Gan Li was excited because she suddenly remembered that in the courtroom, Gan Tao had tried to pull Gan Tao's mother away and said something like, "Your leg was clearly healed a long time ago."
Gan Tao would never lie about something like this, but she had never revealed this information during their previous interactions. This could only mean one thing: Gan Tao had only recently discovered it herself!
Everyone in Yuxi Village knows that after Gan Tao's father passed away, Gan Tao's mother fell seriously ill and could no longer stand up. From then on, the heavy burden of the family fell on the shoulders of the young girl, Gan Tao.
Gan Tao has shouldered the responsibilities of her mother and younger brother for many years because of her mother's leg, working tirelessly without complaint.
Even in this courtroom, Gan Tao Niang came in a wheelchair and cried, winning everyone's sympathy.
But if Gan Tao Niang's legs are fine, then wouldn't her claims become unbelievable?
This is the first one.
Another crucial question is: who exactly sent Wu Gang the message that led him to Gan Tao's house?
Gan Li knew, of course, that Gan Tao Niang had orchestrated all of this, but now Gan Tao Niang not only denied it outright, but also pinned the blame on Gan Tao.
We must find a way to prove that Gan Tao Niang is lying.
But... how do I prove it?
Matchmaker Li? Impossible. That old hag is utterly wicked. She was the one who arranged this affair between Gan Tao and her mother. Now that the Wu family has even won over Gan Tao's mother, they must have given Matchmaker Li a lot of benefits. She would never come forward to testify.
Ganli bit her lip, racking her brains for a long time, and finally had a flash of inspiration, thinking of someone.
That day, Gan Zhu's wife said that Gan Tao asked her to pass on a message, but she didn't go herself; instead, she called Gan Tao's fourth brother.
She had met Gan Tao's younger brothers before, and she was particularly impressed by the three older ones. They were lazy, cunning, and gluttonous, and she didn't like them at all.
However, since this fourth brother was still willing to relay messages for his sister at that time, he must not be completely corrupt yet. If we can find him and have him testify against Gan Tao Niang, wouldn't the truth come out?
After clearing her mind, Gan Li suddenly realized what was going on. She exhaled the pent-up frustration of the past few days and excitedly instructed Gan Quan, "Hitch up the carriage, let's go back to Cangxi Town!"
"Go back?" Gan Quan was taken aback, then asked excitedly, "Auntie, have you thought of a way?"
"We're getting somewhere!" Gan Li nodded happily.
She already had a plan for proving whether Gan Tao's legs had healed; all that remained was to find Gan Tao's younger brother, Xiao Si. If she could find him, the case would be solved!
She was just a little worried: would they really be able to find the person smoothly?
...
Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, Gan Quan jumped off and rushed into Gan Tao's house.
Upon seeing the empty house, the excitement on his face instantly turned into frustration. He turned back to Ganli and said:
"Auntie, you guessed right, they really did run away!"
Ganli followed behind. Although she had expected it, she was still a little disappointed to find that she hadn't come across anything.
“I won’t run away,” she said. “The case isn’t over yet. Gan Tao’s mother still has to testify in court. If she runs away now, wouldn’t that prove she’s guilty? Even if she wanted to run away, the Wu family wouldn’t let her.”
Gan Quan asked, puzzled, "If they didn't run away, where could they have gone?"
Gan Li sneered and said without thinking:
“The Wu family. It may not be the Wu family, but the Wu family must have hidden the person. We thought of asking Gan Tao’s younger brother to testify, but they also thought of this. They were worried that the children couldn’t handle the questioning, so they simply hid the person.”
"Then let's hurry back and report to Lord Lu, and ask him to send officers to find the person!"
Ganli shook her head in disapproval: "Do you think the officials are our servants, that we can just tell them to come and they'll come?"
In this case, Gan Tao is the "culprit," Gan Tao's mother is the "witness," and her younger brothers are just ignorant children. Even if it were Lord Lu, what right did he have to order his officers to arrest them?
In his desperation, Gan Quan hadn't thought of these things. Now, Gan Li had brought it to his senses, and he was at a loss for what to do. He stamped his feet in frustration.
"Then what do we do?"
Gan Li sighed, "Let's go back to the restaurant first, and then we'll think of a solution."
They came straight here from the county town, but now they have returned empty-handed and dejected to the restaurant.
It was mid-afternoon, a rare quiet time for the restaurant.
When they saw the two of them return, everyone was overjoyed and crowded around them as soon as they entered, chattering excitedly.
Of course, what they care about most is the progress of the Gan Tao case.
Unlike the county, where everyone is condemning Gan Tao, most people in the town still sympathize with Gan Tao.
Not to mention the women working in the restaurant, all of whom are from Yuxi Village. Many of them even watched Gan Tao grow up and know her character very well. They all know that she is a capable and filial girl.
Therefore, when they learned of the incident that day, they all agreed that Gan Tao was innocent and that Wu Gang deserved to die.
But now, upon hearing the news brought back by Gan Li and the others, they learned that Gan Tao's mother actually acted as a witness on behalf of the Wu family, saying in court that her daughter was ungrateful, ruthless, and even gave Gan Tao's undergarment to others as evidence!
Hearing this, everyone was furious and started cursing. If Gan Tao Niang were in front of them right now, they would probably have pounced on her and punched her a few times to vent their anger.
Gan Zhu's wife suddenly realized: "No wonder, a couple of days ago everyone suddenly found that no one was at Gan Tao's house. We were all saying that Gan Tao's mother must have done such a thing on her own and was too ashamed to stay in the village any longer."
Unexpectedly, we underestimated her. It turns out she wasn't ashamed at all; she was determined to ruin her daughter!
Zhao gritted her teeth in hatred: "That wretched woman, if I had known, I would have slapped her a few more times when we were fighting!"
Someone even asked Gan Li, "Shopkeeper, we all know what kind of girl Tao'er is. If Gan Tao's mother can testify, so can we!"
Upon hearing this, everyone echoed, "That's right, let's go too!"
The crowd was filled with righteous indignation, and Gan Li, seeing their enthusiastic expressions, felt a warmth in her heart as well, but she shook her head helplessly:
"At most, you can only testify to Gan Tao's usual character, but you weren't there when the incident happened, so your testimony is useless."
Everyone deflated upon hearing this. Gan Mingyi, who had listened to the whole thing, felt extremely humiliated: "Then what can we do? Is there really no way?"
"There is a way. If we can find Gan Tao's younger brothers, things might take a turn for the better," Gan Li said.
"They ran away in the middle of the night, and now we don't even know where they are. Where are we supposed to look for them?" Gan Zhu's wife sighed.
Just as everyone was frowning in worry, a weak voice rang out.
"I...I might know where they are..."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
