Chapter 56: The Truth

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Zhao cried out loud, crying very sadly. After a while, she continued to say: "I really didn't intentionally strangle him to death, I was just too scared, and my whole body was dizzy. When I found out he was dead, I was frightened and ran to find Liu Xiangzheng to tell him what happened. He scolded me for not going back home immediately and taking care of the corpse. I asked how to take care of it. He said to use a knife to cut the corpse into pieces and burn them in the stove. Moreover, he repeatedly reminded me that if things were exposed, I must not admit to our private affair, otherwise, it would implicate him as well. If I was caught, he could still try to bribe his way out of it, but if he was also implicated, there would be no way out. After returning home, I did what he said, but unexpectedly the corpse wouldn't burn completely. Then I heard Tongshi shouting loudly for her son outside. I was afraid she would come into the house, so I quickly extinguished the fire and blew out the lamp to sleep. I knew that if she couldn't find her child the next day, she would definitely come to ask me questions. Before that, I had to take care of the corpse. So, in the dark, I put all the pieces into a basket, washed the floor with water, and then went out at dawn the next day to throw away the pieces and clothes. That's what happened."

  Xiao Jiading asked: "Did Liu Xiangzheng tell you how he rescued you?"

  Xiao Jiading knew that Liu Xiangzheng might mention in front of Zhao Shi how he had saved people, in order to curry favor and make Zhao Shi grateful to him, so that she would be even more devoted to following him. Sure enough, Zhao Shi nodded and said: "Just now he said that he had given a large sum of money as gifts to Zhong Facao of the prefectural government office and Deng Quansheng, the county magistrate, and also found those witnesses, including Tong Shi, saying that if the government office asked them again, they should change their testimony. He also gave them a lot of money, especially Tong Shi, who was given a lot of money as compensation for his family. He even threatened to cause trouble for them in the future if they didn't change their words. As a result, all these people changed their testimonies."

  "Hmm," Xiao Jiading had already thought of this, his greatest concern was the murder weapon, and he asked: "You used that kitchen knife to dismember the body, chopping through several hard bones, why is there no curling or chipping on it?"

  Zhao said: "The one who chopped off the bone was using a small axe, and that kitchen knife is only for cutting meat."

  Xiao Jiading slapped his forehead, he was really stupid, why did he always think about why the knife blade didn't have a curved bevel, suspecting that the evidence room's soap had been tampered with, and also suspected that the autopsy had been faked, but he never thought that she could use two knives!

  "What about that small axe for chopping bones?"

  "I threw it away along with the corpse."

  "Thrown where?"

  Xiao Jiading was very afraid that he would say it was thrown into the river, which would be troublesome. Fortunately, Zhao said: "It was thrown into a tree hole outside a village."

  "Take us there!"

  This is a crucial piece of evidence. Xiao Jiading had Dai Poutu bring Zhao Shi out through the back door, avoiding the crowds of Liu Xiangzheng's people who were teasing and strolling in front. They went straight to the outskirts of the village, and under Zhao Shi's guidance, they indeed found a small axe in a tree hole. The blade of the axe was curved in several places, with two notches on it, and there were dark red bloodstains on top.

  Xiao Jiading ordered the people to be brought to Luo Cunzheng's home, where a scribe made a record of the extraction of finger bones, axes and other physical evidence. The witnesses, Luo Cunzheng and several other local gentry, affixed their signatures to the record as proof.

  Xiao Jiading ordered Zhao's family to be taken away and detained, while also ordering Tong's family to be brought over.

  Tong seemed very excited, and as soon as he saw Xiao Jia Ding, he immediately knelt down. Before Xiao Jia Ding could ask him anything, Tong began to speak rapidly: "Master, I didn't tell the truth earlier. I did see Zhao's wife secretly meeting with someone, clearly a man, and his back looked just like Liu Xiang Zheng. But I wasn't sure, so I didn't dare say anything. Now that they've been caught in the act, it proves that what I saw that day was indeed him! The other day, he gave me a large sum of money and told me to change my testimony, or else he would make me regret it later. I was afraid, so I lied. I'm sorry, Master, please forgive me!"

  Having said that, he knocked his head against the ground.

  It seems that Tong Shi is eager to severely punish the murderer who killed her son. She has always believed that it was Zhao Shi who did it, and now that Zhao Shi and Liu Xiang have been caught for their private affairs, her concerns have been put aside, and her anger towards the murderer has taken over. As soon as she saw Xiao Jia Ding, she immediately told him the truth.

  Xiao Jiading nodded: "I'm glad you can tell the truth, now tell me in detail about how Liu Xiangzheng bribed you and asked you to change your testimony."

  Tong reported the whole incident and brought back the bribe money that Liu Xiangzheng had given him, handing it all over to the authorities.

  Then, Xiao Jiading sent someone to bring the witness who saw Zhao's body being thrown away. Without much effort, this witness saw that Liu Xiangzheng had already been caught and the government was investigating this matter. If he didn't speak up, he feared he would be implicated himself, so he admitted that Liu Xiangzheng had given him money to change his testimony. He also handed over the bribe money.

