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"Great Lord, although we do not have a marriage contract, we have a child! Look, this girl, she’s our daughter!" Da Qiangzi tried to make a last struggle. Selling his own daughter and wife might not be illegal, but human trafficking was a grave crime—if things went wrong, he could end up in prison!

As soon as he mentioned Niuniu, Xingxing immediately let out a cold laugh, "Great Lord, that child is not his either.

Have you ever heard of a father who would be willing to sell his own beloved daughter?

Who would sell their child unless they were so poor they had no other choice?

This Da Qiangzi has plenty of Silver, yet he still sells his own daughter? "

Da Qiangzi subconsciously covered his waist, where the Silver he had just received from selling Xingxing to the brothel was.

While he was thinking, a Government Official pushed a man in from the side, "Your Honor, this is the human trafficker; we caught him right outside Da Qiangzi’s door."

The human trafficker kept kowtowing, crying and begging for mercy, "Great Lord, I was forced! It was all Da Qiangzi forcing me to buy his baby! I didn’t do it willingly, Great Lord, spare my life, please!"

Li Chang slammed his Awe-inspiring wooden hammer, anger making his whiskers bristle, "A human trafficker claiming to be forced by others? What utter nonsense! Take him away, we will interrogate him later!"

After the trafficker was taken away, Da Qiangzi finally had nothing left to say.

Xingxing was crying her heart out. Li Chang looked at her, his heart growing more and more tender.

He banged the Awe-inspiring wooden hammer with a smack smack, "Da Qiangzi, you neither have a marriage contract nor are you her real father.

It seems to me that you want to spend your days locked up in prison! "

"Great Lord, have mercy, have mercy, I beg you! I won’t dare to sell my wife again, I won’t dare to sell my daughter! Please let me go, let me go!" Da Qiangzi was kowtowing so hard his forehead thudded against the ground, but Li Chang remained unmoved.

Da Qiangzi’s eyes rolled, and he turned around to kowtow to Xingxing, "Xingxing, I was bewitched for a moment, please don’t blame me. That prison is no place for a person to stay, for the sake of the years we’ve spent together, forgive me. Do you really want Niuniu to grow up without a father?"

The sight of the blood on Da Qiangzi’s forehead frightened Niuniu; her little face turned pale with fear, and she started to cry.

Xingxing was patting her daughter’s small body, her heart softened.

She had heard about the conditions in that prison, many couldn’t survive and died there.

Although she deeply hated Da Qiangzi, she didn’t want her daughter to have a father who was locked up in prison, which would be a stain on her as she grew up.

"Great Lord, let him off this one time, please! But, Great Lord, please ensure he doesn’t stay in our town. I fear that if he doesn’t change his ways, he might come to trouble me again. I no longer hope to continue living with him, I only wish to live a peaceful life with my daughter from now on."

Xingxing held her daughter tight, kissing her rosy little face. Niuniu’s clothes were all wet; if Xingxing hadn’t changed her into new ones before coming to the Yamen, the girl might have caught a cold by now.

Li Chang hesitated for a while, but the people gathered in the hall to listen to the trial felt deep sympathy for Xingxing and her child, echoing the sentiment to expel Da Qiangzi from Zhuma Town.

Hearing what everyone said, Li Chang decided to go along with the public sentiment. He struck the Awe-inspiring wooden hammer and ordered the Government Officials to take Da Qiangzi out immediately, banning him from ever entering Zhuma Town again.

As Da Qiangzi was led out of the hall by the Government Officials, three strong men from the Fragrant Powder Pavilion came up with smiling faces, slipping some Silver to the officials and snatching back the money bag Da Qiangzi had received for the sale.

Da Qiangzi was unable to sell the girl and had lost his Silver, still fixated on the stash he had hidden in a certain yard. He begged the Government Officials escorting him for a while before they finally allowed him to go back to fetch some clothes.

Only when he returned to the yard to look for the Silver did he realize—it was already gone without a trace.

"You wretch! You took my Silver!" Besides Xingxing, Da Qiangzi really couldn’t think of anyone else who would take his Silver.

At this moment, Xingxing, holding her daughter Niuniu and clutching the Silver she had taken from Da Qiangzi, returned to her old house.

Gazing at the home where she had lived with her late husband for many years, Xingxing’s tears began to flow.

She had thought she found a reliable man to depend on, only to have her affection misplaced and in the end, she was once again a lonely widow.

"Niuniu, you’re all the family mother has left. I will never trust others so easily again. From now on, it’s just the two of us, and we will make a good life for ourselves." Burying her face in her daughter’s soft little neck, she resolved to raise her daughter well.

Meanwhile, Dawang and Xiao Wang watched from afar with Loudmouth as Da Qiangzi was taken out of Zhuma Town by the Government Official. Loudmouth thought about the scene when he had left last time and felt a rush of emotions.

"What goes around comes around! Serves him right!" Xiao Wang glanced disdainfully and couldn’t be bothered to look at the man who had done so many bad deeds anymore.

Dawang bit his lip, knelt in front of Loudmouth, and choked up, "Mother, I’ve been unfilial. I foolishly believed that person’s words and almost caused you harm. Mother, please punish me, let out your anger on me."

"Dawang." Loudmouth’s voice trembled, and she steadied her son’s arms, "Dawang, get up. Mother doesn’t blame you. I know you did it all for my sake. You were afraid I would be alone in my old age. How could I not understand your thoughts? Get up, child, mother doesn’t blame you anymore."

Xiao Wang quickly pulled Dawang’s arm to help him up, "Brother, don’t do this. Mother won’t blame you."

Teardrops streamed continuously down Dawang’s face; he truly regretted everything.

Xiao Wang had a thought, hugged Loudmouth’s arm and said, "Mother, seeing how worried both brother and I are about you, you should find another companion. It would put our minds at ease."

The brothers had long urged her to find another man, which is why Dawang was so eager for Loudmouth to reconcile with Da Qiangzi.

Loudmouth pondered for a moment, nodded, and smiled, "Alright, if there’s a suitable one, I will take that step. But most importantly right now is your marriage. You both need to find good wives for yourselves soon."

The brothers chuckled and immediately promised to find a dutiful and good wife.

After being kicked out of Zhuma Town, Da Qiangzi was penniless and wandered alone to a nearby village, thinking of returning to the old Lin family house in Lin family’s valley. But without any money, he couldn’t even afford a ride on a bullock cart.

Little did he know, just halfway there, he would be captured by several masked men and taken to a secluded ditch for a harsh beating.

Not until Da Qiangzi could no longer move did the masked men spit on him, feeling avenged, "You dared to swindle the Fragrant Powder Pavilion! Even killing you is what you deserve!"

One of the men leaned down to check his breathing, "He’s still got a breath in him."

"Dump him at Mass Graves. Whether he lives or dies, it’s not our concern anymore!"

Dragging Da Qiangzi like a dead dog, the men disappeared into the night.