CHAPTER 258: CHAPTER 258: PUBLIC OUTRAGE AND SLANDER!

"Boom!"

As Long Yue spoke, everyone in the courtroom was taken aback!

Did... did it really happen?

And it was such a brutal beating, which seems quite malicious?

"Wuwu, Sir... she... she admitted hitting a humble one..."

Wang Dazhi lay on the stretcher, excitedly trying to sit up, but due to severe injuries, he couldn’t at all.

"My husband did hit you, so what? You sneaked into our estate at midnight intending to set fires. If you’d been beaten to death, it would be your own fault!"

Long Yue snorted scornfully and replied to Zhao Mengran above, "Sir, you are versed in the law. You should know how grave the crime of burning farmland is?

Agriculture is the foundation of people’s livelihood, and the populace only seeks to eat well and dress warmly, which signals a prosperous era. My estate supports over fifty households, and it nearly got destroyed by this wicked man!

Sir, don’t you find breaking his legs was a lenient act?"

Long Yue said, lifting her head slightly with a touch of haughtiness and gentleness.

"Sir, those wicked thieves who intrude at night, once discovered, some got their legs broken, some had ribs fractured, and others were beaten to death without the government pursuing any punishment?

It’s just like having a knife to your throat; would you resist, or allow yourself to be slaughtered?"

"Cough..."

What an absurd question, is there even a need to ask? Definitely resist!

Zhao Mengran turned to Wang Dazhi again: "Defendant and accuser, Wang Dazhi, do you have any rebuttal?"

"Sir, the humble one... was falsely accused, the humble one hasn’t done anything..."

Wang Dazhi hurriedly denied it. Burning farmland, if successful, he would have kept a hundred taels of silver with no risk if uncaught, but now that he failed, admitting to arson would leave his life unprotected, risking being beaten to death by angry crowds.

Zhao Mengran found this matter troubling, a case where both parties seem justified in their claims. He pondered for a moment before speaking again: "Mrs. Li, was your estate burned?"

"No, he just tried to set fire when we apprehended him! But we have evidence of his crime, kerosene containers, and flint."

"Oh, so it’s an attempted arson, but you hit him..."

"Sir, should a murderer only be convicted after they have completed their killing?" Long Yue chuckled lightly with a teasing tone, "Shall I give an example? If someone attempted but failed to assassinate the Emperor, would they be declared innocent then?"

"Presumptuous! How outrageous!"

Zhao Mengran jerked at the corner of his mouth. This lady is audacious beyond measure, "Would the Emperor be the same? How dare you compare the Emperor to this? Isn’t it excessive?"

"Oh, so by your reasoning, the common people’s livelihood isn’t worth mentioning? On our estate, over fifty tenants can testify that although he failed to commit arson, he indeed attempted it, he even had his flint ready!

If my husband and I hadn’t acted quickly to stop it, the farmland would’ve turned into a sea of flames! If you’re doubtful, you can summon over fifty tenants for testimony! They are the common people, dare not lie in the courtroom!"

Zhao Mengran was speechless.

Long Yue managed to make it a matter of people’s livelihood, putting him in a bind.

The crime of attempted arson is indeed severe, but since it failed, leniency could be considered.

Concerning the leg-breaking, it’s trivial, yet Wang Dazhi’s distressing appearance stirred public anger, forcing his hand as the Capital Governor to accept this complaint.

Zhao Mengran lightly tapped on the desk, contemplated for a while, and said: "Fetch the tenants to court for questioning."

Soon, around a dozen tenants from the estate arrived.

"Sir, he wanted to burn our farmland the night before last. That’s the result of half a year’s hard labor. If he burned it, I... I would have dared to wield a knife to kill him!"

A sturdy-looking tenant said furiously, appearing as if he held a deep grudge against Wang Dazhi!

Another rather frail tenant spoke timidly: "Sir, my old mother is sick, requiring a lot of medicinal herbs, but the medicine in the herbal store is too expensive for the humble one to afford!

Fortunately, our estate cultivates medicinal herbs, just waiting for the harvest to ask the owner for a cheaper price, which is tantamount to saving my mother’s life! This heinous scoundrel wanted to burn down not just farmland, but the very roots of us common folks!"

The frail tenant finished, bursting into sudden sobs. Seeing his sincere appearance, no way anyone would believe it was pretentious!

The surrounding listeners were astounded.

"Farmland grows medicinal herbs? Why haven’t I heard of it? I always thought it was retrieving from the mountains, those expensive medicinal herbs, so costly!"

"Indeed, my brother couldn’t afford medicine and died of illness back then, leaving our family burdened with debt, only repaid this spring. Those days were truly hard to endure!"

"..."

The courtroom allowed spectators. When the frail tenant finished, it stirred unrest among the crowd.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Burning medicinal fields? That’s even worse than burning grain fields. Without grain, we can still hunt and gather in the woods, but without medicine, illness means death! This beast deserves to be beaten to death!"

The crowd suddenly realized it was true. Many times, famine can be endured, but disease outbreaks are the hardest, inevitably deadly.

Yet if there are herbal medicines? At least survival can be prolonged!

"My father also died because he couldn’t afford medicine. If the medicinal fields were planted years earlier, things may have been different. But who can guarantee their family won’t face illness? Famines aren’t annual, but sickness affects every family! How dare this scoundrel burn medicinal fields? Beat him to death!"

"Whoosh—"

With these words, a rotten vegetable leaf was thrown in.

"Right, throw things at him!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh—"

Once someone starts, others follow, with rotten eggs, pebbles, moldy potatoes... all sorts of things were thrown into the courtroom.

Seeing the barrage of thrown items, Zhao Mengran was dumbfounded and then slammed the gavel fiercely: "Close the doors, quickly close the doors!"

On the emperor’s land, he could not act against the people, otherwise, he’d face impeachment with countless eyeing his position, reluctantly he could only shut the doors.

As he closed the door, Long Yue challenged him: "Sir, do you plan to judge behind closed doors?"

This is taboo, once known, would lead to impeachment too.

Zhao Mengran felt depressed, the unresolved Tianxiang Pavilion murder case weighs upon him, and now another malicious case occurs, truly... worrying!

"Mrs. Li, Wang Dazhi’s attempted arson was wrong, but though breaking his legs could be overlooked, why did you leave his body in such a state? That is crossing the line?"

Breaking legs is generally minor, but abuse alters the nature of the crime drastically.

Hearing this, Long Yue appeared bewildered: "Sir, I did not? We did break his leg but also had him carried down the mountain, did not abuse him, surely there is a misunderstanding, or perhaps, he intentionally slanders!"