Chapter 317 Skilled at Disguise
Magistrate Sun wiped away his sweat again; the weather was really hot tonight.
After saying this, Granny Wu shut her mouth and said no more.
Magistrate Sun thought for a moment. Usually, at this stage, if the evidence was conclusive and the criminal refused to confess, then torture would be the only option. However, to torture a kidnapper in front of so many young ladies today might frighten these girls.
He looked at Ye Mengnan tentatively, "Lord Ye, is it possible to use severe torture?"
Ye Mengnan said in a low, cold voice,
"Bring all the witnesses and evidence! Is torture the only method you can think of? At her age, if you torture her, she'll die. Although she deserves to die, do you want her to die knowing why, or do you want her to be beaten to death before the case is over?"
"Then it's better to die clearly and without any doubt." Magistrate Sun felt that his brain must be a complete mess, otherwise how could he be so dull tonight and not understand such a simple matter?
"Bring witnesses."
The girl brought up was about thirteen or fourteen years old. As soon as she stepped onto the stage and saw Granny Wu kneeling beside her, she acted as if she had seen a long-lost relative.
"Grandma Wu, you're here too. Have you found a suitable job? When will you take me to a job interview?"
Granny Wu smiled kindly at the little girl, and was about to leave when she heard the gavel slam down in the hall.
“Little Sister Liu, the adults who brought you here have already told you that this Granny Wu is a kidnapper. How can you still think of her as a good person!” Magistrate Sun looked at her with a disappointed expression.
Upon hearing this, Ye Mengnan couldn't help but facepalm. Was this magistrate an idiot? How could he conduct a trial like this?
Wouldn't having him preside over trials for students to observe mislead them? Wouldn't it give students the wrong impression that all officials presiding over trials are of this caliber?
Yuan Hongqu also frowned.
Liu Xiaomei looked innocent. "How could that be? I told my family I was going to work in the county town with Grandma Wu. But when I got there, the embroidery workshop wasn't hiring anymore. Grandma Wu said I could stay at her relative's house for a few days, and she'd help me find someone..."
Upon hearing this, Granny Wu revealed a smug expression: those young girls are naturally easy to fool. For those from poor families, she would say she would find them a job. For those who are not valued at home, besides a job, she would also offer a good marriage. These ideas could easily coax the girls' parents into handing them over to her.
She was adept at concealing her identity, always claiming to be a distant relative of someone nearby, giving people a vague impression that such a person actually existed. However, by the time they realized something was amiss, it was impossible to find that person.
Like Liu Xiaomei, who was deceived but naively thought that Grandma Wu was a good person who was going to find her a job.
Actually, if she hadn't been rescued today and the buyer hadn't arrived tomorrow, Liu Xiaomei would have been sold to the neighboring mansion. As for whether she would go to a brothel or to the mountains, that would depend on what they arranged there.
Forget about going to the embroidery workshop! If there were a way to get in, Granny Wu would even like to send her own granddaughter there!
"Have you ever heard of or seen any young girls from your village working in embroidery workshops?" Magistrate Sun finally asked.
Liu Xiaomei nodded blankly.
"Was it this old woman Wu who acted as matchmaker?"
Liu Xiaomei shook her head, "It's because she's good at embroidery. When she went to the county town to sell her embroidery, she was spotted by an embroidery workshop and became an embroiderer."
"So you do embroidery very well, or you know how to do needlework?"
Liu Xiaomei shook her head, "I've never done embroidery before, and my needlework is so-so. But Grandma Wu said the embroidery workshop will teach us how to do it."
"That lady is the headmistress of the Girls' Academy. The only place in the world that accepts students your age and teaches them a trade for free is the Girls' Academy branch. Don't listen to this old woman Wu's nonsense; she sold more than a dozen girls before you."
Magistrate Sun sighed inwardly.
Such an innocent woman is exactly what human traffickers love.
"The Imperial Guards found the account book at the village chief's house. Here are the receipts with Granny Wu's fingerprint on them every time money was distributed. We've checked them all." Magistrate Sun really didn't want such a young girl to be deceived by Granny Wu, and still thought Granny Wu was a good person.
"Think carefully about what Granny Wu said to you when you first met her, and what she said to your family. Go back and investigate thoroughly, and everything will become clear."
“Your Honor, I genuinely wanted to find this young girl a job. Since I brought her to Yujiapu, I’ve been providing her with food and lodging every day. Even the flower she wears in her hair was a gift from my granddaughter. I have a clear conscience!”
As soon as Liu Xiaomei showed a suspicious expression, Granny Wu immediately kowtowed to the ground and shouted at the top of her lungs.
"Grandma Wu is very kind to me. I've been eating much better these past few days than I do at home. Grandma Wu even gave me a hair accessory."
Upon seeing this, Liu Xiaomei's earlier doubts vanished immediately, and she began to defend Granny Wu again.
Even the students below began to whisper among themselves, discussing whether this old woman Wu was truly a heinous human trafficker.
"Little sister, are you stupid!" Just then, a woman suddenly rushed up from the side. The woman was covered in dust and her hair was disheveled. She had obviously rushed here in a hurry and hadn't had time to tidy herself up.
"Mother!" Liu Xiaomei rushed over to her mother in surprise when she saw her.
"You brat! You're so stubborn. Your father told you to have your second brother find out the details before you go, but you insisted on going with someone! If I hadn't come back from your grandmother's house and found you weren't home, I'm afraid we would never have seen each other again."
"Sir, when we went to the county government office in the neighboring county, we happened to run into Madam Liu, who was going to the county town to report to the authorities and look for her lost daughter. She described the appearance of the person who took her daughter, and it sounded like this Granny Wu, so we brought her here." The yamen runner following behind hurriedly explained.
Several commoners followed behind the yamen runners. As soon as they saw Granny Wu on the platform, they rushed up to her.
“Aunt Zhao, where is my daughter? You said you would take her to work during the Spring Festival, but she has been gone for almost half a year and I haven’t heard from her at all.”
“Aunt Zhao, isn’t her surname Wang? Before the New Year, she said she would take my wife to work as a wet nurse for a wealthy family, and she would be paid two taels of silver a month! In the past six months, I haven’t seen a single coin, and she’s gone! My child is crying for his mother every day. Please give my wife back to me right now, we’re not going to be wet nurses anymore!”
"What do you mean, Zhao and Wang again? Didn't you say it was a cousin from the village my neighbor's daughter married? Aren't you surnamed Xu...?"
"Whatever our surname is doesn't matter, just give us back our family!"
These families had all reported missing persons to the county government. Although they were from neighboring counties, the Imperial Guards brought them over because they were relatively close to the county.
The situation took an unexpected turn. The students, who were observing the class, and who had preconceived notions, quickly concluded that Granny Wu was definitely not a good person and that she was just using her kind appearance and feigned kindness as a disguise to deceive so many people.
It seems that appearance really is the most deceptive thing!
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