Grandma of the Liao family and Dai Qiangsheng were from the same village and she was elderly and weak. For Dai Qiangsheng to even suggest using torture on Grandma of the Liao family, his heart must be too cruel.

And the Jinquan villagers all glared at Dai Qiangsheng with anger. Usually seen as honest and simple, who could have thought he was actually so ruthless and brutal—truly one cannot judge a book by its cover.

"Presumptuous!" Xiao Hongtao's face was stern, and he rebuked in a deep voice, "I have always been fair and just, strictly adhering to the law, and the Yamen officers never abuse their power for private punishment. Your words are clearly malicious slander, tarnishing my reputation and that of the County Office. Guards, arrest him. I will thoroughly investigate this matter!"

Two Government Officials immediately stepped forward to seize Dai Qiangsheng.

"Mercy, Your Honor! I had no intention of slandering or tarnishing the reputation of Your Honor and the County Office, I merely wished to assist Your Honor in finding the real culprit. Your Honor is not aware that Old Lady Liao has a very tough bone.

Without torture, she will definitely not confess!" Dai Qiangsheng tried his best to defend himself, not forgetting to incriminate Grandma of the Liao family in the process.

Fang Qin suddenly looked up at Xiao Hongtao, "Your Honor, it was indeed I who killed him, and it has nothing to do with my mother-in-law!"

Ever since she married into the Liao family, her mother-in-law had always treated her with the affection of a real daughter, and now that her mother-in-law had taken on all the blame, she understood that her mother-in-law wanted her to live well and raise Er Dan into adulthood.

However, a life for a life—if her mother-in-law were to be executed, living the rest of her life with an uneasy conscience just wouldn't do. Even if she ultimately couldn't absolve her mother-in-law of her guilt, she wanted to be with her mother-in-law, to have a companion on the road to the underworld.

Er Dan was so young, she really couldn't bear to leave him, but thankfully there was Brother Songlin. She believed Sister Songlin would take good care of Er Dan, and thus she could die in peace.

Before the crowd could react, a young man with a modest and upright appearance suddenly stepped out from among them, kneeling in front of Xiao Hongtao, "Your Honor, it was I who killed my cousin Xiao Fu, it has nothing to do with my aunt and cousin's wife, please discern the truth!"

What was happening? Everyone was stunned: This was a capital offense, so why were the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Liao family and Mu Songlin all vying to take the blame?

"You all heard it, the Lady of the Liao family and Mu Songlin have personally admitted to killing Liao Xiaofu. I haven't spoken carelessly, there's indeed..."

Dai Qiangsheng immediately began shouting excitedly, but before he could finish, a Government Official, who somehow had procured a dirty and stinky cloth, stuffed it into his mouth, leaving him unable to speak and struggling in vain under the officer's restraint, making muffled noises and looking eagerly at Xiao Hongtao.

"Songlin (Brother Songlin), what nonsense are you talking about?" the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Liao family shouted in unison.

Mu Songlin's face was calm and determined, "I'm sorry, Aunt, and cousin's wife, I've concealed the fact that I accidentally killed our cousin from you, I'm sorry!"

"Shut your mouth!" The Grandma of the Liao family glared angrily at Mu Songlin for a moment, then turned to Xiao Hongtao, "Your Honor, this unfilial son was indeed killed by me alone. Qin'er and Songlin are only trying to protect me out of filial piety. Please, Your Honor, consider their youth and ignorance and spare them!" She said, then kowtowed deeply.

Her daughter-in-law was just at the age of twenty and had to care for her grandson. Her deceased sister-in-law and her husband had only Songlin as their sole descendant. And she herself was old and suffering from illness; being alive was just a burden to Qin'er and Songlin. It would be better to die, to put an end to it all.

"Your Honor, I'm the one who killed my husband, and I'm ready to accept the punishment of the law!" Fang Qin kowtowed urgently and confessed.

Mu Songlin also kowtowed, "I acted alone and will bear the consequences alone. I only ask Your Honor not to implicate my aunt and cousin's wife!"

The onlookers exchanged glances.

The people of Jinquan Village wanted to plead with the County Magistrate on behalf of the three, but seeing the warning looks from the Clan Leader and others, they could only watch the three sympathetically and remain silent.

Yang Mengchen's eyes were clear as water, a faint and almost imperceptible smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

Xiao Hongtao had adjudicated numerous cases, yet this was the first time he encountered such a situation. Waving his hand to quell the ceaseless arguing of the three people, he looked down at Mu Songlin, "You must state the events as they truly happened. And you, mother and daughter-in-law, must not speak out to interrupt him!"

"Yes." Mu Songlin respectfully replied, "A month ago, my cousin came back from the town, drunk. Where he heard it or who put the idea in his head I do not know, but he claimed there was an improper relationship between me and his wife. On arriving home, he beat his wife to a pulp, leaving her drenched in blood, unconscious, and yet he still would not stop;

I was afraid that if he continued, it might lead to her death, so I tried to pull him away. But then my cousin turned on me with punches and kicks;

In the beginning, I thought since my cousin was drunk and not in his right mind, even if I explained myself, he would not listen. I figured it better to wait until he sobered up to clear things up. But to stop him from further beating his wife, I ran intentionally towards the courtyard, hoping to draw him away;

Unexpectedly, not only did my cousin not leave the room, he continued to brutally beat his wife;

My aunt was originally looking after Er Dan in the next room. Hearing the noise, she came over to try and stop my cousin. To my disbelief, he started beating my aunt too. Overcome with anger, I charged in and pushed my cousin hard;

But he lost his balance and fell backward, hitting the back of his head on the corner of a table, then he lay on the ground, motionless. It wasn't long before he stopped moving. I checked his breath, and he was already gone. At that moment, my mind went blank, and I didn't know what to do.

Later, my aunt suggested that during the night, I should bury my cousin behind the house. She also cautioned my cousin's wife and me that if anyone in the village asked about my cousin, we should say that he hadn't come back from gambling in the town;

I considered surrendering to the County Office, but then I thought about how, if I were executed, my aunt's family, consisting only of old, weak women and children, would have to survive. Therefore, I chose to conceal the truth;

That is the full account of the incident. There is not a single false word in my statement, I beseech you to see the truth!"

After hearing what Mu Songlin had said, some sympathized and pitied him, while others were filled with righteous indignation. All eyes then turned to Xiao Hongtao, in the hope that he would treat Mu Songlin leniently.

After a long stare at Mu Songlin, Xiao Hongtao noted his regretful and worried eyes, free from any sign of panic or evasion. He then turned to the Liao family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, "Is what Mu Songlin has said true?"

At this juncture, even though they were worried for Mu Songlin, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law of the Liao family could only nod in admission.

Yang Mengchen, with a slight lift of his eyebrows, said indifferently, "Mu Songlin, do you know that murder is punishable by death?"

"The commoner knows."

"And yet you still insist on taking responsibility for your actions?"

"Yes!"

"No regrets?"

"No regrets!"

"Very well!" Seeing that Mu Songlin's words matched his heart, Yang Mengchen inwardly nodded, "Uncle Xiao, although Liao Xiaofu died because of the push by Mu Songlin, it was clearly an accidental death, which constitutes manslaughter. However, as he did not turn himself in afterwards, I hope Uncle Xiao will take this into account. As for the Liao family's mother-in-law and daughter-in-law..."

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