Exile with Storage Space: Family Fortunes in the Barren Lands-Chapter 760 - 713: Reputation in Ruins (2)

Due to Yu Wenbo’s covert pressure, the two brothers from the Hu Family agreed to take the blame.

Song Prefect initially didn’t wish to truly offend the Yu Wen family. Seeing someone admitting responsibility and since the Wei Family had no new evidence, Song Prefect proceeded with the declaration in court.

The Yu Wen family was fined five hundred taels of silver for not properly supervising their servants.

The Hu Family brothers conspired to deceive, using the master’s name to swindle silver under the pretense of marriage, both were sentenced to fifty lashes and three years in prison.

The five thousand taels swindled from the Wei Family should not be pursued by anyone.

The marriage between the two families is nullified and shall not be mentioned again.

Second Master Wei let out a sigh of relief and thanked Song Prefect.

Though Yu Wenbo shifted the blame onto the Hu Family brothers, the onlookers still didn’t let the Yu Wen family off, constantly gossiping about the Yu Wen family’s sly conduct.

Amidst the crowd’s taunts, Yu Wenbo called over a servant to carry his bedridden eldest son away in embarrassment.

"Running a fever, with sores on the face and also on the body, what kind of illness is this?" Seeing the sick face of Young Master Yu Wen, Li Yuwen curiously asked Li Yuzhu.

"Syphilis," Li Yuzhu replied.

"What is syphilis?" Li Yuwen, unfamiliar with the term, asked with curiosity.

Da Chuan coughed heavily, reminding Li Yuwen not to ask, as it was quite embarrassing.

But Li Yuwen remained curious about what illness afflicted Young Master Yu Wen and again pressed Li Yuzhu for an answer.

Li Yuzhu was speechless, "..."

The bystanders who overheard her question burst into laughter, "Little lady, this syphilis, it’s a filthy disease one gets from laying with too many women, heh, he’s not going to live long."

Li Yuwen blushed at hearing this.

She never expected it to be such a disgraceful disease.

"I wasn’t going to say it, yet you kept asking?" Li Yuzhu glared at Li Yuwen, admonishing her quietly.

Li Yuwen, her face flushed with embarrassment, wondered how she could have known it was such a disease.

"Oh dear, let’s go, let’s go, the case has been judged, nothing else to see." Li Yuwen, pulling Li Yuzhu, turned to leave.

Once again, Da Chuan cleared a path, pushing aside the crowd with his arms to lead the two sisters away.

The crowd erupted in laughter, "Haha, the two young ladies were too ashamed to stay."

Mu Yuanxiu addressed the crowd, "From this, it seems Young Master Yu Wen has questionable character. Marquis Zhongyi said earlier it was a servant who used marriage as a pretext to cheat money, but could a servant easily get five thousand taels of silver? Doesn’t the servant worry if the Wei Family didn’t lose money and really married off a daughter, wouldn’t the servant then be five thousand taels short? Seeing the sequence of events, it doesn’t add up."

He intentionally shifted the subject to relieve the two sisters.

The onlookers turned their attention to him.

After thinking it over, they found his words to indeed make sense.

"Right, why would the servant do that? Giving five thousand taels to the Wei Family, just so Second Master Wei might gamble it away and reclaim it? But what if Second Master Wei didn’t lose? Wouldn’t the servant be greatly at a loss?"

"Clearly, the Yu Wen family had its eyes on the Wei Family’s daughter, so they concocted a scheme. It’s just that the plot was exposed, leaving the servant to take the fall."

The people began murmuring amongst themselves.

The discourse at the government office dispersed into the marketplaces across the Capital.

By nightfall, more than half of the Capital had learned of how the Yu Wen family, wanting to marry off their dying eldest son, plotted to deceive the Wei Family into marriage.

Afraid the Wei Family would learn of Young Master Yu Wen’s critical condition and refuse the marriage, they incited the servants to swindle the Wei Family’s betrothal gift.

Furthermore, people found out that Young Master Yu Wen was afflicted with syphilis.

Rather than the rumored tuberculosis.

In a city where the Yu Wen family was always considered upstanding, the revelation that a son had contracted syphilis scandalized the populace.

Everyone began inquiring about where Young Master Yu Wen had contracted it.

Some speculated it was from a brothel, others from a hidden den.

As the rumors grew increasingly ludicrous, by the next day, it was said that all three men of the Yu Wen family had the disease.

When Yu Wenbo and his second son Yu Wen Zan attended court and went to the government office, they were mockingly questioned about the syphilis rumor by numerous colleagues.

The two turned livid with anger, suppressing their fury with no outlet.

"Where did these rumors originate?" Yu Wen Zan, having not been to the Capital City Government office and unaware of the situation, quietly asked his father, Marquis Zhongyi, Yu Wenbo.

Yu Wenbo didn’t know either.

Reflecting on the previous day’s events at the office, he speculated, "Could it have spread from the office? But apart from two familiar doctors, no one else knew about your elder brother’s illness, so how did it leak outside?"

"I’ll investigate, and once I find out, I won’t let the person responsible go!" Yu Wen Zan gritted his teeth with anger.

But how could they find out?

