Chapter 902 - 904: Physical Evidence, His Ability_1
Bai Ruozhu moved a little away from behind Jiang Yichun and just happened to notice Deng Lin’s gaze. She felt a bit worried inside, but when she turned her head to look at Jiang Yichun’s profile, she suddenly felt reassured.
After knowing him for so long, how could she not be familiar with his abilities?
With that thought, Bai Ruozhu’s face broke into a smile, and she simply waited to watch the drama unfold.
"If there is physical evidence, the truth will naturally come to light. If we did cheat, I will certainly not deny it," Deng Lin declared with conviction.
Jiang Yichun remained silent, looking towards Officer Bai and saying, "Please, continue the examination, sir."
Seeing Jiang Yichun’s silence, Deng Lin grew even more certain that he had no evidence; his previous words must have been pure posturing.
Officer Bai continued examining a series of individuals. Liu Dong and Jin Guangqi obviously denied any wrongdoing, but the expressions of other team members from both sides seemed hesitant. Bai Ruozhu suddenly thought of someone, Ding Guangji, but then she thought better of dragging him into this mess.
After examining for half a day without any progress on the case, Zhang Xiuquan became even more arrogant, saying, "At this point, it’s merely unsubstantiated allegations. I need to accuse them of slander and perjury. Please, deliver your wise judgment, sir!"
This stalemate wasn’t getting resolved. Considering Jiang Yichun’s evidence had not arrived, Officer Bai thought it better to adjourn the court and resume in the afternoon.
Just as he was about to speak, a voice from outside the County Government Office announced someone’s arrival. A flash of motion entered swiftly, even nodding toward Jiang Yichun.
Although Jiang Yichun’s face remained cold, his eyes shone with exceptional brightness, twinkling with confident light.
"Sir, I am a subordinate of Officer Jiang. This is the record book that our officer found. Due to the severe damage from burning, it took some time to repair," said the messenger carefully as he presented the booklet to Officer Bai, reminding in a low voice, "Sir, the booklet is fragile, please handle with care."
As Officer Bai carefully examined the evidence, unwrapping it from the silk that enveloped it bit by bit, Deng Lin couldn’t help but shiver. Others might not recognize that booklet at a glance, but he did, even though the booklet had been burned to half its size.
Mr. Qiu noticed Deng Lin’s abnormal reaction, and a stern look flashed across his eyes. He detested such filthy deeds the most, and to think...
Was this the first time for Deng Lin, or had there been previous incidents that went undetected?
If it weren’t for Bai Ruozhu, who had an excellent memory and good arithmetical skills, from Beiyu Academy this time, even if the head of the academy had suspicions, he would only have asked a few questions before letting it go. Of course, it helped even more to have Jiang Yichun backing them up, helping to find so many witnesses, and even the severely burned record book.
Deng Lin’s hands started shaking. How could this happen? He had clearly burned the booklet to ashes, thinking it was foolproof. How could half of it still be left?
That’s right, he remembered now. He had thrown it into a basin to burn it but had been called outside by one of the judges. He hurried out, and when he returned, he saw ashes in the basin and assumed everything had burned, never expecting that someone would save the record book after he left. Could it be that Jiang Yichun had been watching him all along? Or was someone else monitoring him, hence the evidence was preserved?
No matter the scenario, Deng Lin felt a chill throughout his body; he was truly doomed this time!
The records were severely burned, but the majority of the entries for the drawing competition remained intact, and conspicuously written there was the name of Liu Dong from Jinhua Academy as the fourth-place participant!
Bai Ruozhu inwardly cheered and looked at the officer, asking, "How was this evidence obtained?"
"Your Honor," the officer replied, "it was found by a junior servant tasked with cleaning. He didn’t think much of it at the time, assuming it was just a book, and thought to bring it home for his younger brother to learn reading and writing. We discovered the matter during our investigation, and that servant is outside right now, able to come forward and testify."
Elated, Bai Ruozhu immediately said, "Summon the witness to the stand."
The young servant who entered was not old, and after saluting Bai Ruozhu, he said, "My name is Lai Fu, and these past few days I have been responsible for cleaning the arena. The afternoon before the last, I went to clean Mr. Deng’s room and saw that he had been called away on short notice. Upon entering the room, I saw something burning in a clay basin that was a bit smoky, and fearing a fire, I quickly extinguished it. Then I thought to myself that no harm would come from taking Mr. Deng’s discarded books for my brother to learn to read and write, so I sneakily brought them home."
Upon seeing the young servant, Bai Ruozhu gave him a glance. She was sure that it was no coincidence that Jiang Yichun had found him, and she admired Jiang’s abilities even more.
Having heard the testimony, Bai Ruozhu struck the Courtroom Wooden block and turned to question Deng Lin, "Deng Lin, what else do you have to say for yourself? As the General person in charge for The Eight Academies’ competition, you have abused your power to engage in nepotism and fraud. What should your punishment be?"
In a rush to stand up, Deng Lin pleaded, "Your Honor, this is an injustice! This man must have been bribed; I have been in charge of competitions for a long time, and I have never done anything like this before."
Bai Ruozhu scoffed coldly, "Then how do you explain this physical evidence? The information booklet clearly shows that Liu Dong is listed as fourth-place, while Jin Guangqi did not even place in the top ten that day!"
"It must be a mistake by the staff. I really didn’t know about it," said Deng Lin, his earlier arrogance gone as he humbled himself from "this elder" to "this lowly one."
"Clerk, take care with the physical evidence and the final competition standings, and check carefully for any discrepancies," instructed Bai Ruozhu, turning to the clerk responsible for the records. The clerk dutifully took the evidence and then carefully compared it with others.
"Liu Dong, surely you have not forgotten that you placed fourth. It seems you lied in court. Do I need to resort to torture before you are willing to confess?" said Bai Ruozhu, picking up the sentencing placard, ready to issue the order.
Liu Dong, a timid scholar who wasn’t one for physical endurance, became panicked and cried out, "Your Honor, have mercy! I did not wish to cheat for anyone, but the dean, Zhang, threatened that if I did not comply, he would find fault with my father’s official duties in the Capital and ensure that he would be, at best, dismissed from his post or, at worst, locked in jail for life with no chance to redeem himself. He also assured me that if I complied, he would help my father get a position in the Ministry of Rites."
"Your Honor, my father knows nothing of this matter. I don’t want to bring him trouble just by participating in a competition. I am willing to confess my guilt as long as my father is not implicated," pleaded Liu Dong as he broke down in tears.
As she heard Liu Dong’s words, Bai Ruozhu suddenly remembered Jiang Yichun joking about her ruthlessness, and she felt a bit of sympathy for him; if he was genuinely a small fry who had been threatened, it really was a situation without recourse.
"Since Liu Dong has confessed his guilt, what about Jin Guangqi? Do you insist on being beaten before you will confess to claiming the fourth-place falsely?" Bai Ruozhu struck the Courtroom Wooden block, and seeing that Jin Guangqi still refused to confess, she threw down the placard and ordered the officer to give him twenty hard lashes right then and there.
Soon thereafter, sounds of the lash hitting flesh and Jin Guangqi’s anguished cries echoed through the hall, causing many to shudder in fear of being implicated and receiving their own beating.
After about ten lashes, Jin Guangqi could no longer bear it and shouted his confession.
"It was the dean who didn’t want to lose to Beiyu Academy. He told me to show my uncle some face by securing a place for myself, saying that it would bring benefits both in future Imperial Examinations and when dealing with my family," Jin Guangqi confessed.