Thirteen deadly sins

Chapter 14 Serial Killing
0
"At three o'clock tonight, Mei Ruofeng will die in Minghuang Temple on Jiangjun Mountain."

This sentence is written on a piece of paper two fingers wide.

The note was nailed to a small table in the criminal room of the county government with a gleaming dagger.

Sitting at the small table were two people, both wearing flat-topped scarves, soap-colored collared shirts, and long swords hanging from their waists, dressed as official servants.

On the left is a slightly older man with thick eyebrows, big eyes and a mighty appearance. His surname is Sima again, and his single name has the word hate.

The man on the right is about twenty years old, with a handsome face and a heroic expression. He is Sima Hen's right-hand man and head catcher Wu Guo.

The two of them stared at the murderous note on the table, their brows were knotted, their faces sank like water, and they were speechless for a long time.

As soon as the two of them arrived at the criminal room of the county government this morning, this strange note was already waiting for them here. No one knew who did it, and no one knew when this note was nailed here of.

What they saw was just a piece of paper, a dagger, and a line of writing that was as cold and murderous as a dagger.

The two of them sat there with dignified faces, staring at the note closely, as if they were trying to find clues between the lines to find the perpetrator who claimed his life.

But no, two pairs of eyes stared at the note for a long time, the note was still a note, the words were still words, there was not even a clue.

The two looked at each other speechlessly, but there was a shadow in their eyes.

Soon, there was the sound of chaotic footsteps at the door, and the police and tolerance officers in the criminal room all came to the morning shift in twos and threes.

In order not to disturb the news, Sima Hen pulled out his dagger and held the mysterious note in his palm.

Wu Guo glanced at him, and asked worriedly: "Chief arrester, do you think you want to tell Lord Mei about this?"

The "Lord Mei" he mentioned is the county magistrate of Xiulin County, and also the Mei Ruofeng mentioned in the death note.

Mei Ruofeng, a native of Qingzhou, Shandong, is now in his forties. He entered the Imperial College of the Imperial Academy at the age of 32. Because of his hard work and excellent grades, he was recommended by the Ministry of Officials ten years ago as an official, and was awarded the county magistrate of Xiulin, Huguang, with a rank of seven.On the way to his post, his original partner, Li Shi, unfortunately fell ill and died, leaving behind his ten-year-old daughter, Nuxue, to depend on her.It wasn't until more than two years ago, after Mei Nuxue married Sima Hen, that he remarried and married Miss Xiangrong, a Hua Dan Hua family who was born in an opera troupe, as his second wife.He has been an official for ten years and served three terms, and has always had a good reputation. It is said that he is expected to be promoted recently.Unexpectedly, at this time, someone threw a knife and left the card, threatening to take his life.

Sima Hen listened to Wu Guo's words, frowned and thought for a moment, "Forget it, Master Mei is going to worship his father at the Minghuang Temple in Jiangjunshan tonight. It won't help, but it will make him worry. Let's just take this matter to heart. Tonight, let's bring in more people, cheer up, and take care of your lord in the dark. Let's see who ate the leopard's gall and actually Dare to threaten the court order so blatantly."

Wu Guo nodded and said, "That makes sense, you're the son-in-law who is more considerate."

It turned out that Mei Ruofeng's father, Mei Shouke, was a Confucian in Qingzhou. He had read books all his life, and later came to Xiulin County with his son. Afterwards, Mei Ruofeng obeyed his father's last words and placed his coffin in the temple without burying it.There used to be an old monk who looked after the coffin and cleaned the dust in the temple. A few years ago, the old monk also died, and there was no one alive in the temple.

Piansheng Meizhi County is also a filial son. Not only must there be a kneeling ceremony at home every year on his father's memorial day, but also every three years, there must be a big sacrifice.

The so-called big sacrifice does not mean how big the pomp is, but that Mei Ruofeng is wearing filial piety clothes, alone, holding incense, candles, paper money, water and wine sacrifices, kneels down the mountain five steps, kneels down ten steps and kowtows, and worships in the temple on the mountainside. The solitary lamp was only a shadow, and stayed with his father for one night in front of his coffin to show his filial piety.

And today is the ninth day of March, which is the third day of the great sacrifice after Mei Shouke's death. It seems that the person who threw the knife and left a message knows this well, otherwise the "General Mountain" would not have appeared on the note. Minghuang Temple" is such an exact word.

Now that the opponent had indicated the location and time of the attack, it would be much easier for Sima Hen to defend with a target.

It's just that the other party was so blatant and confident, he didn't pay attention to the criminal room and others at all, which surprised Sima and Wu Guo.

What is the background of the other party?What are your intentions?

Is this death note a bluff threat, or a show off before the murder?

Will the other party really come tonight?
1
A few miles away from the north gate of Xiulin County, there is a Chunling River, and there is a Jiangjun Mountain beside the river.

On the side of the mountain facing the river, there is a steep cliff, while on the south side, the mountain is relatively gentle. There is a flat land on the mountainside, and a temple is built on it, which is the Minghuang Temple.

Minghuang Temple, originally called Minghuang Temple, according to legend, at the beginning of the founding of this dynasty, Emperor Taizu had a great battle with Han Wang Chen Youliang in Xiulin County. In this small temple on the mountain.General Xu Da, who was fighting in Daozhou at that time, heard the news and led his troops to rescue him, but was blocked by the enemy at the foot of the mountain.The two sides confronted each other for more than ten days, and Chen Youliang's army finally broke into the temple, but found that there was no one there except for a clay sculpture of a golden Bodhisattva, and the great grandfather had long since disappeared.The generals of the king of the Han Dynasty were shocked, only saying that the great grandfather had the help of the gods, so he was able to escape from the sky without a sound, and they all bowed down and worshiped the Bodhisattva.After Emperor Taizu came to the throne, the local people called this temple Minghuang Temple, and the incense in the temple was very popular for a while.Unexpectedly, the name of this temple violated the taboo of Emperor Taizu, who was originally a monk. In a rage, Taizu Longyan killed all the monks in the temple, and decreed to change "Minghuang Temple" to "Minghuang Temple". God's Temple".

Today, over the years, the lintel of the temple has been damaged, the plaques are mottled, and it is beyond recognition. However, if you look carefully, it is not difficult to find that the radical "阝" of the word "Huang" in the three characters of "Minghuang Temple" is slightly different from other strokes. It was added hastily later.

On this day, just in the afternoon, the weather was not good, and it started to rain.

Before the application time came, Sima Hen, the chief arrester of the county yamen, had already deployed his manpower. The advance man searched carefully in front of and behind the mountain. After confirming that no one was hiding on the mountain, he divided more than 30 arresters into ten groups. Braving the wind and rain, guarding all the small roads up the mountain, except for the county magistrate, other idlers, etc., are not allowed to pass.This is the first line of defense.

They also ambushed forty archers in the bushes on both sides of the only road leading to the temple gate on the mountainside at the foot of the mountain. Whenever there was a turmoil, they would immediately serve with bows and arrows.This is the second line of defense.

The third line of defense, and also the last line of defense, are two trees opposite the Minghuang Temple, two old pine trees that reach into the sky and canopy like umbrellas.Of course pine trees cannot defend against enemies, but people hiding in trees can.And Sima Hen and Wu Guo hid themselves on the two big trees respectively.

The tree is tall and straight, with luxuriant branches and leaves. Hiding on it, not only can it not get out of the rain, but it can just see the roof, doors and windows of Minghuang Temple.Anyone who wants to enter the temple cannot escape their surveillance.

With such a tight defense of the three lines of defense, even if a bird wants to fly into the temple without being discovered, it is very difficult.

Of course, in order not to worry the magistrate, all these protective measures were carried out in secret.

Because of the rain, it seemed to be getting dark earlier than usual.

Fortunately, Sima Hen and Wu Guo are both people with superb martial arts and eyesight. It is not difficult to see things in the dark.

The two perched on the tree and waited quietly.

As night fell, the rain became heavier and heavier, and the thunder became more and more dense.

At this moment, Sima Hen and Wu Guo noticed a man in a long gown and carrying a bamboo bucket walking slowly down the mountain.The two men immediately became alert and took a closer look, only to see that the man did not open an umbrella or wear a cape, facing the strong wind and heavy rain, he knelt down after walking five steps up the mountain, kowtowed after ten steps, and went. It was extremely difficult and slow, but when kneeling and kowtowing, it was meticulous and extremely serious.The lightning flashed, and the man's face could be clearly seen, but it was Mei Ruofeng, the county magistrate.

When the two met, they looked at each other, secretly admiring Mrs. Mei's filial piety.

The distance from the foot of the mountain to the middle of the mountain is not too long, but Mei Ruofeng has worked asceticly for more than an hour before arriving in front of the Deming God Temple.

He stood at the door, straightened his gown with his hands, then gently opened the temple door and walked in.

Immediately, the window of the wing room on the right side of the main hall was lit up, and a candle was already lit, and the candlelight just reflected his figure on the window.

After entering the house, he first put down the bamboo bucket in his hand, took out the dry clothes and changed into it, then took out the dust whisk and wiped off the dust on his father's coffin one by one, then set up the sacrifices, lit the incense candles, and knelt down to offer sacrifices. bye.

Although the big pine tree where Sima Hen and Wu Guo were hiding was more than [-] zhang away from the temple gate, through the shadow of the candlelight on the window, they could still get a general idea of ​​Mei Ruofeng's situation inside the house.

While watching the candle shadows in front of the window, the two of them looked at the six directions, paying attention to their vigilance, not daring to be careless at all.

I saw that Mei Ruofeng walked around her father's coffin after paying homage, stood for a while, and then sat down slowly. Sitting in front of the coffin, one hand was still stroking the coffin lid, as if she wanted to uncover the coffin. The conversation between Guy and his father was average.

The candlelight projection clearly reflected his figure on the window.

The figure was motionless, sitting extremely upright.It seemed that he was going to sit in front of the soul and accompany his father's soul overnight.

It has been nearly ten years since Mr. Mei passed away, yet he still retains this kind of filial piety, which is extremely rare.

Outside the temple, there were thunder and lightning, and the wind and rain were rushing.After the lightning, the surrounding fields were filled with darkness, only the rustling sound of the rain hitting the leaves made people feel flustered.

Sima Hen sat on the tree, looked back down the mountain, saw a few lanterns moving back and forth at the foot of the mountain, it was the sentry sent by him to guard the intersection, if something happened, the mountain would immediately give an alert.

Only then did he feel relieved, took out an iron jug from his bosom, opened it and took a sip, then threw the jug to Wu Guo, smacked his lips and said, "It's so windy, drink some wine to warm you up." Just warm up."

Wu Guo stretched out his hand to catch it, and said: "The weather is terrible. If I were the murderer, I would hide under the blanket tonight." After speaking, he took a sip of the wine and threw the jug back to him.

While drinking, Sima Hen said, "It's best if he doesn't come, but if he really wants to come, we won't be afraid of him."

With a smile, he threw the flagon over again.

Wu Guo took a big gulp of the strong wine, the feeling of alcohol welled up, his whole body warmed up, he suddenly felt proud, he laughed and said: "I think that guy better come here, otherwise our night's cold will be nothing. In vain."

Sima Hen couldn't help laughing and said: "That's true." The laughter didn't stop, and he suddenly remembered that he was a secret whistle. If someone really went up the mountain to try to harm the adults, his hiding place would be early. Just let people find out.

Thinking of this, he immediately shut up and kept his mouth shut, observing carefully and being on guard, while having a dull drink with Wu Guo.

A wrought-iron jug passed between the two of them, and before they knew it, it had bottomed out.

Wu Guo was still addicted to alcohol, and was about to ask him if he still had any more, when he suddenly heard the faint sounds of "Du, Dang, Dangdang" from the city below the mountain, but it was already the third watch.

Sima Hen's expression turned serious, and he said in a low voice, "The time has come, be more careful, don't let the murderer take advantage of your loopholes."

Hearing this, Wu Guo's heart trembled, he hurriedly raised his head and looked inside the temple, only to see Master Mei's sitting posture was still reflected in front of the window, the candlelight was flickering, and the figure was swaying lightly, there was nothing unusual, so he was relieved.Looking up at the sky, I only hope that God will stop the rain soon, and the sky will dawn soon, so that I can do business sooner.

But the sky was still dark, and instead of stopping the rain, it was pouring down.

Although the two of them hid in the tree, it was hard to get rain, but when the cold wind blew, they shivered all over, and the chilly feeling was not very pleasant.

All of a sudden, there was a thunderclap in the sky, and the lightning pierced through the clouds like a sharp sword.

At this moment, Sima Hen suddenly groaned, fell straight from the pine tree, fell to the ground, rolled a long way, and lay in the muddy water without moving.

Wu Guo's surprise was really serious, he didn't care to go down the tree to save people, he immediately shouted: "Who is it?"I was even more shocked, the opponent succeeded in one blow, and retreated completely without a trace, obviously he was a master.

