Chapter 61: Establishing Merit

  Having said that, the two of them whipped their horses and caught up with the main troop. After entering the city, Huiyi finally bid farewell to Xiao Jia Ding and left with her fellow sisters.

  Xiao Jiading and his men returned to the yamen, put the suspects in jail, and had the coroner's assistant send the evidence to the evidence room for storage. Then he took the transcript and headed towards County Magistrate Kang's signing chamber to report. On the way, he was called out by someone. Turning back, it was County Lieutenant Deng.

  County Magistrate Deng came over with a smile and said, "I heard that you were ordered to lead a team to capture the suspect last night? What case is it?"

  Xiao Jiading cupped his hands and said: "It's the case of Zhao's private communication. The privately communicating Zhao and her paramour Liu Xiangzheng have already been caught on the spot!"

  County Magistrate Deng's expression changed slightly as he asked, "Is it true that this Zhao woman has been secretly meeting with someone?"

  Anyway, this case is already well-known to everyone, and he is in charge of the county's criminal cases, so it's only a matter of time before he knows all about the case. Therefore, Xiao Jiading didn't hide anything and said: "Yes, the adulterer is Liu Xiangzheng. The two were caught in the act by Luo Cunzheng and his men, and according to their local customs and rules, they were paraded through the streets as an example to the public."

  County Magistrate Deng exclaimed, and after a moment, he came back to his senses, clapping his hands and saying: "What a great pair of adulterers! Well done for catching them! This Zhao woman pretended to be pure, deceiving all of us, but it turns out she's so lewd behind our backs!"

  "This Zhao is not only lewd," Xiao Jiading looked at him with a smile and said: "but also ruthless!"

  "Are you saying... that Shaoyan is poisonous?"

  "It's true, she murdered her nephew and the case has been solved. It was Liu Xiangzheng who privately bribed and intimidated Tongshi and others to retract their statements. The relevant evidence has been collected and the two have confessed without concealment. Moreover, Liu Xiangzheng also confessed to murdering his sister-in-law and Jin Lao San from Huangyan Village, as well as his follower Dongzi. All relevant evidence has been collected."

  County Magistrate Deng's face looked even more unsightly, seeing Xiao Jia Ding about to leave, he hastily blocked him again and said in a low voice: "Brother Xiao, do you have time to come to my place for a sit down, let's chat some more?"

  Xiao Jiading heard that he had even changed his title, and secretly smiled, but on his face was a look of difficulty: "This, I'm in a hurry to go back and report to County Magistrate Kang."

  "It won't be delayed for long, let's go, it just so happens that I have a treasure there and I'd like to ask my brother to take a look."

  "That can't be helped for now, I'm in a hurry to see Magistrate Kong!"

  "Let's go, I don't dare delay you brothers any longer. Let's go."

  Xiao Jiading followed him into his study. After Xiao Jiading entered, Deng Xianwei closed the door and asked Xiao Jiading to sit down. He himself did not sit behind the desk, but instead took out a golden Buddha from a trunk in the corner of the room and placed it in front of Xiao Jiading, saying: "Brother Xiao, what do you think of this?"

  Xiao Jia Ding took a glance, this small golden Buddha was only the size of a fist, picked it up and felt it, heavy, must be pure gold, said: "Very good."

  "Since Xiao brothers like it, then give it to Xiao brothers!"

  Xiao Jiading had long known that he would not bribe himself, and with such a corrupt official, it was impossible to collude. This bottom line had been established early on. Moreover, this Deng County Magistrate was a complete hypocrite, and absolutely could not be allowed to stand in his way, otherwise it would be extremely dangerous, and he must take the initiative to strike first. The reason he hid Liu Xiangzheng's bribery confession was that he wanted to concentrate enough evidence before making a heavy blow. However, before this, he couldn't alarm the enemy, nor could he openly confront him.

  Xiao Jia Ding pretended to be surprised and terrified, saying: "This... is called no work no gain, I don't want it!"

  "We're family brothers, why be polite? Xiao brother has arrived at the government office, and I haven't even sent a decent gift yet! This is just in time to make up for it."

  "No, no, thank you for your kind intention, County Magistrate Deng. But please don't be offended when I say this: as a non-believer of Buddhism, I dare not accept the statue of Buddha. As the saying goes, 'it's easy to invite a god but hard to send it away.' Since I don't believe in it, having it at home would also make me unsure of how to handle it. So, I appreciate your kind intention, but I really cannot accept it."

  Deng Xianyu was taken aback, unable to believe that Xiao Jia Ding had come up with such an excuse, and for a moment he didn't know how to respond.

  Xiao Jiading smiled all over his face and said: "County Wei, what's the matter? Just give us an order. We're old friends now, no need to bother with these empty courtesies."

  County Magistrate Deng couldn't find a suitable gift for the moment, and was anxious to know the result. After hearing what Xiao Jiading said, and seeing his sincere expression, he hesitantly said: "Alright then, I'll say it. This case involves the honor of our Shaocity County. If it's really a miscarriage of justice, we'll all be in big trouble, including me. So, hey, Brother Xiao, can you show me the confessions of Liu Xiangzheng and Zhao? I want to understand this case better and see if there's any chance of overturning it."

