Written by: Qian Shan Cha Ke
Crying blood and tears, she pledged a poisonous vow. The gods did not fail her. She was sent back to a decade ago. The legitimate daughter of Jiang family returned from hell.
Forget it, whatever. Since they already claim...
Lian Qiao and Bai Zhi were utterly shocked and could not stop themselves from glancing at Jiang Ruan. However, seeing her steady countenance with its unchanging faint smile, as well as her delicate yet unyielding frame, calmed one's anxieties.
The head bailiff could not help but admire the trio of this young Miss and her maids. During such a misfortune, it was rare for someone to not show their emotions and remain unperturbed.
Sweeping his gaze across the courtyard, he noticed that besides the trio, everyone else had formed a faction. This seemed a little unreasonable. These servants addressed Jiang Ruan as Miss, yet their attitudes were disrespectful. Moreover, this dilapidated courtyard did not seem like the home of an influential family's young lady. The head bailiff was slightly more aware of the situation. Any young miss that made a mistake would be sent off to live in a county estate to reflect on their past errors. However, this family's young lady seemed to be quite unlucky- not only was her life an abyss of suffering, but she was even being framed by someone.
The subordinate officers enquired, "Leader?"
The head bailiff recovered and looked towards Jiang Ruan, "Miss Jiang, please pardon me. As the female corpse was found in your courtyard, we need you to follow us and stay in prison for a period of time." After this statement, he tried to read Jiang Ruan's expression.
She calmly accepted his stare and even gave a respectful bow, "One shall comply and obey."
With no fuss or tears, it did not seem like she was being dragged off to be imprisoned, but rather being escorted to attend a banquet. With no crack in her unfailing poise, the head bailiff could not help but admire her, and declared, "Don't worry, Miss Jiang. I, Li Mi, will definitely ensure that the truth comes to light and will not let the villain slip away."
After hearing this profound statement, Jiang Ruan faintly smiled, "Thank you, Daren[3]."
[3] Dàren 大人 - a title of respect toward superiors; sir
All the surrounding officers were somewhat surprised. This leader of theirs, Li Mi, had always been impassive. Being inflexible and harsh by nature, he had never shown any solicitude, much less kindness towards criminals. It made one feel disconcerted to see his hospitality today toward this silly little girl.
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Chen Zhao was able to perceive the bailiff's concern, and thus sneered, "Requesting Daren to investigate the incident diligently to bring justice to the people." He then turned towards Jiang Ruan, "Miss, after a few days, I will visit you. Miss, please don't be too anxious."
Lian Qiao snorted, "What a ploy! Framing and fawning over our Miss at the same time. Chen Zhao, do you believe our Miss to be a fool to play along with you? Remember this, you are only the son of a steward. In front of our Miss, you will never be qualified to mention yourself. Your name has but two words, and that is servant[1]! Hmph!" Lian Qiao flatly spat out everything she wanted to say to him. Upon hearing this, Chen Zhao's expression flickered back and forth between fuming rage and pale ashen.
[1] nú cai ( 奴才 ) - slave or derogatively, flunkey.
Jiang Ruan giggled and addressed Li Mi, "Daren, since Chen Zhao's statement about witnessing me kill someone has no relation with these two servant girls, I would like to request Daren for consent to allow these two girls to stay in the estate so that they can send a letter to my family.
Li Mi mused and nodded, "Alright, I will allow it."
With her eyes gleaming with tears, Lian Qiao held Jiang Ruan's hand, "Miss, please be careful not to be bullied by others." After thinking about it some more, she still felt uncertain, "It would still be better to let this servant come along with Miss because this servant is not afraid of being locked up."
Jiang Ruan could not help but laugh and squeezed her hand, "Silly, it is not a walk in the park, there is no need for a companion. I will be out soon. If you follow me, who would help me send word to my family?"
'Send word', Jiang Ruan enunciated these words a little stronger, and Lian Qiao was astonished. Bai Zhi approached Lian Qiao to pull her away, reassuring Jiang Ruan, "Miss, please take care of yourself. These servants will ensure that the letter is delivered."
Jiang Ruan nodded and addressed Li Mi, "Let's go."
All the officers were bewildered as they had never seen one take such initiative to be incarcerated. With her actions, it seemed as if she were the master, and these officers were merely her entourage of bodyguards.
A sliver of dark intention flashed in Chen Zhao's eyes. Initially, he wanted to see Jiang Ruan embarrassed and crushed. He never expected that she would still remain calm and collected, even glancing at him with a mocking smile. Her graceful demeanor remained unchanged, causing one's heart to skip a beat.
After a while, Zhang Lan ruthlessly slapped him, "What are you looking at? Is there anything worth seeing? Truly wretched!"
Once Jiang Ruan reached the prison, Li Mi arranged a cell especially for her. There were several other people in the prison, and upon seeing such a lively young lady, their foul-mouths uttered every kind of filthy word. Nevertheless, Jiang Ruan looked on aloofly, without embarrassment or anger.
Thus, upon seeing her calm reaction, the person in the neighbouring cell was amazed. Curiously, the prisoner leaned forward against the grille to look at her. Seeing that Jiang Ruan had no intention of responding, the inmate began to query, "Hey, young lady, why were you locked up?"
Jiang Ruan looked towards the direction of the sound and saw an extremely filthy person staring at her. From head to toe, the person's clothes were dusty and covered with mud. And although unkempt hair covered the person's face, with a pure and sweet tone, it was clear that it was the voice of a young woman.
After glancing at her, Jiang Ruan did not respond.
This young woman was shocked and relentlessly persisted, "Hey, why are you ignoring me? Could it be that you are deaf? You look quite beautiful, yet it turns out you're a master that cannot hear at all. Tsk tsk, how pitiful!"
Jiang Ruan stared at her, "How does that concern you?"
"Ah, so it turns out, you're not deaf or mute." The woman cried out in pleasant surprise, "I'm bored to death here so you came at the right time. The two of us can keep each other company."
