Troubled times: Start practicing spiritual practice by taking care of your sister-in-law.

Chapter 660: Seven Twenty-Nine: Suing Wei Wang's Disciple "Guo Xian"

Originally, Huang Zhaodi wanted to buy a mule cart to transport people this time. After all, Xiangyang was too far away from Cangzhou and the journey was tiring. However, Dai Ling rejected her idea.

On the way to Xiangyang, they were dressed so "poorly" that they encountered two bandits. If they had taken a mule cart, they would definitely be regarded as "fat sheep" and would be too conspicuous. For safety reasons, they decided to keep a low profile.

Huang Zhaodi was so sad that she didn't think much. When she heard Dai Ling's words, she nodded and said pessimistically: "When will this world end?"

"It should not be far away. This time in Xiangyang, I have also gained a lot of knowledge. This imperial examination is for the King of Wei to select officials for the court and send them to various states to take office to maintain the stability of local people's livelihood. After this palace examination is over, with these people taking office, the public security in various places should be much better."

On the way to Xiangyang, Dai Ling also discovered one thing, that is, the official post station in the north that had been discontinued has begun to be repaired and operated, and has now reached Gaozhou.

Once all these post stations are repaired and restored, the safety on the road should be much better.

As the two chatted, they got further and further away from Xiangyang City.

The further north they went, the fewer people there were on the official road, until there was no one else in sight except Dai Ling and the other three.

Although the public security in the four states was much better than in other places and there were no robberies, the world was still not peaceful after all. There were not many people walking around, and apart from businessmen and scholars, there were few civilians.

"Uncle Ling, I'm sorry for dragging you down with this matter." Huang Zhaodi looked apologetic.

Dai Ling was busy all the time in moving from Yanzhou to Cangzhou, settling down and changing her surname. She didn't know how much she had paid. But now, all her efforts were in vain. She gave the bag of silver that Dai Ling had received to Dai Ling, but he refused to accept it.

"Zhao Di, this is not your fault. Who knew Dai Tu was so ruthless? Alas, it's also my fault. If I hadn't coveted fame and fortune, I wouldn't have..." Dai Ling's words were filled with regret, and he immediately said, "When we return to Lu'an, let the child change his surname to yours, Zhao Di."

"Yeah." Even if Dai Ling didn't say it, Huang Zhaodi had such a plan.

Soon, the three of them came to a three-way intersection. There was a sign set up by the Xiangyang government at the intersection, indicating the directions of each intersection.

At this moment, a masked figure suddenly jumped out from the forest ahead, holding a short blade, and moved as fast as lightning, heading straight towards Dai Ling and the other two.

His goal was very clear. To kill Dai Ling first, the remaining women and children would be easier to deal with afterwards.

He didn't waste any time talking and just launched a killing move.

When the black shadow suddenly appeared, Dai Ling and the other two were stunned for a moment. It was not until they saw the masked man rushing towards them that Dai Ling began to sweat on his back.

He picked up Dai Feng who was beside him and shouted to Huang Zhaodi to run.

Although Dai Ling's reaction was quick, the masked man approached him just as he took a step.

"clatter"

At this critical moment, a clear and crisp sound was heard on the official road, and then the masked killer felt a pain in his right knee, fell to the ground with a thud, and a stone fell in front of him.

A figure came as fast as the wind and pinned the masked killer down before he could get up.

Soon, two figures came running from behind, grabbed the masked killer, and tore off the black cloth on his face. It was Peng Sier.

The whole process happened so fast that Dai Ling and the other two didn't even know what was happening before it was over.

It turned out that Zuo Gang and his two companions, who were originally just following Peng Si'er, wanted to play the long game and catch the big fish, and were not in a hurry to catch Peng Si'er.

However, when Zuo Gang discovered that Peng Si'er was going to murder the three members of the family, he couldn't help but take action.

He took out the slingshot from his waist and shot it at Peng Si'er's knee.

With Zuo Gang's strength, the crisp sound just now was the sound of Peng Si'er's right kneecap breaking.

"Don't be afraid, girl. We are constables from the Xiangyang County government, and this is our leader." A constable saw Huang Zhaodi's frightened expression and said hurriedly.

"I'm the head of the police station." Zuo Gang put away his slingshot. Seeing that Huang Zhaodi was still a little frightened, he looked at Dai Ling and asked, "Why did this killer want to kill you?"

Dai Ling, who had just put down his child and was still a little scared, was also confused: "Sir, I don't know either. I don't know this person either."

"Why would he kill you if he didn't know you? He wouldn't even let your family go." The remaining constable who hadn't spoken couldn't help but ask.

