Chapter 244: Chapter 104: Judging the Case (2)

Qi Lan naturally assented and led two constables away to carry out his orders.

Although a new witness was to be summoned, the County Magistrate had no intention of pausing the trial. After all, the defendant, Mr. Li, was still present. She hadn’t yet pleaded her case, and she deserved the opportunity.

However, just as the County Magistrate struck his gavel, a commotion erupted outside.

Thousands of townspeople had gathered outside the public hall, standing shoulder to shoulder and packing the area so tightly that they blocked off half the street in front of the county government office.

Li Cun, having heard about the trial from someone, had dragged his ailing body over one step at a time.

Wang Jun, Wang Xiao, and Huang Chen were standing outside the public hall, listening to Mr. Cheng preside over the case, when a feverishly hot body stumbled into them. They caught the person out of sheer reflex.

Looking down, they saw Li Cun’s face, as red as a branding iron, and his vacant, unfocused eyes. The sight was so shocking the muscles in their cheeks tightened involuntarily.

"How did his fever get this bad?"

"If he keeps burning up like this, it could kill him."

"While Mr. Li was off at the Zheng Family’s home plotting her revenge, Li Cun was at home burning with a fever, and no one knew. I wonder if Mr. Li would feel any regret if she saw him like this."

Wang Xiao quickly ordered his attendant, "Get Mr. Li on your back and take him to a physician’s clinic."

But Li Cun grabbed his robes, his breath coming in hot gasps, and said tremulously, "No... go... go to the public hall."

As he spoke, tears streamed from his eyes.

The commotion drew the eyes of many people in the surrounding crowd.

When the crowd saw Li Cun, burning up as if he were a man on fire, they felt a growing sense of unease.

’Such a fine young gentleman. How did he end up with a mother like that?’

In just one short day, the story of what happened after "a girl was promised to two families" had swept through all of Qingshui County like a hurricane.

As the townspeople discussed just how outstanding Mr. Chen’s daughter must be to have made two young scholars so intent on marrying her, they couldn’t help but feel sorry for Li Cun.

It was a pity that Li Cun had such a mother, who had cost him a good marriage.

Furthermore, Li Cun’s heartbroken display at the teahouse that day had been too painful to watch. The townspeople had no doubt that such a blow would cause him to fall gravely ill. It made them recall the old saying: "A good wife brings prosperity for three generations; a bad one brings ruin for six."

And wasn’t Li Cun’s mother the very picture of that legendary "bad wife"?

With a matriarch like her, the Li family had squandered all the good fortune of its descendants.

Li Cun couldn’t hear the crowd’s murmuring. Supported by Wang Jun, he staggered unsteadily toward the main hall.

But just as he mounted the first step, he caught a glimpse of something in his peripheral vision and slowly turned his head.

It was Xu Su Ying and Chen Wanqing.

Xu Su Ying was frowning, her face a mask of fury as she stared at him. Chen Wanqing, her hair styled in the manner of a married woman, let her gaze sweep past him before turning to comfort her mother.

It was as if she were looking at a complete stranger...

Li Cun’s heart felt like it was being sliced by a knife. In that instant, he lost even the strength to move his legs.

In that single moment, a flood of thoughts washed over him, even the thought of death.

But even if he were to die, he could not die in front of her.

’My mother is so despicable. She hurt Wanqing first, then her family. She must despise me completely. Even looking at me for a second longer must be an irritation.’

Mechanically, Li Cun leaned on Wang Jun’s strength and forced himself up another step.

As he came into view of the public hall, his mother must have seen him, for she immediately broke down, wailing uncontrollably.

Li Cun kowtowed outside the public hall. Only after receiving permission from Mr. Cheng, the County Magistrate, did he shuffle forward.

He spoke in a frail, listless voice, so quiet he could barely hear his own words.

"Your Honor... my mother’s crime... was all instigated by me..."

Mr. Li collapsed, kneeling on the floor of the public hall. "Your Honor, I confess! I’ll confess everything! It was because I was jealous of Zhao Jing’s talent and filled with resentment that I tried to harm him. And Mr. Chen... he climbed to his position over my late husband’s blood! How could I ever swallow that insult? I won’t accept it! I won’t accept it!"

At last, Mr. Li had done something a truly loving mother ought to do.

She took all the blame upon herself, never once mentioning Li Cun.

Although Li Cun had nothing to do with the plot itself, it was his passive resistance that had driven her to this state of obsession, sending her down a path of no return.

She belatedly began to worry that implicating her son would ruin his reputation and affect his chances in the imperial examinations.

Her son was so frail; if he couldn’t even pursue a career as an official, how would he ever make a living?

At this very moment, the fog in Mr. Li’s mind finally, completely, cleared.

She finally understood what disaster her own impulsiveness would bring upon her son.