TSWRLM -Chapter 383 Case Closed

The Yu family originally ran a grain shop.

Their wealth was solid, but in Yuzhou City, they weren’t considered particularly rich or influential.

After Yu Zhao spent a fortune to redeem Madam Yu, Old Master Yu was furious and wanted to expel Yu Zhao from the family. The rest of the Yu family looked down on Madam Yu as well, calling her a shameless seductress.

But soon, the family’s opinion changed.

Madam Yu had helped the Yu family secure a major deal, which brought enormous profits. The Yu family not only accepted Madam Yu but also handed over control of the family business to Yu Zhao.

From then on, the Yu family’s business flourished, growing from a small grain shop into a large silk store. Yu Zhao quickly expanded into other ventures, and within a few years, the Yu family became well-known throughout Yuzhou City.

Even the local magistrates treated Yu Zhao with great respect.

Yu Zhao was no longer content to remain in Yuzhou City, so he moved the entire family to the capital, Hanjing.

“The Yu family’s rise is largely thanks to Madam Yu’s strategies behind the scenes. But she had no real business acumen—her role was to train the dancers, who would then entertain merchants, gather intelligence, and profit Yu Zhao,” Jingtao explained.

Jingtao’s eyes were red and swollen from crying, her throat hoarse, and her face pale with a lingering sense of death.

Chun Xi and Xiao Qinghe did not disturb her. Jingtao continued: “The dancers were all selected by Madam from the newly arrived maids. These girls came from poor families. Madam would say a few kind words and give them a little reward, and they would be deeply grateful.”

“Of course, there were some who resisted. Madam would drug them. If, after losing their virtue, they still didn’t behave, she would have them tied up and thrown into the backyard well—to avoid upsetting the guests and to prevent negative rumors about the Yu family.”

Xia Tao’s eyes widened as she heard this, unable to hold back her objection: “Sister, Madam is a good person. When she was in Yuzhou, she often did charitable acts for beggars. How could she do something like this?”

Jingtao smiled wryly, a mocking curl on her lips: “Madam wasn’t performing charity. She used the beggars to spread a good reputation, so more people would sell their daughters to the Yu family. Those with attractive features or good physiques would be chosen. They were told they would be taught dance, but in reality, they were learning how to please men.”

Jingtao was selected herself and discovered this secret by accident. She begged Madam Yu to spare her younger sister, and since Madam Yu was older and had a reputable image, she agreed—but on the condition that Jingtao take her place.

For years, to protect her sister, Jingtao trained many girls and in doing so, her hands became stained with several deaths.

After moving to Hanjing, Yu Zhao, fearing Jingtao might turn against him, forced her, promising that if she bore him a son, she could become a concubine.

Jingtao had planned to give birth safely, become a concubine, and then arrange a good marriage for Xia Tao—but Yu Zhao instead tricked her into sending Xia Tao to be someone else’s concubine.

“After Madam taught me all her skills, I carried out all the dirty work. I deserve death, but my sister truly knows nothing. I beg Miss Xiao and Madam Shen to spare my sister’s life,” Jingtao said, finishing the full truth. Her face was ashen as she knelt and kowtowed.

Xia Tao followed suit: “My sister did all that to protect me, out of desperation. I beg Madam Shen and Miss Xiao not to punish her.”

Though Jingtao’s words still required verification, the deep bond of sisterly love displayed by both moved everyone present.

Chun Xi had them stand and, after a moment of thought, asked Jingtao: “How did your voice get damaged?”

Jingtao’s face went pale as she whispered: “Madam gave me a silencing drug. She feared that if I knew too many secrets, it would harm the Yu family in the future. Luckily, it only ruined my voice instead of silencing me completely. To protect myself, I provoked a rift between Madam and the Old Master.”

Although Madam Yu did all this for the Yu family, her ruthless methods made people wary.

Yu Zhao also feared Madam’s wrath and her potential poisoning.

With Jingtao’s testimony, Chun Xi immediately sent Uncle Hu and Uncle Bao posthaste to Yuzhou.

Though the Yu family had relocated to Hanjing, their old residence in Yuzhou had not been sold but was entrusted to a distant relative for safekeeping.

When Uncle Hu and Uncle Bao infiltrated the old house, they indeed found piles of white bones in the well Jingtao had mentioned.

They brought Shen Qingyuan’s handwritten letter to the Yuzhou magistrate, who, along with officials, entered the old house. The bones were finally exposed to sunlight.

Forensic examination revealed the bones belonged to adolescent girls.

The revelation shocked the citizens of Yuzhou.

Old Master Yu and Madam Yu were renowned for their benevolence—how could their household contain so many dead girls?

Uncle Hu and Uncle Bao immediately sent a pigeon message back to Hanjing. Chun Xi handed all the evidence to the Jingzhao authorities.

When Madam Yu was captured, she had been colluding with Xie Fu, who coaxed her into extracting as much inheritance from the Yu family as possible. Once arrested, Xie Fu recanted, claiming that Madam Yu had seduced him, and he was only helping her out of gratitude and pity. He knew nothing of the atrocities Madam Yu and Yu Zhao committed.

In the Jingzhao authorities, the Yu family began turning on each other, each trying to exonerate themselves. The sinister nature of human greed was fully revealed.

After several days of interrogation, Yu Zhao and Madam Yu both confessed.

Madam Yu had originally intended to secure the big deal to remain the Yu family’s mistress. She did not expect Yu Zhao to become greedy and have her secretly train the dancers to curry favor with merchants and expand business.

At first, Madam Yu felt guilty, but as the family business grew and her life improved, that guilt faded into greater desire.

Unknowingly, with so many deaths on her hands, she lost several pregnancies and fell ill, which strained her relationship with Yu Zhao.

Learning that Yu Zhao forced Jingtao, Madam Yu became extremely anxious. Xie Fu appeared at this moment, filling her loneliness and advising her to fabricate a tragic story to enlist Xiao Qinghe’s and Princess Hengyang’s help to claim part of the family fortune and elope with Xie Fu.

Madam Yu, Yu Zhao, and Xie Fu each had their schemes—but they had miscalculated from the start. The power they sought to leverage became the blade that exposed their hypocrisy.

The case concluded: the Yu family’s assets were confiscated, Yu Zhao and Madam Yu were to be sent back to Yuzhou for execution, and the other family members received varying degrees of punishment. The girls who were victimized would be rescued based on Jingtao’s list by Uncle Hu and Uncle Bao.

Reading the official notice, Xiao Qinghe felt a heavy heart.

Madam Yu, fallen into prostitution, was a person of misfortune. Yet, fully aware of the suffering, she still let greed cloud her judgment, harming countless innocent girls.

How could human hearts be so wicked?

Lost in thought, Que Zhi suddenly burst into the room, cheerfully announcing: “Miss, General Xiao has come to propose!”