bayedsolid Chapter 64 Sigh, the Youth Remains
Chapter 64 Sigh, the Youth Remains
After hearing this, everyone present fell into silence.
The time from the time the two teenagers met to the time they separated was not long, just over half a year, which can be described in just a few words. However, in Shi Peng's heart, he must have read through it countless times and remembered it as if it were fresh.
Shi Peng looked very calm while narrating all this, but if you looked closely, you could see that he was forbearing. His clenched hands at his sides were shaking and his eyes were red.
In a trance, Lin Lezhi seemed to see again the boy who was curled up on the side, not daring to speak.
The boy should be as clear as a mirror, but he is still the same, but not the same as yesterday.
Lin Lezhi walked forward, patted Shi Peng on the shoulder, and comforted him softly: "You have done very well, you don't have to endure it all the time."
Shi Peng was stunned for a moment and looked at Lin Lezhi blankly.
The only eye she had was looking at Lin Lezhi, and tears instantly blurred her vision and rolled down her eyes.
Lin Lezhi didn't know what to say to comfort him, because as Shi Peng said, no matter what, Cao An would not be able to survive.
The only thing we can do for Cao An is to make the truth of that year known to the world and redress his injustice.
Lin Lezhi turned to look at Yang Hancai, nodded slightly and said: "Prefect Yang is the parent official of Changluan County. This case should be handed over to Prefect Yang for trial."
In an instant, everyone's eyes turned to Yang Hancai.
Yang Hancai looked embarrassed, looked at the people around him, and evaded the question, "But this case is already an old one, and it is extremely difficult to find evidence. In addition, there are many people involved in the case. I'm afraid this lawsuit will be..."
Yang Hancai hesitated and did not respond for a long time.
If I really take charge of this case, the consequences will be serious and it will be difficult to report to the court. If I don't take care of it, the prince will not let me off easily.
"Just solve the case, and you don't have to worry about the rest." Xiao Yihuo coughed lightly a few times and spoke slowly.
Xiao Yihuo finally returned to normal for a while, but his cough made Lin Lezhi dazed and he looked in the direction of Xiao Yihuo.
Xiao Yihuo transformed himself with ease, and he looked at Lin Lezhi naturally, then smiled indifferently.
With the prince's words, Yang Hancai's expression eased a little, and then he looked at Lin Lezhi, smiled a little embarrassedly, and said with a cupped hand: "I am not as good as Mr. Jiang in judging cases. I will have to rely on Mr. Jiang to judge the case later."
This Yang Hancai is really good at distancing himself from the matter.
Lin Lezhi smiled slightly and nodded, "Governor Yang, there is no need to be too modest. If you need me, I will do my best."
It is impossible to return to Changluan County in a short period of time, and outside is not a good place to try a case after all.
With the help of the surrounding people, the corpse and all the people involved in the case were moved to the lobby of the main house in Yaren Village, where a simple temporary court was set up.
There was no gavel left, so he picked up a fairly regular stone of moderate size as a replacement.
The bang of the stone made the big boss Duan Hongzhi, who was already stunned and kneeling on the ground, bounced a little on the ground. The expression of the third boss Liang Gaocheng was not much clear either, but he was calmer than Duan Hongzhi. He had a serious look in his eyes and no one knew what he was thinking.
"You, the prisoner, have committed such a heinous crime, yet you still refuse to confess the truth--!"
Duan Hongzhi said in panic: "We were also kept in the dark. It was all... all..." Duan Hongzhi pointed at Yan Jingyi's body on the ground and shirked responsibility: "He forced us to do it. He said... if we didn't help him succeed, he would never let us off easily."
"How dare you!" Yang Hancai picked up the stone and slammed it on the table again. This time he used more force and the sound echoed throughout the lobby. Not only did he smash a hole in the table, but his hand also hurt a lot.
Yang Hancai shook his hands a few times, blew them a few times, straightened his posture and said seriously: "You hurt other people's lives, killed the Xing family, and occupied their property, and you dare to excuse yourself!"
"If this happened in the county court, our laws and criminal law will not allow you to quibble here. Why don't you confess everything that happened back then!"
"me……"
Before Duan Hongzhi could speak, Liang Gaocheng looked at Yang Hancai and spoke first: "We will explain the whole story, but we two brothers were coerced by Yan Jingyi from beginning to end. How can you put the crime of murder on us so hastily?"
