Chapter 1164 - 1166: New Case _1
The man in brown clothes hesitated upon hearing this, seemingly uncertain. Indeed, when common folk like them faced officials, they always hesitated, always felt fear.
The reason for their hesitation was their desire to have the authorities help them seek revenge and capture the murderer.
Yet, they were afraid that the official they faced may not be a good one, worrying that once they spilled everything, not only would he not help them appeal their grievance, he might even conspire to kill them too.
Seeing him kneeling without speaking made Ye Wu’s temper flare up again, "Just speak when you’re told to, why are you dilly-dallying? My master is kindly willing to handle your injustice, and here you are, looking like a dead man. Who are you putting on this act for?"
"Ye Wu..." Ye Zi’an called out sharply, and Ye Wu retreated back to his position.
The two kneeling individuals looked at each other. After a long while, the man in the brown clothes finally kowtowed and gritted his teeth, "I, I’ll speak!"
"Speak, I am listening," the official replied.
"I am a commoner from the Jiang Family in Qingjiu Town. At home, I still have my parents and a younger brother. Originally, there were three brothers in our Jiang Family. I had a second brother who was good friends with the younger brother of the Mianyang Archivist Huang Family. Two years ago, in October, my second brother went out with his friend and Younger Master Liu of the Liu Family. But during the trip, the three of them got into an argument, and the Archivist Huang’s brother stabbed Younger Master Liu to death with a knife. In the end, they wrongfully accused my second brother of killing Young Master Liu and they threw him into prison. Sir, my second brother was wronged, he was wronged!"
"Jiang Family? Qingjiu Town is famous for brewing, and there is a Jiang family in the town that is well-known for their ancestral brewery across the whole town. Is that your family?" Ye Zi’an was aware of this Jiang Family and knew of the town, especially because that damning reservoir was situated right below it.
Qingjiu Town was one of the few towns in Mianyang that was not affected by disasters, yet that reservoir had been so troublesome to deal with. Thankfully, the issue was resolved now.
"Yes, it’s my family!" The man was stunned, not expecting the County Magistrate to actually know about his family.
"On the day your second brother and the others went out together, was there anyone else around?" Ye Zi’an asked further.
Eldest Young Master Jiang shook his head, "No! There were just the three of them, without even a servant in sight."
"If there were no outsiders, why are you so sure it wasn’t your second brother who did it?" With only three people there, apart from the victim, both of the others were suspects.
Hearing this question, Eldest Young Master Jiang answered, "Sir, setting aside the question of who the murderer was, when Young Master Liu was killed, both the Huang Family’s young master and my second brother were together, with no one else present. Both of them should have been suspects, so why did the authorities only apprehend my second brother and not that Young Master Huang?"
He paused and then added, "Not only that, but ever since my second brother was thrown into the jail, our family wasn’t even given a chance to see him. First, the jail refused us visitation, and second, before we could even seek information, someone came to the Jiang Family with news saying my second brother had committed suicide out of fear of punishment. Moreover, he allegedly left a suicide note claiming that he was the killer, apologizing to Younger Master Liu. It also said, it said that we should hand over our family’s brewery to compensate Younger Master Liu."
Thinking back on the incident, Eldest Young Master Jiang felt deeply wronged. His second brother was by no means a foolish person; how could he possibly commit murder?
"Sir, how would my second brother, confined in a cell, get hold of writing materials to compose a suicide note? It doesn’t make sense at all. Moreover, I covertly inquired with the prison guard, who said, said that my second brother did not commit suicide; he was beaten to death."