I relied on a system to prolong my life in ancient times.

Chapter 118 Murder Case 1

After seeing the people from the Ministry of Agriculture off, Xiao Siyue breathed a sigh of relief. There were just too many problems with those people from the Ministry of Agriculture. If it weren't for the system, she felt she would have been in serious trouble.

Moreover, the people from the Ministry of Agriculture not only took away cotton seeds this time, but also took a liking to sweet potatoes.

This was something Xiao Siyue hadn't expected. Xiao Qinian had already told the emperor about it, and Xiao Siyue thought everyone in the court knew.

However, judging from the behavior of the agricultural officials during this period, it seems that Emperor Zhou did not make this matter public.

However, this is to be expected. Now that we have potatoes, there's no rush for sweet potatoes. We can wait a year or two until we have enough sweet potato seeds before announcing the news. Then these people won't have to worry so much.

Xiao Siyue also learned from the system that potatoes have begun to be suitable for planting in some areas this year. However, although they have been stored for three years, it is still not enough to plant them nationwide.

In the end, Emperor Zhou decided to distribute some of the potato seeds to areas in dire need of food, while keeping the rest on the imperial estate for continued propagation.

Therefore, Xiao Siyue gained some more merit, which made her very happy. She was all smiles these past few days, and even her least favorite subjects seemed much more pleasant.

That day, Xiao Siyue got up early, which was unusual for her, and even managed to have breakfast with Xiao Qinian and the others.

"Oh dear, am I seeing things? Our little lazybones is up so early?" Xiao Qinian said to Lin Qin with a smile as he looked at Xiao Siyue coming in from outside.

"Hehe, I'm not sure. Why don't you go out and take a look? Maybe the sun has risen in the west?" Lin Qin laughed.

Xiao Siyu laughed heartily without any attempt to hide his laughter.

Xiao Siyue: "..."

Is there no love left? She became the target of jokes first thing in the morning.

"Father, Mother," Xiao Siyue blushed slightly, which was rare for her. It wasn't that she deliberately got up so late; it was just that people in ancient times got up too early.

"Hahahaha, little sister, you actually blushed! That's unbelievable!"

As he spoke, Xiao Siyu walked up to Xiao Siyue, pinched her delicate face with both hands, and looked her up and down, as if trying to find something out.

Xiao Siyue felt a pain in her face from Xiao Siyu's pinch, and her earlier embarrassment had long since vanished.

Struggling to pry Xiao Siyue's hand away, Xiao Siyue rubbed her cheeks and put her hands on her hips.

"brother"

A furious shout made Xiao Siyu immediately stop talking. Seeing his sister frowning and glaring at him with her cheeks flushed, Xiao Siyu felt a little guilty and had a bad feeling. He quickly looked at Xiao Qinian.

Seeing that Xiao Qinian was about to get up, Xiao Siyu was startled and quickly said, "Father, Mother, Sister, it's getting late, I have to go to the academy."

After saying that, he strode out as fast as the wind.

As she walked, she was still complaining to herself. In the Xiao family, daughters are treasures and sons are worthless. Her father couldn't bear to see his daughter suffer even the slightest grievance. He had pinched her face until it was red. If she didn't run away quickly, she would be beaten.

After Xiao Siyu left, Xiao Qinian quickly pulled his daughter to sit down beside him, and Lin Qin also served Xiao Siyue a bowl of porridge.

"Don't be angry, Yue'er. When your brother comes home from school, Dad will beat him up to avenge you," Xiao Qinian coaxed Xiao Siyue.

“That’s right, your dad is right,” Lin Qin echoed, and reached out to rub Xiao Siyue’s cheek.

Xiao Siyue thought to herself, "At least he ran fast. When he comes back, I'll give Xiao Siyu's face a good pinch."

After Xiao Siyue figured out a way to get revenge, she ate breakfast under the loving care of her parents.

Just as Xiao Siyue was enjoying her meal, a constable suddenly rushed in and said, "Sir, someone has reported a crime."

"What?" Xiao Qinian immediately stood up upon hearing this.

"Sir, a woman just came to the yamen to report that her mother-in-law has suddenly died."

"Let's go take a look." Xiao Qinian quickly changed into his official robes and followed the yamen runners to the yamen.

Upon hearing about the murder, Xiao Siyue quickly followed, wanting to see what had happened.

Inside the yamen courtroom

Xiao Qinian, dressed in official robes, sat at the head of the table, while a woman who looked to be around thirty years old knelt at the foot of the table.

"Who is kneeling below the hall?" Xiao Qinian asked with a serious expression.

The woman kneeling below cried out with tears streaming down her face, "My lord, I am Chen Lan, from Yuhe Village. My mother-in-law died suddenly last night, and I don't know why."

As Chen Lan spoke, she began to cry again.

"Tell me in detail," Xiao Qinian said.

"Waaah... Sir, it's just like this. Yesterday afternoon, my mother-in-law went out after dinner, and we didn't think much of it. Usually, after dinner, my mother-in-law would go out for a walk and chat with the women in the village under the big tree at the village entrance. She would come back before dark."

“But yesterday, even after it was completely dark outside, my mother-in-law still hadn’t returned. I was very worried, so I dragged my husband out to look for her, but we couldn’t find her. It wasn’t until dawn this morning that we finally found her at the foot of the mountain behind the hill, but she was already dead.” The woman cried uncontrollably as she said this.

“At first I thought my mother-in-law had accidentally fallen and died, but after a careful check, I found no wounds on her body. Besides, my mother-in-law is usually in good health, so it's impossible for her to suddenly die. Something must have happened. Please, sir, find out the cause and give my mother-in-law justice.”

"Get up first. Why didn't your husband come?" Xiao Qinian asked, puzzled. He thought that if this was the case, it should be the men in the family who came, not a woman.

“My husband thinks my mother-in-law died in an accident and doesn’t want to come, but I think there are some suspicious points, so I came to report it,” the woman explained.

“Okay, we’ll go with you to take a look.” Xiao Qinian got off the plane and planned to take the people to Yuhe Village to have a look.

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir." The woman's eyes were full of gratitude, seemingly thanking Xiao Qinian for believing her.

Xiao Qinian strode out, but as soon as he reached the door, he saw Xiao Siyue outside and was stunned for a moment. When did Yue'er arrive?

"Yue'er, what are you doing here?" Xiao Qinian asked, thinking to himself.

“Father, I came with you,” Xiao Siyue said.

Xiao Qinian was puzzled; he hadn't even noticed.

But none of that matters.

"Yue'er, you should go back now. I need to go to Yujia Village to investigate a case." Xiao Qinian was anxious to investigate the case, so he gave the instructions and prepared to leave.

"Dad, can I come with you?" Xiao Siyue quickly asked.

"No, I'm going to investigate a case, I can't take you with me." Xiao Qinian refused without even thinking. Why would he bring his soft and sweet daughter along when he's investigating a case? What if she gets scared?

"Father, please take me with you. I promise I won't bother you." Xiao Siyue said coquettishly, looking straight at Xiao Qinian.

“This…” Xiao Qinian was a little hesitant.

Seeing that there was a chance, Xiao Siyue quickly pressed on.

"Father, don't worry, I will definitely not cause you any trouble."

"Alright then," Xiao Qinian reluctantly agreed.