ATFCM ~ 02

Chapter ~ 02

Wang Guangjin Kills His Father

Shen Zheng’s legs were still weak, and she leaned on Chief Registrar Xu’s arm for support.

“Who is the deceased? Who reported the crime? Has the scene been sealed off? Are there any suspects?”

At this point, Chief Registrar Xu set aside his usual concerns about propriety and began recounting the case to her.

“The deceased is a landlord named Wang from the east side of town. The murderer has already turned himself in—it’s the deceased’s son, Wang Guangjin.”

“Turned himself in?”

Although Shen Zheng didn’t quite understand why Wang Guangjin would surrender himself, she still let out a sigh of relief.

With the killer delivering himself to her doorstep, her official cap was safe.

But a son killing his father—this matter was unlikely to be simple.

“Where is Wang Guangjin now?”

“Waiting in the courtroom. His stepmother and stepsister have also come.”

Shen Zheng raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. The family dynamics were rather complicated.

She then stepped toward the courtroom.

Before she even reached the hall, she could hear a ruckus inside—mostly the townspeople voicing their condemnation of Wang Guangjin.

“An animal, that’s what he is! He dared to kill his own father!”

“Exactly! Old Man Wang fed him well and spent silver to send him to study in the neighboring county, and this is how he repays his father!”

“He’ll be thrown in prison today—probably get his head chopped off!”

“Our county hasn’t had a homicide in a long time!”

But some voices expressed disagreement.

“What do you know? Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t know the facts.”

Just then, Shen Zheng and Chief Registrar Xu walked in, took their places at the judge’s table, and sat down.

“The County Magistrate is here!”

“Hmph, just a woman.”

“Smack!” Shen Zheng slammed the gavel, and the courtroom instantly fell silent.

She addressed the townspeople below: “All unrelated parties withdraw. No interference with the case proceedings.”

The two constables standing at the left and right of the main entrance crossed their cudgels, and though the townspeople were reluctant, they filed out.

Once the courtroom quieted down, Shen Zheng began to examine the three people kneeling below.

The one in front was a sturdy young man, with signs of a scuffle on his face and clothes.

There was also a large patch of bright red blood on his chest.

Shen Zheng rubbed her chin—it seemed Wang Guangjin had come to surrender right after the homicide, before the blood had even had time to oxidize.

Kneeling behind Wang Guangjin were two women: one matronly, one young, both covering their faces and weeping.

According to what Chief Registrar Xu had said, these two should be Wang Guangjin’s stepmother and stepsister.

“Wang Guangjin, you killed your biological father and came to turn yourself in. Is that true or not?”

Shen Zheng asked.

Wang Guangjin kept his head down and answered in a low voice: “Yes.”

Shen Zheng recalled the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty from her memory: anyone who intentionally causes another’s death shall be sentenced to decapitation, with execution three days after sentencing.

But conviction couldn’t be based solely on someone confessing to the crime.

Shen Zheng said to the three kneeling before her: “Although you have confessed, I cannot convict you on your word alone.”

“The county office must send the coroner to examine the body. I will make my judgment after the investigation.”

Wang Guangjin raised no objection and answered in the affirmative with his head still bowed.

Shen Zheng then ordered the constables to first take Wang Guangjin to the jail cell pending trial.

At this point, Wang Guangjin’s stepsister, Wang Wanying, suddenly shuffled forward on her knees. Her eyes were red and swollen, and tear tracks covered her face.

“Your Honor, would you be willing to hear what this humble girl has to say?”

The matron beside her suddenly stiffened, covered her face, and wept even harder, yet she did not stop her daughter.

Shen Zheng nodded: “Go ahead.”

She wondered whether the stepsister was here to plead for leniency or to demand a harsher punishment.

“Today, my brother killed our father—it was all because of me.”

The previously resigned-looking Wang Guangjin suddenly began struggling violently, trying to stop Wang Wanying from saying what came next.

His eyes were bloodshot as he roared at Wang Wanying: “Wanying, shut up!”

