Chapter 54: Horoscopes Clash

(I'm too busy today, I grabbed this out, it's not well written, everyone don't read it yet, I'll fix it tomorrow.)

She suddenly remembered that there were no marriage certificates in ancient times, only marriage contracts.

A marriage contract was in four copies: one offered to heaven and earth, one given to the matchmaker, and the other two held by the man and woman respectively.

And the original owner had been hurriedly married into the Jiang family by Du Mingzhu, so she didn't know if a marriage contract had been prepared. Anyway, she had never seen one, nor had she heard Jiang Zhan mention it.

She would ask next time.

Du Ruo had to start from another aspect, "I can describe what Jiang Li looks like, does that count as proof?"

The Ya Men runner crossed his arms and looked at her as if she were an idiot, "Constable Jiang enters and exits here several times a day. Many people have seen him, and everyone can describe what he looks like. Does that mean everyone is his wife?"

Ah, this, that made sense too.

"Then..."

"Unless you can tell me what marks are on his chest, like birthmarks or scars, then I'll believe you."

Such a private matter, of course, only the closest people would know, and he happened to have caught a glimpse when he was changing clothes in the back office.

Du Ruo was suddenly embarrassed.

How would she know that? She and Jiang Li hadn't consummated the marriage. Every time they were alone, they were wrapped tightly, fearing they would be taken advantage of, so she really didn't know what Jiang Li looked like under his clothes.

Forget it, gamble.

"My husband's chest is smooth and clean, there are no marks at all. Brother, are you deliberately trying to trick me?" Du Ruo's tone was very firm.

The Ya Men runner let out a series of heh-heh-heh cold laughs, "Alright, stop trying to claim men here, go stay somewhere cool."

Du Ruo: "..."

She wanted to say more, but the Ya Men runner was convinced she was a liar and waved his water-fire staff to drive her away.

"I can prove it." At this moment, a voice suddenly sounded from behind.

Du Ruo turned around and smiled, "Madam Li."

The county magistrate's wife, Su Wanjun, was carrying a food box in one hand and holding her son, Li Nan Si, in the other. Young Master Li had a straight posture and a cold expression, looking like a little adult.

The Ya Men runner hurriedly saluted and asked, "Madam knows her?"

Su Wanjun nodded, "She is indeed Constable Jiang's wife. Go call him out to recognize her, and you'll know."

The government runner looked troubled, "It's not that I won't call him, but Constable Jiang went to Kuaigua Town early this morning to handle official business. Yesterday, a victim came to cry, saying that her cow's calf had been stolen. So, the county magistrate asked Constable Jiang to take people to check it out."

So that was what happened.

Su Wanjun thought for a moment and said to Du Ruo, "Kuaigua Town is far away, I guess they won't be back until dark. Why don't you rest at my place first, Mistress Du? When Jiang Li returns, I'll have them come tell you."

That was all she could do, so Du Ruo hurriedly thanked her.

Su Wanjun handed the food box to the government runner, told him to send it in to her husband, Li Jieming, and then took Du Ruo around and around, walking for about half an hour before entering an alley.

Du Ruo's footsteps paused. She recognized this place.

Qingshi Lane, where the original owner was married off from.

Seeing her gaze drift toward the direction of the Du residence, Su Wanjun smiled and said intentionally or unintentionally, "Recently, Master Du seems to have been living quite stifled."

Du Ruo withdrew her gaze and said, "Oh."

She didn't care how the scum beauty was living; it would be best if she had a heart attack every day.

Su Wanjun looked at her, "Speaking of which, this matter has something to do with your husband."

Something to do with Jiang Li?

Du Ruo immediately became interested, "How so?"

Su Wanjun smiled, "I heard from my husband that Jiang Li works diligently and has outstanding ability, helping him a lot. Master Du originally valued Jiang Li quite a bit, calling him son-in-law affectionately, but Jiang Li never responded, calling him Master Du every time. Except for official business, he ignored him at other times, which made Master Du very angry."

Du Ruo couldn't help but raise the corners of her mouth. Jiang Li was indeed a man of his word; he said he wouldn't acknowledge him, so he wouldn't.

She coughed twice and said lightly, "Maybe their horoscopes clash."

Su Wanjun burst into laughter and hurriedly pressed her handkerchief to the corner of her mouth to maintain her dignity and elegance, "Probably so."

She knew the truth very well. In the end, it was all because of Du Ruo. Du Ren Mei didn't care about this daughter, so Jiang Li didn't care about Du Ren Mei as a father-in-law. Su Wanjun still appreciated such a young couple with backbone and attitude.

