At this moment, the people watching on both sides rushed to look up and take a closer look. Suddenly, many voices merged into one sentence, yes, these two heads are fraudulent.
There is another point that shows that these two heads are perjury. The harmony stopped abruptly, and pairs of eyes were fixed on Wang Zimin's speech. Everyone looked at it, and after a little analysis, it was clear that the blood on these two heads had not yet dried completely, and they had clearly been massacred in the past two or three days. The two victims in the case were more than ten years old. Assuming that these two heads are the two heads in the case, will the blood stains on the heads still be so fresh?
The case is unfair and needs to be retried. The crowd began to appeal again. The county magistrate, who had already been left speechless by Wang Zimin's question, saw that it was not going to end well, and hesitantly said that he agreed to withdraw the case and try it again.
The county magistrate then ordered the swordsman and axeman to release Yang Chunlong from his shackles, and immediately took him back to the county government office. He went to the court again for questioning. Where did the two heads in the wooden frame come from?
Xiaosheng actually did not kill. Just because there was no one to hand over, jailer Wu Liangliang made a secret message to me and asked me to give him four hundred taels of silver, so he handed over two heads for me. As for where these two heads came from, I have absolutely no idea, sir. If you want to ask, please ask the jailer Wu Liang.
Immediately Wu Liang came to court and was tortured and interrogated. Wu Liang could not survive the torture, so he confessed all the details of how he killed his mother-in-law and her daughter Fenxiang, attempted rape on Fenxiang in advance, and then cut off two heads in exchange for four hundred taels of silver. . Immediately, Wu Liangliang was pushed to death row to await execution.
Someone else reported that a white horse was found in the city, carrying a female corpse on its back, and a half-dead man lying on the ground. The county magistrate was confused for a while. The old case had not yet been solved, and a new case was added. He stamped his feet and sent an order to quickly bring the woman's body and the dying man to the official for detailed investigation.
The sound of horse hoofbeats reached the Yamen. Sun Youfa saw a red horse in front of the door. The rider was the same one he had just seen from the execution ground in the west of the city. There was also a man with a messy look tied behind the horse's back, who occasionally let out painful moans. . Sun Youfa thought that the visitor had the courage to overturn the false testimony in public at the execution ground, so he did not dare to despise him, so he was demoted to wait for questions. What situation did he come to report?
Sir, I caught a murderer lying on my horse.
Who did he kill?
That's the female corpse on the white horse, you see.
Sun Youfa followed the direction of the visitor's fingers and saw a female corpse lying on the back of a white horse. He was shocked for a while, and then asked calmly, where was the deceased's family name?
She is the wife of my wronged disciple Yang Chunlong. She is from Shaxian, Jiangnan. Wang Zimin replied solemnly.
Local law enforcement, local law enforcement. Sun Youfa recited nervously, pushed the murderer off the horse, and put him in the back cell. I will go to court tomorrow for detailed interrogation. Several soldiers untied Liu Pinhua from the back of the red horse and carried him away.
Wang Zimin has sent Liu Pinhua to the county government for punishment, and the current matter is to bury Xia. He asked the county magistrate, "Master, please do me a favor. Today I am in this city to prepare for the funeral of my disciple's wife. Before the burial, please allow my disciple to come out of prison and see his wife who was separated from her before she died." After the funeral is over, send him back to prison.
As promised, the county magistrate immediately sent a message to the jailer to release Yang Chunlong. When Yang Chunlong saw Wang Zimin, his face was filled with tears. When he looked at his dead wife on the white horse, he suddenly felt that the world was spinning, and the tree was falling against the wall. You could see that he was already unsteady on his feet and could not speak. Wang Zimin held him up to avoid fainting. fall.
Wang Zimin spent three hundred taels of silver to finally make the funeral somewhat polite. Xia was buried on a hill in the south of the city, and a stone tablet was erected. The inscription reads: The tomb of the chaste woman Xia Juhua. There is a row of wreaths in front of the grave. The two largest ones are sent by the county government and the other by Wang Zimin. The smaller ones are sent by the people in the city and Yang Chunlong's inmates. Exactly: clusters of white snow protect chastity, green branches soothe the soul.
