Chapter 214: Trial of Treason (Part 2)
The nineteenth day of the first lunar month.
The snow was falling and the weather was freezing cold.
The streets, which had just concluded the Lantern Festival, inevitably showed a sense of desolation and weakness after the carnival. Only outside the lobby of Shuntian Mansion was there a crowd of people.
Men, women, young and old, hunched their shoulders, folded their hands, and stomped their feet like tap dancers, but were still reluctant to move an inch. They all stretched their necks, widened their eyes, and stared straight into the lobby.
"Here he comes, here he comes, the great Lord Qingtian is here!"
Suddenly, someone shouted and everyone started to make a commotion. If it weren't for the quick-witted Qin who was guarding the gate and cracked his street-cleaning whip loudly, there would have been some idiots with frozen heads who would have rushed directly into the lobby.
The person who caused such a commotion was not someone else but the newly appointed governor, Sun Shaozong.
There are very few entertainment activities these days. It's okay for the rich , as they can always find some ways to kill time, but ordinary people are in a "hungry" state all year round, so a few bad stories and some cheap jokes can be spread by word of mouth.
Now, I suddenly heard that Sun Shaozong, a judge who is as good as a god in solving cases, is going to be in court to try cases. Who wouldn't want to see it for themselves? !
Thousands of people came rushing over, blocking half of the street - fortunately, the government's deterrent power was strong enough in those days, otherwise a farce of attacking the government office would have happened in a matter of minutes.
But Sun Shaozong walked out from the back hall with an official pace. Seeing the excited crowd outside the gate, he couldn't help feeling a little surprised and complacent.
When he was in modern times, he solved more than ten times the number of cases he solves today.
But it is the first time that it has received such enthusiastic support.
After calming himself, he sat upright under the plaque that hung high like a mirror. Seeing Lin Delu also sitting in the jury seat, he picked up the three-foot gavel and slammed it on the case with a moderate thump, saying loudly, "The court is open!"
Zhao Wuwei quickly followed suit and shouted, "The master has ordered that the case be brought to court!"
"Awesome!"
Along with a prolonged and majestic sound, twelve water and fire sticks struck the ground at the same time, until the family of three was brought in and knelt down obediently in front of the hall, and the fight came to a temporary end.
Old man Hu had white hair and beard and was skinny, while Hu Jingsheng and his wife looked quite wealthy. Especially the young woman, who, knowing that she would be tried in court today, put on makeup and dressed up, enhancing her appearance to seven points.
After seeing the appearance of these three people, Sun Shaozong frowned and asked knowingly, "Who is this person? Tell me your name!"
"The villain Hu Dazhu——"
"The villain Hu Jingsheng——"
"The commoner girl Hu Lin—"
"I have met the great Lord Qingtian."
To follow the proper rules, there are a bunch of formulaic questions that are like taking off pants to fart, but Sun Shaozong was too lazy to follow suit, and these rules were just conventions rather than regulations.
So he skipped all the questions and asked directly, "Hu Jingsheng, your father accused you and your wife of being disobedient and unfilial in the lawsuit, feeding them leftovers and rotten rice on a daily basis, and treating them like pigs and dogs. Is this true?"
Hu Jingsheng hurriedly cried out, "Master, the food didn't go bad on purpose. It was because my wife and I were busy outside..."
Pah~
Sun Shaozong slammed the gavel on the table and asked in a deep voice: "I only ask you, these are the facts!"
Hu Jingsheng was startled, his eyes met Sun Shaozong's eagle-like pupils, and his heart was trembling. He quickly bent down and replied timidly: "Reporting to the master, it is true...it is true."
Sun Shaozong turned his gaze to Hu Lin again: "Hu Lin, your father-in-law said in the complaint that you deliberately poured swill on his bedding to humiliate him. Is that true?"
"It's unfair, sir!"
Mrs. Hu Lin was obviously much braver than her husband. She shouted in a shrill voice, "I just poured some swill that day. Who would have thought that he would dry his mattress there? Even if it really happened, it was not my intention!"
