"Listen? The trial is in court, go and take a look."
"Let's see what crime our Mr. Li from Guobei County will convict."
"I heard that Mr. Li used sorcery to make money and kill people. I don't know if it's true or not."
As the sound of raising the court sounded, a crowd of people suddenly surged outside the county government office, all wanting to get in and see how Mr. Li's case would be tried.
Some people hope that Li Dafu will be safe and sound this time. Of course, some people hope that it would be better for the Li family to collapse like this. After all, the Li family has been at the top of Guobei County for several generations, and it is inevitable that some people will be jealous.
"Come here, bring the lady Wang who is suing Li Dafu." In the lobby, Magistrate Liu suddenly shouted in the main seat.
All the officials looked at each other in confusion. Didn’t this Wang Shenpo die yesterday? How could she go to court?
Soon, two people carried a stretcher and moved the body of Mrs. Wang to the lobby.
"Look, Grandma Wang is dead?" The squires and clan elders outside the lobby were suddenly shocked.
"Well, how can this dead person complain? Judging from the appearance of the goddess Wang, she must have been dead for several days." An old man with a sharp eye said, "She has already developed corpse spots. Li Dafu didn't have it a few days ago.
Were you arrested?"
"Yes, how could he still go to the county government to sue Li Dafu when he has been dead for several days?"
"But I heard from people that Wang Shenpo was arrested a few days ago, but she didn't die."
For a while, doubts and discussions continued.
Li Xiuyuan, who was in front of the crowd, had a calm expression and just glanced briefly at the body of the Queen Mother.
I saw that the corpse of Goddess Wang was covered with bruises from being beaten. There were bruises and purple spots all over her body, as if she had been beaten to death, and the wounds were in patches, which was very strange.
"Those two ghosts are so bad that they are desperate enough." Li Xiuyuan thought to himself.
At this time, County Magistrate Liu suddenly shouted: "Who said the dead can't complain? And do you know how Mrs. Wang died? In the many years I have been an official, I have never seen such a bold person who dared to sneak into the county at midnight last night.
The most important witness in this case, Wang Shenpo, was beaten to death in the yamen."
"What does this mean? This is clearly someone who wants to kill someone and destroy the evidence. I suspect that the matter is related to the Li family. It is very likely that someone from the Li family sent someone into the county government office and beat Goddess Wang to death."
After hearing this, everyone was in an uproar and started talking one after another.
Magistrate Liu snorted lightly and said, without giving anyone a chance to discuss, "Here comes Li Dafu's son, Li Xiuyuan."
"Young Master, look, this..." A servant came over and said with an embarrassed look on his face.
"No problem, let's see how Magistrate Liu plans to slander our Li family." Li Xiuyuan waved his hand and walked out immediately.
"Li Dafu's son, Li Xiuyuan has met the county magistrate."
He walked out, his eyes a little cold, and he saluted calmly.
Magistrate Liu said coldly: "Are you Li Xiuyuan? Let me ask you, please give me an honest explanation, where were you at midnight yesterday?"
"Sir, of course I will be at home at midnight." Li Xiuyuan said.
"What are you doing at home?" Magistrate Liu asked.
"My father was imprisoned, so naturally he was worried about my father's affairs and stayed up all night." Li Xiuyuan said calmly.
"Stay awake all night? Humph, is there anyone who can prove it?" County Magistrate Liu snorted softly.
At this time, Tieshan outside the lobby hurriedly shouted: "I can prove that the eldest young master sat in the lobby of the Li family all night last night and never left the house."
"Having never left the house does not mean that Li Xiuyuan will not order his servants to do things. You are a servant of the Li family, and your words cannot be trusted. Now I suspect that you sent a servant of the house to murder Mrs. Wang overnight and kill this case.
The most important witness, Li Xiuyuan, can you plead guilty?" County Magistrate Liu stared at Li Xiuyuan and said.
Unexpectedly, Magistrate Liu's so-called public trial did not try Li Dafu, but instead came for Li Xiuyuan.
To capture Li Dafu and then convict Li Xiuyuan of a felony is to kill them all.
Li Xiuyuan smiled softly: "I want to convict County Magistrate Liu based on his empty words. Isn't Magistrate Liu suspected of confusing right and wrong and wrongfully accusing good people?"
"You, Li Xiuyuan, are you considered a good person? Don't think that I don't know everything you have done. Since you don't plead guilty, it doesn't matter. Come and bring Wang Chuan, the officer who was on guard yesterday, to the court." Magistrate Liu said again.
After a while, a guard named Wang Chuan knelt in the lobby.
"Little Wang Chuan, meet your lord."
"Wang Chuan, I would like to ask you, did you hear or see what happened in Grandma Wang's house yesterday during your vigil?" Magistrate Liu asked.
