plumnovel Chapter 109 The Murder Case
Chapter 109 The Murder Case
Upon hearing the cries of injustice, Li Chong almost instinctively stood up.
Having sat in court many times, Li Chong had heard far too many cries of injustice, and it had become a conditioned reflex.
Upon hearing someone cry out for justice, one inevitably and subconsciously begins to pay attention.
Looking down from the rooftop, at the very end of the crowd, a woman in a faded, starched cloth dress was crying out; the cry of "injustice!" she had just uttered was from her.
Beside her, several menacing-looking men were tearing at her, seemingly trying to take her away.
On the other side, a little boy was struggling to hold onto the arms of the men, presumably trying to help the woman out of her predicament.
But he was too small and weak, and the man pushed him away so easily that the boy fell to the ground.
But soon, he stubbornly got up again.
Seeing this, some of the surrounding people couldn't stand it anymore and began to voice their condemnation.
But those men weren't intimidated at all; instead, they became even more aggressive: "What are you looking at? What business is it of yours to watch our grandpas' antics? Get out of the way!"
They've gotten used to being arrogant, but they've overlooked the current situation.
With so many people around, their courage grew, and they all started shouting and cursing, creating a chaotic scene.
Li Chong was frowning as he looked at the scene when Zhong Mei leaned closer to him, indignantly saying, "You're not going to do anything about this? It's clearly some wicked servant bullying the innocent again. It's time for you, the magistrate, to step in! If you don't take care of it, I will."
"No, no," Li Chong quickly reassured her. "Grandma, don't make things worse for me. Do you even know the whole story before you stand up for someone? Who knows what happened? Let me get the person back first."
Zhong Mei glared at him: "Is that even a question? It's obviously a case of a dog abusing its master's power. I've seen it enough!"
Helpless, Li Chong turned away and stopped arguing with the indignant Zhong Mei.
Li Chong walked a few steps to the door, pushed it open, and ordered, "Go and separate those people downstairs, maintain order, and take those few people to the yamen for questioning."
"Yes."
Seeing the constables hurrying downstairs, Li Chong waved his hand behind him and said, "Let's go back and see what's going on."
Zhong Mei smiled with satisfaction, thankfully Li Chong hadn't ignored him.
She followed with light steps, replying sweetly, "Yes, Your Highness, I will obey."
"Eek~~~"
Li Chong shivered involuntarily, feeling a chill run down his spine. The sweetness in her words was a bit too much, making him feel quite uncomfortable.
He glared at Zhong Mei, telling her to behave, before Li Chong led the way out.
Zhongmei stuck out her tongue and followed closely behind.
Before long, the two returned to the yamen. Li Chong did not hold court, as he had not yet figured out the situation and it was not worth making a big fuss. He decided to find out the truth first.
"Go and pass on a message: bring that family here so I can question them first."
Zhong Mei nodded in agreement and went out to deliver the message. She soon brought in three people.
A middle-aged couple with a child. The couple seemed somewhat timid, and the child was even more fearful, clinging tightly to his mother's clothes.
The middle-aged man who was in the lead also looked somewhat flustered, his body and face were disheveled, and he was even injured.
"We've arrived. This is the magistrate." The constable pointed to Li Chong and gestured for the group to step forward and pay their respects.
Li Chong waved his hand, dismissing the constables. He could tell that the family would unconsciously avoid eye contact when they saw the constables in black, a sign of fear.
After the constable left, he looked at Zhong Mei: "Weren't there two people? And who is this?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the couple forced their son to kneel down.
"This humble subject pays his respects to Your Excellency!"
Li Chong shook his head inwardly, but he also knew that this was a bad habit of this era that he could not change, so he could only gently comfort the three of them.
"Please stand up first, don't be nervous. When we get to the yamen, I will take care of things for you. Please stand here for a while while I ask about the situation."
Upon hearing Li Chong speak, the couple hesitated for a moment before slowly getting up from the ground, bowing their heads and remaining silent.
At this moment, Zhong Mei had returned to Li Chong's side, looking rather displeased.
"Reporting to you, sir, that person was knocked to the ground and beaten several times by those thuggish servants. We couldn't see from upstairs, so we thought it was two people, but the victims were actually a family of three."
"So that's how it is," Li Chong finally understood.
He looked at the family of three below and said in a kind tone, "I just heard you shouting your grievances outside. Now that you're here with me, please tell me what your grievances are. If they are true, I will definitely help you."
"Master..."
The man had barely uttered three words when his wife cried out and knelt down once more: "Your Honor, it was me who cried out 'I'm innocent!' Please, Your Honor, do justice for my daughter! My daughter died unjustly!"
After saying this, the woman lay down on the ground and wailed loudly.
This commotion left her little boy beside her bewildered. He glanced at Li Chong, then clung to his mother and began to sob softly.
Seeing this, Li Chong hadn't done anything yet, but Zhong Mei was about to lose her temper.
She kept giving Li Chong meaningful glances. If it weren't for their prior agreement to play the role of a servant in front of outsiders, she probably would have spoken up long ago.
Li Chong said earnestly, "Rest assured, although I have only recently arrived in Yanggu, as the local official, I must naturally uphold justice for the people. Tell me quickly what grievances your daughters may have, and I will certainly not let her die in vain."
The woman then rose, sobbing, and began to tell Li Chong the whole story.
They were locals from Yanggu. A few years ago, they suffered a disaster and had no choice but to sell their daughter to save their lives and their land.
Just a few days ago, when the woman went to visit her daughter who had been sold into slavery, she was shocked to learn that her daughter had accidentally fallen into the water and drowned, and had already been buried.
How could the woman accept such a hasty reason? She immediately demanded to see her daughter's body, but was ruthlessly driven away.
After that, her family went to the house where her daughter worked and made a scene, wanting to get back her daughter's body, but they were ultimately unable to do so.
Enraged, the family prepared to take the matter to the authorities.
However, she was blocked on the way by that group of thugs. In order to get away, the woman shouted loudly to attract the attention of passers-by. Unexpectedly, she caught the attention of Li Chong, which led to the current story.
After listening to the woman's story, Li Chong already had some guesses in his mind.
"Whose household did your daughter serve as a maid? And when did she die?"
The woman wiped away tears from the corners of her eyes with her sleeve and said in a choked voice, "It's the Zhu family from Yanggu. We thought that since the old man had such a good reputation, our daughter would have a good place to go. Who would have thought it would turn out like this?"
"But they didn't say when my poor daughter died, and I don't know either. However, I remember that I went to the Zhu family three days after the magistrate's bandit suppression, and by then my daughter was already gone."