Chapter 88 - 88: Do you know me (Thanks to the little darlings for voting for the update)_l

Translator: 549690339

Jiang Sanlang and his companions could only watch, helplessly, as Chen Ergou was taken away.

“Sanlang, why did Chen Guanglu come to arrest Chen Ergou? Isn’t he just a subordinate of the County Magistrate?” Jiang Erlang asked.

Jiang Sanlang hummed, “It’s not Chen Guanglu who came to arrest him, he is just following the constables to rob us.”

These constables often mingled with Chen Guanglu. Although Jiang Sanlang knew that something was off, he could do nothing to stop it.

“Let it be. Let’s eat. Anyway, Chen Guanglu wouldn’t dare to release Chen Ergou under the watchful eyes of so many people. All of us saw him being taken away ”

Jiang Erlang invited the villagers to sit down and eat, “Thanks to everyone for helping my brother catch Chen Ergou.”

Everyone laughed, “We didn’t find it hard at all. We thought of it as a trip to the county town.”

Jiang Sanlang held a fist salute towards everyone, “After this is over, I’ll give each of you twenty catties of cotton seeds.”

“Wow, great!” Everyone burst into laughter and settled down at the table.

All of them have coveted the cotton seeds for a long time, but they didn’t feel comfortable asking Jiang Sanlang about purchasing them because he once mentioned that he doesn’t plan to sell them for now.

To their surprise, Jiang Sanlang planned to gift each of them twenty catties of seeds, which made them really happy.

The trip to the county town was worthwhile after all.

“Shopkeeper, add two plates of mutton and two roast chickens! Do you have rice wine? Bring us two jars.” Jiang Sanlang spoke to the restaurant owner.

“Alright! Please wait, I’ll have them prepared right away! I have already sent for the rice wine.” The shopkeeper cheerfully replied.

Having such a large group of customers today was good business, not only were they ordering meat but also wine.

Anyone running a restaurant would know that most profits come from the meat and alcohol. As for vegetarian dishes, even though they are cheap, they hardly made any profit no matter how many different varieties one served.

Soon enough the wine and meat were served, and Jiang Sanlang led everyone to have a good meal.

After the meal, he asked Jiang Erlang to take the villagers back first, while he stayed behind to wait for the trial at the County Government.

“Alright, we will head back first. Take care, Sanlang.”

Jiang Erlang, “I also need to return to the construction site.”

He and his younger brother took a leave of absence to search for the child and for that, Sanlang had given the Supervisor five taels of silver as a bribe.

Now that the child has been found and the kidnapper captured, it was time for him to get back to work.

“Alright, you head back first, I’ll return once the trial is over.”

Jiang Sanlang held out a fist salute to the villagers, “I owe you all for your help today, Jiang Sanlang will not forget.”

“Why the formalities?”

The villagers lightly patted Jiang Sanlang, smiled, “We’re all from the same village, who wouldn’t have a crisis?”

After that, everyone bid farewell and left with Jiang Erlang.

Meanwhile, Chen Ergou was taken back to the County Government by the constables and thrown into a cell alone.

Chen Guanglu came in and squatted in front of him.

A sense of foreboding suddenly rose in Chen Ergou’s heart, prompting him to instinctively move backwards.

However, his hands were tied behind him, sitting on the ground with wooden pillars and bars behind him made moving away almost impossible.

“Chen Ergou, do you recognize me?” Chen Guanglu laughed maliciously, drawing out a dagger from his waist.

Chen Ergou was scared out of his wits and stammered, “Yes, I do.”

Chen Guanglu’s eyes turned cold as he abruptly drove the dagger towards Chen Ergou’s head.

“Ahh…” Chen Ergou screamed, wetting his pants.

Chen Guanglu chuckled coldly, pulling the dagger out of the wooden pillar next to Chen Ergou’s head and asked again, “Do you recognize me?”

Chen Ergou was so frightened that he shook his head repeatedly, “No, I don’t recognize you.”

“That’s more like it,” Chen Guanglu tapped his face with the dagger, “Remember, you don’t know me, nor the Han Family. This kidnapping case is entirely your doing, it has nothing to do with anyone else. Otherwise, I can let you live, or I can let you die.”

Chen Ergou nodded frantically, “It was all my doing, it has nothing to do with anyone else.”

Chen Guanglu chuckled, shoved the dagger back into the leather sheath on his waist, and added, “As long as you admit to the crime, I can save your life, and even your son who has been sent to the military camp.”

“Really? Really?” Chen Ergou asked tearfully, “Can you really save both of us?”

“Of course. I keep my word,” Chen Guanglu said standing up with his eyes on Chen Ergou, said harshly, “However, if you dare mention the Han Family in public court, I’ll make sure your family line ends!”

“I won’t say anything! I swear not to!” Chen Ergou stared at Chen Guanglu with hopeful eyes, “Can I really see my son?”

“Yes,” said Chen Guanglu, walking toward the exit, “If you say something you ought not to, you won’t be able to see anything anymore.”

The next day,the Mei County Magistrate ordered a court hearing.

Cries of “All rise!” echoed as the constables took their positions on either side of the courtroom.

This time not only were the plaintiff and the defendant present, but the constables also brought the Han Family from Chuanhe Town.

Yingbao also came to the court with her parents, she noticed the Han sisters standing there too, and began to devise a plan to incriminate them.

The County Magistrate rapped his gavel and asked, “Who is Han Juniang and Han Yueniang?”

The Han sisters stepped forward and bowed.

“We, peasant women Han Juniang (Han Yueniang), give our respects to the Honourable Magistrate.”

Mei County Magistrate, “It has been alleged that you hired a thug to kidnap a child, is this true?”

“We are falsely accused!” Han Juniang and Han Yueniang both kneeled on the ground and cried injustice, “This case is completely baseless, why would we want to hire someone to kidnap a child?”

“Yes, Your Honor, we are innocent. We have no grudges against the Jiang

Family, yet we have been falsely accused by them.”

Mei County Magistrate scanned everyone before his gaze fell on the young girl from the Han Family and said indifferently, “But, according to Jiang Yingbao’s testimony, she was captured by Han Yueniang and taken to Zhouhe County and later, a man by the surname Wu rescued her and sent her back to Qinchuan

County.”

With that, the Han sisters looked at each other, then turned their gaze to the child in Jiang Sanlang’s arms.

When they entered the court, they didn’t notice that Jiang Sanlang was carrying a child.

“Your honor, how can the words of a three-year-old child be taken seriously?”

The young Han quickly defended, “I did indeed find a child that day. I wanted to bring her back home, but I had an urgent matter to attend to, so I took her along to Zhouhe County. Unexpectedly, when I went back for her the second time, she was gone. Your Honor, I took her because I felt pity for her and didn’t have any ill intentions. I didn’t expect that a good deed would be blamed on me and tarnish my reputation.”

Yingbao was simply in awe of this woman.

Her lie was even better than Yingbao’s.

Mei County Magistrate turned his attention to Yingbao, “Is that true?”

Yingbao immediately hopped out of her father’s arms, bowed to the County Magistrate, and replied resoundingly, “She’s lying! This woman threatened to cut off my nose and hack off my limbs. She also said that if I didn’t behave or mentioned my parents to anyone else, she would kill me and throw my body to the dogs to eat.”

Ha! Who can’t fabricate a story? One of her was enough to beat the two of them!

The young Han gritted her teeth and glared at Yingbao, “I never said those words, children should not lie!”

Yingbao blinked and jumped into her father’s arms, shouting, “Daddy, she is bad. She kicked me and said she would sell me to the brothel where I would be worth twenty taels of silver..”