In the city, the three of them could only ride horses slowly. After leaving the city, they were able to gallop wildly. Su Pingcuo was originally a warrior, so riding horses was not a problem.
Su Pingcuo knew that Changsheng was going to take Batulu away this time, and he also knew that once Batulu left, he would be of little use in the future, so he couldn't help but feel worried and anxious. Fortunately, Changsheng had said before that he had already greeted the Minister of Civil Affairs and would meet him. Take more care of him, so that you can feel more at ease.
The three of them headed south and arrived at Gusu County, which is seventy miles away from Suzhou City at sunset.
In fact, Su Pingcuo had not seen Batulu for several days, but he had previously told the officials below that whenever Batulu went to their jurisdiction, they would immediately send someone to report it. According to the Gusu County Magistrate, Batu Lu has been cleaning up old cases in Gusu County these days.
Hearing what Su Pingcuo said, Chen Liqiu couldn't help but laugh out loud. Changsheng naturally knew why he was laughing. Batulu was not very bright, and he couldn't figure out ordinary cases. Any long-standing case must have many twists and turns. , how could Baturu be so clear about it.
It was already evening, and I thought that Batulu had already rested. Unexpectedly, the three of them came to the street where the county government office was located. From a distance, they saw a large number of villagers gathered outside the county government office. They were bustling with hundreds of people. The lights above the courtroom were brightly lit.
The three tied up their horses, squeezed through the crowd, and arrived outside the government office. They saw Batulu in soap clothes sitting in the court hall, and the county magistrate in official uniforms sitting in the west corner, standing on the left and right. There were more than a dozen government officials holding killing sticks, and a man and a woman were kneeling in the hall. Both were in their thirties. To the east of them was an old woman who was over seventy years old, but this person was not kneeling. Instead, he sat on a small bench.
Seeing that Su Pingcuo wanted to step forward to speak, Changsheng stretched out his hand to hold him. He also wanted to see how his senior brother solved the case.
Everyone in the hall seemed to be waiting for something, and no one spoke, but the people gathered outside the county government office were whispering and discussing in private.
Changsheng originally thought that everyone would laugh at Batulu for his nonsense, but after listening for a moment, he found that instead of laughing at Batulu, everyone admired him, saying that he was as wise as a fool and understood everything.
Not long after, a group of government officials hurriedly returned from the west side. When passing by Changsheng, Changsheng smelled a strong stench from everyone.
Batulu was waiting for these people. When he saw everyone returning, he immediately asked eagerly, "How is it? Are there any injuries on the body?"
"Sir, the body has rotted and there are no injuries on the bones." The man who looked like a man bowed and replied.
"Are you getting maggots?" Batulu asked again.
"No maggots seen." Wu Zuo shook his head.
"Why are you so careless? It's been a year, and even if there were maggots, they would have died long ago." Batulu asked again, "Do you have a cocoon? It's the cocoon before the maggot turned into a fly. , The cocoon has a hard shell, even if the meat inside is rotten, the shell should still be there."
"No." Wu Zuo shook his head.
Hearing Wu Zuo's words, Batulu was furious, picked up the gavel tree and slapped it hard, "What an adulterer and a spoiled woman. She has no law and is so audacious that she dares to murder her own husband."
After Batulu finished speaking, the man and woman in the hall were so frightened that they were shaking like chaff and kept shouting about injustice. The old woman sitting on the small bench fell to her knees and cried out to Master Qingtian.
"Don't do this to me," Batulu said, shooting the gavel again, "Woman, let me ask you, when did your man die last year?"
"July." The woman replied timidly.
"How many days has the morgue been kept?" Batulu asked again.
"Seven days," the woman answered.
Batulu stood up from his seat and walked down the hall, "It's so hot in your bird place. In summer, there are flies everywhere. The flies will definitely lay maggots on the corpse after seven days of resting. Even if the person is buried, the maggots will not die. It can also form cocoons and turn into flies. There are no maggot cocoons in the coffin, which means that the flies have not laid maggots on your man. I have seen many dead people, and only those who died of poisoning do not attract flies."
After Batulu finished speaking, the onlookers were in an uproar. The man and woman denied it and kept shouting that they were wronged.
"What an injustice," Batulu pointed at the woman, "You remarried within two months of the man's death. You must have had an affair before, otherwise you wouldn't have remarried so quickly."
"And you," Batulu pointed at the man again, "you look like a dog, but you are actually not a good person. Let me tell you, if you didn't know how to speak, I wouldn't doubt you. Just you. Only a person with this kind of glib tone can seduce someone else's wife, but if you don't know how to speak, you won't be able to seduce her."
"Your Majesty, it's clear to you that we are really unjust." The man shouted injustice.
"I've finished the examination. It's the person you poisoned to death," Batulu waved his hand, "If anyone comes, he will be punished. Each person will be given two hundred sticks first."
Hearing Batulu's words, the man and woman were immediately frightened and turned pale. The killing stick in the officer's hand was no joke. Not to mention two hundred sticks, even a hundred sticks were enough to beat someone to death.
Batulu gave the order, and the government officials immediately obeyed it without consulting the county magistrate sitting in the corner. This shows that this is not the first time that Batulu has done something similar in the past few days.
Chang Sheng once presided over the Yushitai and was proficient in criminal law. The two hundred sticks did not violate the criminal law, because the court stipulated that the maximum number of punishments during interrogation was two hundred sticks. If the prisoner did not confess after the two hundred sticks, a bailee must be released. However, Most people simply can't take so many sticks.
The yamen officer beat the man and woman down after knocking them down, and cried for father and mother as soon as he hit them with the stick.
"Boss has not been with Master for so many years in vain. What he said makes sense." Chen Liqiu said in a low voice.