Wang Chuan said tremblingly: "My lord, when I was on duty last night, I heard fighting and screaming sounds coming from the house where Goddess Wang was detained at midnight. However, when I arrived, I saw two people.
A masked man rushed out of the house of Goddess Wang. The two masked men in black ignored the younger one and left quickly. When the younger one arrived, they saw that the younger one had died suddenly.
Inside the house.”
"By the way, sir, when I came here, I vaguely heard a man in black shouting something."
"What are you talking about? Please tell me in detail." Magistrate Liu asked.
Wang Chuan trembled all over and said tremblingly: "The man in black said: The matter is done, hurry up and return to the young master."
"Young Master? Are you sure the man in black said "Young Master?" Magistrate Liu asked.
"Yes, I'm sure." Wang Chuan lay on the ground, not daring to raise his head.
Suddenly, the squires and clan elders outside the lobby were startled again, and all looked at Li Xiuyuan.
"No, it can't be true. Did Li Xiuyuan really pay to kill someone and kill Goddess Wang?"
"I sent people to kill Mrs. Wang overnight to prevent today's public trial. It seems that Li Dafu's charges are true."
"I really know people but not their hearts. I didn't expect that the eldest young master of the Li family would do such a cruel thing. Hey, I still can't believe it."
"Yesterday, I already saw some signs that something was wrong. I heard that Hei San, who was working as an errand in the yamen, had his hand cut off and a hamstring broken by Han Meng from Li's Escort Agency. Although Hei San is a famous person in Guobei County,
Hei San is a local ruffian, but Hei San hasn’t done anything outrageous, so Li Xiuyuan’s attack was too ruthless.”
Suddenly, people's hearts changed.
The squires who had previously supported Li Xiuyuan, the clan elders immediately turned aside, believing that Li Xiuyuan was the murderer who ordered his servants to kill Mrs. Wang.
Once the charge was confirmed, today's defendant Li Dafu did not even need to be tried, and the charge could be directly determined to be true.
If his son is like this, his father can imagine.
When Magistrate Liu saw this scene, a smile appeared on his lips.
Does the Li family want to fight with themselves?
I have failed to serve as an official these years. Those country squires and clan elders may have sufficient status and status, but in the final analysis, they are just a bunch of ignorant people.
It is best to fool such people. With just a few words, all those who support the Li family can identify the Li family as the murderers.
"Li Xiuyuan, the evidence is solid now, what else can you say?" Magistrate Liu said.
"unambiguous evidence?"
Li Xiuyuan said, "The so-called conclusive evidence by County Magistrate Liu is just a one-sided statement by your government officials. Why does County Magistrate Liu only believe in his own subordinates and not the words of others? I can also say that Magistrate Liu deliberately made this case last night."
Wang Shenpo was beaten to death, and then he sent a government official to frame me and instigated me to send people to kill Wang Shenpo. In this way, wouldn't two generations of my Li family fall into the hands of Magistrate Liu?"
"That's ridiculous. I am the magistrate of this county. How can you slander a mere criminal? Moreover, your father Li Dafu has already pleaded guilty." After Magistrate Liu finished speaking, he said: "Master, show this criminal.
Li Dafu’s testimony.”
"Yes, sir." Master said.
He immediately walked over holding a piece of testimony.
Magistrate Liu said: "Li Xiuyuan, you have to take a closer look. There is your father's signature on it."
Li Xiuyuan took a look and saw that his father's crimes were recorded on it, and there was also his father's fingerprint at the end.
The fingerprints are real, but the accusation is false.
His father was arrested and imprisoned in the Yamen for several days. Not to mention that he had to beat him to death, it was not difficult to force his fingerprints to be pressed.
"It turns out that County Magistrate Liu has prepared everything in the past few days. I really admire him, I admire him, but I couldn't even say a word just now."
After Li Xiuyuan read it, he immediately put his hands on his hands and smiled: "In that case, who doesn't know how County Magistrate Liu will deal with my father and me?"
When Tieshan saw Li Xiuyuan touching his palm, his eyes flashed and he retreated from the crowd.
"Huh, are you willing to plead guilty now? According to the previous sentence, I should sentence Li Dafu to the frontier and pay 400,000 taels of silver to compensate all the victims in the county. But today's case has changed. You, Li Xiuyuan, paid for the murder.
The crime of murdering a man is extremely heinous, and he colluded with your father, Li Dafu."
"So the crime of the two people has been increased to one level. Today, I sentence Li Dafu to seek wealth and kill people with sorcery. This crime is extremely heinous and he should be sentenced to death by Qiu Houwen. And Li Xiuyuan paid for someone to kill someone. He is also an unforgivable crime. He should be deprived of his reputation and be imprisoned immediately. At the same time,
Search the mansion, as well as all the fields, shops, and workshops owned by the Li family..."
Magistrate Liu looked as if he was jealous of evil, and then he pronounced the verdict in an upright manner.