Daming: Internship also counts as work experience

Chapter 51 Cause and Effect
Gao Yuntian heard someone calling him, and he cried out, "I know who the murderer is, no need to go!"

Jia Chuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly ran to Gao Yuntian and asked, "What did you just say?"

Gao Yuntian raised his head proudly and said, "Didn't you ask me to interrogate these two? I asked, and they said that the girl from the Ma family was strangled to death."

"Since you know this, why are you still watching us suffer?" Jia Chuan asked angrily.

"You have to complete the play. How can you start without finishing it?"

"you……"

Seeing that Jia Chuan was really anxious, Gao Yuntian explained, "You've seen how much Old Zheng cares about this matter. We have to let him have his fun."

Jia Chuan felt relieved immediately. He turned his head and looked around. The villagers were quite far away, and the belief in ghosts and gods was more effective for them than the laws of the Ming Dynasty.

Jia Chuan looked down at his fourth uncle and second uncle lying on the ground. The two were curled up on the ground, moaning intermittently.

"Did you...beat them both?" Jia Chuan asked.

"If I don't hit them a few times, can they tell the truth?"

Jia Chuan sighed. Extorting a confession through torture was like using a knife. It all depended on who was holding it. If held by someone who truly wanted to investigate the case, they would be able to find the truth. Otherwise...

But who can guarantee that people’s hearts will not change?
The reason why officials were afraid of the Jinyiwei was that they had the right to extract confessions according to imperial orders, right?
"What's with that expression on your face? Are you feeling uncomfortable because it wasn't you who figured it out?" Gao Yuntian asked in a low voice, then added, "Just go back and say it was you who figured it out."

Jia Chuan glanced at Gao Yuntian speechlessly, then turned to Old Zheng and shouted, "Call it a day, it doesn't matter if he doesn't want to see it." He then turned to Gao Yuntian and asked, "Since we know who the murderer is, can you order the constable to arrest him?"

"You need to tell me? Didn't you see that there are only two constables left from the digging? They're probably on their way back to the yamen now."

Jia Chuan pointed at the second uncle lying on the ground and asked, "Is he his son?"

Gao Yuntian glared and asked, "Have you figured it out already?"

……

Sun Wang would never have thought that the people in the county government would not only help him solve his current predicament, but also give him a green hat.

Old Zheng and the remaining constables reburied the corpse.

Jia Chuan returned to Sun Wang's home, left the few remaining banknotes and silver he had on him, and asked Sun Wang and his wife to take the child back to the county town with them to find a pediatrician to see the child, as the child's illness could not be delayed.

Sun Wang was so grateful that his eyes were filled with tears. He didn't even think about asking about the ritual. He immediately took his fur coat, wife and children and followed Jia Chuan and the others.

On the way, Jia Chuan gave his donkey to Sun Wang's wife, and then he walked with Sun Wang. He asked Sun Wang why he was carrying the fur coat and whether he was planning to sell it.
Sun Wang said that his parents had not eaten anything for several days. If he could sell the money and exchange it for some silver, he could give his parents something to eat.

Jia Chuan felt bad after hearing this, so he said, "Keep it. It'll keep you warm when you go out in the winter. I'll go back and prepare some food for you to bring back. Let's get through this difficult time first."

Sun Wang knelt down and kowtowed to Jia Chuan. Jia Chuan helped him up and said, "We have land at home. You should keep yourself healthy and do more farm work to support the family."

Sun Wang wiped his tears and nodded heavily.

Gao Yuntian, who was riding on a donkey, heard it all. He jumped off the donkey, turned around and said to Sun Wang, "You may not be able to reach the county town alive. Go ride the donkey."

Sun Wang glanced at Jia Chuan, who nodded at him, and Sun Wang got on the donkey.

"There are so many poor people, can you take care of them all?" Gao Yuntian walked to Jia Chuan and asked in a low voice.

Jia Chuan shook his head and said, "If you can't see it, just pretend you can't see it. If you see it, it's a bit difficult to pretend you can't see it."

"His family rented those few acres of land. They didn't pay enough for the wheat harvest this year, so his second uncle wants to take it back."

"He rents the land from his second uncle's family?" Jia Chuan asked with a frown.

"Look at his behavior. Does he look like he can protect the family business? The land originally belonged to his family, but later he sold it to the second master. If I tell you why the girl from the Ma family died, I'm afraid you won't help them anymore."

Jia Chuan's heart tightened, and he asked, "Did he agree?"

Jia Chuan had his own inference about the whole case. He originally wanted to ask in detail after returning to the county government office. Some details required interrogating the murderer to know accurately. He didn't know how much Gao Yuntian's questions were different from the truth, so he didn't take the initiative to ask Gao Yuntian. In his inference, Sun Wang's family was on the side of the victim.

