"Yaojie's mother! Yaojie's mother! Something terrible has happened! Something terrible has happened!"
At midnight, Jiang Ling was fast asleep when Zhao Erleng's wife frantically banged on Jiang Ling's door, waking everyone in the family from their sleep.
Jiang Ling suddenly opened her eyes, threw on her clothes, and ran out without even putting on her shoes.
"What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry in the middle of the night?" Jiang Ling opened the door and asked Zhao Erleng's wife, who was covered in sweat.
"Mother, what's wrong?"
"Aunt Erleng, what brings you here?"
Jiang Ling's children, rubbing their sleepy eyes, stood beside her and asked questions.
"This..." Zhao Erleng's wife was about to speak, but her gaze hesitated and fell on Jiang Ling's side.
Jiang Ling understood and turned to the children, saying, "Go back and rest. No matter what happens, Mom will take care of it for you!"
The children hesitated and stood still without moving.
"Yaojie, take Congxin back inside. It's chilly at night, don't let your wife get cold!"
"Suihe, go to sleep quickly! You have to go to study under Scholar Wu tomorrow!"
"Nianci, go back with your older brother and sister!"
Seeing that the children hadn't moved, Jiang Ling gave them instructions one by one.
The children, not wanting to disobey Jiang Ling's instructions, reluctantly returned to their rooms, turning back every few steps.
Seeing that the children had all gone inside, Zhao Erleng's wife stepped forward and whispered to Jiang Ling, "Something terrible has happened! Widow Wang has committed suicide!"
"What?" Jiang Ling's still slightly sleepy mind was suddenly awakened. She looked up at Zhao Erleng's wife.
The night was pitch black, but Jiang Ling saw a slightly frightened look in Zhao Erleng's wife's eyes.
"Wait a minute, let me change my clothes and get out!" Jiang Ling said, hugging her shoulders, whether out of fear or because the night was a bit chilly.
A few minutes later, Jiang Ling, dressed, appeared in front of Zhao Erleng's wife. She gently closed the door and walked with Zhao Erleng's wife towards Lu Youren's house.
"What's going on?" Jiang Ling asked, full of questions.
"It's all because of that child's death, isn't it? Widow Wang probably harbored resentment. In the middle of the night, she came to Old Lady Lu's room and hanged herself from the rafters right in front of Old Lady Lu. Old Lady Lu was paralyzed, wasn't she? She wanted to stop her, but she couldn't move and had to watch Widow Wang hang herself in front of her!"
"After a long time, Old Lady Lu suddenly screamed. Almost everyone in our village knew about what happened to her family. The neighbors were afraid something had happened, so they went to knock on Old Lady Lu's door. They knocked for a long time but no one answered. They mustered up their courage and went in. They found Widow Wang hanging herself and Old Lady Lu unconscious!"
Zhao Erleng's wife tried hard to recall what the people around her had said, and told Jiang Ling everything in one go.
Jiang Ling's eyebrows furrowed closer and closer. Although she had no good feelings towards Widow Wang and even felt disgusted by her, the fact that this perfectly healthy person had spoken to her just a few hours ago and was now suddenly hearing the news of her suicide would cause even the most hard-hearted person to feel a little emotional.
Thinking of all this, Jiang Ling's complexion worsened. She hurriedly walked towards Old Lady Lu's house with Zhao Erleng's wife, sweating profusely. When the village chief saw Jiang Ling, who was pale and covered in sweat, he was startled.
Thinking that Jiang Ling had also fallen ill, he strode up to her and asked with concern, "Yaojie's mother, are you alright?"
Jiang Ling shook her head and looked at the village chief. "What happened?"
The village chief's story was almost identical to that of Zhao Erleng's wife. Jiang Ling took a few deep breaths and walked with the village chief to Old Lady Lu's house.
Upon hearing that something had happened to their family, the remaining Lu brothers rushed over in a panic. When they saw Widow Wang covered with a white sheet in the yard, they collapsed to the ground helplessly, at a loss for what to do.
Doctor Zhu frowned as he came out of the inner room, his face grave. He said to Lu Youyi, "Your mother, I'm afraid..."
"What do you mean, Doctor Zhu? What happened to my mother?" Lu Youyi's face turned pale with fright when he heard Doctor Zhu's words.
Although Old Lady Lu was known in the village as a troublemaker, she treated her sons fairly well, at least not showing too much favoritism towards any of them.
When the remaining three sons heard what Dr. Zhu said, they all gathered around.
Dr. Zhu stroked his beard, sighed heavily, shook his head helplessly, and said only, "My days are numbered!" before picking up his medicine box and leaving without looking back.
Lu Youli quickly chased after him, but soon he shivered and sat down on the ground, pale-faced.
Everyone wasn't stupid; seeing Lu Youli's expression, they all chose to remain silent.
“Yaojie’s mother, you have a carriage. Could you please go to Pingxi County and invite Magistrate Duan over?” The village chief said helplessly, shaking his head.
A murder occurred in the village, and according to procedure, someone had to notify the county magistrate. This task fell to Jiang Ling.
...
Jiang Ling and Jiang Yaojie arrived at the county government office in the early morning, around 1-3 AM.
Zhao Liu happened to be on night watch that night. When he saw Jiang Ling rushing over, he immediately ran over and asked, "What serious thing happened so late at night?"
Jiang Ling helplessly repeated the story of Widow Wang's suicide to Zhao Liu, who immediately ran towards Magistrate Duan's bedroom upon hearing it.
A few minutes later, Magistrate Duan's carriage sped out of the alley next door, and he and Jiang Ling returned to Lujia Village at full speed.
After the coroner examined the body, he determined that Widow Wang's cause of death was suicide, and the case naturally became a separate matter.
As the sky began to lighten with the first hint of dawn, Jiang Ling said to Magistrate Duan, "Brother Duan, thank you so much for making the trip so late. Why don't you rest here for a while, have some breakfast, and then go back?"
Zhao Liu was overjoyed, thinking that Magistrate Duan would accept, but Magistrate Duan shook his head and refused, "Forget it, it's getting late, Liu Zi and I will go back first! Take care of yourself!"
Zhao Liu was taken aback by these words, but with everyone present, he could only slink behind Magistrate Duan.
Jiang Ling wanted to say something, but at this moment, Old Lady Lu's house was in complete chaos, so Jiang Ling couldn't draw too much attention, after all, she was a lady of the imperial court.
"You guys carry the person out first. I know the rules. You'll get your share of pomelos and red cloth!" the village chief said, pointing to four strong young men.
Although the four men were reluctant, they reluctantly agreed after hearing that there were benefits involved. One of the young men asked, "Village chief, where...where are you taking her?"
This question seemed to stump the village chief. He frowned, hesitated for a moment, and finally forced out a few words: "Let's just find a place anywhere on the back mountain!"
And so, with a white cloth and a straw mat covering her body, the four young men carried her to the back of the mountain and buried her in a random spot. There wasn't even a proper tombstone; they just casually stuck a branch in the ground and that was it.
As for Widow Wang's son, he was even more pitiful; the death of a child was always considered an ominous sign in the village.
Before they even arrived at Lujia Village yesterday, the village chief told Widow Wang to bury her son anywhere. Although Widow Wang was unwilling, she could only bury her son with tears in her eyes because of the village chief's position.
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