coobybook Chapter 277 Things Have Changed 2
Chapter 277 Things Have Changed 2
After the coffin was opened, the coroner saw the condition of the bones and realized that his daughter did not die of an acute illness, but was murdered.
The deceased not only had injuries to the skull and neck bones, but also had injuries of varying severity in other parts of the body. It was obvious that he had been beaten to death.
The family had no way to defend themselves and were bound to be convicted of murdering the deceased, but they were unwilling to just sit there and wait for death, so they honestly accepted the punishment from the government.
According to the law, if a mother-in-law kills her daughter-in-law without permission, she shall be punished with 100 strokes of the cane and one year of imprisonment. However, if the daughter-in-law insults the mother-in-law first and the mother-in-law then kills her, it is excusable and her sentence can be reduced.
The family wanted to take advantage of the loophole in the law, so they insisted that it was the daughter-in-law Lin who insulted her mother-in-law first, and her mother-in-law was so angry that she ordered the servants to kill her.
They originally thought that with this premise, they could avoid caning by paying some money to the government.
It should be noted here that caning in this era was generally "undressing and caning", that is, taking off the middle clothes (underwear) and hitting the buttocks directly with bamboo or wooden boards.
Only during the imperial caning, that is, beating officials in the imperial court, there was no need to take off clothes, and thick cloth could be used to pad the back and buttocks.
Considering the reputation of women, this dynasty stipulates that women can pay a fine instead of being caned. This is the idea that the family had.
However, what Lin's mother-in-law had not expected was that the newly appointed county magistrate had no intention of convicting her according to the "mother-in-law killing daughter-in-law" case. Instead, he first cited the "righteous separation" law (the two had quarreled over Lin's family affairs, and Lin was even killed because of it), and sentenced Lin's husband and Lin to righteous separation. Then, he charged Lin's mother-in-law with intentional homicide and sentenced her to death with a pending execution, which was reported to superiors at all levels.
That family never expected that the newly appointed county magistrate would be even better at finding loopholes in the law than they were, and they were blinded by the other party's magical operation.
Originally, when it came to the murder of Lin, none of the three people in their family were completely innocent.
After the Lin family fell into decline, their family had long been thinking of finding a better partner and finding a new marriage for Lin's husband that would bring benefits to their family.
In order to climb up the social ladder again, they gave up the two options of divorcing or reconciling, because this would make them bear a reputation of being heartless and ungrateful.
The family of three discussed it behind closed doors and decided to simply kill Lin.
In actual operation, the mother-in-law was the main culprit who instigated the maids around her to do the crime, while the father-in-law and husband helped her cover up and deal with the subsequent accomplices. None of the three members of their family were innocent.
My father-in-law and husband wanted a good reputation, so after the incident was exposed, they tried to make my mother-in-law take all the blame.
When the mother-in-law heard that they only needed to spend money to ward off evil and have their reputation slightly damaged, she thought about it and agreed. However, the county magistrate's brilliant move shattered the secret plan of the three of them.
Seeing that she was about to be sentenced to death, the mother-in-law immediately panicked and looked at her husband and son subconsciously, but they both avoided her pleading gaze.
The mother-in-law was both afraid and angry, so she changed her mind in court and dragged her husband and son into the case without saying a word.
She thought that the more people shared the blame, the better her chances of survival, so she dragged a few more people into the water. Her husband and son, who were not innocent to begin with, were also dragged into the water by her.
In the end, she, the main culprit, and the two murderers were sentenced to death, and her husband and son, her accomplices, were all sentenced to 100 strokes of the cane and three years of imprisonment.
At the same time, the government also ordered their family to return the deceased's dowry. Since the deceased's dowry had already been occupied and divided by their family, the government finally ordered them to convert the things into cash and return them to the Lin family.
The total price of the dowry calculated by the government was the highest price for any item, which was a small relief for the Lin family within the scope permitted by the law.
When Lin's father-in-law and husband were beaten, the yamen runners were very skillful and left them with a breath, allowing them to eventually die on the way to exile.
The only two people in the Lin family who were not convicted were Lin's husband's second wife and the baby she gave birth to last year. Neither of them had the ability to protect the family property among a group of jackals, tigers and leopards. In the end, the woman's father and brothers from her natal family and her in-laws' relatives divided up all their family property.
Of course, these have nothing to do with the Lin family.
There was no need to worry about the dead, so Father Lin asked about the small families that took advantage of the situation to squeeze the Lin family, "What about those guys who took advantage of the situation to add insult to injury?"
His second brother was silent for a moment, "Everything is fine."
Those families were just using tricks to steal their business and property. This kind of thing has always been a matter of ability. They have no solid evidence, and even if they report it to the government, the government will be unable to do anything to those people.
Father Lin, however, did not intend to let them go. "There is a long way to go. We will get back what we have suffered sooner or later."
After saying these things, Father Lin called his nephews in and tested them on the spot to see how much knowledge they had.
After a round of questions and answers, Father Lin not only understood the academic progress of his nephews, but also found out that the sons of the third and fifth rooms had passed the examinations to become scholars many years ago.
He was very happy. After praising them a few words, he also frankly suggested that they should study hard in the next period of time to prepare for the imperial examination.
"This year's imperial examination is a combination of the En and Zheng examinations (i.e. the En examination and the Zheng examination are held together). With the addition of a number of places for the En examination, your chances of being selected are still very high."
"Don't worry about money. Although I don't have much savings, it will be no problem for you brothers to study behind closed doors until the exam in August."
With the financial support provided by Lin's father, the two no longer had any worries, so they planned to study hard at home for a period of time as Lin's father said, and then take the imperial examination in August this year to try to pass the Juren and Jinshi exams.
After reuniting with their relatives after a long separation, life has regained its purpose and Lin's father's younger brothers are in a very good mood.
Master Lin Er said to Father Lin, "We have been repairing and maintaining the ancestral house over the years. Now that your family is back, you can pack up and move in tonight."
The ancestral home he mentioned is the real ancestral home of their Lin family in Linjia Village. It is the place where their ancestors devoted themselves to studying the books of sages before their Lin family became prosperous.
"Not tonight." Father Lin shook his head at his brothers. "The people who brought us back are still staying at the inn. I have to go and bring them home. The local rituals and luggage we brought back are also still at the inn."
Master Lin Er asked him, "How many people are there in total? I'll have someone prepare pillows, bedding and daily necessities."
Father Lin reported the number, "Including Wen Che and his siblings, there are sixteen people in total."
Master Lin Er nodded to show that he understood. He called the old servants in his house and asked them to go shopping, clean and decorate the courtyard.