After entering the Li residence, Su Wanjun ordered people to prepare a sumptuous lunch.

After the meal, she accompanied Du Ruo for a walk in the small garden, chatting while digesting.

Du Ruo, however, was restless, always feeling that something was about to happen that she couldn't control.

Young Master Li had been obediently following his mother, looking at Du Ruo from time to time. At this moment, he suddenly said, "Hey, is someone bullying you?"

Du Ruo opened her mouth but couldn't say anything.

Someone was indeed bullying her, but she couldn't talk about this with a child.

Li Nan Si was angry, "Didn't I say last time, if someone bullies you, report my name? You definitely didn't report it, right?"

Du Ruo smiled sheepishly, "Then... I'll report it next time?"

Li Nan Si walked to her with his short legs, looked up, and asked, "Who is bullying you? Tell me, I'll stand up for you!"

Du Ruo looked at Su Wanjun for help.

Su Wanjun picked up her son and smiled, "Nan'er is really a righteous child, but you are still young, you have to wait until you grow up a bit more to be able to help. Well, it's getting late, let the nanny take you for a nap. Sleeping more will make you grow taller."

The nanny behind her hurriedly walked over, but Li Nan Si refused, his little body twisting and refusing to move. Finally, he was spanked by his mother before he reluctantly followed the nanny.

Looking at the nanny's back, Du Ruo was thoughtful.

This nanny was no longer the one she saw at the Herbal Hall last time. It seems that every family has its own difficult scriptures...

"Although Nan'er's words were a bit naive, the principle is correct. If Du Niang Zi really encounters any difficulties, you can tell me. I will definitely help if I can."

Su Wanjun didn't say this entirely because Du Ruo had saved her son; she genuinely wanted to befriend Du Ruo.

Du Ruo was very grateful and then politely refused.

Although Du Ren Mei was only a small county assistant, the person behind him was Marquis Bei'an. Magistrate Li might not be willing to offend him.

Besides, it hadn't reached the point of desperation yet. She wanted to try first to see if she could pull Du Mingzhu down on her own; if not, then she would talk.

When it was dark, someone finally came from the county government office.

It was Wang Bujiu.

"Oh, sister-in-law, why did you run here? This is really a coincidence. Brother Jiang scheduled a day off tomorrow, and just now on the way, he happened to return to Longquan Cun!"

Du Ruo's heart sank.

Jiang Li didn't know what had happened yet. If he went back and found that no one was home, she didn't know how worried he would be.

Thinking of this, Du Ruo hurriedly said goodbye to Su Wanjun and then ran out.

Wang Bujiu chased after her, "Sister-in-law, don't be anxious. It's so late, go back tomorrow!"

Du Ruo stopped abruptly. Before Wang Bujiu could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard her say, "You have a pass to leave the city, right?"

Wang Bujiu: "... Yes."

"Send me out of the city!"

It definitely wouldn't work for Du Ruo to go back alone. Although she was a bit ugly, she was a woman after all. If something happened on the road, how could he explain it to Brother Jiang?

Wang Bujiu had no choice but to rent a carriage at the city gate, and the two of them rushed to Longquan Village under the stars.

On the way, Wang Bujiu muttered, "It was just waiting, one night wouldn't hurt, it's just that husband and wife stuff..."

Du Ruo was speechless and had to tell him the whole story. Anyway, Wang Bujiu wasn't an outsider.

After listening, Wang Bujiu was immediately furious, "I said so, why was Brother Jiang's attitude toward Master Du so strange? So that's what happened."

He rolled up his sleeves, "Sister-in-law, don't worry. If that Du Mingzhu dares to make another move, I, Old Wang, will be the first not to let her go. I must make her look good!"

Du Ruo shook her head, "This matter must be discussed in the long term, don't be impulsive."

Otherwise, it would only startle the snake, and it might even cause losses.

The night road was hard to walk. It wasn't until midnight that the carriage finally entered Longquan Cun.

From afar, she could see the sky filled with fire at the east end of the village, and there were noisy and panicked shouts from the crowd.

Du Ruo's heart lifted, and she had a bad premonition.

Sure enough, when she got off the carriage and stumbled over, she saw that the small dilapidated courtyard had been swallowed by a raging fire, and the kitchen and courtyard walls had been burned to ashes.

All around were villagers helping to put out the fire, all of them gray-faced, running back and forth between the small dilapidated courtyard and the clear water pond with wooden buckets.

Unfortunately, the fire was too big, and that little bit of water was useless.

At that moment, Du Ruo's whole soul seemed to be drained, her body was occupied by fear, and she trembled all over.

Jiang Li, Jiang Li...

