20demayo Chapter 525 Human life matters
Chapter 525 Human life matters
The prison was cold and gloomy, and the physical sensation was not very good.
The sunlight could not penetrate into the front hall, so Shen Zheng took Mo Qingwan back to the backyard.
The sun was shining brightly in the pavilion now. Although the winter sun was not very effective, it had driven away most of the coolness from the two of them.
"Ms. Mo, please sit down."
There is a charcoal stove in the pavilion, and a kettle is also ready. Shen Zheng just sits on it and only needs to light the charcoal fire with dry firewood.
This was Yu Shizhang’s idea from last time.
The pavilion is windy on all sides, and it would be unbearable to sit there in winter without some means of keeping warm.
In addition, tea cools down quickly in winter. Often, only the first brew of a pot of tea is made with boiling water, and the water afterwards only gets colder and colder. So Shen Zheng and Yu Shizhang decided to add a charcoal stove in the pavilion so that it can be used for multiple purposes.
Shen Zheng held the fire tongs and turned the dry firewood skillfully. The firewood burned more and more vigorously. It was estimated that it would not take long before the charcoal fire would be ignited.
Although Mo Qingwan had something on his mind and his emotions were still a little fluctuating, he was still surprised by the scene before him.
——How could a county magistrate burn wood and make a fire himself?
After looking around, she finally confirmed that this Lord Shen did not seem to have anyone to serve him.
How could this be? Mo Qingwan was puzzled.
Her maid also stayed outside the county government office and did not follow in. Now there were only the two of them in the pavilion. How could it be that the county magistrate was burning wood and making a fire while she, a merchant girl, was waiting to keep warm and drink hot tea?
While Mo Qingwan was tidying up her clothes, she also sorted out her emotions, then stepped forward and stretched out her hand, saying, "Master Shen, let me come here."
The fire tongs in Shen Zheng's hand had been going in and out of the firewood pile several times. He saw the dry firewood burn out and the charcoal fire began to turn red.
"No need." Shen Zheng placed the fire tongs next to the stove and patted the charcoal ash on her hands. "The charcoal is burning. Please sit down, Miss Mo."
Burning firewood in winter is a happy thing, but you can't burn firewood close to the rainy day - the smoke can't be exhausted and will rush straight to your face. You can't burn wet firewood either - the same reason.
"I'm scared." Mo Qingwan still refused to sit down.
When the kettle started to gurgle and emit white steam, she picked up the teapot before Shen Zheng, scalded it with boiling water, put in the tea leaves, poured boiling water, and covered the lid, all in one go.
This time she was willing to sit down.
"My family's scandal has made Master Shen laugh."
Shen Zheng looked at the forced smile on her face and sighed in her heart.
It is said that one should deal with one's own grudges behind closed doors, but what Mo Qingwan just said in the cell was obviously no longer a personal grudge, nor was it something that could be dealt with behind closed doors.
"Human life is at stake." Shen Zheng picked up a small cloth soaked in water to keep warm and poured a cup of tea for each of them. "Miss Mo, I only have one question for you."
As if Mo Qingwan knew what she was going to ask, she nodded and said, "Master Shen, please speak."
"What you just said, about Mo Zonkai's murder, has it been fairly judged by the government?" Shen Zheng asked.
If not, she, as the county magistrate, could not pretend not to hear it.
Mo Qingwan did not answer "yes" or "no", but lowered his head and thought, "That thing..."
After a moment, she raised her head, her eyes full of mixed emotions, and asked softly, "Lord Shen, are you willing to listen?"
Shen Zheng didn't expect Mo Qingwan to be willing to tell him everything. She nodded in surprise and said, "Ms. Mo, please go ahead."
Mo Qingwan said: "My daughter is twenty-five this year. Among girls, she can be considered an older girl."
The "girl" she mentioned only refers to unmarried women.
There are indeed not many unmarried women on the 25th of the lunar month. Mo Qingwan is one of them. Shen Zheng is about the same age and is also one of them. There is also Man Niang.
But age has never been a criterion for judging a woman's virtues - this has always been Shen Zheng's idea. So it's better not to take it to heart whether she is a big girl, a little girl, or an old girl.
Mo Qingwan continued, "But in fact, my daughter had already promised to marry the man she loved seven years ago."
Shen Zheng felt a sudden tightness in her heart when she heard that, and couldn't help but ask, "So the 'he' you mentioned..."
"That's right." Mo Qingwan's smile was tinged with bitterness, "He's my daughter's fiancé."
An idea suddenly popped into Shen Zheng's mind, making her unbelievable.
——If this is true, then it would not be an exaggeration to cut Mo Zonkai into pieces.
"There is another person." Mo Qingwan held the teacup with both hands, as if to keep warm, and the tea in the cup created ripples.
Shen Zheng nodded. Mo Qingwan just said, "What about them?"
So the victim was clearly not alone.
Mo Qingwan was lost in memories, staring at the tea with his eyes wide open, and said, "My daughter's fiancé is a pair of twins."
"Twins?" Shen Zheng frowned and looked at her. After hesitating, she asked her, "They are both..."
"All dead."
Mo Qingwan began to talk about what happened at that time. Her voice was still soft, as if it would disappear in the next moment.
She and her fiancé were in love with each other, and it was not arranged by her family. Naturally, the Mo family was opposed to this marriage at first.
She is the eldest daughter of the Mo family. Since she was born, her marriage has not been called a marriage, but a bargaining chip.
She could marry into the wealthy Li or Liu family as their principal wife, or she could become a concubine to some officials of moderate importance to pave the way for her family.
But she had her eyes on an idle wine merchant - his family had two wineries and five shops, so they were not rich, but they were definitely not poor. However, compared with the Mo family, his family was still too "poor".
Mo Qingwan said: "At that time, he was in his early twenties, free and easy, with many wonderful ideas. He traveled to several surrounding states just for a small ingredient, just to make a wine that satisfied himself. If he couldn't make it, the wine shop would not sell wine."
As Shen Zheng listened, she suddenly understood why Mo Qingwan was attracted to him.
——She is a bird in a cage, and the other is the mountain wind.
For Mo Qingwan, the four words "unconstrained" and the people and things related to them are very attractive to him.
Shen Zheng didn’t know whether she loved the other person or not, but Shen Zheng knew that she must love the other person’s willfulness and freedom.
The beginning of the story is always the same. In order to gain control over his own marriage, Mo Qingwan made a "betting agreement" with his family - within one year, he would increase the family's interest by 20%.
She won too.
Her talent for business was outstanding, even better than anyone else in the Mo family, including Mo's father, not to mention Mo Zonkai.
Just when she thought she had the power to control her own marriage, Father Mo suddenly changed his mind - how could he just let go of such a big cash cow?
Mr. Mo became even more aggressive and changed his mind, saying that he would not marry his daughter, but... he could find a son-in-law.
Marrying into a woman's family is a very shameful thing for a man. For Mo Qingwan, it is a face-saving thing, but it is not what she wants.
If the other party married into the Mo family, not only would Mo Qingwan not have escaped from the Mo family, but he would have led the other party into a fire pit.
The Mo family is a hell of a place.