I served as an admonisher in the Song Dynasty

Chapter 41: Tips for investigating cases, Mr. Zhang speaks the truth
Kaifeng Mansion Prison.

The candlelight was dim, and there was a pungent musty smell in the air.

Su Anshi, the judge of the Third Division of Household Affairs, sat at the table.

The chamberlains Wang Zhaoming and Su Liang were sitting on both sides.

In the front is Zhang, who is wearing a white prison uniform and has committed adultery.

"Ms. Zhang, you claimed that you had an affair with Hanlin scholar Ouyang Xiu before you got married. Do you remember when and where it happened?"

Mrs. Zhang slowly raised her head.

"People's women...people's women...haven't...haven't they already been recruited?"

"When I ask a question, you just answer it and don't say anything else!" Su Anshi looked cold and dignified.

"It happened six years ago, on the second day after the Beginning of Summer, after midnight, in... my bedroom at Ouyang's house."

"Do you remember what Ouyang Xiu was wearing at that time?"

"At that time...it was dark inside the house, and I...I didn't see clearly."

"How many times have you had this kind of relationship?"

"once."

"When was "Wang Jiangnan" written?"

"He read it to me on the second day after the incident."

……

"Many years have passed since this happened, why are you talking about it now?"

Hearing this, Mrs. Zhang choked up.

"The slave family...the reputation of the slave family was damaged at that time, but due to Ouyang Xiu's powerful position, they did not dare to tell the truth, but...but today they made a big mistake, and there is hatred in their hearts, so...so they want the world to know Ouyang Xiu Animal behavior!"

"Do you know that it is impossible to prove this matter based on your own words and the song "Wang Jiangnan" which cannot be determined to be written by Ouyang Xiu. If what you said is a false accusation, the crime will be more serious than adultery. !”

"The slave family...the slave family...there is no...there is no false accusation! The slave family...the slave family...I..."

Mrs. Zhang suddenly started sobbing, the louder she cried.

Su Anshi looked helplessly at Su Liang and Wang Zhaoming.

Before the interrogation, Su Anshi informed the two of them.

This Mrs. Zhang could only interrogate half a cup of tea before she started crying and could no longer question her at all.

Su Liang looked at Zhang.

If he didn't know that Mrs. Zhang was a slut, this pitiful crying look would really make people believe that she was an innocent victim.

Su Liang slowly stood up and motioned for the two of them to go out and talk.

Immediately, the three of them came to a room next door.

Su Anshidao: "Three times Zhang was interrogated, the testimonies were all the same. There was basically no ambiguity. This matter is extremely credible!"

Su Liang shook his head slightly.

"Judge Su, I feel more and more that what Zhang said is false."

"Fake?" Wang Zhaoming looked puzzled.

"Impossible! How could it be so fake? She not only remembered when and where it happened, but she even said the purpose of the report so flawlessly!" Su Anshi said.

Su Liang smiled slightly.

"What if there is an expert who is familiar with criminal law giving guidance behind the scenes?"

The two couldn't help being stunned, and then blurted out: "Yang Riyan!"

Yang Riyan, who had the power to know the affairs of Kaifeng Mansion, was impeached by Ouyang Xiu many times.

The contradiction between the two is huge, which is known to both the government and the public.

At the beginning of this case, Yang Riyan was the presiding judge.

Su Liang waved his hand and said with a smile: "I didn't say who it was, I just thought there might be someone behind him!"

Su Anshi and Wang Zhaoming both rolled their eyes at Su Liang.

This guy is young, but he has more eyes than anyone else.

As the chief prosecutor and supervisor, I really cannot identify anyone without evidence.

"Then...then how to interrogate next?"

Su Anshi was helpless.

There was nothing else that could be asked from Zhang's mouth, and the other party's crying was simply a killer move.

"You two, come here!" Su Liang told the two of them his thoughts.

After speaking.

Su Anshi's head shook like a rattle.

"No, no, no, as a court official and in charge of criminal cases, how could we use such crooked tactics!"

But Wang Zhaoming's eyes lit up.

"I think it's feasible. This case is different from others. If we can't clear Ouyang's innocence, even if there is no evidence, Ouyang's reputation will be ruined."

"Yes, as long as the result is correct, no one cares about the process." Su Liang said.

Su Anshi is a very good judge.

It's just too upright.

The methods of handling cases are also too correct!

If we continue to follow the rules like this, there is a high probability that the case will remain unclear until the end. In the end, Emperor Zhao Zhen, Xini, and Ouyang Xiu left the court sadly.Su Liang didn't want such a result.

If Ouyang Xiu is innocent, he must protect Ouyang Xiu.

Su Anshi thought about it, hesitated for a moment, and then nodded.

……

At night, inside the prison.

A jailer pushed a dining cart to Mr. Zhang and started to get him food.

