The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 214: The Court Trial on the Disobedience Case [Part 2]

On the 19th of the first month, fine snow drifted, and the weather was freezing.

Just after the Lantern Festival, the streets were inevitably bleak and weak after the carnival, but outside the lobby of the Central Judicial Office, it was crowded with people.

The men, women, and children, old and young, with their shoulders and hands folded, stomped their feet, but they still couldn’t bear to move. They all stretched their necks, widened their eyes, and looked straight into the lobby.

"Here, here, here comes the Heavenly Master!"

Suddenly, everyone shouted, but he didn’t know who started it. If it weren’t for Uncle Qin, the gatekeeper, who was quick in his eyes and hands and threw the whip at the clean street, it would be hard to say that there were a few stupid people with frozen heads who rushed directly into the lobby.

It was Sun Shaozong, the new Governor, who caused such a stir.

There were few entertainment activities these days. The rich and powerful people could still find some ways to kill time, but not the people who were in a state of "hunger and thirst" all year round. Therefore, some bad stories and some bad jokes could also be spread from mouth to mouth.

Now they suddenly heard that Sun Shaozong, such a god of justice, was going to hold a court trial. Who didn’t want to see it?!

So it resulted in thousands of people shouting, cheering, and blocking half of the street. Fortunately, the government's deterrent force was strong enough this year. Otherwise, the farce that would impact the government would happen every minute.

Sun Shaozong walked out of the back hall, and when he saw the excitement outside the gate, he couldn’t help but feel surprised and complacent.

When he was in modern times, he cracked more than ten times as many cases as today.

But it was his first time being so warmly sought after.

After stabilizing his mind, he stood upright and sat down under the plaque hanging in the mirror. Seeing that Lin Delu was also sitting in the jury's seat, he took up the wooden brick and made a heavy fall on the case. He said aloud, "Rise!"

Zhao Wuwei hurriedly followed and shouted, "The Master has orders, please come forward to the court and ask questions!"

"Mighty!"

With the long and powerful sound, twelve water and fire sticks were beating on the ground at the same time, until the three members of the family were brought in and kneeled in front of the hall, which was a temporary end.

Hu Jingsheng and his wife were quite rich, especially the little woman, who knew that she was going to be questioned in court today. She dressed up and raised her beauty from five to seven points.

After seeing the appearance of these three people, Sun Shaozong scowled and asked, "Who is in the hall? Tell me your name!"

"I’m Hu Dazhu—"

"I’m Hu Jingsheng—"

"I’m Hu-Lin—"

"Greetings to the Justice Lord."

There were also a lot of questions, but Sun Shaozong was too lazy to follow the rules. In addition, these rules were just conventions rather than regulations.

So he saved all the matters and asked directly, "Hu Jingsheng, your father filed a lawsuit against you and your wife. In the complaint, you were disobedient and unfilial, and you often fed him with leftover sour rice normally, treating him like an animal. Is that true?"

Hu Jingsheng hurriedly yelled, "Lord, I did not intentionally give him spoiled food, but my wife and I are busy outside..."

Pa!

Sun Shaozong slammed the gavel on the table and asked in a deep voice, "I only ask you, are these facts?!"

Hu Jingsheng was shocked. His eyes were just hitting Sun Shaozong's eagle eyes, and his liver was trembling. He leaned down and cringed back, "Report back to the Lord, it's true... It's true."

Sun Shaozong turned his eyes to Hu-Lin again and said, "Hu-Lin, your father-in-law said in the complaint that you intentionally humiliated him by throwing swill on his bedding. What's the matter?"

"It’s a mistake, Lord!"

Hu-Lin's courage was obviously much stronger than her husband's, and she cried out with a sharp voice, "I was pouring away some swill that day. Who would have thought that was the place he would dry the mattress? Even if it was true, it was not the intention of mine!"

"Besides, aren't there similar things that occur like this in other people's homes?"

"Just say the Old Xu family is in our alley. Her daughter-in-law accidentally buckled the urinal on her mother-in-law. Why didn't Old Xu come to complain?"

"This is clearly my father-in-law who is not pleased with me, so he takes a small matter like a needle in the head and he wants to kill me!"

After listening to this sophistry, Old Man Hu angrily shouted, "Nonsense," but where could he cover her arrogance?

No wonder everyone said that this woman had never lost a fight, she was really smart!

Sun Shaozong sneered a few times and suddenly asked, "You said that you accidentally poured some swill on it. Then let me ask you, where did you stand that day and where did you throw the swill?"

When Hu-Lin quarreled with others normally, she was used to messing about casually, but how could the Official Master ask for such details?

She didn't know what the purpose of these questions was, so she stammered, "I came out of the kitchen that day and didn't look at it very carefully. I just threw it at random..."

Sun Shaozong interrupted her again and asked, "So, are you standing at the kitchen door throwing swill?"

Hu-Lin hesitated a little, then nodded and said, "That's right."

Pa!

Sun Shaozong hit the table again and shouted, "What a tough woman! I have already made people inquire about it. Your clothesline is in front of the front room, but the kitchen is in the west!"

"You said you didn't do it on purpose. When you pour swill, do you always close your eyes and directly pour swill on your own doors and windows?!"

As soon as the words were over, a burst of applause came from outside the lobby.

"Good!"

"Master Justice is really wise!"

"It is worthy of the name of divine judgement!"

"Bah~ What's the general verdict? Now we need to call him the Governor!"

The loud cheers caused Hu-Lin to lose it. How could she have thought that the Lord was so detailed that he could find out all the layout in her yard?

"Hu-Lin, I will ask you again!"

Sun Shaozong also asked, "Your father-in-law said in the complaint that you couples always beat and scold him, especially you, this vicious woman, who used to slap him on the face several times. What's the reason?"

Hu-Lin, who was exposed to sophistry, was also a little flustered at this time, but she still said stiffly, "Lord, how can you take his empty words seriously?"

"What empty talk?!"

With a sneer, Sun Shaozong picked up the gavel, patted it gently, and said, "Come, take the witnesses, Grandma Liu and Old Man Zhang!"

Not long ago, he saw a pair of old people coming in from outside. They were shaking and were trying to kneel.

Sun Shaozong hurriedly said, "Now that you are old, you don't need to kneel. Then, repeat what you said."

"Lord Justice, I went to talk to Brother Hu because of some unimportant issues that day, and I saw a red palm on his face! I asked him, but he wouldn’t say more, but it was hit by a woman," the Old Man said.

Grandma Liu also hurriedly said, "I have seen it once! The palm print is small, and it is designated by his daughter-in-law!"

There was another uproar outside the lobby, and the voices of "poison woman" and "bitch" continued to be heard.

Pa!

Sun Shaozong controlled the fuss, knocked lightly, and said in a deep voice, "Hu-Lin, what else do you have to say now?"

Hu-Lin was a little flustered at first, but then gnashed her teeth and stuck her neck, disdaining to say, "How many years have these two old people been friends with my father-in-law? They might collude with each other to slander me. What's so strange about it?!"

"You... You..."

"What a shameless little hoof!"

"My family is unlucky. It's really unlucky!"

Not only Granny Liu, Old Man Zhang, and Old Man Hu were stamping their feet there. Even Lin Delu, who was on the jury's side, couldn’t sit still. He stood up, arched his hand, and said, "Your honor, such a cruel and vicious woman, it seems that it is impossible not to lynch!"

Outside the lobby, someone shouted, ”Kill this girl,” ”Let her ride a wooden donkey,” ”Soak her in a pig cage,” and so on.

"Wait a moment!"

However, before Sun Shaozong made a decision, he heard someone in the hall yell, "Here is a reply!"