He felt that to provide for his wife properly, he had to do something; she seemed to really enjoy the feeling of buying things.
As soon as Xiaoxiao arrived home, she shared the good news with her family. Everyone was extremely happy to hear it, and the tension they had been feeling was finally relieved; they no longer had to worry about compensating with silver.
Xiaoxiao then began distributing gifts to everyone, and the many packages she had bought were quickly dispensed.
That night, when the couple returned to their room, Xiaoxiao collapsed onto the kang, finally able to relax. She was genuinely tired.
Yang Ming saw this and his heart ached for her, "You bought so much. Why didn’t you get anything for yourself?"
Yang Ming truly hadn’t expected that his wife, burdened with large and small packages, would remember everybody in the family and leave nobody out, except for herself.
"Oh, I don’t lack anything right now, so I didn’t buy anything!"
" ..." Did his wife really lack nothing? His wife was reluctant to buy things for herself and had brought all her possessions from her parent’s home, but she was generous when it came to his family.
Lying on the kang, Xiaoxiao’s mind settled, and she began to think about the case from earlier that day. She found many aspects questionable.
"Yang Ming, will you also become a magistrate after you pass the examination in the future?"
Yang Ming thought for a moment, "Not necessarily!"
"It’s just that being an official doesn’t seem easy. What if you judge a case incorrectly? It’s so pitiful for the people who are wrongfully accused!"
" ..." His wife was showing empathy.
"Yang Ming, what do you think?" Xiaoxiao thought that if Yang Ming couldn’t see any issues, he probably shouldn’t become an official.
"The case from today!"
"There were indeed some questionable points in today’s case!"
Hearing such a response, Xiaoxiao became interested, "Quick, tell me!"
" ..." Was his wife really this interested in solving cases?
"Questionable point one, the magistrate did not investigate the house servant mentioned by Wang Huzi."
Upon hearing this, Xiaoxiao quickly nodded, "Mm, mm."
"Questionable point two, it’s against common sense for that house servant to report his own name!"
"Mm, mm!" This husband of hers was on the right track, for even she had figured it out. If her husband hadn’t, then what was the point of pursuing scholarly honors? He might as well return home and farm the land.
"Questionable point three is that Li Fugui never confessed!"
"Mm, mm, mm!" Xiaoxiao kept nodding; she felt the same way.
"Yang Ming, does that mean Li Fugui could very possibly have been wronged?"
"Mm, very likely. He’s been trapped by someone else."
When Xiaoxiao heard this, she became anxious, "Then why did you affirm at the scene that the handwriting was his? Aren’t you harming people?"
" ..." At the time, he had simply been telling the truth; he didn’t want to harm anyone, and he had also believed that it was Li Fugui.
"So what do we do now? Is it easy to overturn a case judged by the magistrate?" Although she was concerned about the silver, they couldn’t wrong an innocent person.
"I’ve only just thought of these questionable points myself. The magistrate should think of them too, and probably won’t reach a verdict so quickly!"
Indeed, she had only thought of these points afterwards. It seemed justifiable that a mistake could have been made in the chaos of the courtroom.
But unexpectedly, news came the next day: the case had been closed, and Wang Ergou and his family of four had been sentenced to military service. Li Fugui, due to compensation issues, was still being held in the county jail, awaiting his turn for military service after the compensation issues were resolved.
Xiaoxiao was speechless. How could this new magistrate rush to close the case so hastily? Was this truly the upright official they spoke of? This was clearly a careless County Magistrate.