As soon as he pressed the trigger, the long sword came out of its sheath with a clang, and he shouted again: "Since your Excellency is here, why bother to hide your head and tail?"

While speaking out to spy, while looking around intently, looking for the enemy's trace.

Just when he turned his head to look at the dark forest behind him, there was a thud on the back of his head, and he had already been hit by a heavy palm.

He swayed, and with a cry, the long sword let go, and he fell down the tree, and rolled a long way down the hillside, just now he was blocked by a big rock, and was about to struggle to get up, only to feel the cold rain on his head, his headache was about to split, and his body He leaned back and passed out.

2
It is not so much that Wu Guo was awakened by the heavy rain, it is better to say that he was awakened by the cold wind, and he did not know how long he had been in a coma. His whole body was shaken, and he woke up suddenly, opened his eyes, the sky was still dark, and the rain was still falling. Still falling, he was still lying beside the rock, his head was still hurting, his body was as cold as a piece of ice, and his clothes had already been soaked several times inside and out.

He shivered involuntarily, turned over in the muddy water, struggled to get up, but turned around and found that the chief arrester, Sima Hen, was still lying in the wind and rain not far away.

He called "Chief arrester" twice, but there was no response, and he couldn't help being shocked: Could it be that the chief arrester has been murdered by criminals?
He hurriedly staggered closer, stretched out his hand to touch him, only felt that his body was still hot, the innermost clothes were not soaked, and his breathing was smooth, so he was relieved, pressed the Dazhui acupoint on his back with his palm, spit out a gentle internal force, gently Massage twice.

Sima Hen let out a "hum", and finally woke up leisurely.Sitting up, with a dazed look, she looked at him and asked, "Why, what's wrong?"

Wu Guo smiled wryly and said: "We both follow other people's advice, and I was just woken up by the rain."

"Really? You were also knocked out?" Sima Hen's eyes were like lightning, he glanced at him, suddenly thought of something, his face changed, he jumped up from the ground, and said, "How is your lord?"

Wu Guo's heart trembled, and then he remembered tonight's mission, he hurriedly looked up, only to see the magistrate's figure still swaying gently on the window, no different from before.

The two were relieved.

At this moment, I suddenly heard the sound of knocking on the bang from the foot of the mountain. It was already the fourth watch.

Sima Hen shook his body with muddy water, and said: "Unexpectedly, we fell asleep almost a night after this."

Wu Guo frowned and said: "That guy knocked us down, but he didn't strike at your lord, that's strange."

"I'm afraid there's something wrong with it." Sima Hen stared at the shadow on the window, and said suddenly, "Look, my lord has been sitting in the room for so long, why doesn't he even move?"

Wu Guo followed suit and wondered, "Isn't that shadow moving all the time?"

Sima said bitterly: "It's just that the wind is blowing and the candlelight is moving, so the shadow under the candlelight is also moving, but my lord doesn't seem to be moving."

Wu Guo wiped his eyes and took a closer look, it was indeed so, he couldn't help stamping his feet and said, "No, let's go in and have a look."

He jumped under the pine tree, picked up the fallen long sword, and rushed towards the temple together with Sima Hen.

The temple gate had already been damaged, and it was not tightly closed. Sima Hen took the first step, pushed open the temple gate, and stepped in.

The first thing you enter is the desolate and dilapidated main hall, and then you turn from the main hall to the right wing room. The wing room is not big, and a candle that has almost burned out is burning in the room. The candlelight shines on an old cypress coffin. The middle-aged man in a long gown was facing the door, sitting very upright, but his head was tilted down, his eyes were closed, and his expression was very peaceful, as if he had fallen asleep.This person is Mei Ruofeng, the county magistrate.

Sima Hen and Wu Guo saw nothing different, so they breathed a sigh of relief, they didn't want to disturb your lord's rest, and were about to leave quietly, when Sima Hen suddenly said, "No, your lord's expression seems to be a bit off."

Wu Guo took a look and felt the same, hurriedly called twice: "My lord, my lord."

Mei Ruofeng closed her eyes and lowered her head, as if she hadn't heard it, she didn't respond at all.

The two of them secretly felt something was wrong, they approached him, stretched out their hands to shake him gently, Mei Ruofeng suddenly jumped forward, and the whole person fell down, with a plop, lying on the ground, his body was stiff and silent.

As soon as the person fell to the ground, Sima Hen and Wu Guo were startled and jumped up as if they saw a ghost.

It turned out that a dagger had been inserted into Mei Ruofeng's back at some point. There was a bloody hole beside the dagger. The hole was not too big and not too deep. Obviously, the murderer missed Mei with the first knife. The fatal part of the adult is the puncture mark left by the drawn out dagger, but the second knife just pierced the heart from the back, which is a fatal blow.The edge of the knife was dark red, with a little blood oozing out.

When he touched Mei Ruofeng's body, the tentacles were cold, his breath was gone, and he had been out of breath for a long time.

Sima Hen and Wu Guo looked at each other, they were already stunned, after a long while, Sima Hen came back to his senses, with a look of fear and anger on his face, he said in a trembling voice, "Stay here and watch the scene, I will Go after the murderer."

Before the words were finished, the person had smashed open the window lattice, leaped out, looked around, and suddenly ran westward.At the same time, he raised his left hand, and a blue smoke rose into the sky, shot into the air, and suddenly exploded with a bang, igniting a ball of blue fireworks, which lasted for a long time.

This is the signal for the criminal room to urgently call in manpower. When the police officers guarding various places down the mountain see the smoke, they will know that there is a change in their feelings, and they will rush up the mountain immediately.

Before the blue light went out, Sima Hen had already braved the wind and rain and chased several miles westward.

Wu Guo stayed in the temple and searched carefully, but he didn't see any trace left by the murderer.Just as he was secretly wondering, he suddenly heard the noise of people at the gate of the temple. Dozens of policemen from the mountain had already rushed in. When they saw the magistrate stabbed a dagger in his back and died suddenly on the spot, they couldn't help being stunned, and everyone's expression changed terribly.

Wu Guo asked: "You guard the foot of the mountain, have you ever found any suspicious person going up the mountain?"

The arresters shook their heads one after another, saying: "We have been guarding the only way to go up the mountain, not to mention people, not even a mouse came up the mountain, let alone anyone going down the mountain."

Wu Guo couldn't help frowning and said: "This is strange. Just after the third watch, the chief catcher and I were attacked almost at the same time, and we were unconscious for nearly a second. After waking up, my lord has already encountered an accident. Since no one went up the mountain, Where did the murderer come from?"

A police officer said: "Could it be that the murderer hid in the mountains during the day and sneaked out at night to commit the crime?"

Wu Guo shook his head and said, "It's absolutely impossible. We have already searched the mountains during the day, and even chased away a rabbit, so there is no one hiding."

The catcher rubbed the back of his head quickly and said: "This is strange. No one goes up the mountain, nor goes down the mountain. Could it be that the murderer is just a mouse that crawls around from the ground?"

Wu Guo thought for a while and said, "Don't talk so much nonsense, let's search around again, maybe the murderer hasn't gone far."

Everyone responded, and searched separately inside and outside the temple. They even searched the belly of the Bodhisattva in the main hall and Mr. Mei's coffin carefully. No trace of the murderer was seen anywhere.

A while later, Sima Hen rushed back to the temple panting, his face and body were covered with water droplets, and he couldn't tell whether it was rain or sweat.Wu Guo quickly went up to meet him and asked, "How is it? Have you ever seen the murderer?"

Sima Hen glanced at him, wiped the drops of water off his face, frowned and shook his head, and said, "I chased ten miles to the east, south, and west, but there was no one at all. I also looked at the cliff facing the river in the north, and there was nothing unusual The murderer came in a strange way, and went in a strange way." After speaking, he looked at him again, and his eyes were a little strange.

Wu Guo sighed and asked, "Then what should we do now?"

Sima Hen looked at his father-in-law who had died on the ground, his face twitched, he was extremely sad, he turned around and said: "This is the end, let's take you back to the county office first."

At some point, the rain outside the house had stopped, but the wind was still blowing. After the rain, the wind was even colder, until it reached people's hearts.The policemen tore down a temple door, placed the magistrate's body sideways on the door panel, and carried it out.

Sima Hen quickly issued three orders to the arresters: "First, take your lord back to the county government office, and ask him to do an autopsy; second, notify Mrs. Mei Hua's family, as well as the clumsy Jingmei Nuxue; Wrote the accident into a document and sent it overnight to Master Han Qingshan, the magistrate of Jingzhou Prefecture, asking him to come forward and deal with everything."

All the arresters took notes seriously, nodded together, and one of them looked at him curiously: "Chief arrester, what about you, won't you go back to the county government office with us?"

Sima Hen's eyes were red, he sighed, and said: "I'm not going back for now, I want to search the mountain with Wu Butou, maybe we can find some clues to find the murderer." After speaking, he glanced at Wu Guo.

Wu Guo knew that he didn't want to see the sad scene of his young and beautiful mother-in-law Hua Xiangrong suddenly becoming a widow and his wife Mei Nuxue crying after learning the news of his father's death, so he didn't want to go back for the time being.It's inconvenient to point it out face to face, so I just nodded and said: "Exactly, the head catcher and I want to stay and watch the scene, everyone go back first."

The arresters quickly carried Mei Ruofeng's body and walked down the mountain slowly.

3
When Sima Hen and Wu Guo returned to the county government office, it was dawn and the wind had died down, but the sky was still gloomy, as if the whole sky would collapse at any moment.

The noisy yamen has gradually quieted down.

The two walked straight to the morgue.

In the morgue, there is always a lingering strange smell. Mei Ruofeng's body is parked in the middle of the room. The autopsy has been completed, and the dagger on his back has been pulled out. The body is lying flat on the wooden board, with a pale face. , but his expression was peaceful, as if he had fallen asleep.

There is a woman kneeling on the left side of the corpse, in her twenties, she has already cried like a tearful person, she is Mei Ruofeng's daughter and Sima Hen's wife Mei Nuxue.

Kneeling on the right is a middle-aged beautiful woman, her body is slightly fatter, she is about 30 years old, but she is not crying, she just holds Mei Ruofeng's hand tightly, watching his face in a daze, her eyes are empty and mournful , as if the whole heart has been hollowed out.No tears on the face, but tears in the heart, maybe this is the deepest and most miserable pain in the world.She is Mei Ruofeng's wife, Sima Hen's young mother-in-law Hua Xiangrong.

Seeing Sima Hen, the two women suddenly rushed towards him at the same time, and one of them pulled his skirt and asked loudly: "How did you become a chief arrester? My father is under your nose, and he was murdered, murdered!" ..." Before he could finish the following words, the gazes of reproach and questioning shot over like sharp arrows.

The other said nothing, but burst into tears of grief and grief.Silent questioning may be the most severe accusation in the world.

One is the wife whose father died, and the other is the mother-in-law whose husband died. Sima Henwuyan faced the sharp sword-like eyes of the two women, his head was lowered, and his face turned green and white, as if he had killed them with his own hands. Just like the murderer of his own father-in-law.

Wu Tai couldn't bear it, he hurriedly winked at a little girl in blue clothes behind Hua Xiangrong, the little girl was Qingmei, Hua Xiangrong's personal maid.

Qingmei understood what he meant, and hurried up to help Hua Xiangrong and Mei Nuxue aside.

Wu Guo took the opportunity to intervene and persuade: "Mrs. Mei, Mrs. Sima, in fact, it is no wonder that the chief arrester is the reason for this incident. The murderer was too cunning, he knocked us both unconscious beforehand, and when we woke up, it was too late. "

The two women wanted to say something more, but Sima Hen suddenly raised his head, his eyes were like lightning, and he glanced coldly.

Sima Hen cleared his throat, looking businesslike, and said to Hua Xiangrong: "Mrs. Mei, Mrs. Mei died strangely. We have already sent a letter to Mr. Han, the prefect of Jingzhou, asking him to come forward to uphold justice. It is estimated that it will take a few days. Lord Han will be there soon. But before Lord Han arrives, I want to go to Lord Mei's residence and see if I can find some clues."

Hua Xiangrong sighed, choked up and said: "Everyone is already dead, even if you find the murderer, what's the use of finding the murderer, can the master still come back to life... You can go and see if you want, the doors of the rooms are all open, only Usually no one is allowed to enter his study room, and he is the only one who holds the key, as you know."

Sima Hen nodded and said: "I see, Madam, please mourn, I believe we will find the murderer." He raised his head and told Qingmei, "Take good care of Madam."

Suddenly remembered something, turned around and shouted: "Where is the fifth watch?"

A thin and wizened yamen servant came out behind him and said, "Here is my humble position."

The name of this lean man was Wu Geng, and he was an office worker in the county government office, who also served as the steward of the mortuary.

Sima Hen confessed: "You should seal Lord Mei's body with ice first, so that the mourning will not be held for now, and everything will be decided after the magistrate comes."

Wu Geng bowed to accept the order and said, "I understand the humble job."

