Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

Lin Xi's identity this time is Sikou of the Criminal Justice Department of the Dazhao Dynasty. Before becoming the "Jade-faced Yama" that all officials fear, she had another identity - the daughter of a criminal official.

Her mother was a minor official in charge of a granary. One day, Shangguan was drinking and playing cards and knocked over an oil lamp, causing the granary to catch fire. She dragged the drunk Shangguan out, turned around and went into the granary to put out the fire, and never came out again.

The granary contained half a year's worth of food for the people of the state, but it was burned down overnight. After sobering up, Shangguan could not bear the responsibility, so he pushed all the blame onto Lin Xi's mother, saying that she was drunk and set the granary on fire.

Because of Lin Xi's mother's dereliction of duty, the people of the state had to go through an extremely difficult winter, and the Lin family became a target of public condemnation overnight.

Her father, who had been weak and unable to take care of himself for half his life, could not stand the contempt of others, so on an ordinary night, he hanged himself on the beam in the kitchen with a rope. When Lin Xi, who was only twelve years old at the time, woke up in the morning and found him, he was already erect.

Since then, Lin Xi became an orphan and struggled to survive under the contempt of her neighbors. But despite her young age, she always believed that her mother was innocent and never gave up the idea of clearing her mother's name.

But as an orphan with little power, how could she possibly shake the superior who was a relative of the local tyrant governor? She suffered a lot for this.

Fortunately, five years later, the Minister of Justice, under the order of the Empress, led the Ministry of Justice to investigate old cases. When he saw the case of "a petty official accidentally burned a granary while drunk", he discovered many doubts in it.

Why would a person who never liked drinking drink so much that he would mess up his work? And according to the case files sent over by the provincial government, it was not the shift for this minor official named Lin that day, so how could she be there?

All the loopholes combined together ultimately point to one conclusion, that is, this petty official was pushed out as a scapegoat, and the person who actually burned down the granary was someone else.

The truth was finally revealed to the world. Lin's mother was cleared of the charges and was granted a ninth-rank honorary position by the court as a consolation. However, the young man who had been working hard to protect his mother's reputation suddenly disappeared.

By the time her name was remembered again, she had become Lin Sikou, the highest official in the Criminal Justice Department and a third-rank official who made all officials shudder.

As for her relationship with Changsun Yan, it actually began on an afternoon when the warm sun melted the snow. At that time, she was determined to seek justice for her mother, but encountered many obstructions from the local prefect. She even almost died at the hands of those cruel officials several times.

At that time, Lin Xi thought that since the local officials protected each other, she would go to the capital to find the Jingzhao Yin, the Dali Temple, the ministers, and the elders of the current dynasty. With so many powerful ministers, she would always be able to find a good official who was willing to speak up for the people and redress their grievances.

But the water in the capital is much more muddy than that in the provincial capital. The officials' doormen have seen many common people like her who have suffered grievances but have nowhere to complain. Before anyone can get close to them and say a word, they would wave the big sticks in their hands and drive them away.

Lin Xi ran into obstacles everywhere and had nowhere to turn to. She was also cheated of the little money she had. When she was completely desperate, she remembered that when her neighbors got together to chat, they would always tease her about her father's surname.

It is said that your surname is Changsun, and the surname of the current cabinet minister is also Changsun. How come he is so rich and powerful, while you are hired as a petty official in this rural area? Looking at the age of your Lin Xi, maybe you can even form a friendly relationship with the eldest son of the Changsun family.

The two Changsuns naturally cannot be compared, but Lin Xi, who was desperate at the time, had no other choice. Therefore, with wounds still on his face, Lin Xi came to the second gate of the Changsun Mansion in a dusty manner.

The doormen at the officials' houses in the capital were all gifted with sharp eyes. They could guess a visitor's identity and purpose with just a glance.

The people at the gate looked at Lin Xi's dusty appearance, and when they heard her say that her father was from a branch of the Changsun family, they thought she was a poor relative who came to ask for money, and waved their hands impatiently to ask her to leave.

Naturally, Lin Xi was unwilling to give up this last glimmer of hope, and begged the doorman to let her meet the elder. As several people pushed and shoved, Lin Xi was thrown to the ground without knowing when.

Just as she watched the vermilion red door slowly close in front of her in despair and thought that there was no hope of redressing her in this lifetime, she heard the sound of a carriage behind her.

Then, a cold voice suddenly passed through the crowd and reached her ears.

"What are you doing? How did you make someone like this?"

Lin Xi looked at the doormen who were just arrogant and looking behind her. Their expressions instantly became respectful. She also hurriedly climbed up from the ground with difficulty and turned to look behind her.

I saw that an extremely gorgeous carriage had stopped behind me at some point, with dozens of slaves in brocade robes standing in front and behind the carriage. All of them were calm and noble. Even the two horses pulling the carriage were shiny black without a single stray hair.

A neatly dressed slave was sitting on the shaft of the carriage, pulling the reins and looking at him nonchalantly, as if he was accustomed to such scenes.

Just as Lin Xi was wondering about the identity of the person who came with such a large crowd, several doormen behind her knelt down in panic, "To answer your question, Sir, this person pretended to be a relative of your family and even shouted that he wanted to see the master of the family. We argued with her for a few words."

"I..." Lin Xi wanted to refute, but what the doorman said was the truth. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, she could only turn pale and stand there somewhat shakily.

"The Changsun family has many branches. Maybe it's just a relative from one of the branches who doesn't visit often. How can you easily accuse him of a crime?" The cold male voice sounded again from the carriage. Although the tone was calm, the questioning meaning in it made several doormen change their faces immediately.

"She, she said it was the Changsun family in Yunsang County. We, our slaves, have never even heard of this remote place, let alone the young master she mentioned being hired out." The doorman replied hesitantly.

"Yunsang County? Hmm..." The man in the car paused for a moment, as if he was trying to recall. After a moment, his affirmative voice came out from among them, "I remember that the San clan's mother's family did have such a branch, and it was in Yunsang County of Chendu County. What she said is true."

After hearing these words, Lin Xi, who was originally a little shaky, suddenly raised her head and looked at the car curtain that was swaying slightly in the wind.

He was covering up her lie.