Chapter 69

Chapter 69

Even without the testimony of Wang’s eldest daughter-in-law, they could still convict him.

In ancient times, court cases weren't so particular about human rights, so things weren't as complicated as in later eras.

In modern times, even if someone was known to be a criminal, they were still granted respect and the right to legal defense.

But in ancient times, it was different. When dealing with such a scoundrel, as long as there was evidence, torture could be used to force a confession.

However, this worked out even better—with both physical evidence and witness testimony, the people would see the magistrate as more fair and just.

Now, even if Wang’s eldest son tried to argue, the villagers outside wouldn’t believe him.

"That day, he suddenly said he wasn’t feeling well and took off for home by himself. I was worried about his health and the children at home. He… wasn't the upstanding man he pretended to be. Sometimes, he would beat and scold the children. When I followed him back, I found him packing his things to flee. I’m his wife, and we have so many children—I couldn’t just let him run away. So I stopped him and asked what was wrong. At first, he refused to say anything, but when I pressed him, he finally spoke. His expression was so strange, downright frightening. I guessed he was involved in Mai Sui’s case, so I asked him outright if he had killed her. And then… he didn’t deny it. Instead, he threatened me."

As she spoke, Wang’s daughter-in-law began sobbing.

She still cared for this man. To her, Wang’s eldest son was her husband, far more important than that little hussy Mai Sui.

Her turning on him wasn’t out of guilt but to protect her children.

Wang’s eldest son had enjoyed torturing critters to death, and now he had killed a person—there was no coming back from that.

She was terrified that if she helped him return, he'd take his viciousness out on her children.

She wasn’t overthinking it. In the past… he had often stripped the children naked to beat them.

Back then, she'd brushed it off. What man in the countryside didn’t hit his children? His methods were just a bit unusual.

But after Mai Sui’s death—raped, murdered, and tortured—the villagers’ words shocked her awake.

She couldn’t let him return alive. Only his death would keep her kids safe. Only his death would silence him, so no one would know how he had treated them.

She had five children—three daughters, and two sons.

Their shame had to stay hidden, or they would never have peaceful lives.

So… for the sake of her children, he had to die.

Seeing no way out, Wang’s eldest son finally gave in and confessed with a resigned expression.

"Yes, I killed her. The girl was pretty, different from the other village children. I just… lost control."

He spoke as if he had been forced, his tone indifferent.

Yun Changxie, seeing this, ordered the constables to give him thirty strokes of the cane first.

His confession was too half-hearted, and his crimes too heinous. A beating would give folks some satisfaction.

When the villagers confirmed he had indeed killed the child, they were fit to be tied, shouting curses outside the hall.

Who didn’t have children?

Unless they hated their own kids, anyone would be enraged by such a crime.

Only those without children or those who harbored similar desires would sympathize with him.

But they weren’t beasts. Having him in their village turned their stomachs.

After thirty strokes of the cane, he was properly cowed.

Yun Changxie ordered the constables to have him pilloried in the town square the next day as a warning to others.

This public shaming would let the people vent their anger and put the fear into any would-be imitators.

After the parade, he would be imprisoned until the autumn assizes.

The rest required no further involvement from Yun Changxie.

Hunter Chen helped Mai Sui’s grandmother give the girl a proper burial.

He also had to talk sense to the villagers of Fuluo Village—Wang’s eldest son’s crimes weren't to blame for his children, and the villagers shouldn’t visit the father's sins on the children.

No child could choose their parents. Being saddled with such a father was already tragic enough.

As long as they didn’t go down his wicked road, they deserved to grow up safely.

With the first case resolved, Yun Changxie set his sights on the second case.

Several days had passed, and the sister of the young widow’s deceased husband had quietly slipped away to the neighboring county.

This family was mighty foolish. They likely thought moving away would shake Yun Changxie off their trail—that with fewer constables, he couldn’t monitor them.

But they were different from the traveling peddler. Yun Changxie hadn’t known where the peddler was from, and his footloose ways made tracking him difficult.

The neighboring county, however, wasn’t far from Qiuping County, and with their large family, Yun Changxie could easily investigate them.

Moreover, Yun Changxie had his network of spy birds, and they had no defense against the birds.

Once settled in their new home, they let their guard down.

While chatting, they let the whole scheme slip.

It turned out they had conspired with the young widow’s younger brother to steal her gold locket.

Yes, that's the God's honest truth.

One was from the husband’s family, the other from her own.

