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Chapter 68.1: Husband, I’ll Wait For You
Song Liangzhuo knitted his brows. “Da ren, you are a second rank official. You should know that even if I die, these things will inevitably alarm the imperial court one day. At that time, when His Majesty investigates it, the consequence for these fabricated stories you’ve come up with wouldn’t be something as simple as losing your official rank.”
Inspector General Li nodded. “The consequence for fabricating facts is naturally severe. However, the punishment for children of official families who commit crimes is even more severe if there is conclusive evidence.”
Song Liangzhuo smiled a little. “If the sentence is a death penalty, mustn’t you send a report and wait for the Ministry of Justice to examine and approve it? Inspector General Li should think it through clearly. Don’t forfeit your own official position due to one moment of muddle-headedness.”
“Many thanks for Young Master Song’s warning. Someone, come! The criminal is shooting off his mouth and trying to evade his guilt. Proceed with discipline!”
Song Liangzhuo’s face turned taut. “It seems that Inspector General Li still hasn’t checked the crime scene and has not looked into whether the deceased’s cause of death seems dubious. To act like this, is Inspector General Li intending to obtain confessions under torture?”
Inspector General Li refused to speak anymore. He just waved his hand and a bailiff holding a lash moved up. Song Liangzhuo hadn’t seen this bailiff before. At this time, as Song Liangzhuo looked at the strangers around him, he got a bad premonition.
Only when the first whip fell did Song Liangzhuo suddenly come to the realization that this matter definitely was not as simple as the Inspector General coming here to patrol. Perhaps when they had started gathering evidence to use against the Fu family, the Fu family had also started arranging a scenario. Zixiao just happened to become a chess piece for them – a dead piece.
The chilling sound of the striking lash resounded in the death cell. It came again and again, and the sound of Song Liangzhuo’s muffled groans occasionally mixed with it. Song Qingyun was flustered as he paced back and forth. When he couldn’t endure it anymore, he tried to enter but was blocked by Inspector General Li’s people again. Song Qingyun was distraught with anxiety as he continued pacing back and forth until, suddenly, he seemed to have thought of something and jogged over to get someone to prepare a carriage to take him home. He had to write a memorial to the emperor, think of some way to delay this side, and send the accounts book up before the situation gets even worse.
Song Liangzhuo, who was inside the death cell, had already been whipped to the point his body was completely mangled. Song Liangzhuo could not endure anymore. He closed his eyes and his head drooped.
Inspector General Li waved and the executor immediately stopped. Then, the bailiff brought cold water over to splash on Song Liangzhuo. Song Liangzhuo opened his eyes with an uncontrollable tremble. The first thing that entered his ears again was Inspector General Li’s light jeer.
“I heard that you collected evidence of the Fu family colluding with and bribing officials? Where is the evidence? Hand it over and this official can perhaps help investigate whether this murder case was purposefully set up by someone.”
Upon hearing this, Song Liangzhuo closed his eyes again.
“You have your parents. and even have a wife and child. Ah, can’t say for sure if you have a child. How can you drag your family down with your own crime? This official advises you to honestly own up to everything, and it’ll also allow you to avoid causing your skin and flesh to suffer.”
Song Liangzhuo lifted his head. “All I grasp is evidence that Fu Dejia had killed someone before. Could it be that Li da ren has detected something else?”
Inspector General Li’s brows lifted a little and Song Liangzhuo continued, “I had actually been unaware that they were even involved with bribing officials. Looks like the Fu family really will find it hard to escape from guilt.”
The corners of Inspector General Li’s mouth twitched and a person came over from the side carrying the guilty plea book. Inspector General Li then smiled as he said, “You should sign it. The crime of murder is paid with one’s life. To consciously break the law while being well aware of it naturally deserves heavy punishment.”
Song Liangzhuo smiled bitterly as he looked at that paper. In this situation, whether he acknowledged the crime or not was not something he could decide. Someone forcefully grabbed his hand. Song Liangzhuo clenched his fist tightly.
