The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 252 - 241: Where is the Evidence?

Chapter 252: Chapter 241: Where is the Evidence?

The Zhou family members all had similar eyes, which is why she had never doubted Zhou Man’s heritage. Combined with the timing of Ms. Qian’s illness, she had even thought that Ms. Qian fell ill after giving birth to a daughter in her old age.

But now, it seemed that was not the case.

Ms. Liu’s feelings were complicated; she had always liked this young girl, but now, her fondness was mixed with a sense of guilt.

Daji appeared behind Ms. Liu without her knowing when.

Ms. Liu turned to glance at him before she stood up to leave, stopping only when she reached an open area in the garden.

This patch was planted with low-growing flowers and ginger that Shanbao had dug up to plant, so no one could hide there. The closest house was also a fair distance away; they wouldn’t be overheard here.

"Following your orders, from last night the two have been imprisoned separately, neither spoken to nor given food and drink. Now they’re beginning to break down, struggling in their rooms. Do you want to go and see?"

Ms. Liu thought for a moment and said, "No rush, it’s still too soon; let’s wait a while longer."

"Didn’t you say we should hand them over to Lord Wei?"

"We will hand them over, but the questioning must be done," Ms. Liu replied. "Lord Wei just arrived in Luojiang County today, he won’t leave until at least tomorrow, so we’re not in a hurry."

Although Wei Zhi was very reputable, she did not trust everyone indiscriminately. She would hand the people over, but the testimonies, which she needed, should be recorded in her possession too. Just in case... she might also have a chance to turn the tables.

Ms. Liu was silent for a long time then asked in a low voice, "Did you go and check?"

"I did. As Master Zhou said, Zhou Silang, Zhou Daliang, and a few older children were the first to find Mr. and Mrs. Zhou Yin; then the villagers and the Zhou family went up the mountain to carry them back. I have searched the Zhou household; there was nothing special. Old Madam, could they have taken the items away?"

"Impossible," Ms. Liu said without a second thought. "If they had gotten hold of the items, they wouldn’t have sent someone to Longzhou to investigate us or come here looking for Zhou Yin. Obviously, they didn’t get the items back then."

"But the items are not in the Zhou family’s hands either," Daji replied. "Think about it, the officers slandered Zhou Yin as a bandit, and Zhou Man even had her parents switched. If they had gotten those items, they should have known that Zhou Man was not a bandit, and there’s no way they wouldn’t defend her."

Offering sacrifices was very important.

And to this day, Mr. and Mrs. Zhou Yin hadn’t received a gravestone; even their only daughter cannot acknowledge them. If the Zhou family really had solid evidence proving their innocence, they couldn’t possibly do nothing about it.

Ms. Liu also knew this, "So maybe the items aren’t with the Zhou family?"

"Then where are they?"

"They must have handed over or hidden the items before they were killed..." Ms. Liu looked towards Daji.

Daji was somewhat troubled. "Old Madam, only Master Zhou can ask about this matter. The village hardly speaks of Zhou Yin, and we can’t find out where they were killed."

Ms. Liu nodded, "I’ll talk to Lizhi. You just make sure to find some reliable people. It doesn’t need to be many; too many are hard to manage. Two or three are enough. Once the place is found, you must dig three feet into the ground if necessary to find those items."

"Understood."

Ms. Liu rubbed her forehead; she had hardly slept the previous night and now felt a headache coming on. She asked, "How is Erji doing?"

Daji lowered his eyes and said, "It’s still the same, the doctor can only prolong his life, but I heard that the dam at Jianwei has burst, and he’s become much more alert."

Ms. Liu hummed in acknowledgment. This was one of the secrets she had not disclosed to Bai Li, and it was the most important secret, one that even Ms. Zheng didn’t know.

When the news of Bai Qi’s sudden death was transmitted back, the servants who stayed in Shu County escorted Bai Qi’s coffin home. She couldn’t believe that her son was killed by bandits after going up the mountain to hunt.

The chief clerk from Shu County, acting as a righteous advocate for the county magistrate and for their ’lonely widow and orphaned mother,’ unilaterally suggested reporting to the court that Bai Qi had died in a bandit suppression quest up the mountain.

In this way, Bai Qi could still leave behind a reputation of loyalty and courage.

Back then, she was both grieving and in pain but sensed that someone was watching their family with malicious intent.

She could only feign agreement and claim that since Bai Qi had died unjustly, she wanted to keep the body at the temple for three months.

Only after everyone had dispersed did she order the coffin opened for an autopsy. Her son had been hacked to death alive!

At that time, Erji, who had accompanied Bai Qi, went missing, and Shu County’s response was that he had perished at the hands of bandits, his body unrecovered.

For an ordinary servant, if he truly had died at bandits’ hands, Ms. Liu of course wouldn’t have gone to great lengths to find him.

But Ms. Liu didn’t think that was the case, so she had Erji’s brother, Daji, take people to search around Yizhou, and they finally found Erji, barely alive, in a hunter’s home.

Erji said he and the master had fled to somewhere within Luojiang County, with their accompanying men being killed along the way. In the end, only the two of them were left, both seriously injured.

They encountered a young couple on the road, who were leading a donkey cart. With no other options, Bai Qi had to ask for their help.

Because the pursuers were close behind, Erji stood watch, unable to hear their conversation, but he could see their actions.

He saw the master hand over the damnable items to that couple, then bow solemnly. The couple quickly took their wife along a shortcut and left, insisting on leaving the donkey cart for them.

In the end, they were nonetheless caught by the pursuers. Erji swapped clothes with Bai Qi, luring the pursuers away with the donkey cart, while Bai Qi hid.

Erji tumbled down the mountain cliff while being chased, breaking his fall with trees before landing, and later, hunters going into the mountain saved him. If Daji had arrived even a moment later, he would have been dead too.

Ms. Liu spared no expense to save his life because she hoped to have a witness for the day they could overturn the case.

But merely having a witness was not enough; she also needed physical evidence.

But where were those items that cost her son his life and threatened the lives of those men?

Ms. Liu had been searching continuously without any leads. She had chosen to move to Qili Village for several reasons: firstly, to distance herself from the clan relatives in Longzhou and provide Shanbao with a good environment to grow up in; secondly, because Bai Li was here, and they could support each other; and thirdly, because it was located in Luojiang County, which was convenient for her to look for that couple.

What she never anticipated was that they had also died, possibly on the same day and at the same time as her son.

Their deaths were even more ignominious than her son’s; despite the injustice, Qi’er, at least, had left behind a good reputation. But for them, they couldn’t even have their names known in death, let alone their own child, who didn’t even know her own parents.

As Ms. Liu’s thoughts churned, she waved her hand after a long moment, signaling Daji to withdraw.

Ms. Zheng was about to bring some soup to Bai Shanbao when she happened to pass by and saw, from a distance, her mother-in-law talking with Daji in the middle of the garden. She couldn’t help but wonder, "Why are they standing under the sun to talk?"

As Ms. Zheng moved to go over, she was stopped by her maid Daya, "Madam, the Old Madam probably has some instructions for Daji. Let’s go see the young master first."

Daya added, "Miss Manbao is here today, too. When the kids get together, they might sneak some snacks again. You should go check on them."

Ms. Zheng thought it made sense and took one last look at the garden before heading to Bai Shanbao’s study.

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