"Jiang Li, you can't go in!" A roar in the dark finally pulled Du Ruo's soul back.

She came back to her senses and realized she was covered in tears.

She wiped them away casually, and Du Ruo ran into the crowd in a few steps, threw herself over, and hugged the man who was tense all over and was about to rush into the fire.

"Husband..."

Jiang Li froze, looked down at her, his eyes full of bloodshot streaks, "Wife? You... are you okay?"

Du Ruo hurriedly comforted him, "I'm fine, don't worry, Little San and Wan'er are also fine."

"That's good, that's good..." Jiang Li held her in his arms, his trembling voice full of lingering fear.

Beside them, Clan Head Jiang also breathed a sigh of relief, "What's going on? Jiang Li's wife, since no one was home, how could it suddenly catch fire?"

Yes, how could it catch fire?

Du Ruo sneered secretly. Du Mingzhu was indeed ruthless. Before, she only pushed people into the water to steal their jobs, but now she dared to commit arson.

Good, since the evidence was delivered to her hand, she had no reason not to accept it, right?

"Grandpa Clan Head, I suspect someone committed arson on purpose."

Clan Head Jiang was stunned, "Do you have proof?"

It was the second time someone asked her for proof today. Du Ruo shook her head, "No, but evidence is dead, people are alive, just look for it."

She scanned the area, "Please, Grandpa Clan Head, block the entrance to the village and don't allow anyone to enter or leave."

Clan Head Jiang didn't speak, Jiang Li spoke up.

"There is indeed something tricky about this. My wife wasn't home, the stove was cold, why would it suddenly catch fire? And the fire was fierce, water couldn't extinguish it, so it's clear it wasn't an ordinary fire."

Clan Head Jiang felt a chill in his heart. If this was true, then this matter was not trivial.

Outsiders were fine, just ordinary revenge.

But if there was such a vicious criminal in their village, that was a hidden disaster. Maybe one day in the future, it would kill everyone in the village.

Thinking of this, Clan Head Jiang couldn't stay calm and turned to look for Lin You Tian.

The order to block the village could only be given by the village head. He, the clan head, couldn't overstep his authority.

After looking around and not finding anyone, Clan Head Jiang had to ask someone to look for him at his home.

After a long while, Lin You Tian arrived late.

Clan Head Jiang was very angry, his cane hitting the ground with a bang, almost poking Lin You Tian's head, "You can still sleep! The Jiang family's second branch had such a big fire, your house is only a few steps away, and you didn't know?"

Lin You Tian's eyes flickered, and he hurriedly explained with a laugh.

"My fault, my fault. I drank a few cups at night and was dead drunk, so I came late."

He did drink, but he wasn't too drunk. He discovered it when the fire started, and his first reaction was to get a bucket to put it out.

But he was stopped by his daughter.

His daughter pulled him and cried, saying she was afraid, "Father, you can't go. The fire is so big, what if you get burned? If you're gone, what will Mother and I do..."

His wife also pulled him and wouldn't let go, "What fire to save? It deserves to be burned! That Du woman is a jinx, it's just right for the heavens to take her!"

Lin You Tian, of course, wouldn't say these things to outsiders.

Clan Head Jiang explained the matter, and Lin You Tian also felt that this matter couldn't be sloppy, so he hurriedly ordered people to block the entrance to the village and strictly forbade anyone from entering or leaving.

As more and more people came, when dawn was about to break, the fire was finally completely extinguished.

Looking at the courtyard that was now just a ruin, Jiang Li's face was as heavy as water. He picked up a stone and smelled it. A pungent smell, it was fire oil.

No wonder the fire was so hard to extinguish, it turned out someone had deliberately poured fire oil on it...

Soon, Village Head Lin You Tian's order was passed down, saying that the Jiang family's second branch suspected arson, so everyone in the village had to go to the threshing floor for inspection.

Once this order was given, the village was in an uproar. Some supported it, some opposed it.

Cao Shi was the first to jump out, "Who told your family to buy so much good food? Always greedy, maybe it was your own stove that wasn't cleaned properly and caught fire!"

"Exactly." Zhu Shi also curled her lips and said, "We're all from the same village. Even if there's some bickering and arguing on weekdays, that's common. I've never seen anyone take such a ruthless hand. You can't suspect anyone, let alone suspect people from our own village!"

For a time, there was much discussion.

Lin You Tian glanced at Jiang Li and Du Ruo beside him, smiled, and then raised his volume, "I know everyone is unhappy, but this is the only way. Our Constable has a way to solve cases and found fire oil at the scene, so everyone, please help and clear this suspicion." ===== CHAPTER 55 =====