In the book, I was fed by my sister

Today the sky was gloomy, the air was stuffy, and the heat was so intense that even a breeze could hardly blow into the government office. Wu Shiye was sweating profusely. He kept taking out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his forehead. While keeping his eyes on the county magistrate, he looked out from time to time and muttered quietly, "Why hasn't the person I sent to look for Yang Wen come back yet?"

Song Ran was forced to kneel in the hall. She had not taken a single drop of water since she was arrested yesterday. Her throat felt like burnt wood. She didn't know when she would be able to escape from this nightmare. She was in constant fear and despair, which made her dizzy.

"Report!" The yamen runner sent by the master to look for Yang Wen rushed into the government office in a panic. He stumbled all the way and looked very flustered.

"What happened!" The dozing county magistrate was awakened. His fat body shuddered and he almost fell off the stool.

"You are so flustered and have no manners!" The lawyer scolded the yamen runner and quickly turned around to support the county magistrate.

After the county magistrate stood up, he asked, "What's the matter?"

The yamen runner replied tremblingly: "Someone was found murdered in Huanwufang, south of the city."

The lawyer helped the county magistrate sit down and said in a nonchalant tone: "It's just a dead person, you and Gu Wu go check it out."

"The one who died was... Attorney Yang Wenyang."

"What! Dead?" The county magistrate stood up suddenly, his eyes in the cracks of his flesh looking as if they were about to fall out. "How did he die?"

"He was found dead in bed with a woman, both of them apparently strangled."

"Let Zhang Gaopeng investigate!" The county magistrate said as he fell back into his chair and murmured, "Could it be... Could it be..."

"Don't panic, sir." The lawyer glanced at Song Ran below, then leaned over and whispered in the county magistrate's ear, "It's impossible that the people above know about it. If they knew, they wouldn't resort to such means. I'm afraid Yang Wen is being killed by a vendetta."

Hearing this, he also thought of this possibility, and his heart, which had just been hanging in the air, was slightly relieved. He looked at Song Ran who was kneeling in the hall, and asked the master, "Why hasn't the court session started today?"

Master Wu shook his head and replied, "It's strange to say that the plaintiff Wu Dongmei and her group haven't arrived yet."

"Then take her away first and we'll discuss it later. Master Wu, I'm still worried. Let's go to the south of the city to take a look."

*

When Wan Shu and his party hurried to Huanwufang in the south of the city, they saw a large crowd of people gathered outside the square, bustling and talking. Many yamen runners were coming in and out, looking extremely busy. Li Wanshu's heart tightened, fearing that something bad was going to happen.

He couldn't squeeze into the crowd, so he stopped a young man in front of him and asked, "Young man, I want to ask you, which door does Yang Wen, the lawyer, live in in Huanwufang?"

The young man who was talking to the other side was asked by Li Wanshu. He turned around and looked at him with a joking tone, "You are looking for Yang Wen, but you will probably never meet him."

Li Wanshu was stunned and looked at the young man in confusion: "Why is this?"

The young man pursed his lips and motioned him to look around: "Look for yourself, he's surrounded like this, what else could it be? He's been..." As he said that, the young man made a gesture of wiping his neck.

The man next to the young man shook his head and said with a smile: "I don't know which hero did this, it's really a way to get rid of harm for the people."

"Hush! Be careful. If you are heard, the officials coming in and out might arrest you and question you."

Li Wanshu's heart was shocked, and her face suddenly became solemn. She turned to Grandma Gu and asked, "Then... shall we go directly to the government office?"

Even though this "guide" is gone, we still need to find the next exit. Since Yang Wen is gone, let's just go to the yamen and try.

The three of them turned around and headed towards the government office, but were told by the official that the court was adjourned that day.

"Can we meet Master Wu?" Li Wanshu asked unwillingly.

"You can see the lawyer whenever you want. What do you want to do?" The gatekeeper responded sternly. When the county magistrate and the lawyer came back from the south of the city, they looked depressed, as if they had lost their souls. They quickly ordered that no visitors should be received and no court sessions should be held in the next few days.

Li Wanshu waved his hands quickly, "No, no, it's just that a child in our village was wrongly accused. The court was supposed to open today, but now it's like this... Sir, you also know that we are just anxious and want to make things clear as soon as possible. Her family is looking forward to her returning home soon. Sir, when will the trial be held again?"

"There will be no interrogation scheduled for the next few days. Let's go, let's go."

The yamen runner spoke in a cold tone, and Li Wanshu and others were sent away with just a few words.

