"He lied to you?" Yin Zhihua didn't believe the flimsy excuse. "How did he lie to you? This concerns the reputations of two women. You must tell the truth and not hide anything!"
Lin Mingcai remained silent for a moment, realizing that his plan was about to fail.
He took a deep breath and said, "It was Wang Yuhe. She was the one who first told us that Guo Dazhuang had an affair with the Yang Cui and Yang Liu sisters. Wang Yuhe is a member of our Lin clan. In addition, Guo Dazhuang himself admitted it later, so we believed it and divorced Yang Cui without further investigation."
"Who is Wang Yuhe? Bring Wang Yuhe to the court."
Yang Cui hadn't expected the Lin family to have made so many preparations. Wang Yuhe, wasn't she the original owner's neighbor? They didn't seem to have a good relationship.
Wang Yuhe has arrived.
As soon as she entered the courtroom, Wang Yuhe glared at Yang Cui.
"Wang Yuhe, Lin Mingcai said you once told the Lin family that Guo Dazhuang had an affair with Yang Liu and Yang Cui?" Yin Zhihua asked.
Wang Yuhe's legs were trembling, but she pretended to be fearless: "Yes...yes!"
Why did you do that?
"Because I hate Yang Cui. My husband likes Yang Cui and proposed to her family before, but she didn't agree. That's why my husband married me. I'm resentful. Why should I marry the man that this slut Yang Cui rejected? After Lin Shikang passed the imperial examination, I became even more resentful. Why is she living a better life than me? I refuse to accept it! I want to make her live a life worse than a pig or a dog, miserable and wretched!"
"So Yang Cui and Yang Liu are innocent and have not had any affairs, and their two daughters are also from the Lin family?"
"Yes, it was all nonsense. I wish it were true, but with an outstanding man like Lin Shikang, why would they even look at other men?"
Do you know the consequences of what you're doing?
"I take responsibility for my actions. I know the consequences, and I dare to admit my mistakes!"
Wang Yuhe's expression and eyes revealed nothing but hatred and jealousy towards Yang Cui.
Wang Yuhe wasn't acting; she genuinely resented Yang Cui, which is why everything seemed so plausible.
Chief Lin said angrily, "You...you troublemaker! If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened! We wouldn't have had so many misunderstandings with Xiao Cui!" After saying that, Chief Lin looked remorseful, "I regret it! I'm unworthy of being the chief. I made the decision for Shi Kang without investigating the matter properly. It was my fault."
Lin Mingcai continued, "My cousin Lin Shikang didn't know about the divorce. We kept it from him. Shikang is a man of honor, and we didn't want to put him in a difficult position, so we wanted to divorce Yang Cui before he returned to his hometown. Later, Yang Cui said she wanted to go out and tell everyone that our Lin family was greedy and opportunistic, and that's why we wanted to divorce her. We knew that rumors were more dangerous than tigers, and if a lie was told a few times, people would believe it. We thought it was better to avoid trouble, so we gave her the house and vegetable garden as conditions for the divorce. We also scraped together the thirty taels of silver that the Yang family had given Shikang for his imperial examinations to repay her."
Even at this point, Lin Mingcai still didn't forget to whitewash Lin Shikang. But thinking about it, it makes sense. The Lin family finally produced an official, and they wanted to rise in rank along with him, so naturally they would do everything they could to whitewash Lin Shikang.
“You did return the money to me, but don’t forget that you came to cause trouble every few days, forcing me to leave Ji’an Village. I was thinking of selling the house in Ji’an Village, but you said that whoever bought the house would be going against your Lin family, so the house could only be left vacant. I could only sell all my money and buy an old house in Anjia Village to settle down. If it weren’t for the kindness of Guanxinglou, the three of us would have starved to death long ago.”
"Although you returned the money to me, I'm also supporting your Lin family's two daughters. You're living the high life, but have you ever thought about your two children? That thirty taels of silver mysteriously disappeared that very night. I don't know who stole it. It's strange, really. How could the thief be so familiar with my house? I hid the money so well, yet he still managed to steal it. I wonder if it was someone he knew who did it?"
So don't try to clear your name. You can smear me, and so can I.
The Lin family almost couldn't hold back and rushed over to hit Yang Cui. Wasn't Yang Cui implying that they had stolen the money?
"Back then, didn't we think that Er Ya and San Ya weren't Shi Kang's children? Now that the truth is out, it was all a misunderstanding. Of course, we can't let them wander outside. It's not easy for you, a woman, to raise children alone. We can pretend that nothing happened and cancel the divorce and severance of ties. You can continue to be husband and wife with Shi Kang and live together. Shi Kang will never abandon his wife and children."
Lin Mingcai looked so sincere that Yang Cui even suspected that Lin Mingcai and the clan chief had both studied at the Beijing Film Academy and the Shanghai Theatre Academy, otherwise how could the grandfather and grandson act so well!
The Oscars owe you all those golden statuettes.
“You make it sound nice, but everyone in the village knows how you treated me. I don’t dare go back to Ji’an Village. I’m afraid I might go but not come back. I’ve already died once, and I don’t want to die a second or third time. I want to live well and take care of Er Ya, San Ya, and Qiu Qiu as they grow up.”
Yang Cui spoke very loudly, ensuring that everyone outside the courtroom could hear her.
Among the onlookers outside the courtroom were many members of the Zhou family. They spoke candidly about Yang Cui's ordeal, saying that the Lin family bullied Yang Cui because she had no family to rely on, that they were jealous of her earnings and had even brought people to rob her. They claimed that the reason they were letting Yang Cui go back was because they valued her ability and wealth.
The Lin family was so angry upon hearing these words that they felt like they were going to vomit blood.
Yin Zhihua slammed his gavel: "Silence! Silence! Wang Yuhe, I'll ask you one last time, is what you said true? Perjury is a crime punishable by imprisonment."
After a slight hesitation, Wang Yuhe finally said, "This humble woman confesses her guilt."
After he finished speaking, the bailiff placed a confession in front of Wang Yuhe, and Wang Yuhe readily pressed her fingerprint on it.
Yin Zhihua slammed his gavel again and pronounced the verdict: "Now that the truth is out, I hereby declare that the Lin family, who came to Yang Cui's house and injured Yang Cui and Yuan Qiu, shall pay five taels of silver for medical expenses. Guo Dazhuang did not falsely accuse Yang Cui and Yang Liu, and considering his remorse, he shall be imprisoned for seven days. Finally, the instigator, Wang Yuhe, shall be imprisoned for six months and shall pay Yang Cui five taels of silver as compensation."
"Why should I pay compensation? She's perfectly fine." Paying compensation would be like cutting off Wang Yuhe's flesh.
“If you hadn’t caused so much trouble, Yang Cui wouldn’t have suffered so much. Five taels of silver is compensation for her!” Yin Zhihua said sternly.
Yin Zhihua's face was full of anger, and Wang Yuhe was so frightened that she stopped talking and could only glare at Yang Cui resentfully.
Yin Zhihua continued, "Lin Mingcai bribed Fu Changhai to tamper with the water used in the blood test to frame Yang Cui and Yang Liu, thus interfering with the government's handling of the case. He is sentenced to five months in prison, and Fu Changhai is dismissed from his post and imprisoned for one month, to be carried out immediately!"
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