There is a god in the sky

Chapter 50 The Murder of a Wealthy Family in Jianzhou (Part 13)

Shen Lan met her gaze at eye level and asked seductively, "Jiaojiao, I want revenge. Will you help me?"

Mrs. Wu shook her head again, "No! No!"

Shen Lan didn't know if she meant not to seek revenge, or not to help her seek revenge.

She said fiercely, "Jiaojiao, my child is dead, my husband is dead, all my relatives died in this small town, I hate it!"

"No..." Wu kept repeating these two words.

"You can't bear to see Liu Engui die?"

"don't want……"

"What if I absolutely have to kill him?"

Wu's hands were clenched tightly, and Shen Lan felt the pain. But she didn't push her away.

"No, we can't win, we can't win."

“I’m a ghost, how could a ghost be no match for a human?” Shen Lan whispered in her ear.

"you are not."

Shen Lan thought she had been exposed, but then she saw Wu Shi laughing foolishly.

"You have a shadow, you're not a ghost, hehe..."

Shen Lan looked down and saw her own reflection, thinking to herself: Who said Wu Shi was crazy? Isn't she perfectly normal?

She pressed Wu's hand against her face, revealing a tenderness.

"Jiaojiao, I want revenge."

"I also wanted to avenge you, but unfortunately... I didn't succeed."

Just as Shen Lan was about to ask what he meant, she heard footsteps coming from outside.

This was followed by a maid's scolding voice.

"If you're looking for someone, what are you doing here? Who would come to this godforsaken place?"

She heard the gatekeeper's voice and knew she was looking for her. She pulled her hand away and said, "Jiaojiao, I have to go now. I'll come to see you again tomorrow."

Madam Wu must know some inside information; she will find a way to get people out of the manor.

Because of the kindness she showed when she tried to send a message to her mother, Shen Lan decided to rescue her.

But today is not a good time.

She jumped out of the window, closed it, leaped over the wall, and deliberately chose a path to run into the people looking for her.

"You brat, where have you been?" The gatekeeper was furious when she saw her and started cursing.

Shen Lan said in a daze, "Grandma, this place is too big. I got lost. I kept walking the same path."

The old woman grabbed her and said to the other servants who had come to search for her, "That's her. We've found her. Thank you all for today. I'll treat you to drinks another day."

When only the two of them were left, the old woman said with a resentful look, "It's all your fault! You made me owe you a favor for no reason. Go away, go away, and don't come back again!"

Shen Lan lost the old woman's trust and was driven out of the estate. But she was not disappointed.

She had hired a carriage to come, and it was still waiting for her at the crossroads.

Seeing her walking towards him looking lost and dejected, the driver immediately realized that her search for someone was not going well.

“Girl, don’t be discouraged. It’s normal that you didn’t find it the first time. It’s such a big village, maybe you’ll find it tomorrow.”

Shen Lan said, "Thank you for your kind words, brother. I'll hire your car again tomorrow."

"No problem, no problem, I'll give you a discount since you're a regular customer."

The driver was clearly even happier.

On the way back, Shen Lan kept thinking about how to successfully rescue Wu Shi.

Judging from her experiences, she was not only rejected by Liu Engui, but may have also done some things that offended people.

Her madness is real; I checked her pulse when I grabbed her wrist earlier, and she's probably had this illness for quite some time.

They still need to be taken out and treated properly.

Once inside the city, she noticed that the crowds were all moving in one direction.

The streets were too crowded, so Shen Lan got off the bus at the city gate, paid a deposit, and then followed the flow of people.

She overheard someone next to her say, "Remember the Luo family? The Luo family that was destroyed within six months. I heard they were murdered."

"I remember, this caused quite a stir back then."

"Alas, in the end, wealth is the most tempting thing."

"What treasures does the Luo family possess that would make someone covet them? Is it for the money?"

"You don't know this, but the Luo family ancestors were tomb raiders. I heard they found an incredible treasure, but then Luo Chunsheng's friend found out and ruined his whole family."

"Luo Chunsheng's friend? Who is that?"

"That's the same Mr. Wu whose entire family was just wiped out. What a fitting retribution!"

"Wow, what a coincidence? Did Lord Xiao find out?"

"Go to the government office and you'll find out. Lord Xiao has arrested several witnesses, and the trial is about to begin."

Upon hearing that it was this case, Shen Lan quickened her pace and headed towards the government office.

Whether these two cases are related depends on the outcome.

It's not entirely impossible that the Luo family is retaliating.

"Majesty..." The bailiffs, holding their stern rods, stood on both sides, while a row of people knelt below.

They had a gambling den manager and thugs, Young Master Luo's page, a pharmacy clerk, and a foreign merchant with a very heavy accent.

This case isn't hard to investigate; too many people have handled it.

These people were all bribed by Wu Zhongjin, and they confessed everything when Xiao Ji pressed them for answers.

After all, even the Wu family was wiped out, so why are they keeping this secret?

The facts were largely as Shen Lan had predicted.

Wu Zhongjin bribed the Hu merchants to lure Luo Chunsheng away. Without him having to arrange assassins, the road north out of the pass was fraught with danger. Luo Chunsheng only had four servants with him, so how could he possibly return alive?

Later, he bribed the pageboys and students of the academy to scheme to make Young Master Luo addicted to gambling and incur a large debt.

Zhang would definitely be willing to sell that precious pearl to save her son.

Unfortunately, even with the treasure she brought out, she still couldn't save her two sons' lives.

The Zhang mother and daughter knelt below the hall, weeping uncontrollably.

The people felt extreme pity for him.

But when Lord Xiao revealed that Luo Yuemei had poisoned the nameless bodyguard, the people were all heartbroken.

Sympathy turned into disgust, and one harsh word after another reached Shen Lan's ears.

"To have such a vicious heart at such a young age, no wonder the Luo family suffered such a fate."

"Those people from the escort agency had no grudge against them, yet they still did this. They're inhuman."

“She’s so young, it must have been Zhang who instigated her. If anyone should be punished, it should be Zhang.”

"Yes, yes, yes, Zhang should be sentenced to death to pay for the lives of those poor bodyguards!"

According to the laws of the Great Xi Dynasty, there is no provision that those under the age of fourteen are exempt from punishment. Murderers must pay with their lives, and Luo Yuemei will undoubtedly die.

As for Zhang, she was indeed responsible for improper upbringing and inadequate guardianship, and was sentenced to exile.

All the others who had accepted bribes were sentenced to prison.

After all, their mistakes indirectly caused the deaths of several people.

Xiao Ji patted the gavel and said to Zhang Shi, "The Luo family's pearl should be returned, but you can't keep it. Would you be willing to exchange it for a wish?"

Zhang had no intention of getting the pearl back.

That was the filthy thing that ruined their entire family.

"My lord, I do have a request."

Zhang's request was simple: she didn't want to be exiled; she wanted to be with her daughter.

Shen Lan saw Zhang holding her daughter, kneeling calmly in the center, without making a fuss, which was completely different from her previous demeanor.

Only Luo Yuemei could hear her mother's whispers.

“Child, don’t be afraid, your mother will always be with you. All our enemies are dead. We will go down and reunite with your brothers. Your father will surely be waiting for us on the Bridge of Helplessness.”

Luo Yuemei nodded. "Mother, I'm not afraid."

From the moment she poisoned him, she no longer cared about her own life or death.

Shen Lan seemed to see her future self in her eyes.

Driven by revenge, her hands were stained with blood; many people had died, innocent and not innocent, she could no longer distinguish them.

She might become someone she despises.

But this is a path she must continue down!