Sima Hen looked at Wu Guo, and said: "Take a few people, and come with me to the adult's residence."

Wu nodded in agreement.

Mei Ruofeng's mansion is on the cross street in the south of the city, three streets away from the county government.

Sima Hen and Wu Guo led five police officers and went all the way.

The sad news of Mei Ruofeng's tragic death had already been spread back home, and there was a sad atmosphere in Mei's residence.

The old butler, Mayfow, received the uncle who was on business.

Sima Hen explained the purpose of his visit, and the old housekeeper led everyone into the house.

Mei Ruofeng was not a ostentatious person before his death, so the Mei Mansion was not too big, but there were dozens of rooms, large and small.

The old butler bent his back and bent his waist, leading the officials from the lobby to the living room to the bedroom to the wing, looking over one by one.

The wing room is very delicately furnished, and there is a faint fragrance of powder inside.

The old housekeeper said: "This is the boudoir of the lady before she left the pavilion. The things inside are the same as when the lady was at home. The lady said that she wanted to tear it down, but the master forbade it. He said that the lady can still live in it when she returns to her mother's house."

Sima Hen nodded and said, "I know this."

When they got to the kitchen, they found two big shad on the stove.

Mei Fu said: "When the master and his wife had dinner last night, they ate this shad from the Yangtze River. The master said that this shad soup was very fragrant and fresh, so he ordered the kitchen to make two more for lunch the next day. Who knows The shad was bought back, but the master..." At this point, the circles of his eyes turned red, and there were tears in his old eyes.

Sima Hen sighed and asked, "Do you usually like to eat shad?"

The old housekeeper shook his head and said, "Master usually eats it too, but he doesn't like it very much. Madam likes it, saying that this shad soup can nourish yin and beautify the skin."

Sima Hen asked the cook again: "Is there any special seasoning added to the shad soup that the master ate last night?"

The cook shook his head and said, "No, it's the same as before. It's all stewed shad soup."

Sima Hen frowned, turned to a fast catcher and said, "Take these two shad back to the yamen, and have them inspect them carefully."

The catcher quickly said: "Yes." Put the two shad in a bag and hold it in his hand.

When the cook saw that Sima Hen suspected that there was something wrong with the shad soup he made, he couldn't help but turn pale with fright, but then he thought, the master was killed in a ruined temple on a barren mountain, no matter what, the shad soup he made would be the same as mine Soup has nothing to do with it.This is a little reassuring.

Then the old housekeeper showed Sima Hen another two houses, and then came to Mei Ruofeng's study.

The environment of the study is quiet, and there are several plum blossoms planted on the porch in front of the door, but it is a pity that it is not yet the blooming season.

The door was locked, and Mayfow said: "The key is always with the master."

Sima Hen said, "It's okay."

Taking a look at Wu Guo, Wu Guo understood, immediately stepped forward, grabbed the copper lock on the door with one hand, twisted it hard, the lock immediately changed shape, and opened in response.

Mei Fu didn't know martial arts, seeing him showing this skill, he couldn't help but turned pale in shock, thinking that fortunately this young man is a servant and not a thief, otherwise there would still be locks he couldn't break to steal. Is there something out of hand?

Sima Hen led the crowd into the study and said, "Everyone search carefully, but don't mess up the books inside."

The study room is very large, but the three large bookcases standing around the wall have taken up more than half of the space.

The crowd dispersed and looked around.

Sima Hen walked to the bookcase and flipped through the books inside one by one.

When I looked through the second bookcase, I found a sandalwood box inside, with a label on the outside, saying the title of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", which turned out to be a set of boxed books.

He casually took it off the bookshelf, but found that the wooden box was extremely light, and it didn't look like it was full of books. Curious, he opened it and found that there were no books inside, but two pieces of red cloth. I took it out and saw that it turned out to be two red bellybands, trimmed with lace, embroidered with a few snowfalls and a plum blossom in full bloom, very vivid and beautiful.

Sima Hen's face changed slightly, he glanced left and right from the corner of his eyes, quietly put the two red bellybands into his arms, put the boxes back, turned around and said, "Have you ever found anything suspicious?"

Everyone shook their heads and said no.Sima Hen said, "Then let's look elsewhere."

Walking out of the study room, turning around and twisting the brass lock, the lock returned to its original state and locked the door of the study room.

Everyone went to the last two remaining houses to have a look, but found nothing, so they had to go back to the county government office.

In the afternoon, Wu Zuo inspected the two shad inside and out, and reported that there was nothing abnormal.

After a noisy investigation for a long time, there was no clue at all, and the arresters couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

Sima Hen didn't know what to do at the moment, so he had to order people to guard the four gates and strictly check the people who came in and out, and at the same time ordered people to tidy up the rooms and quarters, and waited for the Jingzhou government to come to deal with the case.

4
At noon the next day, someone suddenly came to report that Mr. Han, the magistrate of Jingzhou, had arrived.

In the Xiulin County Yamen, since the county magistrate Mei Ruofeng was accidentally assassinated and died, all judicial matters such as the investigation, arrest, prison and imprisonment in the county have been taken care of by the chief arrester Sima Hen. Represented by the county magistrate.

Sima Hen's official rank is the ninth rank, while Lu Wenchao, the county magistrate, is the eighth rank. Although the two have no affiliation, but in terms of rank, Sima Hen is one level lower than the county magistrate Lu, so when they met, they had to say "" grown ups".

At present, Lu Wenchao, the magistrate of the county, heard the news, took the master book, Sima Hen, Wu Guo and others, and rushed out to greet him.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the county government office, Mr. Han Qingshan, the magistrate of Jingzhou, got off his sedan chair and walked in.Lu Xiancheng and others hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects.

That Han Qingshan is over half a hundred years old, with a purple face, three long beards that move without wind, and a pair of tiger eyes that are not angry and majestic, extremely majestic.

Mr. Han came in a hurry, with a light car and a simple car, except for the four bearers, he only brought two guards and a subordinate who looked like a teacher in a long gown with a sparse beard.

Most of the people in the county government know this subordinate, he is a famous genius doctor in Jingzhou Prefecture, everyone calls him Doctor Yi, but no one knows what his real name is.

Doctor Yi and Mr. Han even made friends. When they are busy, they hang pots to help the world, cure diseases and save people.

Zhifu Han nodded slightly at the crowd, walked inside without saying a word.

Lu Xiancheng hurriedly followed him, led him to the guest house that had already been cleaned up, and assigned people to arrange for Mr. Han and his entourage to stay.

He originally thought that Mr. Han would have to rest for a night when he came this afternoon, and he would ask about the case tomorrow, and he was about to order the kitchen to serve the dishes and greet him, but the magistrate just sat down, took a sip of tea, and said: "President Lu , Xiulin county government has such a big case, the government has to come here in person. Please tell me the whole story of Mr. Mei's accident in detail, there must be no mistakes."

Lu Xiancheng was slightly startled, and looked up to see the magistrate's eyes were shining on him like lightning, he couldn't help but trembled, and hurriedly bowed and stood in front of Mr Han, looking at Sima Hen and Wu, the chief arrester of Xiulin county government office. Speaking of receiving a life-threatening letter from the murderer flying a knife in the criminal room, he recounted in detail what he had learned from Sima Hen from the beginning to the end.

Master Han frowned when he heard this, he didn't say a word, thought for a while, then raised his eyes suddenly, looked at him and asked: "It has been two days since the crime happened, has the murderer been caught?"

When Lu Xiancheng heard the magistrate asking about this matter, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The imperial court ordered the official of the county to die in the middle of the night. The murderer is still unknown. If he tells the truth, the magistrate will definitely blame him. But he was afraid that he would not be able to escape the magistrate's breathtaking eyes, so he froze on the spot for a moment, his heart was pounding and he didn't know how to respond.

At this moment, a person behind him stepped forward, cupped his hands and said: "Master Zhifu, I have something to say about my humble position."

Han Qingshan was slightly startled, looked at him and asked: "Are you..."

The man replied: "The humble Sima Hen is the head arrester of the Xiulin County Yamen's Shuilin and Land Roads. Mr. Mei is not only a humble boss, but also a humble father-in-law."

Han Qingshan smiled slightly, looked him up and down and said, "Oh, so you are Sima Hen, the arresting head of the Xiulin County Yamen. I have heard of your name a long time ago. I heard that there is no one in Xiulin County that you, a god, can't catch. In this case, Mrs. Mei also married her only daughter to you because she admired your abilities, isn't that true?"

Sima Hen's face was reddish, but there was a hint of color in his heart, and he hurriedly said: "My lord, thank you."

Han Qingshan asked: "What do you have to say?"

Sima Hen said: "After these two days of open and unannounced visits, the humble official has already figured out who is the murderer who assassinated Lord Mei."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was shocked, and everyone looked at him with suspicious eyes.Mr. Han asked: "Oh, according to your investigation, who is the murderer?"

Sima Hen glanced out of the corner of his eyes, hesitated for a moment, showed embarrassment, and said: "Please forgive me for being rude, my lord, there are too many people here, so as not to leak the news and alarm the murderer, I dare not come here Make it clear. However, the humble official has already written the name of the murderer and his criminal evidence in a document, and submitted it together, please read it." After speaking, he took out a confidential letter from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.

Han Qingshan nodded slightly, and reached out to take it.Sima Hen said again: "My lord, please read it carefully, I don't want to disturb you, please leave first, if you want to order me to do anything, I will be there for you."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, led Wu Guo and other subordinates, and retreated together.

Lu Xiancheng was shocked and suspicious, but he didn't dare to explode in front of the magistrate, and hurriedly led the chief secretary and others to bow and retreat.After leaving the room, he immediately trotted all the way, wanting to catch up with Sima Hen and asked him who the murderer of Master Mei was, how he found out, and why he didn't tell him earlier.But Sima Hen of the county magistrate didn't wait for him at all, he strode like flying, he had already gone far.

Besides, Prefect Han, after everyone had left, opened the secret letter presented by Sima Hen and read it carefully.I saw it said:

Master Yin Han of Jingzhou Prefecture:
The humble Sima hates it, and it is inconvenient for others to speak out when something happens, so I boldly submit a letter, please forgive me.

According to the meticulous investigation and scouting of the past few days, the murderer who killed Mrs. Mei has been found.

On the night of the ninth day of March, Master Mei paid homage to his deceased father at the Minghuang Temple on Jiangjun Mountain in the north of the city. ghost.

But that night, the police guarding the intersection at the foot of the mountain and the archers ambushing on the side of the road were all in groups of three or five, not only taking care of each other, but also monitoring each other. If any one of them wants to act alone, the others must know.Therefore, it is unlikely that any of these two groups of people committed the crime.

Besides the catcher and the archer, there were only three people on the mountain at that time: Mrs. Mei, Xieqian and his assistant, and the head catcher Wu Guo.Mrs. Mei was the victim, and Beizhi was also knocked out when the crime happened. There is only one person left, only Wu Guo.

It was about the third watch when the humble position was attacked, and it was the fourth watch when he woke up.One time is more than enough for a person with martial arts skills to kill a powerless court official.

After Baizhi woke up, Wu Guo said that he was also stunned after being attacked, but he woke up a moment earlier than Beizhi.

I feel that this statement is very suspicious.

At that time, we both hid in two big pine trees to protect Mrs. Mei. The pine tree I lived in was in front, and he hid in a pine tree behind. The principle that the person in front strikes first and the person behind is alert.What he said didn't make sense.This is one.

Second, since Beizhi and Wu Guo were attacked at the same time, it is expected that the other party's attacks should be similar in severity. Why did he wake up first, while Beizhi was still in a deep coma. In disagreement.

Thirdly, Wu Guo said that we were attacked at the same time, but the policeman who guarded the intersection at the foot of the mountain said afterwards that no one went up the mountain, and no one went down the mountain, and there was no one hiding on the mountain. The so-called attacker was obviously Wu Guoxin Talking nonsense, nothing is fabricated.

The humble official thought that the person who attacked the humble official was actually Wu Guo.

In the storm, taking advantage of his unpreparedness, he stabbed him suddenly from behind, knocked him unconscious with his palm, then broke into the temple, pulled out the dagger he had prepared, and stabbed Master Mei to death from behind , Then ran back under the pine tree, rolled in muddy water from the ground, and then woke up the humble officer, pretending to be attacked at the same time.

Why did Wu Guo kill Master Mei?

The reason is actually very simple, it is to avenge the murder of his father.

According to various investigations and investigations, Mr. Mei was born in a scholarly family in Qingzhou. His ancestors were all scholars in the past generations. It was passed down to the generation of his father, Mr. Mei Shouke. The family fortune has gradually declined. Frustrated, he pinned his life's ambitions on his son, and only hoped that he would get a good name in the exam, glorify the lintel, and revive the Mei family's momentum.

