Concubine

Chapter 160 Chronic Poisoning

When Song Tongzhi heard this, he asked in surprise, "How did you see it?"

Yang Qiuchi pointed to the high beams: "Two years ago, this little maid was only 12 years old, do you think it was possible for her to hold such a heavy corpse, step on the stool, and then hang the corpse on it? "

Because people are very heavy and weak when they just die, although Guo’s weight is relatively light, it still takes a certain amount of physical strength to step on a stool while holding a limp corpse and then hang the corpse into a noose, like Zhichun. It is obviously impossible for an ordinary 12-year-old girl to complete (except for a martial arts master like Song Yuner).

Both Song Tongzhi and Song Yuner suddenly realized and nodded in agreement.

Song Yun'er thought for a while and asked again: "Then, could this Zhichun be an internal response, letting people in and letting others kill them?"

Yang Qiuchi looked at Song Yuner approvingly, and nodded: "It's entirely possible, that also shows that Zhichun is just an accomplice and helper, and the real culprit is someone else. However," Yang Qiuchi thought for a while, "There is another kind of crime. Probably, it was Zhichun and the nanny who conspired to murder. Otherwise, it is inevitable that the nanny would not have heard the noise."

Song Tongzhi also interjected: "For example, what if the nanny is fascinated? Then she won't know."

Yang Qiuchi nodded again: "This possibility is very high. Just now the servant girl Zhichun also said that the nanny was asleep at the time, and she didn't hear the child crying. Under normal circumstances, the nanny would not be like this. So, we Let's make a judgment after interrogating the nanny, Mrs. Lu."

Speaking of this, Yang Qiuchi knew Song Tong: "Uncle, this Lu family will be judged by you."

"This~!" Song Tongzhi hesitated, "To be honest, my nephew, I used to be quite confident in handling cases, since, since I saw that you solved the case like a god, I, I dare not ask questions. I'm afraid of making mistakes. Still, you should come to the trial."

Yang Qiuchi smiled slightly: "Uncle is too modest. You have been trying cases for so many years, and you eat more salt than I eat rice. You have rich experience. How can my nephew compare with it."

With a few words of flattery, Song Tongzhi was photographed like he was floating in the clouds, which was very useful.

Yang Qiuchi continued: "My nephew suspects that this nanny is the real murderer, and my nephew thinks that this nanny will play tricks and refuse to confess. Uncle, you are the best way to deal with such troublemakers. You come to interrogate yourself, and even more so." grasp."

Another few words of flattery made Song Tongzhi nod repeatedly, and said with a smile: "Since that's the case, I, I'll take a look."

The reason why Yang Qiuchi wants Song Tongzhi to interrogate is because there are only two suspects in this case, and the maid Zhichun is unlikely to be the murderer, so the nurse Lu's suspicion is very strong.But I didn't have any evidence to prove that Mrs. Lu had committed a crime, so I just came to this conclusion by the method of exclusion.He suggested that Song Tongzhi try it himself, just to see if he could make a breakthrough with the presumption of guilt, which was legal in the Ming Dynasty anyway.

At this time, the nanny was brought in, and Gudong knelt down and kowtowed.

"The name of the criminal woman!" Song Tongzhi's first sentence was defined as "the criminal woman", which shows that the presumption of guilt has been deeply ingrained in the minds of Song Tongzhi and other Ming Dynasty officials.

"The woman of the people, Mrs. Lu."

"Tell me what happened that night first, if there is half a lie, beware of flesh and blood suffering!"

"Yes! Women don't dare." Mrs. Lu recounted what happened that night, which was similar to what the little girl Zhichun said.The statements of the two are consistent in several key plots, that is, the doors and windows were locked that night, and there was no one else in the room except the two of them, and there was no sign of outsiders sneaking in.

After Mrs. Lu finished speaking, Song Tongzhi said coldly: "The prisoner Mrs. Lu, how did you strangle your third aunt to death? Tell me the truth!"

The nanny was taken aback, kowtowed quickly and said, "The woman was wronged, I didn't kill the third aunt."

"Nonsense!" Song Tongzhi yelled, "You and the little girl Zhichun are the only ones in the room. Zhichun was only 12 years old at the time. There is absolutely no way to carry the corpse up and hang it on the rope."

