Ma Fuyao was busy cleaning up the aftermath of the evil mother-in-law's case, writing a closing statement or something, and Wang Ji didn't call witnesses or plaintiffs, so he called Liu Yuan first.

"Who are you, Zhou?"

"It's the prison guard's wife."

"Who are you?"

"It's the concubine of the prisoner."

"Whose family is it?"

"It's the woman of the Shi family in Flower Street."

"That's not like a good girl."

"Don't dare to hide it from adults, it's a prostitute."

Asked this, Ma Fuyao stopped his pen and raised his head and asked, "Then how did the Zhou family die?" ”

Liu Yuan said unhurriedly: "It was hanged." ”

Ma Fuyao sneered: "Why hanging? I mean that before scolding on the street, everything in the world must happen for a reason, who would hang himself for no reason? Family members and neighbors can testify, if you dare to lie a word and make a false confession, as a prisoner, you should know the consequences. ”

Xu Hao, who had just come to observe, was very surprised, but he didn't expect Qingshuang's star chasers to have a clear eye when they tried the case.

Here Liu Yuan hurriedly said: "Because the prisoner brought a concubine to his father's office last year, he stayed until April this year, and he did not have a quarrel with his wife during this period, and everyone can testify." ”

Ma Fuyao said: "This is strange, you don't take your wife with you, but take your concubine?" ”

Liu Yuan said: "Because his wife is sick, he has never been with him. ”

"Since my wife is sick, why don't you leave a concubine to serve at home?"

"Because my father sent someone to pick him up, I had to go with my concubine."

Ma Fuyao said unhappily: "I didn't come to pick up my daughter-in-law, but I took my son's concubine, it can be seen that your father is a bastard old man, you continue." ”

Liu Yun immediately blushed, and said with a straight face: "Since the prisoner is not at home, the two sisters-in-law often come to the house to walk around. When the prisoner returned home, the two sisters-in-law came out of his wife's room and were bumped into by the concubine. Mistaken for a monk and Taoist, how can he go in and out of the house during the day? The prisoner also misbelieved it, and inevitably rebuked his wife. Who knew that she was ashamed and hanged herself in the middle of the night. ”

Wang Ji listened carefully, and then said, "Since you are not a man, what is there to be ashamed of?" When my sister-in-law came to the house, how could your concubine not see it? Why did you wait until people left, and then mistook the monk and Taoist? ”

Liu Yuan said: "Because my wife lives in the backyard, my house is big. ”

Wang Ji asked, "Then where do you live?" ”

Liu Yuan said: "The prisoner and the concubine all live in front. ”

Wang Ji shook his head and said, "Sure enough, there is a reason for it, I heard that you have been slow to treat your wife for a whole year." If you go home and don't live with your wife, you are already at fault first, and you shouldn't condone the concubine to frame your wife, you go down first. ”

He also summoned Jin Zhi's personal maid and asked, "How did Jin Zhi talk when he saw his sister-in-law?" ”

The maid lowered her head and said, "I didn't say anything, I just said that a Taoist priest and a bald monk went out, and I didn't say anything else." ”

"What did your young master say?"

"Ye didn't say anything, only said that the monks and Taoists dared to come here."

"And what did your deceased grandmother say?"

"Grandma is holding a knife to fight against the young master and aunt, and she scolds people at the gate."

"What did you curse?"

The maid recalled: "The eighth king of thieves. Thief and adulteress, what have I done to you? Do you want to exclude and force me to death? ”

Wang Ji and Ma Fuyao glanced at each other and asked, "When you were scolding, where were your young master and your aunt?" ”

The maid said: "The young master is hiding in the second gate and looking out. My aunt hid at home against the door. ”

Wang Ji asked, "Where did your grandmother hang?" ”

The maid showed a palpitating look and said, "Hang on the beam in front of the door of the young master and aunt." ”

Wang Ji saw that the maid was not very old, so he waved her down and passed another personal maid, Liu Qing. He was about eighteen or nineteen years old, and when he asked some of the questions he had just asked, the answers were almost the same.

Wang Ji suddenly asked, "Jin Zhi is a concubine from a prostitute. Dare to believe that the deer is a horse, and the sister-in-law is a monk, it can be seen that there are many places that embarrass the Zhou family on weekdays, why don't you say it? And your confession is not the same as what the other girl said. Since you don't tell the truth, come up with a clamp stick. ”

This is the most common interrogation method in the yamen, detain the suspects separately, and then say that their accomplices have confessed, if you resist stubbornly, not only will you suffer, but when the sentence is the most charged, often the prisoner will have a psychological breakdown, after all, everyone has selfish intentions, and immediately confess everything.

