Mo Sang – CH 324

Chapter 324. Taking the Opportunity

Master Qiao spent four or five days looking at estates with a geomancer and an expert in digging ice cellars. Early one morning, she went to the Shunfeng headquarters to find Li Sangrou.

Master Qiao, her lips pursed and face tense, looked serious and went straight to Li Sangrou.

“From the day we set off from Yangzhou until now, two and a half months have passed, and I haven’t had a single day to do anything productive in peace!

I’m thirty-nine this year; how many more years do I have to live? This has delayed me for two and a half months!

It’s driving me crazy every day!”

Li Sangrou, overwhelmed by her urgency and indignation, leaned back.

“I can’t look at any more estates! I have to get to my business!” Master Qiao shouted.

Li Sangrou leaned back even further, instinctively feeling that she should have swung her arms a few times while shouting those words.

“Are you done?” Li Sangrou simply dragged her chair back a little.

“Yes! I’m not looking at any more estates!” Master Qiao said, her face still taut.

“First, you’re only thirty-nine. You have many years left to live, at least another thirty-nine.

Second, whether you look at those estates or not is none of my business. You can look if you want, or not.”

Master Qiao was stunned by Li Sangrou’s dismissive statement.

“However, looking at estates everywhere is to help you choose places you’ll use in the future. Whether the area you want is densely populated or sparsely populated, whether it’s near mountains or water, and so on—only you know these things, right?

The geomancers are best at choosing burial sites, not to mention digging ice cellars. Can you trust these people to choose? I don’t care; it’s not for my use,” Li Sangrou continued.

Master Qiao was silent for a while. “We can take turns going, or I can go after they’ve chosen.”

“Suit yourself! It’s your business; you decide.” Li Sangrou shrugged.

Master Qiao hummed in agreement and turned to leave, but Li Sangrou called out to her, “I have a little male dog named Pang’er. Could you help me…” Li Sangrou paused, then continued, “to castrate it?”

“Why don’t you just find a sculptor?” Master Qiao practically rolled his eyes.

“Sculptors are too crude. Besides, this is also a chance for you to practice your knife skills. You can’t just cut corpses; you need to practice on living creatures. Live people won’t do, but live dogs, cats, and rats are perfect for practice,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“We’ve used cats and dogs; rats are too disgusting,” Master Qiao frowned.

“Rats are great, lots of them and small. If you think wild ones are dirty, you can raise your own. The space and food for one dog can support dozens, even hundreds of rats, enough for you to use as many as you want,” Li Sangrou said with a beaming smile.

Master Qiao paused, then frowned. “How different are rats from humans?”

“They’re hugely different in size. As for other differences, you’d have to cut them open to see, wouldn’t you say?” Li Sangrou asked enticingly.

“They’re easy to raise, that’s true. You don’t have to worry about them. Back in the mountains, I raised cats and dogs for over a year, and when they were grown, I often couldn’t bring myself to kill them,” Master Qiao pondered.

“Give it a try.” Li Sangrou smiled.

“Hmm.” After a moment, Master Qiao hummed in agreement, then looked at Li Sangrou again, solemnly confirming, “I’m not going to see the estate anymore. I have to go attend to my important business!”

“I never meddle in your business!” Li Sangrou spread her hands.

………………………………

Minister Ren of the Ministry of Justice occupied a row of three rooms—two large and one small. The small room next door was used by Master Cao, Minister Ren’s chief advisor.

Master Cao unpacked the newly delivered case files one by one, scanned them, and divided them into several piles in front of him. After examining each document, Master Cao picked up the thick stack of files handed to him by the Jianle Prefecture yamen. He flipped through them page by page, carefully reading each one. He frowned, thought for a moment, then flipped through them again, stood up, walked to the door, and peeked out.

The servant boy, who was squatting by the door, meticulously brushing his turban, quickly raised his chin. “You’re back.”

Master Cao grunted in acknowledgment, took the files, and went into the two adjacent large rooms.

“Is something important?” Minister Ren was writing something.

“The case of the mute man in Chenliu County. The materials from the reinvestigation in Chenliu County have arrived, and they are exactly as that Lady Fu described,” Master Cao said, placing the files on Minister Ren’s desk.

“Oh, quite fast.” Minister Ren put down his pen, pulled over the files, and quickly scanned them.

“Right now, this case is attracting everyone’s attention; it’s a good opportunity,” Master Cao said with a smile.

“Yes, this is indeed a rare opportunity. This matter should not be delayed. I will go to the palace immediately to request an audience. His Majesty is very concerned about this case, so I must inform him,” Minister Ren said, taking his official hat, putting it on, and carrying the case files out.