Mr. Mei is also struggling. He studied hard for ten years, won the provincial examination, and won the Jinshi in the general examination. Seeing that the fame is already at his fingertips, but he didn't know that in the final imperial examination, he was not named Sun Shan. Not only did he not win any fame, but his father was disappointed and sad. one game.

In desperation, Mr. Mei had no choice but to go to the Imperial College of the Imperial Academy to study hard again, hoping to gain fame in the future and repay his father.Studying in the Imperial College for four years, his grades have always been excellent. Just at this time, there was a vacancy for the magistrate of Xiulin County in Jingzhou Prefecture.

Unexpectedly, in this assessment, Master Mei only ranked second. Seeing that the fame in his hand was about to be handed over to the supervisor who got the first place in the examination, Mr. Mei was eager to see his son become a dragon, and in a panic, he became malicious. He bought the cook of the Guozijian kitchen with money, and poisoned the food eaten by the No. 1 prison student, causing the prison student to die suddenly in the hut in the middle of the night.This is why Mr. Mei has the opportunity to be appointed by the imperial court to fill the vacant post of Xiulin county magistrate.

Not long after Master Mei took office, he brought his old father over from Qingzhou.

Mr. Mei, as a Confucian of the generation, has read sages' books all his life, but he didn't want to, but he didn't want to be safe at the end of the day. Before he was old, he would do such things as buying murder and killing people. Although it was for the sake of his son, he was also disturbed and blamed himself.

So he came to Xiulin County, but he didn't want to live with his son. Instead, with a heart of repentance, he went to the Minghuang Temple of Jiangjun Mountain and became a monk who ate fast, recited Buddha and practiced.

In order to punish himself to atone for his sins, when he was dying, he told his son not to bury him, but to abandon his coffin in the temple and place it next to the Bodhisattva to show his repentance.

Mr. Mei is a dutiful son, so naturally he dare not disobey his father's order, but he also knows that he has brought his old father down, ruined his reputation all his life, made him feel uneasy in his old age, and died of regret.As a son of man, he had a guilty conscience, so after his old father passed away, he served his father more filially. Not only did he worship with heart and tears on the spot every year on the festival day, but he also held a big sacrifice every three years. As soon as he kowtowed to the mountain temple, the solitary lamp was only a shadow to accompany his father to sleep. He only hoped that his father would know how to forgive him as an unfilial son, and hope that his father could feel at ease under the nine springs.

And the prison student who was bought by Mr. Mei to kill him ten years ago was named Wu Shimin, who was Wu Guo's father.

Now ten years later, the ignorant child of that year has grown up, and he has learned martial arts well.

He sneaked into the Xiulin county government office and condescended to become a small head catcher. It is not difficult to guess what his intentions are.

Now, he has finally succeeded in his treacherous scheme and his vengeance has been avenged, but he has left this unsolved case for me to solve.

Because most of Wu Duo was there when I met the adults, even if I dismissed him with an excuse, it was hard to guarantee that other people would not pass the news to him. This person already possesses superb martial arts skills. , it is even more difficult.So in desperation, I had no choice but to report everything to the adults.

My lord, please keep calm and take advantage of his unpreparedness when he is in court tomorrow, and then take him down in court. If he resists arrest, he will be killed immediately to enforce the law.

Please think twice, sir, please make a decision.

Sima Hen
After reading it, the magistrate did not say a word, but frowned slightly, then looked at the secret letter for a while, and slowly handed it to Dr. Yi beside him.

Doctor Yi took it, and was about to take a closer look, when suddenly the guards at the door came to report: "Wu Guo, the arresting head of the Xiulin county government, has something to ask to see your lord."

The magistrate was stunned, and exchanged glances with Doctor Yi, both of them were secretly surprised, after a while, the magistrate Han said: "Let him in."

5
The next morning, the magistrate Han was sitting in the lobby of the county yamen, the county magistrate Lu Wenchao sat on the right, and the chief secretary sat on the left. The class yamen guards held water and fire sticks and stood on both sides, and the courtroom was solemn.

Mr. Han sat high on the top, not angry and pretentious, he slapped the gavel, and shouted: "It is said that the criminal chief arrests Sima Hen and arrests Wu Guo."

A group of head arresters from the criminal room were waiting at the entrance of the hall, waiting for orders from the magistrate. Hearing the summons from the magistrate, Sima Hen and Wu Guo both held their sword hilts, walked up the hall quickly, knelt down side by side, and said: " The humble Sima Hen and Wu Guo see your lord."

The magistrate Han glanced down the hall, his face darkened suddenly, and he shouted: "Hurry up and take down the murderer, when will it be."

Sima Hen knew that this was a signal from the magistrate to tell him to grab someone, so he immediately turned sideways and rushed towards Wu Guo, his fingers hooked like hooks, his right hand grabbed his throat, and his left hand pinched his veins. "Catch the dragon left and right".

Wu Guo was shocked, his expression changed, his knees were still kneeling on the ground, he pushed his arms hard, he jumped three feet high, avoided the opponent's pounce, stretched his right hand to his waist, Qingfeng sword came out of its sheath with a clang, and shouted : "What are you doing?"

With a flick of his wrist, the sword's edge fell straight down from midair, striking Sima Hen head-on.

As soon as Sima Hen missed, his expression changed slightly, he took a step back, and drew out his sword to meet him.The two swords collided with a "clank", each of them took a step back, but immediately rushed forward.

Sima Hen didn't answer, he let out a loud shout, the long sword stuck to his internal force, he swung it out, opened and closed, and slashed three swords horizontally, the sword moves are dignified, with the wind and thunder in the momentum, it really is the style of a master.

The two swords moved back and forth, sword flowers fluttered, and sword lights flickered. In an instant, they had fought for more than twenty moves in the hall, and they were evenly matched, and it was difficult to distinguish between the top and bottom.

Sima Hen glanced out of the corner of his eyes, and saw that the magistrate's face was gloomy and expressionless, he couldn't help being surprised, he expected that his attack was not good, and the magistrate already had a heart of blame, and he was impatient at the moment. It's very spicy, and I only hope that in one move, the opponent can be restrained.

Wu Guo saw the other party changing his moves, suddenly there was a clear whistle, his wrist shook and the sword slanted, the three-foot green blade in his hand turned into a soft belt, softly twisting and erratic, the blue light flashed repeatedly, but the other party couldn't see clearly The sword is coming.

The two were one heavy and the other light, one steel and the other soft, the fight was extremely thrilling.

After more than ten strokes, Sima Hen suddenly urged his true strength, the long sword wrapped in the strong wind, and slashed straight at the opponent's right shoulder.

Wu Guo shouted: "Good time." Shen shoulder dodges, Qingfeng sword flipped and stabbed the opponent's chest.In the middle of the sword, it actually bent over and pierced the opponent's left rib obliquely.

Sima hated to see that the opponent's sword came so skillfully, he was taken aback secretly, and hurriedly shrugged his hips, the scabbard on his right waist flew out suddenly, choked, just caught the opponent's Qingfeng sword, and shouted coldly: "Let go." The long sword slashed at the opponent's wrist.

Wu Guo's long sword was covered and he couldn't use it. If he didn't let go, his right hand would be severed at the wrist, so he had to let go of the sword and retreated violently.At this moment, Sima Hen had already rushed forward with big strides, with a single finger of the long sword, it was already on his chest, and with just a light blow, his life could be taken.Wu Guo's face turned pale, so he had no choice but to stop.

Sima Hen panted slightly, looked at the magistrate, feeling quite pleased.

Master Han immediately shouted: "Take it!"

Before the words were finished, five or six arresters rushed out from the left and right sides and charged straight at them.

Sima Hen slapped Wu Guo with his left hand, pushed Wu Guo back, and said, "Tied."

Unexpectedly, those six arresters suddenly rushed towards him, rushed up, without any explanation, and pinned him down to the ground.

Sima Hen was completely unprepared, before he realized that his limbs were firmly grasped by them, and his head was pushed to the ground. His two front teeth were knocked off the green brick floor, and blood gushed out of his mouth.

He struggled and said angrily: "You bastard, what are you doing? You caught the wrong person, and he is the murderer. Let go."

The six detainees chuckled, instead of letting go, they pressed him even tighter on the ground with all their strength.

Sima Hen's chest fell to the ground, as if a boulder had been pressed on his back, he suddenly felt out of breath.

Wu Guo rushed forward, put his long sword against his neck, and said with a sneer: "Chief arrester, why are you calling for injustice, the person we want to arrest is you, because you are the real murderer of Master Mei. "

Sima Hen struggled to raise his head, and said angrily, "Wu Guo, don't spout blood here and call for thieves to be caught. Ten years ago, Mr. Mei bought a murderer to help his son steal your father's fame. Ten years later, you sneaked into the Xiulin county government, Waiting for an opportunity to kill Lord Mei and avenge my father. I have already told Lord Zhifu everything, do you still want to blame me and wantonly deny it?"

Wu Guodao: "That's right. I am indeed the son of Wu Jiansheng who was bought and murdered by Wu Shouke ten years ago. The reason why I came to the Xiulin county government to work as an errand was indeed to seek opportunities to avenge my father. But since I When I came to the Xiulin county government office, I heard about Mr. Mei’s various acts of repentance and redemption before he died. I also saw that Mr. Mei’s official position is not right, but he is still a clean and honest official. If I kill him Well, if the imperial court sends another corrupt official to fill the vacancy, then I will not only be sorry for the people in Xiulin County, but also go against my father's wish to be an honest and good official to benefit the people. After several years of hard work, the desire for revenge has long faded Otherwise, if I really did harm to Mr. Mei, on the day of the great sacrifice three years ago, there was no one around him, wouldn't I have made a move a long time ago, why wait until now three years later."

Sima Hen struggled and shouted loudly: "It's unreasonable. Even if you don't want to take revenge, you can't casually frame good people and say that I'm the murderer. I've been wronged by my lowly position. Lord Han, please be the master of this lowly position."

"shut up."

The magistrate suddenly slapped the gavel and shouted, "Above the court, how can you allow us to growl and cause trouble? Sima Hen, please stay calm and don't be impatient. Right and wrong are right and wrong. This official judges for himself. The official letter you submitted yesterday, This officer has read it carefully, and although the inferences in it are barely tenable, there are many conjectures in it, which are not enough for conviction. In contrast, Wu Guo said that you are the murderer, and the reasons seem to be more sufficient."

Sima Hen snorted, and said urgently: "My lord, he just saw his lowly position and was suspicious of him, so he bit back, put the blame on me, killed someone with a knife, and blamed himself, how could he have any good reason? Please My lord is aware."

The magistrate's complexion darkened, and he said: "Whether the reason is sufficient and whether the inference is valid, you will know it as soon as you listen to him. Why are you so excited?"

Sima hated hearing this, and knew that if he said more, he would appear to be in the wrong, so he smiled coldly and stopped talking.The magistrate Han said: "Wu Guo, please repeat what you said to me yesterday in class."

Wu Guo bowed, cupped his hands and said, "Yes, my lord. Judging from the situation when Lord Mei was killed on the ninth night of March, at that time, only me and Mr. Sima were the most suspected arresters on the mountain. The first thing I doubted was the clothes he was wearing that day."

Although Sima Hen was knocked down to the ground and was extremely embarrassed, he still didn't forget to sneer, and said coldly, "What happened to the clothes I wore that day? Could it be a bloody coat?"

Wu Guo glanced at him, knew that he was intentionally interrupting and disturbing his train of thought, so he ignored it immediately, just continued his own words and said:
"That night, when I woke up from a coma, when I went to push you, I unexpectedly found that your body was not as cold as iron like mine, but was slightly hot, and your clothes, the innermost one , was not soaked in the rain. Just imagine, you and I were stunned almost at the same time, and we both lay down in the storm. Why was my whole body frozen like a piece of ice, but you were still hot? We wore the same clothes Why are my clothes soaked inside and out, but you still have the innermost piece of clothes dry? Why do you say this? What does it mean?"

Sima hated that he didn't expect him to say such a thing, he was taken aback for a moment, and asked resentfully: "Then what do you mean by this?"

Wu Guo raised his voice and said: "This only means that you have been lying in the wind and rain for as long as I have, so your clothes are still dry, and it also means that you must have done something else during this period, and you must have been running around so violently that your body became hot. Lying in the wind and rain, the body temperature will not drop for a while."

Sima Hen's face changed slightly, and he "hummed" again, but he was speechless to refute.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Wu Guo continued: "That night, you suddenly fell unconscious in front of my eyes. I was alert immediately, and I clearly saw that there was no one within ten feet to the left, right, and front of me. Why did I turn around and look at you?" When I looked back, I was hit on the back of the head by someone's palm immediately, and I fell down and fainted? The only possibility is that it wasn't someone else who knocked me down, but you."

Sima hated: "Nonsense, I was knocked down before you, how can I sneak attack you?"

