Write out the confession

  "Alright, since I promised you that I wouldn't kill you, of course I won't. First, write down what you just said as a confession. After several months, I will naturally give you your freedom."

  Liu Lingling obediently followed Xie Wenjing's instructions and wrote a confession statement for the old woman, signing her name and affixing her seal.

  With this, Liu Lingling would have completely betrayed her grandmother, which was the real purpose of Xie Wenjing's request for Liu to write a confession.

  Never thought of using a concubine's testimony to accuse the matriarch of a noble family, that would undoubtedly be like hitting a stone with an egg. It would also give one's own family members the crime of great unfilial piety.

  Xie Wenjing watched Liu Lingling finish writing, then took her away from her father's place, letting Zhihua and Meilan watch her in shifts with Du Mama, not giving her a chance to escape or take revenge on her own family. As for when she would be released, it depended on when her father's body was fully recovered.

  This woman will be gone in a few months and is useless anyway, letting her go won't affect the family. At this point, she has already betrayed her grandmother, and the person she fears and hates the most now should be her grandmother.

  Xie Wenjing took Liu Lingling away, and Third Uncle suddenly knelt down in front of Xie Chengyu and Dujuan: "I'm sorry, big brother, I was blind and didn't see through Mother's sinister intentions. She tortured you until you were no longer human, almost killing you."

  Sorry, sister-in-law, I was blind. When you told me about my mother's crimes, I was still deceived by her and didn't want to believe it, thinking she was implicated by Master Jia.

  "I'm sorry! I've gone blind, big brother, big sister-in-law, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

  Third Uncle was extremely self-reproachful, not only kneeling in front of Big Brother and Sister-in-law but also heavily knocking his head to admit his mistake.

  Third Aunt could only kneel down and admit her mistake together with them.

  Xie Chengyu and Du Juan, along with her uncle and aunt, all reached out to help the kneeling Third Uncle and Third Aunt up.

  "Third brother, don't blame yourselves. I was also deceived by her for many years. I thought she was my mother's own sister, that she had a kind heart and was virtuous and magnanimous. We were all cheated by her."

  I thought you wouldn't follow me, and I was worried that she would frame you at home. I wanted to quietly warn you to be on guard against her when we left in the morning. Now it's good that you've all followed me here, so now you can all see her ugly face and won't be deceived by her again.

  However, we still need to be careful. That woman gave birth to a son who is good at studying, and my second brother is now an aide to the prefect of Yangzhou, which is quite prestigious in Yangzhou.

  Father values the second brother the most, for the sake of the second brother, even if Father knows that woman has been poisoning me for two years, he won't do anything to her. What Father cares about is the face and interests of the Xie family.

  Even if Dad agreed so readily to let Wenjing take us away from Yangzhou with Brother and Sister-in-law, it's still a thought of getting rid of me as a burden.

  I won't hate my father, but I will never miss this father who only has the interests of the Xie family in his eyes. I just want to leave the Xie family, take my wife and children with me, and live a simple life without these dirty things.

  I will also work hard to study, strive to pass the imperial examination as a juren and then as a jinshi, for Juan'er, for the children to have something to rely on, rather than me, an old father, having to rely on my twelve-year-old daughter.

  Xie Chengyu said his decision with a pained expression. Xie Wenjing happened to return at this time and heard her father's words, feeling quite distressed in her heart.

  Father, whether in his past life or this life, did not like the imperial examination system and only liked books and paintings. Now, after being framed by that old woman, in order to give his family a sense of security, he is actually forced to read those books he doesn't like at all?

  Xie Wenjing really wanted to go forward and persuade her father, the family's life was worry-free, there was no need to force himself to take the imperial examination, besides, his father's painting skills were absolutely talented, as long as his father re-collected his mood and focused on painting, he might become a master of the generation.

  Xie Wenjing thought about it and still chose to remain silent. No matter what Father decided, she would fully support him. Father had his own pursuits and goals.

  "Good! This is the true color of a man! Big brother will take care of you! In the future, I may be able to proudly tell others that my sister's husband is a high-ranking official! Haha!"

