CHAPTER 398: CHAPTER 398: STRUGGLE OF A CORNERED BEAST

Old Master Lu felt only a fleeting fear after hearing Mrs. Han’s words, then came his determination.

He could not escape now; only he himself could save the Lu Family.

As he ate the food Mrs. Han brought, he said to her, "You go back and tell Meihua and Brother Zhen’er that I am innocent, I am not a runaway slave!"

The latter part of the message, Old Master Lu shouted it out loud, many in the county government prison heard it.

A Government Official banged the wooden bars of the cell with an iron rod, angrily saying, "What’s all this shouting for? Whether you’re wronged or not, we’ll know once the Slave Registration Book from Jinling Prefecture arrives. What are you yelling for? Keep it up, and I’ll beat you."

Old Master Lu said no more, and several of the Lu family’s younger generation, seeing the ample meat and vegetables that Mrs. Han had brought, scrambled towards it to snatch some food.

Lu Laoda then asked Mrs. Han, "Nanny, is County Magistrate Zou thinking of ways to save us? Nanny, you must tell Meihua to take Brother Zhen’er to beg County Magistrate Zou, we must implore County Magistrate Zou to save the Lu family."

Lu Laoda’s tears flowed freely, stunned by the incident of Old Master Lu being labeled as a runaway slave; if the charge was affirmed, it would be the end of the Lu family.

Lu Laosan, paralyzed, thrown into the cell, also said with difficulty, "Save... save the Lu family..."

Mrs. Han glanced at Lu Laoda and said, "Master, rest assured, Concubine Lu and Third Young Master have already come up with a good plan. The Lu family will be fine."

After saying this, she did not speak further and got up to leave.

Lu Laoda was very pleased, feeling the Lu family was settled and could avoid catastrophe.

Old Master Lu watched Lu Laoda’s smiling face, sneering with disdain in his heart; it was no wonder that this son, after following County Magistrate Zou for over a decade, failed to become his confidant—indeed, he was somewhat naive.

To escape this calamity, the Lu family must have someone die.

Old Master Lu retracted his gaze, picked up a roast chicken, and started devouring it voraciously.

"Grandfather, give me a chicken leg, I’m hungry," Lu Laoer’s young son crawled over, trying to take the roast chicken from Old Master Lu’s hand but was kicked away by him.

Everyone in the cell was shocked, Lu Laoer hurriedly held his son and pleaded with Old Master Lu, "Father, what are you doing? Kicking your own grandson over a piece of chicken meat—is that really necessary?"

Old Master Lu ignored Lu Laoer and just kept eating the chicken voraciously. This would be his last meal; after this, his life was over, and whoever tried to take it from him, he would kill!

After a while, Old Master Lu finished the chicken, drank a few sips of wine, lifted his clothing hem, bit his finger, and started writing on it: I am not a runaway slave, I am wronged, Lord County Magistrate...

Before he could finish writing, County Captain Jiang and the others hurried over, with Qin San Lang running at the front, shouting to the guards, "Quick, open the prison door, and tie up Old Master Lu!"

After the Lu family people were pushed into prison, they went to visit Xiao Yu at the Jiang family’s home and told her about the Lu family’s imprisonment.

Xiao Yu was delighted after hearing the news and then asked a question: once imprisoned, were the criminals released from their restraints or were they still shackled and bound hand and foot?

Luo Wu replied, saying that after being put into the prison, inmates would be unshackled as they were confined in the cells.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yu immediately had them to return to the cell to tie up Old Master Lu’s hands and feet and gag his mouth, to prevent him from committing suicide in the cell and possibly implicating them by biting back.

County Captain Jiang, a shrewd man, rushed to the prison with Luo Wu and the others, and before entering the prison, asked the officials guarding it about the visit from Concubine Lu’s nanny, Mrs. Han. Knowing something was wrong, they hurriedly rushed in.

Old Master Lu shuddered when he heard Qin San Lang’s voice. He looked up at them; they had arrived surprisingly fast, but it was too late...

Hiss!