But he was glared at by Zuo Gang soon, and then he slapped Peng Si'er's face with the handle of the knife and shouted coldly: "Don't scream, Peng Si'er, right? Murder, this crime is not light, even if it is unsuccessful, it is enough to imprison you for more than ten years, not to mention that you have other crimes. Tell me, why did you kill them?"

The Song Dynasty distinguished six situations of murder.

They are murder, intentional killing, fighting killing, manslaughter, playful killing, and negligent homicide.

Murder refers to the act of killing someone with prior intent or the act of attempting to kill someone.

Peng Sier saw Zuo Gang said his name and caught him killing someone. This matter was obviously not a small matter. Thinking of his previous crimes, he felt that his life was over. In a hurry, he could only pull the tiger skin and endure the pain and said: "Why don't you let me go quickly? I am General Zhang's man. Do you know General Zhang? He is the confidant of King Wei. Can you afford to offend him?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zuo Gang and the other two's expressions suddenly changed.

As a constable in the yamen, he had a relatively clear understanding of some of the nobles in the city.

The constable who spoke first was, as per usual, asking about the identities of Dai Ling and the other two.

Dai Ling was about to answer, but when he heard this, he froze.

When Huang Zhaodi learned that the killers were General Zhang's men, she immediately guessed that Dai Tu had sent them to kill them. She could hardly believe it.

His body went limp and he collapsed to the ground. How could Dai Tu be so inhumane?

Xiaofeng is his biological son.

He even spared no effort on his own son.

Huang Zhaodi looked up to the sky and cursed "Mr. Guo", saying that even a tiger doesn't eat its own cubs, let alone humans.

The shrill and miserable cry made Zuo Gang and Peng Sier stunned.

Especially Peng Si'er, he was also shocked.

From what this woman said, is she the woman of General Zhang's son-in-law?
Zuo Gang was confused for a moment. In the beginning, he, like Peng Sier, regarded Dai Ling, Huang Zhaodi and Dai Feng as a family of three. But now it seems that there is another hidden story.

At the same time, Zuo Gang also realized that this matter involved too many things, and if it was not handled properly, he would be in trouble.

However, he did not let Peng Si'er go, because who knows whether what the other party said is true.

This matter was of great importance, so he immediately ordered the two concubines to take all these people to the yamen.

……

When they returned to Xiangyang, it was already afternoon.

The current county magistrate of Xiangyang is named Song and his given name is Qing.

A sixth-grade warrior.

He is considered to be Zuo Lianglun's man.

There is no way, this kind of faction cannot be eliminated.

There is no need to say much about the aristocratic family.

Song Qingqing was promoted by Zuo Lianglun, so naturally he was classified into Zuo Lianglun's faction by people in official circles.

However, to be able to become the county magistrate of Xiangyang, he does have certain abilities. After all, he needs Chen Mo's nod before he can take the position.

So far, I have not been in office for too long, but I have been diligent and conscientious.

He knew that the King of Wei was born in the lower class. Whether it was to "cater to his taste" or something else, Song Qing paid special attention to the lower class people, loved to make decisions for the people, and stood up for the weak, so he was loved by the people. At this moment, he was dealing with a difficult case.

The party involved in the case was King Wei's brother-in-law, Yi Yong.

Yi Yong is the adopted son of Yi Shiyan's father Yi Qianchi from his cousin.

Yi Qianchi has no son, only a daughter, Yi Shiyan. When he just succeeded as the head of the Yi family, there were voices in the family asking Yi Qianchi to take a concubine and have another son, or to adopt a son, so that he could inherit the Yi family's business.

Later, as Chen Mo's power grew, the Yi family also grew stronger, and this voice in the clan became more frequent.

In addition, Yi Qianchi was old, and his daughter would eventually get married, so he agreed to adopt a son, to which Yi Shiyan agreed.

What Yi Yong did was to favor his concubine and kill his wife.

Song Dynasty law stipulated that anyone who took his wife as a concubine would be punished with 100 strokes of the cane.

If a man takes his concubine as his wife while his wife is still alive, he shall be beaten with the stick 90 times and be ordered to change their status so that his wife is still his wife and his concubine is still his concubine.

What Yi Yong did wrong was that he made his wife a concubine and wanted to make her his wife, but his wife disagreed, so he divorced his wife first and then made his concubine his wife.

So his wife was furious and went to the government office to sue Yi Yong.

If it were an ordinary family, this matter would be easy to resolve, but since it involves the King of Wei, more consideration must be given.

Just then, Zuo Gang came over in a hurry.

When Song Qing saw Zuo Gang, he put down the case file in his hand and said, "Didn't you go to keep an eye on Peng Si'er? Why are you back?"

He also attached great importance to this case.