As he spoke, Liang Gaocheng pointed at Shi Peng who was also kneeling beside him, and said excitedly: "What Shi Peng said is all his one-sided words. How can we make it count and tell the truth?"
Yang Hancai pondered for a while and said, "If you say so, it does make sense..."
"You...!" Shi Peng gritted his teeth and was about to stand up from the ground.
Yang Hancai showed his authority and slammed the stone again, threatening: "You are not allowed to be presumptuous in the court!"
Shi Peng was a man of solid character, so he suppressed his anger and knelt down again, staring at Duan and Liang.
Yang Hancai was also unsure about what to do, so he looked to Lin Lezhi for help.
"Mr. Jiang, what do you think of this..."
Lin Lezhi nodded in understanding, walked up to Duan and Liang, and slowly said, "As long as you tell us the whole story, Prefect Yang and the people present will be able to make the distinction."
Liang Gaocheng nodded several times, looked at Yang Hancai and said, "My brother and I were oppressed and bullied in the mountains. If it weren't for the war and life, who would be willing to do such a heartless thing."
"Suddenly one day, Yan Jingyi came to my brother and me as a wealthy businessman, saying that he could help us gain a foothold in the mountains and forests, so that we would no longer be bullied by others. We only assisted Yan Jingyi and did not kill anyone."
"I thought... this matter was over, and my two brothers could live a leisurely life. But not long after, Yan Jingyi came to us again and said that he would take us to make a fortune and live in the town without having to live in fear."
Liang Gaocheng looked at the people present, his eyes wide open in a somewhat nervous manner, and shouted as if he was craving for everyone's approval: "We are all people who have suffered. If such an opportunity is placed in front of you, you can live a good life and live like a human being, will you not go?"
"We know the secret of Yan Jingyi's murder. If it wasn't for our lives, why would we follow Yan Jingyi and make mistakes again and again? So... is it wrong for me and my elder brother to do this?"
Then, Liang Gaocheng looked at Shi Peng intently and said as a matter of course: "And you, Shi Peng, didn't you run to the town with Cao An just to live a good life, right?"
"You have been working hard for more than ten years. Don't you want to know why Cao An died?"
Liang Gaocheng pointed at the second in command who was lying on the ground with his eyes wide open and said, "The murderer who killed Cao An has been killed by you personally. What else do you want? If you want to know the whole story, I can tell you one by one."
"then……"
After receiving Yan Jingyi's invitation to the town, Duan Hongzhi and Liang Gaocheng also thought that Yan Jingyi was taking them to Zhouqing Town to make money and live a good life.
However, when we arrived in Zhouqing Town, we found that this was not the case at all.
The two brothers, along with Yan Jingyi, disguised themselves as common people and sneaked into a mansion as servants, intending to find an opportunity to embezzle the family's property.
After staying in the mansion for a while, Yan Jingyi's plan was being implemented steadily.
The house is big, everyone has their own work to do, and no one has to look at everyone's face.
On the day when the plan was about to be implemented, Duan Hongzhi discovered a familiar figure, or to be more precise, a familiar scar.
The young man was busy helping out in the mansion with a smile on his face. When he ran, the hair on his forehead was pushed to the side, revealing the scar in the middle of his forehead.
The two recognized the young man in front of them. It was Cao An who ran away. Since Cao An always helped others, it was easy to remember him.
The two men looked at each other, and when there was no one around Cao An, they stepped forward and grabbed Cao An's shoulders to confirm, and before Cao An could react, they lifted the hair in front of Cao An's forehead.
The word "slave" was clearly written on Cao An's forehead.
It is especially noticeable in sunlight.
After confirming that it was really Cao An, Duan Hongzhi was also surprised and tightened his grip on Cao An's shoulders. Cao An felt pain and immediately let go of Duan Hongzhi's hand. He hurriedly moved his hair and covered the eye-catching "slave" on his forehead again.
Duan Hongzhi's eyes were full of disbelief, and he said in shock: "It's really you, you little bastard, why are you here?!"
Cao An obviously recognized them, with fear in his eyes, he pushed Duan and Liang away and ran towards the gate.
But for some reason, after running a few steps, Cao An stopped, turned around and looked at Duan and Liang. Instead of panic, there was more of an unyielding look on his face.
Cao An looked at the two of them and said with a firm look in his eyes: "I have a name, my name is Cao An!"
Unfortunately, Yan Jingyi was also nearby and noticed something was wrong.
Fearing that Cao An would reveal their secret, Yan Jingyi decided to pay a government executioner to pin the crime of murdering the Xing family on Cao An.
