A life of two souls traveling through time

In Qile City, the government office was solemn and majestic. The prefect You Zhiji, who was sitting in the court, knocked the gavel on the desk and looked at the Zhang couple who were kneeling in tears and asked sternly: "Zhang Da, Liu Madam, are you and your wife saying that your sister Zhang Xiaoyue was killed by Li Yunye, the son of the Li family?"

"Sir, they have wronged me without any basis!" Jiang Siyao's eyes were red at this time, and she felt aggrieved. Mr. Li hated his son so much that he did not push him out out of consideration for their blood relationship. Mrs. Li was weak and incompetent and could not be relied on. It seemed that she could only rely on herself to defend and save herself.

"Yes, Mr. Zhang, Ms. Liu, any case in the court must be based on evidence. Do you two have any evidence to accuse the young master of the Li family?" The prefect You Zhiji continued to ask in a serious tone.

"Our... Sir, my sister was raped by the young master of the Li family and kicked out of the mansion. She was so ashamed that she threw herself into the river and committed suicide!"

"Yes, sir, although my sister-in-law was not directly harmed by Mr. Li, she is definitely related to him!"

"You are talking nonsense. Zhang Xiaoyue has left the Li Mansion for a month and a half. You can't blame her no matter what..." An Ge, who was following behind Li Yunye, couldn't help but want to defend his master, but before he could finish his words, Master Li turned around and glared at him. He was so scared that he had to shut up.

"Was Zhang Xiaoyue kicked out of the Li Mansion a month and a half ago?" the prefect then asked Li Yunye.

"Yes." Li Yunye nodded nervously.

"Why do you want to kick Zhang Xiaoyue out of the mansion?" Li Yunye's nervousness was naturally noticed by the prefect.

“She…she…”

"Sir, it was Zhang Xiaoyue who broke the rules first and tried to seduce my young master, so he drove her out in a rage." An Ge was a young man, and seeing Li Yunye hesitating and unable to speak, he became very anxious, and without caring about the presence of the master, he quickly stepped forward and knelt.

"Sir, this is slander. Everyone in the entire Qile City knows that the young master of the Li family is a playboy and obscene. Why does he need to seduce a girl? They are bullying my sister and ruining her innocence because she can't speak. Sir, you have to do the justice for me, for my poor sister!" Zhang Da fell to the ground and cried loudly after hearing Ange's words.

The people who were listening to the trial outside the hall were also in an uproar, feeling indignant for the Zhang family. Mr. Li's face became embarrassed again.

"Silence, silence!" The prefect knocked the gavel again with an irritated look on his face.

The husband said he was right, and the wife said she was right, but neither of them could produce any convincing evidence. Moreover, the deceased committed suicide by jumping into the river one and a half months after leaving the Li Mansion. How could it be determined that the death of the deceased was related to the son of the Li family? Moreover, the reputation of this famous Li in Jiangnan could directly affect the economy of Qile City. Now that public opinion has become a big deal, how should it be properly handled?

Just as the prefect You Zhiji was feeling dizzy looking at the crowd gathered outside the hall and talking about something, the sound of drums suddenly rang out outside the yamen.

"Go and see who is beating the drum?" Although the prefect had an impatient look on his face, he was very grateful in his heart that the person beating the drum showed up in time and temporarily relieved his dilemma.

"Your Excellency, the one beating the drum is a blind old woman who claims to be suing the Zhang couple."

"Bring her here!" The prefect hurriedly waved his hand to signal someone to bring the blind old woman into the court.

When the Zhang couple heard that they were here to sue them, they turned around and saw the silver-haired old woman being helped forward by the bailiff and were stunned. As for the Li family, except for Li Yunye and An Ge who looked confused, Mr. Li and Manager Yuan both secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who is here? Tell me your name?" With a bang, the gavel was struck again.

"My lord, I'm Wu, and I live in Tongshui Town outside the city. I'm also a neighbor of the Zhang family." The old woman bent down with her cane and replied in a trembling voice.

