A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 276 Ma Ming is released from prison

After meeting Li Yunye and Hong Nu, Xuanyu did not stay in the Li Mansion for long. She left Qile City overnight and continued to head towards southern Xinjiang.

Just as she left Qilezhou and passed through a dense bamboo forest, the night wind suddenly blew quickly, and several dark shadows rushed out and surrounded her. The moon was bright at night, the bamboo shadows swayed gently, and there was a sense of swords and sabers in the forest.

"The Lord in Charge invites the Left Protector." Just as Yan Yu raised the sword in his hand with murderous intent, someone from the other side suddenly spoke.

Lord in charge?

Upon hearing this, Yan Yu was slightly surprised, but then a helpless sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth. Hong Ah boasted that he had planned everything, but he didn't know that while the mantis stalks the cicada, there is an oriole behind. His painstaking calculations were nothing but a counter-measure taken by the people above him.

"Your Highness, it is said that Li Yunye was once a playboy who spent his days drinking and carousing in brothels and theaters, but his personality has suddenly changed in the past one or two years. I have also been to the brothels that Li Yunye used to frequent... I secretly heard that it seemed that he took an overdose of aphrodisiac in the brothel in the winter of the previous year and almost died, but before the brothel madam could invite a doctor, he woke up peacefully on his own, and he has become a different person since then..."

In the northern military camp of Xiyue Kingdom, Yu Cheng reported in detail to Yan Zong in front of him the news about Li Yunye that he had obtained in the southern part of Jingsong Kingdom.

"The winter of the year before last." After listening to Yu Cheng's report, Yan Zong was silent for a while before muttering to himself thoughtfully.

He remembered that it was also the winter of the year before last when he first met Si Yao while taking shelter from the snow in Lianjia Village. He also learned from Lianqi, a villager in Lianjia Village, that she suddenly appeared in Lianjia Village half a month ago. So, the two of them separated at that time, but why did Jiang Siyao go to such a faraway Qile City?

"I've also learned that since Li Yunye's temperament changed drastically, he hasn't touched a woman again. Not only has he not been to the brothels and theaters outside for a long time, even the maids who originally stayed in his room to serve him have been sent out to do odd jobs." Seeing that Prince Zong didn't say anything for a long time, Yu Cheng poured himself a cup of cold tea and drank it before continuing to add.

Yan Zong still didn't say anything, but just smiled. Li Yunye's current body was already controlled by Jiang Siyao. She was a woman, so how could he touch another woman?

"I just don't understand. Not to mention that Li Yunye was an unlearned man before, he now looks frail and delicate like a woman. How could a wonderful woman like Miss Si Yao fall in love with him? But I am also more curious about how Li Yunye suddenly became a different person. Did he take too many aphrodisiacs..." Seeing that the prince was still silent, Yu Cheng scratched his head and muttered again.

"Who told you that Si Yao has a crush on him?" But before Yu Cheng could finish, Yan Zong immediately glanced at him coldly, and an unhappy look appeared on his already majestic face.

"No...aren't we childhood sweethearts?" Yu Cheng was stunned for a moment, then replied nervously.

"She was just a playmate who grew up with her. How could you spread rumors like this?"

"I misinterpreted it. Please forgive me, Your Highness." Seeing Prince Zong's angry face, Yu Cheng was frightened and knelt down to apologize.

"Go down." Yan Zong glanced at Yu Cheng who was sitting upright, and considering his hard work over the past few months, he did not pursue the matter and just spoke lightly.

"Yes." Yu Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and quickly left the tent.

"What's wrong? Did you make His Highness angry again?" Yu Cheng just came out and ran into Arnold who was about to eavesdrop. Arnold yawned guiltily, but took the initiative to come up to Yu Cheng and asked.

"Put away your curiosity!" Yu Cheng ignored Arnold and glanced at him. He was about to go back to his tent but was stopped by Arnold:

"You came back from the south of the Yangtze River in Jingsong Kingdom. Did you bring any food?"

"Little foodie, all he does is eat!"

"Is there any?"

"no!"

"You're snickering, I don't believe it!"

"I left that for Mr. Fan, not for you."

"I don't believe it. What did you leave for Master Fan? Let me see it."

Arnold kept dragging Yu Cheng and chased him all the way back to the tent.

Ever since Qile City Magistrate You Zhiji learned that the person behind Ma Yong, the village chief of Majia Village, was most likely Master Shen Shi from the Shen family of Yaocheng, he asked Captain Zhou to send people to monitor Master Shen Shi and the Shen Family Villa day and night, but after watching both sides for half a month, they found nothing.

Ma Ming was still under suspicion, and although the public criticism of Jiangnan Li was less severe, it would certainly cause considerable damage to his reputation in the long run. The government could afford to spend money to bring the real murderer to justice, but it could not let the innocent Jiangnan Li and the child bear the stigma forever, and it was against the law to keep Ma Ming in prison even though they knew he was innocent.

Under the order of You Zhizhou, the magistrate of Lin County began to secretly interrogate and pressure Ma Yong, the village chief of Majia Village. After three consecutive days of one trial a day, he changed to one trial in the morning, noon and evening. The questions raised during the interrogation were always the same:

"Can you describe again in detail everything you witnessed on the night of the Majia Village tragedy?"

