The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 812 - 790: Confession (Part 1)

Chapter 812: Chapter 790: Confession (Part 1)

Seeing all the delicious dishes, Lai Tou’s stomach couldn’t help but growl. He swallowed his saliva and carefully glanced at the two bailiffs before snatching a chicken leg and biting into it, only to realize something was off.

While chewing, he looked hopefully at the two bailiffs, "Sirs, does this mean I can go now?"

Bailiff A nodded, "You can leave once you’ve finished eating."

Forcing himself to put down the chicken leg, Lai Tou said, "I am not hungry anymore, let’s go now."

Bailiff B laughed, "You better eat up, you can’t start your journey on an empty stomach."

After saying that, he even poured Lai Tou a cup of wine himself.

The secret Lai Tou heard last night suddenly emerged in his mind. His hands began to tremble, and his whole body shook, "Go, go on a journey? What journey?"

Bailiff A patted him on the shoulder, "Brother, what do you think? You’re in death row, you know. Despite my years of service here, this is my first time dealing with a death-row inmate, so we lack experience. The food might be coarse, but we did our best. Hope you won’t speak ill of us down below..."

Before he could finish, Lai Tou’s eyes rolled up as if he was about to faint. Bailiff B reached out to support him, but Lai Tou managed to regain his composure. He suddenly threw himself to the ground, crawled forward and clung to Bailiff A’s legs, crying out, "I’ll talk, I’ll tell everything. It has nothing to do with me, truly nothing to do with me, it was Zhou Yin, it was all Zhou Yin!"

The two bailiffs exchanged glances, surprised to hear there was indeed something going on. They said, "You shouldn’t tell us this; we are just messengers and can’t make decisions."

"You can’t make decisions, you can’t make decisions, I want to see the magistrate, I must see the magistrate. You’re after Zhou Yin, but Zhou Yin is already dead. He has a daughter, he has a daughter, don’t catch me, don’t cut off my head, this has nothing to do with me, I just saw it..."

Thus, Lai Tou was brought before County Magistrate Tang.

The two bailiffs quietly reported what he had said in prison to County Magistrate Tang. Tang’s gaze sharpened slightly as he nodded.

Glancing at the bustling hall, County Magistrate Tang thought for a moment and then stood up, "Take him to the back courtyard, I’ll interrogate him there."

Following the private interrogation, Bailiff A and Bailiff B looked at each other, acknowledged and escorted Lai Tou to the back yard of the County Governmental Office.

The backyard of the County Governmental Office was where County Magistrate Yang lived. Although it was accessible through a door, the gate was guarded by Yang’s servants; hence not everyone could come through from the front.

For County Magistrate Tang, entering the backyard felt like returning home. He ordered a side room to be cleared out to use for questioning Lai Tou, keeping only a clerk and a servant by his side.

The servant was his trusted aide, and the clerk was a government official from Luojiang County, deemed trustworthy by Yang Heshu.

County Magistrate Tang sat down at the head seat while clerk Jiang Qi glanced around, then dragged over a table and chair, setting up the "four treasures of the study" to record the case details.

No sooner had these items been arranged than the two bailiffs brought Lai Tou in.

Seeing it was not the public court and the bailiffs retreated after throwing him down, leaving County Magistrate Tang alone with just two others by his side, one of whom was obviously a servant, Lai Tou was even more convinced of the secret he had overheard the previous night—the corrupt official on the dais truly intended to use him as a scapegoat.

County Magistrate Tang took a sip of tea, gazing at the trembling Lai Tou below, and spoke, "Didn’t you say you had something to tell me? Speak!"

Lai Tou gulped down his saliva, licked his lips, and cautiously said, "Your Honor, I am innocent, truly innocent. Those matters have nothing to do with me. I just did as the village head and villagers told me; I did not intend to hide anything from the officials."

County Magistrate Tang asked, "What did you hide from the officials? Start from the beginning."

However, Lai Tou was at a loss; he hardly knew anything about Zhou Yin’s affairs, as he had merely echoed others at the time, following whatever the village decided.

How was he supposed to explain?

Seeing his foolish look, County Magistrate Tang simply asked, "Let’s start with Zhou Yin. What about Zhou Yin?"

"Dead," Lai Tou replied promptly and clearly, "Dead for over ten years, along with his wife."

"Over ten years ago?"

"Yes," Lai Tou calculated on his fingers, "About eleven or twelve years ago. Back then, Zhou Jin’s little girl was only a few months old, still very small. Oh yes, she is Zhou Yin’s only daughter."

County Magistrate Tang lifted his eyelids slightly, questioning, "Where are they buried?"

"At the village end in Zhou family’s graveyard. Initially, they were buried namelessly to prevent people from knowing, but after an official from the County Governmental Office came saying there was a death report for Zhou Yin, the Zhou family reburied him openly."

"Then explain in detail about Zhou Yin. What did he do? How did he die?"

"He was a bandit," Lai Tou was somewhat confused, "That’s what the officials said, wasn’t it?"

County Magistrate Tang raised an eyebrow, "Which official? When did they say?"

"Eleven or twelve years ago, he and his wife were killed with machetes on the mountain, and we carried their bodies back. Soon after, several high-ranking officials rode into our village," Lai Tou gestured, "They came with sabers and portraits, saying the man in the portrait was a bandit killed while they tried to capture him on the mountain. They asked us who had given them burial and their names, which family they belonged to."

Lai Tou continued, "They were so fierce, how dare we say they were from Zhou Jin’s family? We’re all from the same village, their family had connections with many others in the village, everyone just said we had never seen them, didn’t know, and managed to send them away. Later another group came and searched every household thoroughly, so we dared not speak out even more."

This piece of information seemed significant even to the clerk, who couldn’t help but look up at County Magistrate Tang.

County Magistrate Tang straightened up and asked, "Eleven or twelve years ago, was that the second or third year of the Dazheng era?"

Without hesitation, Lai Tou answered, "The third year of Dazheng."

"How do you remember it so clearly?"

"Because the year before, Yizhou City had a major flood that also affected our area. And my second daughter was born in the second year of Dazheng; you reminded me just now."

County Magistrate Tang inquired, "When did Zhou Yin first return to his hometown after he had sold himself?"

"That was in the third year of Dazheng; he only returned that once. He got married, had a daughter, and returned home to much fanfare."

County Magistrate Tang then lifted his chin slightly, "Then explain in detail."

Under his piercing gaze, Lai Tou seemed intimidated, shrinking his neck and asking, "Explain, explain what?"