Chapter 34 The case is decided in court

Chapter 34 The case is decided in court

"Reporting to the Lord, I am Qin Zhi, a native of Shitou Village. I am suing my grandmother Liu for attempting to embezzle the property of her ex-daughter-in-law, who has severed our relationship with me. I am also suing her eldest daughter-in-law and youngest son for premeditated murder." Qin Zhi held up the complaint with both hands and spoke word by word.

County Magistrate Song Shijie slammed the gavel and said, "Qin Zhi, do you know that to sue a direct blood relative, you must first be beaten with 20 sticks before you can accept the lawsuit?"

Qin Zhi replied: "I know."

Song Shijie nodded: "In that case, come, punish him with a cane."

Qin Zhi was tied to a bench by the yamen runners, who hit her buttocks with a stick again and again. She grimaced in pain, but she endured it without making a sound.

Soon, Qin Zhi had endured the twenty strokes of the cane. This torture was so painful that she felt she could not bear it any longer.

The bailiff helped her back to the hall to continue the trial. Qin Zhi was still kneeling, but fortunately the county magistrate had already taken away the complaint.

The county magistrate read the petition carefully. It was the first time he had seen a petition written in blood. Every word was tearful and touching.

"Qin Zhi, please rest in the side hall for a while. I have sent someone to Shitou Village to summon the defendant."

"Yes, I obey your command," Qin Zhi said, and then she was supported by the cleaning lady in the county government office!

Two quarters of an hour later, the bailiffs had brought the three defendants to the lobby. Even Old Man Qin and the head of the village came.

Qin Zhi also came over and knelt down again. Seeing this, Liu and Mei also came over and knelt down like Qin Zhi.

As for Qin Wen, he kept muttering and cursing Qin Zhi, and he was too disdainful to kneel down, because he was a scholar.

The county magistrate should bang his gavel and shout, "Who is the noble one in the hall?"

Liu replied, "I am Liu."

Mei replied, "I am Mei."

Qin Wen replied, "I am Qin Wen."

County Magistrate Song Shijie slammed the gavel and said, "How dare you, you unruly people, to despise the court and why don't you kneel down?"

Qin Wen was stunned and had to kneel down reluctantly.

"Mei, Qin Wen, now Qin Zhi from Shitou Village is beating drums to accuse you two of premeditated murder. Do you know your guilt?"

"It's unfair, sir. I dare not do that. My father has never murdered anyone." Mei cried out in injustice.

"My Lord, I don't have any either."

"Your Excellency, Mei once beat me to death, and many villagers saw it at the time." Qin Zhi replied.

"Today, Qin Wen beat my mother up. My mother is still alive or dead. My lord, please send the yamen runner to the village to ask.

"Sir, when we went to Shitou Village to take the three defendants, we went to the village to ask questions, and it was indeed as the plaintiff said. Qin Zhi was almost beaten to death by Mei, and today Qin Wen forced Shen to vacate the house in order to marry a wife, and then he knocked Shen unconscious."

"Mei, Qin Wen, now that the evidence is conclusive, will you two plead guilty?" Song Shijie asked.

Liu had never seen such a scene before, and she did not dare to speak to excuse the other two.

Mei was so frightened that she confessed her guilt directly, but Qin Wen refused to accept the guilt.

Song Shijie asked his men to invite Manager Li from the Jixiang Casino. Manager Li was the man with the scar who came to Qin Wen to collect the debt that day.

Manager Li bowed to the county magistrate in the court and said, "I, Manager Li of Jixiang Gambling House, pay my respects to the county magistrate."

"Manager Li, Qin Zhi from Shitou Village sued Qin Wen for owing him gambling debts but using her to pay them off. Is this true?" Song Shijie asked.

"Reply, it is true. Qin Wen couldn't pay off his debts, so he told us that he would use his niece Qin Zhi to pay off the debts, but he didn't tell us that the child had severed ties with his family. Later, I found out that it was because Qin Wen's sister-in-law beat the little girl to death. His father suppressed it for his reputation and asked her father to divorce his mother. Fortunately, the girl survived after being struck by lightning in the dilapidated house. This girl is really blessed with a long life."

Song Shijie slammed the gavel and shouted, "Qin Wen, what else do you have to say?"

Qin Wen was so frightened that he kowtowed and confessed his guilt.

After Qin Wen and Mei were tried, it was Liu's turn.

"Liu, Qin Zhi is suing you for attempting to embezzle the property of his former daughter-in-law. Do you admit your guilt?"

Liu was terrified, but she had to bite the bullet and defend herself: "I am innocent. My ex-daughter-in-law built the house just a few days after being divorced. Where did she get the money? She must have stolen my money to build it. Since it was built with my family's money, the house is mine."

"You bold and wicked woman, don't tell the truth. Where did you get the money for her to steal? As far as I know, it would cost at least fifty taels of silver to build the house. Where did you get more than fifty taels?" Rong Shijie slammed the gavel again.

"Since she didn't steal it from my house, then she is not a virtuous woman, otherwise how could she have so much money.

"You are such a bold woman! How dare you defame someone's innocence without any evidence." Song Shijie summoned Manager Wang from Jihe Hall to testify.

"Manager Wang, do you know this girl in front of you?"

"I know her. She sold medicinal herbs in our Jihetang a few months ago. We were in short supply of herbs at that time, and this girl picked a lot of them. So I have a deep impression of Miss Qin." Shopkeeper Wang said realistically.

"Do you remember how much silver she sold it for?"

"I don't remember exactly, probably a few dozen taels of silver."

"Liu, what else do you have to say? That was the house they built with their hard-earned money, and you still want to take it away."

Liu was so frightened that she quickly confessed her guilt.

Song Shijie directly pronounced the verdict: "Liu attempted to occupy the property of his former daughter-in-law and was detained for ten days."

"Mei, Qin Wen, the two of you committed murder intentionally. Fortunately, no one died in the end, but your behavior is too heinous. You are sentenced to three years in prison."

After the verdict was announced, the three defendants were directly taken to jail. Only the old man Qin standing outside looked at Qin Zhi with a gloomy face. Qin Zhi didn't care and limped out of the hall.

"Xiao Zhi," Qin Zhi turned around and found that the village head was looking at him with a complicated expression.

Qin Zhi stopped and waited for the head of the village to continue speaking, but the head was silent and walked away supporting the old man Qin, whose legs were weak.

Qin Zhi was not surprised by the attitude of the village head. As a village head, he certainly did not want to bring this matter to court for the sake of the village's reputation. However, Qin Zhi did not care about the village head's thoughts. After all, it was not him who died.

Qin Zhi went out and found a chestnut horse. Since she had been beaten with a stick, she certainly couldn't ride a horse, but in this situation she could only rely on the horse to drag her back.

Qin Zhi jumped on the horse and lay on its back. The horse also understood human nature and was afraid that its master would feel uncomfortable riding, so it walked slowly and steadily to reduce the pain of the bumps.

Qin Zhi was in so much pain all the way and finally made it to his home.

Qin Zhen couldn't stop crying when she saw the bloody mess on Qin Zhi's buttocks. She still didn't know that her sister went to the county government to sue the three members of the Qin family.

"I'm fine, sister. Please apply some medicine to me later. I'll be fine in two days."

Qin Zhen quickly applied medicine to Qin Zhi and told her to have a good rest.