Song Tong knew that this was learning and selling. He looked at Lu's strong body and said, "You are a peasant woman. This kind of rough work is not difficult for you. Who are you?" The latter words are his own understanding. .It seems that this Song Tongzhi is not only good at making random judgments, but pays attention to observation and analysis.

Mrs. Lu was even more frightened, and said: "The women are wronged, Zhichun was with Third Aunt that night, and I took the young master to bed very early. I don't know what happened. I slept very hard that night. It wasn't until dawn that Zhichun woke me up."

"It's nonsense! It's clear that you took advantage of the little maid Zhichun's sleep, strangled the sleeping third aunt to death, and then hung her in a disguise to hang herself."

"I didn't, my lord, I was wronged."

"Wronged? There are only two of you in the room, either she or you! You say you are wronged, if you can produce evidence to prove that you are wronged, I will let you go."

Where could Lu get it out, he just said: "I fell asleep at that time, I really don't know anything."

"You still dare to deny it, come here, pull me out and give me another [-] slaps!" Song Tongzhi shouted.

Originally, female prisoners should be punished with slaps according to the law, but now there is no such thing, so they can only be beaten with a board.

Yang Qiuchi didn't stop him, because he didn't have a better way. Besides, Song Tongzhi was trying the case now, and he agreed to use his own way.Moreover, Song Tongzhi's analysis is also very reasonable, there are only the two of them in the room, either she or you, if you don't plead guilty, of course you can be punished according to the law of Ming Dynasty.

The three guards dragged Mrs. Lu to the corridor, found a bench, pressed Mrs. Lu on the bench, and beat him hard until Mrs. Lu screamed repeatedly.

After the thirty big boards were beaten, Mrs. Lu was carried in and thrown on the ground.

Song Tongzhi asked: "Mr. Lu, should we recruit now?"

Lu was sweating from the pain, his thighs were dripping with blood, he gasped and said, "My lord, the women are really wronged."

"Bold and unreasonable, do you think you are strong enough to withstand my board? Come on, hold me down and hit another thirty!"

The guards carried Mrs. Lu out for another [-] slaps, and then brought her in again.

After the sixty boards were hit, Lu almost passed out.But still no move.

Song Tongzhi wanted to torture him again, but Yang Qiuchi waved his hand to stop him.I thought that if I fought again, I would be tortured into a trick.Could it be that Lu or Zhichun didn't do it?Who are they?It couldn't be the three-year-old Shan'er who did it.

Yang Qiuchi felt that his head was getting big. This kind of trouble in the old case was here. Time had changed and there were no clues.Although there were only two suspects in this case, it was unexpectedly difficult.

Song Tong knew why Yang Qiuchi wanted to stop him from using torture, and asked, "Nephew,..."

Yang Qiuchi said: "It's noon, let's eat first."

Song Yun'er also interjected: "Yes, Dad, first let the Lu family eat something, besides, she still has to take care of Shan'er. If you break her, what will Shan'er do?"

Yang Qiuchi thought to himself, it's too late for you now, it's amazing that she can still take care of the children after the [-]th board is hit.

Sure enough, Mrs. Lu couldn't even stand up, so Song Tongzhi had no choice but to order the other servants to carry her down so that she could be kept in custody. She is now the main suspect and nothing can go wrong.

During the meal, Mrs. Yang was by the side. There was a murder case at home. He was both the perpetrator and the suspect. His dual identities made Mrs. Yang very embarrassed.

Yang Qiuchi repeatedly comforted Mrs. Yang, saying that the scope of this case is very small, and it will be solved quickly, even without delaying the Chinese New Year.Only then did Old Master Yang feel a little relieved.

He is relieved, but Yang Qiuchi's heart is still heavy. Both Zhichun and Lu's suspects pleaded not guilty. Zhichun's physical factors ruled out the possibility of her committing the crime, and there is no evidence to prove that she opened the door to let others in to carry out the crime. He committed a crime, and the Lu family refused to plead guilty even after using the severe punishment. The case has reached an impasse, so how can he be relieved.

Song Yun'er was still thinking about Shan'er, and after asking the servants, she found out that Housekeeper Pang had arranged for a servant girl Zhichun to take care of Shan'er temporarily.But Song Yuner was still worried, she wanted to go and see for herself.

