Chapter 68 - Seven Daughters
Chapter 68: Seven Daughters
Matchmaker Zhao was enlightened. “I see.”
Madam Li nodded. “Thank you. Just find him a girl. Any girl will do.”
Matchmaker Zhao nodded with a smile. “Okay, okay.”
Chu Yan did not come out after returning to the house.
Actually, he had heard everything that Madam Li and Matchmaker Zhao had discussed. He had come here to make it even with Liu Sanniang. From then on, they would have nothing to do with each other.
However, once one entered the mortal world, one could not avoid worldly affairs.
Chu Yan knew very well what Madam Li was thinking. He did not take it to heart. Madam Li was just a mortal, so how could she do anything to him? At most, she would only disgust him.
Chu Yan retracted his gaze and thought of Liu Erlang’s new clothes. He narrowed his eyes and seemed to be able to see Liu Sanniang sitting in the room and embroidering attentively. Her gaze was gentle as she made the clothes one stitch at a time.
Her gentleness tugged at his heart strings.
He wanted to help her return to the Deity Position. She had already awakened her Buddhist heart. If he wanted to help her, he had to be by her side.
Becoming her legitimate husband was the most suitable identity for him. She was his. No one was more qualified than him.
Chu Yan’s eyes looked more determined.
...
In June, the weather became hotter and hotter. Liu Sanniang bought new fabric. Liu Ju’er’s wedding date was set on July 15th. That day was also the ghost festival commonly known as the half of July.
Liu Ju’er’s stepmother chose this date on purpose, but she made it sound nice.
She said that Yang Qingshan was an orphan. His parents had died a long time ago. It was said that those who had passed away would come back to visit their family on the ghost festival. If Yang Qingshan’s parents came back and saw their son getting married, they could rest in peace.
Liu Ju’er cried, begging her stepmother to choose another date, but her stepmother did not agree and even said that Liu Ju’er was unfilial.
No matter what Liu Ju’er said, she couldn’t persuade her stepmother.
Liu Sanniang comforted her, telling her that her married life would be very good.
Liu Ju’er was getting married soon, so Liu Sanniang sped up her efforts. She wanted to embroider a set of blankets for Liu Ju’er to add to her dowry.
Liu Ju’er’s father did not care about her dowry, nor did her stepmother. After Liu Fu’er, Liu Hui, and Liu Sanniang discussed, they decided to give Liu Ju’er a set of blankets each. Liu Sanniang even gave her two taels of silver.
She knew that Liu Ju’er’s life would be smooth-sailing, but the first few years would be too tough.
In her previous life, she had been plagued by rumors and didn’t dare to go out. Now, she had gotten over it.
After Wei Shilai disguised himself, he came to Willow Street to pay a visit to Liu Sanniang.
Liu Sanniang heard a knock on the door and went to open it. When she saw Wei Shilai, she was stunned for a moment before smiling. “Sir, please come in.”
Wei Shilai walked into the courtyard. He took a look at the clean courtyard and knew that Liu Sanniang was a very good girl.
Liu Sanniang brought a stool for Wei Shilai to sit on. After Wei Shilai sat down, Liu Sanniang went to fetch tea.
Wei Shilai looked at Liu Sanniang and said hesitantly, “Miss Liu, I’m here to ask for your help.”
Liu Sanniang smiled. “Sir, feel free to tell me. I’ll help if I can.”
Wei Shilai smiled. “Miss Liu, there’s a case that I need your help with.”
Liu Sanniang listened quietly. She nodded and gestured for Wei Shilai to continue. As long as she could help, she would.
Wei Shilai sighed and said, “Miss Liu, the situation is like this. A man died in River Village in Yong County. He was drowned in a river. After the autopsy, the coroner said that it wasn’t a homicide. However, the strange thing was that many small handprints were on his body. The man was dead, but when we stood beside his body, we could hear some painful screams. We asked the entire village, but couldn’t find anyone suspicious.”
“This man’s mother insisted that her daughter-in-law killed her son. We investigated the daughter-in-law and found her quite unlikely to be the murderer. But his mother has been camping outside the county government office, saying that if we didn’t give her son justice, she would live outside the government office for the rest of her life. The justice she wants is to execute her daughter-in-law.”
Wei Shilai frowned when he finished speaking. How could he execute an innocent person?
Officer Zhou told me after the investigation that the man often hit his wife. The woman gave birth to seven daughters but could not give birth to a son. Therefore, the man felt very embarrassed.
The woman had a motive for killing, but she couldn’t have done it. She was busy all day. Her seventh daughter had just been born and needed to be taken care of. The man was often away from home and went out in the middle of the night. The woman didn’t dare ask him about it. If she did, she would get beaten.
When they interrogated the woman, the woman only shook her head and said that it was not her. She did not dare to. When they mentioned the man, the woman was extremely fearful. Officer Zhou had been an official for many years, so he could tell if someone was being genuine or not.
The woman wasn’t lying. She really didn’t dare.
The prints on the man’s dead body were children’s handprints. They couldn’t find any clues, so the case fell into a deadlock. Wei Shilai thought of Liu Sanniang and came to ask her for help.
After Wei Shilai finished speaking, Liu Sanniang asked him. “Is that man’s body still at the government office? Can I go take a look at it before giving you an answer?”
Wei Shilai nodded. “Sure, thank you, Miss Liu.”
Liu Sanniang stood up and followed Wei Shi out.
Inside the government office.
When Liu Sanniang arrived at the morgue, Lin Zheng and Officer Zhou were looking forward to her arrival.
Lin Zheng said respectfully to Liu Sanniang, “Miss Liu.”
Officer Zhou smiled. “Miss Liu, with you around, I’m confident that this case will be solved.”
Liu Sanniang walked towards the corpse covered in a white cloth. After walking into the morgue, she heard a moaning voice as if the person was being tortured and was in extreme pain.
Liu Sanniang pulled open the white cloth. The man’s expression was pained, and there were many small handprints on his upper body.
Wei Shilai walked to Liu Sanniang’s side and said, “There are more on his back.”
It was as if the man was pressed down by many children and had drowned in the river.
However, how could children have the strength to hold a grown man down and drown him in a river? It seemed unlikely.
Liu Sanniang closed her eyes and quietly explored.
As soon as she started sensing, Wei Shilai stopped talking, and Lin Zheng and Officer Zhou held their breaths. Zhu Zongyang, on the other hand, was confused.