Travel back to ancient times and open a Sichuan restaurant

Chapter 270

Kneeling in the court were not only Jiang Jie and Lin Zai, but also Jiang Jie's family members.

Jiang Jie's wife Liu and his three children, Jiang Dachun, Jiang Xiaoni and Jiang Xiaobao.

Except for Jiang Xiaobao, the others all looked pale and terrified.

Jiang Ying moved a stool and sat next to the county magistrate. The county magistrate wanted him to sit in the main seat, but he waved his hand and refused, "I don't know how to judge a case. I only know how to beat people. You should come."

The county magistrate had a serious expression, his eyes dark as he stared at Jiang Jie who was kneeling below.

Jiang Jie had been in jail for so many days that he had become numb. There was no expression on his face as he repeated what he had said in jail.

"I tricked those kids into leaving and sold them to kidnappers I had contacted in advance. To prevent anyone from finding out that it was me, I asked Xiaobao to hide at my wife's home for a few days."

"After everyone has searched for a few days and is sure they can't find them, I'll let Xiaobao come back and tell them that someone took them away and Xiaobao managed to escape by luck."

The lawyer was taking notes on the side. Jiang Jie answered every question asked by the county magistrate. When he got to the end, people outside the court began to get agitated and wanted to throw the things in their hands at Jiang Jie.

Jiang Jie's wife and children were kneeling on their knees, tears streaming down their faces. They were not innocent either. Although they were not directly involved in the child trafficking, they were also insiders.

Among them, Jiang Xiaobao was the most daring. He was very smart. The first time, Jiang Jie asked him to hide back at his grandparents' house. When he came back, the children who saw him beating Jiang Erya were gone. He guessed that his father had done something.

From then on, whenever he had a dispute with a child in the village, he would ask Jiang Jie to sell the child.

Both father and son were equally guilty, but Jiang Jie thought that Jiang Xiaobao was still young, and even if he was implicated in this matter, he would at most spend a few years in jail, which was not a life-threatening matter.

After talking about the child trafficking, the county magistrate asked him how he and Lin Zai got involved.

Lin Zai didn't look at anyone at all. He just knelt there with a look of disdain on his face. Even though there were two officers standing behind him and forcing him to kneel down.

He didn't say anything, so Jiang Jie looked at the county magistrate and told him what he knew.

"I previously made this deal with a gambler from Xiaohe Village. He gambled a lot and his wife ran away with someone else. Later, he sold all three of his children for gambling!"

There was a sudden uproar outside the court, "Beast!"

"You sold all three of your own children? Just for gambling money?"

"Listen to this man's name. Don't let him go when you get back."

Jiang Jie heard the scolding, paused and continued, "When I went to look for him, the people in Xiaohe Village said that the gambler hadn't returned home for a few days and should be in the gambling house. I had already brought out the children to be sold, and was just waiting for the gambler to sell them and give me some money, so I ran to the gambling house to find him."

"When I went there, I saw him being beaten half to death at the back door of the gambling house. I waited until everyone left before I went upstairs, but he was already dying. I wanted him to give me the address of his next home so I could deliver the child myself. Lin Zai heard us talking and said he could help me, but I had to split the money from selling the child with him. I agreed."

He closed his eyes in despair. "I worked with him for five years and sold a total of forty-seven children."

A big drop of cold sweat dripped down the county magistrate's forehead. Forty-seven children!

What is this concept?

If the higher-ups knew about this, he would have ten heads left to chop off.

He caught a glimpse of Jiang Ying sitting next to him with a sneer on his face, and he quickly shouted, "Jiang Jie, you are so bold and reckless in this corrupt society, you treat human life as worthless and defy the law. I order you to make amends and explain the whereabouts of those children clearly, and I will let you die!"

But Jiang Jie was only responsible for bringing the child out, and he knew nothing else. The documents in his hand did not indicate where the child was sold.

Many of the onlookers were families from Jiangjia Village whose children were sold. When they heard Jiang Jie couldn’t explain clearly, they burst into tears.

There was an old lady who cried so hard that she fell to her knees on the ground, and the people around her couldn't help her up.

"My poor Gousheng, his daughter was killed, his son was sold, and in the end his whole family lost their lives!"

She is Jiang Gousheng's aunt and they live in the same village.

Seeing this, other people in the village were afraid that she would faint from crying, so they quickly brought a stool for her to sit on.

Zhong Ruyi was squeezed in the middle of the crowd, and was also very angry when she heard this. At this moment, there was no expression on her face, and she just wanted to pounce on Jiang Jie and that Linzi and tear them to pieces!

Chen Dongzhi was afraid that she would lose her balance on the stool, so he quickly reached out to support her. Seeing her face flush with anger, he whispered, "Jiang Jie doesn't know, but Lin Zai, as the next customer, should know something."

Several aunties around him said, "Jiang Jie is abominable! This Linzi is even more abominable! Not only did he sell children, he also became a bandit and robbed people of their belongings and took their lives!"

"That's right, I really don't know how his parents raised such a beast!"

An elderly couple in the crowd lowered their heads in shame and dared not speak.

"Jiang Jie, if you have anything else to say, just say it all!" The county magistrate winked at the legal advisor, asking him to drive out all the onlookers. He didn't dare to let the people hear any more, for fear that they would scold him after they realized what was happening.

The lawyer didn't understand and thought the county magistrate had talked too much and wanted to drink water, so he immediately filled the cup in front of the county magistrate with hot tea.

It’s really rotten wood that cannot be carved!

The county magistrate was almost mad at his subordinate, but he couldn't ask his advisor to kick everyone out in front of so many people, after all, there was the iron-faced and impartial General Jiang standing next to him.

He could only continue to interrogate Jiang Jie and Lin Zai with a stern face, "Where is the gambler before Lin Zai now?"

Jiang Jie said, "He's dead. It was because of his death that I cooperated with Linzi. But later on, Linzi felt that it was too slow to make money this way, so he found a group of people to go up the mountain and become bandits, specifically robbing those rich families. As long as I found a suitable child, I would bring it to him and let him be responsible for reselling it. If the government issued an order to suppress bandits, I would inform him in advance and let him hide with his people early."

Everyone looked at Lin Zai, wanting to see what he would say next.

But what is disappointing is that Linzai has not said a word since he was brought up, and has been kneeling there in a nonchalant manner.

Seeing everyone's eyes on him, he sneered and raised his chin, "Why? What do you want to hear me say? Do you want me to cry and confess or to tell you the whereabouts of those children?"

As he spoke, the smile on his face deepened, but it quickly disappeared the next second, turning expressionless. He spat on the ground and said, "Bah! I'm about to die, why should I tell you? I'm going to hell with this secret!"