"Sir, this is bad." Zuo Gang quickly recounted what had happened.

Sure enough, Song Qing frowned after hearing this.

Compared to Yi Yong's mere beating with a stick, what Zuo Gang said was much more serious.

He quickly put down what he was doing and interrogated Peng Si'er first.

Seeing that Zuo Gang was really a government official, Peng Sier knew that all the crimes he had committed would lead to his death. In order to buy himself a chance to survive, he could only continue to bring up General Zhang.

Afterwards, Song Qing asked Zuo Gang to bring Dai Ling and the other two for questioning.

Huang Zhaodi was completely disappointed with Dai Tu and finally stopped hiding things for him. She slowly told him everything, even including the fact that she had changed her native place and her son's surname.

Finally, she knelt down in front of Song Qing and said, "I, Huang Zhaodi, kowtow to you, sir. Please help me. I want to sue Guo Xian, who ranked 47th on the imperial examination list. His real name is Dai Tu."

Song Qing's eyelids jumped: "What crime do you want to accuse him of?"

"I want to sue him for abandoning his wife and children, hiding it from the King of Wei, divorcing his wife and remarrying, and... killing his wife and children..." Huang Zhaodi burst into tears, and Dai Feng beside her also sobbed, constantly shouting, "Mother."

Song Qing pretended to shout and said, "Mr. Guo is a disciple of King Wei, how can you accuse him casually? Do you have any evidence?"

Dai Ling immediately stated that he was the witness and that he was the other party's cousin.

Huang Zhaodi also claimed that she was the other party’s first wife, and that the son next to her was the biological child of “Guo Xian”.

Although Huang Zhaodi's experience is sympathetic, investigation requires real evidence, and Peng Si'er's confession cannot prove that "Guo Xian" was the culprit. After all, Peng Si'er himself said that the person who came to find him was wearing a mask, and Peng Si'er found that the other party had only entered Zhang's house, but he didn't know who he was specifically.

Although we can call "Mr. Guo" for a face-to-face confrontation, the other party may also deny it.

If one wants to use Peng Sier to punish "Guo Xian", it is obviously not feasible.

So we need Huang Zhaodi’s real evidence.

"You must have evidence when you sue him in front of me. Otherwise, how can you prove that Mr. Guo and you are married, and that the man next to you is his cousin?" Song Qing said.

Huang Zhaodi immediately claimed that the elders of her family and fellow villagers could all prove her relationship with "Mr. Guo", and said that her hometown was Taoyuan County, Yanzhou.

Moreover, she and "Guo Xian" were married in a formal ceremony, and the marriage certificate was registered at the government office, with "Guo Xian's" handprint on it.

Seeing that the other party was so sure, Song Qing immediately said that he would send yamen runners to Yanzhou to verify it.

After Huang Zhaodi and the others left, Zuo Gang said, "In your opinion, how credible is Huang Zhaodi's confession?"

Song Qing said: "Although she looked sad, she was conscious and clear-headed. From what she said, she also had received some education. Moreover, Guo Xian's status was not ordinary. If she had made a false accusation, it would not be a trivial matter and it would be very easy to be arrested. How could she knowingly commit a crime? This official inferred that she might not have lied to deceive.

However, this matter involves too much, and we need solid evidence. You should take people to Yanzhou immediately, and quickly."

"promise."

But just as Zuo was about to leave, Song Qing became troubled again.

After all, General Zhang has a close relationship with King Wei.

Guo Xian is the other party's son-in-law.

"Well, let's tell the prince about this first and find out what he has to say." Song Qing knew that whether the matter could be investigated further depended on whether the King of Wei would support it.

He asked Zuo Gang to wait for a moment as he was going to the palace to meet the King of Wei.

……

Prince Wei's Mansion.

In the study.

The examination papers for the palace examination had been graded overnight.

After all, there are only more than 300 test papers, and there are many officials to mark them. Even if they are cross-checked, it won’t take much time.

The people below handed the test papers of the top five candidates to Chen Mo, who would decide the top, second and third place candidates from among them.

Chen Mo saw the names of Guo Ning and Sun Cheng.

Chen Mo decided to decide based on grades, which would be fair to other candidates.

The final number one pick was Sun Cheng.

The runner-up is Guo Ning.

The third place winner is Wang Haosheng.

After making the decision, Chen Mo casually asked, "By the way, is Guo Xian on the list?"

The people below answered that in terms of performance, Guo Xian was in the top three.

The implication is that if the prince feels that Guo Xian's ranking is too low, he can promote him up.

How could Chen Mo not hear it? He glared at him immediately, then said softly, "The results will be announced as usual in three days."

"promise."

(End of this chapter)