“If you take the initiative to admit your crime on your own, perhaps this official can consider giving a more lenient sentence.”
Song Liangzhuo was enraged and kicked away the bailiff next to him. However, he was kicked back hard. Song Liangzhuo hurt so much he couldn’t straighten his waist for a long time. The bailiff pried open his fingers and directly swiped one across his chest, using the blood to make a fingerprint.T/N
Song Liangzhuo pressed his lips together. Only after a long while was he able to recover and say, “Inspector General Li’s sentence is reckless. It is certain to attract someone’s suspicions.”
Inspector General Li nodded. “Many thanks for the warning. The murderer Song Liangzhuo refuses to admit his crime no matter what and used his father’s official position to threaten this official. He even beat up the bailiff in an attempt to escape. He shall be beheaded three days from now.”
At this side, Song Qingyun finished writing his accounts book and had someone spur a horse to the capital in order to deliver it to the Prime Minister’s hands. The next moment after he sent the letter off, he received the news of Song Liangzhuo’s written sentence of the death penalty and a guilty plea that had a fingerprint pressed on it. The day of execution was set for three days later.
Three days. Even if they rush an exceptionally good horse to death, it still wouldn’t be enough time to make a trip there and return. When Song Qingyun got the written sentence, he was shocked to the point that he slid down and fell into a chair. This time, he could conclude that the large majority, or perhaps all of the large amount of money that the Fu family allocated annually went into this Inspector General Li’s pocket.
Xiaoqi didn’t seem very grieved. She stood stunned as she listened to the bailiff finish reading the written sentence, then tugged her lips into a smile as she looked at Mother Song who was shocked to the point she had even forgotten to cry. She said, “Nothing will happen to him. Mom, Dad, don’t worry.”
Xiaoqi walked outwards in a daze and was pulled to a stop by the beautiful missus. “Qi er, where are you going?”
“I’m going to see…” See who? Even her Father-in-Law Dad was barred outside the prison, so how could she possibly walk in? Xiaoqi looked towards the beautiful missus muddle-headedly. Her expression only cleared up after a while. Xiaoqi smiled a little, then said, “I’m going to look for Chen Zigong, he’ll have a way. Husband didn’t kill anyone, he’ll definitely be fine.”
The beautiful missus turned around to look at Old Man Qian. When she saw that he also looked to be at his wits’ end, her heart couldn’t help but also drop to the ground. An official of one rank higher would pressure one to death*. Even though Old Man Qian got to know some high ranking officials when he went overseas a couple years earlier, distant water could not cure present thirst. Three days. Could it be that they can only wait for the death sentence to be carried out?
Refers to the fact that your superior who’s only of slightly higher rank than you pays closer attention to your actions because it directly affects them. Someone whose rank is much higher than yours would not take the time to monitor you closely. I’m not sure how it fits here though. Is it saying that those higher officials wouldn’t voluntarily pay attention to Inspector General Li due to that?
O: Old Man Qian might know influential people, but he doesn’t associate with them on a regular basis so they would be unaware of his current situation General Li, and also might not help him as he is a casual acquaintance and/or their rank might be equal to or not great enough to halt the General’s actions.
Xiaoqi pushed aside the beautiful missus’s hand. “I’m going to look for Chen Zigong. He’ll definitely have a way.”
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Credits: Translated by Chiyomira, Proofread by Ocelot
[Chiyomira’s Corner]
If you have had no exposure to historical Chinese dramas, having your fingerprint forcefully pressed onto the guilty plea was a very common scene. Having the fingerprint be done in blood was also very common. It was also very common to just use another person’s fingerprint if the ‘criminal’s’ could not be obtained for some reason. Lol, those days of watching random dramas with my grandma really come in useful! :p
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I whonder how the story will proceed ?
Can’t wait to see how much longer this Inspector General Li’s authority can last
Then what’s the point of having the fingerprint as proof of authorization back on those days? LOL.