When Mrs. Zhang arrived, the jailer half-covered his mouth and said softly: "The official said that you have done a good job. As long as you don't let go, the things promised to you will be fulfilled!"

After hearing this, Mrs. Zhang nodded slightly.

This jailer was naturally sent by Su Liang.

Su Liang's first move was to deceive Zhang.

"Song Xingtong" says: Those who commit adultery will be detained for one and a half years; those who are married will be detained for two years. (In the late Northern Song Dynasty, the punishment was even lighter: two years in prison could be converted into fifteen canes and then released on the spot)
Currently.

Zhang's crime of adultery was sentenced to two years in prison, and his adulterer was sentenced to one and a half years in prison.

If Mrs. Zhang was really instigated by someone to falsely accuse Ouyang Xiu, then it must have been money that prompted her to do so.

After all, after Zhang was released from prison, he had no relationship with her husband's family.

After being evicted from his home, what he lacked most was money.

Therefore, Su Liang thought of cheating.

I never thought that I would be deceived by just one sentence!
Mrs. Zhang nodded, which meant that there was definitely someone behind her.

So, Su Liang, Su Anshi, and Wang Zhaoming jointly performed the second trick: scaring.

The next day, afternoon.

Zhang was taken to the interrogation cell again.

"Snapped!"

A confession was placed in front of Zhang.

Su Anshi said with a cold face: "Ms. Zhang, the facts of your case have been clearly investigated. You are guilty of two crimes: adultery and framing an official. You will be exiled to Qiongzhou soon. Please sign and be bound!"

"Exiled to Qiongzhou?" Zhang was dumbfounded.

Although she is a female, she has lived in a scholarly family for a long time, so she naturally knows what kind of ghost place Qiongzhou is.

Exile to that uncivilized land was no different than a death sentence.

She looked down at the confession and couldn't help but blush.

"Official... official... person, daughter of the people... I... I am only involved in the crime of adultery, and I can only serve for two years at most. I... I didn't frame the official, how can I be exiled?" Mrs. Zhang looked at Su Anshi.

Su Anshi said expressionlessly: "According to the "Song Xingtong", no single evidence can be obtained. Your confession is not enough to prove that you were molested by Ouyang Bachelor. Therefore, I believe that you are guilty of framing an official!"

Wang Zhaoming on the side also immediately added: "Ms. Zhang, Academician Ouyang is a highly valued official in the government, how can he allow a slut like you to frame him! Until now, you still don't know the crime?"

With Wang Zhaoming's unique voice, one could immediately tell that he was a chamberlain.

Su Liang stood aside, trying not to laugh out loud.

Su Anshi and Wang Zhaoming are both talking nonsense seriously.

but.

This was enough for Zhang to believe it.

When Mrs. Zhang heard that Wang Zhaoming was a chamberlain, she was completely panicked.

The chamberlain represents the official family.

Wang Zhaoming's words gave her the feeling that the official family was on Ouyang Xiu's side.

Even if Ouyang Xiu is guilty, the officials will protect him.

Zhang is also a person who has read poetry and books.

After she figured it out, she was completely panicked.

Once he is exiled to Qiongzhou, he will have no chance to spend any amount of money he gets.

"Sign it!" Su Anshi said again.

There was a jailer on the side who had brought the pen and ink to her side.

Mrs. Zhang bit her lip, suddenly flipped over the pen and ink, and said: "I...I have never had a relationship with Ouyang Xiu. Someone paid me to bite him."

Hear this.

Su Liang couldn't help but smile on his face, and murmured in his heart: Crooked tricks are easy to use.

Deceive first, then intimidate.

These crooked tricks were all researched by Su Liang when he was the county magistrate.

Most of the conflicts among common people are just nonsense.

If the interrogation is rigorous and the evidence is sought, the case will not be solved even in the years of the monkey.

But once you know their motives and follow the clues to find flaws, everything becomes much easier.

　Let me focus on explaining here. Su Liang chose to believe Ouyang Xiu without any evidence. First, he believed in Ouyang Xiu's character, which was romantic but not nasty.Secondly, Ouyang Xiu was the only New Dealer in the court at the time, and was extremely likely to be persecuted.

　　There was a magnetic field among the scholar-bureaucrats in the Song Dynasty, just like Fan Zhongyan and Teng Zijing. Someone reported that Teng Zijing had embezzled public funds. Fan Zhongyan didn't know anything about it, so he dared to say that he believed in Teng Zijing's character.

　　Some people say that this paragraph is too naive, and they immediately believe Ouyang Xiu and assume that Ouyang Xiu is innocent.Others might be able to investigate and collect evidence, but this person was Ouyang Xiu who Su Liang had personally questioned, so Su Liang chose to believe that when gentlemen meet, they know each other when they see it, and there is no need to obtain evidence.This is also a romance unique to scholar-bureaucrats!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)