A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 271: Shopkeeper Yang Backstabs Famous Li from Jiangnan

During the trial, Ma Ming's silence, the village chief Ma's insistence, and the government's obsequiousness made the case more complicated. The people outside saw that after the trial, the government had not posted a notice of conclusion, so they began to imagine and discuss.

Those who were emotional because of sympathy for the Majia Village tragedy naturally believed the accusation of the village chief Ma, thinking that the village chief Ma had escaped death and witnessed the tragic death of his wife and children in the fire, and would not wrongly accuse a child he had watched grow up for no reason. In addition, the incident in Majia Village happened as soon as Ma Ming left, which inevitably aroused suspicion. So they began to scold Ma Ming angrily for repaying kindness with enmity and being crazy.

However, there were also rational people among the crowd who questioned the village chief Ma's words, saying they were all one-sided and without any basis. On the contrary, Ma Ming at least had the famous Li from Jiangnan to testify for him. Moreover, if Ma Ming really colluded with the bandits to commit such a heinous crime, he would have escaped long ago. Now that he has taken the initiative to show up in front of the government, isn't he courting death?

However, the rational remarks only angered the crowd who were driven by emotions and shouted slogans of justice and blindly sympathized with Majia Village. The silence of the government made them more convinced of Ma Ming's crimes. Not only did they curse Ma Ming more fiercely, but they also dragged out the famous Jiangnan man Li who helped Ma Ming to curse.

Li Yunye was in the Li Mansion listening to Manager Yuan reporting back the scolding from outside, and he was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, while Mu Liang at the side was calm and composed, and kept comforting him.

Mu Liang had naturally expected the fermentation of public opinion, but fortunately, public opinion was not one-sided. There were many reasonable people who felt sorry for the famous Li from Jiangnan, and the prefect had previously assured that the famous Li from Jiangnan would not suffer too much, so he was able to remain calm.

"The situation is urgent and you still don't expect me to be anxious? The same goes for Ma Ming. He has been wronged and disgusted by the village chief Ma, but he still cares about Xi Ri's kindness. Is he out of his mind?" After Manager Yuan left, Li Yunye complained to Mu Liang in a frustrated manner.

"Although public opinion is in uproar right now, many people are questioning Village Chief Ma and speaking for Ma Ming and Jiangnan Ming Li. As long as Jiangnan Ming Li is not condemned by public opinion, there is no need to worry." Mu Liang still smiled patiently, stood up and handed a cold drink to Li Yunye who was restless in front of the window, and continued to comfort him in a low voice: "Besides, with the prefect here, what are you worried about?"

"There's no movement from the government at the moment?" Although Mu Liang's words made sense, Li Yunye still frowned worriedly.

"The authorities have to play the long game to catch the big fish, so they can't make any noise too early to avoid alerting the enemy." Seeing that his brother was still worried, Mu Liang had no choice but to lower his voice and tell him the truth.

"Fishing for a big fish? Could it be that the prefect also knows about the Majia Village case..."

"Shh!"

Before Li Yunye could say anything, Mu Liang stopped him.

"So what should we do next?" After learning that the government was pretending to be confused and putting on a show for Village Chief Ma, Li Yunye was finally able to put his heart back into his stomach.

"The government will do what it needs to do, and we just need to do business as usual."

Mu Liang's words made Li Yunye nod in agreement belatedly. At the moment, it was really difficult for the famous Li from Jiangnan to say anything. He could only let the people argue and let them be scolded. If the government could find out the person behind Village Chief Ma, it would be considered that a big problem had been solved for the famous Li from Jiangnan.

At the same time, Master Shen Shi in Yaocheng was surprised to learn that things had escalated to such an extent. He was ecstatic and hurriedly asked his fat slave to secretly send some people to the public to intensify the condemnation of the famous Li in Jiangnan.

On the other hand, after the trial, Village Chief Ma saw that he had an advantage in front of the government, and he was treated to good food and drink by the yamen runners for several days in a row, so he gradually relaxed his cautious heart. After staying in Lin County for ten days, Village Chief Ma asked the yamen runners about Ma Ming's news. He heard that Ma Ming still refused to say anything in prison. The county magistrate had already lost his patience and planned to convict him if there was still no progress in the case next month.

Village Chief Ma panicked when he heard this. He had never thought that the government could make such a foolish judgment on a matter involving human life. Moreover, although Master Shen had asked him to find Ma Ming with the help of the government, even if the government found that his accusation was a false accusation, he could still explain it as a misunderstanding and at most be imprisoned for a few days. Master Shen would naturally find a way to rescue him. But now he did not expect the government to be so easy to fool. The development of the matter has exceeded his expectations.

No, we have to find a way to inform Master Shi in advance about this matter.