When Yang Chunlong saw his wife's body, he was extremely sad and passed out. The jailer sent him back to prison and asked a fellow prisoner to take care of him. When I woke up, it was dark all around. It was already late at night, and a broken candle on the iron window was weeping sadly. Yang Chunlong vaguely saw a woman in front of him, thinking that Xia's soul was not afraid of ghosts and ghosts, so he asked, why did the lady go to the underworld first and leave me alone to suffer in a world where right and wrong are reversed and black and white are indifferent?
He didn't hear the answer, only heard the sound of sobbing, and took a closer look. Isn't this Wang Yuhuan? When he understood, he couldn't help but feel shy, so he said, "I hope the lady can forgive me. Xiaosheng recognized the wrong person and said such nonsense."
Wang Yuhuan is still sobbing. Why is she with Yang Chunlong? It turned out that the county magistrate brought Wang Yuhuan in exchange for a male prisoner. This was a ploy used by the county magistrate. He considered that Yang Chunlong must have been wronged, but there was no evidence to prove that he had been wronged. He could not be executed hastily, nor could he be easily let go. , so they were temporarily imprisoned together in secret. If they were really the ones who conspired to murder, they would definitely tell the truth in the dead of night.
The county magistrate crouched behind the bars to find out the truth, and when the golden rooster crowed, no words were spoken. He was anxious, and suddenly Yang Chunlong said the above-mentioned words that were useless for the trial. He listened patiently, and heard Wang Yuhuan sobbing. He said, Mr. Yang, I have reconciled with you, why did you kill my brother and sister-in-law with a bad heart?
Which one reconciles with you, and which one kills your brother and sister-in-law? I stayed downstairs every day studying essays and preparing for exams, and I never went to the embroidery building once. If you want to harm someone, just put a piece of paper in my book and let me get sued. Yang Chunlong expressed his grievances.
Wang Yuhuan refused to accept it and said that you don't admit it. There is a half-inch high flesh thorn on your back. You can't scrape it off even if you want to. Let me touch it. If it is not there, you are not the one who killed my brother and sister-in-law.
You touch. Sure enough, Yang Chunlong took off his shirt and exposed his back. Wang Yuhuan stretched out his hand and touched it up and down. The skin was smooth and delicate, and there was no thorn in it? Then he exclaimed with regret, "I have wronged you. I'm so sorry. This case has nothing to do with you. If you have to pay the blood debt with your life, I will take the responsibility."
The county magistrate heard clearly outside the wall, and immediately returned to the Yamen and entered the room to make plans to retry the case.
The next day, the jailer reported that the new prisoner Liu Pinhua died of illness in prison, and the county magistrate ordered him to be dragged to the outskirts of the city and cremated.
Another day, a big red advertisement was posted on the city gate, which said:
In order to celebrate the Spring Festival, the county theater performed several wonderful shows in the past two or three days, including folk dances, local dramas, acrobatics, magic, etc., with rich content, diverse forms, elegant and humorous taste, and fresh and lively style. All urban and rural residents are welcome to come and watch and enjoy the cultural and entertainment feast. Fortunately!
The 26th day of the twelfth lunar month in the eighth year of Kangxi reign
It had only been an hour since this advertisement was posted, and people from outside the city were pouring into the city in an endless stream. The soldiers at the city gate held their weapons tightly and formed a long formation facing each other in two rows. Their swords, swords and halberds reflected the sun and shone in the cold light.
At the gate of the city, only people are allowed in in the morning, but no one is allowed to leave; in the afternoon, only people are allowed to leave, but no one is allowed to enter. The county magistrate Sun Youfa dressed up as a commoner and searched everyone who left the city gate and let them go.
Occasionally, I reached out and touched a man's back, only to find a half-inch-high flesh thorn. Sun Youfa immediately ordered the plainclothes accompanying him to be tied up with ropes and taken to the county government office for interrogation.
He was Zhang Dahong, the murderer who was on the loose. Once he was caught, he was trembling with fear. He couldn't stand the torture and had to truthfully confess the crime.
When the county magistrate heard that the two heads were thrown at the door of Tao Songzhong's oil shop, he ordered Tao Songzhong to be arrested. Tao Songzhong was tied up and pushed in front of the hall. During the interrogation, the county magistrate shouted, Tao Songzhong, please hand over two heads quickly and I will spare your life.