Wu Guodao: "There is only one possibility, that is, no one attacked you at that time, you fell from the tree by yourself, pretended to be attacked and fell into a coma, when I turned back to check the enemy's situation, you suddenly jumped up and knocked me out with your palm. Then, without stopping, you broke into the temple immediately, and stabbed Mrs. Mei to death from the back while she was sleeping—of course, no matter how stupid you are, you would never be so stupid as to use your own sword to commit murder, so as to leave clues. It was a dagger that had already been prepared. After everything was done, and after confirming that there were no clues left on the scene that would make others suspect you, the dignified head catcher, you immediately ran back outside the temple, lay on the spot, and pretended to be unconscious , just wait for me to wake up first, and take the blame for you. It is precisely because of your running back and forth, and a lot of time spent in the temple, even though you pretend to be very similar, you still unintentionally showed your feet. That is the clothes on your body that are not yet wet, and the body temperature that you have not had time to cool down in the future."

Sima Hen said coldly: "Your reasoning is too forced. You say I'm pretending to be unconscious. This is pure speculation. What evidence is there?"

Wu Guo shook his head and said: "No. Your lord has shown me the secret letter you wrote to Mr. Han, in which you mentioned that I massaged the Dazhui acupoint on your back with internal strength to wake you up. no?"

Sima hated: "So what, isn't it like this?"

Wu Guodao: "The fact is true. You are absolutely right. It is precisely because you are absolutely correct that you are completely wrong. I did not tell you afterwards how I woke you up. When you opened your eyes , I have already withdrawn my efforts, how do you know that I didn't wake you up, shake you awake, or pinch your Renzhong acupoint to wake you up? Since you were in a deep coma at that time, how could you Do you know that I practiced exercises on your Dazhui point? The only explanation is that it was fake when you were unconscious, but real when you were awake.”

Sima Hen was speechless for a moment, but his face became extremely ugly, and he said after a long while: "Wu Guo, this arrester asks himself that he treats you kindly. You assassinated the court official and committed a capital crime. A good man is a good man, so it's fine to admit it yourself. Why do you need to frame me? No one in Xiulin County knows that Mr. Mei is my father-in-law, and he was the one who picked me to be the head arrester. He and I are in an affair like father and son. What reason is there to kill him? Who would believe me if you said I was a murderer? "

Wu Guo said coldly: "Master Mei is your father-in-law, it is true, but if you say that you are as close as father and son to him, you are grateful to him, that is not necessarily the case."

Sima Hen forcibly turned his head, stared at him and said, "What do you mean by that?"

Wu Guodao: "Why did you kill your own father-in-law with your own hands? What is your motive for killing? This is a question I have been thinking about. I didn't know until the tenth day of March when you took people to search Lord Mei's residence. I realized something. The other day you took people to search Mei’s house. It was just a routine, pretending to be a show, but when you searched Mrs. Mei’s study, there was a little accident. You found two bellybands in the study. Keep it in your arms. At that time, you thought that no one knew about it, but in fact, I and two other detectives stood not far from you and saw it clearly. The bellyband is red, and there are several pieces embroidered on it. Feixue and a branch of plum blossoms in full bloom. Plum blossoms are in full bloom, and Feixue is dotted. Doesn’t this correspond to the word "Mei Nuxue"? If I guessed correctly, it should be your wife Mei Nuxue's underwear. Like this It's really puzzling how the obscene clothes are in Mrs. Mei's room."

Sima hated: "A father loves his daughter dearly, and keeps a collection of clothes that his daughter wore when she was a child. What's the fuss about that?"

Wu Guodao: "But the problem is that the bellyband is bright in color and big in style. It is definitely not a little girl's clothes, but a big girl's clothes. This is a bit abnormal."

Sima Hen's expression changed, and he wanted to raise his head to look at him, but was firmly held down by several pairs of big hands, unable to move, so he had to lower his head, and said in a hateful voice: "Wu Guo, why do you say this? You framed him That's all for now, do you still want to slander Zhuo Jing Qingyu in public?"

Wu Guo said indifferently: "I didn't think about hurting anyone, I just told the truth that I know. After I saw you quietly put away Mei Nuxue's bellyband, I felt suspicious. I went to visit Mei's house again that night. , I searched for a long time in Mrs. Mei’s study, but found nothing, but accidentally found two hairs on the pillow in Mei Nuxue’s boudoir. After comparing them, I found out that one of them is exactly your wife Mei Nuxue. Qingsi."

Sima said bitterly: "My wife always visits her father once or twice a month, and she spends the night at her mother's house when she is late, leaving her hair on the bed inadvertently, so what's wrong with that?"

Wu Guodao: "However, the other hair found beside her pillow belongs to Mrs. Mei Ruofengmei."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone in the hall was astonished, they had already guessed what Wu Guoyi was referring to, but they couldn't believe it.

The daughter's obscene clothes are in the father's room, but the father's hair is left on the daughter's pillow. Although the meaning is self-evident, but...

Sima Hen couldn't hold back any longer, he hooked his feet suddenly, and tripped the two detainees unexpectedly, the pressure on his back was lightened immediately, before the remaining four detainees could react, he had already pushed his shoulders away from the palms of the detainees and broke free Kai Lai turned around, jumped up, rushed towards Wu Guo, and shouted: "I have no grievances with you, why do you insult my wife here?"

Wu Guo pushed it out with both palms, forced him away and said, "I don't want to do this either, you forced me to say it. I just want the truth to be revealed to the world. If you hadn't stubbornly resisted and refused to plead guilty, I would not have killed Mei Ruo. The wind shakes out such shameful scandals."

"Don't say it, don't say it." Sima Hen's expression was suddenly agitated, and he yelled again and again. He bent down and picked up the long sword on the ground. , Mei Ruofeng was indeed killed by a humble official, and has nothing to do with Wu Guo, nor anyone else."

6
Seeing Sima Hen bent over to pick up the sword, everyone in the hall thought that he was going to resist arrest and flee for his life, but at such a critical moment, he suddenly knelt down and confessed, which was really unexpected.

The magistrate asked: "Why did you kill Mei Ruofeng?"

Sima Hen stared wide-eyed, gritted his teeth tightly, and said: "He is disrespectful to old people, inferior to beasts, insults his own daughter, and holds a grudge against his lowly position, so he took advantage of the opportunity of his great sacrifice to kill him. Because he wanted to escape the crime , the story first leaves a note with a flying knife, writes a message, and attracts everyone's attention. Even if the incident happens, the people in the yamen will think it is an outsider who committed the crime, and they will never suspect me. In fact, the crime deserves death. At this time, the humble official is willing to receive the death penalty." After speaking, the long sword swiped across the throat.

"Wait a minute!" Su Wen shouted loudly, stretched out a pair of long and thin iron chopsticks from the right side, clamped the blade, the chopsticks slid down, and hit Sima Hen's sword-holding wrist with a bang.

Sima Hen was completely defenseless, he felt a numbness in his wrist, the long sword could not be held, it fell to the ground with a jingle.

He couldn't help being startled and angry, and when he looked back, he saw a person standing beside him, with a thin figure and high cheekbones, but a pair of bright eyes, as if he could stare at other people's bodies with a single glance. Even.And the pair of slender iron chopsticks are not only the tool for him to rummage through the corpse during the autopsy, but also his special weapon.

Sima Hen's expression changed, and he said angrily, "What do you want to do? Don't tell me I can't even die if I want to?"

Wu Geng smiled slightly, fearing that he would commit suicide again, hurriedly stepped forward, stepped on the long sword, and then bowed to Han Qingshan and said: "Master Zhifu, although Chief Sima bowed down and pleaded guilty, according to the investigation of the humble office, the case There is still a major doubt that has not been clarified, and if it is convicted, it will inevitably be suspected of rashness."

Han Qingshan let out an "oh", looked at him sharply, and asked, "Any doubts?"

Wu Geng raised his head slightly, and looked at the magistrate and Doctor Yi behind him.

He knew that Dr. Yi had already examined Mei Ruofeng's body yesterday afternoon. He was a famous magistrate in the magistrate's yamen and a genius doctor in Jingzhou. Dr. Yi would also be sure of the suspicious points that a small county magistrate could detect from the corpse. He had already seen it, but he kept silent from the beginning to the end, not knowing what his intention was.It's just that at this time when human life is at stake, I don't care about the suspicion of leapfrogging, so I can only speak directly.

He said: "My lord, Mr. Sima's head-hunter's master is a famous swordsman in the south of the Yangtze River, and Mr. Sima's swordsmanship, after so many years of honing, has already reached the point where the best is better than the blue."

Seeing him suddenly mentioning this, the prefect lord didn't know what his intention was, so he frowned slightly and said, "This mansion has heard about it for a long time, so naturally it knows, not to mention the Jingzhou mansion, even if you look at Jiangnan martial arts, your swordsmanship attainments surpass that of President Sima." Headhunters are rare."

Wu Geng said: "Just imagine, my lord, such a master of swordsmanship, even if he is dealing with loaches in the water and flies in the air, he must stab with his sword and sword, and he will never fail, right?"

The magistrate nodded, but his face showed a lot of impatience with his rambling trembling words.

Wu Geng changed his tone, and suddenly raised his voice: "You said that such a master, if he kills a civil servant who is powerless and asleep, does he still need to stab a second sword?"

Only then did the magistrate understand his intention of going around in such a large circle. After thinking about it carefully, he couldn't help but secretly nodded in agreement.

Wu Geng continued: "Besides, the first knife in Mrs. Mei's back was at least two or three inches away from the heart. Even an ordinary man who doesn't know martial arts at all can kill people without such a big deviation. Why? Besides, the chief arrester of Sima is also a martial arts master with perfect swordsmanship. This is a big doubt in the case, and I believe that adults must investigate it."

After hearing his incisive words, not only Mr. Han and Dr. Yi in the hall nodded in agreement, but Wu Guo and other people in the hall also nodded secretly, feeling that the case that had been gradually becoming clear with great difficulty just now suddenly appeared again. It became cloudy and foggy.

Could it be that the murderer was not Sima Hen?

"My lord." Sima Hen knelt down on the ground and said, "Although Wu Geng's words are reasonable, but he forgot that his humble job was to kill people in a hurry, so he was inevitably nervous, and there was a slight deviation in his attack, which is also reasonable. The second sword of the humble officer stabbed Mei Ruofeng to death? All in all, Mei Ruofeng was indeed killed by the humble officer and had no connection with others, please convict me, my lord."

Everyone saw that he tried his best to blame others at the beginning of the crime, but after the incident was revealed, he denied it in every possible way and refused to plead guilty. Now that the case has turned around, it is a good opportunity for him to find a way out for himself. Capital crime, front and back attitude, judged as two people, it is really unexpected.

When everyone was in astonishment, they suddenly heard the sound of "Wow" crying from the door, and a figure rushed up the hall, and threw himself in front of Sima Hen. This guy who deserves to be hacked into pieces, it turns out that my master was killed by you...Master, you died so badly, how will I live alone in the days to come...Woooo..." It was Mei Ruofeng's widow, Hua Xiangrong.

Mrs. Hua heard that today the magistrate is going to hear the case of Mei Ruofeng's murder, and she has been listening at the gate of the yamen for a long time. Now when she heard Sima Hen's confession in person, she was shocked and hated at the same time. In agitated mood, she couldn't bear it anymore and broke open the gate of the guard. Zaoli rushed in and kicked and punched him.

Sima Hen knelt in the hall, lowered his head and closed his eyes, and let him beat and scold him, but did not fight back.

Qingmei, Hua's close maid, hurried in to tease Hua, but she couldn't hold back.

Hua Xiangrong couldn't get rid of her hatred, she slapped Sima Hen more than ten times in a row, slapped and slapped.

Immediately, the courtroom was filled with the sound of Hua's weeping like beating drums and gongs.

The magistrate frowned, slapped the gavel, and shouted: "Presumptuous, how can nonsense be allowed in the court? Left and right, don't drag this woman down."

The left and right yamen servants agreed, and immediately stepped forward and dragged Hua aside.

Hua Shi was overwhelmed by the majestic shout of the prefect, her face was full of tears, her mouth was open, but she didn't dare to cry.

The magistrate took a look at Sima Hen, then slapped the gavel again, there was a loud bang, the whole hall was silent, and said: "Sima Hen is at the verdict."

Sima Hen used his knee instead of his foot, took a step forward, and said, "The criminals are here."

The magistrate stood up and pronounced the verdict loudly: "Sima hate, because your father-in-law Mei Ruofeng is old, disrespectful, immoral, incestuous, insulting your own daughter, and defiled your wife. You hold a grudge, and on the ninth night of the first month of this month, you died in the Minghuang Mountain of the General Waiting for an opportunity to murder in the temple, stabbed him twice from behind, resulting in his death. After trial, the evidence is conclusive and the crime is unpardonable. The government sentenced you to death. After reporting to Huguang Procuratorate for approval, you will be executed on a date. You Can I be convicted?"

Sima said with hatred: "The guilty people plead guilty."

The knife and pen official had already recorded his confession according to the facts, and presented it to him, so that he could sign it after reading it.

Sima hated not to look at it, so he pressed his fingerprints.

