Chapter 118
"Bang!" Lord Guo slammed his gavel down, glancing at Li Er: "Then how do you explain the traces you left at the scene!"
“Traces…traces…” Li Er was so anxious that he was covered in sweat, his eyes darting around frantically.
"That...that is..."
“Sir, if he can’t answer, then I’ll speak for him!” Fan Xiaoxiao looked at him and slowly straightened up.
Li Er sensed something was wrong and hurriedly stopped him, saying, "No...no! I...my lord, the reason I didn't say anything was because I was concerned about this lady's reputation!"
Everyone present was stunned, and Madam Fan's brows furrowed deeply.
But Fan Xiaoxiao laughed, as if she had heard something extremely funny.
"Haha, concerned about my reputation? You might as well say what you mean, instead of making empty promises." Fan Xiaoxiao spoke the last sentence very softly, almost as if she were breathing.
Li Er didn't hear her words. He was also driven to desperation, his eyes were bloodshot, and he wished that Fan Xiaoxiao in front of him would die immediately.
"Ha, you want me to just say it straight? Are you sure!?"
"What's there to be unsure about? Just say it!" Fan Xiaoxiao's nonchalant attitude made Li Er choke. His eyes flashed with malice, he took a deep breath, pointed at Fan Xiaoxiao, and said recklessly, "Those marks... she dragged me into the woods! She said she loved me! And wanted to do something indecent to me!"
"Watch your mouth!" Fan was furious at Li Er's words and didn't care that they were in the hall. She was about to pounce on Li Er and tear his mouth apart.
The constables below the hall quickly grabbed her, but their fierce appearance did indeed frighten Li and her son quite a bit.
"Hahahahahaha." Fan Xiaoxiao, who was standing to the side, wasn't angry at all. Instead, she seemed to have heard something particularly funny and laughed so hard that she bent over.
"You're saying I grabbed you, intending to do something indecent to you?"
Having said all that, Li Er didn't care about saving face anymore. He continued in a hoarse voice, "No...that's right!"
"Ah, may I ask, Lord Guo, does this dynasty have any laws regarding adultery?"
Li Er was shocked. He hadn’t expected the other party to react this way after being accused of dishonoring his innocence!
Has this girl gone mad?! Does she not care about her reputation at all?!
Lord Guo raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that Fan Xiaoxiao would ask such a question.
"According to the laws of this dynasty, a rapist shall be punished with fifty strokes of the cane, five years of penal servitude, and hard labor."
Upon hearing the terms of the crime, Li Er's face lit up with joy, and he immediately craned his neck and cried out, "My lord! Please do justice for me!"
"But! Anyone who rapes a young girl in this dynasty shall be executed!" Lord Guo did not respond to Li Er's shouts, but instead added the sentence he had not finished saying earlier.
"If you have no other evidence, then you are slandering the young lady of the Fan family! In that case, you shall be punished with ten strokes of the cane!"
Li Er's face was ashen. His lips trembled, but he couldn't utter a single word. Where did he get the evidence? He had only been betting that the woman wouldn't dare to plead her innocence! Besides, they hadn't been there, so he was just making things up!
Seeing her son's state, Li understood perfectly well. She cursed him inwardly for being useless, and then, in a flash, began to wail in court.
"My lord! This young lady and her companions are refugees! They might not be innocent at all! They're trying to take advantage of my son! They were already arguing with him in front of my house yesterday! And what about when they were alone together yesterday!"
Fan was furious. She struggled to pounce on the shameless mother and son, letting out a howl like a wild beast.
"You're lying! You're a liar! You're a liar!"
“I am not lying! My husband is outside! He was there yesterday too!”
...
Is Li's eldest son home?
The tall and imposing Constable Xing stepped out from behind the white cloth, calling out Li Da's name.
Aunt Wang and Uncle Wang had been listening attentively and knew that they were calling him in to provide evidence.
"Brother."
Li Da paused slightly and looked up at Granny Wang. His lips trembled, but he ultimately didn't utter a word.
Then, Aunt Wang and Uncle Wang heard his voice coming from inside. Li Da respectfully knelt on the ground, bowed respectfully, and finally said respectfully, "This humble subject, Li Da, greets Your Excellency."
"Did you hear what your wife said just now?"
"Yes, sir, I heard it. What she said..." Li Da paused, his gaze sweeping over the scar on Fan Xiaoxiao's head, and then over Fan Shi and Master Lu beside her. Finally, his gaze fell on his good-for-nothing son. He took a deep breath and pursed his lips, "What she said is all true."
Granny Wang, who was standing outside the arena, heard everything clearly and felt as if her heart, liver, spleen, and lungs were on fire. How could they! How could they slander a young woman who hadn't even left home yet like this!
Thinking of how Fan Yatou ran up to her and talked to her in the morning, she felt a pang of pain in her heart.
"Sir! They're lying!"
The white cloth was lifted again, and Granny Wang walked inside despite Constable Xing's attempts to stop her. The latter was startled and quickly tried to pull her back. But Lord Guo waved his hand dismissively: "It's alright. Who are you, and why do you say they are lying?"
After Wang Da Niang entered, she knelt between the two groups of people. When her gaze swept over the injuries on Fan Xiaoxiao's face, it revealed a hint of pity.
"This woman is Li Da's older sister and Li Er's aunt."
"Oh? Since you're a member of the Li family, why do you say they're lying!?"
"Sir... my sister isn't saying we're lying, she's saying they are! They are!" Li was so anxious she didn't know what to do. She pointed in the direction of Fan Xiaoxiao and the others while desperately trying to wink at Wang Da Niang.
But the latter remained unmoved. She glanced at Li Shi, then at Li Da, who was hanging his head and dared not look at her, and said, "I'm talking about you! You've clearly failed to raise your son properly! Why do you still dare to ruin someone's reputation! Yesterday, it was clearly Li Er who was rude, but in your mouths, it's become Fan Yatou who's shameless! I think your consciences have really been eaten by jackals and tigers!"
"Sister..." Li Danie was about to speak, but Aunt Wang showed no intention of responding.
"Don't call me 'older sister'! You're not the younger brother I used to know! My younger brother wasn't a great man, but he was an honest and upright man! I've been away from home for over twenty years! I never imagined you'd become like this!"
As Aunt Wang spoke, her eyes reddened repeatedly, as if she were extremely angry.
"Enough! How is it that we're the ones lying! You yourself said you've been away from home for over twenty years! Have you ever come back to see Dalang in all these years? Do you know how hard it has been for us to raise three children! Fine, you won't lend us money!"
And here you are, kicking someone when they're down! What are you really up to?! In the end, you're just siding with outsiders! I think you just want the Li family line to end!"
When Li saw Wang Da Niang criticizing her husband, she could no longer bear the anger she had been enduring for the past two days and finally exploded. She glared at Wang Da Niang as if she could tear her apart at any moment.
“You’ve lost a son and a half yourself! We were even thinking of adopting our third son into your family so you’d have someone to care for you in your old age! Now you’ve harmed my second son like this! I think it’s better if we don’t adopt him! Didn’t the magistrate just say that anyone who spreads rumors will be punished with ten strokes of the cane? Sir! Hit her! She’s spreading rumors!”
"You!" Granny Wang's chest heaved, clearly she was also very angry.
"Clap!" Lord Guo slammed his gavel once again.
"This is not a place for you women to bicker! You are all just spouting empty words! I can't trust anyone! If there is no evidence, then I will decide this case myself!"
"My lord, I have evidence!" He raised his head and gave Granny Wang and Madam Fan a reassuring look.
"I have evidence that Li Er kidnapped me!"
(End of this chapter)
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