Chapter 263 - 262: The Family Business of Three Generations
Having heard Hu Jing’s explanation, Zhou Bingyi’s mind eased. If the intention behind the trial was not to impose unjustly harsh sentences but rather to conduct legitimate legal proceedings, that was much easier to handle. To have managed to reduce a case inciting civil unrest to a common lawsuit was already quite an achievement. Given the current dynasty’s practice of using silver to reduce sentences—provided the crime involved neither politics nor serious offenses—allowing Liang Qiyuan to spend more silver wasn’t necessarily bad. It would be good for him to face some financial hardship, to better understand himself and for his family to live a safe and peaceful life.
Consequently, the trial concerning Liang Qiyuan was reopened, and his confession was the first piece of evidence examined.
Liang Qiyuan, having learned from Zhou Bingyi that even his brother-in-law, a prefectural magistrate of considerable status, was unable to intervene in matters of inciting rebellion and civil unrest and could even be implicated and dismissed from his position, immediately lost his backbone. On the dais in the courtroom, he answered every question put to him.
The case was straightforward, having already been tried once before. This time around, apart from guiding the proceedings with Liang Qiyuan’s confession, there were few changes, so the retrial concluded quickly.
Discarding any unknown underlying reasons and beginning simply with Lady Qi’s refusal to make pastries upon request, followed by the Liang family’s unwillingness to accept this and subsequent disruptions to the Qi family’s business operations, what ensued was a gradual escalation, resulting in a basic civil dispute.
As for the true reason, Liang Qiyuan wouldn’t dare say at this juncture that he wanted his daughter to marry into or be carried into Sixth Master Rong’s Mansion, and therefore invited Qi Ye over to make pastries in hopes of facilitating an encounter between his daughter and Sixth Master Rong. Naturally, he would only reiterate in court what the Yamen officials prompted him to say.
The gist of this case hinged upon the verdict. The county government office sentenced Liang Qiyuan to compensate the Qi family’s small food shop for operational losses incurred before and after the disturbance, totaling eight hundred taels of patterned silver. Considering that the hooligans involved did not cause serious consequences, they were given a light sentence. Liang Qiyuan was to surrender all the silver used to bribe the hooligans, who themselves were to receive thirty lashes each as punishment. Liang Qiyuan, the instigator of the incident, was sentenced to fifty lashes and five years of labor service.
All of this was settled with silver. The Qi family’s payment was, of course, evident; the eight hundred taels had to be paid forthwith.