Chapter 330 Finalization
"Bring the plaintiff and defendant to court."
"Awesome!"
Following two coordinated knocking sounds, Zhang, the bailiff who was in charge of guarding Wang the cobbler, led Wang the cobbler and Li to the lobby.
Pah~
After the man and woman knelt in court, Sun Shaozong slammed the gavel on the table and said solemnly: "Li, you just asked the yamen runner to tell me that there is something else to report. Now that I have come to the court to question you, why don't you quickly tell me what happened!"
"I……"
Although Li had made a quick decision at Wang the cobbler's house before, she felt uneasy when the wind blew on the road, and she always felt that this matter was not so solid.
Pah~
Upon seeing this, Sun Shaozong immediately slammed the gavel again and scolded: "Since you applied for an early hearing, why are you hesitating now?"
Zhang, the yamen runner beside him, hurriedly urged, "The master is asking you, answer quickly!"
Then, he lowered his voice and reminded, "Don't dare mention anything like 'resurrection' in front of the master. Otherwise, if the master summons the child to court, with his lightning eyes, won't he scare the child to death with just one glare?!"
These words were apparently said out of consideration for Li, but in reality they were made out of fear that Li would reveal the truth.
If the 'truth' was really told, according to convention, Sun Shaozong would naturally have to investigate the 'reincarnation' theory thoroughly. Then how could this drama continue?
However, Li had heard that Lord Sun was a star who had descended to earth and the reincarnation of Lord Bao. He was immune to all evil and all the gods would avoid him. Now, after being reminded by Zhang, she felt awe-inspiring and forgot her previous anxiety.
So she hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, I was resentful before, so I spoke nonsense without thinking - in fact, Wang Laoshi went to my house that day not to have an affair, but to discuss marriage with me!"
It's done!
Sun Shaozong heaved a sigh of relief when he heard this, but pretended to be suspicious and asked, "Discussing marriage? Do you have any evidence for what you said ?"
“Yes, yes!”
Wang the cobbler on the side said hurriedly: "At the end of February, I asked a matchmaker to come to your house to propose marriage. The neighbors all know about this. You just need to send someone to ask and you will know!"
"Ms. Li and I have long been in love, but she has been unable to make up her mind due to her son's opposition. I went to find her that night to urge her to marry me as soon as possible."
"But her son suddenly came back and saw me in the room. He rushed over and started to beat me without giving me any explanation."
"I didn't fight back because of Li's kindness. I just wanted to escape back home. Who would have thought that he would fall to his death while chasing me!"
After Wang the cobbler finished speaking, he knocked his head to the ground again, tears streaming down his face as he said, "Every word I said is true. Please make a wise decision, sir!"
The dialogue skills were really poor, but fortunately the actor cried so sincerely later that he managed to save some points.
Sun Shaozong was evaluating in his heart, and he leaned forward slightly, and asked in a deep voice: "Li, is there anything wrong with what Wang Laoshi said just now?"
"this…… "
Li looked at Wang Laoshi hesitantly , and finally nodded and said, "It is true. He did go to discuss marriage with a common woman that day."
This one sentence transformed the original "adultery" into "proposal for marriage", and the whole case became completely different!
If it was an affair, then Li's son's behavior would naturally be considered as catching an adulterer; but if it was a proposal of marriage, then Li's son's behavior of chasing and beating Wang the cobbler would lose its legitimacy and even be suspected of violating filial piety.
"That's the case."
Sun Shaozong said expressionlessly, "Master Sun, let them sign their names right here in court."
Sun Chengye immediately appeared from the jury seat next to them and handed the document he had just recorded to the two of them, and then... the three of them stared at each other.
Finally, Sun Shaozong couldn't stand it anymore, so he reluctantly reminded: "Cinnabar!"
Sun Chengye suddenly realized and hurried back to the table to get cinnabar. He then asked Li and Wang the cobbler to put their fingerprints on the confession. When the confession was presented to Sun Shaozong, his face was as red as if cinnabar was applied.
It turns out that this kid still can’t adapt to big occasions!
Sun Shaozong was speechless, but it was not appropriate to argue with him at this time, so he waved his hand to signal him to return to the jury seat, then picked up the gavel and slammed it heavily on the table.
Pah~
"What a shrew!"
Then he sneered, "You dared to lie to me just to vent your anger. How despicable!"
"Behavior like this should be severely punished, but considering that you love your son so much, I will only punish you with twenty strokes of the cane as a warning to others!"
"Wang the cobbler."
"The villain is here!"
"Although you did not take the initiative to cause the death of Li's son, you were one of the main causes after all. I will punish you by giving him a grand funeral and forty strokes of the cane. Do you accept this?"
"I am convinced. I am convinced!"
Originally, the lightest punishment was exile two thousand miles away, but now he only needed to be beaten with forty boards and then hold a funeral for Li's son. How could Wang the cobbler not accept it?
Pah~
Seeing that Li was also silent and had no intention of protesting, Sun Shaozong slammed the gavel again and ordered, "Captain Zhao, stay and supervise the execution - adjourn!"
"Mighty~"
Let’s not even mention how Li and Wang the cobbler were punished in the court.
But when Sun Shaozong led Sun Chengye back to the back hall, he saw that his nephew's forehead was already covered with sweat. He did not look like he was serving as a jury, but rather like he was being interrogated.
I couldn't help but laugh and said, "I just asked you to take notes in class. You don't have to put in any effort. Is it worth being so nervous?"
Sun Chengye forced a smile, wiped the sweat off his forehead with a handkerchief, and said awkwardly, "I don't know why this happened. When I was in Jinling, I was also nervous, but I was never as out of control as this."
Acclimatization can actually have such an effect?
Seeing him like this, Sun Shaozong didn't want to blame him anymore, so he changed the subject and asked, "Do you know what is the most important reason why this case can be turned into a small one?"
This was not a problem for Sun Chengye. After all, he had been in charge of supervising the case since he took office three days ago, and he was already familiar with the details.
So he immediately bowed sincerely and said, "Of course it was all thanks to my uncle's ingenious plan of 'resurrecting the dead' that the cobbler Wang's family was saved from ruin."
Unexpectedly, Sun Shaozong shook his head and said, "Think about it carefully again."
It's actually wrong?
Sun Chengye was stunned for a moment, then he asked tentatively: "Could it be that the coroner Xu used disguise? If he hadn't skillfully dressed the child up to look like Li's son, it would have been difficult to..."
Sun Shaozong interrupted and said, "What I'm asking is the key to making this case a minor one, not the means we used."
means?
The key?
Sun Chengye was completely confused, and it took him a long time to figure out what this meant.
"Alas, just knowing how to read is not enough."
Sun Shaozong sighed, and then pointed out the answer: "The key to turning this case into a small one is that Li's husband was originally from another place and had no relatives in the capital. Otherwise, if another victim came out to appeal for justice, wouldn't our play be ruined?"
After he finished speaking, seeing that Sun Chengye was a little confused after realizing it, he explained: "I said these words just to let you know that when serving as an official, you must act according to local conditions. If you are confused and make the wrong decision, your so-called brilliant plan will only bring shame upon yourself."
