spoiled brat

Chapter 19. Eliminating Evil (The End)

"You shameless woman, what nonsense are you spouting?" Zhao Si shoved her away and said fiercely, "When did I ever sell you a doll!"

The madam fell to the ground, clutching her bottom and groaning in pain. The little girl rushed to her aid, and said to Zhao Si in a childish voice:
“One morning you brought people to my house, beat up my brother, and put me in a sack to sell to my aunt…”

Unable to stand, the madam simply sat down on the bluestone floor, adopting a cursing posture. She kicked off her embroidered shoes, pulled out a contract of indenture from under the insoles, and shook it in her hand:
"You dare say this isn't your fingerprint, Zhao Si?"

The clerk leaned over to take a look and saw Zhao Si's name written in black and white on the paper.

This beast has finally found a way to get his hands on him.

His face darkened, and he gave Magistrate Xie a wink. Magistrate Xie understood and was about to strike the gavel to accuse the madam of disturbing the peace when someone in the crowd watching the play outside the yamen shouted:

"Fingerprint verification! Fingerprint verification!"

At first, there were only one or two cries, but eventually everyone started howling. Although everyone looked down on those who carried manure and those who sold sex, the people they despised the most were child traffickers.

These thugs!

Magistrate Xie maintained a calm expression, but in reality, his molars were practically grinding to powder. Under pressure, he had no choice but to give the order:
"Bring me some red clay."

Zhao Si gently pressed his finger on the red clay, leaving a faint imprint on the paper. Just as he was about to lift his hand, a small foot stepped on the back of his hand, solidifying the mark.

The little girl withdrew her foot and said fiercely, "This is how you stomped on my brother back then."

The madam compared the fingerprints on the paper with the fingerprints on the contract in her hand, and they were indeed exactly the same.

"Sir, this Zhao Si lied about the child's age, causing me to buy a counterfeit product. I want a refund!"

Upon hearing this, Magistrate Xie and his advisor exchanged glances for a moment, and immediately formed a plan in their minds.

“My lord…” Zhao Si realized something and looked at Magistrate Xie in panic.

"Thump!" Magistrate Xie slammed his gavel and said coldly, "Zhao Si, you have sold people and harmed the villagers. I sentence you to exile for three thousand miles—court adjourned!"

"Your Honor! Your Honor!" Zhao Si, dragging his half-dislocated leg, crawled to the judge's desk and clung tightly to Magistrate Xie's leg. "Please save me! I've served you for so many years..."

Before he could even utter the words about smuggling salt, copper, or pig iron—things that could cost him his life—the clerk grabbed the fire stick from the bailiff beside him and slammed it down on the back of Zhao Si's head. Zhao Si's eyes rolled back, and he passed out.

Magistrate Xie glanced at Zhao Si coldly, as if he were a dead dog, kicked him aside, and got up to leave.

A clear voice rang out from below the hall; it was Amin:

"Sir, what should we do with the money we borrowed from Zhao Si?"

Magistrate Xie looked over and saw several clean-shaven men revealing dirty little wooden boxes behind them. When the boxes were opened, they were filled with gleaming silver coins and stacks of silver notes.

The clerk's small eyes gleamed with shrewdness. He stroked his beard and smiled, "One thing at a time. You still have to pay back the money you owe him... However, since he is a criminal, this silver is criminal property and should, in principle, be confiscated..."

Several yamen runners made a move to lift the box, and someone in the crowd watching the play outside the yamen shouted:
"The government is embezzling funds! The government is embezzling funds!"

This time, it was a group of dirty little beggars who were shouting. They had finished eating their candied hawthorns, but they were reluctant to throw them away, so they waved the sticks as they shouted.

"The county magistrate is rich! The county magistrate is rich!"

Several constables went out with fire and water sticks to catch them, but they were as nimble as mice and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Magistrate Xie's face grew increasingly gloomy, and the hall became dark and cold.

Zhao Zhao stepped out from the side and bowed respectfully.
"Sir, you promised earlier that if it can be proven that the money Zhao Si gave to Jingtou came from our building, the money will be returned to its rightful owner."

Magistrate Xie glanced at the several boxes of gleaming silver and sneered, "How can you prove it? Do you think you can engrave names on these silver pieces?"

Zhao Zhao grabbed a handful of loose silver from the box and said, "Most of the girls in our brothel are worth between one and two taels of silver. You can weigh it and see if all the loose silver in this box weighs around that amount."

The clerk grabbed a handful, weighed it in his hand, and, being an old hand accustomed to handling silver, immediately knew this person had come prepared.

"So what if it is? Does that mean all the silver of the same weight in the world belongs to your family?"

Zhao Zhao smiled and casually picked up a few pieces of loose silver, handing them to the clerk: "Would you like to take a closer look?"

Upon closer inspection, the advisor discovered that there were five-pointed star-shaped dots pressed into the surface.

“The mother in our building is a cautious person. Before she puts money into the vault, she will use the pipe stem to poke a mark on the silver.”

Zhao Zhao pulled an old pipe from her sleeve, and the plum blossom carving on the end of the pipe indeed matched the plum blossom dots on the broken silver.

"Any money that passes through her hands has this problem."

The clerk gave a forced smile and was about to say that the prostitutes hadn't drawn up any written agreements when they put their money in, when Zhao Zhao's small hand trembled and she produced a contract with a note stating how much money Zhao Si had borrowed.

Although it was forged overnight, Zhao Zhao smiled frankly and said, "I forgot to take it out earlier."

Normally, if this were a legitimate appeal, the authorities would certainly suppress the matter. But now, with everyone watching and witnesses and physical evidence present, there is no room for fraud.

Magistrate Xie glared at Zhao Zhao with murderous intent, memorizing her appearance, and said:
"In that case, all the silver pieces with markings shall be returned to their rightful owners, and those without shall be confiscated. Court adjourned!"

Finally, with the matter settled, Magistrate Xie got up and walked towards the side door, but the yamen runner who opened the door for him looked troubled:

"Sir, some brat has bolted the door, you'll have to go out through the main entrance..."

Hearing that he was going to come out through the main gate, the people started setting up stools, lifting their bottoms, and climbing down from the trees, creating a noisy and chaotic scene.

Magistrate Xie cursed his bad luck in his heart. He usually pretended to be a benevolent official, but in reality, he couldn't even bear to look at the common people, let alone get close to them.

The advisor leaned in and whispered that they had been tricked this time.

Magistrate Xie nodded impatiently, and was about to order his men to be arrested and imprisoned on some pretext when he suddenly felt a chill on his chest.

At first, he didn't realize what the white light was, until he saw the hilt of the knife and Xie Shu's weathered, withered face, like tree bark, then he coughed up blood and understood everything:
"you……"

Logically, she should have been kept under guard in the back office, but instead she managed to sneak into this place.

Xie Shu burst into laughter, as if she were both mad and overjoyed. She pulled the knife out of her father's chest and made as if she wanted to slash him a few more times.

"Stop her!"

The clerk embraced Magistrate Xie, pressing his hand against his bleeding wound, and hurriedly shouted:

"Protect the adults! Arrest everyone here!"

The crowd scattered in panic, and the constables could only grab Xie Shu. She was pinned to the ground, her smug smiling eyes fixed on Magistrate Xie's chest, which was gushing blood.

So what if I'm defiled? So what if I'm pregnant out of wedlock?

She hated Azhuo for betraying her, and hated Zhao Si for humiliating her, but the person who pushed her into the abyss was her father, who killed her under the banner of morality.

Finally, the great revenge was achieved.