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Happy reading, Detectives!
Splash~
Pouring a basin of facial wash into the ditch on the street corner, Li stared at the gurgling stream for a while before holding the wooden basin step by step and moving it back.
Since her son's accidental death, it seemed that a large piece had been dug out of her chest, leaving nothing to fill. She has no interest in anything, and dressing, washing, and cooking every day were just due to the inertia of life over the years.
The only thing that still lingered in her heart was the word ”revenge.”
However, to be honest, when there was no one in the quiet night, Li also asked herself whether the death of her son was a greater sin for Cobbler Wang or a greater sin of her own because she couldn't resist loneliness.
The answer seemed obvious…
But what Li wanted was not the answer, but the words ”peace of mind!”
The only way to make her feel at ease at the moment was to hold Cobbler Wang and ”atone for it” together, at least according to Li.
So an insignificant woman was just so amazing... Spat It was scary!
Li walked back a few steps, holding the wooden basin, and saw three middle-aged women in the corner chatting together, seemingly lowering their voices. In fact, they wished everyone in the street could hear them.
If it had been in the past, Li would have joined them early and gossiped together.
But now…
She didn't squint and even deliberately adjusted her path to avoid the three women as much as possible.
Although she could avoid the people, the content of the discussion was too much to avoid, and it spread to Li's ears.
“Have you heard that the eldest of the Cobbler Wang family has difficulty breathing in the middle of the night and woke up speaking nonsense after? He didn't even look like a person anymore.”
Li had long heard about the illness of Cobbler Wang's eldest son. It was said that he returned from the Yamene one day and developed a high fever at night. After seeing several doctors, his condition didn’t improve.
“Not only was he speaking full of nonsense, but he was also almost like a different person. At a young age, he's talking about wanting to marry the daughter of Lady Tian, who has already ordered half a piece of cloth at home, ready to invite Matchmaker Liu to go ask for matchmaking.”
Li's footsteps suddenly paused.
Before her son died, wasn't it precisely because he was thinking about Lady Tian?
And on the second day of the ninth lunar month, her son even took half a cloth and came home, saying that he wanted to ask Matchmaker Liu to come and talk about matchmaking.
That's right, that's right; that's not the strangest thing.
She heard that the child's appearance had changed, and there was an inexplicable crescent-shaped birthmark on his left buttock.
A crescent-shaped birthmark on the left buttock?
Li's hands trembled, almost throwing the wooden basin on the ground. Wasn’t there such a mark on her son's buttocks too?
What the hell is going on here?
How could Cobbler Wang's son…
It seemed that the child said something else, burying the 826 silver coins he secretly saved under the old elm tree in the courtyard. Upon hearing this, the Cobbler Wang almost dug down the elm tree at home but didn't even find any roots or hairs.
Under the old elm tree?
Li was stunned for a moment, then suddenly took off and ran towards home. She was so flustered that she didn't see the women's expressions of relief.
When Li returned home, she immediately picked up her tools and dug under the old elm tree, only to find that she had scraped out 826 coins of silver!
Like most ordinary women these days, Li also firmly believed in the affairs of the gods and ghosts. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have repeatedly mentioned the concepts of ”reincarnation” and ”afterlife” in court.
Now encountering such strange things, she suddenly had some thoughts in her heart, secretly thinking that it was her son who was ”haunted” and didn’t go through reincarnation, but…
With such thoughts, she became possessed again and stumbled to the house of Cobbler Wang at the end of the street.
Because there were three young children to take care of, Cobbler Wang was not detained in the government prison but was awaiting trial in his own home. Of course, in addition to Cobbler Wang's family of four, there was also a government official responsible for guarding the courtyard.
When Li arrived, she saw Cobbler Wang standing at the entrance of the hall, slapping himself with tears streaming down his face and muttering, "Dad's useless; it's all my fault.”
Li was originally anxious, but she suddenly became timid when she saw his appearance. She hesitated at the gate and didn’t even venture inside for a moment.
“Mother, mother…”
At this moment, the noise of ”children” came from the hall, “Don't forget the silver buried under the big elm tree; it's what I've worked hard to earn. Don't let anyone else take it!”
Cobbler Wang's wife died more than two years ago; where did the ”mother” in his son's mouth came from?
Furthermore, the silver was buried under her house’s elm tree.
This was clearly shouting at oneself!
Li immediately became excited and rushed into the courtyard without caring, about to run towards the hall.
“Is that you?”
At this moment, Cobbler Wang finally saw her and immediately turned his red and swollen old face into a heavy one. He angrily cursed, "It's all because of you, this wicked woman, who caused my eldest son to be crazy. Even now, you even dare to come to my door…”
Bam bam bam!
He stomped his feet like a performer and greeted her with open teeth and claws. "Aren't you going to die with me? I'll make you happy today.”
As he spoke, he wanted to fight against Li.
The Yamen guard next to him saw the situation and, fearing that something unexpected might happen, hurriedly grabbed him on his waist.
But Li took this opportunity and crawled into the room with a cat's waist.
She saw the eldest son of the Cobbler Wang sitting cross-legged on the Kang, with a hairstyle and eyebrows that were four or five times similar to her son!
The son of the Cobbler Wang was not like this before!
Li was even more excited. She went up and hugged the child in her arms, reached out, and took off his pants. When she saw the familiar crescent-shaped birthmark on his buttocks, she immediately cried out with a loud moan, "Oh, my dear!”
At this moment, Cobbler Wang and the Yamen attendant also chased in, and at the sight of this scene, they all felt a bit ”dumbfounded.” Cobbler Wang was even more furious and said, “Are you crazy? This is my son, why…”
“Mother~”
Just then, the son of the Cobbler Wang called out, "I want to eat the pea puree cake you made yourself."
Although this tone might seem a bit stiff and unfamiliar with the genuine appearance, how could Li still have the time to carefully distinguish this?
Tears poured down from her face, and she hugged the child without letting go, shouting, "My dear son, I will never let you leave my side again.”
Cobbler Wang was even more ”annoyed.” He threw himself forward and shouted, “Hey! You, crazy woman, hurry up and let go of my son…”
“Wait, wait…”
Just as he charged forward, he was stopped by the Yamen guard. He pulled him to the corner of the wall and said with a tone of expression, "Mr. Wang, your son was clearly out of breath last night, but when he regained his strength, he looked like this. Was he... Was he using a corpse to resurrect a dead soul?”
“What?”
Cobbler Wang lost his facial color in shock and immediately roared angrily, "That little beast has been blocking me while living. Even when he dies, he harms my son! I... I... I'm going to find a wizard and expel this ghost.”
As he spoke, he twisted his body and was about to rush out.
“No!”
Li hurriedly left the child behind and grasped Cobbler Wang in his arms, crying and shouting, "Even if the mage took him, your son wouldn't survive. I beg you, please show kindness…”
Spit!
Cobbler Wang spat at her all over her face and angrily said, "Who is it that keeps arguing for revenge all day? Now you're talking about being kind now?! If I don't take him, my son will die for nothing.”
Li was speechless, but she refused to let go.
The commotion was raging between the two, and the Yamen attendant on the side said calmly, "This is a big deal. Why don't you both take a step back? This child will still be considered the child of you two. He will still call you father and call her mother.”
“No way!”
Cobbler Wang was annoyed and said, "She's trying to pull me to death together. Why should I even split my son with her?”
Li's heart was agitated and she couldn't help but blurt out, "I can just stop the suing! As long as you don't find a wizard to take him, I... I won't sue.”