Xiao Qingyin was taken aback and hurriedly asked Li what had happened.
Li sighed repeatedly.
"Yesterday at noon, Tianci's mother was hanging clothes out to dry in front of the door when that damned Ma Laosan came back from outside, looking drunk. When he saw Tianci's mother, he went up and started groping her."
"Tianci's mother pushed him, and he fell to the ground, hit a brick, and broke his forehead."
"This morning, before dawn, Ma Laosan's wife, Pan, was shouting that Ma Laosan had been killed by Tianci's mother. She went to the yamen to report it to the authorities, and Tianci's mother was taken away by the yamen runners."
Xiao Qingyin frowned after hearing this.
"What was the cause of Ma Laosan's death? Has the government made any announcement?"
Li replied, "I don't know if it's been announced yet. I spent the whole morning trying to coax Tianci. He wanted to go to the yamen to find his mother. But when Ma Laosan was carried away, a neighbor glanced at him and said that Ma Laosan's mouth was crooked and he was covered in filth, like he died of a stroke."
Stroke?
So, it's a cerebral hemorrhage?
Could it be that Qin Wenjun's push caused Ma Laosan's cerebral blood vessels to rupture?
If that were the case, he would be guilty of manslaughter.
Xiao Qingyin recalled the black footprints she saw on the embroidery shed when she first came to treat Qin Wenjun. Perhaps it was Ma Laosan who broke into her room that time.
This Ma Laosan must have been harassing her for a long time. She only resisted once, and yet she was accused of murder. Her fate is too unfortunate.
While she was pondering, a small figure rushed out of the house and headed straight for the courtyard gate. Li immediately chased after it.
"Tianci, where are you running to? Come back right now! Even if you go to the yamen, you won't see your mother!"
The little guy seemed not to hear and ran forward as fast as he could.
Xiao Qingyin gave Yi Shuihan a look, and Yi Shuihan chased after him and brought the little guy back.
"Let me go!"
The little guy waved his little hands and feet haphazardly.
"I need to find my mother!"
Xiao Qingyin sighed and said to him, "Why don't you wait here? I'll go to the yamen to see your mother for you."
The little one stopped struggling, his face full of pleading.
"Can I come with you?"
A child this young is not suitable to visit the Jingzhao Prefecture prison.
Xiao Qingyin shook her head: "Children can't go to jail. If you have anything to say, I can help you pass it on to your mother."
The little guy's face instantly turned ashen.
With his head drooping, he said, "I want my mother to come back."
Xiao Qingyin patted his little head: "If your mother is innocent, she will come back."
“That bastard wasn’t killed by my mother,” he said angrily. “After my mother pushed him down, he only got a few scrapes and was perfectly fine. He even went out partying in the afternoon and didn’t come back until midnight.”
Xiao Qingyin nodded: "Yes, it's possible that he died for other reasons."
Alcohol poisoning can also lead to cerebral hemorrhage.
“Okay,” the little guy reluctantly agreed, “then wait for me a moment, I’ll get something out, and you can take it to my mother for me.”
"no problem."
The little guy then asked Yi Shuihan to let him down, and ran into the house. A little while later, he came out carrying a pillow and a bowl of porridge.
"My mother was taken away before she had breakfast. These are the dumplings I made."
He handed the bowl to Xiao Qingyin.
"And there's a pillow. Mother can't sleep without this pillow."
Xiao Qingyin looked at the bowl of dark, mushy dough, mixed with who knows how much ashes, and the dough that was now a mess, and her eyes welled up with tears.
She took the pillow and the dough balls.
"Okay, I'll bring it to her."
The little guy nodded and said, "Tell my mother that I will stay home obediently and wait for her to come back."
What a good child.
Xiao Qingyin sighed inwardly.
Afterwards, he and Yi Shuihan went to the Jingzhao Prefecture.
This place was familiar to Xiao Qingyin, but the Prefect of the Capital who she had dealt with a few times before had been promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice, while this Lord Cui had only recently taken office.
After Xiao Qingyin and Yi Shuihan revealed their identities, the other party respectfully instructed the constables to take them to the prison to see Qin Wenjun.
Qin Wenjun was sitting in her cell, filled with fear, when she heard the sound of the lock being opened, and her heart clenched.
But they found that it was Xiao Qingyin and Yi Shuihan who came in.
"What brings you two here?"
She stood up from the ground in surprise.
Xiao Qingyin smiled and said, "I've come back to revisit this old haunt."
Qin Wenjun didn't understand her jest and looked confused.
“I was previously accused of murdering my grandmother and served time in the Jingzhao Prefecture prison,” Xiao Qingyin explained. “Now that I’ve come here again, isn’t this just revisiting old haunts?”
The case was widely known at the time, and Qin Wenjun naturally heard about it. Hearing Xiao Qingyin's joking words, she felt relieved.
"If I had the chance to revisit this place, I wouldn't mind staying here for a while."
She chuckled.
But deep down, she knew she probably wouldn't have a chance to get out.
Even if they did, they would be taken out and beheaded.
Xiao Qingyin handed her the dough and the pillow in her hand.
“This was specially asked by your son to be brought to you. He said you can’t sleep well without this pillow. The dumplings were cooked by him personally. Of course, it might be more appropriate to call them porridge.”
Qin Wenjun's eyes instantly reddened.
"This child..."
She hasn't had a drop of water since she got up this morning. She never expected that her child, who has gone through such a big ordeal, would still be thinking about her eating.
Such a good child, how could he have been born to such an unlucky mother?
If she is sentenced, what will he do in the future?
The thought of the little one's tearful face made her heart ache as if it had been slashed by a blade, almost suffocating her.
She put down the bowl of noodles and the pillow, knelt down, and kowtowed to Xiao Qingyin.
“Miss Xiao, if I can’t get away with this crime, can I entrust Tianci to you? He’s young, but if I raise him for two or three years, he can be a servant…”
Xiao Qingyin was surprised that she was entrusting her child to someone else so soon, and quickly helped her up.
"The court hasn't even opened yet, and we're not even sure if you're guilty. What's the rush?"
Qin Wenjun gave a bitter smile: "I pushed him, and he died of a brain hemorrhage. Even if I wanted to prove my innocence, I have no way to get away with it. It's best to prepare for the worst."
"There are many causes of brain hemorrhage, and it is not necessarily caused by that one impact."
Xiao Qingyin comforted her.
"Besides, even if it was because of that, you pushed him in self-defense, so you might not necessarily be convicted."
"Really?"
Qin Wenjun could hardly believe it.
Is it really possible that I will not be convicted?
Xiao Qingyin nodded.
She had reviewed the Dae Hee Code.
"There are precedents in the current laws for leniency or acquittal in cases of self-defense killings, which can be cited in your defense. Of course, this is the worst-case scenario; it is also possible that the autopsy results will show that his brain hemorrhage was caused by something else and had nothing to do with you."
Hearing her say that, Qin Wenjun's previously despairing heart was rekindled with a glimmer of hope.
Let's set aside the matter of entrusting the orphan for the time being.
He simply asked Xiao Qingyin, "I was taken away in such a hurry that I didn't have time to tell Aunt Li. I need you to pass on my message and ask her to take care of Tianci for a few days."
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