freenovelworld Chapter 329 Even risked his life
Chapter 329 Even risked his life
It wasn't that she was assuming the worst about Pan, but rather that Pan's murder of her husband had nothing to do with their Lin's pig trotter shop. Her sudden involvement with their pig trotter shop was probably not a coincidence.
Perhaps Pan really does have a lover outside, after all, she is indeed very beautiful, has given birth to several children, and has gained some charm and allure.
She had just seen the body. Pan's husband was extremely ordinary-looking and an honest but taciturn man. It was normal for such an outstanding woman to be unwilling to marry such an ordinary man.
Just like her husband suspected that someone else was lusting after his wife and that she was having an affair, if he hadn't heard any rumors or caught her in the act, how could he have lost his mind and treated his wife so cruelly?
Therefore, she felt that Pan was not telling the truth!
Lord Yang admired Lin Xiaotang and nodded in agreement, saying, "Your question is not unreasonable. The coroner has just confirmed that there was no braised pig's trotters in the deceased's stomach. Madam Pan has also confessed that she used silver needles to assassinate her husband, and it has nothing to do with your braised pig's trotters shop."
However, in order to shift the blame and cover up her motive and the facts of the murder, she chose to frame your Lin's Pig Trotter Shop. But your pig trotter shop has only been open in Dushui County for a few months and has not made any enemies. There are countless shops in the county, so it is indeed suspicious that she chose yours.
Pan smiled bitterly, "What motive could there be? I just heard that their pig trotter shop has only been open in this county for a few months and business is booming. They have a constant stream of customers every day. With so many customers, they certainly can't remember what the customers look like. Besides, they probably don't have any powerful connections. It's better to frame them than to frame those established shops with connections. The chances of being exposed are also smaller."
However, I was ultimately short-sighted and foolish. Despite all my calculations, I hadn't anticipated that this pig's trotter shop would have such a clever young girl who immediately slipped out to report it to the authorities. I failed to leverage the people's sympathy and the power of gossip to solidify their guilt.
It's even more of a pity that we couldn't finish this quickly!
Lord Yang is an upright and incorruptible official, and it is impossible to bribe him. If she had known earlier, she would have told everyone that her husband died suddenly, that her relatives were all ordinary people, and that her husband's parents and elders had passed away long ago. She believed that no one would actively investigate the matter. As long as she buried her husband's body as soon as possible, she would not have been taken to the government office for trial.
Unfortunately, things have already come to this point, and it's too late to say anything now.
Lord Yang squinted at Madam Pan, and at this moment, he also felt that Madam Pan had not told him everything.
It's likely that someone has their eye on Lin's pig trotter shop and is taking advantage of Pan's business.
He said, "Mrs. Pan, did someone promise you something that made you decide to kill your husband and frame Lin's Pig Trotter Shop? After Lin's Pig Trotter Shop's signboard was smashed and it couldn't continue operating in this county, your husband died and you gained your freedom. The person behind it could then open the pig trotter shop and make money, and your good days would begin, wouldn't they?"
Madam Pan was suddenly taken aback. She hadn't expected that the little girl was so clever, and that Lord Yang was so intelligent that he had guessed everything at once.
"No, sir, you have a vivid imagination and are overthinking things." Madam Pan's lips twitched, refusing to admit it.
But Lord Yang still keenly caught the fleeting look of panic in Madam Pan's eyes.
Lord Yang suddenly raised his voice and angrily said, "Now that things have come to this, Pan, you still refuse to explain yourself. Whom are you protecting?"
The relatives had originally intended to disperse, but upon hearing that Pan Shi seemed to have a lover behind her and was willing to die to protect that person, they were instantly enraged.
If this weren't the county government office, they would have already given Pan a severe beating and dragged her out to be drowned in a pig cage.
Some people pointed at Pan, wishing they could poke a hole in her head with their fingers to vent their anger.
"Pan, you shameless woman, you really did have someone else outside. No wonder the honest Xiaoshan beat you so badly. Bah, you deserve it. Xiaoshan is too kind. He should have beaten you to death. If he had, he wouldn't have to die."
"What's the use of marrying such a beautiful woman? I even lost my life. It's really not worth it!"
"I knew it! This Pan woman is so beautiful, yet she married an ordinary man like Xiaoshan. How could she be content with staying at home? Sure enough, she had someone else outside. Poor Xiaoshan, he suffered such betrayal..."
