In the cell across the corridor, Sarah Carter, who had been in a deep sleep, suddenly shuddered and woke up. Her face was haggard, and an expression of extreme terror appeared on her face.

The husband and wife looked at each other across the corridor. Sarah Carter said sorrowfully, “Master, even if I die, I will never enter the Jiaofang Division.”

She was thirty this year, well maintained, a beautiful woman with great charm. Even in prison, living in fear and looking worn out, the allure in her eyes and brows was still hard to conceal.

What kind of place was the Jiaofang Division?

It was a purgatory for women.

The scarred Peter Bennett opened his mouth but couldn’t speak. Suddenly, tears streamed down his face. “Wife, it’s my fault. We’ll go to the underworld together, and in the next life, I’ll work like an ox or a horse to make it up to you. But I pity the children, and my nephew as well.”

They were curled up in the corner of the cell, and now they too were awakened.

The sixteen-year-old girl sat up, her messy hair framing a fair, oval face. Her lips were thin and rosy, her eyes large and bright. Unlike most women, her nose was not small and delicate, but high and straight, giving her features a particularly three-dimensional, exquisite beauty.

There was a kind of serene, sculpted beauty about her.

Instinctively, she moved closer to her mother, her thick eyelashes trembling lightly with fear.

Several jailers, sabers at their waists, strode in confidently.

Despair and resolve flashed in Sarah Carter’s eyes.

Peter Bennett gripped the bars tightly, his knuckles pale, jaw clenched. He had lost the tax silver and neglected his duty—he believed he deserved death. But to implicate his wife and daughters, he could not die in peace.

Especially his youngest daughter, only a few years old, about to be sent to the Jiaofang Division to be raised—a life shrouded in darkness.

As parents, how could they accept this?

“Peter Bennett, come with us. After you sign and leave your fingerprint, you can go.” The jailer opened the cell door, did not shackle them, and stood in the corridor, tapping the bars with the end of his saber, signaling them to come out on their own.

“Peter Bennett has been loyal to the country all his life, his whole family loyal and heroic... Eh, what did you say?” Uncle Bennett doubted his own ears.

What does that mean?

“We can leave? You just said we can leave.” Peter Bennett was in disbelief. “What’s going on? Weren’t you taking me out to be executed?”

“No idea,” the jailer replied impatiently. “That’s the order from above. If you want to know, ask when you get out.”

Sarah Carter was bewildered and uneasy, holding her two daughters’ hands. The family silently followed the jailers toward the end of the corridor.

“Master... they’re not tricking us, are they?”

“How could it be such a joke?” Peter Bennett, injured, limped as he walked. He was just as confused, feeling both the joy of surviving a disaster and the bewilderment of not understanding the situation.

A thought struck Sarah Carter: “It must be William, it must be William who has been running around outside these days, helping us pull some strings, so the court is showing us mercy.”

The more she thought about it, the more likely it seemed. Excited, she said, “Master, don’t forget, William’s teacher was the Vice Minister of Justice in the 18th year of Yuanjing.”

The 18th year of Yuanjing... that was more than twenty years ago... Peter Bennett felt something was off, but couldn’t think of anyone else to rely on in officialdom, since he had no powerful backers.

“Maybe so.”

“I told you our William is a dragon among men. Back then, I wanted him to practice martial arts, but you wouldn’t agree, insisting that Andrew Bennett, that little rascal, should be the one to train.”

“Mom, bunnies are so cute, I want to eat bunny.” The youngest daughter tilted her dirty little face up, nibbling on her finger, her eyes full of longing.

“All you think about is eating...” The irritable Sarah Carter scolded instinctively, but looking at her youngest daughter’s dirty little face, her expression softened. “Good girl, you’ll have bunny to eat soon.”

Peter Bennett couldn’t be bothered to explain

that “your son has no talent for martial arts.” No matter how many times he said it, his wife would automatically ignore it.

In a mother’s eyes, her son is always the best.

When they reached the place to sign and leave fingerprints, Peter Bennett took the brush from the yamen clerk, his fingers trembling slightly. After signing his name and pressing his fingerprint, Peter Bennett felt a kind of transcendence.

Like a seed buried deep underground sprouting and seeing the sunlight.

The world suddenly became so beautiful, even though he didn’t have a single extra copper coin.

His wife and daughters didn’t need to sign, only to leave their fingerprints.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Peter Bennett cupped his hands and said, “Sir, may I ask why our crimes have been pardoned?”

Sarah Carter immediately looked at the clerk.

“The case has been solved, and the tax silver has been recovered,” the clerk replied.

“The tax silver has been recovered? Haha, good, good! Damn fiend, how dare you rob the tax silver of Great Feng.”

Uncle Bennett was quite excited. After laughing, he realized that according to the laws of Great Feng, even though the tax silver was recovered, his dereliction of duty was real.

Recovering the tax silver wasn’t his achievement—why would the court spare him from the death penalty?

Even if they were lenient, it should be exile to the borderlands.

“Mr. Bennett, here is your official robe, please keep it safe.” The clerk handed over the green robe of an eighth-rank military officer that had been taken earlier.

He was even reinstated... Peter Bennett realized something was wrong. As he took the robe, he asked in a deep voice, “Sir, could you explain this to me?”

With the official robe in hand, he spoke with a bit more confidence.

By rights, even if spared the death penalty, he shouldn’t have been reinstated.

“According to the laws of Great Feng, if an elder in the family violates the law, the descendants may atone for the father’s crime with meritorious service,” the clerk said.