Chapter 786
The evidence is conclusive
The magistrate was caught in a dilemma and deeply regretted coming here today. If he could handle the matter to Lu Zhenyuan's liking, he would be fine, but if he failed to satisfy General Lu, he might be plunged into an abyss of no return.
At this moment, Lu Zhenyuan, who was sitting in the main seat, noticed the magistrate's hesitation and said to him, "Magistrate, since you have come all this way to visit me today, I must have heard of my reputation. I am known for my fairness and never bend the law for personal gain. You don't need to consider my feelings at all. Just handle official business! No matter what the outcome, as long as you handle it impartially, I will never blame you!"
Upon hearing Lu Zhenyuan's words, the county magistrate replied respectfully, "Yes, Lord Lu, I will certainly handle this matter impartially!"
Although the magistrate said that, Sun Weiwei and Li Qingshi are his daughter and son-in-law. According to rumors, Sun Weiwei saved Lu Zhenyuan's biological daughter, and Lu Zhenyuan's family adopted Sun Weiwei as their goddaughter out of gratitude. Moreover, it is said that the entire Lu family treats Sun Weiwei very well.
It is true that Lu Zhenyuan is known far and wide for his fairness, just as he claims. But if he treated others then, would he still be as fair to his beloved adopted daughter now?
He couldn't guarantee anything about that.
So even if Lu Zhenyuan has made his stance clear, I can't act rashly!
He felt that coming to the Sun family today was just asking for trouble. If he had known he would encounter such a nasty situation, he would never have come today.
The magistrate knew full well that there was no such thing as a regret pill in this world. Since he had already come here today, what could he do if he regretted it? He could only bite the bullet and move forward.
Although he was the kind of ambitious official who was always thinking about climbing the ranks, he also knew the principle of fulfilling his duties in his position. Therefore, he always adhered to the principle of fairness and impartiality when handling cases.
Since I feel this matter is quite troublesome today, I'll stick to my usual approach; at least doing so will be in accordance with my conscience.
Thinking this through, the magistrate felt much calmer, and the conflicted expression on his face when faced with the accusations from Li Qingshi and Sun Jialin also disappeared.
When Lu Zhenyuan saw the change in the magistrate's expression, he thought that his words had worked and felt very gratified.
After all, as the people's guardians, officials should uphold justice and always stand on the side of justice so that they can seek justice for those who have truly been wronged.
Only in this way can society develop healthily and gradually move forward.
Li Qingshi remained calm when faced with Sun Jialin's threat to sue him for defamation. He looked at Sun Jialin and said calmly, "Sun Jialin, I've already given you a chance, but you still refuse to admit it. Fine, then I have nothing more to say to you!"
Sun Jialin looked at Li Qingshi, who still acted as if it were none of his business, and said, "Heh, if you have nothing to say, then don't say it. It's not like I'm begging you to tell me!"
Li Qingshi ignored Sun Jialin and looked at the magistrate, saying, "Just now when I entered the Sun family's gate, I saw Sun Jialin wearing all black clothes and a mask going into the side door. If I'm not mistaken, he took advantage of everyone's busyness and no one was paying attention to run inside to change clothes! His clothes should still be in his room, and there are traces of tree branches tearing the right trouser leg of his black clothes. Magistrate, wouldn't the truth be clear if you investigate now?"
Sun Jialin panicked instantly upon hearing Li Qingshi's words, because he had just changed out of the clothes he wore during the robbery in the side room and hadn't had time to deal with them; they were still there.
Although I had hidden myself in the corner of the wardrobe and wouldn't be discovered unless someone searched, the black clothes wouldn't be able to hide them once someone did. Especially those professional investigators in the county government office, their eyes are highly skilled, and my little trick of hiding things would definitely not escape their sharp eyes.
Upon hearing Li Qingshi's words, the magistrate immediately ordered his men to search with him.
