In the Bozhou Prefecture Ya, Zhao Luan was washing in the room, and an entourage hurriedly ran over and reported: "Official, the big thing is not good, a woman died outside the yamen!" Now there are many people at the door, and the officials should go quickly! ”

Zhao Luan was taken aback, hastily cleaned up, and followed his entourage out of the state office. I saw a large circle of people on the white wall where the list was unveiled. When they separated the crowd and entered, they saw a woman hanging herself from a white wall, with a piece of white paper next to her.

Seeing Zhao Luan coming, the officials who were guarding here let out a sigh and hurriedly came up and sang a promise: "Official, the little one came out early in the morning to see, and saw this woman hanging here." For unknown reasons, I didn't dare to move, so I took people to stay here. ”

Zhao Pan pointed to the white paper on the ground and said, "Bring it to me." ”

The official took the white paper and gave it to Zhao with both hands. They had already seen the paper and put it back there.

Unfolded the white paper, only to see a few words written on it. To the effect that this woman is Tan Erniang, the mother of Tao 17, a death row prisoner in the state, who was deceived by Ma Meng, a native of Yongchengya, a few years ago because of selling medicinal materials, and lost the capital and owed him the payment. The husband went home to raise money, and when he was about to raise all the money, Lu Yuhou, who came with him, killed his husband and fled with the money. A few years later, Tao 17 stabbed the enemy on the street, but was sentenced to beheading, feeling that God was unfair.

Finally, there is a large line of letters. This woman had no choice, before hanging herself in front of the yamen, one life for another, and begged the state to release Tao Seventeen.

After reading it, Zhao Luan gasped, took the form, and said to the officials around him: "You quickly go to the county government of Qiaoxian County, and let them send someone to find out when this woman entered the city, who she saw and what she did when she entered the city." After checking, report it immediately. Also, I informed the servants and came to collect the body. ”

The servant answered and turned away.

Zhao Pan carefully looked at the shape written on the white paper, the handwriting on it was crooked, not like the handwriting of a scholar, and he was confused. He was most afraid that the woman in front of him was not committing suicide, but being killed to make it look like this, which was another mysterious case. Since Tao 17 killed people on the street, many old cases have been involved, but there is no evidence, which makes the state officials extremely troubled. Add one more case, and it's really hard to do.

After waiting for a while, the manager joined the army and arrived, Zhao Luan gave a few instructions, took the case into the state office, and reported to Zhizhou Han Yi.

Han Yi is already old, and he is asking for Zhishi on the table these days, and the government affairs are basically ignored, and it is still to be handled by Zhao Luan.

After informing Zhizhou and the general judgment, Zhao Luan returned to the embassy, put the case aside, re-called Tao Seventeen's case file, and looked at it carefully. Many years have passed since the case, and there are many errors and omissions in the testimony of all parties, and many places are not correct. For example, Tao 17 said that his mother left home and remarried after his father died. But I learned from Tan Erniang that she first went to Ma Meng's house in Yongcheng County, and her husband was alive at that time, but later I only heard that her husband was gone. When I asked again, Tao Qiqi had not seen his parents for several days, because he had heard someone tell him what had happened. was finally taken home, saw Lu Yuhou, and then his father died, and Tan Erniang was not at home at that time.

There are really a lot of mistakes and omissions in this kind of place, and the neighbors around me have a clear memory, and many things are no longer understood. It is precisely because of this that this case became a suspicious case, and in the end, he only killed Tao 17 on the street and beheaded him.

Put down the case file, and Zhao Pan combed it again. If it is assumed that what Tan Erniang said is true, and Ma Meng and Lu Yuhou colluded to kill for money, then many things will make sense. Tao XVII's father went home to raise money, and in order to prevent accidents, he sent his son elsewhere, and only took his son back until the money was almost raised. It's just that I don't know how Lu Yuhou finally changed his mind and killed him. Tao Seventeen was young at the time, and what the people around him said to him was true or false, not necessarily to harm him. At this time, I asked again, of course, no one admitted that he had told a lie at that time.