"If he doesn't agree, even if his cousin is very brave, he probably won't dare to do it, right? If this matter gets out of hand, will his cousin still be able to live in the village?"

"no……"

"You don't understand, right? This is the helplessness of the poor. Sun Wang wants to marry, but his family is broke, and his relatives don't have enough food to help, or are unwilling to help. Are you willing to fill this bottomless pit?"

"What do you mean? Sun Wang is idle?"

"He's already in poor health, and so are his parents. They're barely managing a few acres of land, barely making ends meet, and still worrying about continuing the family line. He finally found a cheaper woman, and everyone knows there must be a reason for her cheapness. Even then, the betrothal gift was paid by Second Master, so how could it be for nothing?"

"Aren't you selling land?"

"Those few acres of land were sold long ago."

Jia Chuan stopped and looked at Gao Yuntian in confusion, asking, "Second Master's son hasn't married yet?"

"Yes, he has a daughter who is ten years old. But after the birth of the daughter, the second uncle's eldest son became useless for some reason. He saw many doctors, but none of them could cure him. But one doctor said that if he took a younger concubine, maybe he would be fine... Hey, do you understand what I'm saying? You haven't married yet, and there are some things..."

"You are not married yet, so if you can understand me, then of course I understand."

Jia Chuan frowned and continued to move forward. Gao Yuntian continued to speak as he walked:

"Second uncle's family isn't wealthy, so what can they use to take concubines? Second uncle's three sons finally got married, but all three daughters-in-law gave birth to girls. Second uncle was anxious, and when chatting with fourth brother, he told him about his difficulties. He was most proud of his eldest son, but the eldest son was useless. What should he do? It just so happened that Sun Wang was anxious to get married at that time, but he couldn't afford the betrothal gifts. Even the smallest betrothal gift was beyond his reach. Who would marry him? Sun Wang and his sons begged Second uncle and fourth uncle many times, but in their eyes, it was a bottomless pit. It wasn't a loan, it was a gift!"

Jia Chuan asked in confusion: "Second Master has the money to help Sun Wang get married, why not take a concubine for your eldest son..."

"Isn't this God's will? Who knew the Ma family's daughter would be so cheap? Do you think the Second Master didn't ask around? He knew the Ma family's daughter was barely alive, having been sickened by the strain of her family. Putting aside the question of whether taking her in could cure his eldest son's illness, wouldn't it be bad luck if she died in a few days?"

"So they negotiated terms with Sun Wang, and he agreed." "Yes, Second Master was just attracted by the young girl from the Ma family..."

Jia Chuan was even more puzzled: "With this money, wouldn't it be a big deal to buy a prostitute?"

"What are you talking about? What did he do with that? This has to be tried. Second Uncle has already agreed with Sun Wang that after the wedding night, Sun Wang cannot touch the girl from the Ma family for a month. After the pregnancy is confirmed, Sun Wang has to wait. After the child is born, if it is a son, he will be adopted by his cousin. If it is a girl, she will be kept by Sun Wang. Only then will Sun Wang be considered to have a wife. If she is not pregnant..."

"Isn't he useless?"

"Yes, listen, there are two possibilities for not getting pregnant. One is that my cousin didn't get an erection, and the other is that he got an erection but didn't get pregnant. As long as he got an erection, my cousin can come anytime within a year. After that, according to the previous agreement, Sun Wang can't touch the girl from the Ma family for a month..."

"Is this... shared?"

"What do you mean?" This time it was Gao Yuntian's turn to not understand.

"It's okay!" Jia Chuan was so angry that his breathing became rapid. "Then why don't you tie him up and take him to the county government office?"

"I told you that if you knew the details, you would no longer sympathize with him. However, his family is already in such a situation, and the mother and son are innocent. If I take Sun Wang away, they will have no way to survive."

Jia Chuan sighed and said gravely, "On the night of the wedding, my cousin entered the bridal chamber. The girl from the Ma family refused to obey him, so my cousin beat her. But he couldn't do it. The girl put up a desperate resistance, so he strangled her to death in anger. At that time, Sun Wang and his family of three were just outside the door."

"Humph! It's not just Sun Wang's family of three outside the door. There are many people here, including my fourth uncle and second uncle. When my cousin strangled the girl from the Ma family, these people were all dumbfounded. After thinking for a long time, they decided that it was his fourth son who must have been responsible. It was he who came up with the idea of ​​using the same wife as Sun Wang, and it was also his idea to hang the girl from the beam. When the news of the death was reported to her family the next day, my fourth uncle calculated that her family would definitely try to make trouble to get some benefits, so he deliberately acted arrogantly and spoke harshly, which led to a fight between the two families. We went there just to dissuade them, and no one cared how the girl from the Ma family died..."