  Xiao Jiading smiled secretly in his heart, he had expected Deng County to say so, and he also knew what Deng County actually wanted to see. He hastily handed over the pen record in his hand and said, "No problem, County, please take a look."

  County Magistrate Deng took over the transcript and began to read it carefully. As for Zhao's confession, he almost glanced through it, but as for Liu Xiangzheng's, he looked at it very carefully, almost one word at a time. A faint cold sweat appeared on his forehead.

  Xiao Jiading naturally understood that he was looking at whether Liu Xiangzheng had said anything about bribing him. This part of the confession, he had already taken it away and wasn't in there, so County Magistrate Deng wouldn't be able to find it.

  County Magistrate Deng let out a clear sigh of relief, seemingly feeling a bit flustered again, and hastily smiled all over his face: "This is really great, it means our original case wasn't handled incorrectly after all! County Magistrate Kang, we can all breathe a sigh of relief now. And you've even brought up such a big case from behind, this time you've truly made a great contribution!" Next, he immediately put on an indignant expression and said: "This Liu Xiangzheng is really guilty of a heinous crime! He actually killed three people in a row! And he also had illicit relations with many others! How did such a person manage to mix into the yamen?"

  Xiao Jiading said: "Yes, I also have doubts about this. Did he use some kind of bribery or other despicable means to get this position?"

  Just as he said this, Deng Xianwei's face had already changed.

  Xiao Jiading continued, "But no matter how I asked him, he refused to say anything. I even used severe punishment, but still couldn't get him to open his mouth. It's really puzzling! He has already admitted to the serious crime of murder, so why would he refuse to admit to something as minor as bribery?"

  Xiao Jiading shook his head incessantly, with a look of incomprehension on his face.

  As soon as Liu Xiang was subjected to severe torture, he did not reveal the bribery case. Deng County Magistrate almost jumped up with excitement. But after all, he was an old hand in officialdom and quickly calmed down, saying slowly: "This is actually nothing strange, the defendant does not confess, either because he doesn't want to implicate others, or because there is no such thing at all. If there is no such thing, how can he confess? Since he has been tortured severely and still did not confess, in my opinion, he should be really innocent and have nothing to confess."

  Xiao Jiading suddenly enlightened, nodded and said: "So that's it! It's still Deng County Wei's rich experience, at a glance, he saw the truth of the matter, and my mind was suddenly opened."

  "Be polite!" County Magistrate Deng stroked his beard with a smile, "Since severe punishment and torture didn't get anything out of him, it's best if Brother Xiao doesn't mention this matter to County Magistrate Kang, lest he thinks Brother Xiao is incompetent."

  "Alright, alright!" Xiao Jiading, still showing the initial fear of leaving his thatched cottage, repeatedly said: "Thank you, County Magistrate Deng, for reminding me. When I meet with County Magistrate Kang later, I won't mention it."

  "Ah!" County Lieutenant Deng smiled and nodded, saying: "Then you can go now, don't keep County Magistrate Kang waiting. As for the matter of building a new house for your brother, I'll take care of it myself, and I definitely won't let your brother down."

  "Thank you!" Xiao Jiading took out the confession and went straight to the signing room of the County Magistrate of Kang.

  The county magistrate was there, lost in thought, sighing and groaning. Seeing Xiao Jia Ding lift the door curtain and come in, he couldn't help but be overjoyed, and immediately stood up: "How is it?"

  Xiao Jiadong waved the confession in his hand and said, "The case of Zhao's murder of her nephew has been solved, all the evidence has been found, and she confessed without torture! The adulterer who had an affair with her was also found, and it turned out to be Liu Xiangzheng! This kid is involved in three homicide cases! Heh heh"

  Today, the county magistrate was in no mood to work and was worried about this miscarriage of justice. Yesterday, the supervising censor had already spoken to him, indicating that he would have to correct his mistake. He knew that this was just the beginning, and a series of interrogations would follow, followed by impeachment. Whether he could get through this ordeal was really hard to say.

  Last night, Xiao Jiading told him that he was going to catch Zhao's private communication case, and he was naturally very happy. Although this matter may not be related to the case of killing his nephew, as long as he can grasp Zhao's private communication crime, he will have a basic account, at least this wrong case will not be too far-fetched, and catching Zhao will also make some sense. Now, he heard that not only was Zhao's private communication case solved, but also the case of Liu Xiangzheng's three murders on his body, all of which happened in just one night, making him stunned and surprised, even his white beard trembling with excitement. He asked repeatedly: "What's going on? Tell me quickly! No, no, sit down first! Please sit down! Sit down and talk slowly!"

  Xiao Jiading smiled slightly and sat down on the couch beside him, recounting the events one by one. Of course, he didn't mention the bribery that Liu Xiangzheng had confessed to - not a single word. This was a lethal weapon, and he had to get a clear understanding of the situation before making his move; otherwise, he might end up hurting himself instead of others.

  The county magistrate listened with a delighted expression, and after finishing listening, he quickly took over the confession and evidence, glanced at it hastily, and when he finished reading, his old face was already beaming with joy. "Excellent! Brother Xiao! You have rendered great service! I must reward you handsomely!"

  "Magistrate Kong overpraised me, I just did my duty and didn't have any merit to speak of. If this can be considered a small achievement, it's all due to Magistrate Kong's wise leadership. If we had relied solely on ourselves, we wouldn't even have been able to touch the threshold!"