Then, the group followed the magistrate and his entourage towards the side room. Things had developed to this point, and Sun Jialin was filled with terror, his heart pounding wildly.
At this moment, he kept praying in his heart, hoping that the magistrate and the others would not find the black clothes that he had hidden.
To Sun Jialin's disappointment, the black clothes were found by the magistrate's men in no time and then handed over to the magistrate.
After a careful inspection, the magistrate indeed found a tear on the right leg of the trousers.
The magistrate threw the clothes into Sun Jialin's hands and said, "Sun Jialin, now that the evidence has been found, what else do you have to say?"
When Sun Jialin saw the magistrate angrily throw the clothes in his hand, he panicked and hurriedly said, "Your Excellency, please investigate! I only wore these clothes at night to play games, not to rob anyone!"
Upon hearing this, the magistrate said, "These kinds of clothes are usually only worn when doing something improper and you're afraid of being discovered. Your reason sounds quite novel. Playing games at night? I'd like to hear what kind of game you're playing that would require such clothes?"
Sun Jialin could only lie and stammered, "It was...it was when I was playing hide-and-seek with the girls at the brothel at night, and I wiped these clothes to avoid being found!"
Everyone laughed when they heard Sun Jialin's explanation.
Upon hearing this, the county magistrate said, "Then why do Li Qingshi's claims all match up? How do you explain that?"
Sun Jialin simply made up an excuse, saying, "Since Li Qingshi also went to the brothel with me last night, it's not surprising that he understands this."
Anyway, I usually can't stand Sun Weiwei, my nominal sister. Today she actually sided with Li Qingshi to sue me. Let's see how I deal with her.
Although it's not illegal to visit brothels in places like Bonsai World, men who go there are often seen as philanderers and unreliable, and no family would choose such a man as a husband for their daughter.
Saying this would not only disgust Sun Weiwei, but also help him clear his name—a perfect excuse to kill two birds with one stone!
At this moment, Sun Jialin was silently applauding himself for having such a clever mind.
Seeing Sun Jialin insult him in front of so many people, especially in front of his beloved Sun Weiwei, Li Qingshi became furious and looked at him angrily, saying, "Sun Jialin, stop talking nonsense! I got up early this morning to rush to pick up my bride, how could I have time to go to a place like that?" Standing to the side, Sun Weiwei casually said to Li Qingshi, "So you mean you have to go whenever you have time!"
When Sun Jialin saw Sun Weiwei questioning Li Qingshi like that, he was overjoyed, feeling that his words had worked and that the war would not spread to him.
But Li Qingshi, who was standing to the side, panicked when he heard Sun Weiwei's words and quickly explained to her, "Weiwei, we've come this far with great difficulty. I would never do such a thing. You have to believe me."
Don't listen to that kid Sun Jialin's nonsense. He's just trying to clear his name.
You're usually so smart, how come you can't see through his true colors right now?
"If you don't believe me, ask my wedding procession. They've been with me since before sunrise this morning, traveling with me the whole time. You can ask them; they can vouch for me!"
At this moment, Sun Weiwei saw that Li Qingshi was sweating profusely with anxiety, and his eagerness to prove his innocence was quite adorable.
Smiling, he said to Li Qingshi, "How could I not believe you!"
Li Qingshi was relieved after hearing Sun Weiwei's words.
Sun Jialin, standing to the side, sneered at Sun Weiwei, "That wedding procession was brought by Li Qingshi, so naturally they're on Li Qingshi's side. You actually believe what they say? You're incredibly stupid!"
Upon hearing Sun Jialin's words, Sun Weiwei first sneered, then her expression changed, and she glared angrily at Sun Jialin, saying, "If I believed you, I'd be incredibly stupid! Sun Jialin, do you think everyone's a fool, that you can just make up something and everyone will believe you? Heh, you're being naive. Now that we've caught you red-handed, what excuses do you have left?"
