Before the house was raided, the maidservant of the Prime Minister's residence absconded with t

Seeing that Liu Jiaojiao's performance was almost over, Tao'er turned around and called out loudly into the courtyard, "Xiao Yi, come out now."

The courtyard gate creaked open.

Xiao Yi led A Yan out.

He was wearing a moon-white long robe today, and his hair was neatly tied up with a green jade hairpin. As he stood at the gate of the courtyard, the morning light shone on his profile, making his eyebrows and eyes appear even clearer.

Ayan looked up with his little face upturned, still clutching half a half-eaten bun in his hand.

Xiao Yi glanced around at everyone, his gaze settling on Liu Jiaojiao's face. He smiled indifferently, "I've come to see my dear nephew. Is there a problem?"

He looked down and patted Ayan's head. "This child's parents aren't around, so can't I, as his uncle, come and see him?"

But this one…

He looked at Liu Jiaojiao and said, "You keep talking about wild men and slandering other girls' reputations like this."

What is the reason for this?

"Don't tell me you have a grudge against Tao'er?"

The crowd erupted in uproar.

Aunt Wang next door slapped her thigh and exclaimed, "I knew Tao'er wasn't that kind of person!"

"Oh, it's Ayan's uncle!"

"Liu Jiaojiao, you're so shameless! His uncle came to visit his nephew, and you made up all sorts of nonsense!"

"Exactly, isn't this deliberately trying to ruin Tao'er's reputation?"

Liu Jiaojiao's expression changed, but she stubbornly refused to admit defeat: "You guys conspired to put on an act!"

I clearly saw it...

I saw Liu Tao'er put her hand on him, and the two of them were so close. How could this be innocent?

Tao'er came out from behind the door and sneered, "I was taking his pulse that day. He had injured his arm, and I was treating his wound."

Your mind is full of filthy thoughts; everything you see is dirty.

She then turned to the group of burly men and asked, "Who sent you to cause trouble?"

The shirtless, burly man grinned: "Little lady, what business is it of yours who ordered us?"

Xiao Yi released A Yan's hand and pushed the little guy towards Tao'er.

He strolled over slowly, stopped in front of the burly man, and said with a smile, "I'll ask you one more time, who ordered this?"

Just as the burly man was about to curse, Xiao Yi's hand was already on his arm.

With a soft crack, the burly man's right arm drooped down at an odd angle, followed by a pig-like scream that echoed through the alleyway.

Xiao Yi didn't stop, and then grabbed the left arm, and there was another crack.

The burly man knelt on the ground in pain, cold sweat pouring down his face.

The remaining burly men turned pale and tried to run away.

Xiao Yi flicked his toe, and the gong mallet on the ground flew up and landed in his hand. He casually threw it, and the mallet grazed the earlobe of the person running in front and embedded itself in the earthen wall.

The group of people froze on the spot, unable to move.

"Speak." Xiao Yi dusted off his hands, his tone calm yet suffocatingly intimidating. "Who sent you?"

The burly men looked at each other, and finally pointed in unison at Liu Jiaojiao, who was slumped on the ground: "It's her!"

She gave each of us two taels of silver and told us to cause trouble, saying... saying we should ruin this girl's reputation, preferably to force her... to force her...

"What did you force me to do?" Tao'er pressed.

"It drove you to suicide."

The burly man shrank back, saying, "She says you killed her mother, and she wants you to pay with your life."

Liu Jiaojiao's face turned deathly pale instantly: This is it!

He cursed: "These useless trash! Several of you can't even beat one person!"

Fine, I won't kill you this time, Liu Tao'er. I'll let you be smug for a few more days!

Just you wait and see!

Thinking of this, she immediately scrambled to her feet and ran outside like a madwoman.

Village head Grandpa Chen was so angry that he was trembling all over, and he almost dropped his pipe: "Grab her!"

Send him to the yamen!

The people at the Liu family's old house are troublemakers; if they aren't severely punished, they might really damage the reputation of the entire Xinghua Village!

Fortunately, Tao'er is still there, so Xinghua Village can still retain some dignity.

Two young men supported Liu Jiaojiao from both sides.

She struggled desperately, cursing under her breath, her hair disheveled.

Village head Grandpa Chen came over and said, "Tao girl, you, this young man, and Ayan come with me to the yamen!"

Since you're involved, you definitely have to go.

