A life of two souls traveling through time

On the night of New Year's Eve in Qile City, just after the hour of You, the maids and servants in the Li Mansion gathered in the Plum Garden again. They all bowed and saluted in front of the mistress of the Li family with festive faces, saying auspicious words. Madam Li happily accepted the gifts and distributed bags of red purses to everyone. Li Yunye, who was accompanying Madam Li to stay up all night, was very jealous when he saw the red purses wrapped in red purses. Although he knew that he would get some later, he couldn't help but imitate the auspicious words of the previous maid and asked Madam Li for a red envelope, which immediately caused everyone to laugh. Madam Li was even teary-eyed by her son.

At the same time, in front of the dry well in the Zhao family villa outside the city, there were six skeletons with broken, bent and dislocated bones, two rotten corpses and one charred corpse. The nine corpses hidden in the rich villa was horrifying. Even the detectives who were accustomed to seeing dead bodies were shocked. The prefect You Zhiji who rushed to the scene was furious when he saw this scene.

"Sir, according to the old servant of the Zhao family, the two rotten corpses are the two ruffians we are looking for. They were poisoned to death by Zhao Chu and then thrown into the well by his follower Xiao Si. The charred corpse is Old Man Hong, who was deceived by Zhao Chu to come here and burned alive after he went to the Zhao Mansion to ask for a daughter but failed. The other six skeletons include one of Old Man Hong's daughter who was abducted by Zhao Chu. The others are girls bought from other places by Zhao Chu's pimps. They were all..."

"Stop talking." Before Captain Zhou could finish, You Zhiji could no longer bear to listen. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said with a gloomy expression, "Surround the Zhao family and arrest them!"

In Qile City, the people gathered at home to celebrate the New Year. The officials in the government office rushed out to the Zhao Mansion. On the other side, Xiao Si, who had learned the news in advance, ran in a hurry in the dark alley and entered the Zhao Mansion through the back door first:

"Master, Master, something bad has happened!"

At this time, in the Zhao family hall, Zhao Changhe was talking to his son, daughter and son-in-law about interesting business stories when he was young. Suddenly, he saw Xiao Si running in breathlessly, and immediately frowned and scolded:

"You are so flustered and don't take the seriousness of the matter seriously. It's Chinese New Year, so what can go wrong..."

"Something bad has happened, sir. The government is coming to arrest you!"

Xiao Si was already sweating profusely at this time, and his face was so anxious that he stomped his feet repeatedly and replied without waiting for Zhao Changhe to finish his lecture.

"You...what did you say? What does the government want to do to me?" Zhao Chu was shocked after hearing this. He stood up and looked at Xiao Si and asked guiltily. At the same time, he recalled in his mind: I haven't done anything in these days that should alarm the government?

"Yes...something happened in the villa!" At this time, Xiao Si was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

When the four people in the hall heard that it was a separate courtyard, their faces changed drastically. The impatient Zhao Chan even shouted at his brother angrily:

"I usually advise you to do less trouble, but now..."

"Okay, now is not the time to quarrel! Xiao Si, take the young master out through the back door immediately and hide in your mother's house first. I will find a way to send you out of the city tomorrow." Zhao Changhe, who was always calm, was now sweating profusely. In the past, his son's minor fights could be dealt with by spending some money, but there were several lives involved in the villa. He learned about it after Old Man Hong made a scene in the mansion a few months ago. Although he was so angry that he beat his son on the spot, he was his own flesh and blood after all, and he had to protect him no matter how much he hated him.

"Dad, you must find a way to save your son..." Zhao Chu was so frightened at this time that he didn't know how to react. He just grabbed his father's arm tightly and begged.

"You bastard, are you scared now? Get out of here!" It would have been fine if his son Zhao Chu didn't make trouble for him, but when he did, Zhao Changhe was so angry that he kicked this useless son to the ground.

