Chapter 814: Confession 2 (for the birthday of book friend "Mo Yan")
Madam Liu paused and said, "Your Excellency, can you understand that feeling? Their attitude was strange. They didn't want me to ask too many questions, and they even forbade me to stay in my son's study for long. If I stayed there for too long, someone would come to investigate. So I had a vague feeling that my son didn't die fighting bandits, until I sent people to find Erji."
County Magistrate Tang sat up straight.
"Erji is alive, but he..." Madam Liu paused and said, "He was seriously injured. He told me that my son was killed because he discovered that the King of Yizhou and other officials of Yizhou had colluded to embezzle funds for the repair of the Jianwei Weir.
"They chased us all the way, and my son fled to Luojiang County. Unfortunately, he ran into Zhou Yin and his wife on the road," Old Lady Liu paused, looking at the Zhou couple and Manbao. "Erji said they were already injured and were being pursued. They had evidence on them, so they probably couldn't escape. They happened to run into a couple driving home."
"My son asked for help from them. The couple was very enthusiastic and wanted to give him a ride. He refused and handed his belongings to them, asking them to take them away and then find a way to deliver them to a patrolling official, Lord Tang."
After saying this, Madam Liu looked at County Magistrate Tang.
County Magistrate Tang frowned and asked, "My father?"
He calculated the time and found that it was the third year of Dazhen, and his father seemed to be on patrol outside.
"Yes, it is Lord Tang." In order to overturn her son's verdict, Old Lady Liu knew all the ministers in the court like the back of her hand, especially those her son had mentioned in the past. She was paying close attention to them all.
This was also the reason why she could trust County Magistrate Tang so quickly and decided to drag him into the water, because she was very familiar with County Magistrate Tang's father and naturally paid attention to County Magistrate Tang.
"Because time was of the essence, the couple only told my son they were from Luojiang County, the man's name was Zhou Yin, and his wife was surnamed Xia. Erji said he was very forthright at the time, saying he was a well-known figure in the area, and that whenever they came, they would know it was him simply by mentioning Zhou Yin's name."
Madam Liu glanced at Manbao again. "After that, they separated. My son and Erji led the pursuers away together, but unfortunately they were caught up soon after. They decided to flee separately. Erji escaped because he rolled down a hillside and fell into a large hole while being pursued. However, his limbs were all broken, especially his legs. He will have to stay in bed for the rest of his life."
"As for my son, County Magistrate Tang also knew about it," Old Lady Liu said. "After that, I kept waiting, waiting for someone to produce evidence, but no one did."
Madam Liu's tears fell. "After that, everything was peaceful. Aside from the occasional visit to check on our family, no one mentioned the incident again. Old Master Tang never submitted any memorials about the Yizhou incident, and he didn't seem to have received anything special. It was as if the couple had vanished."
"So I couldn't help but send people to Luojiang County to investigate. After a long and careful investigation, we found out that in May of the third year of Dazhen, an official posted a portrait of a wanted gangster at the city gate. However, the officials privately said that the gangster was actually dead and they were just looking for his accomplices. And the person who died with him was a woman. They seemed to be a couple. I..." Old Lady Liu looked at Qian, who was crying, apologetically and said, "I vaguely guessed at the time that they might also..."
Madam Liu paused before continuing, "After that, although I sent people to Luojiang County to investigate frequently, I couldn't find anything. It wasn't until four years ago when the Jianwei Weir burst and the former Yizhou Governor, Lord Yan's men, came here that I learned about Zhou Yin from Li Zhi. It turns out that the Zhou family also has a Zhou Yin..."
"Four years ago..." Qian was slightly startled, remembering the three people who said they were liars. She looked at Madam Liu in surprise.
Madam Liu nodded slightly. "They came here just for Zhou Yin. I think they didn't get those things from Zhou Yin back then, so when the Jianwei Weir burst, they were so anxious to find those things."
County Magistrate Tang asked, "Where are those people?"
"He was taken away by Lord Wei."
County Magistrate Tang asked, "They said they were sent by Governor Yan?"
"yes."
County Magistrate Tang said, "But Governor Yan was beheaded and his entire family exiled. Why would he bother looking for evidence from years ago? Whether he finds it or not, won't he be beheaded anyway?"
County Magistrate Tang shook his head and asked, "Besides County Magistrate Bai's letter and the servants' confessions, what other evidence does the old lady have?"
Madam Liu was silent for a long time, then said, "I have another account book."
After saying that, he looked at Madam Liu.
Nanny Liu quickly took out the well-wrapped account book from her arms. Manbao and the others could tell at a glance that this was the one they found at Governor Yan's house, and they were stunned.
County Magistrate Tang flipped through the book and shook his head, saying, "This is not what County Magistrate Bai wrote down."
"Yes, this was obtained from Governor Yan's residence."
County Magistrate Tang raised an eyebrow. "How could the old lady be so capable that she could obtain such an important item from Governor Yan's residence?"
Old Madam Liu did not explain that this was found by Manbao and the others.
County Magistrate Tang pondered for a moment and then shook his head, saying, "This thing is useless in this case."
"How can it be useless..." Old Madam Liu was a little anxious.
County Magistrate Tang placed the account book on the table and said, "To overturn this case, we need the evidence left by County Magistrate Bai. This is what Governor Yan wrote after County Magistrate Bai left. It's useless."
Madam Liu was silent for a moment before she said, "But the King of Yizhou is corrupt..."
"Based solely on what's in this account book, the King of Yizhou was at most demoted and had some of his fiefdoms reduced. When the Jianwei Weir burst, Lord Wei found so much evidence, and the imperial censors impeached him, but wasn't he merely reprimanded and had a township of his fiefdom reduced?"
Seeing that everyone in the room was silent, County Magistrate Tang smiled and said, "There's no need to be so pessimistic. Perhaps County Magistrate Bai has left behind something crucial that could help us turn things around."
After saying that, he looked at Madam Liu.
Obviously, he didn't believe that Madam Liu had revealed all her cards.
Old Madam Liu lowered her eyes and said nothing.
Old Zhou couldn't help but get anxious. "Madam, if you know anything else, please tell Magistrate Tang. Your son's revenge must be avenged, and my second brother's grievances must be redressed. I, I was thinking of registering Manbao under my second brother's name so that she could find a son-in-law to carry on the family line."
Qian couldn't help but glare at him secretly.
Bai Shan couldn't help but look at Man Bao and whispered, "Isn't your father thinking too far ahead?"
Madam Liu sighed and said, "There are only some letters, and in the letters, there are some things..."
Old Madam Liu was reluctant to hand those things over to Lord Wei, and of course she didn't dare to hand them over to County Magistrate Tang. Therefore, she looked at County Magistrate Tang with a pair of stern eyes full of suspicion.
County Magistrate Tang smiled and said, "If the old lady didn't trust me, she wouldn't have waited for me here. As the saying goes, don't employ a man you doubt, and don't doubt a man you employ. Now that the old lady has made her decision, why hesitate?"
Happy birthday to Mo Yan
The next update will be around 10pm
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
