The Four Great Cases of Wu Zetian

Chapter 7

The old woman pleaded bitterly to avoid the county magistrate's initial interrogation

But Hong Liang received the imperial edict and rushed to Huanghua Town on the same day, and the next day he arrived at the door of Bishun's house, knocked on the door twice, and heard an old woman answer inside: "Who knocks on the door? You come to make noise early in the morning. Where are you from?" He reached the door, opened it, and saw three or four big men crowding in the alley, and hurriedly put their hands on the two door leaves, and asked: "You should also know, There is no male guest in my family, and two generations of widows have suffered unspeakably. What are you guys doing, why did you come to knock on the door this morning?" Hong Liang was about to speak, when the messenger said first: "We are too. I can't help myself when I am sent by the order, otherwise I am sleeping at home, who will pay off the long-distance debt for no reason. It's just because our county magistrate has an order here, so that we, the head of Hongdu, come together and ask you to come with you My daughter-in-law, go to the city immediately, and reply at noon. Don't stop me at the door like this, this is not the place to talk.

"As soon as he said that, he pushed Bi Shun's mother, and everyone rushed in, and sat down in the main room."

Look at the door of the first room. Before it was opened, Hong Liang took out the edict and said: "The business is here, it's too late. Where is your daughter-in-law now? Let me come out and go to see the grandfather together. I said three times Just a few words, and it’s none of our business.”

When Bi Shun's mother came here on a business trip, she trembled in fright and said, "My family has never committed any crimes, so if our mother-in-law and daughter-in-law are required to come to the church, is it possible that some debtors sued my family, saying that we don't pay back the money we owe? I have pity on my son. After his death, the family has been in a difficult situation. How can I have money to pay back. Although I am a small family, I have never seen an official go to the government to make a fool of myself. What should I do? Some good deeds, come to the grandfather for me, and reply first, I have sold the things here, so I should clean it up quickly. Let me give you a grace period today, so that we will not come to the church." As he said, tears started to flow from his eyes.Seeing that she was really a loyal and useless woman, Hong Liang said, "Don't worry, it's not that a debtor is suing you, it's just because the uncle wants to bring your daughter-in-law up for questioning, so you hand her over, or do some favors. I'll take you there." Before Hong Liang could finish speaking, Bi Shun's mother yelled and cried, "I know you are really sent by the county. It turns out that you are pretending to be a tiger to intimidate our people! Since he is an official, he has nothing to do. Why do you only mention my daughter-in-law? It can be seen that you are not good people. Seeing that my daughter-in-law is a widow and neither of us has power, so I came up with this bad idea and tricked her away. Either raped or sold into prostitution , isn’t it just a dream? Since you are like this, grandma and grandma will fight with you for this old life, and then drag you into the city, and see that your county magistrate doesn’t even ask!” Loud.The two guards next to him couldn't bear it any longer, they pushed Bi Shun's mother to sit down and shouted: "You wife is so ignorant, it's because Hong Dutou is extraordinarily perfect, lest you show up in public, so I just take your daughter-in-law away. You I misunderstood the opinion, and mistakenly said that we are fake. The world is on holiday. The imperial edict was written by the grandfather himself. Is it also fake? I think you are too confused, no wonder you are fooling around for your daughter-in-law. Didn’t you meet this Qingtian grandfather? , I'm afraid you are dying, and you don't know yet."

Everyone was making noise here, when the door of the next room slammed, her daughter-in-law had already stood up and shouted to the outside: "Grandmother, stand up now, let me ask him something. One is not you, and the other is not someone who is controlling you." , Our mother-in-law and daughter-in-law did not commit any crimes in this family. As the old saying goes, although a steel knife is fast, it does not kill innocent people. Although he is a local official, he must be reasonable. The emperor saw a chaste woman in his house , and also set up a letter to show that the official Spring and Autumn Sacrifice. There has never been a reason for two generations of widows and local officials to go on business trips.

It is not difficult for him to bring me up, as long as he explains the situation, what law we have committed, then I will not be afraid to go to court, and I can argue clearly.If you mention someone like this, no matter whether my mother-in-law or daughter-in-law can't follow the mention.Even if I go, no one will invite me back, but don't say that I offended the officer. "All the messengers listened to her words quickly, they were as sharp as knives, and they could not say anything. At this moment, they were blocked by her and looked at Hong Liang. Hong Liang smiled and said: "You little woman, Even though he is young, he has a sharp tongue, no wonder he did such an astonishing thing.If you want to ask why you are mentioned in the case, we are not in Changping County, but we know how to mention people by ticket.You have to ask, you go to the hall and ask, who are you trying to scare with these words? " At that time, they lost their winks, and everyone understood, they rushed forward and grabbed her, not allowing her to argue, pushed and hugged, and went out.

