On the threshing ground, Shi Jia held his hands behind his back, and his expression was solemn and gentle. Facing the villagers who were connected with each other and Li Zhengye who pretended to be calm, Shi Jia seemed more calm.

"Happy New Year for all the villagers! I'm in the capital, Shi's name is Jia, and I'm doing some idle jobs in the capital to run errands for the yamen." Shi's friends bowed their fists and bowed in groups, "I'm here today. I want to invite all the villagers to come here. I want to ask everyone to recall the memories."

A man in the crowd rushed out: "You are with those who come to dig graves. What you are asking about is the bitch of the Qiao family?"

Shi Jia said warmly: "What I want to ask is something that happened on the official road more than four years ago..."

At Qiao Hushi's home at the east end of the village, Hua Jingyao covered most of her body with a royal blue cloak, only her white skirt was exposed, she did not wear hairpins or her hairpins, and did not put on makeup. In the eyes of Mrs. Qiao, the little girl in front of her was no different from the girl in the town except for her sweet appearance.

"My eldest daughter was born beautiful since she was a child. She came to propose marriage at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Her father and I chose a lot of choices. There were so many good guys that were not chosen, but they chose the bastard. When the Chinese New Year was approaching that year, her father took our mother and three of us to the town to buy New Year's goods. The bastard happened to be in the town, so she fell in love with my eldest daughter. After the Chinese New Year, she came to propose marriage and said that he had a house and a shop in the capital, and his parents were gone long ago. My daughter didn't have to serve her mother-in-law when she got married, and she had the final say. Her father and I were moved. The bastard even took her father to the capital to see the house and shop. Her father came back and told me that the bastard was true. The daughter married her as a grandmother when she got married, and she was enjoying her happiness. We asked for a 20 taels of bride price, and the bastard was happy. In less than three months, she married my eldest daughter."

Hua Jingyao listened quietly, and Mrs. Qiao sighed and continued, "In the first two years, the bastard was really good to my daughter. My daughter asked someone to bring a letter back and said that she was doing well and told us not to worry about it."

Hua Jingyao interrupted and asked, "Did she ask someone to bring the letter back? She didn't go back to her parents' home?"

"Yes, I haven't come back. Our village is far away from the capital. When we come out of the capital, we have to take a bus from the big car shop. First, we go to Tongzhou, and then hire a bicycle from Tongzhou. There are not always bicycles that need to be used for most of the day, and it is very expensive. I heard that sometimes the price is clearly agreed upon, but the price will be increased halfway through the journey. If you don't give the money, the driver will knock people down. Who dares to do that? You still have to give them the money."

Mrs. Qiao sighed, obviously remembering the death of her eldest daughter. She wiped her tears and continued: "Later, after a long time, there was no letter from the capital. I couldn't rest assured, so I asked Mr. Li to write a letter. When her father went to the town to sell firewood, he asked the peddler to take it to the capital. However, the letter was sent for two or three months, and there was no reply from the eldest daughter. Her father had no choice but to go to the capital to find it. Just at this time, the bastard came by himself."

"Your eldest son-in-law came to the village by himself?" Hua Jingyao asked.

"Yes, after he came, he scolded us, scolded my daughter, saying that my daughter was a chicken that could only lay eggs. She had married for two or three years but had not given birth to a child. He clamored to ask us to refund the bride price, and said that if we did not, he would call us well in the village, and no one dared to marry our little daughter in the future. Her father was an honest man, and he was afraid that he would really shout, so he refunded ten taels of silver and half of the bride price. The bastard left, and he had been away for several years. In the middle, my eldest daughter asked someone to bring a letter back, but she still said that she was doing well, but the shop was too busy and she didn't have time to go back to her parents' home."

Mrs. Qiao wiped tears with the back of her rough hands and continued, "Later, on August 15th, one year, the eldest daughter suddenly came back, which made me very happy. She hadn't returned for several years. But the day after my eldest daughter came back, the bastard came over. He said that the eldest daughter had run back secretly and grabbed her daughter's hair in front of us. Her father wanted to pull it away, but was pushed to the ground by the bastard. The eldest daughter was filial and worried that the bastard would beat us together, so he agreed to go back to the capital with him.

"What year did this happen?" Hua Jingyao asked.

"Oh, it was just a year before the accident. After a whole year, my eldest daughter never came back, but she would send messages to her home every month, saying that she was doing well and reassure us." When Mrs. Qiao said this, she covered her mouth and cried.

Hua Jingyao took a clean veil from Xiao Ai and handed it to Mrs. Qiao: "Auntie, please wipe it."

Mrs. Qiao took the veil and was about to apply it on her face, but suddenly she saw the veil in her hand and quickly stuffed the veil into Hua Jingyao's hand: "If such a good material is dirty, I will ruin it."

Hua Jingyao smiled and said, "It's okay, I still have this veil, I'll give this to the aunt."

Mrs. Qiao no longer refused, but she still couldn't bear to use the veil and wipe away the tears and snot from her face with her sleeve.

"Did you know in advance when your eldest daughter came back for the last time?" Hua Jingyao asked.

"I don't know. If I knew, we would rather pick her up by ourselves than let her hire the bad guy's car." Mrs. Qiao started crying again.

Back then, it was not until Lao Li came to the door again that the two elders of the Qiao family learned that Da Qiao had returned to their parents' home. Lao Li said that Da Qiao had left the capital three days ago. Since he had not returned to his parents' home, he must have eloped with a wild man.

The two elders of the Qiao family did not believe that their daughter would elope with others, and were worried that the villagers would be irresponsible. Old man Qiao and the Qiao Mazi leaned on their legs and followed the road from the village to Tongzhou, searching all the way. After searching for a whole day, they found the Da Qiao family in a dilapidated temple.

"It's a sin. My eldest daughter is covered in blood and she is no longer awake." Mrs. Qiao cried loudly, "Her father took off his clothes and covered his daughter. My daughter didn't move. I held her daughter in her arms, and her body was cold. I said I wanted to hire a doctor. Her father went there, but she didn't invite a doctor back, but brought the bastard. The bastard saw my eldest daughter, and before anyone could wake up, he rushed up and punched her, and my eldest daughter was out of anger."

Hua Jingyao's heart sank. She guessed that Da Qiao had died after being found, but she did not expect that she was beaten to death by Lao Li.

"Why don't you go to report to the official?" Hua Jingyao shouted loudly.

Mrs. Qiao was startled and cried and said, "How could we think of so many people in the countryside? The eldest daughter is married. The bastard said that it is his person. He will do whatever he wants. It's not our turn to take care of it. Now she has done something embarrassing. Even if she deserves to die, she will be sentenced to ride a wooden donkey when she reports to the yamen."

Hua Jingyao sneered: "There were no sinking ponds or riding wooden donkeys in the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty. This is a lynching, and abuse of lynching is also a crime."
Chapter completed!