The herbal medicine of peasant doctors and women fills the garden

Chapter 62
Lu County Magistrate Jing Tangmu clapped again, and continued the official question: "Since it was a one-sided relationship, why is there a portrait of Miss Yao hidden in Mr. Liu's room? And Xiulian, the maid of the Liu family, said that on the day Mr. Liu was killed, She got up at night and saw Yao Shanbao with her own eyes, how can this be explained?"

Xiulian, a maidservant of the Liu family who was kneeling beside her, quickly kowtowed to the county magistrate Lu and said, "Your Excellency, you are clearly aware! The little girl really didn't lie, what the little girl said is true!" She put her head on the ground and kowtowed desperately, "Little girl! Even with ten heads, I dare not lie to my lord, I beg my lord to see clearly!"

County Magistrate Lu had a headache, scratched his fat head, and asked out of breath, "Yao Shanbao, did you really not go to Liu's house the night Master Liu died?"

Yao Shanbao is open-minded, she didn't kill the man, it has nothing to do with her, what is she afraid of!
"Responding to your lord's words, the civilian girl has never been in the city." She lowered her head slightly and said, "I heard from some officials on the road just now that the master of the Liu family was killed the night before yesterday, and I was in the same village the night before yesterday. It is impossible for the Zhang family to take care of the sick and come out, please be careful."

The county magistrate of Lu doesn't have the ability to judge cases, otherwise, he is in his 40s, and he wouldn't be just a seventh-rank sesame official.

Now seeing the public say that the public is right and the wife is reasonable, I don’t know what to do for a while. A pair of big and round eyes are flicking here and there. He patted the gavel again, gritted his teeth and said, "My maid, Xiulian, I want to ask you, since you went out at night and saw outsiders at night when Master Liu had an accident, why didn't you tell me?"

"I...I..." The maid called Xiulian hesitated, her body lying on the ground couldn't stop shaking, her hands were unsteady, "I'm afraid!"

"What are you afraid of!" County Magistrate Lu pulled his old face down, his beard was shaking with anger, he slapped the gavel hard, and said angrily, "Is this official a stupid official? Is this official definitely missing the case? Do you think this officer will directly find a scapegoat in order to quickly close the case? Hmph, confused!"

After the magistrate Lu spoke angrily, the master who was sitting on the side and kept taking notes coughed, and the magistrate Lu quickly shut up.Yes, he is indeed a mediocre official. He has been the magistrate of Anping County for more than ten years. He burns incense and prays to Buddha every day, praying that there will be no major incidents in the county, because he is not only afraid of troubles, but also has no ability to solve cases.

Every year, he passes the assessment by stepping on the line, so for so many years, he has not been able to be promoted to an official. For more than ten years, he is still shrinking here as a county magistrate.The classmates who took the imperial examination with him before were either appointed officials of the third rank or above in the capital, or they were officials in the provincial capital.

Talking too much is full of tears, County Magistrate Lu wiped old tears in his heart, and secretly made up his mind, the murderer died this time is Liu Yuanwai, the richest man in Anping County, the higher-ups will definitely pay attention to it, so he must handle it well the case.

After thinking about it this way, County Magistrate Lu cleared his mind a little, and asked Xiulian again: "I will ask you one last time. On the night of Master Liu's accident, when you came out to pay respects at night, what you saw was a woman kneeling beside you? Don't do it again." Trying to lie to me in vain, otherwise I will serve you with punishment! I want to hear the truth!"

Xiulian had been lying on the ground all this time, but she straightened up again after hearing what Magistrate Lu said, and turned her head to look carefully at Yao Shanbao.From the forehead to the chin, he looked at her figure, and kept his eyes on Yao Shanbao for a long time, then frowned and shook his head slightly.

She lowered her head and replied: "Like, but not like, the little girl can't tell." She frowned, with fine beads of sweat dripping from the tip of her nose, as if she was thinking about the appearance of the person she saw at that time, "That night , the little girl woke up several times in the middle of the night because she drank too much water the night before. It was very quiet in the night. When I came out of the latrine, I found a woman in the backyard. I was afraid that I might be a thief, so I hid in the latrine I didn't come out, although it was dark at that time, but there were lights in the Liu Mansion in the middle of the night, so the little girl could see the girl's face clearly." At this point, she stopped, turned her head to look at Yao Shanbao again, shook her head and said , "It's really similar to the girl next to me, but the little girl is not sure if she is this girl, after all, there may be people with similar looks in the world."

At this time, Liu Xiangsheng, who had been sitting on the side, stood up with his fists in his hands and replied, "My lord, my Liu family has never had any grievances with this Miss Yao from Lianshui Village. But a few days ago, I found Songhua in order to find delicious food for my father." I happened to meet Ms. Yao in a noodle restaurant. Ms. Yao is very skilled in cooking, very courteous, and well-mannered. At that time, I invited Ms. Yao to open a noodle restaurant in the county, but Ms. Yao politely declined. I don’t have any other hobbies, I like calligraphy and painting, so when my hands itch, I made a portrait of a girl and hung it in my room.”

"As the maid Xiulian said that she saw the person in the portrait that night, I thought she might have read it wrong. The maid Xiulian changed her statement several times before and after, and perhaps she was instructed by someone to deliberately lead the clues to the Come on me." He spoke in a flat and steady voice, and his eyes were very gentle. He turned his head and looked at Xiulian lightly, and asked, "Don't do to others what you don't want yourself to do to yourself. Since you are afraid of teasing Don't get involved with irrelevant people when you go to court. Let me ask you, you were supposed to be the watchman outside the night my father had an accident, why did you not know why the master died in the house?"

Xiulian was shocked, and immediately kowtowed to Liu Xiangsheng: "Young master, it's really not me. The master's death has nothing to do with me! That day... that night, the servant girl was going to sleep outside like before. But the servant girl After lying down, the master suddenly got up and told the servant that he didn't want to be accompanied at night, so he sent the servant away. What happened later, the servant does not know."

When County Magistrate Lu heard this, the gavel slammed: "Bold girl Xiulian! How dare you lie to me in court, you...you are contemptuous of the court! Come on, take the girl Xiulian down and put her in prison. Get up and continue the investigation." Then he smiled at Liu Xiangsheng, narrowed his eyes and said, "Since Mr. Liu has said so, I also believe that the girl in the hall is innocent, and the Yao family of Lianshui Village will be released in court. .Retire!"

Yao Shanbao breathed a sigh of relief, and wanted to stand up, but Xu had knelt for a long time, his feet were a little numb, and one of them couldn't stand firmly and almost fell to the ground.

"Miss Yao, be careful." Liu Xiangsheng walked a few steps quickly, grabbed Yao Shanbao's arm, and when he helped her stand up firmly, he let go of his hand angrily, then clasped his hands, and said with a slight smile, "Miss, we meet again." I wonder how the girl is doing these days?"

Yao Shanbao instinctively didn't want to talk too much to Mr. Liu. There is no businessman who is not sharp-headed, but because Liu Xiangsheng helped him just now, he forced a smile and thanked him kindly: "Thank you just now, Mr. Liu for saving the siege. , I didn’t expect such an unfortunate thing to happen to Mr. Liu’s house after a few days of absence... I hope that County Magistrate Lu can catch the culprit and give Master Liu justice.”

(End of this chapter)