Anyway, he is just a refugee from the Yunqiang Kingdom. When the sword is raised, his head will be cut off. No one will care how he dies.
Cao An was captured by Yan Jingyi. Until his head fell to the ground, Cao An did not shed a tear. He just listened to the sound of the knife cutting through the air with some regret in his eyes.
Once the people from the Xing family disappeared, the servants in the mansion naturally scattered, leaving only Cao An's body, scattered alone in a corner of the mansion.
After saying this, Liang Gaocheng knelt on the ground, took a few steps forward, and said with a look of injustice: "Master Yang, this is the fact. My brother and I have never concealed anything, let alone killed anyone. We came to this Ya Ren Zhuang just to survive and do some business. I hope Master Yang will be wise and give us a lighter sentence."
Duan Hongzhi nodded his head like a rattle, and echoed: "Yes, yes, yes, my third brother is right, we didn't kill anyone, please Sir Yang, please look into this matter."
After saying this, the two brothers kowtowed to Yang Hancai several times.
The people outside the hall sighed and talked a lot for a while.
With another bang of the gavel, the discussion stopped.
The anger that had been accumulated for more than ten years suddenly dissipated at this moment. Shi Peng collapsed to the ground, his eyes full of sadness, and his vision blurred again.
If it were someone else, Shi Peng would definitely not understand why Cao An didn't leave there.
But he is Cao An, so everything can be explained.
It was because of me that Cao An lost his life. In the end, I was the one who killed Cao An.
Shi Peng hugged his head, rested his head on his legs, curled up into a ball, and his body kept shaking.
So... wouldn't it be better if he was the one who died at the beginning? That would be the best. He should have been shot to death by that arrow.
"Xiaopeng."
A gentle cry came from above my head.
Shi Peng's body froze for a moment, and he looked at the person in front of him in confusion through his blurred vision. Several scenes of Cao An smiling and calling his name flashed through his mind.
"Xiao An..."
Lin Lezhi squatted down, touched Shi Peng's shoulder, and said in a gentle voice: "You let everyone call you Xiaopeng, is it because Cao An calls you that?"
Shi Peng choked and nodded.
"Don't blame yourself, it's not your fault."
As he spoke, Lin Lezhi stood up, looked at Duan and Liang who were kneeling on the ground, and said seriously: "The person who is truly wrong will naturally get the punishment they deserve."
Lin Lezhi smiled slightly, but when he looked at Duan and Liang, there was no smile at all.
Duan and Liang couldn't help but feel a little panicked. Lin Lezhi said slowly: "Some people do evil, but their hearts are good, while some people do evil, but their hearts are black, and there is no cure."
Lin Lezhi was referring to something, and Liang Gaocheng was no fool. He knew that Lin Lezhi was talking about them, and said angrily, "What do you mean? I think you took money from that guy and want to frame us two brothers!"
Liang Gaocheng laughed out loud, then pouted at the ground, and then sneered in front of everyone: "No wonder so many people in the martial arts world want to take your life, it must be a wrongful conviction!"
For a moment, the whole hall was silent, and everyone looked at each other.
Hearing this, Xiao Yihuo looked at Lin Lezhi with concern, and Qingchuan also looked in the direction of Lin Lezhi with a hint of inquiry in his eyes.
Yang Hancai sat on the chair, looking around without saying a word.
However, the person involved, Lin Lezhi, was not affected at all. He shook off his tattered sleeves and said jokingly, "We have to speak with facts. I am a clean-handed person with holes in my clothes. How can you tell that I am rich?"
Liang Gaocheng snorted coldly and said, "Since you are willing to hide it, you will not put it out in the open."
Lin Lezhi agreed with Liang Gaocheng's words and nodded, saying, "Yes, that's it! Third Master, you are absolutely right. If you want to hide something, you certainly won't put it in the open."
"what?"
"Third Master, you said that I concealed something on purpose. Didn't you realize that there was also a part hidden in the story you just told that doesn't match what Shi Peng said?"
The third in command's eyes darkened and were filled with vigilance.
"No one testified to what happened in Yaren Village and the abandoned house. You deny it. The government has no evidence, so naturally they can't do anything to you. But..."
As he spoke, Lin Lezhi put away his joking attitude, looked at the two people kneeling on the ground with a stern look, and said word by word: "The lives of the He family in Yulong Village are known to the whole village, and you can't deny it!"