Of course, this trick is not very effective for habitual criminals with good psychological quality, but it is different for dealing with young women like Liu Qing, plus the soap officials on both sides shouted in unison, threw the torture instrument into the hall, and the bluffing maid trembled.

Liu Qing hurriedly said: "I'll tell you the truth, don't clamp me." ”

Wang Ji said: "Wait! After she finishes speaking, if she doesn't tell the truth, the punishment will be doubled. ”

Liu Qing sighed, and at this time she couldn't care about the protector, and said: "At noon that day, my aunt watched us drying our clothes in the yard, and Sister Qingmei led a sister-in-law out from behind grandma. ”

Ma Fuyao said in surprise: "Aren't they two sisters-in-law?" Who is Qingmei? ”

Liu Qing explained: "Qingmei is her sister-in-law, and now her legal name is Haihui, she was born as a maid from a relative's family, and she knew her when she was a child. ”

"Then you go on."

"Yes!" Liu Qing said again: "Qingmei walks in front, and the sister-in-law follows behind." When my aunt saw it, she shouted, 'What a countryman! What a clear door! What a well-founded young lady! At noon on the red sky of the big day, Taoist priests with fat heads and big ears, and white and strong monks, came and went from the house one by one. Although I am a person with no foundation, I sing on stage and raise Han to pick up customers, but I only choose decent people to pick up, these stinky cow-nosed and stinky bald donkeys, I have no man for 10,000 years, and I won't want him! ’

The aunt was shouting, the young master came over, and the aunt pointed to his face and scolded the stinky king, stinky turtle or something, saying that you let such a slut be at home? There is green smoke on the ancestral graves of your Liu family.

At that time, the young master was a little unconvinced, and asked if it was true? What monks and Taoists dare to come in and out of the road and not avoid people?

My aunt said that you are a faint king, and the whole family has seen it, and you still don't believe me?

The young master was angry and called to come to the door, and everyone explained that it was not a monk and Taoist, but Qingmei and Guo Guzi. But what did the young master ask, Aunt Guo, who of you knows the details of the road? Qingmei has always taken the lead in other people's daughters, so she is not a serious person, she must have brought a monk to pretend to be her sister-in-law. Lao Tzu can't be the eighth king, call Old Man Zhou to come and take a break from that slut.

Later, Master Zhou and his brother-in-law came, and I didn't know what to say, anyway, after a while, my grandmother rushed out with a knife and scolded. ”

Wang Ji took the trouble to ask, "How did you scold?" Say it all. ”

Liu Qing recalled that at that time, perhaps because he was too impressed, he unconsciously imitated Zhou's appearance and tone, and said: "Thief and adulteress! Faint King Eight! My sister-in-law didn't recruit me from me, and she has been walking around your house for a long time. Who doesn't recognize it? You say that I raise a monk, and the wild man dares to shake in front of your eyes in broad daylight? You go to Qingmei and Aunt Guo to confront you, if it's a man, I'll let you kill it.

If you don't find someone, and say that I raised a man, and asked my father to come and ask me to go back, the eight harlots got out, and I reasoned with you in front of the neighbors, and made it clear that I took the letter of divorce and left. ”

Ma Fuyao asked, "Where is Liu Yuan when he scolds?" Where's the Golden Branch? How did it end. ”

Liu Qing said: "The young master is listening in the second gate. The aunt hid in the room, and the grandmother scolded for a while, and persuaded the sister-in-law to come back. The next day came to night, and I didn't know when I hanged myself in front of my aunt's door. Early in the morning, I went to open the door and bumped into it, and I was so scared that I passed out. ”

Wang Ji summoned the Gao family, and the soap official was directly mighty, and Gao's sister-in-law did not dare to lie in the criminal department. Every sentence is exactly the same as what was said in Shuntianfu.

Wang Ji called Haihui and Guo Guzi again and asked, "What are you doing at Liu's house?" ”

Haihui said: "That's the uncle of the old master, who has never walked around. ”

Wang Ji asked, "Does Jin Zhi recognize you?" ”

Haihui said: "Why don't you recognize it! ”

Ma Fuyao sneered when he heard this. At this time, the facts of the case were basically clear, Jin Zhi obviously knew that Haihui was a green plum, but he didn't say that he was a Taoist priest, and he was obviously deliberately causing trouble, and the cause of Zhou's death was completely because of her.

