Chapter 106: Redress
The Sun Family Bones Case was tried publicly in the county government office. It had been a long time since such a horrific case had occurred, and the people of Dongping County actively went to the county government office to watch and listen.
Cui Qingyi also brought Konjac with her, and the people in Huaihua Lane stood together.
When the three members of the Sun family were brought up, they faced countless pairs of hateful eyes. The neighbor's wife who used to be good friends with Li Ping wanted to tear Sun Liang to pieces, but was ruthlessly stopped by the yamen runners holding water and fire sticks.
After being imprisoned for several days and tortured repeatedly, Sun Liang wasn't in good condition, but he was strong and healthy, so this injury wouldn't hurt him at all. Looking at the crowd of people outside the hall, Sun Liang panicked for a moment, then quickly calmed down.
He killed Li Ping in the middle of the night. During the day, he beat Li Ping so hard that she was breathing more than breathing in and could not make any sound at all.
Even his parents didn't know about the death until the next day. Sun Liang thought over the details from killing Li Ping to burying the body to make sure there were no mistakes.
He raised his head and glanced provocatively at the county magistrate who was sitting in the hall, certain that the other party could not do anything to him.
Zhou Yanxiu naturally did not miss this glance, but he was calm inside. He had encountered many fierce bandits in his official career, and people like Sun Liang who relied on their strength but only dared to attack weak women were the lowest.
The gavel rang in the hall and everyone fell silent.
Zhou Yanxiu looked directly at Sun Liang. "Sun Liang, do you admit to torturing and killing Li Ping, burying her body, and then falsely claiming she eloped with someone?"
Sun Liang naturally wouldn't admit it. He gritted his teeth and said viciously, "I didn't kill anyone. That bitch cheated on her husband and ran off with a rich man. As for those bones, who knows if they're from decades ago? I'm innocent. Your Excellency, please be discerning."
Cui Qingyi watched from afar and listened to Sun Liang's words.
Sun Liang was very different from the person she had imagined who only beat his wife. Even in court, even after being tortured, he was still fearless and extremely arrogant.
Such a person is probably a born criminal. Cui Qingyi has a strange intuition that perhaps Li Ping is not the first life, or the first living creature, to die at the hands of this man.
There is a demon living in his heart. If he is allowed to escape this time, he may do even more cruel things in the future.
Thinking of this, Cui Qingyi suddenly looked at Zhou Yanxiu in the hall nervously, praying that he could bring the person to justice.
Zhou Yanxiu glanced coldly at the stubborn Sun Liang, then turned to Zhou Wu and said, "Bring the witness up here."
Zhou Wu nodded and left.
The people outside the hall were talking about it, and everyone was guessing who the witness the county magistrate was talking about was.
Before they knew it, Aunt Li, looking shaky, came in, carrying a stretcher. Her expression was so distraught that her very presence brought the other aunts in Huaihua Lane to tears.
The old couple of the Sun family were kneeling and therefore saw the white bones under the white cloth on the stretcher. They trembled and lowered their heads, as if they could pretend that nothing had happened if they didn't look.
It was not until she saw the bones on the stretcher and Aunt Li that Cui Qingyi felt relieved.
Wang Xiaoqian, who was following behind, bowed respectfully towards Zhou Yanxiu. Behind him was Zhou Qi, who was holding a small wooden box and had a pale face.
"Wuwuwu, mother, my brother wants to go home, wuwuwu, he doesn't want to help this hateful coroner anymore. God knows what kind of life he has been living these days, every day he opens his eyes to a pile of bones, wuwuwu, he is so scared."
No one pays attention to Zhou Qi's inner world.
At this point in the case, Zhou Yanxiu no longer bothered to look for a breakthrough from Sun Liang. He nodded to Wang Xiaoqian, indicating that he could begin.
Wang Xiaoqian was calm and indifferent. In front of everyone, he first pricked Aunt Li's finger with a silver needle. The moment the needle was pulled out, a drop of bright red blood dripped onto the white bones, and then seeped into the bones and disappeared under everyone's eyes.
Aunt Li fell to her knees on the ground, hugging the scattered bones and sobbing.
"Ahhh, wuwu, my poor child, it's all mother's fault. It's all mother's fault."
The wailing was so tragic that everyone who heard it cried.
Wang Xiaoqian put away the silver needle and said respectfully to Zhou Yanxiu, "Sir, this is the bone-drip test, which is similar to the blood test. Li's blood dissolving in the bones proves that the two are blood relatives, which naturally proves that the bones are the missing Li Ping."
The blood test was widely used in this era, and since it was said by the professional coroner in the county government, the people believed it without a doubt.
Wang Xiaoqian then said, "According to the testimony provided by the victim's mother, Li Ping had a fracture on her right foot when she was young. I found traces of an old fracture on the right foot bone.
According to the testimony provided by Sun's neighbors, Sun Liang had beaten Li Ping many times, causing multiple fractures on her body. I found a total of eleven fractures in this pile of bones.
All the evidence proves that the skeleton is Li Ping's."
Wang Xiaoqian finished explaining the autopsy results and stepped aside. Zhou Yanxiu looked at the dazed family of three in the hall and slammed the gavel. "Sun Liang, do you have anything else to say?"
Sun Liang's eyes were red with anger. What kind of bullshit was this bone-dripping test of paternity? How come he had never heard of it?
But the case had now been investigated to the point where the evidence was irrefutable, and Zhou Yanxiu sentenced Sun Liangqiu to death in court.
As for the old couple of the Sun family, they were directly sent to repair the river. Although they did not directly participate in the murder of Li Ping, they could not escape blame for Li Ping's murder.
The case came to an end, and Wang Xiaoqian, the coroner, stayed in Dongping County temporarily, just as he was fascinated by reading Mr. Nancheng's novel.
The pen in his hand kept recording, and "Wang's Autopsy Notes" was gradually being completed.
Li Ping's body was taken back by the Li family for burial. A few days later, Aunt Li knocked on the door of the Cui family with a basket of eggs.
Konjac took a look and let the person in. Aunt Qin automatically stepped aside when she saw the guest coming.
After this incident, Aunt Li became very thin and haggard, but she looked in good spirits.
Cui Qingyi looked at her and sighed silently in her heart. She admitted that her previous speculation was indeed excessive. People say that women are strong when they become mothers, but who knows the huge pressure this saying puts on women.
Especially women under feudal ethics, most of the time they are unable to protect themselves or their children.
It was extremely difficult for Aunt Li to take the step of beating the drum to seek justice for her daughter against the wishes of her husband and mother-in-law. She was also a poor person who had no choice.
Konjac added more herbal tea and pushed the cakes on the plate toward Aunt Li. "Aunt Li, try the apricot peel tea and cakes I made."
Aunt Li smiled shyly, drank the apricot tea in the cup and did not touch the pastries on the plate.
"Miss Cui, I'm here to thank you. If it weren't for what you said that day, my Ping'er would still be lying alone in the Sun family's woods. I don't know how scared she must have been these past three years. I thank you on her behalf."
Aunt Li was about to cry as she spoke, and Cui Qingyi's eyes were sore. She found that her eye sockets were getting shallower as she got older, and she couldn't stand seeing people cry.
"Aunt Li, you don't have to be so polite. I just said a few words casually. Sister Li was able to clear her name because you cared about her, and she cared about you too."
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