Xiao Si heard dogs barking everywhere outside and expected that the official was about to arrive. He didn't bother to say anything else and grabbed Zhao Chu from the ground and ran to the back door. The servants and maids in the mansion saw the two people sneaking out of the back door from afar and were used to it, but it was the first time that the young master was not at home to celebrate the New Year.

As expected, as soon as Xiao Si and Zhao Chu left, the officials who arrived surrounded the Zhao Mansion.

"Bai Yu, take Chan'er back to her room and don't let her get scared." Hearing the commotion outside the door, Zhao Changhe glanced at his daughter who was already in tears and pregnant, and hurriedly said to his son-in-law beside him.

Bai Yu was also pale and uneasy at this time, so he did not hear what his father-in-law said.

"You irresponsible thing, you haven't done anything against the law, but why are you scared like this?" Zhao Chan was immediately annoyed when she saw her husband was stunned with fear. She raised her hand and slapped him in the face and cursed.

"What are you thinking, madam? I'm just worried about Brother Chu." Bai Yu finally reacted and looked at his wife with a wronged look on his face.

"Alright, alright, stop joking and go back to your room!" At this time, the door of the Zhao Mansion had been slammed loudly. If it was not opened, someone outside might bang on the door. After Zhao Changhe drove his daughter and son-in-law back to the room, he hurriedly ordered someone to open the door.

Zhao Chu followed Xiao Si, stumbling through alleys, dodging streets, and climbing over walls into a remote and dilapidated courtyard.

"Mother, mother..."

After Xiao Si leaned over the window and called out a few times in a low voice, a trembling white-haired old man finally opened the door. When he saw that it was his son, he immediately frowned:

"Asshole, what are you doing back here? You've been drinking and gambling outside again and you're here to ask for money? I don't have any money. If you want money, go to the Zhao family. I would have sold you to the Zhao family a long time ago anyway."

Xiao Si was not annoyed when her mother scolded her. She just smiled and pulled Zhao Chu into the house. The white-haired old woman didn't see who was coming for a moment. She turned around and was about to scold again, but she saw the young master of the Zhao family sitting aside with a bitter face. She quickly changed her expression, ran to the young master Zhao enthusiastically, bowed repeatedly and wished him a happy new year.

Seeing that the young master still looked like he had lost his soul, Xiao Si hurriedly pulled his mother aside and made up an excuse that the young master would stay at home for one night and asked her to prepare a new bed and quilt. Although the white-haired old woman despised her son who only knew how to drink and gamble all day, she was very happy to see the young master of the Zhao family visiting her home during the New Year. She stopped scolding her son and went to make the bed with a smile.

"Young master, don't worry. Just stay here tonight and the master will come to pick you up out of the city tomorrow." Xiao Si saw that his mother was in another room, so he came to Zhao Chu and whispered to comfort her.

"Xiao Si, my father...my father won't ignore me, right?" Zhao Chu came back to his senses after hearing Xiao Si's comfort.

"What are you thinking, young master? How could the master not care about you? No matter what, you are still the master's own flesh and blood."

With Xiao Si's repeated comfort, Zhao Chu finally calmed down.

"What? Zhao Chu is missing?"

The officials failed to find Zhao Chu at Zhao's house and had to return to the yamen to report. When the prefect You Zhiji heard about it, he was even more furious.

"The Zhao family moved faster than us. It seems the news has leaked. No matter how defensive we are, it's hard to defend against our own people." Zhou Bing on the side sighed helplessly.

"The cleansing within the government office is a matter of time, and the most urgent task is to arrest Zhao Chu." Although You Zhiji said so, he also knew that the water in the government office would never be clear.

"Sir, do you want to search the whole city tonight?"

"No, we shouldn't alert the people of the city on New Year's Eve. Fortunately, we have already guarded the four city gates an hour ago. I think Zhao Chu hasn't left the city yet. Send some more people to keep an eye on the Zhao family, and search the whole city tomorrow."

"Yes."