Bi Shun's mother saw that her daughter-in-law had been snatched away. Although she wanted to come here, she was alone.Everyone has no time to ask.

When they arrived in the town, those households and shops saw what had happened to Bi's family, and for some reason, they all crowded up to watch.Afraid of the noise from idlers, Hong Liang said in a bright voice: "We are sent by Mr. Di of Changping County. We will go to the hall to interrogate immediately. You neighbors are blocking the way here at this time. You will find your neighbors later, so don't avoid them. This case is not an ordinary case." Fearing that they might be involved, those people rushed over one after another, and Hong Liang took advantage of this to come all the way.

About noon, when I arrived at the office, I immediately went in and informed Di Gong.Di Gong ordered the lobby to serve.Putting on the official belt, the door of the Nuan Pavilion opened, and the public case was raised.When I saw the scribes of all classes, they were lined up on both sides, and they were ordered to lead criminals immediately.Both sides shouted loudly, and Bi Shun's wife had already knelt down at the bottom of the steps.

Before Duke Di opened his mouth, she saw that she had already asked: "Little lady Zhou kowtowed to the Grandpa. I don't know what the Grandpa has said, so I ordered the official to come to the town for interrogation, and asked the Grandpa to find out quickly. I am a young widow, and I cannot kneel for a long time." Court." Hearing this, Duke Di couldn't help being angry, and said with a sneer, "You are such a 'widow', you can only deceive that old woman into being confused, how can this county fool you for you! Just raise your head Come, let's see who is in this county?" When Mrs. Zhou heard about it, she looked up—she was quite surprised, and thought to herself, "This is Mr. Lang Zhong, who sold medicine the day before yesterday. No wonder why he became the magistrate of Changping County. I have been in a state of panic for several days, and it turned out that this happened. If it is for him to ask, what should I do at that time?" Although I was very scared in my heart, I didn't dare to show it on the outside. Instead, I replied loudly: "Little woman the day before yesterday I don't know if it was the grandpa who came here to offend me. Although it is the little woman's fault, I don't know if she is not guilty. The grandpa is an upright official, how can you get angry for this?" Di Gong shouted: "You whore, you don't know this county! You The husband is just a young man, and it is expected that the husband and wife should be of the same heart and have a good relationship for a hundred years. Why did he commit adultery with others and kill his own husband with bad intentions! If you tell the truth, the county may use benevolence outside the law to reduce the punishment. If you gossip Deny it, this three-foot Dharma hall should cause you to suffer immediately! Why do you think this county was remodeled yesterday? It’s just because your husband’s death is unknown and the spirit of the ghost has not yet dispersed. You have reported a negative state in this yamen a few days ago, so you came to visit. Who knows that you are lawless and slander Weng Gu, the word 'disobedience' is already a crime that cannot be pursued. Let us tell you from the facts, how did you kill your husband that day, and who was the adulterer?"

When Mrs. Zhou heard that she had murdered her husband, it was a blow to her head, and her true soul had already flown out of her mind.He hurriedly replied: "The grandfather is the parents of the common people. The little lady had no intention of offending the day before yesterday. How could she come up with such a crime to frame her for such a trivial matter? This is a matter of life and death. The grandfather must always be merciful, and he cannot be wronged arbitrarily. Well." Di Gong shouted: "This county knows that you are a whore, you are a good mouth, and I will not return the evidence to you. Forgive you and refuse to prosecute. Your husband's negative form states your crimes. He said that after death, you Fearing that his daughter will grow up, and then reveal the authority and ruin your affairs, so he conspired with an adulterer and murdered his daughter with medicine. The county saw it with his own eyes yesterday. I'll use torture to interrogate." At this time, Zhou was not willing to recruit, so he just complained and complained, saying: "Where did you start, the little woman, there is a shadow and an invisible one, which caused this disturbance. Under three feet, what can I ask for?" !Even if you are tortured to death, you can't admit it indiscriminately."

After hearing this, Mr. Di said angrily: "You whore, dare to fight in front of the court. The county is desperate to reject this black gauze, and confessed to the cruel crime. Seeing that you can deny it with arrogance! Left and right, first drag her away." Forty back with the whip!" With a call, many guards came in the morning, dragged down Dan Chi, tore off the clothes on Mrs. Zhou, shouted five times and six times, and beat them straight on the back.I don't know whether Zhou is willing to recruit or not, let's see the breakdown in the next chapter.

(End of this chapter)