The prefect gave another order, and two arresters surrounded him, took out a pair of 35-jin heavy shackles, and restrained him.

The magistrate said: "Put it in the death row first, and choose another day to declare execution."

The two yamen servants agreed, pushed Sima Hen, and walked down the hall. Just two steps away, they suddenly heard the sound of "Tong Tong Tong Tong" drumming from the door. The drum was loud and urgent, just like a drummer Holding back all his strength, he wanted to pierce the grievance drum at the gate of the yamen.

The magistrate finished his trial and was about to leave the hall when he heard the sound of the drum, but sat down again, frowning and asked, "Who is playing the drum in the hall?"

A yamen servant at the door stepped forward and replied, "My lord, it is Mei Nuxue, the daughter of the magistrate of Mei County and the wife of Sima Hen, who is beating drums outside the door to express her grievances. She wants to see your lord."

The magistrate was stunned, and said: "Oh? There is such a thing, let her in."

The yamen servant went out and brought in a woman with a plain body and pale face.

Seeing Sima hated it, he couldn't help being shocked, and said anxiously: "Nuxue, why are you here?"

Mei Nuxue saw that her husband was under heavy shackles, her cheeks were red and swollen, and traces of blood ooze from the corners of her mouth, she felt pity and pain in her heart, her eyes were red, and she was about to shed tears. He said: "Brother Hate, how are you? I, I came to save you. I can't just watch you die like this. I must rescue you..."

Sima Hen's face changed slightly, and he stared at her and said, "Nonsense, your father died at my hands. I deserved it for my crime, so why should I be wronged? As long as you don't, don't be bullied by that beast again, I will Death is also reconciled. You, you go back quickly... I can no longer take care of you by your side, you, you have to take care of yourself, after I die, you, you can find another good man to marry..."

Hearing this, Mei Nuxue couldn't help lowering her head and weeping, she gritted her silver teeth suddenly, went to the public case and knelt down with a plop, and said with tears in her eyes: "Minister Mei Nuxue, please help my husband Make the decision. My husband did not kill anyone. He admitted that he was wrong. He just had a deep heart and took the place of death for others. He was wronged, and the real murderer was not him. Please be clear, my lord."

The magistrate leaned out from behind the case and asked, "You said he was not the murderer, so who is the murderer?"

Mei Nuxue raised her head, a trace of determination flashed in her tear-filled eyes, she gritted her teeth and said, "Returning to my lord, the one who killed my father was none other than Minnv herself."

7
Mei Nuxue had a happy childhood, but she also had a nightmare girlhood. Generally speaking, she is an unfortunate woman.

When she was ten years old, her mother, Mrs. Li, suffered from heartache, and unfortunately died of illness on the way to take office with her husband.Later, although Mei Ruofeng brought his father to live with him in Xiulin County, Mr. Mei lived in the Minghuang Temple on Jiangjun Mountain outside the city and passed away soon.From then on, in the Mei family, only Mei Ruofeng and Mei Nuxue were left to depend on each other.

Mei Ruofeng and Li Shi were childhood sweethearts, and they were in love with each other. When they grow up, they become a husband and wife, and they are also in the same boat through thick and thin, and their love is strong.When Mrs. Li died of illness, Mei Ruofeng cried loudly for three days and three nights while holding the corpse, and never wanted to continue.

On the night of Li's death, it was the full moon.The moon is full and people are missing, which is extremely bleak.From then on, when the moon was full, Mei Ruofeng was always very sad and couldn't let go of it. She often looked sadly at the spirit of her dead wife and drank lovesickness.The only consolation is that her daughter Nuxue is well-behaved and obedient, growing up day by day, her eyes and brows are quite charming like her mother's back then.Looking at his slim daughter, he often has a strange illusion.

As she got older, Mei Nuxue found that the way her father looked at her became more and more complicated.

An unexpected turn of events happened when she was 14 years old.

It was a full moon night, as usual, my father drank alone in front of his mother's coffin, but suddenly he overturned the cup, fell on the table and burst into tears.

Except for the death of her mother, Mei Nuxue had never seen her father cry so sadly.

When she heard the sound and came out of the room, ready to wipe away her father's tears like an adult, her father suddenly stopped crying, raised his head from the table, and stared at her blankly, eyes full of tears. With a strange light.

She wore a snow-white shirt that day, because there is a word "Snow" in her name, so she always likes to wear snow-white clothes.

With a hint of drunkenness, his father stared at her obsessively, murmured his mother's name, and said, "Is that really you? Did you come to see me as a fairy in white..." Suddenly he hugged her As he kissed, the thick air from his nose sprayed onto her delicate face.

She was very flustered and frightened, but she didn't know what to do.

Just when she timidly called "Father" and was about to push him away, he suddenly became rude, murmured his mother's name while hugging her, and put her down on the table , and then tore off the thin shirt on her body, and pressed her under him.

So this scene of inhuman tragedy happened in front of a mother's spiritual tablet.

After the father sobered up, he regretted it to death. He slapped himself, begged his daughter to forgive him, and even pulled out the town house sword hanging on the wall, and was about to commit suicide in shame.

She held him back, she felt like a poor daughter and he was a poor father.

She cried, but there were no tears on her face. She shed tears into her heart, and the tears that flowed in her heart were more bitter.

But on the night of the next full moon, the father broke down the door of his daughter's boudoir after getting drunk, and the unfortunate story of that night was repeated again.

Every full moon night since then has become a lingering nightmare for Mei Nuxue.

"Why did I prevent him from drawing his sword and committing suicide that day?"

She often sat by the window, thinking so regretfully and sadly.

If he had died that day, she would not have lived in this never-ending nightmare.

She even thought about taking out the prepared dagger hidden under her pillow and stabbing him quietly heart.

But she didn't do anything after all, she thought, this is her only relative in this world, if she killed him, what should she do?

From then on, that bright smile was never seen on the face of this beautiful girl again.

When she was 17 years old, she met the person she liked. This person was Sima Hen, a young head catcher in the county government.She decides to marry him.Her father reluctantly agreed.

Not long after she got married, her father remarried another woman, and she was secretly glad that she was finally freed from that family and that terrible "devil's lair", and could live happily with her beloved from now on , the man she called her father found her again, and he told her that he married that vulgar fan called Hua Xiangrong just to deceive others, but he never really liked that woman, and never had a relationship with that woman. She slept in one room.Father said he couldn't forget her mother, and he couldn't forget her either.He hoped that she could replace her mother and go home to visit him once a month, preferably on a full moon night.If she is disobedient, she will never see her husband again. He can put that man named Sima Hen on death row for any crime he chooses.

Although there is the word "nu" in her name, she is a woman who is so weak that she never dares to get angry.

She loved her husband deeply, and was afraid that he would be hurt, so she had to swallow the tears of humiliation alone again, and satisfied her father's beastly request.

Her only hope is that her husband will not know all this.If he knew all this, what would he do to her?

She couldn't imagine how he would react, but she knew that he would never be with her again, and he would never love her like before.But she really loves him and really doesn't want to lose him.

This humiliating day has passed for nearly three years.

Three years, to her who had been tortured and devastated, seemed longer and more painful than 30 years.

She didn't want to live this humiliating life again.

She was thinking about ending this dark, nightmarish life all the time.

And the only way to end all of this is to kill him, that beast.

Some people say that a weak woman is like a volcano, the longer it accumulates, the more terrifying it erupts, and Mei Nuxue is undoubtedly this kind of woman.

When the words "kill him" flashed through her mind, they never lingered again.

Yes, the only way to get rid of him is to kill him.

She made up her mind quickly.

She originally wanted to plunge the dagger she had prepared into that naked body on a certain full moon night, but in that case, her shameful past would be like coals in a white paper, never to be seen again. Can't help it, once the truth is revealed to the world, what will the world think of her husband?

She is not afraid of others talking about her, but she is afraid that others' comments will hurt her husband.

But except for the night of the full moon, it is even more difficult for her to kill the person who has long been on guard against her in the heavily guarded Mei Mansion at ordinary times.

The only chance to kill him was on the day of her grandpa's great sacrifice, when only a few of Mei Ruofeng's confidantes guarded the foot of the mountain that night, and Mei Ruofeng was alone in the entire Minghuang Temple and even the entire General Mountain.

If he could sneak up the mountain in the middle of the night and kill him while he was asleep, no one would suspect his own daughter.

But to avoid the eyes and ears of the entourage at the intersection at the foot of the mountain, go up the mountain into the temple to kill someone, and then escape down the mountain silently to avoid being searched, it is undoubtedly extremely difficult for a woman with no strength to restrain a chicken thing.

But this kind of opportunity only comes once in three years. If she misses it, she will have to wait another three years if she wants to kill him. But now that she has the intention to kill him, she doesn't want to wait even a day.

On the fifth day of this month, she was alone in the woods outside the north gate, walking while looking at Jiangjun Mountain not far away, secretly planning her murder plan in her heart, but she accidentally saw a white puppy, and suffered a lot. Injured, with a broken hind leg, squatting on the grass and howling.

She took the little white dog home and fixed the broken bone. Three days later, the puppy was able to walk.

She brought the puppy to the woods again. It was already the eighth day of March, and tomorrow would be Grandpa's memorial day, but she hadn't figured out her "murder plan" yet.

She was a little anxious, wishing she could bury the mountain with explosives, and detonate the explosives to kill the man as soon as he went up the mountain.

But she didn't have explosives in her hand, only a dagger that she had kept for a long time.

When she was at her wit's end, she suddenly found that the little white dog she had brought had got into a clump of wormwood and hadn't come out for a long time. She felt a little strange, and while calling for the little dog, she broke through the grass to look for it, only to find that the weeds covered her. Underneath, there was a pit about two feet wide, and the puppy was hiding in the pit, gnawing on a bone.

She jumped into the pit and wanted to pick up the puppy, but suddenly a gust of wind blew from behind, making her shiver.Strange, how could there be a cloudy wind blowing in this pit for no reason?

She turned around and looked through the weeds behind her, only to see that there was a hole there, the inside was pitch black, and she couldn't see the end. It made her terrified.

Just as he was about to leave, the little white dog snorted, slipped past his feet, and ran straight into the tunnel.

"Puppy, come out quickly."

She called out, hesitated for a moment, and followed into the tunnel.

After chasing for a while, seeing that the puppy had been caught, the dog suddenly picked up a bone and ran faster in front.

At this time, it was very far away from the entrance, and the gloomy light from the entrance of the cave could no longer come in, so she had to turn on the torch and look for the puppy.

The tunnel was very narrow and low, and could only allow one person to bend down to walk through it. At first she was a little scared, but after walking for a while, seeing that nothing was wrong, she became a little bolder and chased the puppy all the way towards the tunnel. Go deep.

I don't know how far I chased it, maybe a few miles away, she finally caught the puppy, looked up, but the tunnel had come to an end, there was a gap above the head, and some light came in slightly.

Curious, she walked to the gap, pushed slightly hard, but opened a bluestone slab above her head a little bit, pushed harder, and finally moved the slate away, and a bright light shone down from the top of her head.

She poked her head out to have a look, but she groaned and was startled, because she saw a coffin at a glance.But she soon discovered that it was her grandfather's coffin.

Isn't grandpa's coffin parked in Minghuang Temple?How come here?

She walked out of the tunnel, and after watching it for a long time, she realized that this place was already inside the Minghuang Temple on Jiangjun Mountain, and that tunnel actually led from the woods one mile away at the foot of the mountain to the right wing of the Minghuang Temple. Northwest corner.

She had just recovered from the shock, but her heart suddenly jumped wildly. God helped me. If I sneaked into the temple through this tunnel on the ninth day of March, on the day of Grandpa's great sacrifice, and after killing someone, I escaped through the tunnel again. Going back, isn't it invisible?
After making up her mind, she covered the stone slabs at the exit of the tunnel, and then walked back to the woods along the tunnel.

That night, she suffered from insomnia, and quietly took out the dagger that had been stored for a long time, and wiped it again and again.

It should be said that her murder plan was implemented relatively smoothly.

At midnight on the ninth day of the ninth day, she sneaked into the Minghuang Temple through the tunnel, quietly pushed aside the stone slab and poked her head out, and found that under the candlelight, the man was sitting on the stool with his back to her, motionless, as if he was fast asleep.

She was secretly happy, pulled out the dagger, approached tiptoely, and then stabbed him in the back, because she was too nervous, her hand trembled involuntarily, the knife did not hit his fatal position, so she immediately pulled out the dagger , Stabbed again.This knife pierced right into his heart from behind, and after two stabs, he had no chance of surviving.I was secretly happy in my heart, and was about to walk up to him to see if he was really dead, but suddenly the temple door creaked and was pushed open.

She was taken aback, her feet went limp, and she almost collapsed in fright.

However, what she didn't expect was that the man who broke into the temple with a murderous look and a sword was actually her husband Sima Hen.

Only then did she realize that her humiliating husband had already secretly noticed it, and he came here tonight to kill someone.