"Besides, don't other people have the same thing?"
"Take the Xu family in our alley for example. Their daughter-in-law once accidentally dumped a urinal on her mother-in-law. Why didn't Mrs. Xu come to complain?"
"It's obvious that my father-in-law doesn't like me, and he's making a big deal out of a small matter like a needle and thread, just to kill me!"
After hearing this sophistry, the old man Hu was so angry that he shouted "nonsense" and "nonsense", but how could he cover up her arrogance?
No wonder people say this woman has never lost a quarrel, she is really sharp-tongued!
Sun Shaozong sneered inwardly and suddenly asked, "You said you accidentally poured some swill on it. Then I want to ask you, where were you standing that day and where were you facing when you poured the swill?"
Hu Lin was used to making irresponsible remarks when arguing with others, but she never thought that the official would ask about such details?
She didn't know what the point of these questions was, so she hesitated and said, "I came out of the kitchen that day without really looking closely, I just splashed it..."
Sun Shaozong interrupted her again and asked, "So you were standing at the kitchen door and splashed the swill?"
Hu Lin hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "That's right."
Pah~
Sun Shaozong slammed the gavel on the table again and shouted, "What a savage woman! I have already asked someone to find out. Your clothesline is across the front of the main room, and the kitchen is in the west wing!"
"You said you didn't do it on purpose, but when you usually pour swill, do you always close your eyes and pour it directly on your own doors and windows?!"
As soon as the voice fell, there was a burst of cheers outside the hall:
"OK!"
"Master Qingtian is indeed wise!"
"As expected of you, the Divine Judge!"
"Bah! What kind of Tongpan is this? Now I have to call him Zhizhong Master!"
Along with the noisy cheers, Hu Lin was stunned. She never thought that this great judge was so knowledgeable that he knew everything about the layout of her courtyard.
"Ms. Hu Lin, I have another question for you!"
Sun Shaozong asked again: "Your father-in-law said in the complaint that you and your wife usually beat or scolded him, especially you, the vicious woman, who slapped him on the face many times for no reason. Is that true?"
Hu Lin was exposed for her sophistry and was a little panicked, but she still said stubbornly, "Sir, how could you take his empty words seriously?!"
"What an empty talk."
Sun Shaozong sneered, picked up the gavel and slammed it lightly, and ordered: "Come here, bring the witnesses Granny Liu and Old Man Zhang!"
Not long after, an elderly couple came in from outside and were about to kneel down tremblingly.
Sun Shaozong hurriedly said: "Since you are old, there is no need to kneel down and kowtow - just repeat what you said to the yamen runners."
The old man Zhang said, "My Lord, I went to talk to Brother Hu about some trivial matters that day, and I saw a red slap mark on his face! I asked him, but he refused to say more - but the mark was obviously caused by a woman!"
Granny Liu also said hurriedly, "I saw it once too! The slap mark was so small, it must have been his daughter-in-law who hit him!"
There was another uproar outside the lobby, with voices of "evil woman" and "bitch" ringing in the ears.
Pah~
Sun Shaozong raised the gavel and knocked it gently, saying in a deep voice, "Hu Lin, what else do you have to say now?"
Mrs. Hu Lin was a little panicked at first, but then she gritted her teeth and stiffened her neck, saying disdainfully: "These two old guys have been friends with my father-in-law for many years. It's not surprising that they colluded to frame me.
“You…you…”
"What a shameless little bastard!"
"What misfortune for our family, what misfortune for our family!"
Not only Granny Liu, Old Man Zhang, and Old Man Hu stamped their feet, but even Lin Delu, who was on the sidelines as a juror, could no longer sit still. He stood up and saluted, saying, "Sir, such a savage and vicious woman must be severely punished!"
Outside the lobby, people were shouting things like "beat this bitch to death", "make her ride on a wooden donkey", and "dump her in a pig cage".
"Wait a minute!"
But before Sun Shaozong could make a decision, he heard someone in the hall shouting anxiously: "I have something to report!"
