Chapter 785
The Magistrate's Dilemma
Everyone present in the Sun family hall was stunned by Li Qingshi's words.
The father and son, Sun Dafu and Sun Jialin, reacted the most strongly.
Sun Jialin glared at Li Qingshi and said angrily, "Li Qingshi, you need to have evidence to back up your claims. What evidence do you have to prove that I did it? Don't try to pin this on me!"
Sun Dafu angrily said to Li Qingshi, "Li Qingshi, don't go too far. After you marry my daughter today, you will be our Sun family's son-in-law. We will be family from now on. Weiwei's older brother will also be your older brother. Who would believe such an outrageous thing?"
Suddenly, a sharp and confident female voice came from the doorway: "I believe what Qing Shi said is true!"
Just now, Li Qingshi mentioned that Sun Jialin had ambushed him on the way. Sun Weiwei happened to be almost at the door, so she heard everyone's conversation clearly.
Upon hearing the woman's voice, everyone looked towards the door and saw Sun Weiwei, dressed in red, walking in with her mother's support.
Sun Dafu was furious when he heard Sun Weiwei say such things. He walked up to her and scolded her, "You unfilial daughter, how could you slander your own brother like that?"
Sun Weiwei looked at Sun Dafu through the red veil and said, "With Sun Jialin's character, does he even deserve to be my elder brother? He doesn't!"
Hearing Sun Weiwei's words, Sun Jialin angrily retorted, "Hmph, I'm not worthy? Tch! You think anyone wants to be your older brother!"
Sun Weiwei said, "Sun Jialin, you actually robbed Qing Shi halfway there. Do you even deserve to be called a human being?"
Before Sun Jialin could retort, Sun Dafu, upon hearing his daughter Sun Weiwei's words, angrily said, "You unfilial daughter! Today is your joyous day, how dare you spout such nonsense! Don't think I won't hit you!"
Sun Weiwei looked at Sun Dafu and chuckled softly, saying, "Heh, haven't you beaten me enough since we were kids? One more time won't make a difference. I'm just telling you the truth!"
Sun Dafu was furious at Sun Weiwei's words, but with so many people in the room, he didn't dare to lay a hand on her. He simply glared at her and said angrily, "You...you..."
Sun Weiwei completely ignored Sun Dafu and said, "You... what do you mean! Sun Jialin knows perfectly well what he did. You don't need to rush to defend him!"
Sun Weiwei looked at Sun Jialin and said, "Confess to whatever despicable things you've done, or don't blame me for reporting you to the authorities!"
At this moment, Sun Jialin's biological mother walked in from outside the door. Sun Jialin's biological mother was Sun Dafu's first wife and his legal wife. Sun Dafu's success was due to the support of his legal wife's family. Therefore, Sun Dafu usually listened to his legal wife.
After Sun Dafu achieved some success, he wanted to take concubines, but was forced to back down by his wife's family. Later, after his wife's parents passed away, Sun Dafu disregarded his wife's objections and took two more concubines, including Sun Weiwei's mother.
At first, Sun Dafu found it quite novel to take concubines, but as time went on, the novelty wore off, and he stopped taking such good care of his two concubines.
Later, the Sun family's business was not as prosperous as before, and in order to save on household expenses, the wife simply treated her two concubines as servants.
In particular, Sun Weiwei's mother is kind-hearted and does the most work!
Even so, she was not well-liked by the Sun family. This old woman also frequently abused Sun Weiwei and her mother.
Sun Dafu's legal wife was named Zhao Shuping. She started directing Sun Weiwei to do housework when Sun Weiwei was very young. From the time Sun Weiwei was old enough to understand, she remembered that her childhood was spent either working or on her way to work.
Zhao Shuping would often beat and scold her for not doing well enough. In short, Sun Weiwei had no good impression of her aunt at all.
As soon as Zhao Shuping entered the room and heard Sun Weiwei saying such things to her precious daughter, she angrily walked up to Sun Weiwei and said, "You little brat, you think you're all grown up now? What did my son do that you're going to report to the authorities?"
Sun Weiwei completely ignored Zhao Shuping's words.
She walked past Zhao Shuping and stood in front of Sun Jialin, saying, "You've done some despicable things, are you going to talk about it or not? If you confess honestly, I'll beg the officials to give you a lighter punishment since you're nominally my older brother. If you refuse to admit it, then don't blame me for being impolite!"