When Chen Liqiu mentioned his master, Changsheng felt dark in his heart. He just nodded and did not answer.
At this moment, Batulu's voice came again, "Hit me, give me a hard beating. If you beat me to death, it's mine. There are people above me, and no one can do anything to me."
After hearing Batulu's words, Changsheng looked at Su Pingcuo with sympathetic eyes. It seemed that Su Pingcuo had wiped Batulu's butt a lot during this period.
Just as ghosts and wolves were howling in the hall, Changsheng suddenly heard the sound of dry coughing coming from behind him. He could clearly distinguish the throat-clearing cough from the intentional coughing, and the subsequent dry coughing was intentional coughing.
Hearing the sound of dry coughing, Changsheng turned his head and looked back.
At this time, there was a sea of people outside the county government office, rubbing shoulders with each other. Changsheng couldn't find who was coughing before, but one of them happened to raise his hand to wipe his nose at this time, so he took another look at this person.
When I took a closer look, I immediately realized that I actually knew this person. It was none other than Sasaki, the Japanese who was let go that day.
Sasaki's appearance surprised Changsheng, but it was not a huge surprise, because Suzhou is very close to Jianghuai, especially Gusu County where everyone is located. It is only three to four hundred miles away from the Jianghuai area occupied by Sun Ru. If the Japanese know that Batulu and With his connections, he will definitely come and capture Batulu. Sasaki's appearance this time is most likely to capture Batulu.
Changsheng didn't stare at Sasaki for a long time, and turned around after realizing it was him. Baturu didn't know that the danger was approaching, and still showed off his power in the hall, "Only one of you can survive. Whoever confesses first will let me." Whoever survives will be beaten to death without telling you. I am not afraid to tell you the truth. I have people not only in the state, but also in the court. Let alone two, it will be okay even if I kill two hundred."
Hearing Batulu's words, Changsheng smiled helplessly. As a senior brother, he was able to perfectly interpret the power of a fox and a tiger. With such a trick, it is a miracle that he has not been captured by the Japanese until today.
I have to say that Batulu's method is indeed effective. At the critical moment of life and death, the adulterer and the wife immediately rushed to confess and confess in order to survive.
Seeing the two confessing, Batulu felt very proud. He first asked the chief bookkeeper to record the two's crimes, and then turned to look at the magistrate sitting in the corner, asking him to imitate his example.
Although Changsheng was facing the court, he quietly retreated, while Sasaki also slowly squeezed forward and came behind Changsheng.
Sasaki pretended to raise his hand to wipe the wings of his nose, covered his lips and asked in a low voice, "Mr. Changsheng, why are you here?"
"What are you doing here?" Changsheng asked casually.
"We were ordered to capture that strong black man," Sasaki whispered, "take him away quickly, otherwise we will take action."
"How many of you are here?" Changsheng asked again.
"More than twenty," Sasaki said, "We can't beat you, so don't fight us."
"I won't kill you." Changsheng said.
The two kept their voices low, but they could hide it from others but not from Chen Liqiu who was nearby. However, Chen Liqiu did not look back. He just pretended to look towards the court and glanced back from the corner of his eye.
"I know you won't kill me, but if I run back by myself, they will doubt me." Sasaki muttered in a low voice.
"Yeah." Changsheng made a nasal sound.
Worried about being noticed by his accomplices, Sasaki did not dare to approach Changsheng for a long time. Seeing that he agreed, he turned around and tried to squeeze elsewhere.
"Is the ship back?" Changsheng asked in a low voice.
Changsheng asked, but Sasaki could only pretend to tie his shoelaces and bend down to answer, "We just landed on the shore this morning."
"How many people are here?" Changsheng asked again.
"Many, the eight major families have sent people here. You should be more careful." Sasaki replied in a low voice. After saying this, he hurried away without waiting for Chang Sheng to answer again.
At this time, Batulu was enjoying the cheers and praises of the onlookers, feeling proud and majestic.
Changsheng came here just to take away Batulu, and had no intention of getting into more entanglements with the Japanese, so he winked at Chen Liqiu and Su Pingcuo, and the three of them squeezed out of the crowd and came to the court.
Others didn't know Changsheng and Chen Liqiu, but Batulu knew them. Seeing them suddenly appearing accompanied by Su Pingcuo, he was overjoyed and jumped up and down, "Haha, third child, fifth child, you Why are you two here?"
"We are here to take you home for the New Year." Chen Liqiu smiled.
"Go home?" Batulu was stunned.
Chen Liqiu heard the conversation between Changsheng and Sasaki before, and knew that it was not suitable to stay here for a long time, so he urged, "Yes, let's go quickly."
"So urgent? The case hasn't been concluded yet." Batulu didn't know that he was on the verge of death.
Changsheng was worried that the Japanese would find the mounts of everyone on his side, so he stretched out his hands and pulled them, "Let's go, we will cut them off later."
"Wait, my magic stick." Batulu turned towards the publican and picked up his iron stick.
Seeing the iron rod, Changsheng remembered that the horses he had prepared were not enough. The Batulu people were tall and powerful, weighing more than three hundred kilograms, and the iron rod also weighed more than three hundred kilograms. One person had one rod, and one horse There simply weren't enough horses.
Seeing Chang Sheng frowning, Chen Liqiu guessed what he was thinking, "I'll help him carry the stick."
Changsheng nodded. Chen Liqiu was very thin, and he was riding a stallion. It was not a big problem to carry a weight of four to five hundred kilograms.
Chang Sheng then confessed a few words to Su Pingcuo, then left the court with the two of them under the suspicious gaze of everyone, found his mount, and returned overnight...
