At the end of the Han Dynasty: a stingy husband from his hometown

Chapter 105 Sentencing
At just the first glance, Zhou Qi felt that something was wrong.

According to common sense, the rapists and murderers should all be men, and the victims should be women.

Even if the raped woman killed the rapist by chance, it should be the female victim who came to sue.

But in front of me was a man holding a lawsuit, as if the victim was going to sue the rapist. This kind of bizarre case was unheard of.

If there was nothing fishy in it, Zhou Qi would never believe it.

He turned to look at the county magistrate Zhu Bao, who had already arrived in the hall, and asked, "What is going on?"

Zhu Bao lowered his head and sighed with a sad look on his face: "It's true that the world is deteriorating and people's hearts are not as old as before. If this matter spreads out, the entire Anfeng County will be humiliated!"

"This case is really hard for me to discuss, and I would like the county magistrate to personally interrogate the person who made the complaint."

Zhou Qi first looked at the man kneeling on the ground holding the lawsuit, and then at the people who were gathering at the door, and suddenly had a very bad premonition in his heart.

When the strong man saw the county magistrate coming out, he immediately knelt down and kowtowed, and shouted loudly: "Niu Er, a grass-roots citizen, was knocked down by Jia when passing by the East Street alley. She ignored the fierce resistance of the grass-roots people, tore their clothes and forced her to Had a relationship with the grassroots."

"Afterwards, the grassroots felt deeply ashamed, so they accidentally beat the woman to death and asked the county magistrate to make the decision for the grassroots!"

A woman raped a man and was beaten to death afterwards. This strange case has never happened before. So after the people learned about it, more and more people gathered at the gate of the county government office.

A thin, pale young man also crowded at the door and watched coldly, wanting to see how the county magistrate would handle this case.

"The county government was burned down last night, and such a strange case happened today. How long can this prestigious county magistrate last?"

The young man looked at Zhou Qi, who was frowning, with a look of anticipation in his eyes.

Zhou Qi's face was extremely gloomy at this time.

He can almost conclude that this is definitely another hole dug by the Zhu and Huang families. If they cannot handle this case well, it will definitely leave a very bad reputation among the people.

He took a deep breath, forced himself to calm down, patted the gavel, and shouted sternly: "Don't make any noise in the courtroom. I won't ask questions, so don't say anything more!"

When Niu Er heard this, he continued to kneel on the ground and did not dare to say any more.

Zhou Qi turned to look at County Lieutenant Huang An and asked, "Has the identity of the deceased been found out?"

Huang An's mouth curved with a hint of ridicule, but on the surface he said very respectfully: "The deceased is the granddaughter of an old official who guarded the household registration documents."

When Zhou Qi heard this, his pupils contracted violently, and strong murderous intent instantly filled his chest.

He never thought that the Zhu and Huang families would be so deranged and crazy. They first used the girl as a threat to force the old man to bear the responsibility of burning the household registration documents, and ordered him to kill himself as an apology.

The old man thought that by abandoning himself, he could save his granddaughter, but he never imagined that the girl would be raped and killed just after his death.

Two lives were lost in one day, and both of them deliberately brought the case to Zhou Qi. This was definitely a demonstration by the Zhu and Huang families to the new county magistrate.

Although Niu Er swore that it was the girl who raped him.

But anyone with a discerning eye can definitely see the fishiness in this case. This is the most difficult part.

Zhou Qi could conclude that since Niu Er dared to complain, the Zhu and Huang families must have made complete preparations and dug a hole for Zhou Qi to jump into.

Zhou Qi suppressed the anger in his heart, and asked Wu Zuo, "Have you ever had an autopsy?"

Wu Zuo hurriedly replied: "The deceased died from a blunt instrument blow. The fatal injury was a wound on the head and back of the brain. There were tear marks on his lower body. He had indeed had sex with someone before his death."

"Apart from this, are there any other wounds on your body?"

Wu Zuo shook his head, "No."

Zhou Qi frowned slightly, obviously not believing what Wu Zuo said. He walked down the hall and pulled up the sleeve of the deceased, but found that there were no signs of struggle on the arm.

"It's not quite right."

If the girl was raped while awake, she would definitely struggle violently, and other scars would definitely appear on her body. In this situation, Zhou Qi is almost certain that the girl should have been stunned first, and then raped.

With this in mind, Zhou Qi immediately had a countermeasure.

If we can find evidence that the girl was stunned, we can restore her innocence.

He got up calmly and returned to his seat, and asked Niu Er: "You said that you were coerced by the deceased to have sex with him, do you have evidence?"

Niu Er pointed to his tattered clothes, and said: "These are the proofs. This woman is so strong that she pushed the grass man to the ground and tore her clothes to pieces."

"In addition, Caomin has witnesses."

Zhou Qi frowned slightly, and shouted: "What witnesses?"

As soon as Zhou Qi finished speaking, a woman emerged from the crowd, knelt down and said: "Hu Niu, a grassroots citizen, lives in the East Street Alley and witnessed the whole process of the matter. It was indeed the woman who forced her to He knocked Niu Er down and had sex with him."

"After the incident was over, Niu Er wept bitterly. Perhaps he felt that his chastity was not guaranteed, so he turned evil and picked up the stick that fell on the ground and beat the woman to death."

Hearing the lawsuit and testimony full of loopholes, although Zhou Qi was angry in his heart, he could only suppress his anger and shouted, "You know, Huniu, what is the crime of perjury in court?"

Huniu heard the words and hurriedly kowtowed: "Every sentence of the grass people is true. If the county magistrate doesn't believe it, the grass people are willing to die to show their ambitions!"

