Chapter 553: The Evil of a Scoundrel (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
The common people of Ruyao were intimately familiar with the name Shen Tang! After all, she was constantly trending on social media, making it impossible not to have heard of her. It was always something like, "Lord Shen leads a lone army to raid the capital of Shiwu," or "Lord Shen beheads 30,000 people of Shiwu," or "Lord Shen, like a powerful dragon, slays a local tyrant," or "Lord Shen, a benevolent ruler, personally funds free medical care for all the people of the prefecture"...
As for establishing schools, since it only involves the interests of a small group of people, it does not attract much attention.
They were familiar with each other, but when asked to describe what kind of person their prefect looked like, none of them could say.
Because Shen Tang is not as active outside as Fu Gu was back then.
This time, the sounding of the grievance drum marked her first appearance in a relatively formal public setting. The common people, drawn by the news, were bursting with curiosity, all eager to see what this prefectural magistrate looked like. As it turned out, being good-looking did indeed offer some advantages.
Shen Tang has such a beautiful face.
The young scholar's eyes lit up again.
Standing in the crowd, Qi Shan quickly covered his mouth and threatened in a low voice, "If you don't want to die, you'd better watch your words!"
Qi Shan knew very well what kind of temperament this guy had.
His fondness for beautiful women rivaled that of Kang Shi, the difference being that Kang Shi preferred subtle flirting, while this fellow was keen on overt flirting.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be such a scholarly way.
Why are you so nervous?
The young scholar suspected that the other party wanted to smother him.
Qi Shan emphasized with a dark expression.
"That's my lord!"
The young scholar struggled to tear him away, straightened his hair with both hands, and said irritably, "Knowing that she is your lord, a living person weighing over a hundred pounds, would I take her away?" Even if he had such thoughts, the way of the scholar would not support it.
Qi Shan chuckled.
At that moment, Shen Tang's voice reached their ears.
"Who is in the hall?"
"What is the complaint?"
"What injustice have you suffered?"
Shen Tang asked three questions in quick succession. Because her appearance wasn't the imposing and cold type, and she didn't deliberately exude authority, the old woman below gradually adapted to the solemn atmosphere. She swallowed hard and encouraged herself: "This old woman lives in Huangpi Lane in the west of the city. This is my son, daughter-in-law, and grandson. We accused our neighbor, Widow Zhuo, of seducing my son, but when she failed, she even tried to harm my grandson... We beg Lord Shen to severely punish this harlot and give my family justice... My grandson is the lifeblood of our family!"
As she spoke, she raised her hand to wipe away her tears.
After the drum was beaten, a minor official came to find out the truth.
Her words had been carefully prepared by a minor official to prevent her from rambling incoherently or wasting time in court.
After crying, she pointed at Ning Yan and said, "And this one too..."
The minor official hinted at Ning Yan's identity.
The old woman reluctantly swallowed the word "slut" that was pressed against her tongue. Gu Chi, who had come over to take notes idly, raised an eyebrow and lowered his eyes to hide his displeasure. The old woman continued, "...This Dean Ning is unable to distinguish right from wrong and is trying to frame us!"
Shen Tang turned her gaze to Ning Yan.
Ning Yan bowed and said, "There is absolutely no such thing."
Shen Tang said, "You tell me."
Ning Yan also knew a little about this matter.
The student beside her was rather withdrawn due to his mixed ethnic background. Ning Yan, adhering to Master Yan's teaching philosophy, treated all students equally, without prejudice. This student, though young, possessed a resolute and decisive character.
This was exactly what Ning Yan wanted.
This morning, Ning Yan noticed that the students were acting strangely.
After class, he would turn to himself for help.
It turned out that Widow Zhuo and the old woman's family had a long-standing feud. The old woman would either shout insults at them indirectly or gossip with a group of elderly neighbors, exaggerating and spreading stories about Widow Zhuo's past to pass the time, which had driven the once cheerful and optimistic Widow Zhuo to become withdrawn and taciturn. Now, she was fabricating a baseless accusation, falsely accusing Widow Zhuo of harming the old woman's newborn grandson.
He even threatened to take Zhuo's life in exchange for hers. The female student, upon receiving the plea for help, was panicked and at a loss, and could only rely on Ning Yan.
Ning Yan is not the type to side with relatives regardless of right or wrong.
She learned in detail about the so-called "baby poisoning".
Ning Yan: "My lord will know this child just by looking at him in swaddling clothes."