Old Master Lu’s gaze hardened as he bore the heart-piercing pain, bit off the skin at the tip of his thumb, and swallowed it, then said with a smile to County Captain Jiang, "I am no runaway slave; you have wronged me. Even as a ghost, I will not let you off!"

After saying this, he fiercely charged towards the prison cell wall.

But he did not succeed, as Lu Guihua pulled him back.

Lu Guihua instinctively grabbed Old Master Lu, crying out, "Dad, Dad, you must not lose hope. Eldest brother, second brother, come quickly and pull Dad back, we can’t let Dad die by hitting the wall."

Lu Laoda was rather smart, having realized that Old Master Lu was risking his life in desperation, so he hurriedly stepped forward to grab Lu Guihua’s hands, saying, "Big sister, let go!"

If she didn’t let go now, Qin San Lang and the others would enter, and Dad would not be able to die.

Lu Guihua looked at Lu Laoda in disbelief, "Eldest brother, have you gone mad? Do you actually want our dad to die?"

Old Master Lu did hold some affection for Lu Guihua, his eldest daughter, but at this moment, her grip on his arm prevented him from smashing his head against the wall and dying, which made him furiously struggle, saying, "Guihua, let go, let go quickly. I was wronged by County Magistrate Xu as a runaway slave. I must die to prove my innocence!"

"Dad, your daughter knows you have been wronged. Brother-in-law and Meihua will definitely clear your name. You can’t die," Lu Guihua cried miserably, only knowing that she had already been divorced. If her dad died as well, who could she rely on in the future?

Qin San Lang had already snatched the government official’s keys, unlocked the prison door, rushed in, yanked Lu Guihua away, then twisted Old Master Lu’s hands behind his back, and used the rope from his waist to swiftly tie up Old Master Lu. He then grabbed Old Master Lu’s chin, slapped his back fiercely, trying to make him spit out the piece of skin from his thumb that he had swallowed.

Unfortunately, Old Master Lu had already chewed and swallowed the piece of skin, and even if Qin San Lang managed to get it out, the fingerprint patterns on it would no longer be visible, making it impossible to convict him.

"Ha ha ha!" Old Master Lu laughed uncontrollably: "I have been wronged; I am no runaway slave. You want to frame me, but even God will not allow it!"

Upon hearing this, County Captain Jiang’s face darkened as if it was the bottom of a pot; although Little Xiao Yu had warned them, they were still a step too late.

Left with no choice, County Captain Jiang ordered someone to gag Old Master Lu’s mouth, imprisoned him alone, and then reported the matter to County Magistrate Xu.

After hearing the report, County Magistrate Xu was dumbfounded, "Wretched thing! This Lu surname intends to fight us to the very end."

He actually exclaimed that he had been wronged by me; this is trying to get me killed.

Gu Jin’an had been following County Captain Jiang, and at this moment, while in the presence of Lord County Magistrate, he spoke up, "My lord, after Mrs. Han went to see Old Master Lu, he did this. We must capture Mrs. Han and investigate her thoroughly."

County Magistrate Xu, being furious, felt this made sense. Without concern whether Mrs. Han was from the Zou family or not, he immediately ordered the government officials to capture Mrs. Han and throw her into the big prison.

Mrs. Han did not panic when she was captured; although she was originally from the Linglong Painting Boat, the men and women servants were different, and her back had not been marked with any characters.

Besides, Old Master Lu had already bitten off his thumb skin, and even if the Slave Registration Book from Jinling Prefecture was brought over, they could not compare the fingerprints. They just needed to endure for a while. If they could survive ten days, County Magistrate Xu would have no evidence, and naturally, they would be released.

If they weren’t released, County Magistrate Zou could make trouble, then write a petition to the Magistrate Government Office to accuse County Magistrate Xu of seeking glory and defaming others.

However, Mrs. Han did not know that even after forty years, not all the servants from the Linglong Painting Boat had died. Ten days later, not only the Slave Registration Book but also two former servants from the Linglong Painting Boat were sent from Jinling Prefecture.

These two servants not only recognized her but also recognized Old Master Lu.