Lord Yang glanced at them, and the gossiping relatives all fell silent, and the young master became quiet again.
His voice was deep and serious as he said coldly, “Pan, I spared you from torture from the beginning because you are a woman. I thought you would confess and be treated leniently, but you have lied again and again, fooling everyone and affecting my trial. This is an even more serious crime. If you do not explain yourself clearly, I will have no choice but to order you to be tortured.”
Pan remained silent, neither denying her infidelity nor offering any explanation, choosing instead to remain silent.
Liu Cai'er, standing to the side, looked disapproving. "How could she bear to leave her children at home? She'd rather suffer torture herself than expose that man. What is so great about him that he's more important than her own children?"
Upon hearing this, Shui Sheng rubbed his nose, feeling as if Cai'er was talking about him. What was so great about him that made Cai'er give up her two sons and marry him?
He suddenly felt uneasy.
Lin Qingchuan looked at Wu Yu and whispered, "I wonder who the person behind that is. To make the Pan family protect her to this extent, even at the cost of their own exile, leaving their children orphaned and despised, is truly pitiful. To have a mother like that, sigh..."
Wu Yu said, "Brother Qingchuan, we don't know anything about Pan's relationship with her husband and the other man, so it's too early to draw any conclusions. We just don't know what benefits that man promised Pan that made her so devoted to him."
"Guards, bring the torture!"
At Lord Yang's command, the yamen runners immediately brought up a number of instruments of torture and placed them in front of Madam Pan.
Looking at the various instruments of torture in front of her, Madam Pan became frightened, her eyes showing a hint of panic, and her face turning pale.
Lin Xiaotang stepped forward to persuade her, "Mrs. Pan, everyone just deduced that you were having an affair with another man. You didn't refute it, which means you admitted it. But you didn't cooperate and refused to reveal the man's identity. No matter what benefits that man promised you, the fact that you went to the pig's trotter shop to cause trouble today and that you were taken back to the yamen must have already spread throughout the county. So far, he hasn't come forward to help you, which is enough to prove that you are not important to him."
If you truly love someone, you'll risk your life to see them when they're in danger and do everything you can to help them. If he doesn't love you, how can you guarantee that he'll keep his promises to you?
When you are exiled to a harsh and desolate place, your children will be left without adult care. With no money or food at home, they will starve or become beggars. The person in charge will turn a blind eye and do nothing. Being far away in this harsh land, you will be powerless to help. Think carefully, lest your cleverness backfire.
Pan suddenly looked up, surprised that a little girl of only a few years old could see things so clearly.
She thought that as long as she confessed to her crimes and was sentenced and sent to a harsh, cold place, that person would help her children, at least making amends to her.
The little girl is right. If she went to a harsh, cold place, she would be too far away to help.
Her family was of modest means and only had a little money. Once the children had spent it all, there would be no rice or food left to cook. How would they survive in the future?
What could she do if that man ignored her children?
Seeing a slight change in Madam Pan's expression, Lin Xiaotang guessed that Madam Pan must have taken her words to heart, so she continued to persuade her.
"If the murderer in this case is someone else, you must tell the truth. Don't be swayed by sweet words. You must know that men's words are deceitful. I'd rather believe pigs can fly than believe a man's words. If you are exiled to a desolate place, you don't even know if you'll come back alive. Can you bear to see your children suffer without anyone to care for them?"
Pan suddenly chuckled, but then started crying again.
The constables holding the instruments of torture looked at each other, unsure of what to do next, and could only ask their superiors for instructions with their eyes.
Lord Yang waved his hand, signaling them to step aside and not to torture them for the time being.
Pan cried with tears streaming down her face. She wiped her tears with her sleeve and kowtowed to Lord Yang.
"My lord, I was confused before and did not fully confess. I beg you to punish me. The little girl's words have enlightened me. I am now willing to confess the truth. I hope you will give me a chance to explain."
The little girl is right. When that man was having an affair with her, he said all the right things. But once she was banished to a cold and desolate place, he was young and rich, and he could have any kind of woman he wanted. Why would he still remember her?
Even if he remembers, will he stay true to his conscience and continue to help her children?
If he truly loved her, why did he hesitate to show himself when she was brought to the county government office, and why was he unwilling to do anything for her?
