"Tell me, what happened to your old man?"
Xia Zhichan didn't just sit on a boat and wander on the lake these days. Early in the morning, he and Prince Le brought out all the yamen servants in Jiangcheng Yamen, and followed him every day to visit all the families who had happened.
Today I came to a wealthy family, the Xu family, which is relatively famous in the local area.
The old man of the Xu family is a good man who is knowledgeable and courteous. His family is rich, so he often helps the poor. He has a kind personality. When he was young, he was more romantic. He liked to hold poetry gatherings and so on. When he got older, he didn't go out often.
There is an old saying that goes like this, wealth makes people come together, and most of them are clichés often told by storytellers. It means that although this person is very rich, he has no children.
The old man of the Xu family is such a person. After losing his wife in middle age, he spent half of his life alone. His relatives and friends at home tried to persuade him to get married again, but the old man of the Xu family never agreed. Later, he got married. With age, I am no longer capable.
But what people fear most is not having descendants. As the saying goes, there are three unfilial piety, and the worst is not having children. Especially scholars, they often take this ethical outline very seriously. At this time, a descendant of the Xu family who was from the same clan as Mr. Xu said that we have a good boy here who loves to read. If Mr. Xu can like him, he might as well adopt him.
So the Xu family has an eldest young master, an eldest young master who is not related by blood to Mr. Xu.
"Dad...wuwuwuwuwuwu..."
The young master of the Xu family, draped in heavy mourning, knelt in front of a hall covered with white silk and white flags. There was a dark, thick wooden coffin parked inside.
The dignified seven-foot-tall man burst into tears. Although he was not related by blood to the old man of the Xu family, he had been raised by him for more than ten years.
While hanging his feet and stretching his chest, howling in pain, he threw white paper into the burning copper basin.
Xia Zhichan stood at the gate and did not go in, but took a few more glances at the coffin inside, and then secretly sighed.
The yamen team leader who handles cases all year round is naturally very discerning, and this is not the first time that he has followed Xia Zhichan to handle such matters.
Bantou Zhang and Bantou Li looked at each other and nodded to each other.
The yamen servants who were just standing behind them all put their hands on the handles of the swords at their waists tacitly. As long as the squad leaders gave orders, they could immediately draw the swords out of their sheaths.
"interesting……"
Xia Zhichan looked back at Zhang Tou and Li Tou, who were all on guard, as well as the black-faced government officials behind them, and could only wave her hands.
"Xu Zhiwen, when did your father pass away..."
"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu herself she was fine that night. She woke up in the morning and her body was gone. She was neither injured nor sick. She suddenly lost her breath..."
The tears on Xu Zhiwen's face seemed to be washed away with water. The paper money in his hand was all wet, and the clothes on his chest were already wet.
Xia Zhichan didn't say anything, but made a few gestures to Bantou Zhang and Bantou Li who were standing in the yard, and the latter nodded knowingly.
Those vicious government officials dispersed and looked for each servant of the Xu family to question.
"Master... just disappeared suddenly. The young master and the housekeeper found out, and then immediately ordered us to prepare for the funeral..."
"I do not know anything……"
"I served the master for breakfast that morning. The master looked pretty good. He ate a few freshly steamed pastries and drank a bowl of porridge..."
"The young master is a good man, and he is very filial to me. Every time I take medicine, he will taste it himself before giving it to me..."
The officials gathered all the servants in a courtyard and did not allow anyone to leave.
"My lord, the questioning is over. There are some contradictions in the testimonies. Please take a look at them..."
Li Tou came to Xia Zhichan with some contradictory confessions in his hands. The latter just opened it easily and glanced at it casually.
"Master Xu, you said that your father died early in the morning, but why did a servant say that he served the master for breakfast, and that Master Xu was still in good spirits at that time..."
"Uh, this..."
Xu Zhiwen blinked his eyes a few times, showing a confused look on his face. He hesitated for a long time, and finally said:
"It's probably because they remembered it wrong. Of course, it's also possible that Xiaosheng remembered the wrong time... I've been too sad recently and my mind is confused. Don't blame me."
misremembered? You can even remember wrongly when your father died...
interesting.
Xia Zhichan winked at Li Tou, who immediately placed the confession in front of Xu Zhiwen and asked him to carefully read the contents.
Xu Zhiwen was a weak scholar. He held the file and read it for a while and then said:
"It's true that Xiaosheng remembered it wrong. Oops, please atone for your sins...Dad, my child is unfilial..."
As he spoke, he burst into tears again.
Isn't this person made of water? Where did he get so many tears? He cried and howled for a long time, but he didn't dry up the tears.
"Mr. Xu, I want to...open the coffin."
As soon as the word "open the coffin" came out, Xu Zhiwen's expression changed. Although he was crying and crying and it looked like he was in pain, his face was still as red as an underripe apple.
But as soon as Xia Zhichan said these words, Xu Zhiwen's face lost all color and turned pale. From a distance, he looked like a scary ghost dressed in white with a pale face.
Now that the distance is so close, not to mention Xia Zhichan, even Bantou Li and Bantou Zhang can see that in the heart of Xu Zhiwen, the young master of the Xu family...
