Chapter 19: Finding Evidence
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
When Liu Sanniang spoke, everyone in the room fell silent. Wei Shilai was focused on observing Liu Cheng.
Zhu Zongyang kept taking notes, afraid that he would miss even the smallest detail.
Liu Cheng trembled and said weakly, “Stop it, stop it.”
Liu Sanniang did not pay heed to him.
“You like a woman, but you can’t afford to marry that woman because her family requested a betrothal gift of dozens of taels. Your cousin, Liu Shun, gives you an idea and asks you to do this. He even helps you choose a scapegoat and that is the Liu family from Willow street. Everything goes as you expect. On the night the fool gives birth, you go to call Madam Wei. When Madam Wei hears your request, she follows you home without hesitation. You lie that you are going to find a midwife. In fact, you don’t go at all.”
“The fool is given the abortion medicine before Madam Wei comes over. It has been a few days since she ate anything. Instead of hiring a doctor to save your wife, you guys take the initiative and slap Madam Wei twice. Liu Laogen gets someone to send Madam Wei to the government. You and your mother are about to cremate the fool’s corpse, but the plan gets disrupted by the Liu family’s sudden arrival.”
“You’re panicking because you can’t cremate the fool’s body. If the coroner gets the results of the autopsy, not only will you not get a penny for compensation, you’ll also be punished for killing someone. You’re not a kind person to begin with. You’ve already planned that if the matter is exposed, you’ll drag your cousin Liu Shun down with you and say that he instigated it.”
“Liu Shun is a scholar and is aiming to be an official. He’s worlds apart from you. You envy him, so you decided to go all out. If you don’t get anything out of it, he won’t either.”
“But three nights ago, Liu Shun met up with you and told you that there’s a way to turn things around.”
Liu Sanniang was very tired, but she still continued. “The way suggested by him is to burn down the mortuary. At first, you don’t dare to do it, but Liu Shun said that if you don’t do it, the girl you want to marry can only marry someone else as a concubine. She might be humiliated to death. You’re determined to save her from her misery.”
“The next day, you go to a small town far away from Yong County. That’s another county. In the village of Qingshui County, you find several farmers and buy a few barrels of oil. You also bring five kilograms of top-grade strong spirits from a tavern in Qingshui County. You hide the oil barrels behind an abandoned temple outside the city. This is a small temple where the nearby villagers worship the Mountain God. You bury the spirits not far from the temple.”
Liu Sanniang paused. She felt that her mind was really empty and in immense pain. The scene in her mind was already a little blurry.
She bit the tip of her tongue. Slowly, the blood and pain woke her up.
“Last night, you went out early. When you went out, the town guard asked for the reason. You said that a relative in the countryside died and you were going to attend the funeral. You also mentioned that you wouldn’t be back tonight.”
“You first put the spirits outside the mortuary. After knocking on the door, you went into hiding. When the guards came out and saw the spirits, they thought that someone had sent it to them as a treat. The two of them drank it and soon passed out.”
“You didn’t dare to harm living people. After you brought the two of them out, you poured oil on the entire mortuary and lit it on fire, burning the place down. You couldn’t bear to throw away the wine that the two guards didn’t finish drinking. You brought it home. The jar is… under your bed. The clothes from that night were thrown near the temple…”
After saying this, Liu Sanniang felt her vision go dark and she fainted.
At the last moment, she thought to herself. ‘So there is a limit to this ability that God gave me.’
Wei Shilai’s expression was extremely solemn.
Zhu Zongyang was also very serious. “Sir, through facial expression analysis, all of this is true.”
Liu Cheng was not punished yet, but he was so weak that he could not even sit up straight.
Wei Shilai ordered coldly. “Someone, go and check the jar under his bed, the clothes near the temple, and the evidence of him buying spirits and oil.”
“Sir, what about them?”
Looking at Liu Cheng and his family, Magistrate Wei didn’t expect that a family of cowards would commit such an atrocity.
Wei Shilai smiled coldly and said, “They’re all prime suspects. Lock them up.”
Liu Cheng curled up into a ball and stuttered. “S-Sir, I’m innocent…”
Officer Zhou lifted Liu Cheng up. “His Lordship never maligned a good person. Of course, we won’t let a bad person off!”
Liu Cheng’s mother was already crying. “No, I don’t want to go to jail. I bought that fool. How I deal with her is my business. You have no right to arrest our family. That fool is just our livestock!”
Wei Shilai was furious. “Take them away!”
In Wei Shilai’s opinion, it was intolerable for a person to be called an animal and killed wantonly.
“Your Lordship, what should we do with this Liu Shun?”
Zhu Zongyang asked. Liu Sanniang did not say that Liu Shun was directly involved in this case, but it was Liu Shun who came up with the idea. From this, it could be seen that he was not a good person.
Wei Shilai frowned. He heard that Liu Shun was a scholar, so he was even more indignant. Shouldn’t scholars know what morals were?
However, it would probably not be easy to deal with Liu Shun without evidence.
After Liu Cheng was taken away, Wei Shilai opened the curtain. Seeing that Liu Sanniang had already fainted, he immediately said, “Someone, Miss Liu has fainted.”
Liu Sanniang was quickly carried to the backyard by the servants.
Mrs. Wei was alarmed and came to ask. “Husband, which family is this girl from?”
Wei Shilai was already in his forties and was about to enter his fifties. All his life, he had only married and loved only one woman. Now that he was concerned about a pretty girl, Mrs. Wei could not help but be a little concerned.
Could it be that she was old and her husband was tired of looking at her?
Magistrate Wei did not know that Mrs. Wei was thinking so much. He explained kindly. “Don’t tell anyone. This girl is a psychic. She just helped me solve a big case and then fainted.”
The first thing Mrs. Wei thought of was the fire at the mortuary.
She looked at her husband. His back was straight and his eyes were honest. There was nothing unusual about him. Standing there, he was like a pine tree. Mrs. Wei smiled. “I see. Don’t worry, Husband. I will take good care of her.”
Wei Shilai smiled and bowed. “I’m relieved to hear that.”
In a daze, Liu Sanniang felt like she had been fed some medicine.
With this touch, she heard the servant girl’s thoughts. “This girl is really beautiful. Is Master going to take in a concubine? Sigh, if that’s the case, I’m afraid Madam won’t be able to see Master in the future.”