Not long after, Minister Ren returned, drenched in sweat. Upon entering the room, he handed the case files to Master Cao, removed his hat, took a damp handkerchief from a servant, wiped his sweat, and smiled at Master Cao, saying, “His Majesty said it should not be delayed.”

“Then the sooner the better,” Master Cao smiled.

“Well, let’s discuss this.

First, where should this case be tried? Should it be in Jianle City, with the witnesses from Chenliu County coming over, or should it be tried in Chenliu County?

Second, this case cannot be tried solely by the prefectural government; it would be best if the three judicial departments jointly tried it. After all, it’s a case that has already been decided, and a joint trial by the three departments wouldn’t be against the rules.

Third, how should it be tried, and how should the verdict be!” Minister Ren patted the case file.

Minister Ren and Master Cao discussed the case file in detail for over an hour, finalizing the details. They then summoned several vice ministers from the Ministry of Justice to discuss the various aspects further, assigning tasks and sending everyone off to their respective duties.

In the evening, Lady Fu received a letter from the prefectural government. The next day, she went to see Lu Hepeng and Blind Mi. The three of them discussed the case file in detail all day.

That evening, Lady Fu went to the prison and told the mute woman that the trial would be reopened the next day.

The day Lady Fu received the news of the reopened trial, the Jianle City prefectural government posted a notice.

The trial location was also changed from the prefectural government hall to the entrance of the examination hall.

The main hall of the prefectural yamen wasn’t small, but with the presence of Minister Ren of the Ministry of Justice, the Chief Justice of the Court of Judicial Review, and the Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, plus Prefect Bai in charge of the interrogation, the hall was incredibly crowded.

Besides the judges, there were at least twenty or thirty witnesses and victims brought from Chenliu County, plus the yamen runners, making the area even more cramped.

Furthermore, the main hall wasn’t ideal for watching a spectacle.

As Minister Ren and Master Cao had discussed, the trial would be moved to the entrance of the examination hall.

On the day they received the reply, Prefect Bai and Magistrate Ying carefully inspected the entrance to the examination hall, deciding where to set up the official desk, where the witnesses would stand, and where to place the “no unauthorized personnel” signs.

The day before the trial, Magistrate Ying oversaw the erection of the thatched shed, the setting up of the official desk, and all the arrangements, ready for the trial the following day.

The next morning, before dawn, the best spots for observing the case—like the nearby tree branches, the hitching post, or the first row of the “no unauthorized access” line—were already occupied, everyone having secured their positions.

Hei Ma, Xiao Lu, Mazha, Chuantiao, and Datou searched the area but couldn’t find a single decent spot! They all stamped their feet in regret—they’d been careless!

Li Sangrou didn’t go to watch the commotion. As usual, she sat in the backyard of the Shunfeng headquarters, leisurely reading a storybook while gazing at the clear river and the corner tower on the opposite bank.

Lady Fu’s hair was pulled back, adorned with a white jade hairpin. She wore a plain white dress, a plain white bodice, and a plain white narrow-sleeved jacket. Head held high, she was clean-cut and exuded an air of confidence.

Lu Hepeng followed beside Lady Fu, carrying a thick stack of case files and testimonies, ready to hand them to her at any moment.

Blind Mi squatted in a corner of the witness area, leaning on his cane, looking utterly distressed.

About thirty witnesses, brought by the officials of Jianle City and Chenliu County, along with the aggrieved party Du Wu’s wife, were dismounted from a cart one by one, weaved through the surging crowd, and led to the courtroom.

The mute woman, shackled and chained, made her way through the crowd. As she passed the group of witnesses, Du Wu’s wife, standing at the front, screamed, lunged at her, grabbed her hair, and began scratching her face.

“You harlot! Shameless harlot! Why aren’t you dead yet? Why aren’t you dead yet?! Harlot! Whore! Shameless thing!”

The crowd erupted in uproar.

“Let her go! You shrew!”

“You’re the harlot! Let her go! Where are the officials? Are they all dead?”

“She called her a whore! How is she a whore?”

…

“Silence!”

Prefect Bai slammed his gavel, and the bailiffs banged their water-and-fire sticks, shouting in unison, “Silence!”

The commotion subsided, and Prefect Bai secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The mute woman knelt in the center, head bowed and eyes downcast.

Prefect Bai read a lengthy account of the case, followed by the reply from the three judicial departments: the original evidence collection was inappropriate; to ascertain the truth, he specially summoned the neighbors and other knowledgeable individuals from Du Wu’s surrounding community for questioning in court.

None of the neighbors from Du Wu’s district in Chenliu County had ever experienced such a scene. They trembled with fear, answering in a daze, while a few others, acting wildly, gave a hundred answers to every question, foaming at the mouth.

