Chapter 298: Stubbornness, Striking Covertly
Bai Lu carefully packed away the statement. None of them cared anymore about Bai Fu at the door. Bai Ruozhu asked Bai Lu to sign and stamp her petition letter. Then the family said goodbye to Bai Lu and rode the donkey cart back to town.
"It’s all my fault for losing my cool, which delayed the beating in the prison." Lin Ping’r reproached herself for her previous frenzied behavior.
Bai Ruozhu held her mother’s arm and said, "Mom, as long as you’re okay. But you were really brave just now, it was satisfying to watch. Otherwise, I might have gotten sick."
"Yes, mom, you were so powerful." Bai Zehao also chimed in.
However, Bai Yihong was silent and stared blankly, saying nothing. Mother and son exchanged glances, deciding not to disturb him anymore. Their feelings toward Bai Fu could not compare to Bai Yihong’s. They felt hatred, but Bai Yihong felt disappointment, helplessness, and an inability to bear it.
The family went straight to the county government prison. Already, a crowd had gathered at the entrance, all with relatives arrested. Many people tried to bribe the jailor to visit their kin but were refused.
At that moment, Bai Ruozhu saw Mrs. Wang. She looked terrible, pale and thin, with sunken cheeks. She was trying to bribe the jailor with silver, but the jailor, noticeably impatient, shoved her aside, silver and all.
Mrs. Wang’s injury hadn’t fully healed. She mustered all her strength to get there. Her parents insulted her and harboring resentment, refused to accompany her, so it was a great difficulty for her to limp there. A shove from the jailor made her fall down, and her silver went rolling away, picked up by someone else instantly, lost without a trace.
"Mrs. Wang truly did have some feelings for Bai Yibo. It’s a pity that he was fooled by the young widow." Lin Ping’r followed Bai Ruozhu’s gaze and shook her head.
Mentioning the widow, Bai Ruozhu sneered sarcastically, "That widow Zhou did not show up today. She’s made a complete mess of things, losing a hundred taels of silver, and she might even get implicated by Bai Yibo."
Bai Zehao also began to sneer, "How could such person accept a loss? You’ll see, she’ll go stir up trouble at the old mansion soon enough. Then grandpa will be too busy to bother us."
Bai Ruozhu agreed with her older brother’s words, "For us, this would be a good thing."
After the jailor had dispersed many people, Bai Ruozhu and Lin Ping’r approached him, whispering: "We are family of Bai Zepei, introduced by Magistrate Li."
The jailor looked at Bai Ruozhu, took the silver that she offered, and said in a low voice: "Make it quick, don’t cause me any trouble."
"Yes, thank you, sir." Bai Ruozhu said, bowing to him.
As not too many people were allowed in, Bai Ruozhu went in with Lin Ping’r, so that she could see Bai Zepei and feel at ease.
The two were brought into the damp and cold prison by a guard. They walked all the way to the most inner part of the prison, where Bai Zepei was being held alone in a small cell.
"Zepei, nobody has mistreated you, right?" Lin Ping’r saw some dirt on Bai Zepei’s robe and rushed to the bars, clutching them and asking worriedly. At that moment, she wished she could pry open the bars and stick her head in.
Bai Zepei finally noticed Lin Ping’r and Bai Ruozhu’s arrival. He got up hurriedly and walked over, "Mom, I’m okay. Look, I even have a private cell. It’s the best treatment."
Bai Ruozhu also looked at the dirt on Bai Zepei’s robe, her eyebrow furrowed.
Bai Zepei knew he couldn’t fool anyone and gave a wry smile, "An inmate tried to hit me earlier, but Magistrate Li separated me from them."
"Why did they hit you? You didn’t provoke them, did you?" Lin Ping’r exclaimed.
The guard at the side banged on the bars and said rudely, "Keep it down, or get out!"
Lin Ping’r shrunk back not daring to scream, but her eyes remained fixed on Bai Zepei, waiting for an explanation.
Bai Zepei sighed and said, "My uncle has been running his mouth off, saying that I ratted him out, so those people hate me to death. Later he shouted that I made him cheat on the examination. In fact, he doesn’t know anything."
"Just as we suspected, he’s still the same." Bai Ruozhu growled through clenched teeth, "He committed shameful acts and yet wants to pin it on you. He’s lower than pigs or dogs!"
"Don’t be angry, the imperial envoy is smart and discerning. He will exonerate me." Bai Zepei said.
Yet, Lin Ping’r was still worried and could hardly resist the urge to rush in and hack Bai Yibo to death.
"Brother, don’t worry. We have already met with Grandpa, the clan chief. He has been expelled from the clan, and everyone has signed the statement of attitude. Also, my petition will be signed by the villagers as soon as possible and submitted to the imperial envoy." Bai Ruozhu said.
"You have all worked so hard on my behalf." A look of shame crossed Bai Zepei’s face. Seeing him suffer in prison, he thought that his family were the ones struggling the most.
"Rest assured, Bai Yibo cannot frame you." Bai Ruozhu looked at him, her eyes glimmered with an ambiguous light, but Bai Zepei had already understood its meaning.
"Be careful, don’t take risks for my sake." He stated gravely.
Right then, the guard hurried them along. Both Bai Ruozhu and Lin Ping’r said goodbye to Bai Zepei and left. Not too long after walking away, Bai Ruozhu stopped at the cell where Bai Yibo was held.
"Bai Yibo, bet you didn’t know that you’ve been expelled from the clan. Regardless of what tricks you pull, your life is ruined. Be prepared to be stripped of your titles and exiled." Bai Ruozhu suddenly stopped and spoke to Bai Yibo inside.
Bai Yibo instantly stood up from the ground when he heard this. He rushed over and grabbed the bars and shouted, "It’s your doing! It must have been you! Bai Zepei instigated me to do all this. You’re ruining me again, You’re all in this together!"
As expected, he was stubborn to the end. Bai Ruozhu had a strange smile on her face. How could she be scared of Bai Yibo when there were bars between them? Even face to face, the self-defense skills she learned were not useless.
She suddenly pushed at Bai Yibo. Bai Yibo, straining to squeeze his face into the bars in order to reach Bai Ruozhu, had no idea Bai Ruozhu would push him, and almost sprained his neck.
"Seeing your face makes me nauseous!" Bai Ruozhu sneered, "Furthermore, your mistress is probably going to remarry soon. But don’t worry about the child calling someone else father, it’s questionable whether the child is yours."
The guard grew impatient and urged them to leave. Laughing loudly, Bai Ruozhu left with her mother. Bai Yibo, however, was seething and shaking the iron cage hard, cursing non-stop. This resulted in another guard whipping him. Although the whip hit the bars, his hands were struck. He cried out in pain, became more docile, and calmed down.
He didn’t yet know that in the days to come, he couldn’t even be obedient even if he wanted to.