Suddenly hearing this long-buried story, Zi Ling's Mother and Lizi instinctively exchanged a glance.
Ren Ziling said solemnly, "Old Man Li, speaking of that, why was that woman drowned in a pig cage? Was it usually because she had disgraced the family or something?"
"To be specific, I'm not really sure." Old Man Li shook his head. "It happened quite a long time ago. I only heard about it from my granny. Apparently, it was because the woman had committed adultery with her own brother-in-law."
"Your granny told you?" Zi Ling's Mother was stunned. Old Man Li was already quite old himself. "Didn't this happen in your time?"
"It should've been during the Republic of China period, I think?" Old Man Li pondered. "At least eighty or ninety years ago. I definitely wasn't around then!"
"Even if it was a matter of love, it shouldn't have gone as far as casually taking a life, should it?" Zhang Lan looked incredulous.
Old Man Li said helplessly, "Your era is a good one. You've never seen truly frightening things, so naturally you can't understand. You think it was barbaric, but that was simply how things were back then. Especially since I heard the Mu family was wealthy and influential, with prosperous ancestors. They cared deeply about their reputation, so they used private punishment. Besides, things were chaotic back then, and nobody cared... Each village handled its own affairs."
"Even so..." Zhang Lan looked furious.
Zi Ling's Mother quickly asked, "Old Man, where did the Mu family live back then? Which village? Can we still find their descendants now?"
"Descendants? How would I know?" Old Man Li said irritably. "But if you really want to look, you can go to Shangshui Village and ask around. The Mu family of that era were people