Sima Hen saw her, saw the dagger stuck in Mei Ruofeng's back, looked at the removed stones on the floor and the exposed tunnel entrance, and understood everything.

He told her to leave the tunnel quickly, and she asked worriedly, "Then what should you do?"

Sima Hen gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry, I've already chosen a scapegoat."

She heard what her husband said so affirmatively, so she retreated from the tunnel with confidence.However, what she never dreamed of was that the matter was still revealed, and Sima Hen actually confessed to death in order not to expose his beloved wife.

However, how could she just watch her husband die for herself?
So, she went straight to the court and explained everything.

8
After hearing Mei Nuxue's narration, everyone sighed. No one expected that behind this seemingly weak woman, there was such a humiliating story hidden, let alone that the real culprit who killed Mei Ruofeng was neither Wu Guo, the enemy's son, was not his subordinate Sima Hen, but his biological daughter Mei Nuxue.The impermanence of the world is really touching.

Sima Hen looked at his pale and haggard wife, feeling pity and love in his heart, with tears in his tiger eyes, tightly holding her delicate hands, his lips trembling, but he didn't know what to say.

In order to prove the truth of Mei Nuxue's words, the magistrate Mr. Han immediately led all the people in the hall to the forest in the north of the city to check whether there is really a secret passage leading to the temple on the mountain from the general mountain one mile away.

Mei Nuxue led the way, pushed aside a clump of wormwood, and indeed saw a dark tunnel entrance.

Mr. Han was not afraid, lit a torch, bent down to get in, the tunnel was very narrow and low, it was exactly what Mei Nuxue said.After walking not far, Huoguang saw a stone tablet standing on the cave wall on the right hand side. Mei Nuxue came to the cave twice in a hurry, but she didn't see it.

The prefect of Han lowered the torch and took a closer look, only to see two lines of seal characters engraved on the stele: On the seventh day of the fifth month of the Renyin year, Wu Guogong dug a tunnel to avoid the besieged soldiers of Chen Youliang.

Before the founding emperor of this dynasty, Taizu Ye, was called Wu Guogong before he conquered the world.

It turns out that the great grandfather was besieged by the Han king Chen Youliang in the Jiangjun Mountain Temple more than a hundred years ago. He escaped not because of the blessing of the gods, but because he dug his own tunnel and escaped secretly.

When everyone saw the inscription, they suddenly realized, and only then did they understand the origin of this tunnel.

All the way forward, the exit is in the wing room where Mr. Mei Shouke's coffin is placed in the Minghuang Temple.

It can be seen that what Mei Nuxue said is probably true.

When the group returned to the county government office, the magistrate was sitting on top of the courtroom, his eyes swept down the hall, among the crowd standing in the hall, apart from a group of yamen servants, Wu Guo, Sima Henmei Nuxue and his wife, Hua Shi There are five masters and servants.

He looked at the expressions on everyone's faces, he had an idea in his mind, he slapped the gavel with a "ba" sound, and said, "Mei Nuxue, you said that you killed your father Mei Ruofeng with your own hands, but is it true?"

Mei Nuxue knelt down and said: "What Minnv said just now is true, the murderer who killed my father was not Wu Butou, nor my family's husband, it was actually Minnv who did it alone, please be careful."

Prefect Han nodded and said, "Very good."

He asked again: "According to what you said just now, the reason why you were able to find the underground tunnel that played a key role in this case and help you complete the murder plan was all because of a puppy leading the way, right?"

Mei Nuxue nodded and said: "That's right. That tunnel was indeed found by Minnv accidentally by the little dog that Minnv rescued."

Master Han asked: "Where is that puppy now?"

Mei Nuxue said: "At the folk girl's house."

Master Han said: "Left and right, let's take Mei home and bring the puppy."

Hearing the sound from the left and right, two yamen servants came out, holding water and fire sticks, escorted Mei Nuxue and ran straight to the north gate.

After about half an hour, the three of them came back again.Sure enough, Mei Nuxue was holding a little dog in her arms, the dog's eyes were agile, its body was snow white, it didn't have a single hair, it was very cute.

Mei Nuxue put the dog on the ground, then knelt down in front of the hall again.

The dog had obviously never seen this kind of occasion before, it seemed a little frightened, it just rubbed around Mei Nuxue's feet, and after a while, it dared to raise its head, a pair of dark eyeballs looked timidly at everyone around it looked over.

When it saw Hua Xiangrong, all the hairs on its body stood on end, bared its teeth, and rushed forward, barking at her.

Hua Xiangrong was startled, and shouted in disgust: "Get out of here." He raised his foot and kicked it a somersault.

The dog didn't dare to rush to her to bark anymore, but retreated far away, staring at her with hatred in its eyes, and growled in its mouth.

Prefect Han nodded secretly, his heart became clearer, and said: "Mei Nuxue, you are really cute and funny. What else do you want to say?"

Mei Nuxue said: "Minnv has nothing to say, Minnv pleaded guilty, please forgive me."

Everyone knew that she had a miserable life experience, was ravaged, and she had no choice but to kill her father. Besides, Mei Ruofeng was disrespectful to the elderly, inferior to animals, and both humans and gods were angry, so she deserved to die.

Everyone secretly sympathized, and only hoped that the magistrate would be merciful outside the law and give a lighter sentence, so that Sima's hatred of Mei Nuxue would give some comfort to the hard-working mandarin ducks.

For a while, there was no sound in the courtroom, and everyone was silent, just waiting for the magistrate to pronounce the sentence in court.

Unexpectedly, at such a critical moment, the magistrate suddenly smiled slightly, turned his head to look at Doctor Yi who was standing beside him, and said, "You are an assistant brought by me from the magistrate's yamen. In your opinion, how should this murder case be dealt with?" Judgment?"

Doctor Yi hurriedly took a step back when he heard this, bowed and said, "My lord, what is the verdict for this case? Please forgive me for not daring to comment, but yesterday when I performed an autopsy on Mei Ruofeng, I found three doubtful points from him. My lord It must be observed."

Han Qingshan raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh, let me tell you about the three major doubts."

In fact, he was also present at the autopsy yesterday, and Doctor Yi had already reported the suspicious things on the corpse to him.Asking a question at this time is just to let Dr. Yi speak out in front of the room.

Doctor Yi has known Mr. Han for many years, so he naturally understood his intentions. He walked down the hall, glanced over everyone's faces, and said, "Everyone, the first of the three doubts I mentioned below is that the county The work of Wu Geng in Yali has already been mentioned, so I won't repeat it. As for the second doubt, it came from Mei Ruofeng's wound. He was stabbed twice in the back. Although the first stab missed, the second The second knife went several inches deep, right in the heart, but what is surprising is that under such a serious injury, only a small amount of blood seeped out of the wound. You can imagine that if an ordinary person was stabbed in the body, the blood would be gushing wildly, and the clothes would be completely ruined. However, Mei Ruofeng was stabbed twice in a row, and the wounds were so severe, but the surrounding area of ​​the wound was clean, and there was no trace of blood stained red, why is that?"

Hearing what he said, everyone who had seen Mei Ruofeng's body couldn't help but secretly nodded, and asked in their hearts: Why is this?

Doctor Yi said: "There is only one reason for this result, and that is that Mei Ruofeng was already dead when she was hit by the knife. Only after death, the blood in the whole body coagulates, and after being stabbed, there will be no heavy bleeding."

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the hall.

How could Mei Ruofeng die before being stabbed?

Isn't Mei Nuxue the murderer?

The case got complicated again.

Dr. Yi ignored everyone's surprise and comments, and continued, "I checked Mei Ruofeng's stomach with a silver needle, and found a small amount of shad soup and shad meat that had not yet been digested in his stomach." When I got here, I suddenly turned my head to look at Mrs. Hua, and asked, "Mrs. Mei, for dinner on the ninth day of March, your family had a shad soup. At that time, only you and your wife were eating at the table. Isn't that right?" After Hua Xiangrong nodded in affirmation, he continued: "But the strange thing is, I found a kind of drug mixed in the fish soup in Mei Ruofeng's stomach, and this drug doesn't seem to be pure, it also contains Other poisons. The smell of the drug is extremely fragrant and strong, which is why Mei Ruofeng said that the fish soup that night was more fragrant and delicious than usual. It was the poison mixed in the drug that killed Mei Ruofeng Both the drug and the poison are chronic drugs, so Mei Ruofeng slowly fell into a coma after drinking the fish soup for several hours, and died of poisoning in the coma."

It turned out that Mei Ruofeng died of poisoning, everyone couldn't help but looked at each other in blank dismay, greatly surprised.

So who would be the poisoner?

Everyone turned their puzzled and questioning eyes to Dr. Yi.

Doctor Yi was not in a hurry, and was not in a hurry to reveal the answer, and he continued to say: "At first, the magistrate and I both suspected that the problem lies with the cook who cooks the dishes or the maid who serves the dishes. But after investigation, we found out You know, there are four chefs and five helpers in the kitchen of Meifu, and they all work together in the kitchen. It is very difficult for anyone to tamper with the fish soup without being discovered by others. Moreover, after the fish soup is cooked , the two chefs tested the taste with spoons respectively, and did not feel any strange smell in the soup. It can be seen that the fish soup was not poisoned before it was brought out of the kitchen, and it was not in the kitchen. The maids are three people together, each serve the same dish, walk into the dining room side by side, and serve three dishes at the same time, if one of them stops poisoning, the rest will be aware of it. Therefore, it is also certain that the fish soup is served before entering the dining room. They are all clean and safe. But what happens after the fish soup is on the table? Mrs. Mei, please come and tell everyone.”

The expression on Hua Xiangrong's face suddenly changed subtly, his eyes lowered, he looked at the ground, and said: "When the food was served, my master was still reading in the study inside, and after the maids who served the dishes closed the door and went out, , there was only the woman in the dining room, and the woman did not dare to go to the table, and stood and waited for about half a cup of tea before the master came out of the study and sat down to eat, and the woman dared to sit down..."

Doctor Yi asked: "Before Mei Ruofeng entered the hall, what were you doing?"

Hua said: "The woman didn't do anything, she just stood aside and waited for him to come out."

Dr. Yi blinked, stared at her and said loudly: "You are lying, just for a short while when no one is around here, you took out the poison you had prepared and mixed it into that big pot of fish soup."

Hua's complexion changed, she quickly shook her head and said, "No, no, I didn't do anything."

Doctor Yi took a step forward, stared at her and said, "Yes, there must be. That pot of fish soup was cooked and eaten. Only at this moment can someone poison you. If you didn't poison, then freshman Why don’t you eat the pot fish soup yourself? The people in the kitchen said that you usually drink shad fish soup the most, and you often say that this soup is very helpful for nourishing yin and beautifying the skin.”

Hua hurriedly said: "No, I, I also drank fish soup."

Doctor Yi's eyes were like lightning, and he asked aggressively, "Then why didn't I see you die in a coma after being poisoned? Only you had the chance to poison the pot of fish soup from beginning to end, and you are the murderer who poisoned Mei Ruofeng to death."

"No, no..." Forced by his awe-inspiring aura, Hua backed away in fright, shook her head in panic, and cried out, "I, I didn't poison, I put it in the fish soup. It's just a drug, not a poison, he, he wasn't killed by me..."

Doctor Yi didn't allow her to take a breather, took a step forward, and asked sharply, "Then why did you put the drug in the fish soup?"

"I, I..." Hua Xiangrong knew that she had slipped her tongue and wanted to repent, but it was already too late.

The magistrate didn't allow her to think too much, he had already slapped the gavel, and shouted: "Hurry up and invite me for the truth, don't you want me to torture you to serve you? Left and right."

The execution clerks on the left and right shouted loudly, and rushed forward to push Hua Xiangrong to the ground.

Mrs. Hua was so frightened that she lost all her beauty, lost her soul, her legs were weak, she plopped down on her knees, and said in a trembling voice: "My lord, please calm down, and the women are willing to recruit. The drug in the fish soup my master drank was indeed the woman's drug. of."

9
The magistrate sat in the hall, his eyes shot down like lightning, and he asked, "Why did you drug him? Tell me quickly."

Hua Xiangrong said tremblingly: "Because, because Mei Nuxue can kill him only if he is fascinated, otherwise she is a weak woman, even if she gets close to him, she can't kill him."

The magistrate asked: "How do you know that Mei Nuxue is going to kill her father? Could it be that you two are accomplices?"

Hua Xiangrong quickly waved her hand, and said: "No, no, the woman and the murderer are not accomplices. But a woman's heart is the most sensitive. Soon after marrying into the Mei family, a woman has already discovered that Mei Ruofeng and his daughter have an incestuous relationship. Every time Nuxue looked at her father, her eyes were full of hatred and murder, and the woman also found that Mei Nuxue had hidden a dagger on her body every time she went back to her natal home to 'visit' her father. It can be concluded that she has long wanted to kill, but she is just waiting for the opportunity."

