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Chapter 329: Chapter 331: Where Is Your Integrity?_1
Zheng Shi, however, disagreed, "How are you the victims? You are all jumping around alive and well, while my Yu’er’s whole life has been ruined!"
Three years, neither long nor short.
But for a young girl, it is the bloom of her youth, and having been through jail, who would dare to marry her now?
What is she to do in the future?
"Are you questioning the judgment of this court?" Qin Longyun asked in a deep voice.
"You’re nothing but a corrupt official! How much did they bribe you with? I curse you to have an agonizing death, to never find peace in the afterlife!"
Zheng Shi had long forgotten the saying that one should not fight against officials, and she was fixated on delivering her scolding.
Qin Longyun turned to his assistant, "For causing a disturbance in the court and insulting an imperial officer, what should be her punishment?"
"My lord, she should receive twenty slaps to the face."
Qin Longyun nodded, and immediately a government official carried out the order.
Zheng Shi was forced to kneel on the ground, while another official started to deliver blows from both sides.
The officials were all in their prime, and their hands were powerful.
After just a couple of hits, Zheng Shi saw stars and blood began to trickle from the corner of her mouth.
Zheng Shi looked pitiable, but the pity always comes with something detestable.
If you leave home without your wits, who else should be blamed but yourself?
The slapping sounds were incessant, and Xiao Biyu glared at Qiao Duo’er with hatred, blaming her for all of this!
Qiao Duo’er approached Xiao Biyu with a faint smile and whispered in her ear, "Actually, the soil in the alley was quite hard, there were no footprints at all. If you had just held out a bit longer, everything would have been fine. Alas, why were you so impatient?"
The government official did not go to collect footprints; they merely went out, walked around, and returned with a blank sheet of paper.
If Xiao Biyu had not become flustered and had stuck to her previous testimony, nobody could have done anything to her.
Clenching her fists, Xiao Biyu spat out, "Qiao Duo’er, just you wait, I will make sure you die!"
Qiao Duo’er just smiled faintly, as she had never considered Xiao Biyu to be her match.
Even if there were to be a next time, she would still crush Xiao Biyu to smithereens.
Before long, the official on the other side had finished carrying out the punishment.
"Take Xiao Biyu and Wu Cheng into custody, while the others may stay for the time being. Close the doors of the court hall for now."
Qin Longyun still remembered the promise he made to Tan Zhenghong; once the officials acted upon his orders, he tapped the court beating wood to signal.
Tan Zhengyong immediately knelt down, "My lord, I confess; my wife and I sneaked into Fourth Boss’s room, looking for some silver, but found nothing. There was only a silver hairpin, and I... I pocketed it. I swear I won’t dare do it again, my lord."
He understood clearly; Wu Cheng and Xiao Biyu had been quibbling all along, but facts are facts; they ended up in prison, didn’t they?
And as for him, with both witness and evidence present, and Wu Youcai having seen it all, there was no point denying it.
So he did not bother to make an effort, and simply confessed his guilt.
Qin Longyun cleared his throat; he had not even spoken a word and here was a confession?
In his years of judging cases, he had never encountered someone so straightforward; he could hardly believe this man and Tan Zhenghong were brothers.
Qiao Duo’er looked to the sky in disbelief, and Tan Zhenghong remained silent; was there no sense of integrity? At least wait for Lord Qin to exert some pressure.
"Since you have admitted your crimes so readily, then you shall receive a punishment of five hits with the large plank as a warning."
Tan Zhengyong’s face turned pale, "My lord, I’ve saved you so much trouble; can’t you spare me the punishment?"
The assistant glanced sharply at Tan Zhengyong, "Do you think you’re haggling in a vegetable market? You are guilty, and without punishment, how will Lord Qin command respect in the future?"