Among the witnesses, Matchmaker Sun was questioned the most and answered the most.

Among the neighbors, she was considered worldly-wise, having spoken only a few times at the county scholar’s house and attended a wedding banquet at the Chenliu County magistrate’s house once. Today’s situation was beyond her wildest imagination. Dizzy and terrified, she answered every question that Magistrate Bai asked, even confessing to embezzling a single copper coin from the dowry.

The re-interrogation went smoothly and easily; the witnesses answered every question.

The neighbors’ testimonies elicited occasional shouts of anger from the surrounding onlookers, who cursed Du Wu and his wife as inhuman, deserving of their deaths, and said Du Wu’s wife deserved to die too. The shouts were incessant.

Soft-hearted men and women listened, wiping away tears.

Minister Ren paid little attention to the witnesses; his focus was entirely on the onlookers.

Hmm, this public outrage was satisfying!

Although the interrogation went incredibly smoothly, the number of witnesses was limited, and one or two hours had already passed after a round of questioning.

When it was Lady Fu’s turn to speak on behalf of the mute, she only asked two questions:

“This marriage violates all six rites. The mute’s biological parents sold their daughter to Matchmaker Sun, who didn’t even mention the marriage to her parents.

Matchmaker Sun led the mute to the Du family. If it was a sale, there was no indenture; if it was a marriage, there was no marriage certificate, no wedding ceremony, no witnesses, and the matchmaking was nonexistent. This is a peaceful era, a prosperous age, not a time of war. If such a marriage is considered a marriage, what use are the rites?

Secondly, even if the mute married into the Du family, married to Du Wu’s son, Du Wu raped his daughter-in-law in front of his son, repeatedly committing adultery in broad daylight and in full view of everyone. Du Wu’s wife beat the mute nearly to death. As parents, they are utterly shameless and immoral.

This couple, worse than beasts, now uses the concept of filial piety to take the life of a mute. Is this filial piety meant to educate the world, or is it used as a tool for their bestiality?”

Amidst the surrounding clamor, cries, and curses, Minister Ren and his two companions whispered amongst themselves for a while before summoning Prefect Bai for instructions.

Prefect Bai struck his gavel again, silencing the commotion, and announced the end of the court hearing. The verdict would be announced after a meeting of the three judicial departments.

The announcement came faster than anyone expected. That afternoon, the verdict of the three judicial departments was posted on the wall outside the yamen:

The marriage between the mute and the Du family lacked the six rites of marriage, and although there was a matchmaker, there was no witness. Therefore, it cannot be considered a marriage. Since there was no marriage, the Du couple raped and beat the mute, and Du was subsequently killed by the mute. This was their own fault, and the mute was innocent.

Jianle City erupted in cheers, and several entertainment districts even set off firecrackers. There had been so much good news lately!

Li Sangrou sat in the backyard of Shunfeng Store, looking at the notice that Hei Ma had brought back, sweating profusely. She slowly read it through, placed it on the table, and picked up her teacup.

As she expected, they had still twisted the case into a marriage without marriage, a father-son relationship—something they dared not touch.

However, it was always a good thing that the mute was alive.

Not long after, Lady Fu brought the mute into the backyard of Shunfeng Stop.

Li Sangrou stood up, smiling at Lady Fu and the mute, who still followed closely behind Lady Fu with her head bowed.

“I brought her here to kowtow to you,” Lady Fu gestured to the mute.

Before Lady Fu finished speaking, the mute had already knelt. Li Sangrou stepped forward and reached out to pull the mute up. “Don’t kowtow. I don’t like people kneeling, and I especially don’t like kowtowing.

If you want to thank me, then live well and take good care of yourself.”

“She wanted to come with me, and I agreed. She had nowhere else to go.” Lady Fu looked at the mute woman, wanting to laugh, but tears welled up. “She’s a poor child.”

“She won’t suffer with you, and you won’t have to suffer the cold and heat every day,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

Lady Fu chuckled. “That’s true. I’m really no good at housework; this is my blessing.”

“Give her a name, and let her take your surname, Fu,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“I’ve already chosen a name, Jingyi. She chose the surname herself, Bai,” Lady Fu said with a smile.

“Bai Jingyi, that’s a beautiful name. Jingyi, you’re so clever. Don’t just cook, wash clothes, and do housework. In your spare time, learn from Lady Fu. Although you can’t speak, you can write, which is a form of communication.

In the future, you should also be able to help Lady Fu in court,” Li Sangrou said, looking at Jingyi with a smile.

Jingyi suddenly raised her head and looked straight at Li Sangrou, then immediately lowered her head again and nodded along with her body.