frightfiction Chapter 97 Tell the Story
Chapter 97 Tell the Story
Jia Yi's mind raced. "This money bag is indeed mine. I did have a transaction with him before, but it has nothing to do with the murder he mentioned."
I fell in love with Xinyi at first sight that day, and ever since then, I have been thinking about her and wanting to marry her.
I admit that it was wrong of me to keep the fact that I was already married and had children a secret from Xinyi, but I was also worried that she would have reservations if she found out and wouldn't be able to marry me wholeheartedly.
Moreover, although I married Cui Niang, I had long since lost all feelings for her. I originally intended to divorce her before marrying Xin Yi, but after so many years, I was afraid that Cui Niang might do something rash, so I kept it a secret.
This money bag did indeed contain the silver I traded with him. At the time, he had nothing on him to carry silver, so I kindly gave him this money bag as a gift. I never expected him to use it to frame me now.
"Do you have anything else to say?" the official in charge of the Ministry of Justice asked Fang Niu.
“Every word I say is true. If there is even half a lie, may I die a horrible death.”
For the past two years, I've been hiding away from home and haven't been able to return. My fiancée was almost sold by her father to someone else as a concubine. If it weren't for a benefactor bringing me back, I wouldn't even have a fiancée now.
"And I know this is my fault. I committed a crime, and turning myself in means I'll go to jail. If I hadn't really done it, why would I come here for nothing? Am I crazy to leave my perfectly good home and go to prison?"
After observing the conflicting accounts from both sides, the Ministry of Justice official pondered for a long time before saying, "Since you are both giving conflicting accounts, it is indeed difficult to convict you without any other evidence besides this money bag."
"Right now, both of you are only giving your own side of the story. For a serious crime like murder for money, more evidence is needed. You can't convict someone based solely on a money bag."
Upon hearing this, Grandmother Jia became smug, saying, "I knew my son wouldn't do such a thing. How could a scholar like him commit such a terrible act as murder for money?"
But as soon as she finished speaking, Li Xianda raised his hand and said, "Doctor, I have a witness."
"Oh?" Everyone turned to look at him.
"Please grant me permission, doctor, to bring the person in."
"can."
Li Xianda had already placed the men waiting outside the yamen. Now that he had received permission from the Ministry of Justice official, he immediately had the other two men brought in.
After the two men entered, Li Xianda bowed to the official in charge of the Ministry of Justice and said, "Sir, these two are people we discovered to be connected to this case during our investigation some time ago."
One of them happened to witness Jia Yi rescuing Miss Jiang while returning from gathering firewood in the suburbs, while the other overheard Jia Yi and Fang Niu plotting to harm Miss Jiang.
Although Li Xianda had promised the two men great rewards, he was still somewhat afraid when he arrived at the court. Upon seeing the Ministry of Justice official above him, he immediately knelt down and said, "Your Excellency."
“You two are witnesses, so there is no need for you to kneel down. Stand up and speak.”
"Thank you, sir."
The two men stood up together. The official from the Ministry of Justice looked at the two men below him: one was a burly man who looked like a woodcutter, and the other was a woman who looked to be about forty years old.
The burly man first bowed to the official in charge of the Ministry of Justice before slowly speaking, "Greetings, sir. My surname is Sun, and my given name is Song, but everyone calls me Sun the Woodcutter."
It was quite a coincidence that day; I had never witnessed such a thrilling accident.
Miss Jiang must have just returned from worshipping Buddha at Huiguang Temple that day, and happened to be passing through a small path. It was already getting dark.
I saw that when Miss Jiang's carriage was passing through that path, someone threw a small stone at it. Strangely enough, as soon as the stone was thrown, Miss Jiang's carriage began to slowly crack, and then the carriage went out of control and rushed towards the cliff.
At the critical moment, Young Master Jia rushed out and grabbed the carriage. I remember that at that time, Young Master Jia's foot was accidentally run over by the carriage, but at least he stopped the carriage from rushing towards the cliff.
When the carriage finally came to a stop, it was in complete disarray. All the debris fell on Miss Jiang, and the carriage could no longer support her as she sat on it. She narrowly escaped falling off the cliff edge; had she been just a hair's breadth away, she would have fallen to her death.
The Ministry of Justice official, who had handled many cases, quickly grasped the key point from this conversation: "You said that a stone was thrown at Miss Jiang's carriage. Did you see clearly who it was?"
"My lord, let me explain in detail. The strange thing is this. Actually, I had just received a big order that day. A family in the city needed a lot of firewood, so I had been leaving home early every day to go to Zifu Mountain to chop firewood."
But I saw this young master Jia several times during those days. Each time, he would sneak around on the path where Miss Jiang was in danger. I was very curious at the time, so I went up to that path to take a look, but I didn't find anything unusual.
Until the day Miss Jiang encountered danger, although it was dark, it was still possible to vaguely see that it was this young master Jia who threw stones at Miss Jiang's carriage.
Afterwards, Miss Jiang was rescued and ordered someone to pick up Young Master Jia. The carriage was left scattered on the spot. Miss Jiang simply asked someone to push the carriage aside and then ignored it.
I saw that the cart was full of wood, which could be burned, so I thought I'd collect it and not have to chop so much firewood.
It was only after I brought the wood from the carriage home that I discovered that many parts of the carriage had been deliberately cut. The carriage was already in great danger, and then that young master Jia threw a stone, and it was bound to fall apart.
Let alone throwing stones, even a slightly bumpy ride for a long time would cause them to scatter. For those few days, I wondered why a scholar like Young Master Jia often lingered on this road. Later, after I heard that he was engaged to Miss Jiang, I realized that this was his plan.
Later, when this young master Jia had recovered enough, he returned and asked me if I had seen the broken carriage. I naturally said I hadn't, and he covered for me.
"Do you still have Miss Jiang's carriage?"
“I’m keeping it. I didn’t want to cause trouble, but I’m afraid that if this young master Jia marries Miss Jiang and becomes successful in the future, he might remember me. I’ll still have something on him to hold, so I won’t be threatened by him,” Sun Qiaozi said.
The official in charge of the Ministry of Justice looked at Sun Qiaozi and said, "Then why didn't you report it to the authorities directly that day? If you had waited until he became powerful, you might not have survived."
Sun Qiaozi scratched his head. "I didn't think that much at the time. I saw that Young Master Jia usually acted like a refined gentleman in front of others, and after getting to know Miss Jiang, I heard that he treated her very well."
I think he might have misunderstood because he loves Miss Jiang too much. If he doesn't come looking for me, I'll keep this to myself.
If it weren't for the young master of the Li family coming to me a couple of days ago, I wouldn't have known that this young master Jia already had a wife and children and was doing such wicked things.
I am someone who cannot tolerate abandoning one's wife and children, so when the young master of the Li family came and told me what happened, I was determined to tell the truth, even if young master Jia retaliated against me.