  Finally, Xiao Jiading ordered Liu Xiangzheng to be brought before him.

  This matter had completely collapsed Liu Xiangzheng. He was escorted in, and Xiao Jiading immediately pinched his nose, because Liu Xiangzheng's face and body were covered with feces and urine poured by the villagers, emitting a strong stench. Xiao Jianding hastily ordered him to be taken outside, washed with water, and then brought back, kneeling on the ground.

  Xiao Jiading asked: "Liu Xiangzheng, what else do you have to say?"

  Liu Xiang's face was ashen, and he had been caught red-handed in front of so many people. He wanted to make excuses but couldn't, hanging his head in silence.

  Xiao Jiading said, "I'll tell you, all the important witnesses, including the victim's mother, have recanted their testimony. I knew someone was behind it. And this person, who wants to get Zhao out, must be Zhao's lover! So I deliberately acknowledged that the evidence in this case is insufficient and Zhao should be released for lack of evidence. I know that if I let the little wolf go, the little wolf will go find the big wolf, and then we can bring the mastermind to justice! So, I had someone stake out near Zhao's house, and sure enough, the lover came, and we caught him in the act. But to be honest, I'm surprised - I didn't expect it to be you."

  Xiao Jiading said this with a mix of truth and falsehood. He had actually already learned from Yuju that Liu Xiangzheng was having an affair with a woman from Huangyan Village, which was revealed by Liu's sister-in-law. This woman had been caught cheating with Jin Lao San, a wealthy man from Huangyan Village, and Liu Xiangzheng had threatened to drown her in the pond. To threaten him back, Liu's sister-in-law publicly exposed this affair. Yuju overheard it, but didn't know who the woman was. Xiao Jiading soon suspected that it was Zhao Shi. Moreover, only he, as a wealthy and well-connected county official, would have had the financial resources and connections to pull off such a thing. So, in reality, Xiao Jiading had arranged for two groups of people from Emei Sect, led by the beautiful nun Huiyi, to stake out Liu Xiangzheng's and Zhao Shi's homes and follow them, which ultimately led to their capture. However, Xiao Jiading didn't reveal this because the information came from Yuju, and he was afraid of getting her into trouble.

  Liu Xiangzheng hung his head and said dejectedly: "It was I who was momentarily confused, Xiao Zhixi, you can magnanimously spare me..."

  "Are you kidding me?" Xiao Jiading sneered, "It can't be like this, right? You bribe officials with money and use coercion to force witnesses to retract their statements, helping Zhao, a murderer who committed heinous crimes, escape punishment! This isn't just a momentary lapse of sanity!"

  Liu Xiangzheng shivered and asked: "What does Xiao Zhii's words mean?"

  "What does it mean? Heh heh, Zhao's family, Tong's family, and the villager who witnessed Zhao at the scene of throwing the body have all told the truth about you bribing them to change their testimony. They also handed over the money you used for bribery and said that you also bribed officials from the prefecture and county government. Do you still want to deny it?"

  Xiao Jiading didn't directly mention the recipients of bribery, Zhong Facao and Deng Quansheng, because he still didn't know how deep this matter was. Before figuring out the situation, he couldn't act rashly. In official circles, caution is always better. He doesn't want to risk his life for the sake of upholding justice.

  Liu Xiangzheng lowered his head, thought for a moment, and said: "I admit to having an affair, but I don't admit to bribery!"

  The punishment for bribery in the Tang Code was at most three years of imprisonment, only one year more than that for adultery. The principle of cumulative punishment for multiple crimes adopted in the Tang Code is to punish according to the heaviest crime committed. Therefore, even if he confessed his crime of bribery with sufficient evidence, it would not add more than a year to his sentence. However, what he feared was implicating the recipients of his bribes, Zhong Facao and Deng Xianwei. The punishment for accepting bribes in the Tang Code could be as severe as death by hanging, and the property he gave to Zhong Facao and Deng Xianwei was enough to warrant their execution twice over. He refused to speak even on pain of death, hoping that Zhong Facao and Deng Xianwei would come forward to vouch for him.

  Xiao Jiading had fully considered Liu Xiangzheng's attitude, and he didn't expect Liu to confess willingly either. So he said: "Then you first tell me in detail how you secretly communicated!"

  He was caught red-handed and had no way to deny it, so Liu Xiangzheng did not conceal anything and told everything one by one. Except for the matter of private communication, he did not admit to anything else.

  Xiao Jiading looked at him and suddenly asked: "How did your sister-in-law and Jin Lao San from Huangyan Village really die?"

  Liu Xiang Zheng couldn't help but shudder and lowered his head: "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "You don't know? Let me remind you. Your sister-in-law had an affair with Jin Lao San from Huangyan Village, and after they were caught, according to the clan rules, you should have had them thrown into a pond. But your sister-in-law threatened to expose your own affair with a woman from Huangyan Village, so you ordered their release. However, within days, both of them died mysteriously. How did they die? Did you kill them to silence them?"