Hu Fan was a bit stunned. What was going on? Had Chen Xiaobei become a local bully?
He looked at Old Man He in confusion.
Old Man He was also bewildered. He wasn't familiar with Chen Xiaobei; he had been introduced by the Liu family.
He cleared his throat, "Madam Jia, this is a courtroom. If you dare to speak nonsense, you will be caned."
Jia Shi said tearfully, "Officer, he is the one who scared my son into not being able to return home. I, I will fight him to the death."
As she spoke, she stood up and was about to pounce on Chen Xiaobei.
Fortunately, Old Man He was quick-witted and stepped forward to block Chen Xiaobei.
Seeing this, Jia Fan also slammed the gavel.
"No shouting in court, or I will have you caned."
Old Man He looked at Chen Xiaobei, "Did this happen?"
Chen Xiaobei shook his head.
"Then do you have witnesses?"
Chen Xiaobei slapped his forehead. Right, witnesses! Chen Ping was outside, a ready witness.
"Reporting to Seventh Master, the people sleeping on the donkey cart outside are all from the village guard. They can all testify for me."
Old Man He winked at the constables beside him, and soon, Chen Ping and two others were brought in.
As soon as they entered, the three of them knelt and kowtowed to Hu Fan. Perhaps they never expected that after coming to eat steamed buns, they would be called in for questioning.
Seeing the three of them enter, Chen Yu Tian'er was a bit dumbfounded and gently tugged at Jia Shi's clothes.
Jia Shi, playing the victim, said, "Yes, it's these three. They colluded with Chen Xiaobei to frame my son as a thief."
Originally, just smearing Chen Xiaobei might have had a glimmer of hope, but now they weren't even letting Chen Ping off the hook. How could they let her get away with it?
Chen Ping cupped his fists towards Hu Fan and said loudly, "Your Honor, I am the captain of the Hetou Village Guard. My name is Chen Ping."
"This old woman is clearly crying wolf. Her son, Chen Ermao, broke into Chen Xiaobei's house at night to steal, and we caught him red-handed."
"We intended to keep him locked up in the village until dawn and then send him to the county yamen, but he escaped in the middle of the night. Unexpectedly, this old woman harbored malicious intent and hired someone to kill Chen Xiaobei. Fortunately, someone discovered it and captured them ahead of time."
Chen Ping had said his piece. If the matter ended here, it would at most be an attempted hired murder.
But Jia Shi had completely lost her mind. She pointed at Chen Ping and yelled,
"What do you mean I harbored malicious intent? It was your grandfather, the village chief, who forced us to do this..."
Hearing this, Chen Yu Tian realized something was about to be exposed and quickly tried to pull Jia Shi's arm.
"You foolish woman, are you crazy? How dare you say such things in court."
Chen Ping was not about to back down. He was unaware of the machinations behind the scenes and naturally wanted to defend his grandfather.
"You are slandering me! You are pushing everything onto my grandfather. I think you are truly mad."
He then turned to Hu Fan and said, "Your Honor, his son, Chen Ermao, is usually idle and shiftless in the village, stealing chickens and dogs. You can inquire about this in the village."
"Chen Xiaobei recently got married and brought some dowry, which Chen Ermao targeted. When he went to steal, we caught him at his house. These villagers can all testify."
Hu Fan nodded.
"Jia Shi, if you tell the truth now, there may still be time. If you persist in your stubbornness and I find out, do you know what consequences await you?"
Jia Shi kowtowed twice to Hu Fan. "Your Honor, everything I said is true. It was indeed the village chief, Chen Anbang, who told us that only by killing Chen Xiaobei could our son return to the village."
Hu Fan nodded. "So, your son did go to Chen Xiaobei's house to steal something."
Jia Shi still wanted to argue, but Chen Yu Tian next to her quickly stopped her. "Your Honor, what we did was indeed wrong. My son did go to his house to steal something. Later, when the village chief said he would be sent to the county, I took advantage of the night when the village guards were asleep and secretly let him go."
"It was my resentment that led me to hire someone to kill him. It has nothing to do with the village chief."
Chen Yu Tian spoke these words against his will. But now, this was all he could say, as he clearly understood the village chief's words when he left.
Just then, there was a commotion outside, and a constable rushed in.
"Reporting to Your Honor, a group of people have arrived outside, claiming to be from Hetou Village."
Hu Fan glared. "Nonsense! What is this commotion? It's not proper conduct."
"Your Honor, they say they have captured a mountain bandit and brought him to the county yamen."
Upon hearing this, Chen Xiaobei's mind flashed back to the scene last night.
Wasn't the person he collided with someone from Hetou Village? Could it be him?
Not only was Chen Xiaobei's inference correct, but the fellow had hidden in Qingniu Mountain for a night.
He waited until dawn before returning to the village as if nothing had happened, and went straight to Chen Yu Tian's house.
At this time, Chen Yu Tian had already been taken away by Old Man He.
Seeing that Chen Yu Tian's house was empty, the mountain bandit even inquired about their whereabouts from the neighbors with feigned concern.
Ultimately, he was reported to the village guard.
As soon as this fellow saw the village guard, he took to his heels. Wasn't that a clear sign of guilt?
After Chen Daqiang captured the man, he encountered Chen Anbang.
Coincidentally, Chen Anbang had just returned from the countryside and was eager to know the progress of the matter. With a guilty conscience, he took the initiative to offer to escort the person to the yamen.
Hu Fan listened to the report and waved his hand. Soon, a constable brought in another mountain bandit.
The bandit saw Yang Dazhi with a head full of blood and his body bruised and battered, and was instantly stunned. He knelt down with a thud and begged for mercy.
"Your Honor, please spare me, Your Honor."
Hu Fan slammed the gavel. "What is your name, why did you come to Beishan Village, and what were your intentions? Tell the truth."
The fellow spilled everything like beans. "Reporting to Your Honor, my name is Ding Lao San. I came to Hetou Village with Yang Dazhi to map out the routes on Qingniu Mountain, and also..."
He glanced at Yang Dazhi and continued, "And to kill someone named Chen Xiaobei."
Ding Lao San described the events of last night. As Chen Xiaobei had suspected, upon hearing Cui Hongyu shout, the fellow ran out and happened to collide with Chen Xiaobei.
Hu Fan looked at Jia Shi. "Hired murder, the evidence is conclusive. Do you have anything else to say?"
Jia Shi had nothing left to lose. She glared and shouted, "Your Honor, I said earlier that it was all at the instigation of the village chief, Chen Anbang."
Chen Ping was furious upon hearing this. "Your Honor, my grandfather is outside. Please summon him to confront this person."
Hu Fan nodded and gestured to Old Man He.
Soon, Chen Anbang was brought in.
He was also quite flustered, but he maintained his composure and bowed to Hu Fan. "I am Chen Anbang, the village chief of Hetou Village. Greetings, Magistrate Hu."
Hu Fan pointed at Chen Yu Tian and Jia Shi. "Do you recognize these two?"
"Reporting to Your Honor, they are villagers from my village. I naturally recognize them."
"Very well. They claim that they hired someone to kill Chen Xiaobei under your orders. Is this true?"
Chen Anbang's heart sank. His gaze turned cold, sweeping across Jia Shi's face and then to Chen Yu Tian.