TGCFNM -Chapter 7 Making Mistakes Is One Thing—Committing Crimes Is Another

The moment Zhao Er heard this, he panicked. Forgetting that he was still being held down, he lunged forward and grabbed Qian Sanyang, shouting, “Y-you—how can you spout such nonsense?!”

“What nonsense?” Qian Sanyang snapped. “Zhao Er, you’re really not human. I even brought you home to eat a hot meal sometimes!” He pried Zhao Er’s fingers away and pointed at him viciously. “Officers, hurry and drag this villain away!”

“Bullshit! When did I ever go to your house to eat?!”

Zhao Er no longer cared about anything else. He grabbed Qian Sanyang’s collar tightly. “I’m telling you, you won’t get out of this. No chance! My lord, my lord, I have something to say!”

Qian Sanyang immediately panicked and shouted, “My lord, my lord, don’t listen to his nonsense!”

“Silence!” Chu Ling swept a cold gaze across them. “Who allowed you to shout and make a racket in the magistrate’s court? What was lost this time was official silver bestowed upon me by His Majesty. If it cannot be recovered, all of you will be beheaded!”

“Official silver? What official silver?” Qian Sanyang’s face turned deathly pale. Trembling, he pointed at Zhao Er. “There’s official silver too?”

Zhao Er was utterly dumbfounded. Official silver? What official silver? Why didn’t he know anything about that?

Chu Ling shot them a cold glance, the killing intent in her eyes completely undisguised.

When Qian Sanyang looked up and met her gaze, his heart instantly went cold. He panicked and dropped to his knees. “My lord, this commoner is willing to testify! Zhao Er is the one who killed your maid and stole the bundle. That bundle is with my wife right now—but there’s no official silver in it! We didn’t see any official silver!”

A wave of shocked exclamations erupted from the crowd. So it really was Zhao Er who committed murder!

Qian Sanyang crawled forward, crying miserably. “My lord, spare us! My lord, my lord, we really didn’t know anything about official silver!”

“Zhao Er!” Chu Ling slammed the gavel. “What else do you have to say? Murdering a person and stealing official silver—your crime is compounded!”

“My lord, my lord, it wasn’t me! It was Xiao Sanzi! He—he found me. He told me to do it. He said, said…”

Zhao Er’s face was deathly pale. Looking at the county magistrate seated above, he felt as though the sky were collapsing.

“He said what?” Chu Ling stood up and looked down at Zhao Er from above.

Zhao Er stammered, “He said… said you, my lord, had died after being struck on the back of the head by Cui Xi. Cui Xi would take all the silver and elope with him. But—but he grew up together with Chun Tao from across the way, childhood sweethearts, so he thought, he thought…”

Chu Ling suddenly let out a laugh, causing Qi Daxian and the others to shiver involuntarily.

“He thought that since this corrupt official was already dead, killing the maid too would count as eliminating evil for the people. So Xiao Sanzi lured her over, you struck and killed Cui Xi, then Xiao Sanzi threw her into the lake. Early the next morning, Xiao Sanzi’s father fished the body out, and conveniently brought me to see the badly injured Xiao Sanzi—making it seem like everything had nothing to do with him?”

It really was arranged flawlessly—ruthless enough even toward themselves.

“I—I didn’t kill Cui Xi. I—I didn’t dare. Xiao Sanzi delivered the final blow with another hammer,” Zhao Er said, as if all his strength had drained away, his head hanging low.

Chu Ling picked up the autopsy report on the desk once more. In the part she had previously overlooked, it clearly stated that the damage along the edges of the wound did not look like it was caused by a single strike.

After a brief silence, the crowd erupted again.

“Chun Tao’s mother—why are you leaving?”

“Chun Tao’s mother, did you know about this?”

“She must have! This morning by the river, she’d rather offend the magistrate than let Xiao Sanzi’s father take the blame. She must have been involved with him long ago.”

“Tsk tsk, you really never know people.”

“…”

Chu Ling watched coldly. When the noise died down a little, she immediately gave the order: “Qi Daxian, restrain Chun Tao’s mother. Then go send word to Chun Tao’s home—tell them that no one can prove Xiao Sanzi’s innocence in this case, and that I will put him to torture. Also, send men to arrest Xiao Sanzi and his father and bring them here.”

“Yes, my lord!”

Someone in the crowd shouted loudly, “My lord intends to catch them all in one net? If Chun Tao also gave false testimony, wouldn’t she be imprisoned too?”

