Early the next morning, Xia Chunmei went to the county government office with Xia Mingshi and her son, Aunt Lihua, Chen Jinlian, and Xia Xintian.
At 3:45 AM, the plaintiff Xia Chunmei and the defendant Fan family of three were all brought to the courtroom.
"Ascending the court"
"mighty"
Immediately afterward, the county magistrate slammed his gavel and said sternly, "Fan Mingli, Fan Baowen, Fan Jiangxiuying, I will ask you one more time: Did you instigate the kidnapping of Xia Yaomei and the framing of Xia Chunmei?"
"Lord He, if the suspect doesn't confess, why not just use severe torture? Are all those instruments of torture in the county jail just for show?"
Before the Fan family could answer, Jin Yuntian walked straight into the courtroom and said calmly.
People in the countryside might not know Jin Yuntian, or even know his name, but Fan Baowen and the Du family do.
Why did Jin Yuntian appear here?
Fan Baowen and the Du family were completely bewildered.
It was obvious that Jin Yuntian was after the Fan family. The Fan family of three looked at each other, seemingly asking how they had offended the Jin family.
The Wang family members outside the courtroom were now even more certain that Xia Chunmei and Jin Yuntian had a close relationship; otherwise, why would Jin Yuntian personally come to the yamen to support Xia Chunmei?
"Uncle Jin, what brings you here?"
"Lord He, you have no objection to me sitting in on this, do you?"
"No objections, no objections." He Bo dared not have any objections.
Although Jin Yuntian does not hold an official position, any member of his family could easily surpass He Bo in rank.
The people below were quick to notice and immediately added a chair next to them.
Jin Yuntian sat lazily in his chair and said, "Don't waste any more time, let's get started. These ruthless scoundrels won't confess unless you torture them."
In fact, He Bo had a general understanding of the whole story. With so many witnesses, it wouldn't be difficult to convict them. However, since Jin Yuntian said he wanted to subject them to severe torture, he naturally wouldn't say no, since these people weren't innocent.
“What Grandpa Jin says is true.” After He Bo finished speaking, he slammed the gavel and shouted, “Guards, drag them out and give them twenty lashes each!”
Torture was legal in this era, but it could not be used more than three times, meaning that the same person could only be tortured to extract a confession a maximum of three times.
Xia Chunmei secretly hoped that the Fan family of three would be subjected to severe torture, since they had done such inhumane things.
Jin Yuntian's way of repaying kindness is quite admirable.
Xia Pingan and Ling Xiaoxiao cheered from the sidelines: "Well done! Kill these bastards!"
At He Bo's command, the constables immediately pinned down the family of three, and then they heard pig-like screams.
The constables didn't dare to go easy on them, after all, they were the people that Master Jin wanted to deal with, so they used all their strength with every blow, and the three members of the Fan family screamed when they hit them with their sticks.
Jin Yuntian frowned: "It's too noisy."
Officer Zhang, with his keen eye, found a cloth and used it to gag the three of them.
Fan Mingli, who had been hit by the stick, wanted to speak, but now his mouth was blocked, and he couldn't say anything.
Anyone with eyes could see that Jin Yuntian did it on purpose, deliberately making the Fan family members suffer more so that they would experience some hardship.
After being hit more than a dozen times, the three members of the Fan family were completely exhausted, unable to move due to the pain.
Fan Jiangshi was in tears and snot streaming down her face. Fan Baowen was weak and had little ability to withstand beatings, so he lay on the ground like a dead dog.
Officer Zhang removed the gags from their mouths one by one, and He Bo asked, "Now, will you confess or not?"
"I...I confess..." Fan Mingli said weakly, "It was...my wife Jiang Xiuying who did it, it was all her...she did it!"
Fan Baowen also pointed out intermittently, "That's right, it was all my mother... my mother did it."
Xia Chunmei wasn't surprised at all that the Fan family father and son pushed all the blame onto Fan Jiangshi, after all, the Fan family members were all so selfish and self-serving.
Moreover, some people saw that Jin Biao had contact with Fan Jiangshi. Fan Jiangshi cannot deny it or explain it clearly. Now, it is better for Fan Jiangshi to confess and take all the blame and go to jail alone than for three people to go to jail.
Although the Fan family of three had agreed beforehand that if forced to do so, Fan Jiangshi would take all the blame, she still felt utterly dejected in the face of her son and husband's accusations.
Looking at her son lying on the ground like a dead dog, and then at her husband who was lying on the ground in agony, Fan Jiangshi cried and said, "It was me...it was me who did it, it was all me. It has nothing to do with my son or my husband. I did it all by myself."
"So it was you, you vicious woman! What did Chunmei do to you? You despicable wretch who would kill her a thousand times over, you deserve to be torn to pieces! You've wronged Chunmei, yet you treat her like this. Did Chunmei dig up your family's ancestral graves?"
"Exactly, so many good people have died, why aren't you dead?"
"You heartless bastard, I spit on you!"
Xia Mingshi, Aunt Lihua, and Chen Jinlian stood outside the courtroom, cursing angrily.
He Bo slammed his gavel and shouted, "Silence! Silence!"
The scene immediately fell silent.
He Bo continued, "Tell me the truth about why you harmed Xia Chunmei!"
“I… Xia Chunmei broke off my engagement with my son, causing him to lose face. I was resentful. In addition, the affair between my son and Baidu was making a big fuss. So I had Xia Yaomei kidnapped and threatened Xia Chunmei to confess and admit that she framed my son. That way, my son could regain his reputation, and I could get revenge on her.”
Upon hearing Fan Jiangshi's words, Fan Mingli and Fan Baowen both breathed a sigh of relief. As long as their daughter-in-law (mother) acknowledged them, they would be safe.
He Bo glanced at the Du family and asked, "You said before that Du Jinghua and his wife were also involved. Is that true or false?"
The Du family felt a chill run down their spines.
Fan Jiangshi glanced at the Du family, her heart filled with hatred, but she still denied it: "I was just talking nonsense before. It was all my fault and had nothing to do with anyone else."
Hearing this, the Du family breathed a sigh of relief.
"I have found a witness to your meeting with Jin Biao that day. Guards, summon the witness Liu Wu to the court!"
"This humble man, Liu Wu, greets Your Excellency."
"Tell everyone what you saw, and don't lie or hide anything!"
"I dare not. I saw her meet him in Osmanthus Lane the day before yesterday afternoon. They talked for a while. I don't know the specifics of what they talked about, but I vaguely heard the word 'sell'."
"Alright, step back," He Bo said. "Now that someone saw you with the kidnapper, Laiwang, and the kidnapper has admitted that you ordered him to do it, and you yourself have admitted that you did it, come here, have her sign the document!"
Officer Zhang took the confession and cinnabar to Madam Fan and made her sign it.
Once the signature is signed, the crime can be established. Tears streamed down Fan Jiangshi's face as she hesitated.
"Xiuying, things have come to this point, there's no way to hide it anymore. If you sign it, we can all suffer less." Fan Mingli's eyes held a hint of pleading.
Fan Baowen also looked at Fan Jiangshi pleadingly.
With a determined heart, Madam Fan pressed her fingerprint on the document.
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