Sun Jialin said, "Sun Weiwei, don't be so absolute. Just because you don't believe me doesn't mean everyone doesn't believe me. Aren't you being too self-centered?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Weiwei chuckled and said, "Sun Jialin, things have already come to this point, and you still refuse to admit it. The magistrate has handled countless cases; he is discerning and will surely see through your little tricks!"
At this moment, the county magistrate standing to the side looked at Sun Jialin with a stern expression and said, "Sun Jialin, now that you've been caught red-handed, it's impossible for you to deny it no matter what you do!"
At this moment, the magistrate's words carried the most authority. Sun Jialin's father, Sun Dafu, and mother, Zhao Shuping, were stunned when they heard the magistrate's words.
Sun Dafu looked at his son angrily and scolded him, "You good-for-nothing! We always give you the best food and the most money in the house. You have everything you need. Why would you hang out with bandits and do something like highway robbery?"
Although Sun Dafu was a man who loved money more than anything, he would often use some petty tricks in business for small gains, but that was all.
However, he would never do something as serious as robbery, which is a serious violation of the laws of the Great Jing Dynasty.
So seeing his eldest son, whom he usually doted on, do such a thing, Sun Dafu was so angry he was practically fuming.
Seeing that he could no longer hide the truth, Sun Jialin said bluntly, "Father, I was forced to rob people."
Sun Dafu said angrily, "Speak! What forced you to do something so heinous that you had to resort to highway robbery!"
Sun Jialin lowered his head and said, "Father, I owe five hundred taels of silver outside. When I asked you for it, you wouldn't give it to me, so I robbed Li Qingshi!"
When Sun Dafu heard Sun Jialin say that he owed five hundred taels of silver, he was struck dumb. He felt dizzy and staggered back a few steps. His wife helped him up.
Although the Sun family is in business, they used to earn a lot of money a year when business was good. However, in recent years, the Great Jing Dynasty has been turbulent. The war in Shanyang County a while ago caused heavy losses to the Sun family. In order to restore the silver shop business, they have invested a lot of money, and now the family has very little money left.
Five hundred taels of silver was a huge sum for Sun Dafu when the Sun family business was at its peak. Now, when Sun Dafu heard that five hundred taels of silver was an astronomical figure that he dared not even imagine.
That's why Sun Dafu reacted so strongly when he heard his son say that he owed five hundred taels of silver.
Enraged, Sun Dafu raised his hand and slapped Sun Jialin hard across the face, shouting, "You good-for-nothing spendthrift! You'd better finish what you were saying all at once! How did you manage to rack up such a huge debt? Explain the whole story clearly! Otherwise, I'll break your legs today!"
This was the first time Sun Jialin had seen his father so angry with him, and he was genuinely frightened. He stammered, "Father... Father, please calm down and I'll tell you everything, but please don't hit me again..."
Before Sun Jialin could finish speaking, Sun Dafu was about to go up and beat up the good-for-nothing Sun Jialin again, but Sun Jialin's mother quickly stopped him.
Sun Dafu glared angrily at his wife, then looked at Sun Jialin and said, "Just say it, don't give me that nonsense, or I'll slap you!"
Seeing his father's fury, Sun Jialin quickly blurted out the whole story: "These five hundred taels of silver are gambling debts I owed outside. That person gave me ten days to pay them back, or he would break both my hands. I didn't want to be crippled, so I had no choice but to ask the underworld to help me rob them!"
Sun Jialin felt a chill run down his spine when he talked about the gangsters. When he asked them to help him rob someone, they made a condition beforehand: they would only take the job if he paid 100 taels of silver. But Sun Jialin didn't have any money. So he explained the situation to the robbers and agreed to pay them after he got the money. The robbers agreed and then they started their operation.
But the robbers they hired ended up running away without getting a single penny. People who dare to do this kind of thing are people who have been walking on the edge of a knife for years. They did their work for themselves, but didn't get any benefits. Do you think they would just give up?
Sun Jialin shuddered at the thought. (End of Chapter)