The next day, before the court session even began, someone else came to plead for justice.
Jiang Shan never expected that her frail mother would actually file a lawsuit against the entire family of the village chief of Huaigu Village.
The lawsuit has three parts. First, it accuses the village chief of taking advantage of the disappearance of Jiao's second son and Jiao's mental disability, and of deceiving Jiao's young and ignorant third son into accepting a mere one tael of silver to seize five mu of Jiao's fertile land in order to buy medicine for Jiao's mother. This is utterly immoral. Second, it accuses the village chief's second daughter-in-law, Yu, of defying her superior and insulting the scholar Jiao's second son. According to the law, she should be punished. Third, it accuses the village chief of instigating his brother-in-law to collude with the villagers of Huaigu Village to frame his adopted daughter, Jiangshan. This is intolerable under the law!
Jiao's mother knelt below the hall, holding the petition high, her words filled with sorrow and lamentation.
Magistrate Cao took the petition, glanced at it, and immediately felt a terrible headache coming on.
He had just "rewarded" Jiangshan with ten taels of silver in front of two dignitaries last night, and now her mother is causing trouble again.
If I had known it would be this troublesome, I should have sent him back last night.
This matter, though not insignificant, is also quite serious; it's just that at this critical juncture, it can't be resolved peacefully.
After weighing the options, Magistrate Cao sent someone to invite Jiang Shan over.
Upon seeing Jiang Shan, Jiao's mother rushed over, embraced her, and wept bitterly.
When Jiang Shan saw the petition handed over by Magistrate Cao, he pulled Jiao's mother aside and asked her about it. He then learned that the petition was actually written by Jiao's mother herself. The village chief had indeed seized five acres of Jiao's fertile land. He claimed that he had given Sanlang one tael of silver, but in reality, he had only given him two doses of medicine residue.
Nowadays, a mu of top-quality fertile land can be sold for five taels of silver.
This is absolutely outrageous!
Jiang Shan was furious. He turned around and bowed deeply to Magistrate Cao, begging the upright and just official to make the decision.
Does this even need an investigation? The buying and selling of fertile land is recorded in the county government. If the first charge is established, the second one is inevitable, and the third charge is practically certain.
There's no need for a trial, but the specific judgment is still up for discussion.
Magistrate Cao gestured for his clerk to whisper a few words to Jiang Shan, who then spoke a few more words to Jiao's mother in private. The bailiffs then escorted Jiao's mother out of the county office, where the Qiao family father and son were still waiting for her.
An hour later, the village chief, along with his family, his brother-in-law, and a group of villagers from Huaigu Village, were brought to the hall and knelt down in unison.
Li Minghe, the heir of the Marquis of Qingyang, and Fu Qiyuan sat to the left of Magistrate Cao, listening in.
The coroner's autopsy report came out, and as Jiang Shan had predicted, it was food poisoning; to be more precise, he died from poisoning caused by eating spoiled food.
As for what constitutes spoilage and why it spoils, Jiangshan provides detailed explanations of everything from ingredient selection and cleaning to marinating time and sterilization, from seasoning recipes and proportions to individual constitutions and the appropriate amount of seafood to consume.
"In order to sell more seafood with sauce, Wang San did not sterilize the seafood or conduct strict screening. He not only sold inferior products as superior ones, but also did not keep the marinated seafood at low temperature, which led to the proliferation of bacteria. People with poor stomachs are very likely to get sick."
At this point, Jiang Shan's beautiful eyes flickered, and she said to Wang Shan without any expression, "This matter is not accidental. You should pray to God to bless those who bought seafood from you, that they have healthy stomachs and bodies, and that no more people die!"
Magistrate Cao slammed his gavel and declared righteously, "Human life is at stake! You unruly commoners, why don't you confess now!"
Wang San's face turned pale. He glanced tremblingly at his sister and brother-in-law, then at the villagers, before collapsing to the ground.
Yu Qing panicked and, disregarding everything else, pointed at Jiang Shan and cursed, "My lord, I'm innocent! Don't listen to that bitch's nonsense! Everyone knows that slut hates the people in our village; this is revenge! Yes, this whore is taking revenge on Wang San. Please, my lord, do us justice!"
Fu Qiyuan slammed down his teacup, his dark eyes coldly sweeping over Yu Qing.
Magistrate Cao pointed at Yu Qing and said angrily, "Guards, slap him! He's spewing vulgarities in the main hall; does he have no respect for the law?"
Yu Qing's wailing, accompanied by the crisp sound of a slap, echoed in the hall. The villagers turned pale with fright and knelt down below the hall, too terrified to move.
The village chief was also terrified, trembling as he wiped the sweat from his face, but dared not look up.
The village chief's wife glared fiercely at Jiang Shan, wishing she could tear her apart.
After Yu Qing finished his torture, he was thrown out like a dead dog.
Wang San gave a complete and detailed account, including the village chief's agreement with several fishermen by the sea to stop selling seafood to Liu Da, intending to completely cut off Jiang Shan's escape route.
Magistrate Cao pronounced his verdict in court, sentencing Wang San and the villagers to three to five years in prison and ordering them to pay fifty taels of silver in compensation to the victims. The village head was also dismissed from his post and ordered to apologize to Jiang Shan.
After the village chief apologized, he whispered to Jiang Shan that he would give them the money he had saved for the land when he returned to the village, and ask her to withdraw the lawsuit. He said that there was no such thing as a grudge that would last overnight among fellow villagers.
Jiang Shan said with a smile, "Village chief, you underestimate me. I usually take revenge on the spot, not overnight!"
Upon hearing this, Fu Qiyuan burst out laughing on the spot.
Jiang Shan glanced at Fu Qiyuan with displeasure, bowed to the court, and said, "My lord, I am a very easy person to talk to. I only want to get back the five acres of fertile land from the Jiao family. Please handle the rest fairly!"
"He's not easy to talk to!" Magistrate Cao thought to himself, but on the surface he had to force a smile.
The clerk quickly brought over the land sale documents, which did indeed have signatures and fingerprints, but they were not made by Jiao's mother, nor by Jiao Sanlang.
Upon inquiry, it was discovered that the county clerk had signed and affixed the seal on behalf of the official.
The clerk in the county government was from Huaigu Village. It was obvious that the clerk had taken bribes from the village chief and done this shady thing.
The lawsuit was quickly resolved. The five acres of fertile land were returned to the Jiao family, and the village chief and Gu Lushi were both punished with beatings. At Jiang Shan's strong insistence, they also paid Jiao's mother five taels of silver as "compensation for mental distress."
Coincidentally, just as the verdict was announced, two more people filed a lawsuit against Wang San, claiming that their child (the elderly father) had been poisoned after eating seafood in a sauce sold by Wang San, and was now barely breathing.
Magistrate Cao subconsciously looked towards Jiangshan.
Jiang Shan was turning to leave when he paused for a moment, but did not stop. He strode out of the county government hall.
After completing the land transfer procedures, Jiang Shan saw Fu Qiyuan as he was about to leave.
This rich young master is really handsome; you can never get tired of looking at him.
Fu Zhi was reporting to his master when he saw Jiang Shan, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
"You... how did you get here?"
Jiang Shan laughed in exasperation. She hadn't planned to pay any attention to the master and servant, but Fu Zhi's blatantly disdainful look and tone were too hurtful to her pride!
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