Divorced by her husband's family and rejected by her own! She defiantly turned her life around

Upon arriving at the Guo residence, the magistrate led his men inside. The crowd completely blocked the entire East Street. Seeing this commotion, the gatekeeper immediately closed the gate tightly, fearing that the crowd would rush in.

Su Yimin felt a moment of satisfaction upon seeing Guo Changfeng's death, but the man was already dead, and now it was up to him. This was the perfect time to win over the hearts of the people.

The coroner stepped forward to examine the body, carefully inspecting Guo Changfeng's corpse from head to toe. After all, he was an official appointed by the imperial court, and no carelessness was allowed.

"Reporting to Your Excellency, the County Magistrate had a total of 5 wounds. The fatal wound was that his neck was broken, causing him to suffocate. After he died, his hands and feet were broken off by force."

These are the autopsy results; please make your judgment, sir.

Madam Lu sobbed softly to the side. Upon hearing the autopsy results, she cried even more bitterly. "Madam Guo, please accept my condolences. I will definitely investigate the murderer thoroughly. How dare he assassinate an official of the court?"

The investigation needs your cooperation. Please tell us the details of last night.

Madam Lu wiped away her tears. "Let the steward speak to the master. The steward will do his best to cooperate with whatever it is."

The steward, Guo Fuquan, recounted what had happened the previous night: "My lord, the thieves were extremely vicious. They not only murdered my master, but also emptied the manor's warehouse."

"So much grain and valuables must still be inside the city. Please close the city gates and conduct a city-wide search."

"How much property was stolen from the mansion? Is there a record or remote monitoring?"

"Sir, it has been registered. Please take a look." The steward registered all the stolen items in the mansion, but notably omitted the items missing from the study. Those could not be made public.

Su Yimin was stunned when he saw the thick stack of papers; he had underestimated Guo Changfeng's ability to amass wealth.

"Steward Guo, are you sure about the large amount of grain that has been lost from the manor?"

"My lord, everything written above has been verified by this humble citizen."

"Take me to the granary where the grain is stored."

"Yes, sir, please come with me."

Guo Fuquan led the men to the warehouse and summoned the guards who had been on duty the previous night and the patrolling guards, ready to be questioned by the magistrate at any time.

So much food disappeared overnight—how is that possible? How many people did the other side send? This is unbelievable and terrifying to think about.

Seeing that the magistrate remained silent, Steward Guo quickly added, "Sir, my lady said that if you can recover this batch of grain, catch the murderer, and avenge my master, she is willing to donate all of this grain to the people of Lingshui County."

"I am already aware of this matter and will immediately write a report to the Prefect and order a city-wide search to give Lord Guo and his wife an explanation."

"Thank you, sir."

Su Yimin ordered the yamen runners to carry Guo Changfeng's body back to the county yamen, but when they got to the gate of Guo's residence, the road was blocked.

Su Yimin stepped forward and said, "Fellow villagers, Lord Guo was indeed killed by thieves, and his mansion was looted clean. Lord Guo's body is right here. If you don't believe me, you can come forward and confirm."

The constables lifted the white cloth covering the body, and some of the bolder ones craned their necks to look, only to be shocked to find that the person was indeed dead.

"Please make way for me, everyone. The case is complicated, and I need to get back to the county office as soon as possible."

Someone in the crowd shouted, "His death is the end of it all, he deserved it. Where are we going to get our losses? Folks, don't listen to him, let's rush in."

The crowd immediately stirred, and the people rushed forward, heading straight for the house.

Su Yimin was a civil official, and he had never experienced anything like this before. Faced with the out-of-control people, he was helpless.

When someone fell, no one paid any attention. People just wanted to rush in and grab as much stuff as possible. Several constables watched helplessly as so many people stepped over other people's bodies, knowing that these people would be half-dead if they didn't die.

Su Yimin was protected by several yamen runners in the middle, while Guo Changfeng's body had long been pushed off the wooden plank and was nowhere to be found at this moment.

The people rushed into the Guo residence like locusts, leaving nothing behind and taking everything they could carry.

The women in the Guo household had all their belongings taken away except for the clothes they were wearing. The necklaces around their necks, the rings on their hands, and the earrings on their ears were all ripped off, their ears were torn open, and they were all terrified, their faces ashen, screaming in terror.

The area at the entrance finally returned to calm. The constables rushed to check on the several civilians lying on the ground. They were already dead, and Guo Changfeng's body had been trampled beyond recognition.

Liu Siyue stood outside watching the commotion, and once everyone had gone inside, she hurried home as well.

"Miss, didn't you feel relieved?"

"Yes, if the law can't punish such a corrupt official, then we have to use civil law."

What is civil law?

"Civil law is the solution devised by the people."

Su Yimin disregarded the corpses of the people on the ground and ordered his men to carry Guo Changfeng's body back to the county government office.

Upon returning to the county government office, Su Yimin immediately dispatched his yamen runners to find Tang Dianshi and bring him back. He also suspended the collection of taxes and closed the city gates in order to locate the missing grain.

The people looted the Guo residence and dispersed in a panic, leaving the Guo residence in a state of chaos.

Madam Lu broke down in tears. They were completely doomed. Apart from the clothes they wore, the furniture they couldn't move, and the flowers and plants in the mansion, they had nothing left. Even eating had become a problem.

A servant came to report, "Madam, Steward, there are still several corpses lying at the door. What should we do?"

"Madam, I will take men to the county government office right now and have the magistrate give us an explanation. This is outrageous!"

"Okay, go ahead and do it. This house is no longer habitable, and I plan to move to another house."

"Now that the master is gone, all the servants in the house should be dismissed."

"Madam, what should we do with those concubines?"

After thinking it over, Madam Lu said, "They have served the master for a while now. I will give them some money so they can take their children and find another way to make a living."

Guo Fuquan nodded; this was the only option given the current situation.

Guo Fuquan delivered the three corpses to the county government office. "Sir, those unruly people are simply lawless. They looted our mansion. Please, sir, do justice for us."

These bodies were likely trampled to death during the looting. I implore you, sir, to make a wise judgment.

Su Yimin dismissed Guo Fuquan with a simple statement that he would investigate the matter as soon as possible.

Guo Fuquan could tell from Su Yimin's attitude that he was just giving official platitudes and trying to fool people.

It's true what they say, "When people leave, the tea cools." The master has only just died, and Su Yimin is already getting cocky.

Su Yimin ordered the yamen runners to post notices so that the people of the city could come and claim the body. He also immediately wrote an official document and sent it to the prefectural city by fast horse.

Su Yimin closed the city gates for three days and ordered Tang Dianshi to lead a city-wide search for the grain. However, they found nothing. As a last resort, he had to open the city gates and have the guards strictly check all carriages and suspicious persons entering the city.

This news from Lingshui County spread like wildfire to other counties and towns.

Having learned from the previous example, the people of other counties followed the example of Lingshui County, besieging the county government, seizing the officials' residences, and beating and maiming the officials.

Official documents arrived at Prefect Cai Mingqi's desk one after another like snowflakes.

Cai Mingqi looked at the official documents, which were all very similar, and slammed his fist on the table in anger. "These troublemakers are trying to rebel!"

Those idiots can't even handle this simple matter; they deserve to die, causing me so much trouble.

Everything I asked them to prepare was looted. How can I explain this to the Crown Prince? It will ruin the Crown Prince's grand plan.

If the Crown Prince were to blame me, how could I possibly bear it?