Chapter 434: The wheel of fortune turns, this year it's
just a child, after all.As a result, Jia Yin quickly opened the box in her hand. Inside was a crown the size of her palm.A string of pearls, glistening with a pearly luster, though each one isn't ver...“What happened”
"Yeah, what's all the commotion about Spill the tea!"
Everyone put down their teacups, their eyes shining with admiration.
Winter is cold, it's not as comfortable as spring, summer, and autumn. Besides staying home or going out for tea, there's really nothing to do, it's quite boring.
This suddenly became quite a stir, and everyone's spirits were lifted.
The newcomer, who had never received so much attention before, became the center of everyone's gaze. He danced with excitement and shouted, "Someone was murdered in Aoki Town! They wanted to kill for wealth, seize property, and silence anyone who knew. Luckily, Master Zhongshan encountered them and saved the victim. Now, they are being investigated at the yamen!"
Everyone was baffled.
Murder to silence A land grab
It does sound serious, but how did this get mixed up with Zhongshan
Someone, afraid of making a mistake, asked loudly, “Are you talking about Zhongshan Bo, the one from Suijin Beach”
"Indeed," the messenger nodded repeatedly, "It was Mr. Li himself who brought the aggrieved party to the county office to file a complaint!"
"Oh, the Li family isn't known for causing trouble, I'm afraid there's something fishy going on here."
"Yes, I heard that this Mr. Li only comes to Kyoto once for the grand court meeting and is particularly low-key otherwise."
"Come on, let's go see what's going on!"
"Together, I'll go too!"
A cacophony of voices filled the air as everyone discussed the matter before hurriedly tossing down their tea money and rushing towards the government office.
The front of the government office was already surrounded and blocked off, watertight.
In the courtroom, the magistrate sat high upon his desk, with his clerk standing by his side.
Li Yusheng sat on a chair to the side of the hall. He wore a blue long robe and an ink-colored cloak embroidered with green bamboo, looking calm and noble.
The magistrate and his clerk couldn't help but steal a few glances, their hearts filled with emotion.
The last time I saw him was when Wang Xinqiu sued the Wang family.
At that time, Li Yusheng was just a farmer who had recently fled the famine in the north. When he arrived at the court, he could only kneel down.
But now, Li Yusheng not only has the qualification to sit firmly in court, but even they have to respect him.
One must say, fortunes change and times shift. One should never underestimate anyone.
Fate, this thing, is truly amazing!
Thinking this, the Magistrate bowed and asked, "Master, you brought people to drum today, is there something the matter"
Li Yusheng didn't act arrogantly either. He got up, bowed respectfully, and said with a smile: "Sir, the other day after court, I was walking down the street when I saw two siblings being chased and beaten to the brink of death. I couldn't bear it, so I saved them."
Over these past two days, the siblings have been in a state of distress. They claimed that their grandmother was arrested, their family property was seized, and there is a possibility that she has been murdered. They pleaded with our family for help, stating they need to seek justice.
“As adults know, our family has also been victimized in the past. We sympathize with each other, and I couldn't bear to watch any longer, so I lent a hand. I had my servants capture the two siblings who were pursuing them back then, but whether they actually committed murder remains to be investigated by you.”
Having said that, he bowed again and sat down.
The magistrate nodded, and the people in the courtroom also understood.
Li Jia was simply unable to bear it and felt compelled to act out of a sense of justice.
He didn't stand up for the victim, nor did he show any intention of interfering with the investigation.
But Li Yusheng was sitting here, he was the one who caught the villain, in the end, it was helping the victims.
The magistrate nodded, gazing at Gong Yunshu and her brother.
Gong Yunshu's face was pale, kneeling on the ground, trembling, ready to collapse at any moment, but she was struggling to hold on, her right hand still supporting her younger brother.
My younger brother broke his leg and has a bandage on his head that looks like a zongzi, with a faint reddish hue visible at his forehead.
Looking at those four or five bound men, each one was powerfully built...
The magistrate frowned, his heart leaning slightly towards the Gong siblings.
