Chapter 140 Immeasurable Justice and Evil

The case appears to be solved, but the motive remains unclear.

Where does Xiao Luo's hatred come from?

Was it because he was dissatisfied with Niu Dai's behavior of talking about people behind their backs? Or was it because her gossip was inconsistent with the truth, making it unacceptable to Xiao Luo?

Or perhaps, this man simply can't stand hearing others talk about his family or his sister?

His motive was so vague that Li Jin felt the logic behind the murder was not clear.

Seeing Xiao Luo's resistant expression, Li Jin closed his eyes and said calmly, "I also have a younger sister. If one day anyone dares to fabricate nonsense in front of me, I'm afraid my reaction will be just as bad as yours."

At this point, Li Jin narrowed his eyes slightly, turned around, and sat down.

"Heh." Xiao Luo chuckled dismissively, his chin raised as he looked at the expressionless Li Jin. "How could a royal princess be compared to a child from a poor family?"

I thought Xiao Luo wasn't going to speak, but to my surprise, his gaze towards Li Jin softened considerably.

“My sister wasn’t sold, she was kidnapped.” Xiao Luo’s expression darkened as he said this. “She was kidnapped right in front of me. I wasn’t even eight years old then.”

“My father borrowed money in his own name to pay for the burial of his stonemason coworker and to help his family make ends meet,” he said. “The high-interest loan quickly compounded and became a sum my father couldn’t repay.”

Even if you can't pay it back, you still have to find a way to pay it back.

Xiao Luo's father was soft-hearted. Looking at his coworker's two remaining children and their mother who had no income to support them, he couldn't bring himself to ask for money.

When there was work, he worked as a stonemason; when there was no work, he would work as a porter in the East Market, carrying heavy loads.

He saved money coin by coin, trying to plug the huge hole of this usurious loan with his own hands.

“My mother made shoes at home, sewing soles. My sister and I went to the street to sell them every day, hoping to make a little money.” As he said this, although he was smiling, his eyes were filled with tears. Although his tone was calm, you could still hear the choked sob at the end of his sentence.

"Back then, when I came back from selling shoes, I heard that old woman standing at the intersection pointing and whispering about us. She said my dad was a gambler and womanizer who had ruined our family like this."

“I was furious. Our family is already struggling so much, why would anyone spread such rumors?” Xiao Luo took a deep breath. “I argued with her, but no one helped me. They all said things like, ‘What do I, a little kid, know?’”

"Pah!" Xiao Luo gritted his teeth. "What are you telling me, 'How could your father possibly tell you the truth? There's no such philanthropist in the world.'"

He pursed his lips into a thin line, and as he spoke, it was as if a fishbone was stuck in his throat; he remained silent for a long time.

Li Jin had overheard some of these remarks during his casual conversation with the elderly men and women yesterday.

In the casual conversations of others, the truth of what happened back then was obviously not important. The elderly men and women vividly recounted what happened to the Xiao family back then.

The version has evolved from what he described as mere eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring to murder and robbery.

And the culprit behind all of this is indeed Niu Dai.

Niu Dai, who always enjoyed gossiping, fabricated a whole bunch of stories about the decline of the Xiao family.

The versions differ, but without exception, they all portray the Xiao family as scoundrels living in the shadows of the capital.

"Later, somehow these words reached my mother's ears." Xiao Luo knelt there, his expression somewhat uneasy when he mentioned his mother. "From that time on, my mother became taciturn and depressed."

"She just doesn't understand. She clearly did a good deed, and even though she was burdened with debt, she never complained about my father. So why did our family become like that in the eyes of the neighbors?"

Xiao Luo frowned and looked up at Li Jin: "What did our family do wrong? Shouldn't we have helped that orphan and widow? It's only right to pay back debts. Shouldn't we have found a way to earn money to pay off our debts?"

The courtroom was extremely quiet.

He wasn't asking Li Jin; he was asking the heavens, the universe, and so-called justice.

It is this plaque that hangs high like a bright mirror, and it is the lofty laws and regulations of the Great Wei Dynasty.

"Later, my mother became very worried, and her health could not withstand such depletion. Her condition deteriorated and she passed away suddenly."

As Xiao Luo spoke, he stared blankly at Li Jin.

After a long pause, he chuckled softly, "My mother's funeral hasn't even been held yet, and the loan sharks are already trying to kidnap her."

"The coffin was still in the yard when my sister, dressed in mourning clothes, was suddenly tied up and taken away by four strong men." As Xiao Luo said this, his straight back gradually bent.

He pressed his forehead to the ground, his voice choked with sobs: "She was snatched away right before my eyes, my father was beaten so badly he lay there unable to move, and died. All of this, in the blink of an eye, turned into us selling our only sister! Selling her to a brothel! Selling her to a wealthy man's mansion! Saying she was a prostitute! Saying she was someone else's concubine!"

"She was only six years old then! Six years old! Do you know how much I wanted to tear her mouth apart! Do you know how much I wanted to smash her head in!"

"Why can such people live in this world with a clear conscience! Why do we, who work hard and rely on our own hands to make a living, have to suffer such misfortunes!"

Xiao Luo suddenly raised his head, his back hunched, his eyes wide with anger, his cheeks flushed red, staring straight at Li Jin, and questioned him word by word: "Was I wrong?! Was our family wrong?!"

Li Jin stared at his roaring, panting breaths, remaining silent for a long time.

Niu Dai is a gossipy person who always likes to talk about how outstanding her son is and how much money her daughter-in-law makes in a group of people.

If it were just a simple conversation, he wouldn't have brought such a fatal disaster upon himself. After all, it's not incomprehensible for a man in his sixties to show off his children.

Her mistake was that while showing off, she liked to put others down.

The Xiao family, whose fortunes had declined and who were struggling to make ends meet, became the target of her constant criticism.

Under the tree at the entrance of the courtyard, three or five old women often gathered together to chat, and Niu Dai was the most active among them.

"When she talks about other people's scars, she always thinks they are worth talking about, and she doesn't shy away from our family. She just flaunts it and talks about it at length."

"She used other people's deepest wounds to highlight the glamour and beauty of her own home."

“I earn money with my own hands, one copper coin at a time, and in her mouth, I am dishonest, a petty thief, and I steal it.”

Xiao Luo's emotions calmed down slightly, and he looked up and glanced at everyone in the courtroom: "Gossip is a fearsome thing. When you arrested me, did you think that box of money was all stolen by me?"

This tall man, his lips trembling, his eyes reddening, tears streaming down his face, looked at Li Jin.

"I haven't stolen a single penny."

“Stealing from her house was the first time I ever stole anything.” Xiao Luo burst into tears, all her pride and resolve crumbling at that moment. “You’re right, I just wanted to kill her. I’m so tired, I can’t take it anymore.”

"I've been saving for ten years, ten years! I just want to redeem my sister! Ten years! I haven't even saved a fraction of it."

"I'm so tired. I miss my parents. I want to get revenge and reunite with them in the afterlife. At least then I can face myself with a clear conscience!"

His eyes were brimming with tears as he looked at the plaque above the plaque, which read "The Mirror of Integrity," and choked out as he asked again, "Was I, Xiao Luo, wrong?"