At the office, with so many people chatting, how could they track down who first mentioned it?

Yu Wen Zan also interrogated the two familiar doctors.

The two people denied revealing anything about Young Master Yu Wen.

No matter how Yu Wen Zan intimidated them, they insisted they hadn’t said anything.

Finally, a doctor said, "If a doctor is skilled and well-versed, just seeing the face, they might guess a thing or two. If someone intentionally fabricates and gets lucky, they might accidentally hit the mark."

These words made sense, and Yu Wen Zan had no retort.

The people watching the case outside the government office were mostly unemployed, who wouldn’t say anything?

Considering this, the Yu Wen Family could only suffer in silence.

.

Today in the afternoon, the weather was extremely stuffy.

Li Yuzhu and Li Yuwen were playing chess in the pavilion of their residence to relieve their boredom.

At this moment, Second Master Wei arrived.

Seeing them, he anxiously asked, "Where is Mr. Pei? Yuwen, Yuzhu?"

"What’s wrong, Uncle? Why are you so frantic again?" Li Yuwen put down her chess piece and stood up.

Li Yuzhu picked up the teapot and poured some cool tea, "Uncle, have a cup of cool tea and talk slowly."

Second Master Wei entered the house, took the cup handed over by Li Yuzhu, and drank it in one go.

He wiped his mouth and urgently said, "Seventh Lady hasn’t come home yet. I’ve sent people looking everywhere, but we still can’t find her. Considering our family’s lawsuit with the Yu Wen Family is known throughout the city, she should have returned after hearing about it. But it’s been two days, and she still hasn’t come back?"

Li Yuzhu was surprised, "She hasn’t come home? No news at all?"

"None, absolutely no news." Second Master Wei slapped his leg, looking anxious.

Li Yuwen sneered, "Uncle, look, you scared the life out of Seventh Cousin. Maybe she ran out of the Capital and wouldn’t know about the city’s happenings?"

Second Master Wei was dumbfounded and became even more anxious, "What should we do? She’s just a young girl, accompanied by a little maid. If the two of them, just in their teens, meet bad people in the wilderness, what can we do?"

Li Yuzhu said, "Uncle, don’t worry. I’ll talk to Brother-in-law and Yuanxiu later. They will have a solution."

Li Yuwen suggested, "Uncle, find someone to draw a portrait of Seventh Cousin. With a portrait, we can look for her. I haven’t seen Seventh Cousin for a long time, and I don’t know what she looks like now. Without a portrait, if she walks past me, I might not recognize her."

Second Master Wei slapped his forehead, "Right, right, a portrait, a portrait. I’ll go find someone to draw it right away."

With this reminder, Second Master Wei hurried away again.

"Really, look at the mess Uncle has made!" Li Yuwen sat down angrily, fanning herself quickly, "If anything happens to Seventh Cousin, I won’t call him Uncle anymore, hmph!"

Li Yuzhu appeared worried, "Today is the third day since the case closed. By right, Miss Wei Qi should have gone home, but hasn’t, doesn’t make sense."

Li Yuwen sighed, "Hopefully she’s safe and sound."

...

In the evening, Second Master Wei and the returning Pei Shenyan and Mu Yuanxiu entered the residence one after the other.

They all came to the East courtyard.

Second Master Wei held portraits of Miss Wei Qi and the little maid.

As he walked, he spoke to Pei Shenyan about Miss Wei Qi still not returning home.

Following beside them, Mu Yuanxiu looked at Wei Qiniang’s portrait, frowning slightly and appearing thoughtful.

Pei Shenyan took the portraits and reassured Second Master Wei, "Uncle, I’ll make a few more copies. Later, Da Chuan and Jisheng can take them to search. They have many acquaintances in the Capital and will definitely find Seventh Cousin."

"Mr. Pei, please, make sure to find Seventh Lady." Second Master Wei almost bowed to Pei Shenyan.

Li Yuwen and Li Yuzhu came out from the house into the courtyard.

They took the portraits to look at.

Li Yuwen said, "Thankfully, thankfully, Seventh Cousin is a bit thinner than before but hasn’t changed much. Once I see her, I’ll surely recognize her."

After seeing off Second Master Wei,

Pei Shenyan immediately made several copies of Wei Qiniang’s and her maid’s portraits.

He called Da Chuan Jisheng and the old servant Pei Ji, giving each of them a portrait.

He and Mu Yuanxiu each held one as well.

"It’s late today; tomorrow morning, we’ll search separately." Pei Shenyan tucked the portrait in his sleeve and looked at everyone.

Then, he also divided the routes, assigned which neighborhoods and markets to search for each person, and organized the tasks.

At dawn the next day, everyone in the residence got up.

Li Yuwen also rose early with Pei Shenyan, insisting on going to find Wei Qiniang.

"It’s hot outside; you should rest at home." Pei Shenyan pressed her shoulder.

Li Yuwen sighed, "You don’t know my uncle’s temper. If Seventh Cousin isn’t found, he’ll definitely cry to my mother, saying our family embarrassed him by causing him to lose a daughter. My mother already feels guilty towards them. If he acts out like that, how would my mother’s heart feel?"