The Double
Chapter 309 - 117 People’s Heart_2

Chapter 309: Chapter 117 People’s Heart_2

Jiang Li looked up at her and said, "Daiyun, County Magistrate Xue has been imprisoned for embezzling the disaster aid fund and will be beheaded in five days. You must know who County Magistrate Xue is. I want to overturn the case for County Magistrate Xue, and I need witnesses. Daiyun, are you willing to be my witness and clear County Magistrate Xue of his wrongful charges?"

Her voice was soft and gentle, yet it struck Daiyun’s heart like a heavy hammer. Without reason, Daiyun gripped Pingan’s hand even tighter and forced a smile, saying, "We don’t really know much about the affairs of County Magistrate Xue. We are just ordinary people; whatever the official’s residence says, goes..."

"How could you not know?" Jiang Li looked towards Pingan, who was hiding behind Daiyun, and curiously looked at her. Jiang Li reached out her hand, and Pingan couldn’t help but take two steps forward, also stretching out her chubby little hand to touch Jiang Li’s fingertips.

"Pingan!" Daiyun stopped her excitedly. Pingan was her life, and she would not allow her to come to any harm.

Upon hearing her mother’s reprimand, Pingan quickly withdrew her hand, yet her face remained full of curiosity as she looked at Jiang Li, showing not a trace of fear.

"If it had not been for County Magistrate Xue, wouldn’t Pingan have failed to survive healthily to this day?" Jiang Li looked at Daiyun. "Isn’t this reason enough for you to become a witness and speak for County Magistrate Xue?"

Daiyun felt as if she had been struck by lightning.

Her husband had died young, and as Daiyun was attractive and young, a widow’s doorstep often attracts trouble; some sought to take advantage of her. However, Daiyun had deeply loved her late husband and had no desire to remarry. When Pingan was two and a half, she fell seriously ill, forcing Daiyun to borrow silver from all around to treat Pingan. Although the illness was cured, it had cost a lot of money. The creditor, who had long coveted Daiyun’s beauty, demanded that she become his concubine to repay the debt. Daiyun refused, so he threatened to kidnap Pingan and sell her to the brothel.

When Daiyun was at her wit’s end, it was Xue Huaiyuan who stepped forward. Xue Huaiyuan rescued the kidnapped Pingan and repaid the mother and daughter’s debts. At that time, Xue Huaiyuan’s daughter brought the silver. Daiyun still remembered the appearance of the Lady of the Xue Family; she marveled at how there could be such an exceptionally beautiful and kind woman in the world. Pingan liked the Lady of the Xue Family very much, always giggling at the sight of her.

Now, as Jiang Li suddenly brought up the past, Daiyun was extremely flustered. She did not want her daughter Pingan to know her mother was an ungrateful person, but she could not treat Pingan’s safety as a joke. Everyone in Tongxiang knew what kind of person Feng Yutang was; those who obeyed him prospered, and those who defied him perished. If Feng Yutang discovered she had come forward as a witness, he would definitely harm Pingan.

As a mother, she could not stand by and watch her own child fall into danger.

Daiyun looked at Jiang Li with a hint of pleading in her eyes, "Miss Jiang, we... we really don’t know anything. Please find someone else... let’s just say we owe County Magistrate Xue an apology..."

Jiang Li didn’t say anything, but Daiyun still saw the flicker of disappointment in her eyes. At that moment, whether from guilt or illusion, Daiyun thought she saw not the unfamiliar Miss Jiang but the beautiful and kind-hearted Lady of the Xue Family. Her gentle smile gone, she sat quietly, looking at her with disappointment.

Daiyun suddenly felt ashamed to face anyone.

Jiang Li stood up, patted Pingan on the head, and said, "If that’s the case, then I’ll look for someone else." She said to Daiyun, "I apologize for disturbing you," and turned to leave.

Just like that... it was over? Daiyun said, "Miss Jiang..." When Jiang Li paused, Daiyun didn’t know what to say, and after a long while, she awkwardly said, "Perhaps the other people of Tongxiang... are just like me..." She could not continue.

Jiang Li said, "I know, but without trying, County Magistrate Xue won’t have any hope left. I am grateful that County Magistrate Xue has helped every one of the five hundred and sixty-eight households in Tongxiang. The number sounds quite hopeful. If he had only helped a few, and if those few people were all like you, that would indeed be disappointing." After a pause, she added, "Take good care of Pingan. Since you have paid such a high price, do not give up."

Jiang Li left.

Daiyun looked down, and Pingan, holding the hem of her skirt and with innocent eyes, called out, "Mother."

Daiyun wept like rain.

...

Meanwhile, Ye Mingyu was knocking on the door of another family’s home.

This home was very poor, residing in a dilapidated thatched hut, which, because of the previous night’s snow and wind, seemed on the verge of collapsing, a sight that tugged at the heartstrings. Ye Mingyu, having grown up in a wealthy home, had scarcely seen such poverty, as if he were glimpsing a rarity.