guo Yong who was inhuman. The night before the soldiers came to stay, Guo Yong tortured me like crazy. He even made Ah Xiang and me do that in front of him. We were in agony. After doing what Guo Yong asked, he even threatened that when our child was older, he would torture our child and make the child suffer like us."

We were afraid, that's why we wanted to kill Guo Yong..."

Ouyang Lei and his two companions were terrified upon hearing this.

Guo Yong is truly worse than a beast; tormenting the two of them wasn't enough, he even tried to harm the child.

"Didn't you ever think about escaping? Or reporting to the authorities?"

“How could I not have thought of that? But where can we escape to? Xiao Cui and Guo Yong are legally married and registered with the government. We have nowhere to run. Reporting to the authorities is useless; Guo Yong has connections with the government.” A Xiang said dejectedly.

"So after you two discussed it, you planned to kill Guo Yong the next day. In order to give Zhong alibi, you sent her back to her parents' home, while you hid in the inn and waited for an opportunity to act. That night, the soldiers came to stay, and since Zhong was not there, Guo Yong had no fun to entertain himself, so he drank with the soldiers."

"When Guo Yong returned home drunk, you stole the soldier's knife, killed Guo Yong, and framed the soldier?" Ouyang Lei said, somewhat angrily.

Ah Xiang lowered his head in shame. "I didn't want to frame that soldier, but I was afraid that the government would find out about me and Xiao Cui. I'm not afraid of death myself, but I don't want Xiao Cui and her child to be implicated by me. I'm sorry to that soldier, but none of this has anything to do with Xiao Cui. I'm the one who killed him, and I'm also the one who framed the soldier."

Ouyang Lei and the other two sighed heavily, feeling sympathy for the two men while also resentful of A Xiang's actions.

“You were the victims, and your plight is very pitiful, but you used the wrong methods and made the soldier take the blame, almost causing the death of an innocent person.”

“This was all my idea, it has nothing to do with A-Xiang. A-Xiang has always been a kind person. If it weren’t for me, he wouldn’t have suffered like this. Please, Your Honor, spare A-Xiang and let me pay for Guo Yong’s life.” Zhong pleaded desperately.

"No, it was all my idea. I was the one who killed Guo Yong, so I should be the one to pay for Guo Yong's death. I beg you, sir, to show mercy and not implicate Xiao Cui."

"Our child is so young, he can't be without his mother." Ah Xiang said sadly, and then kowtowed to the three of them repeatedly.

Ouyang Lei felt a pang of pity, especially when he saw the baby in Zhong's arms, who was only a few months old. For a moment, he even wavered.

But soon, he regained his clarity.

He said in a deep voice, "Although it wasn't Zhong who killed Guo Yong, she was aware of the situation and can be considered an accomplice. Afterwards, she concealed the truth and protected you, causing that soldier to be wrongfully convicted and sentenced. Your lives are lives, but isn't that soldier's life also a life? According to the laws of Da Chen, those who know but fail to report are also subject to punishment!"

Wrong is wrong, and must be severely punished by law.

Otherwise, how unfair would that be to the wronged soldiers?

Thinking of this, the slight reluctance in Ouyang Lei's heart faded away.

Ah Xiang's face was ashen.

Zhong firmly held his hand, saying, "Brother Xiang, if we're going to die, we'll die together as a family. We can't be together in life, but at least we can be together in death."

Ah Xiang turned to look at her, then nodded emphatically, reached out and hugged her and the child, "Mmm!"

Seeing the two men's ashen faces, Ouyang Lei finally couldn't help but cough lightly and said, "Although Zhong Shi knew about it but didn't report it and even protected the real culprit, she won't be sentenced to death. At most, she will be caned and imprisoned for three months."

……

Capital city, Duke Dingguo’s Mansion.

Ever since Madam Wei told Zhiwan about the matter of taking a son-in-law as a wife, she has taken it to heart.

Although her aunt said that she didn't need to worry about money, she still wanted to earn some money herself.

She had previously considered selling picture albums to bookstores, but it was delayed because of the Fu family's flower viewing banquet. Later, she stayed at home to recover from a hip injury.

That day, she felt that her buttocks no longer hurt, and she even asked Shuang'er to check them. The bruises on them had also faded, so she decided to take the picture book and go out to the bookstore to ask.

When Shuang'er learned that she was going out, she wanted to go with her, but Zhiwan refused.

"Your injuries haven't fully healed yet, so it's not advisable for you to run around. I'll have Dongxiang accompany you today."

Shuang'er had no choice but to give up.

Zhiwan took the picture album and left the mansion with Dongxiang. She went directly to the bookstore where Ouyang Zhenzhu had taken her to buy storybooks.

This bookstore is called Hexu Bookstore. It has two floors and is quite large. It has all kinds of books and is very popular with customers.

Zhiwan didn't let Dongxiang go in, but only told her to wait outside the door.

Upon entering the bookstore, she went straight to the owner and explained her purpose.

The shopkeeper looked at her with some surprise.

Although she wore a veil, you could tell from her voice that she was a young woman.

After looking at the picture album handed to him by Zhiwan, the shopkeeper changed his casual attitude and invited Zhiwan into the inner room for a talk.

When she came out of the bookstore again, Zhiwan was still somewhat incredulous.

Things went so smoothly.

All her paintings were sold, and the reward given by Manager Jin was quite substantial.

This was her first time selling paintings, and they were such erotic ones, so she was afraid people wouldn't buy them. That's why she only brought ten with her today.

Unexpectedly, after reading it, the person took it all and even gave her one hundred taels of silver.

The shopkeeper also said that if she had any similar paintings, he would buy them and asked her to paint some more and send them over as soon as possible.

She came just to try it out today, but she didn't expect the bookstore to actually accept it.

After calming down, Zhiwan felt delighted again.

If the bookstore continues to accept her paintings, she will soon be able to save up enough money to support her husband.

Dongxiang, who was waiting outside the bookstore, saw Zhiwan come out and walk forward in silence. She quickly followed, saying, "Miss Zhiwan."

Zhiwan paused, then remembered that Dongxiang was still waiting for her, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

Dongxiang shook her head. "I didn't wait long. But Miss, is something on your mind?"

Zhiwan smiled and said, "No."

She was in a good mood, and seeing a sugar painting vendor on the street, she bought three skewers.

One skewer was given to Dongxiang, one was for myself, and the last one was for Shuang'er.

Dongxiang looked at the exquisite sugar painting in her hand, somewhat reluctant to eat it.

"Eat it, or it will melt," Zhiwan reminded her.

The one she held was butterfly-shaped and looked absolutely beautiful.

Actually, she was a little reluctant to eat it.

Because they ate slowly, the sugar painting was still intact when they returned to the Duke of Dingguo's mansion, only a little thinner.

After getting off the carriage, Zhiwan held up the sugar painting and prepared to enter the mansion.

Just as they were about to step over the threshold, a person came out from inside.

Zhiwan was startled and quickly dodged.

Although she dodged in time, the sugar painting in her hand still touched the other person's robe.

Lu Zhan hadn't expected to run into anyone.

He looked down at the sugar stains on his clothes, his handsome brows furrowing slightly.

Lu Zhan: I heard my cousin is going to earn money to support me? Then she'd better earn more, after all, I'm not someone that just anyone can afford to support.

Zhiwan: ?
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(End of this chapter)