A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 39: The maid in the Zhu Mansion committed suicide, and the famous Li in Jiangnan was in cris

In Qile City, the busy streets that should have been bustling with people were now blocked by a coffin outside the famous Jiangnan Li's shop at the street entrance. A dusty man and woman, wearing worn cotton-padded jackets and coarse linen ties around their waists, slumped at the door of the shop and howled, attracting more and more curious onlookers.

"Sister, my dear sister... Why is your life so miserable... Since you were young, your family was poor and your parents had no choice but to sell you to the Li family, thinking that living under the eaves of a wealthy family would be better than living with us and enduring the cold and hunger... But you were so unlucky that you fell into the mouth of that jackal and lost your life in vain..."

"Hey, what's going on? The Li family killed a girl?"

"You just arrived so you don't know. I've been here for a while and roughly heard what happened. It seems that she was raped by the young master of the Li family and then driven out of the mansion. She hanged herself in humiliation!"

"Oh, how pitiful! Isn't this young master of the Li family such a bad guy?"

"Young Master Li? That's not surprising. Everyone in Qile City knows that he is a playboy who spends his days and nights in brothels and theaters. Why don't the maids in this family let him bully them?"

"But I heard that Mr. Li is a gentleman. How could he tolerate his son messing around at home?"

"Hmph, naive, how many people in this rich family are clean? Isn't it even more ridiculous for a gentleman to give birth to a playboy?"

On the second floor of Zhao's cloth shop diagonally opposite, Zhao Chu, the son of the Zhao family, leisurely waited to watch a good show:

"Hey, here we come. The real show is finally about to begin."

As soon as Zhao Chu finished speaking, a group of people from the Li Mansion hurried over, and the dejected Li Yunye also followed behind his father Li Xingyuan.

The crowd of onlookers automatically made way for the Li family when they saw them coming. Shopkeeper Yuan was the first to come to the crying couple, squatted down, and said in a friendly manner:

"Gentlemen, my name is Yuan and I am the shopkeeper of this shop. Our master is here too. If you have anything to say, could you please come into the shop and talk to us..." Before Shopkeeper Yuan could finish his words, a voice in the crowd angrily rang out:

"Why do we have to go in and talk? Is there anything that can't be explained in front of everyone? Or are you going to use some shady means to deal with this poor couple whose sister just died?"

"That's right. Aren't you from Jiangnan Mingli always known for your honesty and openness? Can't you face this matter of life and death openly and squarely?" Then another voice echoed.

Someone took the lead and the crowd began to chatter.

"Okay, let's make things clear here in front of the neighbors. If the girl's death was really caused by my son, I, Li Xingyuan, will not show any partiality and will immediately hand her over to the government for severe punishment according to the law!" Li Xingyuan stepped onto a step and said seriously while looking at the couple who were still wiping their tears with their heads down.

"What a great way of sacrificing one's own family for the sake of justice. You are indeed an old fox who has been in the business world for decades. You are really good at pretending to be righteous." Li Xingyuan actually ignored his own son's life and death in order to appease public opinion. This was beyond Zhao Chu's expectation. Things did not develop according to his plan. Although he was sarcastic, he was already furious in his heart.

At this moment, Jiang Siyao was like an ant on a hot pan. She wanted to defend herself but didn't know how to start. After all, it was impossible for her to separate herself from the previous Li Yunye. Even if she said it, no one would believe it.

"Since Master Li is so wise, that's all the better. Although my sister-in-law came from a poor family, she is still a life. Today, as her brother and sister-in-law, we want to seek justice for her so that she can die with her eyes closed!" Xiaoyue's sister-in-law also stood up and came to Master Li, crying with her face half covered.

"It can be seen that the sister-in-law of the Zhang family is not an unreasonable person. In this case, I hope that the two of you can tell us the whole story so that we can understand it clearly." Seeing that the other party was not making a fuss, Li Xingyuan's expression softened a little.

"Oh, interesting. Shouldn't I ask the noble master first about this?"

"That's right. Why are you asking about the dead first instead of the living?"

In the crowd of onlookers, the two voices just now rang out again.

"You two keep stirring up trouble. Are you doing this to fight for justice or do you have some ulterior motive?" Shopkeeper Yuan looked at the two young men with pointed cheeks and sinister eyes in the crowd with an annoyed look on his face.

"If you two young brothers are not satisfied with the way I, Li, handle things, why not ask you to act as a middleman and help us resolve this matter?" Li Xingyuan raised his right arm slightly, motioning for Manager Yuan to step back, then raised his eyes and smiled faintly at the two men in the crowd.

"How can we, poor people, be qualified to judge right and wrong in front of the richest man in Jiangnan?"

"We just said a few words to defend the Zhang family, and you, the famous Li from Jiangnan, are going to get angry out of shame? Isn't this just bullying?"

What powerful mouths! They are fanning the flames under the banner of justice, fearing that there will not be chaos. It is obvious that they are prepared. This is very similar to the trolls on the modern Internet.

Even Jiang Siyao, who was on the edge of an abyss, could see at this moment that these two men who repeatedly provoked her were not like ordinary spectators.

"Brother and sister-in-law of the Zhang family, these two young brothers are both concerned about you and have some complaints about me, the famous Li from Jiangnan. We can only go to the government office together and let the prefect come..."

"No, no, don't even think about opening my sister's coffin!" Before Li Xingyuan finished speaking, Xiaoyue's brother suddenly stood up, lying on the coffin and crying loudly: "Sister, my poor sister..."

"We just want an explanation from you, the famous Li from Jiangnan. Is it so difficult to get a sincere attitude from you, the young master of the Li family? You have to alert the government. Once we get to the government, who knows if you will collude with businessmen to confuse right and wrong and oppress us poor people!" Seeing that her husband was very emotional, the woman immediately pointed at Li Xingyuan and started cursing.

"It turns out that the famous Li from Jiangnan is also a profiteer!"

"I was just praising them for being honest and trustworthy in business. Ugh!"

"As expected, all crows are black..."

Driven by the emotions of the Zhang couple, the people who sympathized with the deceased began to blame the famous Li from Jiangnan one after another.

"You bold and wicked woman, how dare you slander the government in public? Believe it or not, I will charge you with false accusation first." Just as the noise was making, a stern voice sounded outside the crowd, followed by several constables rushing in, led by Zhou Bing, the yamen's chief constable with a stern and upright demeanor.

When the onlookers saw that they were police officers, they all stepped back and shut up. The Zhang couple were so nervous that they seemed like guilty thieves and dared not breathe.

"The government officials arrived so quickly!" Zhao Chu looked disappointed when he saw the excitement in the distance ending so quickly.

"It's obvious that the Li family reported the matter to the authorities in advance." The sturdy man standing nearby yawned.

"This old fox!" Zhao Chu glared at Li Xingyuan in the distance with gritted teeth.

"Sir, this is almost over. His reputation as the famous Li in Jiangnan has been damaged."

"Yes, this incident alone may not kill the famous Jiangnan Li, but it will be good to tarnish his reputation. The two people you found are good. Guan will incite them and give this young master a good reward."

"okay."