With this in mind, Village Chief Ma found an excuse that his deceased wife had appeared in his dream and asked him to return to the village to pay homage, so he temporarily reported to the Lin County government office. He carried a basket of offerings and left the county. Although he was heading towards Majia Village, he secretly slipped into the mountains and forests halfway and turned to Yaocheng.

"Where is your shopkeeper?"

At the busy intersection of Yujiang City, a middle-aged woman hurried into the cloth shop of a famous Jiangnan man named Li and angrily asked the shop assistant who came up to her.

"Madam Liu, my boss has gone out and hasn't come back yet. What's the matter?" The shop assistant still greeted her with a smile and asked carefully.

"What else could it be? Why haven't the ten pieces of cloth I ordered half a month ago been delivered to our tailor shop yet? My boss is still waiting to make new clothes for his customers!" The woman glared and said anxiously.

"I remember that I had someone deliver the cloth to your shop three days ago..."

"You are such a joker, young man. My Liu's Tailor Shop has been open in Yujiang City for more than 20 years. Everyone knows our reputation. Why would you be so greedy for these ten rolls of cloth from your Jiangnan famous Li?" Before the shop assistant could finish his words, the woman flew into a rage, put her hands on her hips, and shouted at the top of her voice.

"Ma'am, please calm down. How could I dare to have such an idea? Maybe I remembered it wrongly. Let me check the delivery list." Seeing that the woman was furious and that Liu's Tailor Shop had been a long-time customer of Jiangnan Mingli, the shop assistant also realized the seriousness of the matter. He tried to comfort her while going to the counter to check the delivery list.

This check made him frown. The delivery note clearly stated that the ten pieces of cloth had been delivered to Liu's Tailor Shop, but when he saw the name of the delivery guy, he couldn't help but say in his heart: It's broken.

The waiter's name was Shuichi, and he was hired by the shopkeeper half a month ago. But he was more like a ancestor hired by the shopkeeper than a waiter. In just half a month, he not only caused complaints from other waiters in the shop, but also offended many customers. Not to mention that he didn't go to bed on time every day, he was also careless in the shop, and even worse, he yelled at the customers who came into the shop and drove them away. The old waiters were all angry but dared not say anything, after all, the shopkeeper seemed to be very tolerant of him, which led them to guess that he must be a relative of the shopkeeper.

The shop had already lost a lot of business to Shuiliu Villa, but the shopkeeper was not in a hurry and instead brought in such an idle person, causing the cloth shop's business to become worse. Even the reputation of the famous Jiangnan Li family plummeted in Yujiang City. The shop assistants could not understand this.

"What's wrong? What happened again?" Just as the shop assistant was in a dilemma, the water ruler walked in calmly. Seeing the angry woman beside him, he immediately twisted his mouth and said impatiently.

"Water ruler, were those ten pieces of cloth delivered to Liu's Tailor Shop three days ago by you personally?" When the clerk in the shop saw the water ruler, he hurriedly put down the delivery note and asked him.

"What Liu's Tailor Shop? Isn't it the Liu family outside the city?"

"You actually sent him to the Liu family outside the city?" The shop assistant couldn't help but get angry when he heard it.

"What? Did you send it to the wrong person again? Oh, doesn't that mean it's a good deal for the Liu family outside the city? They got ten rolls of silk cloth for free." The water ruler still sneered with an indifferent look.

"What's wrong with your manager Yang recently? How could he keep such a person who is not doing his job properly..." Seeing that Shuichi had no guilt at all for delivering the wrong cloth, and instead acted as if it was none of his business, Madam Liu couldn't stand it anymore. Before she could finish her words, Shuichi angrily pushed her. Fortunately, the waiter on the other side was quick to support her in time.

"The servant of Jiangnan famous Li's shop beat people! The servant of Jiangnan famous Li's shop beat people!" After the woman realized what was happening, she was so scared that she ran out of the shop and cried in the street.

"If you have the guts, don't run. I'll beat you up!" But Shui Chi was not afraid of the increasing number of onlookers gathering in front of the cloth shop. He pointed at Madam Liu in the crowd and cursed.

The shop assistants were at a loss when they saw this. They wanted to stop the ruler but did not dare to step forward. They were bullied by him on normal days, and he was even more afraid of them when he was angry. They could only watch the reputation of Jiangnan famous Li being ruined.

"Have you heard? This famous Jiangnan man, Li, protected the real culprit of the Majia Village massacre!"

"Humph, it's known to everyone. Sooner or later, the wronged souls of the dozens of people in Majia Village will come to find the famous Li from Jiangnan!"

"No wonder they dare to protect the villains. What is this little scoundrel in front of us?"

"Humph, this Jiangnan famous Li really can cover the sky with one hand? From now on, everyone should go to Shuiliu Cloth Shop and let Jiangnan famous Li's business in Yujiang City no longer continue!"

Shopkeeper Yang, hiding in a dark corner, listened to everyone's condemnation and disgust towards the famous Li from Jiangnan, and a smug smile appeared on his face.