This case wasn't complicated at all. Back then, on the street, I saw the Gong siblings almost beaten to death. It wasn't just Li Yusheng who intervened, he was just the one who spoke up and saved them.
So, the Gong family's several men have been found guilty of assault.
All that needs to be known is the whereabouts of Old Madam Gong and her state of being, whether alive or dead.
The several men from the Gong family stammered, especially that leader, Gong Wu, who was clearly nervous in his words and actions.
Therefore, the magistrate immediately ordered that he be given twenty lashes.
Gong Wu was beaten until he cried out in pain and finally confessed. He said he had locked Gong Lao Tai in a wooden house in the mountains.
Several attendants immediately rushed to Aoki Town.
As fate would have it, as soon as they left the city, they ran into the town head and others from Aokizaki Town, who were pushing a flatbed cart over.
As soon as the officials arrived, the town head stopped them and hurriedly said, "Officials, you're here so quickly! Something terrible has happened in our Aokigahara Town. The Old Madam Gong has come back to life... no, she was buried underground and then died again on the mountain!"
What he said was rather incoherent, giving the guards a headache. They checked the body anyway and confirmed it was the Gong family matriarch they were looking for, so they escorted the cart back to the county office.
Outside the county office, onlookers gathered, making way for a path as they all looked on in fear but also with a hint of morbid curiosity, wanting to catch every detail.
Soon, Old Madam Gong's body was carried onto the main hall.
The once plump and wealthy old lady, after half a month, had become as thin as a stick. Not only did the Gong siblings cry their hearts out, even outsiders couldn't help but sigh with pity upon seeing her.
"It's awful!"
"Yes, this is starvation death, otherwise he wouldn't be so thin!"
The Gong family was considered a large landowner in Aokizaka Town, and they were said to be doing well. It's unbelievable that the matriarch met such an end.
The crowd buzzed with chatter, and their gaze towards Gong Wu and his companions grew even more filled with hatred.
How cruel could one be to abandon an elderly woman in a mountain hut, leaving her to starve to death!
Gong Wu was also scared out of his wits. He had initially hidden the old woman there, fearing that outsiders would see her, and occasionally sent her food and drink. After all, he still needed to use her to coerce Gong Yunshu's siblings into obedience.
But he drank too much that night, and the next day went back into town to play. He slept in town that night, and on the third day…
To sum up, he didn't even care about his own mother on a daily basis, so how could he possibly care about a "tool person"
By the time he remembered, it was already seven or eight days later.
Even a fool could guess that the old woman was probably dead. He became even more afraid to go and look.
Since the Gong siblings have already entered Suijin Beach, the old lady's life or death is no longer a problem...
He made countless excuses for himself and didn't even look at the cabin.
Originally, I planned to wait until after the New Year for things to settle down completely before finding an opportunity to bury the old woman.
To everyone's surprise, Gong Yunshu and her brother went back on their word and actually joined forces with the Li family to sue them in court, even dragging the elderly woman who had starved to death into it.
He always felt that the old woman's eyes were open, staring at him.
He desperately tried to find a place to hide. His flower-shaped butt, which had been opened wide, hurt so much that he couldn't move. He then collapsed and cried out, "It wasn't me! Wow, wow! I didn't want to kill her! I just forgot to bring her food. I really did forget!"
The magistrate saw a rare opportunity and immediately pressed, “Why did you arrange for the old lady to feign death and then secretly confine her in the mountains to starve Isn't this going overboard”
Gong Wu quickly explained: "No, I didn't want him to die, it was Liu Sanzi! Liu Sanzi wanted Yun Shu to seduce Li Bo-ye and gave me five hundred taels of silver!"
"I made the old woman feign death. The Li family saw Yunshu and her brother were pitiful, helpless and alone, so they kept them at home. I didn't want to kill the old woman; I just wanted to hide her for two days... but then I forgot!", however, didn't think so much about it. In her view, guests should be treated with respect, and after all, everyone stood on her land, in her melon patch... 。After eating a cool and refreshing slice...