  Xie Wenjing's big brother-in-law burst out laughing, feeling extremely delighted. His sister had finally found happiness after all her hardships - not only was her husband's health recovering as expected, but he had also set such a goal for himself, and with such a wonderful husband, his sister had really hit the jackpot!

  "It's all good, my sister is a lucky one. Now it's all coming together after going through hardships. My brother-in-law has made up his mind, there's no way he won't pass the exam. They say that after extreme adversity comes great fortune, and since my brother-in-law has been tortured for so long, once he spreads his wings, he'll definitely soar to great heights! Sister-in-law also believes in you!"

  The great aunt also trusted her father with a heroic spirit, Xie Wenjing was a little worried, if Father's enthusiasm was so optimistic and looked good by so many people, but the result didn't go well, after several years, he still hadn't passed the exam, would Father fall into despair?

  "Wenjing, you're back? Quick, sit down. Your father has decided to study hard and take the imperial examination. From now on, you won't have to bear so much responsibility at such a young age. You can just be happy and carefree, become a lady of leisure, and marry well?"

  The elder aunt originally wanted to say that marrying a good family would be great, but suddenly thought of her niece already being engaged to the Zhao family in Yangzhou, and the Zhao family was not treating her niece well, this is not a good thing at all!

  It would be better to break off the engagement early, but if the engagement with the Zhao family is truly broken off, the niece's reputation will inevitably suffer. Generally, women who are jilted do not easily find a good husband again.

  "Huh? Isn't your second son not engaged? Otherwise, whisper to his sister and let them be close relatives. It's just unknown whether Wenjing will like her own family's second son who doesn't like to talk?"

  "Wenjing, as for that engagement with the Zhao family, your parents will listen to you. If you don't like it, wait until Father passes his exam and then we'll think of a way to decline it!"

  Xie Chengyu said this is also based on the fact that he currently has no substantial right to speak in the Xie family. To dissolve his daughter's engagement with the Zhao family, he must at least pass the imperial examination and become a scholar-official; otherwise, the Xie family will not listen to him.

  Xie Wenjing smiled and said, "Does Father know about the ugliness of the Zhao family? If Father really passed the exam, they would not agree to cancel the engagement so easily."

  The most direct thing is that the Xie family is broken and defeated, and the Zhao family loses the use of marrying into the Xie family, so they will naturally be eager to ask their own family to cancel the engagement.

  "Dad, don't worry for now, I'm still young, you don't need to be distracted by my affairs. Sometimes, nothing needs to be done and wishes can come true on their own. As the saying goes, 'when we reach the mountain, there will be a road', and 'beyond the dark willow lies another village'."

  Xie Wenjing found it inconvenient to mention the characteristics of Zhao's family in her past life, so she could only comfort her father in such a vague way.

  "Alright, father will listen to his daughter." Xie Chengyu heard his daughter say this and knew that she had already made up her mind, so he let her be.

  Although the daughter is only twelve years old, her mind has surpassed that of an adult. Sometimes even she herself can't keep up with it. As I said to my daughter, don't worry, when the time comes, there will naturally be a way out, and after passing through the dark willow trees, another village will appear.

  Xie Wenbao was accompanied by two elder cousins on the boat and had a great time playing for two days, without accidentally falling into the canal to feed the fish.

  Xie Wenjing looked at Wen Bao, who had been playing happily for the past two days. As a 9-year-old kid, he was very close to his father and hardly showed any reaction.

  It's as if Father is ill, and when Father gets better, it has nothing to do with him. Even if he himself brings Wenbao to please his parents, Wenbao can't stay for a while before shouting that he wants to go play.

  Her parents spoiled her by letting Wenjing take Wenbao out to play.

  Xie Wenjing saw the doting look in her parents' eyes towards Wen Bao, and her head hurt even more. She was afraid that her parents thought they owed Wen Bao for the past two years, so they hoped Wen Bao could play happily and freely without any constraints.

  Xie Wenjing saw that her uncle and third uncle were all delighted about her father's recovery, so she didn't want to discipline her brother on the boat either, lest it spoil everyone's mood.