No one would have guessed they’d join forces to steal from the widow.

Getting this intelligence from his birds, Yun Changxie immediately dispatched runners to check pawnshops in the Prefectural City where the locket had been sold.

They brought likenesses of the suspects to show pawnbrokers and their help to pick them out.

The culprits had some sense at least—they hadn’t pawned the locket themselves but sent a relative to do it.

But by this point, who sold it didn’t matter.

Once everyone was brought in, some hard questioning would get to the bottom of it.

In fact, when they arrested the relative who had helped sell the locket, he sang like a canary before they even reached the yamen.

He was a coward; he only took five taels of silver and was unwilling to take on such a serious charge.

In Great Zhou, theft was also severely punished. For stealing something like a gold lock, one could get six or seven years in prison.

The item was stolen by the young widow’s younger brother, while the plan was devised by her late husband's sister.

The two had already had some tension due to unfair distribution of the stolen goods.

Upon learning that the person who sold the item had already confessed, the two began pointing fingers at each other when brought to court, hoping to lessen their own punishment.

"My Lord, I wouldn't dare do this! I was instigated by that venomous woman—otherwise, I would never have done such a thing!"

"My Lord, don’t listen to his nonsense. This matter has nothing to do with me. I just happened to catch him stealing and, tempted by greed, took a cut. I never intended to steal or instructed him to do so."

Seeing that neither was being honest, Yun Changxie had each of them beaten with ten strokes of the cane.

After the beating, they sang a different tune, and they spoke without as much deceit.

They came clean about who the mastermind was, who stole the item, how the gold lock was sold, and how the money was divided.

The young widow, never expecting them to be so malicious, sobbed her heart out in court.

Later, when she heard that her brother would be imprisoned, she had second thoughts.

She was naive enough to ask Yun Changxie if only her late husband’s sister could be jailed while her brother was let go.

This was a joint scheme between the two.

Yun Changxie had held a public trial—how could he show favoritism?

If charges were to be pressed, both had to face justice.

Now that the truth was clear, how could it be up to some woman's say-so?

If everyone treated the law so lightly as her, would there still be any law left in Qiuping County?

In the end, the two masterminds each got thirty lashes and were sentenced to six years in prison.

The accomplice who helped them sell the stolen goods was doled out twenty strokes and a one-year imprisonment.

Yun Changxie wrapped up the cases lightning-fast—within just over half a month, he had resolved two cases.

Everyone said the newly appointed County Magistrate was sharp and tough.

In truth, Yun Changxie wasn’t formidable at all—he was just a cheater with cheat codes.

If he had relied solely on himself, he might still have gotten to the bottom of it, but it would have taken much, much longer.

Yun Changxie had too many responsibilities and didn’t want to remain a small-time county magistrate forever.

Given the chance to cheat, of course, he would milk it for all it's worth.

After solving the two cases, Yun Changxie threw a little party in the county office’s backyard to reward those who contributed to the cases.

He had Tian Sang whip up two chickens for Fu Wang and Fu Shun and prepared plenty of grains and insects for the little birds.

Then, he set his sights on the third case.

The third case involved some old timer's ox got butchered.

This case was pretty straightforward. Yun Changxie first had people investigate who'd have it in for him.

After confirming that the only conflict was with a neighbor, he had an ox delivered to the old man.

When the ox was delivered, he made a big show of it.

If the neighbor was indeed the culprit, seeing the old man receive a new ox from the authorities would surely get a rise out of them.

As expected, Yun Changxie’s prediction was correct.

That very day, the neighbor visited the old man’s house. The neighbor’s eldest daughter-in-law said with vinegar in her voice, "How fortunate your family is! The ox dies, and the government gives you a new one for free. How wonderful—your family makes lemonade from lemons. You should let go of the dead ox matter now."

The old man’s family remained silent. The ox wasn’t truly a gift from the government but part of the investigation.

He dared not say much, fearing it might interfere with the official’s case.

After looking at the ox, the neighbor’s daughter-in-law turned away with a sneer.

Once home, she hit the roof.

"How can this family be so lucky? I thought without their ox, they’d be up the creek and have to beg us to borrow ours!"

She had also been eyeing the old man’s eldest grandson.

The old man’s eldest grandson was a *ge'er*, a male who could bear children, and he was quite handsome. Her son had had his eye on him.

The earlier conflict had arisen because their marriage proposal was rejected.

The other family thought her son was too ugly and shiftless.

Holding a grudge, she had her husband kill their ox.