It didn't take long for the official to come to the scene of the incident, and the screaming family Ding showed the identity of the master, so he didn't say a word, and first stepped forward to detain Zhong Nan. Zhong Nan did not resist, at this time, his whole body was depressed, and he had no idea of resisting at all.

Think about it, from childhood to adulthood, Zhong Nan has never acted too out of line, and he had a lot of fights with his peers when he was a teenager, that is, the results of a blue nose and swollen face, and the most serious one was just to let the other party be hospitalized for half a month and get three stitches. So for the consequences of this fight, Zhong Nan has not experienced it, naturally he is very confused, the two arresters who detained him saw that he was just a lowly trader, so they rudely pushed and shoved people, and at the same time took the chain to put on his body, and then walked out of the small restaurant with the "thin monkey" and a group of family members.

The remaining officials dismissed everyone at the scene, saying that they wanted to protect the scene and deal with the aftermath, and the originally noisy crowd was wiped out in an instant, leaving only a few people who were messy in the autumn breeze outside the house.

Qiu Xiang knew that things were getting bigger, and after a short period of distraction, she remembered that she should find someone to help, and after thinking about it, she found that she could only go to Zhou Bing'er, hoping that she could focus on the sisterhood of the two and find a way to save her father-in-law's life. Qiu Xiang didn't care about the fact that her body had just moved the fetus, and she didn't even have time to change her clothes, so she called a sedan chair and hurried to Cao's mansion. Fortunately, Zhou Bing'er didn't go out, and after the report, Qiu Xiang saw the young lady in the back hall.

"Sister, please save my father-in-law!" As soon as Qiu Xiang spoke, tears flowed down.

Although Zhou Bing'er didn't know what was going on, she agreed with one mouthful, "Qiu Xiang, don't cry first, my sister is there for everything." ”

Qiu Xiang slowly calmed down under Zhou Bing'er's comfort, and the young lady saw this and retreated the maids on the left and right, she stroked Qiu Xiang's back and asked with concern: "Qiu Xiang, you tell my sister, what happened?" ”

"Sister, Xianggong he...... He killed! ”

"What?" Zhou Bing'er was so shocked that she immediately stood up, she didn't believe that Zhong Nan would kill people, Zhong Nan was a very gentle person on weekdays, and he was kind to anyone he talked to, so it stands to reason that he would never kill anyone. Zhou Bing'er was very puzzled, she asked again: "Tell me, what's going on, let's talk about it from the beginning!" ”

Qiu Xiang told the story again, from Zhong Nan going out to the banquet to the official mission to arrest people, and there was no concealment in the process. After listening to the narration, Zhou Bing'er knew that this time the matter was too big, and she didn't dare to guarantee that she could save Zhong Nan, so she asked Qiu Xiang to go home first and go to the yamen to find out the news.

Zhou Bing'er came to the yamen in a sedan chair and found the official on duty to understand the situation of the deceased, the official knew that Zhou Bing'er and Zhong Nan had a good relationship, so he could only say with a bitter face: "Young lady, the shopkeeper Zhong has made a big mistake this time, and it is the son of the Hou family who has been killed!" ”

"Which Hou family?" Zhou Bing'er was stunned for a moment, "It can't be Hou Qiming's foreign family who deals in silk, right?" ”

"In addition to this Hou family's energy in Suzhou Mansion, which Hou family can there be!" The official also smiled wryly.

Zhou Bing'er knew that Zhong Nan was in big trouble this time, after she confirmed the identity of the deceased, she asked about the situation at the time, and after a lot of busyness, she didn't rush to Qiu Xiang until it was close to ten o'clock in the evening, she told Qiu Xiang the specific situation: The deceased was Hou Zijun, the youngest son of the Hou family, and the Hou family was a famous rich family in Suzhou, mainly engaged in products such as silk and satin, and it is said that he was related to the weaving eunuchs of the Suzhou Weaving Bureau. Hou Zijun's death was caused by the impact of his head temple on the ground where it was slightly raised, and although Zhong Nan did not mean it, he was the culprit of his death by accident.

The situation of this case is very simple and clear, and there is basically no difference between the other party's statement and Qiu Xiang's explanation, so it will not be too difficult for the yamen to determine the case. If the other party is just an ordinary person, Zhong Nan will pay more silver taels plus Zhou Bing'er's mediation, he should be given a light sentence, maybe ten or eight years, and then go to prison to do some work, maybe he will be able to come out in three or five years. But at the moment, the other party is not an ordinary family, so if you can be sentenced to confiscation or exile, you will burn high incense; Even the death penalty is normal, because "murder pays for life" is an eternal rule.

After Qiu Xiang heard this, she tried her best to beg the young lady for help, she planned to sell her new house and small restaurant together, and then pawn the jewelry and the like, plus her own private money, and she could make up three or four hundred taels of silver. If it's not enough, she can borrow some from the old lady of the Ma family with a cheeky face, as long as she can save her father-in-law from death, she doesn't care about face anymore. Zhou Bing'er admired this little couple a little, the man was angry and rushed to the crown for a red face, and the woman would rather go bankrupt than give up, which made her from Qinglou very moved, and promised to try her best to help, as for the result, she can only resign herself to fate.

