Chapter 66: Such Shamelessness
The constable left quickly and returned quickly, bringing with him the unused indigo brocade, the matching robe that had already been washed and dried, and the man who followed behind him.
Although he was the same height as the young master of the Lin family, it was still easy to tell that one was thinner and the other was taller.
At this moment, Shen Zhiyi was certain that the two figures he had seen were him and Lin Fusheng!
Before Lu Jingbai could even ask, the man obediently knelt on the ground and said, "This humble citizen, Mo Wen, greets Your Excellency the County Magistrate. I am filled with fear and only now realize the terrible trouble I have caused. I beg Your Excellency to punish me!"
This preemptive statement prompted Lu Jingbai to curl his lips in a mocking smile, and he asked, "What great calamity is it?"
“Last night, I received some good news…” Mo Wen said, then carefully looked up at Chen Caiguan standing beside him, his words trailing off, “I got a good job and immediately went to share it with my uncle who guards the reservoir. I’ve always been strong, and I accidentally bumped into the sluice gate. I thought I could just turn it back on, but I never expected that the sluice gate would break like that… Only then did I realize the disaster I’d caused! Please punish me, sir!”
As Mo Wen sincerely confessed his guilt, the bailiff carried a wooden tray to Lu Jingbai's table. At his signal, the robe was unfolded, revealing the torn part at the corner.
Upon closer inspection, the robe did indeed fit Mo Wen's physique.
However, Lu Jingbai didn't know much about these fabrics and embroidery techniques. Instead, he had the constables take these items to a specialist for appraisal, and then looked at Mo Wen, who was constantly apologizing, with a normal expression.
This is the kind of "pushing someone out to take the blame" that he often sees. If someone is plotting this, he's bound to break their teeth!
"Mo Wen, is everything you say true?" Lu Jingbai asked coldly, his gaze fixed on Mo Wen, carrying an inexplicable sense of insight.
“What I say is absolutely true!” Mo Wen replied without hesitation.
They are very loyal, though.
Lu Jingbai silently told himself that he would not get any more information from Zhao Bantou, and said, "Please provide witnesses."
Upon hearing the words "witness," Shen Zhiyi and Lin Youcai were both stunned. What witness did she have?
It wasn't until the figure was brought over that Shen Zhiyi could see who it was. She was surprised to find that Zhou Damu and the crew-cut man were also there!
“I am Zhou Damu, the night soil collector. This is the crew-cut guy who was with me collecting night soil last night. At midnight yesterday, when there was no one on the main street, we pushed our cart through the back alley of Qunxiang Pavilion. When we saw a carriage coming out, we quickly moved aside. When we saw the Lin family's carriage, the driver was…” Zhou Damu glanced at Mo Wen kneeling in the middle, while the crew-cut guy clung to Zhou Damu in fear. “That man helped Young Master Lin into the carriage.”
“I’m a middleman. Last night, after finishing business with a regular customer, I planned to go to a manor outside the city for some fun. On the way, I thought I would run into Young Master Lin, who was also looking for some entertainment. I even chatted with Young Master Lin for a few words, but he said he had something to do and left first. It was already past midnight by then.” The man replied with his eyes lowered, habitually touching the black mole on his chin as he spoke.
After he finished speaking, the bulbous-nosed man waiting to the side said, "Young man..."
"Qian Sanming!" Lin Youcai couldn't help but exclaim, then knelt down with a thud. "My lord, you can't believe this villain's words! He has always been hostile to my Lin family, and everything he says is driven by personal grudges. His testimony cannot be trusted!"
Qian Sanming glared at Lin Youcai with bloodshot eyes and roared, "Lin Youcai, you despicable and shameless scoundrel, you..."
“My lord, look! Even in court, this man doesn’t forget to slander my innocence. His testimony is extremely biased. How can we believe it?” Lin Youcai hurriedly said.
This is a reasonable argument. Lu Jingbai lightly tapped the gavel and said, "Then let the next witness give his testimony."
