After the start of winter, Jiangzhou experienced several days of sleet, and the chill seeped into people's bones. Several bodies of beggars who had frozen to death lay on the streets.
Inside the county jail, the air was thick with the stench of decay, and the sun was nowhere to be seen, except for a few slivers of dim light filtering in through a small opening at the end of the corridor.
"Go in!"
The bailiffs brought in the new prisoner and forcefully shoved him into the cell.
The new prisoner lay on the ground, dressed in white mourning clothes, but his lower back was covered in blood. The blood soaked through his white dress, creating large, shocking patches of red, clearly indicating that he had just been severely beaten in court.
Her face was deathly pale, her disheveled hair was a tangled mess of sweat, and dried blood clung to the corner of her lips.
Even in such a disheveled state, she was still stunningly beautiful, with skin as white and delicate as a baby's, and almond-shaped eyes that were both alluring and intelligent.
The plain white mourning clothes she wore, however, accentuated her slender figure, making her tragically beautiful.
The other female inmates in the cell were whispering among themselves:
"Oh my! This looks like the young mistress of the Gao family!"
"The Gao family? The family whose son and father died recently?"
"That's the one!"
The voice wasn't loud, but Shen Qing heard it clearly.
She endured the pain and crawled to the corner, leaning against the wall, breathing weakly.
After a long pause, he asked softly, "What year is this?"
"The tenth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign."
"..." Shen Qing sighed resignedly.
At this moment, she finally accepted the fact that she had traveled back to the Qing Dynasty.
She originally lived in modern times and was the CFO of a multinational corporation.
Before she transmigrated, the company was about to promote her to chief financial officer and send her to work in the Star Country. But now, not only can she not go to the Star Country, she has also transmigrated back to the Qing Dynasty more than a hundred years ago!
The original owner of this body shared the same name as her, Shen Qing, and was a newly widowed woman who had just lost her husband and father-in-law.
Although all the men in the Gao family were dead, and her mother-in-law constantly complained that the original owner was a jinx, she was still able to live a simple and ordinary life by staying at home, until last night…
A man claiming to be a creditor, leading a large group of thugs, stormed into the Gao family's residence!
The thugs drove the maids and servants out and looted all of the Gao family's property.
The creditor then broke into the original owner's room, sexually assaulted the original owner, and even dragged the original owner to the courtroom!
The county magistrate, without distinguishing right from wrong, immediately accused the original owner of several crimes punishable by beheading. When the original owner denied them, he used a board to inflict severe punishment on her.
The original owner of this body was beaten to death, and that's how Shen Qing transmigrated into this body.
Thinking back to this, Shen Qing felt so angry that all the blood in her body rushed to her head.
These aren't creditors at all; they're clearly thugs who took advantage of the fact that the Gao family has no men, breaking into their home to rob and rape them!
She surveyed the sunless cell before her, a place teeming with bacteria and viruses—
She had to get out of here as soon as possible, or she would soon be dragged away and beheaded, dying in ancient times!
But to get out of here, the charges against the original owner must first be removed...
A series of sharp clanging sounds from a chain pulled Shen Qing back to reality.
She snapped out of her daze and looked at the cell door.
The bailiff pushed open the door, his face fierce and menacing. He grabbed her arms, as if he was about to drag her out to be beheaded.
She asked, "Where are you taking me?"
"The court has convened and the verdict has been announced!"
Shen Qing breathed a sigh of relief, relieved that it wasn't a beheading.
She was led into the courtroom and forced to kneel. Her already frozen knees, like fragile porcelain, hit the floor with a crisp "thud".
She was in so much pain that she was covered in cold sweat. She looked up at the dark brown desk in front of her and gritted her teeth.
There were many onlookers at the entrance of the court.
"Young Madam! Young Madam!"
Shen Qing turned around and saw a girl with bangs at the front of the crowd looking at him with red eyes.
This is the original owner's maid, named Chunju. She followed the original owner from her maiden home to the Gao family after she married into the family and was responsible for taking care of the original owner's daily life.
When the thieves broke into the Gao family home, Chunju was inside with the original owner of the body.
Therefore, Chunju must know very well what exactly happened at the Gao family's house on the night of the incident.
Shen Qing silently memorized Chunju's face.
"Silence!" The gavel slammed down on the table, and the noisy entrance to the courtroom fell silent.
Shen Qing turned to look at the desk.
The county magistrate was an old man with a pedantic expression.
He's the one who beat the original owner to death!
"Court is now in session!" The county magistrate looked down at Shen Qing, who was kneeling on the ground. "Gao Shenshi, do you plead guilty?"
Shen Qing didn't respond, weighing her options internally—
This is her last chance.
If she cannot leave here today, she will surely be beheaded!
So no matter what crimes this corrupt official pins on the original owner of this body, she must overturn them all today!
Perhaps seeing that she remained silent and her eyes were firm, without any of her previous timidity, the county magistrate glanced at the clerk with suspicion.
The clerk understood immediately, went behind the curtain, and soon returned to whisper something in the magistrate's ear.
It was as if behind that curtain was a person with the power to decide the case, and the county magistrate who made the judgment had to listen to him.
Shen Qing saw all of this.
She calmly stared at the county magistrate and coldly retorted, "What crime have I committed?"
Upon hearing this, the county magistrate's cloudy eyes widened, and he was so angry that his beard almost bristled. He shouted, "You audacious shrew! Paying back debts is a matter of course! Not only do you refuse to pay your debts, but you also attempt to murder your creditor! Tell me, what crime have you committed?"
Defaulting on debts and murdering creditors.
Even though Shen Qing came from the modern era, he was well aware of the seriousness of the word "murder".
This is a serious crime punishable by beheading!
In my memory, the original owner was a pushover; how could she have the guts to murder someone?
Moreover, since she married into the Gao family, she lived and ate at the Gao family's house, and received a monthly allowance from her father-in-law. She lived a very comfortable life and had no debts at all. How could she possibly murder the so-called "creditor"?
The charge of "murder" lacks motive, and the claim of "failing to pay debts" is also untenable.
So why did these people go to such lengths to kill a vulnerable woman?
Shen Qing was completely baffled.
Suddenly a white light rushed into her mind, and after the light disappeared, some memory fragments appeared.
The original owner's husband once told her that someone wanted to buy the Gao family's house, but the Gao family had made their fortune in this house, so the house must not be transferred to another owner, otherwise the Gao family would decline from then on.
After that, a series of strange things happened to the Gao family—first, the original owner's husband went out to talk business and was killed by bandits; then, the father-in-law became mentally unstable due to the loss of his only child and was found dead in front of his son's grave one morning.
Thinking back to this, Shen Qing felt a chill run down her spine.
It seems that all the misfortunes of the Gao family point to the same thing—the Gao family's house.
The Gao family now consists only of the original owner and her mother-in-law. The original owner is dead, and the elderly mother-in-law is unable to walk or run, and is illiterate. A single scare could probably send her to her death.
Wouldn't it be logical for the Gao family's house to fall into the hands of this so-called "creditor"?
What a clever scheme to exploit someone who has no children!
Shen Qing managed to sort out all the complicated issues.
"Even in ancient times, the definition of murder was based on extremely rigorous legal logic. It first required two preconditions: planning and premeditation. It was not that simply injuring or killing someone constituted murder."
Her father's voice seemed to transcend time and space, appearing in Shen Qing's ears.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com