Chapter 487: Li Bihan Imprisoned

Chapter 487: Li Bihan Goes to Jail

"She ran away! She actually dared to elope with someone!" Cheng Bingzhi, whose mind worked at a snail's pace, finally grasped the situation.

"What? Your Second Miss ran off with the coachman?"

At that moment, the steward's son from the household of Duke Liu's second uncle walked in upon hearing the commotion.

When Li Bihan saw him enter, she felt her head spin even more.

"Let me tell you, if you can't produce her, you'll have to return the money!"

"Money? I don't have any! If you want money, go ask my sister and that coachman who ran off with her!" Cheng Bingzhi clutched his chest and put on a shameless act.

Just then, a loud clanging noise came from outside the courtyard.

"Li Bihan! Cheng Bingzhi!"

A deep male voice boomed outside. Li Bihan and the others walked out from the backyard to find a group of formidable officers at their door.

Seeing the officers, Cheng Bingzhi immediately spoke up, "Your timing is perfect! My sister ran off with the coachman from our household—hurry and bring her back!"

The leading officer shot him a sideways glance and snorted, "We're not here to catch anyone for you."

By now, Li Bihan had slowly regained her wits. She looked at the formidable officers before her and forced a fawning, pitiful smile. "Officer, what brings you here?"

"It's all because of your own misdeeds!" The officer waved his hand, and his men surrounded the two of them. "Seize Li Bihan and Cheng Bingzhi and haul them to the magistrate's office!"

"Why are you arresting us?"

Li Bihan shrieked at the top of her lungs, "Injustice! Injustice! Officer, what have we even done? You can't just arrest innocent folk!"

"Innocent?" The officer sneered. "Were you innocent when you spread rumors about Deputy Magistrate Xu's daughter?"

Hearing this, Li Bihan's heart dropped to her stomach. Her eyes widened. "We... we didn't..."

As she spoke, several local hoodlums were pushed forward.

"We've caught them all—they've confessed that you were the ones who ordered them!" The officer glared at Li Bihan while restraining the street thugs. "What more do you have to say for yourself?"

Li Bihan never expected they had actually arrested the men.

The hoodlums, upon seeing Li Bihan, immediately pointed at her. "It's her! It's her!"

"Your Honor, she's the one who paid us to spread those lies!"

"Your Honor, we're innocent!"

At this point, Li Bihan was seized in terrified confusion.

Beside her, Cheng Bingzhi was manhandled into custody. He shouted frantically, "You can't arrest us! Do you even know who we are?"

Hearing this, a spark of hope flared in her chest. "That's right! We're from [Duke Liu's residence] Ningyang Marquis's Mansion! You can't arrest us!"

They had powerful backing—the Marquis's Mansion was their towering oak of protection. Ordinary lawsuits wouldn't dare touch them. In times of trouble, the Marquis's Mansion was their unshakable support!

If they wanted to take them away, they had to notify the Marquis's Mansion first!

The officer snorted even louder at this. "We've already cleared it with your master. The Ningyang Marquis's Mansion said to let the law take its course with you!"

Bang!

A bolt from the blue.

This time, it hit like a thunderclap!

The Ningyang Marquis washed his hands of them!

At this moment, Li Bihan suddenly remembered the day Lu Lingyun had summoned her and the way she’d taunted her.

She had incited Lu Lingyun to turn against her sister, demanding they get justice.

And Lu Lingyun had indeed sought justice for them—

Only, she had dug into every last detail of the incident, uncovering everything!

She had exposed all the people they had bribed to spread the rumors, giving her a taste of her own medicine!

Lu Lingyun couldn’t be bothered to argue with her or listen to her excuses. Faced with her provocations and schemes, she had simply hauled her straight to the magistrate.

"Mother, Mother! What’s going to happen to us?"

"Mother, I don’t want to go to jail!"

Ningyang Marquis’s residence.

Lu Lingyun lounged lazily on a long chair, listening to the report from her subordinate.

"My Lady, we’ve received word from the magistrate—they’ve thrown them in jail."

Hearing this, Lu Lingyun gave a faint smirk.

Li Bihan had thought spreading rumors wouldn’t be traced back to her, but she had offended Deputy Magistrate Xu. After receiving Lu Lingyun’s unmistakable hint, he had thoroughly reinvestigated the incident.

Moreover, retracing their steps with the answer in hand, he had identified the ruffians who knew Li Bihan and interrogated them one by one. Once he had the names of those who had spread the rumors, getting confessions was a breeze.

Soon, they were all exposed.

That day, Li Bihan had taunted her, demanding evidence and proof of her innocence. This time, Lu Lingyun had given her everything—crystal clear, no denying it.

"Li Bihan confessed in court, but she shouldered all the blame herself," Chunxing continued reporting to Lu Lingyun. "Third Master walked free, while she took the fall! They say she’ll do three years behind bars!"

Hearing this, Lu Lingyun couldn’t help but sigh softly.

In this world, a mother’s love knows no bounds. At the critical moment, she had taken the fall to secure her son’s future.

After all, the trouble had started with Cheng Bingzhi’s own actions.

But ultimately, it was also Li Bihan’s failure as a mother—coddling and enabling him, allowing him to cause trouble again and again.

She nodded and started to rise when Chunxing spoke again.

"Oh, My Lady, there’s one more piece of news from Luogu Lane!"

"What is it?"

Chunxing’s expression turned extremely odd as she said, "Second Miss eloped with the coachman!"

Lu Lingyun ???

She stood frozen for a moment, clearly just as shocked by the news.

The maids in the courtyard all came rushing over, buzzing with disbelief.

"No way!"

"That can't be true!"

"How could the Second Miss run away with a mere coachman!"

"It's absolutely true. It was Wei Dahai, the coachman assigned to her before. He abducted Second Miss," Chunxing glanced at the group. "From what I heard, someone from Duke Liu's residence came earlier today. Apparently Concubine Li was planning to send Second Miss to their household as a concubine for the second master. But they couldn't find her—she had already run off with the coachman!"

The maids erupted in even louder chatter.

"So it was Concubine Li who wanted to make her a concubine!"

"That Concubine Li has gone too far! Second Miss is still a daughter of the Marquis's Mansion. She could've at least married a minor official as a proper wife! How dare she send her off as a concubine!"

"No wonder Second Miss ran away. Being forced into concubinage would ruin her life!"

"Don't be ridiculous! She could have sought help from the madam! Why lower herself like that and run off with a coachman!"

"Exactly! If she had come to beg the madam, the madam would surely have found her a good husband to be a proper wife in a respectable family. What was she thinking eloping with a coachman!"

Lu Lingyun listened to the maids' shocked and bewildered comments and gently shook her head. She simply said to them, "No more talk about this."

"And Chunxing, keep this quiet. No one else must know of it."

"Yes, madam!"

As the maids dispersed, Lu Lingyun thought about Cheng Lanying's elopement with the coachman and couldn't help but sigh.

Of all the children, Cheng Lanying was the most like Cheng Yunshuo.