Wang Ji continued to ask: "Is Sister-in-law Guo also a relative?" ”

Haihui shook her head and said, "No, I came from Shandong, it's been a year." ”

Wang Ji ordered someone to bring Liu Yuan up again, and asked in public, "Do you recognize the two sisters-in-law?" ”

Liu Yuan said: "I only know Qingmei, I don't know that." ”

Wang Ji said coldly: "Since you know Haihui, you can tell if it is true or not, how can you believe that you are a monk?" Just because of the words of the favored concubine, you are going to divorce your wife? As a prisoner, I have been studying for many years, why am I so unreasonable? ”

Liu Yuan reluctantly explained: "At first glance, I heard that he was a monk, but he was uncomfortable, but he was just impulsive. Later, I learned that Lu Dao was indeed a sister-in-law, so it was just that the wife of the prisoner had never had a bad temperament, and she couldn't think about it herself, so she hanged herself. ”

Wang Ji sighed: "Even if what you said is true, but you know that your wife has a bad temper, so you deliberately wronged others, and Zhou's death dares to say that it has nothing to do with you?" ”

After calling Jin Zhi up, Wang Ji asked, "Did you really see that it was a monk and Taoist priest that day?" ”

Jin Zhi said: "What a man wearing a Tang scarf, wearing a Taoist robe, and a tall and fat bald head, he mistook the monk and Taoist priest for a while, and later knew that it was his sister-in-law. ”

Wang Ji said loudly: "Since you didn't admit it at the time, but you insisted on framing the master mother for adultery, and instigated the head of the family to divorce his wife, and borrowed someone else's sword to kill people, you are the one who started this rumor, and the crime is unforgivable." ”

Jin Zhi shouted: "Wronged! I just said a few words of gossip, who knew that Liu Yuan called his father-in-law to come and divorce her? Who knew that she wouldn't want to hang herself, I kept hiding in the house, and I didn't dare to say a word, what did I do? ”

Wang Ji sneered: "You clearly say that you are a monk and Taoist, will you believe Liu Yuanzhong?" You are true, Liu Yuan believes the truth, and the Zhou family has to die. You said that the Zhou family came out to abuse, but you closed the door and hid, as if you poisoned someone and ate it, and the person who took the poison was struggling outside, would you, the poisoner, still beat her? The person who took the poison died, so Zhou's life wants you to taste it. As a concubine who forced the housewife to death, it is useless for you to quibble. ”

Jin Zhi immediately burst into tears, and was forcibly dragged down by the officials, Xu Hao sighed when he saw this, and conniving at the concubine since ancient times is undoubtedly the source of the family's restlessness. No matter what, you can't frame a wife who is not at fault for the sake of love, not to mention that in this case, it is clear that Liu Yuan deliberately wanted to kill his wife, and it was because of his weak heart that he hid at home and did not dare to show his face.

However, such cases in the Ming Dynasty are similar to modern laws, Liu Yuan and Jin Zhi are not direct murderers in the end, so there will be many twists, and their lives should be saved, just like betraying the death penalty with a suspended execution.

The unreasonable place is that men are inferior to women, Liu Yuan's crime is much smaller, and in the end it is Jin Zhi who is unlucky.

In fact, Liu Yuan and Jin Zhi are not the point, it is enough to avenge the dead Zhou family, and it is good to give the Zhou family a satisfactory explanation when everyone is dead, even if they are fatal, what can they do? Whether it is Xu Hao or Wang Ji's real intention is to clean up the Shuntian Mansion, the case-handling personnel who know the law and break the law are the most hateful.

Called Bai Qing and the other three messengers, Wang Ji picked up a stack of tickets and issued tickets, and there was no need for interrogation, he was an experienced messenger who could understand the above organs, and receiving bribes was not allowed to quibble.

And this case will definitely implicate many people up and down the Shuntian Mansion, so it must be reported to the Criminal Department first, and then the emperor will order the three divisions to be tried.

As for the dereliction of duty involved in this case, Wang Ji said unceremoniously: "Drag it down, everyone will be beaten again, and they will be put in prison and no one will be allowed to visit the prison." (To be continued......)