Yang Qiuchi thinks that Song Yuner is really kind to children. It seems that motherhood is shared by all women, whether it is a martial arts heroine or an ordinary peasant woman.

Seeing that Yang Qiuchi was unhappy, Song Yuner took Yang Qiuchi to see the children to relax.

Yang Qiuchi was going to see Mrs. Yang's son, so of course Mrs. Yang would accompany him.Song Tongzhi had nothing to do with him, so he accompanied him to Zhichun's room to watch the children.

When they came to Zhichun's room, Zhichun was feeding Shan'er porridge.

On the day Yang Qiuchi first arrived, he had seen Shan'er in the living room, but that day Shan'er was wrapped in a thick quilt by the nanny Lu's, so he couldn't see clearly.

This Shan'er is already two years old. According to reason, the living conditions of a rich family like Old Master Yang are quite good, but this Shan'er's face is yellow and thin, and the yellow hair on his head is like corn ears. It is sparse and withered and dry, with a little color nothing.His face was yellowish with black, his appetite was obviously bad, and he vomited a lot after eating half a bowl.Crying all the time, no matter what I can't persuade.

Song Yun'er picked up Shan'er, made funny faces for him to tease him, Shan'er stopped crying, and stretched out her little hand to grab Song Yuner's nose, Song Yuner grabbed his little hand, feeling that his little hand was thin, like a stick of dry wood.

Seeing this scene, Song Yun'er became furious, grabbed Shan'er's little hand, and asked Old Mrs. Yang angrily: "Is this how you take care of the children? Take a look!" Yang Qiuchi and the others went up to have a look, and ate again Surprised, I saw that Shan'er's small hands were rougher than the old man's, and there were many small red spots in the rash.

Old Mr. Yang suspected that the child was not his own son because the third aunt was too nympho. Since then, he has ignored the child, so he didn't pay much attention to the child's situation.

Now after Song Yuner asked such a question, Old Master Yang looked at Shan'er carefully, and asked in surprise: "Why is he so thin? What's going on?"

Butler Pang said quickly, "Reporting to the master, the young master has been so weak and sick since he was born. I asked many doctors to look at it, but they didn't like it."

"Useless trash!" Old Mrs. Yang scolded.

Yang Qiuchi kept frowning and looked at Shan'er, and then said: "Let me see." After finishing speaking, he took Shan'er from Song Yun'er's arms solemnly.

Song Yuner was overjoyed: "Brother, you still see a doctor? How come I don't know."

Yang Qiuchi didn't answer, he walked to the bed with Shan'er in his arms, put Shan'er on the edge of the bed, took off Shan'er's little shoes, and lifted up his little feet to see that they were as rough as little hands, like barefoot migrant workers It seems to be covered with calluses.

Song Yuner was furious, and asked Butler Pang, "What's the matter? Look at this kid, do you let him run barefoot on the rocky ground every day?"

"No!" Steward Pang, who had never paid attention to the child's feet, became anxious, knelt down and touched Shan'er's little feet, and said in fear, "I saw that the nanny Lu took care of the young master very well, she was very careful. Yes, I thought the young master was just weak and sick, but I didn't expect... I'll go and grab this poisonous woman, Mrs. Lu, and I'll find out after a question!"

"Don't ask!" Yang Qiuchi waved his hand, "I know what's going on."

Steward Pang and the others looked at Yang Qiuchi suspiciously.

Yang Qiuchi touched the child's little feet and said heavily: "Shan'er is probably poisoned! If this continues, he won't live until next summer!"

Old Mrs. Yang and the others were stunned.Butler Pang asked anxiously: "Young Master Yang, is our young master really poisoned? How do you know?" Mrs. Yang, Song Tongzhi, Song Yuner and the maid Zhichun all looked at Yang Qiuchi nervously, waiting for his answer.

Yang Qiuchi said: "Although I'm not sure yet, I'm not far from it." Yang Qiuchi showed Shan'er's small hands and feet to everyone, then touched the child's arms and face, and said: "You Have you ever seen a three-year-old with such rough skin? It's called hyperkeratosis."

Pointing to the yellow hair on Shan'er's head again: "Look at Shan'er's hair falling out and turning yellow, his face is yellow and thin, yellowish with black, if I guess correctly, Shan'er's skin is also yellow with black." After all, he untied Shan'er's little clothes and took a look. Sure enough, Shan'er's skinny body was yellow with black in the middle.