“I’m just a peddler. Last night I went a bit too far to sell my goods, and I felt it wasn’t safe to travel at night, so I stayed overnight in a dilapidated hut by the roadside in Huanghua Village. In the middle of the night, I suddenly heard the sound of horses’ hooves, which startled me. I looked out through the crack in the door and saw a carriage speeding by. The lanterns on the carriage had words written on them. Fortunately, I went to school for a year and recognized the name Shuangmulin.” The tall, thin man said slowly, “When I checked the time, it was almost 1-3 AM.”
After the witnesses finished giving their testimonies, Lu Jingbai asked, "Did you see that the person in the carriage was Lin Fusheng, the young master of the Lin family?"
Zhou Damu, the crew-cut man, and the broker all nodded in response: "Yes, what we saw was indeed Young Master Lin."
The gavel slammed down on the table. Lu Jingbai lowered his eyes to look at Lin Fusheng, who was half-lying on the ground, and asked in a cold voice, "Lin Fusheng, why did you lie in court!"
The sound of the gavel and the voice mingled together, startling Lin Fusheng so much that he shuddered. If it weren't for his mother's gentle reassurance, he probably would have fainted on the spot.
"I...I...I...I didn't," Lin Fusheng said, stunned.
“Looks like you’re still not being honest, Zhao, the squad leader…” Lu Jingbai said in a deep voice. Before he could finish speaking, Lin Fusheng was startled and hurriedly said, “I’ll talk! I’ll talk! I really wasn’t home, but with Mo Wen…”
"Fusheng!" Lin Youcai shouted, interrupting Lin Fusheng, "Fusheng, my son! What's wrong? Doctor! Quick, call a doctor! My son has fainted!"
The excited voices and the figures blocking his view made it impossible for Lu Jingbai to see what was happening over there. He only knew that Lin Youcai was standing helplessly next to Lin Fusheng.
In this situation, Lu Jingbai could only say, "Call the doctor over to take my pulse."
Lin Youcai glared fiercely at Lin Fusheng, and even Madam Lin was frightened, so she could only cooperate and shout, "Son, why did you faint?"
They'd rather he feign unconsciousness in such a pathetic state than have the secret of flooding the village exposed, otherwise how could the Lin family's reputation be preserved!
A series of hurried footsteps pulled Lin Youcai back from his deep thoughts.
"Doctor, please take a look at my son's condition!" Madam Lin said anxiously, holding Lin Fusheng tightly.
The doctor could only awkwardly take the pulse from the side and comfort her, saying, "Madam, don't worry. After I give the young master a few acupuncture needles, he will wake up."
“Acupuncture is good, but how can acupuncture be performed here…” Madam Lin said, her eyes filled with tears as she looked at Lu Jingbai sitting in the main hall. “Lord Lu, I beg you to have mercy and let the doctor perform acupuncture on my son.”
"Foolish woman! The lord loves the people like his own children, so how could he disagree with letting the doctor administer acupuncture!" Lin Youcai hurriedly rebuked, preventing Lu Jingbai from speaking immediately.
Being held here, knowing that the other party might be faking unconsciousness, Lu Jingbai could only say, "Someone, take Young Master Lin, Madam Lin and the doctor to the side hall for treatment."
Several people suddenly disappeared from the hall, and Lin Youcai seemed to regain his confidence at that moment.
Since the person involved is in a "coma," we can only talk about it after they wake up; there is no need to continue the trial at this point.
“My lord,” Lin Youcai said at this moment, bowing respectfully, “My son is currently unconscious. As the saying goes, no one knows a son better than his father. Even if he did not do this, he is still involved.”
Such art of speaking left Shen Zhiyi speechless. She wanted to retort but remembered that they were in the hall and that speaking before the designated time would result in being punished with a beating. With that precedent in mind, she could only hold her breath.