"Ms. Zhang, Ms. Liu, do you two know Ms. Wu?" the prefect turned to ask the Zhang couple.

"Reply...Reply to your Excellency, Aunt Wu is indeed our neighbor, but..." Seeing that her husband was too nervous to speak, Liu cursed in her heart before raising her head slightly to answer.

"Auntie Wu, why did you beat the drum just now? Please tell me slowly about your grievance." Without waiting for Liu to finish, the prefect turned to look at the blind old woman and asked in a gentle voice.

"My Lord, I am not beating the drum for myself, but to appeal for the injustice of Zhang Xiaoyue, who is lying in that coffin with her eyes wide open. I want to sue the Zhang couple for forcing her own sister to death for money!"

The blind old woman's words were trembling but powerful, shocking the audience. They all turned their heads to look at the coffin in the corner. Only the Zhang couple looked pale and looked at the old woman beside them in shock and fear.

"Auntie, you are really getting old and confused. You have started talking nonsense again. This is the government office, not home..." Liu nervously wanted to raise her hand to grab the old woman, but when she saw the prefect in the hall staring at her, she had to give up and forced a smile.

"Hmph, daughter-in-law of the Zhang family, don't be in a hurry to accuse an old woman like me of some kind of madness. Although I am old and blind, my mind is as clear as a mirror. I don't care if you bully an isolated and helpless old woman like me on weekdays, but Xiaoyue is your sister, Zhang Da, but she was forced to death by you and your wife. Are you still a human being, Zhang Da? Are you worthy of your dead parents?" The old woman became more and more excited as she spoke, and she almost cried out at the end.

Seeing that the blind old woman was so emotional that she could not stay still, the prefect ordered his men to arrange for the old woman to sit nearby.

"Ms. Wu, you want to sue the Zhang couple for forcing Zhang Xiaoyue to death for money. Where do you start? Do you have any evidence?" When the discussions of the onlookers died down a bit, the prefect You Zhiji continued to ask the blind old woman.

"My Lord, ever since Xiaoyue left the Li Mansion and returned home, she has often been beaten and scolded by the Zhang family couple, and her body is covered with new wounds every day. She would occasionally sneak to me to cry, otherwise how would a blind old woman like me know all this? The day before Xiaoyue jumped into the river, she cried to me again and said that her brother and sister-in-law wanted to sell her to the old man Shi in the neighboring town as a concubine. The old man Shi is already in his 80s and will soon be buried. Isn't this pushing her into the fire pit? I only regret that I, a blind old woman, can't make the decision for her..."

"Auntie, stop talking nonsense. How could I... harm my sister?" Zhang Da, who had been silent for a long time, burst into tears and pounded the ground with his fists and cried.

"Whether Aunt Wu is talking nonsense or not, we can prove it by opening the coffin and examining the wounds on the deceased's body." The prefect looked at Zhang Da with contempt and sneered, then continued to shout, "Where is the coroner?"

"Sir, please don't open the coffin. I admit it..."

"Sir, the dead are the most important. My sister-in-law is still an unmarried girl and cannot perform an autopsy!"

"Zhang Da, what do you admit?" The prefect ignored the woman's interruption and stared at Zhang Da who was lying on the ground crying and asked sternly.

"Sir, my sister...my sister was..."

"The boss!"

"Liu, please stop obstructing me!" He was interrupted at the critical moment again, and the prefect slammed the gavel in anger again.

"It's all your fault! It's all your fault!" Zhang Da suddenly raised his head and slapped Liu twice, crying and cursing, "If you hadn't been so greedy that you took other people's money and forced Xiaoyue to become that old man Shi's concubine, she wouldn't have jumped into the river to commit suicide!"

"You bastard, you've tried to clear yourself of all charges now. Your eyes were shining when you collected the money..." After being slapped twice, Liu came to her senses and did not give up. She scratched and clawed Zhang Da. The couple fought in the court. The people who were deceived and stood up for the Zhang family at first turned to angrily accuse and abuse the Zhang couple, and the government office fell into chaos.