When Zhao Luan was sorting out the dossier, the lieutenant of Zhong County came to visit. After saluting, he said: "The lower officials have made it clear that the woman who committed suicide in the yamen is Tan Erniang, the biological mother of Tao Seventeen, who killed someone on the street a few days ago. She went into the city yesterday and found a few gentlemen who wrote letters, and each wrote a few sentences, which were roughly the sentences of the adverbs. But the woman was careful, and wrote a few words everywhere, but it was incoherent, and finally she followed the description into an adverb. She didn't enter the inn last night, and she waited there until midnight, when a rope hanged herself at the gate of the state office. ”

Zhao Luan put down the case file and asked: "In that case, is the mother heartbroken son, and there is no other hidden feeling?" ”

Zhong County Lieutenant said: "According to the investigation of the lower officials, there should be no other hidden secrets." ”

Zhao Luan closed his eyes and was silent, and after a while, he called an entourage and said, "You go and invite all Cao officials to come to the embassy, we have something to discuss." ”

The entourage went, and Zhao Pan called the new secretary in charge of the case next to him and arranged to sit down.

After talking about the matter, Zhao Pan said: "Secretary Xiang, in your opinion, how should this case be handled?" There is no suspicion that the woman hangs herself, and we can collect the burial, and this is the end of the matter. Or—reconsider the Tao 171 case? ”

Secretary Xiang pondered for a while, and arched his hand: "It all makes sense, everything is subject to the orders of the judge." ”

The main duty of the secretary of the festival is to hold the seal of the festival with the official and sign military documents together. At this time, Du Zhongxiao, the official of the promotion, was in Yongcheng, and Secretary Xiang was in charge of signing and printing military documents in Bozhou, and in principle, no pre-civil affairs. Zhao Luan asked him to discuss the prison case together, as long as it was not outrageous, Secretary Xiang would not express his opinion. Involving him is just a matter of procedural respect.

After a short time, the secretary of the army came with the secretary and the manager to join the army, and after the ceremony, they sat down separately. Bozhou is not large, the army is not prepared, there is no judiciary to join the army, and its position is generally part-time by the division of the army.

Zhao Luan told what happened in the morning, and let everyone read the pleadings, saying: "Tan Erniang felt that the state government handled it unfairly, so she hanged herself in front of the door. However, Tao 17 killed people on the street, the evidence of the crime is conclusive, the crime is unforgivable, and there is nothing to say about the sentence of beheading. Based on this, we can bury Tan Erniang and expose this matter. Just doing this, it is inevitable that the people of the state will say that the government is covering up the big households, and the small people will not be able to live, which will harm the reputation of the court. If it was just because Tan Erniang hanged herself, she would have released Tao Seventeen, and there was no basis in the law. It is a dilemma, please come and express your opinions. ”

Hu Lushi arched his hand: "The signing judgment is true." In the case of Tao 17, because he was reporting to his father, and he was only 15 years old and young, he was sentenced to death, and there was a lot of gossip in the state. Coupled with the death of his mother, it is not good to insist on asking for beheading. It is better for us to postpone the seventeenth year of the beheading Tao and report the case to the imperial court, which will decide on it. Then Wen Yongcheng Du pushed the official, and asked him to check the tooth man Ma Meng. This case involves this tooth man everywhere, and if he comes out to confess, there may not be no room for maneuver. ”

The manager joined the army and the secretary joined the army together: "The record is right." ”

The embassy court is the person who signed the judgment Zhao Luan, and the state court is the person who records the matter and joins the army, and there is nothing difficult about the case, and no one else has any objections.

Zhao Pan looked at Tan Erniang's pleadings on the table, and muttered for a long time before he said: "I don't know what kind of character this woman is on weekdays, since she can come up with a complaint in the state, and she also knows that she can find many people to write pleadings separately, and it is also a strong character to exchange one life for one life, why do you do this?" She has been working in Ma Meng's Zhuangzi for many years, doesn't she know something? It's also good to go to the state to hand over a complaint to Mamon, so it's really puzzling. That's it, looking at the fierceness of her death, let's temporarily detain Tao Seventeen and go to the court. ”