Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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“Since the Niu family treated your sister badly, that’s a family feud. What does it have to do with Chen Ergou and Liang Wang?” Chen Buyu asked in a deep voice.
“Guess.” Wang Baitian laughed again.
His gaze fell coldly on Mu Zhao, Lu Qian, and the others. “The young master and all the officials are so smart, how could they not guess the reason?”
“You’re good at arresting me, but you don’t understand the case at all?”
“That’s right! With such a corrupt governor in Weizhou City, how can the people’s livelihood be good? The government offices are full of big shots who only know how to eat and not do anything. Who can care about the people’s suffering? Hahahaha!”
“You’re being insolent!” Governor Yu didn’t expect to be the first target of the thugs, especially in front of the young master and many officials. He immediately lost face.
“If it weren’t for your daughter painting my portrait, would you bunch of good-for-nothing officials have been able to catch me?”
Governor Yu trembled with rage. The clerk, who was diligently recording the statement, frowned, wondering whether these words of insult to the governor should be recorded.
“Your sister, Niu Wangshi, died two years ago,” Mu Zhao said calmly, unperturbed by Wang Baitian’s words. “Afterwards, the Niu family received a large sum of money, spending over five hundred taels just on gambling.”
“This doesn’t match their actual annual income; there must be something hidden. But everyone in the Niu family is now dead, and the newlywed bride knows nothing about it. The neighbors have no way of knowing what happened to the Niu family. Therefore, the authorities can’t find anything.”
Mu Zhao said in a low voice, “You didn’t harm the Niu family’s new bride, which shows you are a person who distinguishes right from wrong. A chivalrous person like you wouldn’t indiscriminately kill innocent people. Tell us your grievances. Every killing has a motive. You’re avenging your sister, and this involves Liang Wang? Explain clearly, and we can consider the case accordingly.”
“Put him down and let him sit down to talk.”
“Your Highness!” Governor Yu exclaimed in surprise.
This thug has killed many people. If he suddenly attacks, these powerless civil officials can only use their bodies to shield the prince…
“He is seriously injured and his feet are still shackled. What could possibly happen to him?” Mu Zhao frowned slightly. “Put him down and talk slowly and carefully. Go and bring some stools over.”
Governor Yu had no choice but to order the jailers to bring in a few stools, and everyone sat down facing Wang Baitian.
“There are many ways to kill. To kill for one’s country is to be a hero; to kill for one’s family is to be a paragon.” Lu Qian smiled gently. “Wang Baitian, tell us your story.”
Wang Baitian, dragging his heavy shackles, sat down and smirked. “Your Highness, gentlemen, do you know what kind of person that lecherous Liang Wang is?”
“Since being demoted to Weizhou, Liang Wang has been harming countless innocent women in the city.”
“He also has a cruel and inhumane hobby: he enjoys harassing pregnant women. The number of pregnant women who have died at his hands is well over 100! My sister was one of them!”
Wang Baitian flipped his five fingers over and over, causing Mu Zhao, Lu Qian, Chen Buyu, and the others to change color.
Governor Yu was so uneasy that he jumped up on the spot, “Nonsense! If such a major event had occurred, how could there not be a whisper in Weizhou City?”
“Hahaha! Whispers? What whispers do you, a mediocre official, want? Would the Liang Wang’s Mansion spread this matter? Of course, they would cover it up tightly!”
Wang Baitian’s eyes were filled with sternness, “Moreover, there was an incident six years ago when a farmer in Chenjia Village sued the Liang Wang’s Mansion for abducting a woman. Did the Governor do anything about it?”
“Me?” Governor Yu broke out in a cold sweat and quickly looked at Wu Yong beside him.
Wu Yong hurriedly spoke up, “I vaguely recall this matter. Six years ago, a farmer in Chenjia Village sued the Liang Wang’s Mansion for abducting his daughter-in-law, but her body was eventually found in a ravine behind Dongshan Mountain.”
“The body was torn to pieces by wild wolves, clearly indicating she was attacked and killed by a pack. The farmer claimed to have witnesses who testified that his daughter-in-law was forcibly taken away by the Liang Wang’s Mansion, but during the court hearing, the witnesses claimed they didn’t see clearly.”
“Now that there were no witnesses or physical evidence, Your Excellency naturally cannot convict the Liang Wang’s Mansion.”
Wang Baitian sneered, “You didn’t investigate such a huge oversight, and you didn’t investigate why the witness recanted on the spot. In the end, you just protected each other and hastily closed the case. The Governor has been the Governor of Weizhou City for eight years, and he has protected the Liang Wang’s Mansion for eight whole years.”
“Nonsense!!!” Governor Yu jumped up abruptly, furious. “You can’t say such things! I have no dealings with the Liang Wang, and everyone in Weizhou can attest to that!”
Who doesn’t know that the Liang Wang is despised by the Emperor? Is Yu Shoudao a fool to associate so closely with the Liang Wang? Doesn’t he fear being implicated and disliked by the Emperor?
“Now the governor is afraid?” Wang Baitian sneered. “You haven’t seen a thing about the numerous crimes Liang Wang has committed over the past eight years!”
“My younger sister was rescued by the Niu family while fleeing famine, and I was extremely grateful. Who would have thought that less than two years after marrying into the Niu family, she would be sold to Liang Wang’s mansion by this heartless family.”
“I truly hate it now, I hate that I couldn’t get to my sister’s side sooner, that I couldn’t save her. I don’t know how much pain and fear she felt before she died! And what about the Niu family? They were celebrating on my sister’s corpse! Six hundred taels of silver to buy my sister’s life! The money Niu Daji and Niu Erji sent to the gambling den was all for buying my sister’s life!”
“I investigated for nearly two years, asking many friends in the martial arts world for help, before I finally found out the whole truth. Chen Ergou was originally a servant in Liang Wang’s mansion. He was the one who spotted my sister on the street and secretly went to the Niu family. He bought my sister to work in Liang Wang’s mansion for a year for ten taels of silver. Old Mrs. Niu happily accepted the silver, completely disregarding that her daughter-in-law was about to give birth!”
“Later, when they found my sister, she was dead in Dongshan, covered in wounds. Niu Daji, a clever man, noticed something amiss with my sister’s body and used it to negotiate with Chen Ergou. The Liang Wang’s Mansion offered six hundred taels of silver to silence them, and Chen Ergou, due to his incompetence, got into trouble and was expelled from the Liang Wang’s Mansion by the lecherous old man.”
“Six hundred taels? For members of the royal family, six hundred taels could buy the life of a commoner. Perhaps that’s still a high price for us! For ordinary people who die in a horse-drawn carriage accident, being rewarded with thirty or fifty taels by nobles would be considered a stroke of luck.”
“The Niu family was overjoyed with this windfall. Old Mrs. Niu favored her youngest son and secretly gave Niu Erji two hundred taels of silver, but he gambled it all away and ended up with a lot of debt.”
“The two brothers fought fiercely, and Niu Daji refused to give his younger brother any more money to pay off his debts. His mother, unable to persuade him and fearing she might anger the eldest son, told Niu Erji to find a solution himself. The couple had no choice but to sell themselves into long-term employment at your governor’s mansion to pay off the debt.”
“That’s the whole story. I started by killing Chen Ergou, then the entire Niu family, and that old lecher. It was all their own fault!”
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