Chapter 362 Oddities

Chapter 362 Oddities

Wu Qing hesitated for a moment, "But Princess, they are, after all, our master's own aunt and cousin..."

“Precisely because they are actual blood relatives, we cannot choose to hide or condone it.” Xie Wanniang interrupted him, sighing helplessly, “Even if this family is just Jiang Tong’s younger sister’s family, or even if they were Xiao Zhi’s sister’s family, A Yuan would never allow them to do evil under his name.”

There are no secrets in this world. It is impossible to keep a secret forever. The only result of protecting a relative who does evil is to be dragged down by the other party, lose one's official position, or even be executed or exiled together.

If the other party wants to drag you down with them, why don't you stand up for your own family and protect yourself? Has your brain been squeezed by a door three hundred times?

She waved to Wu Qing and said, "Do as I say. The more open and honest we are, the less likely others will be to find fault with us because of this."

She wanted to make an example of someone today, to let everyone in Dinghai County know that anyone who dares to break the law will be severely punished.

"Send their belongings to the county government as well, and make sure to compensate each of the victims," ​​Xie Wanniang instructed Wu Qing. "Also, remember to sue them on behalf of A Yuan for impersonating officials."

Wuqing: ......

By saying that, their princess was essentially denying that the other person was related to their family. And rightly so; if they didn't even acknowledge their own father, their own aunt would naturally have to step aside even further.

Having made up his mind, he bowed and replied "Yes," then turned and went out to do his work.

Soon, the sound of gongs and drums rang out outside the mansion. Madam Wu and her family were bound, crying and begging for mercy, but no one paid them any attention. The servants of the Wu family were even more dejected, their former arrogance completely gone.

Yang Xiaowei stood at the door, watching the procession gradually disappear into the distance, then ran back to the main courtyard and said to Xie Wanniang, "Princess, the procession has already set off. Now everyone in Dinghai County should know that no one can do evil by taking advantage of our master's name."

Xie Wanniang smiled and nodded, "That's good then."

***

Wu Qing and his entourage escorted the Wu family members in a grand manner, attracting many people to gather at the entrance of the courthouse to watch the spectacle.

As Xie Wanniang had predicted, after hearing Wu Qing explain the whole story, the former County Magistrate Liu, now County Magistrate Liu, chose to hold a public trial.

He sat upright behind the desk, dressed in official robes, with bailiffs on both sides standing solemnly with water and fire sticks in their hands, looking imposing and awe-inspiring.

The other guards brought by Wu Qing escorted Madam Wu and her entourage through the crowd to Magistrate Liu.

Magistrate Liu took the confession written by the lawyer Wu Qing had temporarily hired, and his gaze swept over the crowd below the court.

Before he could even open his mouth to ask a question, Madam Wu, with a sinister look on her face, stiffened her neck and said, "You are the magistrate of Dinghai County? Do you know who I am? I am the aunt of Jiang Yuan, the commander of Dinghai Guard, and Princess Huian is my nephew's wife. Aren't you afraid of losing your official position if you treat our family like this?"

Magistrate Liu was speechless. He thought to himself, "Our Lord Jiang doesn't even acknowledge his own father, so how could he possibly acknowledge an aunt like Madam Wu who only causes him trouble?"

With a stern face, he slammed the gavel. "Your family, suspects, stop making baseless accusations. Your entire family has been using Lord Jiang's name along the way, refusing to pay for meals and lodgings, extorting innocent people through staged accidents, and even attempting to abduct women. Every single one of these incidents is documented with written confessions from your family and your servants. Now, you dare to spout nonsense in court, attempting to impersonate officials and coerce us into bending the law for personal gain. This is utterly outrageous. If you are not severely punished, countless others will follow suit, disregarding the law and corrupting the order."

He had his advisor read aloud the thick stack of confessions from the Wu family members in front of everyone, and then asked them in front of everyone whether they admitted their guilt.

The various torture instruments in the yamen were far more frightening than those in Xie Wanniang's mansion, so how could Wu Kun and the others dare to recant their confessions?

Seeing that Magistrate Liu didn't respect "Lord Jiang," the Wu family members suddenly became exceptionally pragmatic again.

Madam Wu, who had been spouting nonsense, shrank back and remained silent, while her younger relatives were as docile as quails.

Seeing that they had no intention of going back on their word, Magistrate Liu publicly announced the punishment for the family: "Madam Wu, Wu Kun, and Wang are sentenced to be displayed in cangues for one month, taking turns being displayed in front of the county government office and the city gate each day as a warning to others. Wu Jiahao is young and will be exempted from being displayed in cangues, but will be sentenced to ten strokes of the cane and handed over to his elders in the clan for strict discipline. The property involved in the case will be temporarily confiscated by the county government. Once the compensation to the victims and the expenses of the officials on duty outside the county have been settled, the remaining property will be returned in full."

As soon as he finished speaking, the bailiffs immediately brought out wooden shackles and were about to put them around the necks of the Wu family members.

Wu Kun didn't want to be paraded in shackles, nor did he want to compensate the victims. He dodged the wooden shackles brought by the yamen runners, his face red and neck bulging as he frantically shouted, "No, no, I don't want to be paraded in shackles! Mother! Mother! Please save me!"

Wang also joined in the crying and fussing: "Yes, Mother, please say something!"

Madam Wu certainly didn't want to be paraded in shackles and lose money. She was afraid of suffering and didn't want to be tortured, but she was also unwilling to lose face and money. Seeing that her family was about to suffer, Madam Wu no longer cared about maintaining her dignity. She suddenly started to cry out in a shrill voice.

"Oh dear, what sins has our Jiang family committed to raise such an unfilial and disrespectful wretch as Jiang Yuan? His own aunt and cousin were being bullied right under his nose, and he just stood by and did nothing, pretending not to know! Heavens above, why don't you send down a bolt of lightning to strike this beast dead—"

The onlookers were dumbfounded, feeling that this family had truly reached a new level of eccentricity.

As ordinary citizens, they naturally hope that all officials in the world are like Jiang Yuan and Lord Liu, upholding justice and caring for the people, rather than indulging their relatives and friends in doing whatever they want.

They found it strange when the old woman said she was Lord Jiang's aunt. She had already been brought to the yamen for questioning by Lord Jiang's guards, so why was she still using Lord Jiang's name as a shield?

Magistrate Liu spoke too quickly at the time, and they didn't have time to think about it carefully. Now it seems that the old woman didn't even know that she had been brought to the yamen.

A dark-faced man in the crowd shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting, you old woman? The ones who tied you up and brought you to the county office are none other than the guards of Lord Jiang's household!"

Another tall, thin man chimed in, "That's right, you wouldn't have just been running around like mad and not even know whose carriage you ended up crashing into, would you?"

Upon hearing this, bystanders immediately crowded around to gossip, "What? Did they crash into Lord Jiang's carriage?"