Chapter 533: Chapter 533 Someone Else Chapter 533: Chapter 533 Someone Else “Not Mrs. Han? How is this possible?” Su Yunjin didn’t believe it.
Who else could it be, if not Mrs. Han? Could it be Mrs. Zhang? After the Magistrate finished speaking, Gu Yan also appeared somewhat surprised. As a man, Gu Yan’s surprise was fleeting, and he quickly regained his composure, looking at the Magistrate who sat in the main seat of the hall. “Magistrate, may I know what evidence you have found to prove that it wasn’t my younger brother’s wife who did it?”
He took a sip of tea from the table.
The Magistrate started to outline the evidence his subordinates had gathered over the past two days for both Gu Yan and Su Yunjin.
“Third brother, third sister-in-law, although I have not yet found the person who spread the rumors, I have found solid evidence that proves Mrs. Han was not the doer.”
Su Yunjin blurted out subconsciously, “What evidence?”
Since the Magistrate had arrived, several pages of paper had been laid on the table. When Su Yunjin asked, the Magistrate didn’t answer but instead passed those pages to both her and Gu Yan.
“You will understand once you look at what’s on these pages.”
Gu Yan and Su Yunjin exchanged glances before each taking a few pages to read. Su Yunjin opened one and briefly scanned it. It recorded Mrs. Han’s whereabouts during the days before her escape. Gu Yan’s pages also contained similar information.
After having gone through the papers in their hands, they swapped and read again, only to see that the records on these pages, clear and concise, showed that Mrs. Han had not sought out anyone in the village during the two days before she fled, nor had she conversed with anyone. Those days, Mrs. Zhang was out early and returning late.
Leaving early in the morning, and coming back only after it got dark.
If what was recorded on paper was all true, then perhaps Mrs. Han really was not the one who spread the rumors. If it had been Mrs. Han, she would not have had the opportunity to spread any rumors at all.
The Magistrate waited for Gu Yan and Su Yunjin to read the papers, quietly sipping tea without speaking. Seeing that they had finished and were looking towards him, the Magistrate slowly placed down his teacup and leisurely asked, “Third brother, third sister-in-law, have you finished reading the contents?”
“Yes, we have finished reading,” Gu Yan nodded, neatly stacking the pages he and his wife had perused, and returned them to the Magistrate as they were.
The Magistrate put the papers back on the table casually and looked at Gu Yan and Su Yunjin asking, “Since you have read the contents, then you should also be able to see that Mrs. Han is not related to the rumor-mongering, right?”
If judged solely by the records on paper, it indeed seemed possible that Mrs. Han wasn’t the one spreading the rumors; however, this couldn’t conclusively prove that Mrs. Han hadn’t done it.
“Magistrate, the papers only record Mrs. Han’s whereabouts. It’s too one-sided to claim that Mrs. Han did not spread any rumors based on this alone. Spreading rumors may not require Mrs. Han to personally speak; she could spread them through someone else or she might have paid someone to do it for her. These possibilities cannot be excluded,” said Gu Yan.
Although Gu Yan’s speculations could not be dismissed,
the records had already reduced Mrs. Han’s suspicion by half. After the Magistrate left, Su Yunjin had been pondering over this matter.
Could it really be that Mrs. Han wasn’t the one who spread the rumors?
Had she and Gu Yan suspected the wrong person from the start?
As for Mrs. Han packing up and fleeing, was it because she was scared of being exposed, and not because she feared Gu Yan and Yunjin would come looking for her after spreading the rumors?