northernbook Chapter 120: Prison
Chapter 120: Prison
Song Shu's face was covered with tears and snot. He looked at the grim-faced village chief and the indifferent Jiang Shian beside him, and finally felt afraid.
If this matter today cannot be handled properly, he might really be kicked out.
He took two steps forward, knelt in front of Jiang Shian, grabbed Jiang Shian's legs, and begged for mercy: "Jiang Shian, Young Master Jiang, I was wrong, I was really wrong. I will never target you like this again. Please forgive me this time. I have been in the village for more than ten years. If I were to go somewhere else, I don't know where I can go. Please be kind and forgive me this time."
The regret and sadness on his face were genuine, and he begged Jiang Shian earnestly.
Jing Changping didn't say anything. Jiang Shian was the one who was wronged in this matter, so it would be better to let him make his own decision.
Jiang Shian looked at the person at his feet with an indifferent expression.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Song Shu panicked. In order not to be driven out of the village, he gritted his teeth, took a few steps back, knelt on the ground, and began to kowtow to Jiang Shian, crying as he kowtowed, "Please, I really know I was wrong."
Jiang Shian was not a pure and kind person. He knew that there must be something pitiful about a hateful person, but he could not see the pitiful side of the person in front of him.
If the young man in the workshop had not told him that day that this man had been watching at the door for several days, he would have been prepared in advance. And because he was not the weak and powerless young man in this world, he would not have been able to teach the two men a lesson.
Whether it was stealing tonight or the vicious method of turning the tables and ruining his reputation, it couldn't be forgiven with just an apology.
"Song Shu, we have no grudges against each other. You targeted me before. Every time you met me, you said that I killed my parents. Now you have come up with such a vicious trick. And there are rumors circulating in the village for the past two days. It is said that Ji Er is not my biological second brother. We grew up together and had an engagement long ago, but we have not been able to get married due to unexpected changes in our families. The village chief also knows about this. But what did you spread among the aunts around you? You swear that. You think I am stupid after repeating this several times." His tone turned cold at the end.
Song Shu's face turned visibly pale. He didn't expect that Jiang Shi'an also knew about the things he had secretly spread. Seeing Jiang Shi'an staring at him coldly, he was filled with fear.
Perhaps everything that happened tonight was not planned by them, but the other party had long been waiting for them to fall into the trap.
Jing Changping's expression was so ugly that it could not be described. He slammed his hand on the table. He had heard those words before. When his wife told him about them, he also wondered who would say such vicious words. He did not expect it to be the innocent-looking Song Shu in front of him.
He stood up from the stool and said in a serious tone, "Let me handle this matter. Both of them climbed over the wall to steal, so it's best to hand it over to the government. Otherwise, no matter what you decide, the village will always gossip about it. Handing it over to the government will keep things quiet for a while."
Hearing this, Song Shu's face turned pale. He did not stand up, but knelt in front of Jing Changping, hugged his legs, and begged: "Grandpa Jing, I really know I was wrong, I will definitely change. If I do this again in the future, you have watched me grow up. Can you really bear to let me go to the government office?"
Jing Changping waved his hand and didn't want to say anything more. He had been too tolerant in the past, always thinking that since they were all from the same village, there was nothing that could not be solved. Most of the time, big things were made small, and small things were made nothing, which made the village more and more unruly.
Jing Changping asked one of the men to go to his house and call his two sons.
As the victim, Jiang Shian also has to go.
Soon, the two sons arrived in a carriage, with Song Shu and Ma Qian sitting in it.
Jiang Shian and his companions drove their own carriage.
The carriage left the village. Strangely, Song Shu's mother never showed up to deliver the lotus flowers. If there was a thief in the village, the whole village would know about it. But the mother of the person involved never showed up, not even to plead for mercy.
Since it had little to do with him, Jiang Shian didn't bother to ask. Today was the big market day and there must be a lot of people in the town. They had to come back early and bring the prepared goods to the town.
By the time they arrived at the yamen, it was already bright. The gate of the yamen was opened early, and two yamen runners were standing outside.
The subsequent matters were handled smoothly. This was not the first time that Jiang Shian came to the yamen. He had been here when he bought the land at the back.
Unexpectedly, the yamen's legal advisor knew him, and as soon as he heard about this incident, he led a group of people to the court.
There was sufficient evidence and the two men had no excuses, so the county magistrate thought about it and made a judgment according to the law.
Ma Qian was sentenced to three years in prison, while Song Shu's sentence was slightly lighter, five months, and he was required to compensate Jiang Shian for the original price of the money he had thrown to the ground.
Jiang Shian was not dissatisfied with the result. The county magistrate directly ordered the constable to take the two men to the jail.
After all this busy work, it was already dawn.
After leaving the county government gate, Jiang Shian called everyone to the restaurant to have breakfast first.
He was delayed for the entire morning. Usually at this time of the day, everyone would be busy at home, and he couldn't let anyone make a wasted trip with him.
The village chief and his companions did not agree at first. They thought that a meal in a restaurant would cost at least several hundred coins. They could just buy some buns on the way. There was no need to spend so much money.
But Jiang Shian insisted. Fengnian also took Jing Changping's arm and pulled him into the restaurant. The two sons who followed behind looked at each other. Since their father had gone, they could only go in and eat with him.
By the time they got back to the village, the sun was already high in the sky. People working in the fields had a sweat towel around their necks to wipe off the sweat quickly to prevent blinding.
There were quite a few men who went to help. They all saw it clearly and told their wives when they got home. So the news spread throughout the village early in the morning.