"You said you heard those thieves mention Ma Ming's name in person? Are you sure you didn't hear it wrong?"

"Can you describe in detail the quarrel between you and Ma Ming before he left Majia Village?"

Ma Yong, who was already guilty, gradually became incoherent under the daily pressure and interrogation of the government. After several painful struggles, he finally couldn't help but admit that he had wronged Ma Ming. However, since his wife and children were still in Shen's Villa in Yaocheng, he naturally did not dare to give out Master Shen Shi, and only explained that he was extremely sad and took his resentment out on Ma Ming.

When You Zhizhou saw that Ma Yong did not give out Master Shen, he guessed that this man was either willing to sacrifice his life to repay the great favor of the other party, or he had evidence against him. But no matter what, Ma Yong's confession cleared Ma Ming's grievances, and the government did not need to be suspected by Master Shen and thus alert him.

"Snapped!"

In the Shen Family Villa, Master Shen Shi was furious when he learned that Village Chief Ma had taken the initiative to clear Ma Ming's name. He immediately lost his temper and smashed the teacup on the table to pieces.

"Useless trash! How dare he take the initiative to destroy the plan of this Master Shen!" Master Shen was furious and yelled at the fat slave Lao Su who was busy wiping his sweat with his head down.

"Yes, yes, I wonder what Village Chief Ma is thinking? Why did he just let it go for no reason?" The fat slave Lao Su nodded in agreement quickly, but also expressed his doubts.

"Hmph, what else can he do? He must have learned that Ma Ming was going to be used as a scapegoat by the government and was afraid that he would have another innocent soul on his hands. I, the Tenth Master Shen, should not have counted on this kind of coward who is afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind from the beginning!" Master Shen still had a gloomy face and paced back and forth in the hall frantically.

"Fortunately, he didn't betray the master."

"Humph, he dares! His wife and children are all in my Shen Family Villa. If he dares to confess, I will take his two sons as the first choice!"

"Old Ma must have known about this. Thanks to the master's foresight in keeping his wife and children in his hands early on, we have taken advantage of his weakness, so Old Ma will definitely not dare to say anything he shouldn't say."

"Once Ma Ming is cleared of all charges, public opinion will overwhelmingly sympathize with Ma Ming, and the Jiangnan famous Li will also reverse its reputation. The reputation of the Jiangnan famous Li in Yujiang City has been damaged with great difficulty, and I'm afraid it will warm up again." After venting his anger, Master Shen Shi slowly calmed down his anger and sighed helplessly.

"You don't have to worry about this, sir. Anyway, we have Manager Yang here, and the reputation of the famous Li from Jiangnan in Yujiang City will definitely be good." The fat slave Lao Su consoled him with a smile.

"That's true. Manager Yang's hatred for the famous Li from Jiangnan is even deeper than mine." After hearing the fat slave's comfort, Master Shen nodded and sneered.

Originally, Ma Ming was still under suspicion and was used by the government to take the blame. In this way, the Majia Village tragedy was completely closed, and it was a foregone conclusion that Ma Ming was the real murderer. In this way, public opinion would definitely condemn Ma Ming, and Jiangnan Ming Li would also be denounced by the people. With this momentum, Master Shen Shi could deal with Jiangnan Ming Li with half the effort.

Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. Half a month ago, Mr. Shen was still worried about whether Ma Yong's unauthorized return to the villa would be discovered by the government. In the past half month, he had been very cautious and did not dare to act rashly. Unexpectedly, he was hit hard by his own people.

Village chief Ma lied and framed innocent people to deceive the government, for which he was severely beaten with forty sticks by the Lin County magistrate. He was then imprisoned and awaited his fate. Ma Ming, on the other hand, was acquitted by the government and a notice was posted to clear his name.

As the news spread, the people were in an uproar again. Just as Master Shen Shi had expected, the righteous masses began to speak up for Ma Ming, scolding the village chief Ma and praising the famous Jiangnan Li for his help to Ma Ming.

On the day Ma Ming was released from prison, the outside of the Lin County government office was filled with people who sympathized with Ma Ming. They couldn't help but wipe away their tears as they watched this kind and honest young man being framed and detained in prison for more than a month with an injustice.

"Manager Mu, Butler An Ge." When Ma Ming saw the crowd of onlookers who were comforting and encouraging him, he couldn't help but bow repeatedly to express his gratitude. He finally squeezed out of the crowd and saw Mu Liang and An Ge in front of the carriage. Only then did he walk forward with red eyes.

"It's okay. From now on, you are an innocent child." Mu Liang patted Ma Ming's shoulder and smiled comfortingly.

Ma Ming had tears in his eyes and was very grateful in his heart, but he was tongue-tied and didn't know how to start, so he just nodded continuously.

"Let's go. The young master is waiting for you outside Qile City." An Ge also smiled at Ma Ming.

Ma Ming felt flattered when he heard this, and was so excited that he didn't know what to say.

Nowadays, public opinion is favorable to Jiangnan Mingli. At Mu Liang's suggestion, Li Yunye, as the owner of Jiangnan Mingli, took Manager Yuan, Steward Li and others out of the city to welcome Ma Ming. This not only reflects the Li family's attention to Ma Ming, but also wins more reputation for the Li family.