Xu Tianfa returned home in a daze and told his wife about the Sun family’s affairs. Xu Tianfa’s wife turned pale as she listened and cursed the Sun family: "Doomed wretches, always some disaster befalling them. Why did their house have to be raided just now? No, we can’t just let the Sun family off !" She slapped the table and said, "Go to the county government and accuse Sun Youqian of abducting a civilian girl. Hasn’t the constable Squad Leader said it? If you report to the government office about the Sun family’s crimes, Lord County Magistrate will compensate the victims with the Sun family’s assets. We are major victims. By suing them, we could get compensation. If we don’t, that would be a real loss." "Really, do we really have to sue?" Xu Tianfa asked, "What will happen to our Lianzi?" Once the case is brought to the government office, everyone will know about it. "What will happen?" Xu Tianfa’s wife pulled out Lianzi, who had been eavesdropping by the door, and pointed at her belly: "This shameless wretch has already ruined herself, what more is there to do? Once this matter is settled, we’ll marry her off to a widower." Lianzi, her ear painfully twisted, was too upset to care about the pain and cried to Xu Tianfa, "Father, has the Sun family really gotten into trouble and the entire family been arrested?" "Every single one has been arrested, and even their mansion is sealed, prohibiting entry," Xu Tianfa said with a mournful face, his heart sank when thinking about how all his family’s plans had fallen through. "Woo-woo-woo, what am I going to do?" Lianzi burst into tears. She knew Sun Youqian only wanted to toy with her and wasn’t serious. However, her family had also planned to use her innocence to climb up the social ladder by associating with the Sun family—to have their support in the future. Unexpectedly, just as things were about to be settled, such a disaster befell the Sun family. "You worthless girl, you still have the face to cry. Stop it and go cry at the county government instead. The more miserable you look, the more compensation you can get." Xu Tianfa’s wife taught Lianzi a few things, to insist that she was forced by Sun Youqian and later found out she was pregnant, and her family had no choice but to approach the Sun family, hoping to marry Lianzi to Sun Youqian for the child’s sake. "Remember this well, don’t say the wrong thing. If Lord County Magistrate finds out you were willing, we won’t get any compensation." Lianzi nodded while crying, "Mm, I will remember, Mother." She then asked, "What about the child in my belly?" Xu Tianfa’s wife sneered disdainfully, "Such a cursed fetus must be aborted. Do you still want to give birth to it? Hurry up, no more nonsense, let’s head to the county now." She then shouted at her two sons who were sneaking food in the kitchen, "You two rascals, watch the house well for your mother, and don’t lose anything. Don’t steal any eggs or such from the house, if anything is missing, your mother won’t spare you when I return." "We understand, Mother." The Xu family’s two sons quickly agreed, fearing their mother would enter the kitchen and catch them using white flour to make cakes. Upon hearing this, Xu Tianfa’s wife immediately took Xu Tianfa and Lianzi, rushed to the county government, and filed charges against Sun Youqian for abducting a civilian girl. Sun Youqian naturally denied everything vehemently but to no avail. Knowing that the Sun family had committed a serious crime, resulting in all their property, land, shops, and silver being confiscated, Lianzi made a hard decision and attempted to dash against a pillar in court. After being intercepted by Xu Tianfa’s wife, the mother and daughter burst into tears together. The headache-inducing crying of the two women led Lord County Magistrate, considering they shared the same surname, to convict Sun Youqian of abducting Lianzi. After obtaining Xue Mingyu’s consent, he awarded Lianzi twenty taels of silver as compensation. Twenty taels of silver is not a small amount. After receiving this money, Xu Lianzi could spend five taels to have an abortion and recuperate during her lying-in period, give ten taels to her family, and still have five taels left for her dowry. With these five taels of silver, it would be easier for her to remarry, for there are many bachelors in Great Chu. Upon hearing about this, Widow Zhou also rushed to the county government office to beat the drum and filed a lawsuit against Sun Youqian for the crime of seizing and coercing a married woman. Lord County Magistrate looked at Widow Zhou, who was no longer young, and then at the young and fresh-faced Sun Youqian, almost unable to hold back his vomit. He had thought it was just rumors, but it turned out to be true... What in the world was going on?! Widow Zhou was resolute. Since everyone in the county was talking about her affair with Sun Youqian anyhow, she could no longer stay in Tianfu County. By suing Sun Youqian and getting twenty taels of silver, and then selling the family house, she could bring her valuables and children to the Prefecture to seek refuge with her maternal cousin. Her life there would definitely be much better than being pointed at and cursed in Tianfu County. Widow Zhou was experienced in life, and her tearful accusations against Sun Youqian were explicit without any reservations, even making the Lord County Magistrate fearful, who hurriedly stopped her: "Enough, Ms. Zhou Tang, your grievances are known to me; there is no need to elaborate further." Shameless, she even went into the details; both he and the steward were scholars, how could they bear to listen to this? County Magistrate Xu asked Xue Mingyu: "Old Man Xue, since all of Sun Family’s possessions are part of your Xue Family’s wealth, would you be willing to give another twenty taels of silver to Ms. Zhou Tang?" Xue Mingyu had suffered greatly in his life and now that his major grievances had been avenged, he did not mind parting with some wealth. He nodded and said: "Lord County Magistrate’s decision is sufficient, the old servant has no objections." He knew that Widow Zhou still had children to raise. A mother might be wrong, but her children were innocent. Having suffered greatly, the now elderly Xue Mingyu always liked to create good karma. County Magistrate Xu was pleased and praised: "Old Man Xue is truly noble." He then ruled that the Sun family must compensate Widow Zhou with twenty taels of silver. Widow Zhou received the silver, happily trotted off, not even glancing at Sun Youqian. The case of the Sun family had clear evidence and testimony, so the Lord County Magistrate quickly reached a verdict. Old Master Sun had conspired to harm others for wealth but had sadly passed away; otherwise, he would have been sentenced to death. Sun Fuxiong knew but did not report the crime, committing the crime of concealment, and was sentenced to thirty floggings and to labor in the official mine. Sun Youqian was charged with forcibly taking a married woman, twice at that, a serious offense. Originally, he should have been punished with slicing off the nose followed by exile, but Lord County Magistrate, considering the shortage of labor in the official mine, spared him the disfiguring punishment and sent him directly to work in the official mine. The men and women of the Sun family, including Ge Wenhao’s family, had all grown up on stolen wealth and were thus accomplices. They were condemned to slavery. Upon hearing the verdict, the Sun family people and Ge Wenhao’s family wept bitterly in court; especially Ge Wenhao’s family felt egregiously wronged, believing they had been dragged down by the Sun family and cried out for Lord County Magistrate to overturn the ruling. County Magistrate Xu took no notice of them, and after settling the case of the Sun family, he cheerfully returned to the back office. When Squad Leader Yang saw the Ge family People still causing a commotion, he had the Government Officials take them away and gave each of them ten heavy beatings before throwing them into the county government prison. Watching the people from Sun and Ge families being taken to prison, Xue Mingyu broke down in tears. He never imagined that, at the dusk of his life, he would see his revenge fulfilled. Steward Tian said to Xue Mingyu, "Old Man Xue, if there are no new plaintiffs filing a complaint against the Sun family within this month, then all the wealth of the Sun family can be transferred to you." He added, "Much of your Xue Family’s wealth has been acquired by the Gao family in Central State, far from He’an Prefecture. Decades have passed, and it is still unknown what condition the Gao family is in, nor how much of your wealth can be reclaimed; as of now, it is uncertain."