After she finished speaking, Huniu's eyes showed grief and determination, and she suddenly got up and slammed into the top of the pillar next to her.

"boom!"

A dull sound came, and Huniu's brain had burst and she died on the spot.

The government officials standing on both sides just looked at everything with cold eyes and had no intention of stopping Huniu.It was only after Huniu was confirmed to be dead that the government officials pretended to be in a hurry and stepped forward to check.

Zhou Qi didn't expect such an accident, so he stood up in shock and looked at Hu Niu lying in a pool of blood, feeling deeply powerless for the first time.

The ruthlessness of Zhu and Huang's methods completely exceeded Zhou Qi's imagination.

He glanced at Niu Er inadvertently, but saw a bit of sadness in the other person's eyes, and he immediately understood.

"It seems that whether it is Niu Er or the so-called witness Hu Niu, they are just pawns in the hands of Zhu and Huang, and they can be discarded at any time."

"I wanted to check the account books and household registration, but the attic was burned down that night, and the old man who was brought in as a scapegoat committed suicide in public the next morning."

"I want to check the old man's family. His granddaughter was raped and killed that afternoon, and she still has to bear the stigma."

"I just uttered words to scare the witnesses, and Huniu was killed in public."

"If I continue to investigate further, I'm afraid Niu Er won't survive today."

I have to say that the ruthlessness of Zhu and Huang's family really opened Zhou Qi's eyes.

It was also the first time for him to deeply feel how terrifying the tyrants and powers entrenched in the place are, to actually force the common people to take the initiative to die for them.

There is no point in investigating this ridiculous case now.

Even the woman's body cannot be subjected to an autopsy, otherwise not only will there be no results, but the woman's body may also be difficult to preserve.

Just when Zhou Qi was thinking about how to end the case as soon as possible, he heard someone pointing at Zhou Qi and scolded Zhou Qi among the people watching at the gate of the county government: "You don't go to convict the rapist, but force the witness to death, you are really stupid official!"

After that person opened his mouth, it seemed that the anger of the people was ignited in an instant. The people watching at the door seemed not afraid of the government at all, and pointed at Zhou Qi and cursed.

The most outrageous thing is that some people actually said that the county magistrate Zhou Qi had an affair with the dead woman, so he deliberately protected the criminal.

Zhou Qi looked at the performance of those people with cold eyes, and knew that the people who made the noise must be the nurses arranged by Zhu and Huang, so he slapped the gavel suddenly, and shouted to the guards on both sides: "Anyone who dares to shout at the court, Anyone who insults the county magistrate will be arrested and punished twenty times!"

Zhou Qi's voice fell, and the sound of cursing stopped.

Zhou Qi turned to look at Zhu Bao and asked, "What does the county magistrate think of this case?"

Zhu Bao said in a deep voice: "Since the witnesses and material evidence are complete, the county magistrate only needs to handle it impartially. Niu Er can be acquitted of killing in self-defense, and the woman will be stripped naked for three days for rape."

Speaking of this, Zhu Bao showed an unconcealable smile in his eyes.

He wanted to see how the famous county magistrate would react.

If the other party did not pronounce the sentence like this, Zhu Bao would continue to force Zhou Qi to live in peace and order one life after another.

If Zhou Qi pronounced the sentence in this way, it would be equivalent to giving in.

There is something wrong with this case. Everyone can see it. It is Niu Er who calls a deer a horse. If Zhou Qi finds Niu Er not guilty and strips the woman naked and exposes her body, his reputation will be ruined and he will be reviled by others.

Then from now on, as long as Zhou Qi is still in Anfeng, he will no longer be able to fight against the Zhu and Huang families.

The people watching outside the door heard the words of the county magistrate Zhu Bao, and immediately many people whispered and pointed at Zhou Qi.

These people were not stooges invited by Zhu Bao, but common people who gathered here spontaneously.

Zhou Qi heard the words, first took a deep look at the county magistrate, and then looked at the woman lying on the ground, his eyes suddenly became firm.

If this is the case, the poor girl will not only be humiliated during her lifetime, but she will also be humiliated and stigmatized after death.

Even if it was for the girl who was implicated and died, Zhou Qi would never compromise.

He walked up to Hu Niu's body and said, "The witness just finished his testimony, and the veracity of the testimony has not yet been confirmed, but he has already hit the post and died. This matter is quite strange, and it seems that he was forced by others."

"This dynasty governs the country with benevolence and righteousness, and pays attention to never doubting the crime. Since the witness is dead, it is difficult to distinguish the authenticity of the testimony, so the words of Huniu will not be accepted by the church for the time being."

After finishing speaking, Zhou Qi walked to Niu Er again, looked down at the plaintiff, and asked: "Your complaint mainly contains two demands. The first is to accuse the Jia woman of raping you, and the second is to accuse the Jia woman of raping you." He claimed that he killed the Jia woman in self-defense."

"I want to ask you, do you admit that you killed Jia's daughter?"

Niu Er hurriedly said: "Caomin killed her in self-defense."

Niu Er specifically emphasized the word "self-defense".

Zhou Qi first looked around at the people in the hall, and then shouted to the more and more people gathered outside the door: "Since Niu Er has confessed, the rape and murder case can be closed."

"This officer pronounces the verdict: Niu Er is guilty of rape and murder. He will be punished for both crimes and sentenced to death."

"Niu Er's accusation of rape against Jia is not established!"

When this statement fell, the whole hall was shocked, and many people who came to watch spontaneously applauded secretly.

The sickly young man's eyes were getting brighter and brighter, but his face was a bit worried.

(End of this chapter)