Shen Tang had someone bring the swaddled baby from the young woman's arms and lifted the cloth covering the baby. The infant in the swaddle was sleeping soundly. Judging from its size, it should be less than a month old. However, its skin was abnormally yellowish-brown, and it had a cleft lip deformity in its oral and maxillofacial region.
She said, "The jaundice is quite severe. Give the child more water and let him bask in the sun when it's not too hot each day. If that doesn't work, go to the clinic to see Dr. Dong. Although he's not an expert in pediatrics, it's better than nothing."
Shen Tang's tone was extremely flat.
It's as if the child's upper lip defect is quite common.
But then again—
“I looked at the child, but I still don’t know what’s wrong with him… Isn’t the child perfectly fine? It’s just that the jaundice is severe…” Since this wasn’t caused by human intervention, Shen Tang was quite puzzled.
Why would she bother appealing for justice over something so trivial? Does she have too much free time?
Upon hearing this, the old woman burst into tears, disregarding the official's instructions not to make a scene in the courtroom, and even startled the swaddled baby into tears.
Shen Tang could only hug and comfort her.
When that didn't work, they resorted to soundproofing.
Seeing that her lord's expression was natural and not feigned, Ning Yan reminded him, "My lord, look at this child's face, isn't it..."
Shen Tang looked down at the child: "Oh, you mean cleft lip? But what does cleft lip have to do with harm?"
Now it wasn't just the old woman crying; the child's mother, the young woman, was also crying. Only the adult men of the family remained expressionless, like outsiders throughout, watching the commoners whisper among themselves. Ning Yan hadn't expected this: "What this old woman's family meant was that when Widow Zhuo failed to seduce one of the men, she took advantage of the old woman's daughter-in-law being home alone and sent her a knife..."
Shen Tang was shocked: "This widow Zhuo stabbed someone with a knife?"
Look at the little woman crying and sobbing.
He asked, "Should we summon someone to examine the injuries?"
Another problem arises—
What does this have to do with an infant?
Ning Yan: "..."
She reacted quickly, thinking that her master was still young and probably didn't understand these women's taboos, and explained: "What the old woman's family meant was that the knife that Widow Zhuo gave them caused the upper lip of their grandchildren to be missing, so it was considered a crime."
Shen Tang: "..."
Shen Tang: "???"
Shen Tang: "!!!"
She looked down at the infant in her arms, and the timid widow Zhuo finally couldn't hold back her tears and cried out, "Lord Shen, I'm innocent!"
The knife was given, but there was a reason for it!
It's clear that both families ordered knives from the blacksmith shop.
Widow Zhuo and this young woman were on good terms. Seeing that she was about to give birth and unable to go out, Widow Zhuo, at the young woman's request, helped her by fetching a knife. Everything was fine at first, but after the woman gave birth, this family accused Widow Zhuo of poisoning the child.
The old woman's family maliciously gave her a knife, causing the upper lip of her unborn son to be cut and damaged, and they wanted to kill her.
But the young woman refused to admit it.
It was also said—
"When I received the knife that day, I did feel a pain in my abdomen, but I didn't know it at the time. I only found out after I gave birth... I must have been poisoned at that time..." The young woman was not as brave as her mother-in-law, but she mustered up the courage to defend herself, and her voice was not loud.
Seeing the group of people crying in the hall below, Shen Tang was still completely bewildered: "What... what kind of harm is this?"
(#｀-_ゝ-)
I was chatting with my mom the other day, and she told me not to touch anything with knives or similar tools during late pregnancy, as it could cause the baby to have a cleft lip. This made me think about how, in ancient times, someone wrongly accused would have no way to defend themselves…
P.S.: Another friend of mine has started a new book! It's "I Didn't Turn into a Doll Today" by Huahua.
The new book is titled "Is it normal to live inside your phone and help your boyfriend solve cases?"
Synopsis: Qiao Yueying is a beautiful woman, noble and aloof, unapproachable, but she has a strange quirk that no one knows about—she likes Qu Mingcong's neck, which is strong and powerful, and when he is passionate, the veins bulge like a wild and unruly wolf, which makes people's imaginations run wild. She likes it very much.
However, life is unpredictable. A car accident separated Qiao Yueying's body from her consciousness. Her body became a vegetable, while her consciousness moved into Qu Mingcong's cell phone. From then on, she hung around his neck every day.
P.S.: Don't panic if you can't see the chapter comments; it's probably just a special period _(:з」∠)_. I can see everyone's comments in the backend. They should be released after the time is up.
(End of this chapter)
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