Hou Zijun is now the fourth generation of the Hou family, and there are more than a dozen brothers of the same generation, he is the most unsuccessful one among them, he is eighteen years old, but he has achieved nothing, and he has been making trouble with a group of wine and meat friends all day long. Although Hou Zijun has already married, and his wife is also a well-connected lady, he always feels that "how can there be a fragrance of wild flowers in the house", and he still loves the bully * girl as much as before marriage, and his parents have no way to discipline him, and only know how to wipe his ass for the trouble he caused. Fortunately, Hou Zijun still has two siblings, which will not affect the family wealth of his father's branch, so Hou Zijun's parents later gave up on him and put their minds on his brother.

Before the accident this time, Hou Zijun heard from one of his bad friends that there was a restaurant proprietress at the entrance of the overpass, who was beautiful and moving, so he had the idea of occupying it, and took a group of family members to find Zhong Nan's small restaurant, and saw Qiu Xiang through the reason for eating.

Because the hooligans in the vicinity have been reined in, Qiu Xiang has been greeting guests in the lobby from time to time recently, and when she saw a dozen or so people coming, she thought it was a big customer, so she stepped forward to greet the guests. It just so happened that Zhong Nan came back, and there was an accident after Chong Guan was angry, in fact, this incident was, to a certain extent, a lesson for Hou Zijun, but the lesson was too serious. However, for those women from good families who were once forced to death by Hou Zijun, this is God's most just punishment.

Although Hou Zijun is not successful, and the Hou family does not need him to inherit the family business, it is always a fresh life, coupled with the status of the Hou family in Suzhou Mansion, the old lady who was originally in power of the Hou family wanted Zhong Nan to pay for his life. It's just that Zhou Bing'er came to intercede first, and then the old lady of the Ma family ran a few more times as Qiu Xiang's mother's family, and finally it was Cao Zhifu who personally came to lobby for it, so that the old lady Hou did not kill them all.

Half a month later, the Suzhou Prefecture Yamen sentenced as follows: Zhong Nan committed manslaughter and sentenced Shandong to serve as a soldier for life, and at the same time compensated the Hou family with 500 taels of silver.

At that time, there were two kinds of conscription - lifelong and forever, lifelong conscription means that after the death of the confiscated person, the matter is over, and it has nothing to do with the descendants of the family; The eternal army is different, and after death, it will be replaced by his children, and so on, until forever, after some families die, they will also arrest his clan, the chief or the people of the same village.

The reason why she was able to get such a light sentence was thanks to Zhou Bing'er's efforts, after she went to the Hou family many times to intercede and failed, she grinded hard against her man, and Cao Zhifu made an exception to put pressure on the Hou family, and the other party agreed to spare Zhong Nan's life.

The verdict demanded that Zhong Nan go to Shandong immediately, so there was not much time left for him in Suzhou Mansion, and he and Qiu Xiang met in prison before leaving. Zhong Nan knew that in ancient times in a family without a man, the life of a wife and a young man was very difficult, so he hoped that after he joined the army, Qiu Xiang would be able to remarry someone else.

The stubborn Qiu Xiang insisted on opposing and insisted on waiting for him to return, so she planned to wait for the Suzhou incident to return to her hometown in Henan to live. Although Qiu Xiang's parents have passed away, there are still a few uncles and relatives here, and reading the love can help a little. Zhong Nan couldn't help it, so he had to agree, he knew that it was difficult to return from the lowly status of the army to the normal status, not to mention that the Ming Dynasty in his memory had no such precedent. However, thinking of Di Qing, a famous general of the Song Dynasty, and then thinking of his identity as a traverser, Zhong Nan made up his mind to break this precedent, because this was not only for himself, but also for Qiu Xiang and the unborn child.

On the day of the trip, Zhou Bing'er also came to see off Qiu Xiang together, she deliberately ordered the escort to arrest quickly, so that they could take more care of Zhong Nan on the way, and the other party was also willing to send a favor - it was not a private release, but just to let the prisoner suffer less, it was no big deal.

Looking at the bearded man in front of her, Qiu Xiang was heartbroken, she didn't say anything, and the categorical "I'm waiting for you" showed the determination and perseverance to wait. Zhong Nan looked at his wife, and his tenderness turned into three words with the same meaning - "wait for me", and a promise that he didn't know the deadline took root in the hearts of the two.

Looking at the touching scene in front of her, Zhou Bing'er burst into tears, she wiped the corners of her eyes with a handkerchief, thinking in her heart why she tried so hard to help? Just because Qiu Xiang and herself are sisters? Or add Zhong Nam to his friends and fellow countrymen? Is it just for that? Maybe even she wouldn't believe it, but why? Maybe it's envy of Zhong Nan and Qiu Xiang's relationship, right? Maybe it's the kind of good feeling that you won't admit, right?