She's too scared to gamble anymore!
Lord Yang immediately said, "When I judge a case, I only care about the truth. As long as you are willing to tell the truth, how could I not give you a chance? Just tell the truth. I will make a decision and never let a bad person go or wrong an innocent person."
Pan knelt on the ground, slowly raised her head, and her eyes became more determined.
"After I married my husband, I was coveted by others because of my outstanding appearance. At first, my husband was understanding that I had no intention of having an affair and often comforted me that it was not my fault. But later, as more and more people looked at me, my husband also became suspicious and thought that I was not content with my home and was seducing men everywhere. Gradually, he began to take action against me."
Once, I was beaten and the pain from the wound was unbearable. While my husband was not at home, I went out to buy ointment. By chance, I met the manager of Qianxiulou. He insisted on paying for the ointment for me and then left.
I learned his identity from the pharmacy owner, so I took the money to return it to him. To my surprise, he refused to accept it and even had his waiter pack up some of the restaurant's signature dishes for me. At first, I refused, but he was adamant, and I was afraid that if we argued too much and someone saw us, it would cause my husband to misunderstand, so I accepted it.
From then on, we had too many entanglements. Compared to my husband, he was young, handsome, rich, humorous, considerate, generous, and charming. My husband was of average appearance, worked hard every day but still struggled to make ends meet, was strange and suspicious, and became increasingly violent towards me.
If you were given the choice between two men who are vastly different from each other, who would you choose?
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then someone sneered, "In this world, there is the poor and the rich. The rich are generous and naturally know how to appreciate romance, while the poor are preoccupied with money and daily necessities. Even if they want to appreciate romance, they need the means."
"As the saying goes, 'A woman should follow her husband wherever he goes,' but if she marries an ordinary husband and then thinks that rich men outside are better, and then looks down on her husband at home, what is this if not fickle and promiscuous?"
"She's shameless for having an affair, yet she makes up so many excuses. It's ridiculous. If you ask me, she shouldn't be banished to some desolate place. Letting her live is too lenient. She should be drowned in a pig cage."
Lord Yang frowned slightly and asked, "What happened next? Did you kill your husband with silver needles, or was it the manager of Qianxiulou? How long were you two entangled? Where did you often meet in secret? What did he promise you?"
Madam Pan wiped away her tears, straightened her knees, and recounted the whole story.
“We’ve known each other for more than half a year. At first, we didn’t see each other very often. But after Lin’s Pig Trotter Shop opened, he saw me more often. My husband also beat me more often. He had advised me to leave the child and elope with him, but I couldn’t bear to leave the child.”
Later... he became increasingly audacious. While my husband was away, he went directly to our home. Unexpectedly, my husband suddenly returned, and the two bumped into each other. Seeing that the matter could no longer be covered up, they started fighting. Before any injuries were even caused, he killed my husband with silver needles.
Afterwards, he told me after some planning that the matter would definitely not be exposed, and that he would marry me and raise my children as his own after the storm had passed...
After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but shake their heads.
This Pan is really naive. That man clearly only lusted after Pan's looks and body and had no intention of taking responsibility. If he were truly a gentleman, how could he still be entangled with Pan and have an affair with her when he knew she had a husband?
If he were still a man, he should have helped Pan get a divorce, married her, and adopted her children.
It's obvious that he's not a righteous and honorable gentleman, but just a hypocrite who dares to do things but not to admit them.
Poor Pan, she had previously taken all the blame and refused to implicate him.
Lord Yang ordered, "Bring the manager of Qianxiulou here."
Several constables, carrying Lord Yang's documents, left in a menacing manner. About half an hour later, they returned, escorting a man who looked defiant and howled all the way.
He's the manager of Qianxiulou!
The man continued to struggle, angrily saying, "I've said it so many times, I'm the manager of Qianxiu Restaurant, I do legitimate work, how could I get involved in a case? You must have made a mistake, let me go back right now, I have a lot of things to deal with, and your government has no right to delay the restaurant's business, right?"
A bailiff said expressionlessly, "You're already at the yamen, so there's no use yelling anymore. Hurry up and see the magistrate and explain everything clearly. Don't worry, our magistrate will never wrong an innocent person, nor will he let a murderer go unpunished."
This……
The manager of Qianxiulou was speechless. He pretended to be calm, but in reality, he was terrified.