Sun Jialin believed he had kept the secret very well, and that they would never find any clues. Besides, Sun Weiwei had been disguised in her room since early morning and hadn't left the room at all, so there was no way she could know anything about his affairs.
Sun Jialin felt that Sun Weiwei was just trying to trick him into confessing by threatening to report him to the authorities. If he confessed, wouldn't he be falling into their trap?
Thinking of this, Sun Jialin was even more determined to deny it and said to Sun Weiwei, "Hehe, you didn't even step out of the door today, yet you listened to Li Qingshi's slander and forced a false accusation on me, saying that you would ask me to plead for you in front of the officials? I didn't do anything, why would I need you to plead for me?"
Sun Weiwei chuckled upon hearing Sun Jialin's words and said, "Sun Jialin, since that's the case, there's no need for further discussion. Let's report it to the authorities directly!"
Sun Jialin said, "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. Go ahead and report me to the authorities, who's afraid of who? I'll sue you for defamation. Today is your big day, just imagine how exciting it would be if you were convicted by the authorities on your big day!"
Before Sun Weiwei could speak, her mother became anxious. She had been by Weiwei's side since she woke up that morning. Weiwei hadn't been anywhere before coming to the hall. She knew nothing about it and had just reported it to the authorities. If there was no evidence, how could she explain it to the magistrate?
If we accuse Sun Jialin without any evidence, who will believe us? If Sun Jialin turns the tables and accuses us in return, today's happy occasion will probably turn into a disgrace!
The important thing is that she is really worried that something might happen to her daughter!
Sun Weiwei's mother anxiously comforted her, saying, "Weiwei, today is your big day. Let's not report this to the authorities. What will we do if something goes wrong?"
Sun Weiwei knew her mother was worried about her, so she reached out and took her mother's hand to comfort her, saying, "Mother, I know what I'm doing, so you don't need to worry!"
Although Lu Zhenyuan was an official of the imperial court, even if he wanted to protect his adopted daughter Sun Weiwei, it had to be from a perspective of fairness and impartiality. If Weiwei reported him to the authorities without any evidence, he wouldn't be able to show favoritism towards her. Thinking of this, Lu Zhenyuan looked at Sun Weiwei and said, "Weiwei, are you sure you want to report him to the authorities?"
Sun Weiwei looked at Lu Zhenyuan with a very confident gaze and said, "Godfather, I'm sure!"
Seeing Sun Weiwei's confident demeanor, Lu Zhenyuan thought to himself that Sun Weiwei must have a plan in mind to do this, so he said loudly, "Alright, report to the authorities!"
Sun Dafu and his wife Zhao Shuping firmly believed that their son, Sun Jialin, would not do such a thing. Sun Jialin was the most pampered child in the Sun family, never lacking food or drink. The couple often gave him money. There was no reason for him to commit robbery, especially against his own brother-in-law, even though they weren't close. It was still absolutely impossible for him to do such a thing.
Sun Dafu saw that Lu Zhenyuan had given the order, and he was certain that his son would not do such a thing. Even though Sun Weiwei was now Lu Zhenyuan's adopted daughter and had a very noble status, she still had no reason to slander people.
At this point, Sun Dafu, who had no psychological burden, instructed his servants to report to the authorities.
But just as Sun Dafu gave his orders to his servants, he saw another group of people enter through the door. He looked towards the door and saw that the person standing there was none other than the magistrate of Shanyang County!
Sun Dafu was overjoyed. The county magistrate had actually come to his door in person. How prestigious would that be? He quickly stopped the man he had asked to report to the authorities.
With a beaming smile, he stepped forward to personally greet the county magistrate, and quickly walked up to him, saying with a smile, "Your Excellency, your presence today truly honors my humble abode!"
The magistrate smiled and said, "I heard that the Sun family has a daughter getting married today, so I came here specifically to offer my congratulations."
After saying this, he had the gifts brought to the main hall. Sun Dafu was overjoyed to see the county magistrate personally delivering the gifts, and the magistrate was very generous, giving two large boxes of things. Sun Dafu was extremely happy.
He looked up at the magistrate, ready to express his gratitude, but the moment he looked up, he saw the magistrate walk past him and head straight for Lu Zhenyuan, who was sitting in the main seat.
