Chapter 1: Tortured and Falsely Accused of Murder

“Xia Luokui, the eleventh daughter of the Xia family, out of hatred for her eighth sister Xia Laixiang, took advantage of Xia Laixiang's illness to add poison to her medicinal soup and kill her. The witnesses and physical evidence are conclusive, and the perpetrator has already confessed! According to the laws of Dayi, I sentence Xia Luokui to death, to be executed after autumn! Someone, bring the confession and the thumbprint pad for the prisoner!”

A cold and arrogant voice drifted into Xia Yulin's ears.

Heavens, the owner of this body was a murderer? And she had killed her own biological sister?

She had just transmigrated into this body, and before she could even figure out what was going on, she had been sentenced to death?

But immediately, her intuition told her that the owner of this body was absolutely not the killer; she absolutely could not confess!

At that moment, she snapped her eyes open and shouted without a second thought, “I did not kill anyone! I am being framed! I will not sign! I demand a retrial!”

The so-called signing of the confession and thumbprinting meant that a suspect would sign their name to the charges and press their thumbprint, admitting to the crimes committed.

Once the confession was signed and thumbprinted, the crime would be set in stone, making it extremely difficult to overturn the case!

“The witnesses and evidence are both complete; how dare you attempt to deny it?” The Prefect slammed the Jingtang wood, shouting loudly, “Furthermore, you previously confessed to the crime without hesitation, only to deny it just now. This is nothing short of ignoring the law and showing contempt for this court! I cannot show you mercy! Someone, give her ten strokes of the board—”

A red wooden stick was tossed in front of Xia Yulin.

Several ferocious bailiffs carrying stools and wooden rods walked over, roughly hoisting her up and pinning her onto a stool. They lifted her skirt and raised the wooden rod to strike her buttocks.

Although she wore long trousers beneath her Ruqun, according to custom, one was not supposed to lift a female prisoner's skirt when administering punishment. The fact that these bailiffs were doing so was a blatant attempt to humiliate her in public.

Before Xia Yulin could even react, two strikes landed on her buttocks. The pain made her grimace and grit her teeth, nearly bringing her to tears.

But she could not afford to dwell on the pain; she continued to cry out her innocence. “I am being framed! I demand the right to defend myself! This is coercion through violence; it is a violation of the law! If I am beaten to death, you will have murdered an innocent person, which is contrary to the laws of Dayi and will result in punishment...”

“Still daring to quibble!” The Prefect grew enraged seeing a mere weak woman dare to accuse him. “Plug her mouth!”

A bailiff stuffed a foul-smelling cloth into Xia Yulin's mouth, making her feel so nauseated she wanted to vomit.

She struggled desperately, of course, but this body had long since been battered to the point of fragility. Combined with being pinned down by two large men, how could she possibly break free?

For a moment, her eyes burned with fury as she looked around. An official was administering punishment to a suspect in public—was there no one to stop them?

The Prefect sat upon the bench, bailiffs stood on both sides, and several witnesses from the Xia family knelt beside her.

These witnesses were watching her with schadenfreude, their lips curled into triumphant smiles.

Beneath her lay a sea of human shadows cast from behind her—there must have been a crowd standing outside the gates for so many shadows to be projected by the sunlight.

However, despite the crowd, not a single person stood up to say a word in her defense.

*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!* The boards struck her buttocks, making heart-stopping sounds.

With every strike, her body would instinctively twitch, revealing how much physical pain she was in.

But this pain was far less violent than the fury rising in her heart.

Because, in a mere instant, the memories of the past two days stored in this body flooded into her mind.

Xia Luokui was indeed being framed, and the person who had framed her and sought to kill her was a member of her own family!

Yesterday evening, after finishing dinner, Xia Luokui took her maid, Xiaohong, to visit her sick eighth sister, Xia Laixiang.

While Xia Luokui was chatting with Xia Laixiang, Xia Laixiang's maid, Xiaoqing, brought in a bowl of medicinal soup, noting that it was time for the young lady to take her medicine.

At that moment, Xia Laixiang's confidante, Nanny Zhu, entered the room, saying a relative had sent a box of pearl hairpins for the young ladies of the manor and asked Xiaoqing to help the sick Xia Laixiang pick a few. Xia Luokui also asked Xiaohong to help her pick some, so Xiaohong followed Nanny Zhu and Xiaoqing out, leaving only her and Xia Laixiang in the room.

After chatting for a while longer, seeing that Xiaoqing had not yet returned, Xia Luokui picked up the bowl of medicinal soup to feed Xia Laixiang.

To her horror, after only a few sips, Xia Laixiang cried out in abdominal pain, rolling around on the bed while continuously spitting blood; the scene was terrifying.

Xia Luokui was instantly driven into a state of panic. She screamed and backed away, eventually collapsing on the floor and knocking over many items.

Soon, a group of people rushed into the room... what followed was a well-known, melodramatic, vulgar, and cliché sequence of events.

In short, Xia Laixiang died quickly without leaving any words behind. As the only living person at the crime scene who had witnessed the entire event, Xia Luokui became the indisputable sole suspect and was brought before the masters of the Xia family for interrogation.

It was called an interrogation, but in reality, it was a forced confession.

A large crowd surrounded her like a pack of wolves surrounding a little white rabbit, constantly pointing fingers and accusing her, giving her no chance to explain or clarify.

As a young girl who had never seen much of the world, timid and submissive, she had just witnessed the gruesome sight of her sister dying from vomiting blood. Trapped in extreme fear and helplessness, being scolded and interrogated by so many people caused her mind to completely fracture.

Aside from weeping, crying out her innocence, and saying "I don't know," she had no idea what to do. Moreover, not a single person stood on her side!

At the beginning, no matter how foolish, useless, or confused she was, she knew she could not confess, insisting, "I really didn't harm Eighth Sister." But she could never answer questions like, "You were the only one there; if it wasn't you who poisoned her, then who was it?" and her voice soon died out.

Finally, amidst the frenzied atmosphere of servants testifying against her and sisters inducing her to confess, combined with the pressure from elders threatening her that "if you dare to quibble again, the family rules will be applied and you must bear the consequences," her psychological defenses and spirit completely collapsed. She admitted through tears that she had harmed her eighth sister.

Then, she was locked in the woodshed. No matter how much she cried or begged, not a single soul paid her any mind.

In the latter half of the night, her body and mind reached their limit, and she fell into a coma. At dawn, she was sent to the yamen to stand trial.

In the courtroom, Xia Luokui woke up in a daze, only to be paralyzed by the sight of the trial before her. Her mind never cleared; when the Prefect merely threatened her with "severe punishment if you do not confess," she confusedly complied with his wishes and confessed.

Once she confessed, the Prefect declared, "Xia Luokui, Xia Laixiang was your biological sister who treated you well. To think you would commit such a heinous act out of jealousy for her beauty! Truly heartless! Throughout history, a life for a life. Since you killed your own sister, I cannot show mercy. You shall pay with your life for your sister!"

Hearing this, Xia Luokui was so terrified her soul nearly fled her body, and she fainted on the spot...

It was at this exact moment that Xia Yulin's soul transmigrated into her body and heard the Prefect's judgment.

Recalling the cause and effect of this case, Xia Yulin understood clearly in her heart: this was clearly a collusion between the Xia family and the Prefect to take her life!

This Xia family was truly ruthless!