Resplendent – Chapter 423

Chapter 423 — A Tooth for a Tooth

County Magistrate Liu, wedged among the soldiers, trembled as he stepped forward. Stammering, he said: “Abusing a noble young lady, harboring malicious intent, and using cruel methods; according to the law are punishable by one hundred strokes of the cane, and an exile eight hundred li away…” 

In order to curry favor with the heir of the Duke of Zhen, Magistrate Liu intentionally made the charge sound even more severe. Receiving a look of approval from the young heir, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He had passed this test, at least.

Liu collapsed to the ground like a pile of rotten mud. If she took one hundred strokes, she wasn’t sure she’d survive. 

An exile eight hundred li away to a frozen wasteland to labor… she would never see her home again. It was like being sliced with a dull knife, far more agonizing than a quick death.

“Your Lordship, please spare me! I deserve death. I’m not even human. I’m worse than a pig or a dog! My lord, please don’t lower yourself to argue with a beast like me! Please spare my life. I’ll pray for you before the Buddha every day, and pray for blessings upon the young lady of the Duke’s household…”

Liu slapped herself repeatedly, hitting so hard and so fast that her face quickly swelled like a pig’s head. She didn’t dare stop. She held on to the faintest sliver of hope that the heir might calm down, show mercy, and spare her miserable life.

“You truly are worse than a beast! My little sister, such a sweet, obedient, sensible child, was made to work like an ox and a horse for you when she was only seven or eight. Even real oxen and horses in someone else’s home would at least be fed properly. But you? You made her drink pot‑washing water, gnaw on wild greens… If Heaven hadn’t taken pity on her, my poor sister would have been starved to death by you long ago! The person we found this time was little more than skin and bones…” Chu Muhua couldn’t continue. His fierce eyes filled with tears, and his jaw clenched so hard it trembled.

He had once sighed and pitied Gu Ye when he heard about her suffering. But who would’ve thought: all of it had been his own blood sister’s experience? His poor little sister, so young, hungry from dawn till dusk, serving an entire household…

“I deserve death. I was wrong…” 

Each time Chu Muhua said a sentence, Liu would shiver and slam her head into the ground in a loud kowtow. Her forehead was already a bloody mess, yet no one felt the slightest sympathy for her. She brought this upon herself. There was no living for someone who committed such evil!

“You starved my little sister half to death, and that still wasn’t enough. You were cruel enough to throw her into the mountains to feed the wolves. If Gu Ming hadn’t led the entire village out in the middle of the night to search for her despite the danger, the young lady of our Duke’s Manor would’ve been gnawed into bloody bones by wolves!”

Chu Muhua’s teeth ground so hard they creaked. Unable to restrain himself any longer, he lashed out with a kick that sent Liu flying. She slammed into a tree, breaking it, and lay there for a long time without being able to get up. 

Chu Muhua gestured for the soldiers to drag her back by the hair. He bent down and stared at the woman, who lay there like a dead dog, and spoke each word coldly and clearly, “Didn’t you want to sell my sister to the filthiest place imaginable? I heard that the salt mines in the northwest lack women the most. For someone like you, that’s the only place where you’d get any business!”

“I didn’t! That slave matron framed me! I only wanted to sell her for a few taels of silver, and if she had the fortune to enter a wealthy household as a maid, our family could gain some favor! I truly never had such filthy intentions! Your Lordship, please see the truth…” Hearing his words, Liu endured the pain coursing through her body and wriggled toward Chu Muhua like an insect, her voice sharp with both desperation and terror.

Although Mrs. Liu deserved her punishment, the old village chief still couldn’t help saying: “That slave matron in town is actually not a bad person. She rarely sells young girls to filthy places. Many wealthy families in Yan City have bought maidservants from her. Her reputation isn’t terrible.” 

“No matter what, it’s a fact that Mrs. Liu tried to sell a young lady of the Duke’s Manor,” the steward said mildly.

“I deserve death. My heart was clouded with greed! My sins are unforgivable… Please, Your Lordship, show mercy and spare my humble life!” Liu prostrated herself flat on the ground, knocking her head against the dirt again and again.

“Our Duke’s Manor does not bully others simply because we hold power. Sparing your life is possible! But the suffering my sister endured cannot be erased so easily!” 

To kill her quickly would be far too cheap. Everything his sister suffered, he would make this vicious wretch taste all of it, doubled.

“As long as you leave me a path to live, I’m willing to atone for everything I’ve done!” Seeing that he might be softening, Liu hurried to express her willingness to accept punishment.

“Who is the overseer of the medicinal fields?” Chu Muhua felt that even looking at her any longer dirtied his eyes. He stepped back two paces and looked toward a middle‑aged man in simple cloth garments within the crowd.

The overseer stepped forward and bowed respectfully. “I am, my lord!”

“Find someone to watch her. Give her only one thin meal a day. She is to tend the medicinal fields for my little sister without pay. If those plots don’t grow well, then stop even that one  meal. Let her fend for herself in the mountains.”

Chu Muhua knew this manager was hired from Jimin Pharmacy. But whatever his background, so long as he could do the job, it was enough!

“Understood, my lord! I will keep her under strict watch, never letting her eat one bite too many nor slack off for even a moment!” This manager had originally tended herbal fields for Jimin Pharmacy. 

Being sent by his employer to manage fields in this desolate, birdless place had displeased him. However, Gu Ye offered generous pay, so he held his nose and accepted.

Now that Miss Gu had suddenly been revealed as the long-lost young lady of a Duke’s family, he never expected he would get a chance to do a favor for the heir of a Duke’s household. He felt his own status instantly elevated!

“Ahem! This matter is now in your hands!” Chu Muhua’s gaze swept over the crowd as he asked, “Who is Gu Qiao? Are you here?”

“I-I’m here!” Gu Qiao, shrinking at the back of the crowd, knew he couldn’t escape. His face went pale as he timidly shuffled forward.

Thirteen years ago, his wife’s original masters had gotten into trouble and entrusted their child to her. At the time, they thought the family had committed a crime punishable by death and the confiscation of their property. But who could have guessed that over ten years later, the case would be overturned, and the child would belong to the family of a duke or a marquis? 

Had he known this in advance, he would have treated the girl like a goddess!

“Back then, my mother gave you nearly a thousand taels of silver and several pieces of jewelry, entrusting the two of you to take care of my little sister. And this is how you took care of her? Doesn’t your conscience ache? No… Do you even have a conscience?” Chu Muhua slammed a fist into Gu Qiao’s face. 

Gu Qiao was sent flying a long distance; his left cheek immediately swelled up like a pig’s snout. He looked perfectly matched with Liu, whose face was already black and blue, puffy and battered!

“Hiss… a thousand taels of silver? If I had that kind of fortune, why would I still be stuck in these mountains! I didn’t expect Lao Qi to be hiding so much silver!” A young man from the Gu clan gawked in astonishment.

“Lao Qi really is despicable. He took all that silver and still treated that girl like that. He must be cursed by Heaven. Look, the retribution has come!” One villager kept shaking his head.

“Lao Qi, where’s the silver? Hurry up and return it to the Young Lord!” A son of Patriarch Gu gestured sharply at him. In this situation, saving one’s life was the top priority!