"That means the cousin didn't succeed."

Gao Yuntian smirked and said, "I just asked the second uncle, and he said that his eldest son could be of some use occasionally before, but he was completely useless after that night. In the past two years, the second and third sons have had children, and they are granddaughters..."

"By the way, who did you see that night?"

Jia Chuan finally remembered this incident. He originally wanted to help Gao Yuntian heal the psychological trauma left by that day, but as he was investigating, he actually forgot about it.

"Don't worry about these things..."

"This isn't something I'm going to bother with. It's related to the case, so we naturally have to get to the bottom of it. You said someone heard some noise in the backyard that night, so they woke you up and asked you to go check it out. Who went with you?"

"Liu Liu."

Jia Chuan had heard this name once in the dense forest that day, when Gao Yuntian asked Liu Liu and Liu Qi to go back and report the news. At that time, he wanted to say: Let him change his name. This is too difficult to pronounce, just like a big tongue...

There was no time to talk about this matter at the time. Jia Chuan only thought about it in his mind at the moment, but he asked: "Where was Liu Liu when you saw the woman's face?"

"I didn't know at the time. I took one look and passed out. When I woke up and asked him about it, he said I was walking too fast. By the time he reached the backyard, I had already fallen to the ground."

"Has anyone else seen this woman?"

"No, oh, everyone told me not to think about it anymore. Just think of it as the girl from the Ma family coming to me to complain. Now I have helped her understand the matter. She shouldn't come to scare me again."

"Have you seen him again since then?"

"That's not the case, but who knows when she'll show up?"

Jia Chuan looked at the back of Sun Wang riding on the donkey in front of him and sneered at himself.

"Why do you think he agreed so readily to our ritual? He must have felt that Miss Ma's death had nothing to do with him, but the child's frail health was definitely related to her. They buried her on a straw mat without a trace of guilt. Now that he knows we've hired a Taoist priest, he's eager for her to shatter her soul. Second Master, on the other hand, is different. Upon hearing the news, he immediately felt guilty and rushed over to stop us... By the way, have you guys found anything?"

"Nonsense! How can I know the deceased resisted before he died without any examination? What was he resisting? Unless someone was forcing him, what else could he resist on his wedding night?"

"That's the truth. Did you also find out that the girl from the Ma family was strangled to death?"

"Ah."

Gao Yuntian fell into deep thought.

Jia Chuan was very pleased that he knew that thinking was a good thing. With this habit, when there were cases in the future, it might be enough for him to use Gao Yuntian's brain whether he was at home or not.

"I'm not asking where you got the money, but... you haven't married yet, so you should save some for yourself. If you really spend some money on investigating a case, then so be it. But if you see a poor person and want to help him, how will you get married in the future?"

Jia Chuan didn't expect Gao Yuntian to be thinking about his banknotes, so he said unhappily, "You should think about yourself first!"

"I have an arranged marriage, and I can get married as soon as I get back." Gao Yuntian said proudly.

"How old are you? If you're not anxious, then the girl isn't anxious either? Hasn't your father's crime been cleared? Why are you still staying here?"

Gao Yuntian snorted and walked forward quickly and with big strides. Jia Chuan could only jog a few steps to keep up with him.

……

When the group arrived at the city gate, it was already dark. Gao Yuntian ordered the gate to be opened and arranged for the constable to send the mother and child to a pediatric clinic. He only asked the constable to instruct the doctor to treat them well, and the required money would be delivered by the government office. Jia Chuan knew that the child was seriously ill and could not be cured in one visit, so he asked the constable to find a place for the mother and child to stay near the clinic. He asked the constable to pay the required money first, and he would pay it back later and would not treat them unfairly.

Nowadays, everyone in the county government knows Jia Chuan's identity. Being able to help Jia Chuan is considered an honor. They all believe Jia Chuan's words that he will not treat them unfairly, so there are people who are eager to do this hard job.

Sun Wang's eyes welled up with tears again, and he wanted to kneel down and kowtow. Jia Chuan said with a cold face, "Your fourth uncle and second uncle have been taken back to the government office for questioning regarding what happened today. It would be inappropriate for you not to go. Come with us first."

Sun Wang nodded repeatedly. Although he didn't know what "today's matter" was about, since his benefactor said he had to go, he naturally had to go.

The woman was holding her child who had just fallen asleep, and she was only concerned about not waking the child up. She didn't seem to care where her man went.

……

　I discussed the publication with the editor this afternoon, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, mainly because it only reached 200,000 words today, which just met the target.

　　Bow your fists deeply!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)