In addition, I will have a few more villagers come to testify.

With this matter resolved, there will be one less source of trouble in the future.

Tao'er nodded. "Grandpa Chen, you're right. You go first, I'll change my clothes and come right away."

The village head nodded, then had Liu Jiaojiao and the burly men escorted away.

The main hall of the yamen was more impressive than Tao'er had imagined.

The bluestone floor tiles were polished to a shine, and two rows of yamen runners stood on the left and right, leaning on their fire sticks. Behind a black lacquered desk in the middle sat Magistrate Chen.

Lord Chen was in his forties, with fair skin and a clean appearance; he didn't look like a harsh official at all.

When Liu Jiaojiao was brought in, she was still struggling. Two bailiffs had to forcefully press her shoulders down to make her kneel, and they shouted, "Liu Jiaojiao, behave yourself! This is a courtroom, not a place for you to run wild!"

Liu Jiaojiao hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not resist.

One of her shoes came off during the tug-of-war, revealing a wound on her heel that hadn't yet scabbed over.

Tao'er stood below the hall, and upon seeing the wound, she understood immediately.

This is a fresh wound, with red edges, as if it had been repeatedly struck by a blunt object.

"Who is below?" Lord Chen slammed his gavel.

Village head Chen stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, "Your Honor, I am Chen Defu, the village head of Xinghua Village."

Today, Liu Jiaojiao gathered local thugs and hooligans to spread rumors in the village, slandering the innocence of Liu Tao'er, a girl from the same village, and even attempting to drive her to her death.

With witnesses and physical evidence all present, we implore Your Honor to make a wise judgment.

Lord Chen flipped through the indictment and testimonies, then looked up at Liu Jiaojiao kneeling below the court: "Liu, do you plead guilty?"

Liu Jiaojiao raised her head, her face still streaked with tears, but she gritted her teeth and said, "This humble woman does not acknowledge it!"

They ganged up on me, a weak woman, and what do you mean by paying someone to hire you? They clearly conspired to frame me!

Those thugs and lazybones were also hired by Liu Tao'er and her group; sir, don't trust them.

The burly men were held to the side of the hall, the shirtless one's arms hanging limply at his sides, wincing in pain.

Upon hearing Liu Jiaojiao say this, he immediately shouted, "Your Excellency is wise!"

We have no grudge against this woman, why would we frame her?

She did indeed give silver to the servants, just three days ago at dusk, under the old locust tree at the east end of Xinghua Village—five taels of loose silver, said to be a deposit, with another five taels to be given after the deed was done.

Another person added, "She told the younger ones to make a big scene, preferably attracting all the men, women, and children in the village to watch."

They also said... they also said that Liu Tao'er killed her mother, so they wanted to ruin her reputation and then drown her in a pig cage!

Lord Chen frowned and asked Tao'er, "Liu Tao'er, what grudge do you have against this Liu family?"

Why would she want to harm you like this?

Tao'er lowered her eyes and said calmly, "My lord, I don't know either. She keeps saying that I killed her mother."

But her mother was clearly in Wangjia Village, and drowned there. What does that have to do with me?

Everyone in the village knows this.

On the contrary, it was Liu Jiaojiao who caused trouble at my house many times before she got married.

This time they're going to drown me in a pig cage? That's murder, sir!

Lord Chen nodded, already understanding a bit of what was going on.

He turned to Liu Jiaojiao and asked, "Liu, where are you married now?"

What is your husband's surname and given name?

Liu Jiaojiao's face paled, and after a long while, she whispered, "I married into the Zhang family in the next county; my husband is Zhang the butcher."

"Why didn't you stay at your husband's home? Why did you run back to your parents' village and cause trouble?"

Liu Jiaojiao's lips trembled, and tears finally rolled down her cheeks: "I...I can't go on like this..."

He beats me every day...

My mother-in-law also hit me...

I just can't take it anymore...

I ran away, but my father didn't recognize me and wouldn't let me go home.

They say a married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl!

The hall fell silent for a moment.

Lord Chen sighed, picked up his pen and wrote something on the petition, then slammed his gavel again: "Liu, even so, you cannot spread rumors and harm others out of jealousy!"

"You instigated others to damage Liu Tao'er's reputation and attempted to kill her. According to the law, you should be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and fined five taels of silver as a warning to others."

Are you convinced?