Chu Ling frowned and looked up—it was that peacock-like fellow again.

“Xiao Sanzi and Zhao Er are the principal offenders. Qian Sanyang is an accessory. Everyone else are accomplices. A life has been lost—do you still think you can escape punishment? The state has its laws. I handle cases according to the law. Do you have objections?” Chu Ling demanded coldly, clearly angered.

“This humble one wouldn’t dare. I only feel that my lord enforces the law impartially and is a good official,” the peacock said quickly, clasped his hands, and ran off.

The Ghost Scholar shook his head. Still too young—far too many loopholes. “That merchant’s son shows not the slightest fear. It’s all an act.”

“Drawing my attention again and again—was the target me? Someone from Prince Rui’s faction?” Chu Ling muttered softly, then waved it off and stopped thinking about it.

Forget it.

When soldiers come, block them. When water comes, build a dam. If Prince Rui really came knocking, could she truly refuse?

The Ghost Scholar glanced at Chu Ling, frowning slightly as he studied her with a strange look.

Just as Chu Ling expected, after Chun Tao arrived, she testified that Xiao Sanzi had been with her the previous night. The two had poured out their feelings to each other all night—she could vouch for it.

“Do you know that his father personally said Xiao Sanzi broke his leg while gathering herbs?” Chu Ling asked with a faint smile. “With a broken leg, could he still climb walls and secretly meet you all night?”

Chun Tao’s face turned white.

Suddenly, Cui Xi cried out in alarm, startling Chu Ling badly.

“Miss, miss! The jade in her waist sash—it’s showing!”

Chu Ling focused her gaze, then shot Cui Xi a warning look before turning to Chun Tao, her voice icy. “The jade in your waist sash belongs to me. It was left to me by my parents, and it even bears my inscription. You dare bring it brazenly before me?”

Chun Tao lifted her head in panic. She had thought the jade was too beautiful and had kept playing with it, unable to put it down. Then she suddenly heard that Xiao Sanzi had been arrested and rushed over to testify without thinking.

Now it was over. Completely over.

Chu Ling did not know much about the laws of Great Zhou, so with the Ghost Scholar’s guidance, she sentenced Zhao Er and Xiao Sanzi to death. As for the accomplice Qian Sanyang, the boatman, and the others, they were exiled to the borderlands for hard labor.

As for Chun Tao, Chun Tao’s mother, and Qian Sanyang’s wife—since they had not caused irreparable harm, Chu Ling imprisoned them for a period of time, then exiled them to a bitterly cold region for one year of labor as punishment.

In the rear courtyard of the magistrate’s office.

“My lord’s judgment was not wrong, but it does give people the impression of being somewhat unfeeling,” the Ghost Scholar said, glancing at Cui Xi, who was kneeling and trembling, then at Chu Ling rummaging through a bundle.

“I know the boatman is old. I also know Qian Sanyang merely gave false testimony, and in others’ eyes, the punishment may seem too severe. Some might even think I acted out of personal revenge for my maid,” Chu Ling said. She shot a glare at Cui Xi, then retrieved her belongings from the bundle and took out all the silver as well.

“Is everything here?” Chu Ling asked unhappily, lowering her eyes.

“Yes, miss. Everything’s here,” Cui Xi replied hastily.

The Ghost Scholar was puzzled. “Since my lord knows all this, why still act this way?”

“Because they committed the crime of deceit!”

Chu Ling stood up, carefully put everything away, then burned Cui Xi’s bundle in front of her.

With a cold face and a mocking tone, Chu Ling said, “Don’t they know they indirectly caused a death? They know—but they didn’t take it to heart. They even harbored a sense of luck, which is why they dared to give false testimony.”

“That’s true,” the Ghost Scholar said helplessly, nodding.

Chu Ling felt no pity for those people. “If in the future everyone covers for relatives and neighbors, all pretending to be ignorant or even giving false testimony, then wouldn’t murderers no longer need to be punished at all?”

The Ghost Scholar lowered his brows, deep in thought.

Chu Ling knew this was not modern society—there were no cameras to uncover the truth. Witness testimony was crucial. If everyone protected one another and refused to tell the truth, what kind of society would that be?

“Making mistakes is acceptable. Committing crimes is not. Crimes must be paid for,” Chu Ling said. Satisfied, she took the ten taels of silver she had newly acquired, glanced regretfully at Cui Xi, raised her brows, and said, “Looks like this silver is mine now.”