Chapter 38: Voluntarily Entering the Dungeon Alone

“This won’t do! My husband is still waiting for this money to get treatment!” Madam Wei burst into tears, looking at the deposit slip in her hand with utter despair and hopelessness.

“That’s right, that’s right, how can this be? Officer, you must lock up the Qin family’s daughter-in-law—no, the whole Qin family! They’re all in this together, all liars, heartless liars!”

“How could this happen? How could this happen?” Madam Wei mumbled, then suddenly collapsed to the ground.

“Mother? Mother? Hua’er, look what you’ve done! You’ve driven my mother to her death—pay for my mother! You killed her, and if she’s gone, I don’t want to live either!” The stout Wei San clung to his mother’s limp body, wailing in grief, then glared helplessly in Hua Qinci’s direction and cried even harder.

With tears streaming down his face, he got up and lunged toward the table, intent on hurting himself.

“Stop him!” Hua Qinci called out, quick as lightning. Qin Youtian and Constable Zhao leaped forward, restraining Wei San as he flailed and sobbed uncontrollably.

Casting a sidelong glance at him, Hua Qinci strode swiftly to Madam Wei’s side, quickly pinched the pressure point between her nose and lips, took her pulse, and then administered a few acupuncture needles.

After a while, Madam Wei finally regained consciousness.

“She’s awake, she’s awake! Madam Wei? How do you feel?” Another woman waved a hand in front of her eyes.

“I’m still alive?”

“You are, you are!”

“Mother!” Hua Qinci gestured, and Qin Youtian released Wei San, who rushed to his mother’s side. “Mother, are you alright? Are you alright?”

“Don’t worry, your mother’s fine for now, but she still needs medicine and continued care. I’m afraid this illness…” Not wanting to frighten them further, Hua Qinci changed her tone. “Don’t worry, leave it to me. I promise I can cure your mother’s illness.”

“Really? You can really cure my mother?” Wei San was so moved that a smile managed to break through his chubby cheeks.

“Of course! When I say I’ll do something, I mean it,” Hua Qinci replied.

“Tch, starting to lie again!” Liu Bingbing in the crowd scoffed dismissively.

“Mother, Mother, you can finally be cured, finally! We won’t have to hurt anymore, not ever again—Hua’er said she’ll make you well,” Wei San ignored Liu Bingbing entirely.

“Alright now, Wei San, help your mother upstairs to rest for a bit.”

“But what about you?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.” Hua Qinci nodded reassuringly.

Wei San anxiously helped Madam Wei upstairs. Only then did Constable Zhao step forward, sweeping his gaze over the crowd.

“Hua Qinci? What a coincidence, meeting again so soon—though I didn’t expect it to be under these circumstances. Things have gotten out of hand, haven’t they? There’s no way to resolve this, is there?” Constable Zhao paced in front of her, speaking without the slightest reservation.

With her eyes lowered and lips pressed together, Hua Qinci smiled. “Things have indeed gotten a bit out of hand, but it’s not yet beyond redemption.”

“Oh? Is that so?” Constable Zhao looked at her with growing interest, wondering what trick she could possibly have left to untangle this web.

Of all people, he knew the situation best. At this point, the Qin family would have to send someone to take the fall, or else the whole family might end up in prison.

A faint smile played at Hua Qinci’s lips as she walked over and sat at the table by the bed.

“Come, have some tea. Give me the time it takes to drink a cup—if I can’t resolve this, I’ll go to prison myself, willingly.”

“Qinci!” Qin Youtian hurried over, tugging at her sleeve, clearly about to protest, but before he could speak, Hua Qinci smiled and pulled him down to sit beside her.

“Don’t worry. Just wait a little longer.”