"In that case, it's not convenient to continue the investigation. Let's just do what needs to be done." Lin Youcai said dejectedly, as if he had lost all his strength. At this moment, he was just a pitiful father who felt sorry for his child.
Lu Jingbai had seen this kind of person countless times. Such a person, who was eloquent, persuasive, and good at reading people, was contrary to the path he sought. Yet, he had plenty of experience in dealing with such people.
So he said, “As long as I am in office, I will never allow any wrongful convictions. Whether the young master of the Lin family is innocent or not will only be clear after the investigation. Master Lin, please do not rush to confess, lest you wrong the young master of the Lin family in the future.”
"I know that Your Excellency loves the people like your own children!" Lin Youcai said hoarsely, wishing he could praise Lu Jingbai to the heavens. "But now my son is unconscious, and I have neither the heart nor the strength to pursue the truth. However, the villagers' suffering from the disaster is a foregone conclusion, so I might as well take on this matter and share Your Excellency's burdens."
Upon hearing this, Lu Jingbai looked at Lin Youcai with a stern gaze. He had always been mindful of his reputation when meeting people, but this man was so shameless!
First, he said he loved the people like his own children, then he played the victim by saying his son was in a coma, and finally he offered compensation in a magnanimous manner.
If one does not agree to this compensation, how can one bear the title of "loving the people like one's own children"?
They were truly malicious, trying to obscure the truth.
Since this was not a formal court hearing, Lin Youcai turned to look at the village chief of Xiaba Village and said sincerely, "Old man..."
The village chief immediately sensed something was wrong. Having lived this long, he knew perfectly well what this person meant by his previous words. He was already angry, and now this person dared to try and establish a connection.
“I’m only fifty, not much older than you by ten years, so I don’t deserve the title of ‘old man’.” The village chief said calmly, silently increasing the distance between himself and Lin Youcai. “How can peasants like us stand so close to Master Lin?”
The village chief often heard Shen Zhiyi say things like "forty or fifty is the age to take risks," so how could he possibly admit that he was old?
And here he is, making his move right now!
Lin Youcai suppressed his anger and said gently, "In the end, it was the reservoir that caused the water to be released. What is the extent of the disaster in the village? How does the Lin family need to compensate us? Just say it directly. Why make a scene in court and cause you trouble for no reason? Didn't we resolve the matter well ourselves in the outer courtyard last time?"
In the end, Lin Youcai deliberately raised his voice, almost as if he were saying outright, "You are insatiable."
“Master Lin, your words are quite biased.” Shen Zhiyi met Lin Youcai’s eyes without fear and raised her voice, “The flooding of our village is an unexpected disaster for us. We came to you to seek justice and reason, but how come it’s become unreasonable in your eyes, Master Lin?”
"Could it be that because the other side of the argument falls on the Lin family, even if it's reasonable, it becomes unreasonable? Both witnesses and physical evidence prove that Young Master Lin lied in court. What is he hiding? What is Master Lin trying to cover up? Is he so afraid of being interrogated by the adults?" Shen Zhiyi asked.
“That’s right! You’re hiding something, aren’t you!” Qian Sanming spoke up at this moment. “You’ve always liked to gloss over your mistakes, and you’re even more so now…”
Lin Youcai suddenly turned his head to look at Qian Sanming, cutting off the other's words with his eyes. He then snorted lightly, not forgetting his purpose at the moment, and looked back at the village chief: "Village Chief Li, why don't we settle this privately? It's getting late, and this kind of trouble is inconvenient for both of us."
"This..." The village chief was only thinking about handing over the evidence to Lord Lu, but he didn't expect that the trial would start immediately after he handed over the evidence. He was indeed destined not to be able to go back tonight. What about tomorrow? What about the day after tomorrow? He would have to wait to be summoned at any time, and he didn't know how many things would be delayed.
Seeing that the village chief's expression had softened, Lin Youcai quickly said, "How about this, three hundred taels of silver is enough compensation? Four hundred taels? Five hundred taels?"
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