Chapter 80: Revelations (3)

Head Sheriff Tian narrowed her eyes. “Oh? Willing to admit it?”

The Magistrate’s face turned even more bitter and his features more wrinkled. Head Sheriff Tian indeed suspected her. “Yes, Miss Xu gave me several hundred taels of silver and promised to buy the tavern in town for me after the matter was settled. She said I only needed to be responsible for convicting the tavern, and nothing else…”

As soon as the Magistrate spoke, the crowd erupted into an uproar. If the Magistrate said so, it couldn’t be false, could it? It was probably ninety percent true. People had heard that Miss Xu was always delicate, courteous, and gentle, treating others kindly. But if today’s events were true, wouldn’t it mean she was cunning and malicious, with deep scheming? Indeed, people born into wealthy families were often not what they seemed.

Moreover, who didn’t know that the Magistrate had a penchant for greed and had repeatedly framed innocent people? But the common people, apart from gossiping, could only accept it helplessly. Throughout history, the common people could never compete with officials.

For a while, there were all kinds of discussions at the door, all criticizing Miss Xu and cursing the Magistrate.

Hearing this, Head Sheriff Tian paused, then burst into a furious tirade, “You corrupt official! You disregarded innocent lives for money! If Shopkeeper Xian hadn’t spoken up today, would Shopkeeper Li have been executed tomorrow? You almost implicated me too! What were you thinking? Huh? Not seeking the welfare of the people would have been one thing, but at least you should have kept to yourself! You can’t even do that and still expect leniency? Those good people you wronged are still locked up, aren’t they? Hmph! I will submit your evidence to the provincial government. How they handle you depends on your luck! Also, starting today, you are not allowed in the courtroom. I’ll take over temporarily!”

The more Head Sheriff Tian scolded, the angrier she became. The Sheriff, no matter how low-ranking, was still an imperial official. She had the power to temporarily dismiss her from her position, but couldn’t decide her life or death. Moreover, the Magistrate, though somewhat greedy, hadn’t caused any deaths before, so her crimes didn’t warrant death.

The Magistrate’s face turned gray, feeling a bleak future ahead. “…Yes.”

Chen Xin, seeing this, turned and left. She told Li Sifan, then grabbed Chao Feng and mounted her horse, heading back to the Linjia village.

The next day at home, Chen Xin received news that many who were supposed to be sentenced were, and those who were innocent were released.

Nowadays, the streets and alleys were filled with rumors about how evil and ugly Miss Xu was. Chen Xin laughed. When a person’s facade was exposed, it was normal for people to exaggerate and vilify the situation.

Hearing from An Ji that on that day when the Xu family’s owners came to the yamen, as expected, Miss Xu was carried in.

At first, she vehemently denied the charges, trying to gain sympathy with her weak appearance, saying she had been bedridden for two months and couldn’t be bothered. She even claimed that there was no evidence to slander her.

The Xu family members didn’t expect Sheriff Tian to summon them for a trial. They all nodded in agreement with Miss Xu’s words. Although no one liked this eldest Miss who had no power in the mansion but was favored by the lowly servants, everything she said was indeed true.

But it was said that people in high places had complex minds. After nodding in agreement, people’s minds began to stir. They pondered over Miss Xu’s actions and intentions, which were not always clear. It was scary to think about it.

Ever since her father died when she was seven, she fell ill.

If she pretended to be sick but actually secretly built her own power, although her wings were not yet fully grown, her scheming and patience were enough to shock people, especially since she was just a child at the time.

Especially for the daughters of the Xu family’s main family, as prospective heirs to the Xu family, they thought that anyone could inherit the position of the head of the family, except for the eldest sister who couldn’t get out of bed due to illness.

So they treated her with extra courtesy and kindness and didn’t trouble her. But could it be that their eldest sister had been vying for the position of the family head since a long time ago?

But the head of the main family of Xu family remained silent, secretly blaming her eldest daughter’s carelessness. What did the Xu family have that she didn’t know?

It was just that she had only found out about it two or three years ago. The Xu family head miraculously wasn’t angry at Miss Xu for playing tricks on her and instead favored her more for being more cunning than her, but it was still over now.

Chen Xin felt that Miss Xu’s scheming was good and her methods were ruthless enough, but they were just good and ruthless. The problem lay in her schemes not keeping up with her methods, and she shouldn’t have touched her tavern.