After bowing respectfully to Lu Zhenyuan at the banquet, the county magistrate said, "Lord Lu, I have long admired your name, and seeing you today, I can confirm that your reputation is well-deserved!"
Lu Zhenyuan said, "Are you the magistrate of this county?"
The magistrate said, "Indeed, I heard that you have come to the Sun family, so I came here today to see you. I hope you will not think that my trip is too abrupt."
When Sun Dafu saw the county magistrate visit the Sun family, he was overjoyed and thought that his family had struck it lucky to have the county magistrate come in person. Only after hearing what the county magistrate said did he belatedly realize that the magistrate had come specifically to visit Lu Zhenyuan.
Lu Zhenyuan said, "How could that be? Weiwei is my goddaughter. Today is her wedding day, and it's a good thing that you've come to congratulate her. Besides, we were just thinking of reporting this to the authorities when you arrived. It's just in time and not at all abrupt."
When the county magistrate heard Lu Zhenyuan utter the words "report to the authorities," he was momentarily stunned. Wasn't today Sun Weiwei's wedding day? Why would he report to the authorities? This was too strange!
However, he quickly realized what was happening and looked at Lu Zhenyuan, saying, "Lord Lu, what is the matter you are reporting to the authorities about?"
Lu Zhenyuan pointed at Sun Weiwei and said, "It's not me, it's my goddaughter, who is also today's bride, Sun Weiwei, who wants to report this to the authorities!"
The county magistrate looked at Sun Weiwei very politely and said, "May I ask what business you have with the authorities, young lady?"
Sun Weiwei said, "Your Honor, I want to accuse Sun Jialin of robbing my husband!"
The magistrate asked, "Does that girl have any evidence?"
This time, Li Qingshi spoke up, saying, "Your Honor, on my way to pick up the bride, I was suddenly attacked by a group of bandits. The one who led those bandits to rob me was Sun Jialin. He even demanded two thousand taels of silver from me. I said I didn't have any, and then he changed his mind to five hundred taels. When he saw that I wouldn't give it to him, he tried to attack me. Fortunately, I was saved by a master, which allowed me to escape."
And just now, I plucked a red leaf from the back of Sun Jialin's head. It was the same red leaf he had picked up in the woods when he robbed me. I remember it clearly; the red leaf on that bandit's head was in the exact same spot as the one on Sun Jialin's head.
Upon hearing Li Qingshi's words, Sun Jialin burst into laughter and said, "Hahaha, Li Qingshi, are you stupid or what? Do you think what you said can be taken as evidence?"
The county magistrate looked at Li Qingshi and shook his head, saying, "Young man, what you said really can't be used as evidence!"
When Sun Jialin heard the magistrate say that, he looked at Li Qingshi with a smug expression and gave him a very proud look.
Then he said to the magistrate, "Your Honor, Li Qingshi has just falsely accused me of defamation. I hereby accuse him of slander!"
The magistrate was getting a headache from listening to their argument. His original intention in coming to the Sun family today was to take advantage of Sun Weiwei's wedding to visit Lu Zhenyuan, hoping to make a good impression on Lu Zhenyuan and at least become a familiar face, which would at least be of some help to his future career.
He never expected that he would encounter such a thing as soon as he entered the door and hadn't even exchanged a few words with Lu Zhenyuan.
Imagine, a wedding is supposed to be a lively and joyous occasion, and most people would treat everyone who comes to the host's home with courtesy. But he never expected that this family of oddballs would fight each other to the point of reporting the matter to the authorities on the wedding day.
It is said that even an upright official finds it difficult to settle family disputes. At this moment, the county magistrate was in a dilemma. He had already inquired in advance that Sun Weiwei, who was to get married today, was Lu Zhenyuan's adopted daughter. Therefore, the man wearing the groom's clothes was Sun Weiwei's husband. After all, with Lu Zhenyuan, such an important figure, on their side, he had no choice but to side with the groom, Li Qingshi.
But what the groom just said clearly cannot be used as evidence. If I forcefully accept it as legal evidence, not only will I lose the respect of the people in my position, but I also won't be able to explain myself if someone with ulterior motives brings it up again in the future! If I make a wrong judgment, wouldn't I be risking my official position?
For a moment, the county magistrate was at a loss as to how to deal with such a complicated situation. (End of Chapter)