Chapter 150: Unveiling a Corner of the Past

Chapter 150: Unveiling a Corner of the Past

Chen Si'er knelt on the ground, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

After all, he was in the clear.

As for the Yangs, let them face death or exile as they deserved.

Of course, before they die, they’ll have to pay back the debt. He wasn’t Yang’s father and had no obligation to settle their debts.

Old Lady Yang’s nephew still had smudges of rouge and lipstick on his cheeks and neck, wearing only a thin shirt, shivering from the cold, completely clueless.

He’d just stumbled home from a brothel, half-asleep, when he was hauled into the magistrate’s hall.

After listening for a while, he realized that his so-called buddy, Chen Si'er, had reported him to the magistrate!

Accusing him of ruining a decent woman, causing Cheng Zhi to become pregnant.

This was even more shocking than being hauled in half-asleep.

Who was Chen Si'er?

A thug from the Yongsheng Gambling Den in Lianhua Town, a guy who did shady stuff day and night, a guy who’d steer clear of officers like the plague, a guy who’d go out of his way to avoid the magistrate’s office in Changhe County. How could he possibly report someone?

Was the sun really rising in the west?

Old Lady Yang’s nephew’s eyes nearly popped out of his head, but Chen Si'er didn’t even glance at him.

Old Lady Yang’s nephew fumed silently, his bloodshot, bleary eyes darting around, then he suddenly bellowed, "Your Honor, I did sleep with Cheng Zhi…"

Magistrate Xu: "There’s no need to be so blunt."

The clerk recording the trial quietly cleaned up the wording.

No doubt, the case files would be kept for decades, even centuries. He didn’t want future readers to judge him when they looked through these old records.

Old Lady Yang’s nephew, clueless, kept ranting, "But I never forced her. I just picked up Cheng Zhi’s handkerchief and handed it back, accidentally brushing her hand."

"I spend my days mingling with women in brothels. With just a look, I can tell if a woman’s chaste and virtuous."

"With mutual interest, I touched her, and she eagerly threw herself at me."

"How is that ruining her? I’m not guilty."

"Besides, when I slept with her, she wasn’t a virgin anymore. Someone had already popped her cherry long ago."

"Even if you want to pin the charge of coercion on me, you should go after the one who took her virginity first. At most, I just got a taste."

The Yangs were a vulgar bunch, speaking without restraint, making people blush and their necks turn red.

Magistrate Xu, who had spent ten years studying for the imperial exams, was already numb.

This was the Changhe County Magistrate’s Hall, not some red-light district.

Magistrate Xu felt the plaque above his head, inscribed with "Justice and Integrity," was also swaying in shame.

Outside the hall, snowflakes fell softly.

Inside the hall, the clerk, furiously writing, had beads of sweat forming on his forehead.

Admittedly, the Yangs' words were crude, but they painted a vivid picture.

Magistrate Xu took a deep breath, suppressing his unease, and spoke with authority, "If there was mutual affection, why force her to abort?"

The Yang man hunched his shoulders, glanced at Old Lady Yang's furious glare, and hesitated.

Magistrate Xu had no patience for this back-and-forth.

He slammed the gavel—crack!—making the Yang man flinch.

"Tell the truth, or else."

The fierce bailiffs banged their clubs on the ground in unison—thud!

The Yang man blurted out, "My aunt said we couldn't keep it!"

He simply couldn't withstand the intimidating presence of the magistrate.

Old Lady Yang: ...

Magistrate Xu shot a sharp glance at Old Lady Yang.

Old Lady Yang gulped and said, "Your Honor, it was that Cheng Zhi wretch who threatened me. She said if I didn't help her miscarry in secret, she'd accuse my nephew of seducing and forcing her."

"My nephew is the Yang family's only heir. How could I let that Cheng Zhi wretch ruin him?"

"Besides, who knows if the child is even my nephew's?"

"My nephew barely touched her, and she latched onto him. Who knows who else she’s done this with?"

She thought her nephew was the best, but deep down, she knew he was a good-for-nothing.

With his sharp, ugly face and no real job, he was only good at drinking, gambling, and whoring.

Everyone hated him; he couldn’t even get a wife.

Yet, this nephew somehow ended up in bed with Cheng Zhi.

So, she figured Cheng Zhi would take anyone—no standards at all.

"Daqian law says lying in court, leading to a wrongful conviction, means you’ll face the same punishment."

"Old Lady Yang, do you confess?"

Magistrate Xu sternly demanded.

Clearly, he was holding Old Lady Yang accountable for her earlier false testimony in court.

Old Lady Yang wailed and started causing a scene.

Magistrate Xu couldn’t stand the noise and ordered thirty lashes for Old Lady Yang.

The bailiffs, catching on, stuffed a rag into Old Lady Yang's mouth.

Outside the hall, the lashes came down one after another.

Snowflakes mixed with blood, turning into puddles of red.

After thirty lashes, Old Lady Yang lay limp on the bench like a dead fish, too weak to fuss.

Yang was so scared he didn’t dare make a sound.

His aunt had just lied and got thirty lashes, so what would happen to him, who’d had an affair with Cheng Zhi and gotten her pregnant?

For a moment, Yang shook like a leaf.

"Bring the Cheng father and daughter to court."

Magistrate Xu didn’t even look at the aunt and nephew again.

The Cheng daughter’s case had been delayed for days, and the folks in the next county had been gossiping about this scandal. Magistrate Yan from Shunhe County even sent a letter asking for the scoop, saying the women in his house were so curious they couldn’t eat.

If this dragged on any longer, whenever people talked about Changhe County, it’d be all about scandal. What kind of reputation—or future—would he have as magistrate?

So he had to wrap up the case fast.

Once the case was closed, it’d blow over, and soon no one would talk about it.

Shackled and in a cangue, Cheng Zhi defiantly scanned the crowd watching from behind the railings. When she spotted the familiar, shiny cloak, her lips curled up without thinking.

If she could turn back time and marry Lu Lei like she was supposed to, then Lu Mingchao, as her sister-in-law, might’ve hated her and pushed for a divorce, but she’d still have her back, right?

She really envied Lu Mingchao.

No, she even envied Lu Lei now.

When Lu Lei was jailed, Lu Mingchao did everything to clear his name.

When she was imprisoned, her father lectured her for shaming the family; her brother showed up at the prison with a coiled rope, coldly telling her to kill herself.

He said that if she died in prison, the case would be settled.

People are always kinder to the dead.

Once she died, the stain on Lu Lei would be completely indelible.

But she didn’t want to die.

At this point, she just didn’t want to die.

After so many years, her father and brother had truly forgotten.

How had she ended up like this? Did her father and brother not remember at all?

Cheng Zhi held a red plum petal in her palm, her fingernails piercing the petal, releasing a sharp, clear fragrance.

"Fallen into mud and crushed into dust."