The two constables holding him struck the backs of his knees with their cudgels: “Who said you could speak!”

At this point, Wang’s mother also shuffled forward on her knees, looking up at Shen Zheng with a pleading expression.

“Your Honor, may I ask the constables to close the main doors?”

Meaning she didn’t want the townspeople to overhear.

When trying a case, the county office could choose between public hearings and closed hearings at its discretion, and the wishes of the victim’s family could also be considered.

Shen Zheng saw no reason to hesitate and signaled the constables at the door to close the gates.

Outside, some of the townspeople grumbled.

“This Wang family—what’s so secret that it can’t be heard!”

“Eh! They’re practically a well-off household—of course they’ve got some dirty laundry.”

After the doors closed, Shen Zheng looked at Wang Wanying: “Miss Wang, you may speak.”

Wang Wanying sobbed, as if she had made some kind of resolution.

Despite Wang Guangjin’s loud protests from the side, she poured out the entire case from beginning to end like beans from a bamboo tube.

“Beast! Worse than an animal!”

After hearing the whole story, Shen Zheng was furious beyond measure and slammed her palm on the judge’s table.

Beside her, Chief Registrar Xu also slapped the case file he had been recording onto the table.

“Such a thing exists! He’s utterly unworthy of being called a father!”

According to Wang Wanying’s account, Wang Guangjin’s biological mother had abandoned him right after giving birth.

The current Madam Wang was the second wife Old Man Wang had married when Wang Guangjin was two years old, and Wang Wanying was the daughter born to Madam Wang and Old Man Wang the year after their marriage.

Old Man Wang was violent and cruel. Before, whenever things didn’t go his way, he would beat his wife and children. It was precisely because she couldn’t bear it anymore that Wang Guangjin’s biological mother had been ruthless enough to abandon her own son and flee.

Madam Wang was an exceptionally gentle woman. Whether it was in matters of food, clothing, housing, education, or daily care, she treated Wang Guangjin as if he were her own flesh and blood.

Wang Guangjin gradually came to regard Madam Wang as his real mother.

After marrying the current Madam Wang, Old Man Wang restrained himself somewhat and never laid a hand on her or her daughter when Wang Wanying was young.

But he would often summon Wang Guangjin to his study, and Wang Guangjin would always emerge covered in bruises.

When Madam Wang noticed something was wrong, she strongly insisted on sending Wang Guangjin to study in the neighboring county.

Wang Guangjin, who had grown fearful under his father’s daily beatings, followed Madam Wang’s wishes and went to the neighboring county.

But in doing so, Wang Guangjin escaped the fire pit—while Madam Wang fell right into it.

With Wang Guangjin gone as his punching bag, Old Man Wang chose Madam Wang as the target for his rage.

Her world turned dark.

Despite this, Madam Wang never told Wang Guangjin about her situation. Every letter she wrote said only that everything was fine at home and that he must not come back.

After years away, Wang Guangjin missed his mother and sister terribly and decided to secretly return home for a visit.

But from atop the courtyard wall, he saw Old Man Wang grabbing Madam Wang by the hair and smashing her head against the ground.

The servants around them looked on as if they saw nothing.

Wang Guangjin’s eyes nearly split with rage, and he was about to leap down from the wall.

But Madam Wang saw him. Tears rolled silently down her face as she subtly shook her head at him.

*Son, don’t come back. If you come back, all these years of effort will have been wasted.*

Wang Guangjin’s initial surge of courage faded, then faltered further, and finally dissolved entirely.

In the end, he lacked the courage to jump down from the wall.

For years, he had lived under Old Man Wang’s shadow.

He was too afraid.

Back at the inn, Wang Guangjin couldn’t sleep the entire night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Madam Wang’s tear-filled ones.

That’s right—he was eighteen now, not eight!

He was already a grown man with the strength to stand up to his father!

Wang Guangjin immediately resolved to return to the Wang household to protect his mother and sister.

His original intention had been only to protect them—not to kill Old Man Wang.