Transmigrated To Another World: General, I'm Not Your White Moonlight - Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Public Trial (3)
The man glanced at Zhao Xiaohua, with a hint of fear in his eyes, and said, “But on the day Duan Sida was arrested, Zhao Xiaohua suddenly rushed out of the house with a kitchen knife and attacked us wildly. When we tried to calm her down, she injured us, and we found that Duan Xiyan had run away.”

As soon as these words came out, the other four men nodded in agreement. They were injured not because they were weak but because they tried not to hurt Zhao Xiaohua when they tried to take her kitchen knife away.

After listening to their stories, Cao Jianbo looked at Zhao Xiaohua and asked, “Do you have anything else to say?”

Zhao Xiaohua is just an ordinary village woman who can only shout and act like a shrew. When Cao Jianbo questioned her in public, she was very frightened and lost all her shrewdness. At this moment, she could only shake her head repeatedly and keep saying that she was innocent.

Cao Jianbo slapped the black wooden slab on the table and said majestically, “Zhao Xiaohua, you will be sentenced to eighteen years in prison for the attempted murder of five villagers. Guards! Drag her away!”

As soon as his words fell, two guards dragged the stunned Zhao Xiaohua away. Seeing her being dragged away helplessly, Duan Sizhi’s face turned pale instantly. He clenched his hands tightly, trying to lower his presence, hoping that Cao Jianbo had forgotten about him.

Unfortunately, Cao Jianbo glanced at him and said, “Duan Sizhi, you are guilty of assisting murder, kidnapping, and human trafficking. You will be fine with two hundred taels of silver and sentenced to eight years in prison. Guards, drag him away!”

After hearing what Cao Jianbo said, Duan Sizhi suddenly came back to his senses and shouted, “Da Ren, I don’t know anything! There is no evidence! I’m innocent! Please spare me!”

Cao Jianbo frowned and motioned to his secretary to bring out the evidence.

When the secretary came back with the evidence, Cao Jianbo threw the money pouch to the ground and said, “This is the evidence found at your house yesterday. Your wife and daughter have admitted that Duan Sida gave you fifty taels of silver for your assistance in sending your niece to Master Chen. You were also involved in hiring three gangsters from the Chen family’s village to kidnap her.”

After speaking, Cao Jianbo threw three pieces of paper at Duan Sizhi’s face and said, “This is the confession of the three gangsters.”

Looking at the familiar money pouch and the confession letters in front of him, Duan Sizhi shook his head and shouted desperately, “Da Ren, I am innocent! There must be some misunderstanding here! Someone is framing me!”

Cao Jianbo was too lazy to waste time here and said, “All the witnesses and physical evidence are here! How dare you say you are innocent? Guard! Give him fifty planks for lying on the court and throw him into prison!”

As soon as he finished speaking, the Yamen guards took out a bench, pushed Duan Sizhi onto it, and hit his back with a wooden board. After the punishment of fifty planks, Duan Sizhi passed out from the pain. Cao Jianbo waved his hand, and the guards dragged him to the prison, leaving a long trail of blood behind.

After handling the case, Cao Jianbo stood up from his seat and said, “This is the end of today’s public trial.”

When he left the main hall, the Yamen guards repeatedly knocked their long wooden planks on the ground. Seeing that nothing was interesting to see anymore, everyone dispersed and talked about the public trial as they walked. After everyone left, Duan Yixin looked at the empty court hall for a while before leaving.

After Duan Yixin walked away, a young woman wearing a cloak that covered her whole body with half of her face covered by the hood walked out of the alley’s corner. She stared at Duan Yixin’s back fiercely, then turned to look at the Yamen and clenched her hands tightly. When her nails snapped and blood oozed from her fingertips, she turned around and walked into the darkness of the alley.

Twenty minutes later, Duan Yixin arrived at the north gate of Chun Shan Town and saw that Sun Chen’s bullock cart was not there. She looked around and approached an old man renting out a horse carriage near the north gate.

She smiled slightly at the old man and asked politely, “Old Grandpa, have you seen the bullock cart from Yunshan Village?”

The old man looked at her, thought for a moment, and asked, “You mean the Sun family’s bullock cart?”

Duan Yixin nodded, and the old man said, “The bullock cart left an hour ago.”

Hearing the old man’s answer, Duan Yixin frowned slightly and asked, “Do you know why the bullock cart left early today?”

The old man thought for a while and said, “It seems that someone rented the bullock cart and was willing to pay a high price. After the customer paid, they left in a hurry.”

After getting the answer, Duan Yixin thanked the old man, gave him a copper coin, and walked out of Chun Shan Town. When she was far away from the town, Liushiliu appeared and said, “Miss Duan, let me carry the bamboo basket for you.”

This time, Duan Yixin did not refuse him because she was really tired after walking around the town for more than two hours. She put down the bamboo basket and let Liushiliu put the bags of grain in his hand back into the bamboo basket.

Duan Yixin saw Liushiliu easily carrying the heavy bamboo basket with one hand, looked at him, and praised him sincerely, “Liushiliu, I didn’t expect you to be so strong.”

Liushiliu looked at her and said, “Compared to my brothers, I am still weak.”

Listening to his humble words, Duan Yixin raised her eyebrows with interest and asked, “I wonder how strong your other brothers are.”