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Chapter 316: Chapter 318 - Is There Evidence?_1
Their opinions were unanimous — they had to report to the authorities.
However, as night was falling, they could only go to the town the next day.
To be safe, Tan Zhenghong informed the village chief about the incident.
In the village, theft and releasing snakes to bite people were considered grave crimes. The village chief immediately declared that no matter who committed the act, they would be severely punished.
Qiao Duo’er packed the snake in a cloth bag and then placed it inside a pottery jar, which she hung inside the well.
This way, the smell on the snake’s body could be preserved to the greatest extent.
The medicinal scent on the snake’s body was an important piece of evidence. If it were not well preserved, it would be a great loss.
As night fell, Qiao Duo’er couldn’t help but ask, "Do you really want to report Tan Zhengyong?"
Tan Zhenghong nodded, "This time if he gets put away, at most he’ll endure a few beatings as a lesson. If there’s a next time, it might not be as simple as just a beating."
It was a case of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, so to speak.
He hoped that his brother would learn a lesson and refrain from committing such foolish acts in the future.
Otherwise, if troubles kept emerging every three days, how could he and Duo’er live in peace? 𝒏𝒐𝒗𝒑𝒖𝙗.𝒄𝒐𝒎
"Whatever you do is right," Qiao Duo’er said timidly.
Tan Zhenghong smiled slightly, "When the time comes, there will inevitably be those who say we’re heartless. You must be prepared."
"Caring so much about what others think, how tiresome must our lives be? No matter what you do, there’s always someone who won’t be satisfied."
Qiao Duo’er patted Tan Zhenghong’s shoulder to offer comfort.
Tan Zhenghong smiled faintly, "The days are ours, let’s not bother about them."
He had fully let go. He had warned them over and over again, yet they refused to listen. What more could he do?
His principle was to be kind, but not weak.
The next day, Tan Zhenghong and Qiao Duo got up early in the morning, and as they were getting ready to leave, Tan Zhengyong came over.
After a night, he came again to extort money.
"Hurry up and give me the silver. Three or Two Silver for the medicine, plus a nourishment fee, makes ten taels total. If you don’t pay up, I’ll have my wife come and stay at your place!"
Tan Zhengyong said threateningly, intent on getting his way this time.
Qiao Duo’er sneered, "Keep dreaming!"
"Then I’ll just have to spread the word and let everyone see what kind of evil woman you are!"
Tan Zhengyong pointed at Qiao Duo’er’s nose and began to curse.
Tan Zhenghong said impatiently, "Haven’t you finished yet? You came uninvited to steal. If you got bitten to death, it’s nobody’s fault but your own!"
"You... What evidence do you have to prove I stole anything?" Tan Zhengyong asked defiantly.
Yesterday, Qiao Duo’er had caught him red-handed, and he, feeling guilty, had made a couple of excuses and then fled in panic.
But that was yesterday. Today, he had no silver hairpin on him; this was tantamount to death without evidence. He intended to claim that he had been wronged!
Ah, bless his parents for giving him such a glib tongue.
Tan Zhenghong spoke slowly, "We have no evidence to prove that you’re a thief, so we can only go and report this to the officials."
Tan Zhengyong sneered, "Stop trying to scare me. You don’t have the silver to make an official report. Do you think the Master Guang would even care about your case?"
Isn’t there a saying? ’The character for ’official’ has two mouths—those with justice but no money should not enter’."
"You’d be better off worrying about yourself."
With that, Tan Zhenghong, along with Qiao Duo, left the house.
A sense of dread struck Tan Zhengyong; Tan Zhenghong was indeed serious! But what to do now?
If he were to be dragged to the Government Office... he would likely be flayed half to death!
Curse it, it was just a lousy silver hairpin. He didn’t even care about it!
He wouldn’t have bothered with it had he not seen a silver hairpin just lying around when he was out yesterday.