The magistrate said: "Mei Ruofeng sacrifices to her father once every three years, and when she watches the night alone, it is undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for her to do something."

Hua Xiangrong nodded and said: "Yes, the woman has followed her secretly several times, and found that she always likes to go to the woods outside the north gate not far from her home to look at the Jiangjun Mountain not far away and the Minghuang Temple on the mountain in a daze. The woman guessed that she must have wanted to sneak into the temple on the ninth day of March, the day of her grandfather's great sacrifice, and kill people, but she was afraid of being discovered by the guards at the foot of the mountain, so she couldn't make up her mind to make up her mind."

The magistrate had already seen everything, and asked: "So you took pains to train a puppy to lead her to find the tunnel leading to the temple, and secretly helped her complete the murder plan, didn't you?"

Hua Xiangrong said: "Yes. The great-grandfather of the civilian woman was once a general under General Xu Da, the founding marshal of this dynasty. Back then, General Xu dug a cave at the foot of General Mountain to save the Lord. My great-grandfather also participated in it, and in his free time I wrote it in my own article and passed it on to my grandfather and father. The woman also read it when she was young. She knew that there was a tunnel under the General Mountain, but she didn’t know the exact location. Later, the woman found other tunnels left by her ancestors. After careful study of the manuscript, I finally found this unknown secret passage. But how to tell Mei Nuxue about this tunnel without arousing her suspicion, the woman has spent a lot of time thinking about it."

The magistrate deduced: "You first found a very cute little white dog, and took it to play at the entrance of the tunnel every day, and put a lot of bone food there for it to eat. After a long time, it will remember Once you get to that place, once you are in the woods, you will go straight to the hole to look for food. Then, you will break one of its legs alive and throw it away on the way of Mei Nuxue's walk. You know Mei Nuxue Nuxue is kind-hearted. She has liked puppies, cats and animals since she was a child. When she sees an injured puppy, she will take it home and adopt it for treatment. Besides, she likes white and pure things the most. You specially chose a snow-white and cute puppy. Come to seduce her, so that you have more chances of winning. But a wise man is always cautious, and he must make a mistake, but you didn’t expect that this puppy remembered that you were the enemy who broke its legs, so after meeting, he barked at you, all of a sudden This exposed your past relationship. Hua Xiangrong, is this officer right?"

Hua Xiangrong nodded and said: "That's true. Mei Nuxue rescued the puppy. The puppy is used to coming out to play. If she keeps it at home, it will be restless and barking endlessly. If she lets it out Walking, it will definitely go straight to the hole in the woods and grass to look for food. Mei Nuxue will definitely find this secret tunnel after following it. With this shortcut, and Mei Ruofeng has long been fascinated by me Yao is in a coma in the temple, so it is not difficult for her to kill Mei Ruofeng."

The magistrate asked, "Why did you help her kill your own husband?"

Hua Xiangrong gritted her teeth suddenly and said: "I want to help Mei Nuxue kill her father. The reason is actually very simple. I want to get the big courtyard of Mei's family and all of Mei Ruofeng's family property. I was originally just a poor man singing in an opera troupe. Actor, it is a great honor to be able to marry into such a wealthy family as the magistrate of the county. Unexpectedly, after passing through the door, I found out that Mei Ruofeng never liked me at all, and he never liked me. He married me just to deceive others. He slept with me in a separate room, never touched my body, but secretly he was ambiguous with his own daughter, father-daughter incest, really outrageous. Since he has no affection for me, then I Naturally, the seat of Mrs. Madam in this county will not be secure. If he is not happy, he may kick me out of the door of Mei's house at any time, but I don't want to go back to the past and go back to the opera troupe to experience that kind of poverty The only way to keep this kind of affluent life for a long time is to kill Mei Ruofeng and inherit his family property once and for all. In order to prevent his daughter from competing with me for the property, the best way is to let Died at the hands of my own daughter. Firstly, Mei Nuxue would definitely murder and be sentenced to death if the crime happened. I would have one less opponent to fight for the family property. Second, she had an affair with her father. Killing my father in anger is a matter of course, and no one will suspect me. In this way, wouldn't Mei Ruofeng's huge family property become my possession?"

The magistrate frowned and said: "What a vicious woman, what a vicious plan to kill with a knife. In fact, since Doctor Yi's autopsy yesterday, I have suspected you, but there is not enough evidence to convict you, so As soon as the court opened today, I will start the trial from Wu Guo, Sima Hen and others, in order to knock the mountains and shake the tiger, so that you can show more lies, so that I can take you down in one fell swoop and punish you in court."

Hua Xiangrong had already made up her mind, and there was not much fear on her face, she said: "My lord, please be aware that the girl just put some drugs into the fish soup that Mei Ruofeng ate, and she didn't actually kill anyone, so there is nothing serious about it." It is a crime. As for Mei Nuxue’s cruelty to kill her father, my master died at the hands of his own daughter in the final analysis, she is the murderer, she deserves to be punished for the crime, and I hope that my lord will not bend the law for favoritism and give a light sentence.”

"Bold Hua," the magistrate suddenly slapped the gavel, and said, "Mei Ruofeng was poisoned to death by you first, the evidence is solid, you still want to quibble?"

Hua Xiangrong was stunned, and said: "My lord, the woman was wronged, the woman's drug in the fish soup was indeed a drug, not poison, I hope my lord will see clearly."

Han Qingshan glanced at Doctor Yi and asked: "Doctor Yi, what Mrs. Hua said is the truth?"

Doctor Yi said: "What Mrs. Hua said is indeed the truth. According to the observation of the humble official, the poison was mixed with the drug and put into the fish soup, so she admits that she has taken the drug, which is tantamount to admitting that she has taken the poison. .”

Seeing that she had fallen into his trap, Mrs. Hua couldn't help but her complexion changed drastically, and she repeatedly called for grievances, saying: "My lord, the woman is really wronged, what the woman gave was really a drug, not poison, otherwise the woman can poison Mei Ruofeng to death by herself. And why bother to lure his daughter into the trap?"

Hearing what she said was reasonable, the magistrate was also secretly puzzled. He lowered his eyebrows and thought for a while, then asked suddenly: "Mr. Hua, did you go to the pharmacy to buy the drug yourself? And which pharmacy did you buy it from?"

Hua Xiangrong shook her head and said: "No, the woman asked Qingmei, her confidant, to buy the medicine for the drug. At that time, the woman told her that I couldn't sleep at night for the past two days, and I couldn't sleep during the day. Get up, tell her to go to the pharmacy to buy some sleep-promoting drugs and come back, I took it at night to sleep well. She didn't doubt it, and went immediately. This is Qingmei." After finishing speaking, she pointed to the girl in green shirt beside her .

After hearing this, the magistrate turned his head to look at Qingmei, the maid, and saw that she was about eighteen or nineteen years old, quite pretty, but there was a bit of flirtatiousness in her brows, and she understood something in her heart, and asked : "Qing Mei, I still need to send someone to Chuan Chengxi Hechun Tang and Shou Chun Tang who were at the counter that day to confront them in person and ask what kind of medicine you bought that day?"

Looking at the expression on Qingmei's face, he guessed that she probably bought a pack of drug for the ecstasy that day, and then bought a pack of poison to mix it in. To buy these two medicines with completely different properties, he usually found two pharmacies to buy them separately, but yesterday he passed by the west gate in a sedan chair and found that there were only two pharmacies, Hechuntang and Shouchuntang, and the drugs and poisons she bought Most likely, they bought it from these two places separately, so he said the names of the two pharmacies at the same time to see her reaction.

Qingmei has never seen such a battle before, she was so frightened that she trembled like chaff, she hurriedly knelt down and kowtowed: "My lord, please forgive me, I am willing to recruit you. When I went to Hechun Hall to buy drugs, I did buy it at Shouchun Hall. A packet of poison was mixed into it."

The magistrate stared at her and asked, "Why did you do this?"

Qingmei looked at Hua Xiangrong who was kneeling beside her, and saw that she was looking at her with vicious eyes, she couldn't help being startled, and hurriedly moved two steps to the side to prevent her from pounced on her suddenly.

She bowed her head and said: "Because the servant has already noticed that the master seems to have no affection for the wife, but the master is very, very caring for the servant, and the servant thinks that there is an opportunity. As long as the wife dies, the master will definitely take the slave into the house, so I heard that the lady wants Taking the drug to help sleep, the servant girl became malicious and mixed a little chronic poison into the drug she wanted to use. After she took it and slowly died of poisoning in her sleep, the servant girl could replace it. Who knew she bought This drug is for the master... If I had known this earlier, I wouldn't have dared to poison the drug if I killed the servant... The servant was confused for a while, please forgive me, please forgive me..."

When she said this, there was already an uproar in the hall. No one expected that behind this murder case, so many people would be involved, and there would be so many bizarre stories. It was really unimaginable and embarrassing.

When Na Hua heard Qingmei's confession, she had become a poisoned murderer unintentionally, she couldn't help being startled and angry, she rushed forward to fight with her, but the yamen servants had already held her back and pushed her down.

10
The magistrate sat upright in the hall, he slapped the gavel forcefully, and everyone was silent.

He swept his eyes away and shouted: "Everyone in the hall is waiting for the judgment."

Wu Guo, Sima Hen and others hurriedly knelt down, only to hear the magistrate say: "The arrest of Wu Guo by the Xiulin county government has nothing to do with this case, there is no need to punish him, and he will step aside."

Wu Guo thanked the lord, got up and stepped aside.

The magistrate said again: "Sima Hen, chief arrester of the Shuilin and Lulu Roads in Xiulin County, and his wife, Mei Nuxue, although you and your wife have no intention to kill, you have the intention to kill. Sima Hen dismissed the chief arresting officer of the county yamen, temporarily replaced by Wu Guo, the chief arresting officer of the county yamen, and I sentenced you and your wife to thirty sticks each, to be executed in court, as an example to others."

Sima Hen heard that the magistrate's sentence was much lighter than what he had imagined. It was obvious that the magistrate thought of his husband and wife's suffering, and his affection was encouraging, so he wanted to give a light sentence. He couldn't help being very grateful, and knocked three times. , Thank you and said: "Thank you for your kindness, my lord. Cao Min is willing to suffer the punishment of sticking for his wife. I hope you will allow me."

The magistrate glanced at Mei Nuxue, saw her pale face and weak body, he was afraid that she would not be able to bear the [-] rod punishment, so he immediately nodded in agreement, threw down a lottery ticket, dragged Sima Hen down from the left and right, and took off his clothes and pants Peeled down to the bottom of the buttocks, they started to fight.

The executioner Zao Li respected the chief arrester very much. When he struck, he was merciful and only used seven percent of his strength, but even so, after forty or fifty blows, his skin was already ripped apart, and his clothes were stained with blood. Passed out from pain.

Mei Nuxue watched from the sidelines, she was sobbing already, she was asking the magistrate to use the remaining ten sticks on her body, when suddenly a person stood beside her, knelt down and said: "My lord, I am willing to be punished ten times with the stick for Sima Hen's behalf , please forgive me, my lord."

Sima Hen looked at it painfully, but it was Wu Guo who he had tried his best to frame and set the blame before. Seeing that he ignored the previous suspicions and was willing to be punished on his behalf, he was ashamed and moved, and his heart was hot, and he was about to shed tears.

Seeing that Wu Guo has such a heart, the magistrate secretly nodded his approval and said, "That's fine."

Wu Guo thanked the lord, and immediately fell down, received ten strokes of the stick, he was fine, and stood up by himself.

Mei Nuxue also hurried forward, and helped her husband up with tears in her eyes. The husband and wife faced each other, choked up and couldn't speak, as if it had been a lifetime.

The magistrate then sentenced: "Qing Mei, maid of Meifu, you buy poison to kill people. Although you are not the person who directly poisoned you, you can be regarded as an accomplice. This government punishes you as an accomplice. You will be sentenced to exile for two thousand miles, and you will never return. Township. Can you accept the sentence?"

Qingmei shed tears, kowtowed and said: "Your maidservant accepts the sentence."

The magistrate slightly turned his head, looked straight at Hua Xiangrong with his sharp eyes, and said: "Master Hua, you poisoned and killed your own husband and blamed others for the sake of family property. Sentence you to death, and you will be executed after the autumn after the report is approved. Can you accept the sentence?"

Hua Xiang's face was ashen, his whole body trembled like sifting chaff, his feet got wet suddenly, and he lost control on the spot, with a sound of ah, he was so frightened that he fainted and paralyzed to the ground.

The two yamen servants on the left and right immediately stepped forward and dragged her down.

The magistrate glanced at everyone, and finally said: "Before any new officials arrive, all the government affairs of the Xiulin county government will be temporarily represented by Lu Wenchao, the county magistrate, and Wu Guo will be fully responsible for the criminal arrest. If there is no objection, immediately Back out."

Everyone in the hall hurriedly sent the prefect to leave, and the three classes of yamen servants shouted together: "Wei——wu—"

(End of this chapter)