591 Not Guilty
Whether the matter was true or false, it wasn’t just the words of the two parties involved. They had to find relevant witnesses.
However, the stingy Lin Laosan and Li Cuihua didn’t call the Lin family Village’s villagers over. They were afraid that they would have to spend their money if they called them over. At the very least, a bowl of green soup noodles would cost them money if they were to come to the county.
County Magistrate Zhou smacked the gavel again and shouted sternly, ” Lin yuelan, if what you said is true, then Lin Sanniu and the others’ accusation of you being unfilial is false. We suspect that they are framing you.
“Lin Sanniu, you asked Lin yuelan for 500 taels of family support. Is that true?” he asked Lin Sanniu in a stern voice.
Lin Sanniu was shocked, and his mind was in a state of panic.
The things that had been revealed were completely different from what they had expected. They had thought that as long as they went to court and reported Lin yuelan for being unfilial, the magistrate could judge Lin yuelan as unfilial without asking for any reason.
However, the magistrate was obviously biased toward Lin yuelan.
Lin Sanniu replied, ” my Lord, I asked her for 500 taels. I had no choice. I have old parents, three or four insensible children, and a weak and sickly wife. Look, she has a thousand taels of silver and a big house, but she doesn’t care about my family. In a fit of anger, I asked her for five hundred taels of alimony. My Lord, since she already has so much money, shouldn’t she be given three to five hundred taels of family support?
“Since ancient times, it was natural for children to be filial to their parents. According to the rules of the country, the children must unconditionally show filial piety to their parents without asking for any reason, even if they have been cut off!
“Your Excellency, this lowly one is now suing Lin yuelan in the name of unfilial piety!”
Lin Sanniu’s words were clearly overbearing, and he was forcing County Magistrate Zhou.
This was a hint to County Magistrate Zhou that no matter what they had done in the past, now that he had come to court to file a complaint, County Magistrate Zhou had to judge Lin yuelan as unfilial without any reason.
Although his words were a little out of line, as a citizen of the Long Yan Kingdom, no matter how many reasons Lin yuelan had, there was no doubt that she was already a great unfilial daughter.
Thus, regardless of whether Lin yuelan was truly unfilial or not, as long as her parents lodged a complaint, she would be considered unfilial and would have to bear the crime. In addition to accepting the punishment of being “unfilial “, she would also have to follow her parents ‘requests and be filial to all their conditions.
County Magistrate Zhou, Zhou wencai, little twelve, Jiang Zhennan, and the rest heard Lin Sanniu’s words and looked at Lin yuelan with worry in their eyes.
Lin yuelan stood beside Lin Sanniu. The corners of her mouth curled up into an arc that was obviously filled with mockery and sarcasm.
She was rather surprised that the usually clumsy and foolish Lin Sanniu would have the courage to say those words.
This made her think of a saying, ‘birds die for food, and humans die for wealth.’
Lin Sanniu had obviously made up his mind to Sue her for being unfilial. Then, they would get everything from her.
Lin yuelan sneered in her heart. ‘you must be dreaming!’
County Magistrate Zhou had no choice but to ask Lin yuelan, ” the defendant, Lin yuelan, do you have anything else to say? ”
However, everyone knew that no matter what Lin yuelan wanted to say, her ‘unfilial’ reputation had already been set in stone.
Lin yuelan did not respond to County Magistrate Zhou’s question. Jiang Zhennan was the first to step forward. His sharp eyes looked at Lin Sanniu and Lin Laosan. He asked sternly, ” three years ago, Lin yuelan cut her veins and bled three bowls of blood to return her bloodline to her father. Is that true? ”
This matter had been mentioned earlier, but after everyone was confused by Lin Sanniu and Lin yuelan’s words, no one thought of it.
Now, this matter was brought up again, and everyone came to a sudden realization.
However, why did this man bring this up? Could he change the fact that Lin yuelan was ‘unfilial’?
When Lin Sanniu met Jiang Zhennan’s eagle-like sharp gaze, his heart could not help but tighten. The expression on his face was also filled with panic. He stuttered in fear, ” this... this...”