There's a ghost!
"My father drove away to the west for many days, leaving only a skin. But the common people say that this dead body cannot see the sun and the moon, and it is ominous..."
Xu Zhiwen is really knowledgeable. He even knows the folklore of the common people clearly. He doesn't seem to be the kind of poor scholar who doesn't hear anything outside the window.
"It's ominous..."
Xia Zhichan smiled, not to mention that it was ominous, even if the dead jumped out of the coffin today, he would still have a way to make the dead body lie back down again.
He didn't need to continue talking. A somewhat stunned squad leader Zhang walked over. With a wink, several government officials followed him. They all took out the weapons from their waists and tried to pry open the coffin head.
"No! You can't! My father is a very good man. You can't let my father suffer even after he dies..."
Xu Zhiwen's temper got worse. He hugged the head of the coffin and shouted loudly:
"If you open my father's coffin, step over my body first!"
"this……"
Even the usually dumbfounded Bantou Zhang doesn’t know what to do. After all, you can scare people, but if you really kill them...
Xu Zhiwen is a man of great fame. He was admitted as a scholar at a young age and is no longer an idler. If he takes part in the provincial examination one day, he might even be able to win the title of Jurendang.
The laws of Daqi stipulate that as long as a talented person has achieved fame, he cannot be killed at will, and as long as he is involved in such a case, he must submit it to the top level, and finally it will be approved by the Ministry of Punishment, and the criminal case will be reviewed by Dali Temple , so that people who have committed capital crimes can be beheaded.
"Sir, this..."
Team leader Li came over and gestured at Xia Zhichan a few times, but the latter didn't understand what he meant.
But Xia Zhichan thought for a moment and understood what Bantou Li meant. Li Tou wanted him to find an excuse to lure Xu Zhiwen away, and then they immediately led a group of government officials to pry open the coffin lid.
"Why bother with this..."
Xia Zhichan quietly did something.
Everyone in the mourning hall was startled when they heard a loud "bang-" sound.
what sound?
Bang! Thumb thump! Thump thump thump!
Everyone was shocked. Xu Zhiwen, who had been lying on the head of the coffin just now, knelt on the ground as soon as his legs gave out. The surrounding government officials all pulled out their waist knives.
The sound came from the coffin.
Bang!
There was a final loud crash, and then the thick wooden coffin lid actually made a series of creaking sounds, which made people feel creepy when they heard it.
"Big, big... people? Help, help..."
Poor Captain Li suddenly stuttered at a young age and couldn't even utter a complete sentence in his mouth. He could only point his trembling fingers in the direction of the coffin.
Xia Zhichan just pretended not to see it.
With a creaking sound, the coffin lid and the coffin were pushed open from the inside, creating a gap big enough to fit into the edge of the palm.
"It's so unfair that I die..."
A gust of cold wind blew over, as if someone dropped a biting piece of ice down the back of your neck. It not only frightened the people inside the house, but also scared the people outside the house to stay away.
"Oh my God, Dad! Don't scare me..."
Xu Zhiwen was almost paralyzed and turned into a pile of mud. He waved his arms wildly and mumbled something in his mouth.
Snapped!
The coffin was closed again, and everyone slumped on the ground as if relieved.
"Mr. Xu was so unjust that he was still alive as a ghost, and then he became a saint..."
Bantou Li was quite smart, and he quickly realized that it was probably Xia Zhichan who cast some spell, which made the corpse that had been dead for many days suddenly come back to life.
"That's right, the coffin must be opened today!"
Team Leader Zhang stepped forward, but none of the surrounding government officials dared to come over to help. They could only watch helplessly as Team Leader Zhang pulled out all the pins with a huff and a cry, and then shouted loudly. Push the coffin lid open.
"grown ups!"
Captain Zhang was so majestic now that the young government officials around him were dumbfounded. Some secretly gave Zhang a thumbs up, while others looked into the coffin out of curiosity.
"Okay, thank you for your hard work, Team Leader Zhang..."
Xia Zhichan nodded. He did not look at the Xu family master lying in the coffin, but turned his head and shouted into the yard:
"Where is Wu Zuo?"
"exist!"
As soon as he agreed, a thin middle-aged man came from behind the crowd. He was dressed in gray cloth and walked with small steps.
When it comes to autopsy skills, the man is probably the best in Jiangcheng. He comes from a family of wretched writers that has been passed down for several generations, and has been dealing with dead bodies almost since he was a child.
Wu Zuo was not afraid and came to the coffin in a few trots.
"Come on, brothers, help me open the coffin lid completely."
After taking a quick look, Wu Zuo noticed something was wrong. The leader Zhang just pushed away a little, revealing the face of Mr. Xu's family.
Now he wanted to conduct a comprehensive autopsy, but he could only push the coffin lid completely open.
Leader Zhang took the lead, and several brave government officials came over. The strong men worked together and pushed down the entire coffin lid in just a few clicks.
"Sir, the master of the Xu family is..."
Wuzuo put down the autopsy tools in his hands, turned his head and said to Xia Zhichan, who had been standing in the middle of the mourning hall:
"...Killed by someone."
