Chapter 34: Murder Case
Su Yaoguang brought Zhou Wangshu down from the mountain. Zhou Wangshu was carrying a rabbit. The two discussed how to deal with the rabbit. Su Yaoguang thought braised would be delicious. Zhou Wangshu wanted Su Yaoguang to try the rabbit he roasted himself. In the end, both were persuaded by the other and decided to braise half and roast half.
Just as they returned to the courtyard gate, they saw a woman wearing clothes full of patches anxiously pacing there, muttering “What to do, what to do” in her mouth.
“Second aunt?” Su Yaoguang looked at that figure and tentatively called out.
The woman turned her head, revealing a face extremely similar to Zhang Zhaodi’s, only more haggard and thinner than Zhang Zhaodi.
Zhang Zhaodi’s younger sister, also the Zhang family’s second daughter Zhang Pandi.
Seeing Su Yaoguang return, Zhang Pandi said with a sobbing tone, “You’ve finally come back, Yaoguang girl. Something happened to your mother. Think of a way quickly!”
“What happened to my mother?” Su Yaoguang’s expression changed drastically.
“Your mother was doing midwifery for that daughter-in-law of the Feng Family, right? That woman had a massive hemorrhage and nearly died. Luckily, your mother has experience and saved her. But the child was found dead the next morning. They say it was caused by your mother’s improper midwifery and want her to take responsibility. Now they’ve detained your mother and won’t let her leave.”
“Where is the Feng Family?” Su Yaoguang asked.
“In the village where my man lives, the richest family in the village. Yaoguang, if this matter isn’t handled well, your mother will be saddled with a murder charge!” Zhang Pandi said anxiously. “If they send your mother to the government office, that charge is serious—it would mean several years in prison.”
“Second aunt, I’ll go rent an ox cart first. We’ll take the ox cart to go see.” Su Yaoguang said, “Wangshu, stay here with second aunt and wait.”
Zhou Wangshu said, “Don’t worry. We’ll go see first, and there will be a way to solve it.”
Don’t be fooled by Su Yaoguang’s calm words—her palms had been trembling all along. She was just a fifteen-year-old young lady. The worst people she’d seen were just the village ruffians and shrews. It was normal to fear when encountering something a bit bigger. If she wasn’t afraid or nervous, she was either heartless or accustomed to bloodshed.
In her previous life, there were no such matters. It must be because she changed her initial choice and took a different path, leading to different obstacles and predicaments.
Su Yaoguang quickly rented an ox cart. Zhou Wangshu had already put away the things they carried down, and was now waiting for her outside the courtyard gate with Zhang Pandi. As soon as she stopped the ox cart, Zhou Wangshu helped Zhang Pandi onto the seat next to Su Yaoguang, and he himself jumped onto the cart board behind.
A quarter of an hour later, the ox cart arrived at the village of Zhang Pandi’s man.
Zhang Pandi pointed out the best large courtyard in the village and said, “It’s right there.”
“Oh, Chunni’s mother, where did you find this handsome young man? Is he for arranging a marriage meeting for your family’s Chunni?” A woman from the village teased with a smile.
Zhang Pandi weakly explained, “No, this is my older sister’s daughter. This is her little husband.”
“Second aunt, thank you for notifying me. You go back first. Wangshu and I will go reason with the Feng Family people.” Su Yaoguang said, “My mother put in so much effort to save Madam Feng. Since both the lord and the child are safe and sound, there’s no reason for the person to be gone after sleeping one night, and instead blame her.”
If the child had difficult labor, it was probably weak from birth. At that time, they should have called a doctor to check. The Feng Family has money and can afford a doctor. Why blame the midwife who could retire after achieving success?
Zhang Pandi was worried about her older sister, but she had a pile of messes at home and really couldn’t manage, so she had to go back home first.
In fact, rushing back at this time would inevitably lead to a beating. Normally, she would have the meal ready by now, but today she hadn’t even started cooking.
Su Yaoguang knocked on the door.
“Who is it?” An old lady opened the door. Seeing the unfamiliar Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu, she raised her sparse eyebrows and said, “Who are you two?”
“I’m the daughter of the midwife Zhang Shi.” Su Yaoguang said, “My mother hasn’t come home for a long time. I heard she was doing midwifery at your house, so we came to see how it went.”
The woman opened the door and said sharply, “If you didn’t come, we were going to find you. Good that you came, saves us a trip. Come in!”
“Where is my mother?”
“Your mother?” Yu Shi sneered, “Your mother killed my granddaughter. We’re sending her to the officials. Of course she’s in the wood shed now. Does she think she’s a distinguished guest in our house, with us providing for her?”
“How could my mother have killed your granddaughter? I won’t believe just your one-sided words. I want to see my mother. If you casually detain my mother, we’ll report to the officials too, saying your Feng Family trades in people—once they enter your house, they can’t leave—and let the government office investigate your family thoroughly.”
“This old lady has never seen someone unafraid of death before. Your mother killed someone, and you still dare report to the officials?” Yu Shi put her hands on her hips.
A sturdy man walked out. Upon seeing Su Yaoguang, his gaze turned fierce: “You’re that midwife’s daughter? Since you’re here, let’s talk about how to handle this! If you don’t want us to report to the officials, compensate one hundred taels of silver. It’s a fact that my daughter-in-law had a massive hemorrhage. She did save her life indeed. But saving my daughter-in-law’s life while killing my precious daughter—this account still needs to be settled clearly. If not for her saving my daughter-in-law, we would have sent her to the officials directly.”
“One hundred taels? Ridiculous.”
“Not giving? Then don’t think about walking out this door.”
“If you want the money, fine, but let us see her first.” Zhou Wangshu stood in front of Su Yaoguang.
That strong man was too fierce-looking; he clearly wasn’t a good person.
Feng Laoda waved his hand, letting Yu Shi take them to the wood shed.
As Yu Shi pushed open the wood shed door, Su Yaoguang shoved her aside and rushed in running.
Zhou Wangshu stood guard outside.
He didn’t enter the wood shed. This family wasn’t good people. He had to be her retreat; he couldn’t be trapped in the narrow wood shed with her.
“Mother… Mother…” Su Yaoguang shook the bound Zhang Zhaodi.
Zhang Zhaodi weakly opened her eyes. Seeing Su Yaoguang, her voice was like a mosquito’s: “I must be starving and confused. Otherwise, how could I see my daughter?”
Su Yaoguang pulled a pancake from her bosom, tore it, and placed it by her mouth. She shouted outside, “Wangshu, did you bring water?”
Zhou Wangshu said, “I did.”
He handed the bamboo bucket in.
Yu Shi stood outside the wood shed and said to Zhou Wangshu, “What are you guarding here for? Why not go in and look?”
“I’m thinking of you all too. If someone locked me in the wood shed, I carry a fire starter with me—a fire could burn this place clean.” Zhou Wangshu said, “You weren’t planning to lock us all up, were you?”
A flash of guilt appeared in Yu Shi’s eyes.
Of course they had thought of it.
But luckily they hadn’t done it, or else if this boy set the wood shed on fire, the whole house would burn down?
