Li Rouniang and the others then went to town again.
When Li Si saw Li Rouniang approaching, he quickly went up to her and asked, "Rouniang, what brings you here? What happened?"
"Here's what happened. Zhao Dahua from our village faked a pregnancy, and when her father-in-law found out, he wanted to kill her. But he died unexpectedly. My daughter, Da Ni, happened to see this, and she was falsely accused of causing Zhao Hulu's death, which led to the dispute."
Li Rouniang sighed and said, "Li Si is also in a dilemma." Just then, another constable came over and greeted him, "Li Si, is this the Lady Li you mentioned?"
“Brother Zhang, yes, she is the Rou Niang I told you about. Rou Niang, this is Brother Zhang. You went to the Liu residence last time with his help.”
Li Rouniang hurriedly greeted him, "Brother Zhang, thank you so much. I had intended to visit you in person to express my gratitude, but I didn't have the time, and now we meet under these circumstances. I will definitely visit you another day to express my thanks."
“Don’t be so polite, Li Si and I are brothers. There’s no need to be so formal,” Zhang San said.
At this moment, Lord Gu stepped forward, and Li Si and Zhang San quickly stood at attention. A group of yamen runners shouted in unison, "Majestic!"
The atmosphere in the courtroom instantly turned serious, making everyone tense.
With a slam of the gavel, Lord Gu sat firmly in the main hall: "Who is there in the hall?"
In fact, just before the court session began, Qian Duobao had already gone around to the back room and briefly explained the matter to him.
But the necessary procedures still need to be followed.
Zhao Youtian hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Lord Gu, I am the clan chief of Zhao Family Village. Here's what happened: a murder has occurred in our village. I have brought all the parties involved here for Lord Gu to judge."
Lord Gu nodded, then asked, "Who is the person involved? Come forward and explain the situation."
"My lord, my lord, I've been wronged! My lord, please, my lord, do justice for me!" Zhao Dahua rushed forward, knelt down, and wept bitterly.
Lord Gu frowned and asked, "What grievance do you have? Tell me."
“My lord, it was that heartless little vixen, Zhao Dani. She came to me and kept pestering me, telling me about the past. At that moment, my father-in-law came back and saw me struggling with her. Fearing that I would get hurt, he stepped forward to separate us. But Zhao Dani accidentally pushed my father-in-law, and he fell and hit the hoe, dying on the spot. My poor father-in-law, sob sob sob sob.”
"No, sir, it was Zhao Dahua. Zhao Hulu discovered that Zhao Dahua had faked her pregnancy to deceive him, and that's why he was so angry that he chased after her and beat her. That's why she accidentally fell and that's why she fell. It has nothing to do with me," Zhao Dani quickly stepped forward to explain.
"Do you two have any witnesses to your story?"
The two men shook their heads, each sticking to their own version of events, but the fact was that Zhao Hulu was dead. As for how he died, it was confirmed that he had accidentally hit his head on a hoe and died.
However, when it comes to assigning responsibility, it's unclear whose fault it is.
"Sir, Li Si is willing to go to the scene for investigation." Li Si stepped forward and volunteered.
This concerns Li Rouniang, so naturally he has to be the first to step forward.
Li Rouniang looked at him gratefully. Zhang San frowned, thinking to himself that Li Si was still a devoted lover after all; how come he hadn't noticed before?
But since Li Si had already volunteered, he had no choice but to step forward and say, "Please allow us to go to the site and investigate, and see if we can find anything else."
Lord Gu nodded, and the two of them withdrew and headed straight for Zhao Family Village!
Lord Gu continued, "Zhao Dani just said that you faked your pregnancy to deceive Zhao Hulu, so let me ask you first, is your pregnancy true or false?"
Zhao Dahua was panicking, which was obviously fake, but she dared not lie to Lord Gu now, since the truth would be revealed once a doctor was consulted.
She could only stammer, “My husband and mother-in-law died tragically, and my father-in-law had no will to live, so I made up this lie. I was actually doing it for his own good. Later, after we settled down in Zhao Village, I told him about the situation, and he knew about it and forgave me.”
Zhao Youtian frowned upon hearing this. How could that be? Just yesterday, he overheard Zhao Hulu asking his wife about Zhao Dahua's pregnancy, saying that she wasn't showing yet and they were worried something was wrong.
How come it changed when it came to Zhao Dahua?
“Sir, Zhao Dahua’s words are not quite right. Zhao Hulu was inquiring about the pregnant woman’s situation in the village yesterday. He probably doesn’t know that Zhao Dahua is faking her pregnancy. He would know if he asked the villagers.”
Upon hearing Zhao Youtian's words, Lord Gu angrily said, "Zhao Dahua, stop spouting nonsense in court. Let me ask you first, is what you just said true or false?"
Zhao Dahua stammered, "Even if what I said is false, it doesn't mean that I harmed him."
Lord Gu then asked, "So, Zhao Hulu didn't know about your false pregnancy. Is that right?"
Zhao Dahua nodded, then quickly explained, "I was just thinking about the bigger picture."
Lord Gu then continued to ask Zhao Dani, "Zhao Dani, let me ask you, why did you go to Zhao Dahua's house?"
Zhao Dani quickly said, "It was Zhao Dahua who came to me yesterday to complain. She said she wanted to leave Zhao Family Village and asked me to help her steal some money from her home. Last night I thought about it over and over and felt that this would not work, so I thought I would go to her house to persuade her. Who knew that she would reveal that she was faking her pregnancy."
"Zhao Dahua, is what Zhao Dani said true?"
"This, this, she's talking nonsense. I've never seen her, and I didn't go to see her yesterday at all," Zhao Dahua immediately denied.
"Is there anyone who can testify about Zhao Dani's matter?"
"She pulled me to a secluded corner, and no one knows what she said to me, but the villagers saw her call me away."
Zhao Dahua lowered her head guiltily, but at the same time breathed a sigh of relief. So what if someone called her away? As long as she didn't admit to their conversation, it would never be exposed.
Lord Gu then asked about the whereabouts of the two men from yesterday to today, as well as a series of questions about witnesses and physical evidence. After that, Zhang San and Li Si returned on horseback at top speed.
"Reporting to you, sir, we found disordered footsteps in the yard. We can preliminarily determine that Zhao Hulu was chasing someone, and we have already measured that person's footprints. They belong to Zhao Dahua," Li Si reported.
"My lord, I'm innocent! It's definitely not mine!" Zhao Dahua panicked immediately.
But at this point, any attempt at sophistry seemed utterly futile. Lord Gu was furious and ultimately acquitted Zhao Dani.
Zhao Dahua was given ten strokes of the cane for intentionally injuring someone and was sentenced to five years in prison!
This was considered the end of the matter. Li Rouniang led the children out, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
At the same time, it was lamented that Zhao Hulu's family, despite their efforts, ultimately could not escape the fate of being wiped out.
“Aunt Li, I happen to have something I want to discuss with you. I’ll take you home first, and then we can talk.”
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