Yang Qiuchi knew in his heart that it was skin pigmentation, but he couldn't tell them about it.

Yang Qiuchi asked the girl Zhichun again: "Does Shan'er vomit after eating? Does she often have diarrhea?"

The servant girl Zhichun nodded: "That's right, the medicine prescribed by the doctor to stop diarrhea and vomiting doesn't work."

"Of course it doesn't work," Yang Qiuchi said, "Shan'er is chronically poisoned. If the source of the poison is not cut off, he will have diarrhea and vomiting until he dies!"

This kind of chronic poisoning can easily be misdiagnosed as related digestive tract diseases or skin diseases, and it is not uncommon for ordinary doctors to not be able to judge it.

Song Yun'er said bitterly: "It's really heartless! Brother, what kind of poison is in Shan'er?"

"Arsenic is probably added to Shan'er's food. Add a little bit every day to let Shan'er be poisoned slowly, accumulate more and more, and eventually die of poison."

"It's really vicious! Who is this person?" Song Yun'er's eyes shot fire, she turned around and grabbed Zhichun, the servant girl, "Is it you?"

The little servant girl was so frightened that she went limp, she trembled all over and shouted: "No, no, it's not me, how could I do such a murderous thing. No."

"It's not you, who is that?" Song Yuner stared at the maid Zhichun, "Could it be the nanny Lu?"

Yang Qiuchi continued: "Very likely, only she has the opportunity to keep poisoning without being noticed every day. If I guess correctly, there should be arsenic hidden in her residence. She is If you are caught suddenly, there should be no time to destroy the evidence."

Old Mrs. Yang said angrily: "This wicked woman, I want to tear her corpse into ten thousand pieces! Go, search her room!" Although it is still not sure whether Shan'er is his child, but using this method to deal with a child, anyone No one with a conscience can bear it.

A group of people came to the nurse Lu's room, rummaged through the box and began to search.

The furnishings of this room are very simple. Finally, Song Yun'er found a secret compartment beside Lu's bed, and found some silver ingots and a small bag of white powder with reddish inside.

The few ingots of silver that were found are even more telling. The silver ingots are about five or sixty taels. The nanny Lu is a rural peasant woman. So much money?It must be the benefit given by the envoy.

Song Tongzhi ordered the nanny, Mrs. Lu, to be escorted into this room. Mrs. Lu limped into the room, and when she saw the quilt at the head of the bed was lifted, the hidden compartment was exposed, and the bag of powder and some silver ingots were placed beside her, and she immediately collapsed. on the ground.

Song Tongzhi said in a cold voice: "Master Lu, if you get all the stolen goods, if you don't confess, do you want to use severe punishment?"

Lu's face turned pale, and he said tremblingly: "My lord, please forgive me, I did it, I poisoned the young master, my lord, the old man, please forgive me."

Old Mrs. Yang was so angry that his beard was shaking: "You, you beast with a human face and a heart~!" He kept asking Steward Pang to use family law to beat the poisonous woman to death.
Butler Pang was so angry that his eyes were red, and he shouted: "Master, don't bother, just let me strangle this thief woman to death!"

Song Tongzhi shouted: "Wait a minute! This, this Mrs. Lu is a nanny, there is no reason to poison the young master. If you poison the young master to death, you must pay back behind the scenes, and there are people who instigated it. Let's ask clearly."

Yang Qiuchi admired secretly, this Song Tongzhi is really experienced, after all years of judicial practice, he still has some common sense.

Old Master Yang nodded repeatedly, and asked, "You, you still haven't told the truth, who is it, who ordered you?"

Lu shivered and dared not speak.

Old Mrs. Yang kicked it, and it hit Lu's nose, blood flowed out immediately, and two front teeth were also kicked off.

Old Mrs. Yang roared: "Since she won't say anything, hurry up and get the knife. I will kill this vicious woman and avenge my son!" Steward Pang agreed and went to find the knife.

Mrs. Yang is not intimidating. In the Ming Dynasty, according to the "Law of the Ming Dynasty", killing slaves because of their parents is nothing more than "seventy sticks and one and a half years of imprisonment", and they can also be redeemed and exempted. nothing.Therefore, it is common for parents to beat slaves to death.

(To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please visit www.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)
(End of this chapter)