Traveling through ancient times to escape famine, the prince led me to rebel

"Brother, I've made a serious mistake and will go to jail. Since Hu Zi is your nephew, please give him something to eat..."

Before Luo Xiaoran could say anything, Li Xinghua put on a miserable look.

At the same time, she also expressed her choice, which was the same as Luo Xiaoran guessed - she chose to be sent to the authorities.

"What nonsense are you talking about!"

Li Tun's eyes were as big as bells. He had not yet come to his senses from his father jumping into the river, and now he was confused by his sister's words.

Seeing that Li Xinghua stopped talking, Luo Xiaoran walked into the courtyard and said coldly:

"Let me explain. Li Xinghua destroyed the wooden planks on the bridge twice just to make my brother and I fall into the river. This is murder!"

As soon as these powerful words came out, Li Xinghua collapsed to the ground, and Li Tun took two steps back in disbelief.

"Impossible. Although Xinghua may be a bit temperamental sometimes, she would never do something that would harm others."

Li Tun looked at Luo Xiaoran and Du Kongqing, then at Li Xinghua, and still couldn't believe it.

But Li Xinghua no longer dared to look up at him. She cried for a while before she mustered up the courage again.

She knelt and crawled to Luo Xiaoran at a very fast speed, grabbed her dress and begged desperately, tears finally falling from her eyes:

"Miss Luo, I really didn't mean to drown you. I just wanted to give you a hard time. You southerners are all good at swimming, so I dared to do that.

Huzi is still young, he can't live without me, and my father also needs me to take care of him, please let me go."

Du Kongqing stood aside with a frown on his face, muttering to himself: "If I had known this would happen, why did I do it in the first place?"

Li Xinghua's begging for mercy lingered in the courtyard. Luo Xiaoran was in a daze, Du Kongqing was frowning, and Li Tun, Li Tun and his sister were kowtowing together, begging Luo Xiaoran for forgiveness.

"Kong Qing, Li Xinghua said she thought I could swim, so she sawed off the bridge plank. Do you believe it?" Luo Xiaoran suddenly spoke.

"This..." Du Kongqing was somewhat stumped by the question. After a while, she said uncertainly:

"When you and Chen'er first arrived in Hexi Village, there were indeed a lot of rumors in the village. I seem to have heard people talking about how southerners are good at swimming."

Hearing this, Li Xinghua seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw, and suddenly raised her head and looked at Luo Xiaoran:

"Yes! Miss Luo, I just heard someone say that you can swim, so I dared to do that. How dare I kill someone!"

Luo Xiaoran looked at her crying bitterly, sneered, and said lightly:

"The current in Dandan River is so fast that most people who fall in would have been washed away long ago. Even the best swimmers would have a hard time guaranteeing their safety!"

Li Xinghua tremblingly let go of Luo Xiaoran's dress, lowered her head, and said to herself:

"I didn't think of this. I just wanted to play a prank. I really didn't mean to kill anyone..."

After a while, looking at Li Xinghua who was a little dazed, Luo Xiaoran waved her hand:

"Forget it, Kong Qing will treat her hand. When it is healed, let her come to the Luo family to work for three years... No, let her work for five years to atone for her crime!"

After saying that, Luo Xiaoran deliberately leaned over and looked directly at Li Xinghua, smiling faintly: "Are you willing?"

Li Xinghua seemed to be unable to believe what was said, until she saw Luo Xiaoran's smile, she came to her senses and nodded repeatedly:

"I do! I do, Miss Luo! Thank you! Thank you!" She kowtowed again.

"Alright, alright! Stop knocking!"

Luo Xiaoran asked Du Kongqing to treat Li Xinghua's wound, mainly because she was afraid that her wound would get infected, and it would not be fun if she died in the end.

After all, being alive is sometimes the greatest punishment.

"Cut off the rotten flesh in those festering areas," Luo Xiaoran handed the dagger she carried with her to Du Kongqing, and instructed, "Remember to disinfect it first."

Du Kongqing took the dagger, took out the fire starter from his waist, blew it, and then placed the dagger on it to roast it for a while before starting to treat Li Xinghua's wound.

……

When leaving Li Xinghua's house, Du Kongqing hesitated to speak, but finally couldn't help asking:

"Xiao Ran, why did you let Li Xinghua go in the end?"

Luo Xiaoran fiddled with the dagger in her hand, which had just caused Li Xinghua to almost faint from the pain.

"It's not that I suddenly have a kind heart, but from the beginning to the end, we have no direct witnesses or physical evidence to prove Li Xinghua's crime."

Du Kongqing was a little confused, and then asked: "Didn't you say that the village chief saw her..."

"I tricked her on purpose. It was too dark and the village chief couldn't see clearly." Luo Xiaoran was also helpless.

"But she has already admitted it herself." Du Kongqing still didn't understand.

“It’s because she admitted it herself that I’m worried.

Li Xinghua is a person who appears rough on the outside but is actually delicate and thoughtful.

When she goes to court, she sees that there are no witnesses or evidence. If she denies it flatly, we will be unable to do anything to her and she will end up being charged with false accusation.

Even if she honestly confessed, the final conviction would at best be attempted murder or intentional injury.

According to the Daliang Law, attempted murder is punishable by three years of exile, and intentional injury is punishable by flogging according to the severity of the circumstances. In her case, the maximum punishment is forty strokes of the cane.

Rather than letting her be exiled and separated from Li Xiaohu, or being beaten half to death, it is better to keep her to work for me to atone for my crime. This will not only vent my anger, but also make the best use of her. "

Luo Xiaoran gave Du Kongqing a detailed analysis, and Du Kongqing finally understood:

"However, I still think you are soft-hearted. Is it because of Li Xiaohu? I always feel that you will be more tolerant when you encounter things related to children."

Luo Xiaoran smiled with a complicated expression, because she was also a mother.

“I did take Li Xiaohu into consideration, but I won’t suffer any loss if I handle it this way. Seeing her atone for her sins right in front of me makes me feel relieved.

Besides, I have to go to the county government to file a lawsuit. After An Ruquan's death, I don't want to be easily associated with the An County Magistrate's family."

"I understand." Du Kongqing nodded repeatedly, because she didn't want to hear anything about the An family.

Li Xinghua's matter came to an end. Luo Xiaoran began to ask about another matter: "How are the five acres of land in the north doing?"

"Everything is ready, just waiting to be planted." Du Kongqing replied quickly.

"Okay, then we will go into the mountains to find some medicinal herbs tomorrow. The mature ones will be given to you to prepare, and the seedlings will be transplanted directly here. These five acres of land will be considered our experimental field." Luo Xiaoran continued.

Du Kongqing hesitated: "Xiao Ran, can this be accomplished?"

"Whether it will work or not, you won't know until you go there!"

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to grow it.”

“In fact, the history of artificial cultivation of medicinal plants is very long. It can be said that medicinal materials have developed along with traditional Chinese medicine.

Even if we fail once, we will always succeed if we try a few more times.

By then, we can expand the planting area, and we can not only use the produced herbs ourselves, but also sell them to others!"