News of Li Shu’s severe injuries couldn’t be concealed and soon spread throughout Ganhe Town.
Ma Xiaowei was still at home, but his spirit was already about to explode with anger. He had taken several days off.
His irritability wasn’t only because of Li Shu—it was also because of the Qi family, the Yao family, and even the Li family.
All three families had gone mad.
Li Shu had killed someone. Though Qi Yanfeng was dead, he had been swept into a storm of public opinion. Qi’s mother had clearly lost her son, yet she received not a shred of sympathy. Instead, people pointed at her nose and cursed her for lacking conscience—trying to forcibly take a young girl as a daughter-in-law, beating her half to death, and sending her to jail.
The Yao family fared somewhat better. In the eyes of outsiders, they were also victims.
But when the Yao family heard that Ma Xiaowei had declared their daughter nothing more than a concubine, how could they accept that?
“Our perfectly good daughter married out of our household. Your son got drunk, mistook the bride, and consummated the marriage. We didn’t hand anyone over to the Qi family—that’s what led to this tragedy! Our child suffered a loss. If the young couple could live peacefully, we would let it be, but you say our girl is only fit to be a concubine? On what grounds?!”
Yao’s mother had thought carefully before going to the Ma residence. Her words sounded heartfelt, as if she truly spoke for her daughter’s sake.
Ma Xiaowei’s eyes burned with fury. “Stop pretending in front of me! My son committed this disgraceful act, and your daughter is no longer pure either. I’m already showing mercy by accepting her as a concubine!”
Those two children had long colluded—neither was innocent!
“I don’t know about disgrace or not,” Yao’s mother retorted. “I only know this: once someone enters your Ma household, either you return her exactly as she was, or you marry her properly with full rites—lest others say my daughter is inferior to that girl from the Li family.” She stood straight-backed.
The rice was already cooked—did they think they could wriggle out of it? No chance!
Ma Xiaowei insisted that her daughter had schemed as well, but who among outsiders knew that?
Would Ma Xiaowei dare to make the truth about those two children public?!
He could only claim that Ma Chengtíng had been drunk and mistaken the bride. If so, the Yao family would also play dumb, determined to force the Ma family to make up the betrothal gifts—and pay compensation on top of that.
Ma Xiaowei felt smoke rising from every inch of his body. The Yao family was shameless—fully aware something was amiss, yet still trying to extort him. Compared to them, even the Li family—who didn’t care whether their daughter lived or died—seemed better. At least the Li family didn’t have the nerve to make trouble right in front of him.
Yes—Li Shu’s father was currently only raging inside his own home.
To protect his reputation, Ma Xiaowei spread word that the Li couple had abandoned their daughter, knowing of the mistaken marriage yet refusing to intervene, thereby easing pressure on his own household.
Li’s father cared deeply about his face and was furious.
Her stepmother, Madam Zhou, privately cursed Li Shu viciously and didn’t dare step outside.
One death—and four families were in uproar.
Li Shu didn’t ask anyone to gather information for her. As the publicly known “pitiful girl,” she simply behaved obediently and focused on healing. There was no need for her to interfere.
The yamen’s food was genuinely good. Perhaps because her situation was so tragic, the authorities treated her with unusual care. Added to Ma Xiaowei spending a great deal of silver, her experience of imprisonment was surprisingly comfortable.
Three simple but nourishing meals a day—white rice and wheat flour. The physician came several times daily: once to ensure her injuries didn’t worsen, and once to make sure she hadn’t lost the will to live.
In others’ eyes, Li Shu wanted to die.
And that was exactly how she appeared. She ate whatever was given, but remained listless—never smiling, quiet and withdrawn.
In the physician’s words, the child’s state of mind was nothing like that of a living person.
On the fifth day of Li Shu’s imprisonment, she had regained some color. Only then did the county magistrate formally try the case and allow outside visitors. She finally met the original owner’s biological father.
Her father was named Li Chutian. He had read a few books and could recognize some characters. He worked as a clerk at the town relay station, mainly handling the registration of correspondence. On the surface, it was a respectable position. In reality, the relay station was small, and when there was nothing to do, Li Chutian also tended and fed the horses.
He held his job steadily. The relay station occasionally received the families of military generals, and he would sometimes receive rewards—just enough to support several children.
Li Shu’s father looked different from ordinary men. In such stifling heat, he still wore a long robe. With a trimmed beard and a pale, refined face, he looked cultured rather than rustic. From a distance, one might even believe he was a minor official.
That appearance and manner made him look like a reasonable, upright man.
“It was only a matter of marrying you off—how did you cause such a huge commotion?” Li Chutian snapped the moment he saw her.
“Did someone die in our family too?” Li Shu replied with a grin, her tone light now that no one else was around. “Why are you so angry? I always knew our family wasn’t long-lived. We don’t accumulate virtue, only scramble to pray when disaster strikes. Even ghosts would kick us when they see us, wouldn’t they?”
“You unfilial wretch!” Li Chutian froze, then erupted in rage. “You even dare curse your own family! What kind of heart do you have? That young man from the Qi family had just come of age—a fine-looking youth. Yes, he had some minor ailment, but when others interacted with him he didn’t relapse. Yet you met him once and provoked such fury! It must be that your conduct was improper!”
“I never imagined all these years of teaching you were wasted. A mere girl, and you dared to kill someone! Do you know how thoroughly you’ve disgraced me?!”
“If you had only behaved properly and stayed out of trouble, how would you have ended up in jail today?!”
Li Chutian was truly furious.
That child had never been likable, so he had never thought of gaining anything from her marriage.
When the Ma family proposed, he hadn’t demanded much. He accepted only part of the betrothal gifts and even had his wife prepare a decent dowry.
He believed he hadn’t treated her harshly as a father.
Yet she had gone and—
Created a disaster of monstrous proportions!
Listening to this, Li Shu thought of the original owner enduring such venomous words throughout her short life, and irritation welled up inside her.
“Did you come here to make me kill myself and give an explanation to the Qi family?” Li Shu asked calmly.
“A life for a life. You may be my daughter, but I can’t watch the Qi family’s son die with injustice!” Li Chutian said coldly. “You’re living quite comfortably here. Think of a way yourself—slit your wrists with a shard of tile, hang yourself, whatever it takes. Don’t let this disgrace continue to spread!”
He stood outside the cell, yet was clearly uneasy.
It was as if he’d stepped on something filthy—he kept rubbing his feet, again and again.
Li Shu believed that if he hadn’t wanted her to die, he would never have set foot in such a place today.
“I won’t die,” Li Shu said evenly. “This is actually easy to resolve. You’re my father. If the child isn’t taught, the father is at fault. I killed someone because you, as a father, failed. So you should atone in my place—hand over your own head to the Qi family to pay with your life. Problem solved.”
Li Chutian stared at her in disbelief.
For the first time, he felt that the daughter before him was a complete stranger.