"Hey, at least Song Ran is safe now. I'll ask someone to see if I can make an appointment with the master."

With tears in her eyes, Grandma Gu said worriedly: "It's dark and cold in the prison, and I don't know if the children have good food to eat."

Song Li looked at the government office. Every door was guarded. Last night, she also found that there were at least two teams patrolling inside at night. It was very difficult to sneak in without being discovered and get out safely. Besides, she had not met the county magistrate and the legal advisor yet. There were dozens of people in the government office. It was impossible for her to wipe them all out with her current ability.

"We really need to meet him as soon as possible." Song Li said in a low voice.

Grandma Gu took out some silver from her bosom and gave it to Li Wanshu: "You have to spend money to investigate people and do things, so you can keep it first."

The three of them drove the donkey cart back to the village with heavy hearts.

When they just arrived at the entrance of the village, they were stopped by a panicked fellow villager. The man said nervously: "Village chief, it's bad, Wu Dongmei drowned in the river!

Li Wanshu pulled his thin hair. Two people from the same family in the village drowned in succession. It was estimated that some weird and strange things would come out next. Maybe they would have to hire a fortune-teller.

By the river, Li Dongya cried in grief over Wu Dongmei's body.

Li Sanwan's brothers sat on the ground nearby, smoking their pipes non-stop. They couldn't understand why he was gone after playing cards all night.

On the river bank, villagers gathered in a bustling crowd, waiting for the village chief to arrive.

Someone asked in confusion: "How did this water ghost find Li Sanwan's house?"

"They must have done a lot of evil!" another person said, "They might have been the ones who lost the two chickens I lost before the Chinese New Year last year."

"Have you heard about it?" the third person said, "Wu Dongmei went to the county government office a few days ago to sue Song Ran."

"How did you know? What are you complaining about?"

"I heard that the village chief is asking around for connections to see if he can get someone to pass on a message to the government. Wu Dongmei went to the government to file a complaint, saying that Song Ran killed Li Sanwan."

"Oh, maybe it was the spirits of Song Shiqiao and his wife in heaven, blessing these two women." The third person continued, "Wu Dongmei went to the Song family that night. Doesn't this prove the problem? It means that Li Sanwan was stealing and she thought she was detained by Song Ran, so she went to the door."

"The village chief is here." Someone in the crowd shouted, and everyone looked back and made way.

"Village chief!" Li Dongya burst into tears and rushed towards Li Wanshu when she saw him.

"Oh, poor child." Li Wanshu said, touching Dongya's head.

"Tsk, what a lack of rules." Li Erwan frowned and snorted. With uncles and uncles here, there is no need to cry and ask for help from outsiders.

"Village chief, you have to make a decision for my mother, my mother..." Li Dongya suddenly saw Song Li in the crowd looking at her. She suddenly remembered what happened last night, when a child threw himself on an adult's face and suffocated him to death, and his brother beside him kept talking nonsense. Thinking of this, her body couldn't stop shaking. She wanted to tell the village chief that her mother's death was strange, but now she didn't dare to say it.

She would definitely keep her mouth shut about Song Li's affairs, but she was afraid of saying something wrong and causing Song Li to misunderstand.

Song Li stared at Li Dawan and the others intently. She didn't know where they went last night, and she had planned to deal with them first. She didn't know if she could find a chance to do it tonight.

Li Wanshu stared at Li Erwan and the others and asked in a serious tone, "Uncle, who are you going to sue this time?"

Li Dawan and the others showed hesitation and smiled flatteringly: "Village head, calm down. This matter was all Wu Dongmei's bad idea. If there is really a misunderstanding, we believe that the county magistrate will definitely check it out."

"Hmph, what about the funeral?" Li Wanshu snorted coldly when he heard that. He looked at Li Dawan and the others, and felt furious, but he still suppressed his anger and asked.

"Try to keep it simple." His brother's family only had a youngest son left. If he waited for him to grow up and repay the favor, the villagers probably wouldn't be able to wait. So, he expected that the villagers would not give him the favor money again.

"What about the money for the coffin?" Li Wanshu asked again.

"The three of us will pay for it." Li Dawan was calculating in his mind. In the end, he sued Song Ran. There would be one less person to pay for the compensation, so he was a good person and paid for the coffin. If they didn't behave themselves, Wu Dongmei, that scoundrel, would probably pester them for a while.

"Okay." Li Erwan was so generous? Li Wanshu was surprised, and then he realized that these people probably didn't know that the Buddha they were worshipping was dead.