The Yuan Dynasty Yanyou era more than 1,300 years ago. There is a carpentry workshop in the capital. There are more than a hundred workers in the workshop, and they are managed by a foreman named Qi. There was a young man named Jin who was not very good at carpentry, but he was very proficient at playing chess.
Once, he played chess with the foreman, giving the foreman a rook in each game. After three consecutive games, the foreman lost. The foreman joked: "Xiao Jin is a superb chess player, but he is just afraid of his wife." Unexpectedly, this sentence made Xiao Jin angry. Friends all advised Xiao Jin, some said: "Why do you have to hold grudges over trivial matters? Just make peace with each other." Some said: "Harmony is more valuable!" Soon, everyone voluntarily pooled together a sum of money and bought After some wine, meat and fish, Xiao Jin was dragged to Foreman Qi's house for a dinner.
After learning about it, the foreman specially slaughtered chickens and sheep, and cooked a sumptuous meal. Everyone ate happily until late at night before going home. Xiao Jin's wife Shen Wenying was young, beautiful and well-dressed. When she was a girl, she had an affair with her lover Yan Baokun and gave birth to a boy out of wedlock, named Yan Jinwen. After raising her for a while, they secretly sold the child to A human trafficker, her whereabouts are unknown since then. She later married Xiao Jin, but she still had contacts with her lover, and regarded Xiao Jin as a thorn in her side and a stumbling block.
Late that night, while Xiao Jin came home drunk, they beat him to the ground with a wooden stick and killed him with a kitchen knife. After all, the thieves felt guilty. They were in a hurry and couldn't find a place to hide the body for a while. Later, Shen Wenying remembered that there was an earthen kang in the room. This earthen pit was only used for heating in winter and was now empty. So, they removed the bricks from the Tukang, divided the body into four or five pieces, stuffed them inside, and then put the bricks back in place to restore it to its original state. I thought that everything would be fine from now on and I could live a carefree life.
Early the next morning, after Shen Wenying dressed up, she hurried to Foreman Qi's house and asked, "Why didn't my husband come home last night?" The foreman was surprised and said hurriedly: "He was drunk last night. After they left, she went back." Shen Wenying immediately beat her chest and made a loud noise. She pointed at Foreman Qi's nose and cursed: "You old fox, you pretended to be a guest and actually killed my husband!" She complained first and rushed to the police. The patrol court (equivalent to the current police station) reported that her husband had been killed by Foreman Qi. Without detailed investigation, the Police Inspectorate believed Shen Wenying's words, thinking that Foreman Qi had a grudge against Xiao Jin, and concluded that he had killed someone, so he was arrested and interrogated.
At first, Foreman Qi refused to admit it, and argued: "Xiao Jin and I usually get along well, but he turned against us just because of a joke. Besides, I wanted to kill him, so why hold a big banquet, and there were many workers present that night. If you don't believe it, ask the other workers. "How could the interrogating officials listen and torture him severely?" Foreman Qi could not withstand the brutal beating, so he had to give in and admitted that he had killed Xiao Jin.
After the news came out that the Police Patrol Court found Foreman Qi to have killed Xiao Jin, Shen Wenying felt very unhappy. That night, he and Yan Baokun drank and congratulated each other and had fun. But the next day, she pretended to be very sad, wore mourning clothes, held a grand funeral for her husband, invited monks to do the ashram, set up an altar, burned paper money, kowtowed at night, shouted to heaven and earth, and cried so hard that her heart moved.
A few days later, the police patrol officer further asked the foreman Qi: "You killed someone and where did you throw the body?" The foreman thought, anyway, I confessed, and there is nothing I can do about it without any evidence, so he just He casually said: "Thrown it in the ditch." So the Police Inspector ordered two policemen to search in the ditch, but the two policemen searched all the ditches and found no trace. When he interrogated Foreman Qi again, Foreman Qi still insisted that he threw it into the ditch. The official actually gave the two servants a deadline to find the body, otherwise they would be investigated for dereliction of duty. The two police officers almost broke their legs running away, but they were beaten four times when they still couldn't find him.
On this day, two police officers were walking and talking, sighing. One said: "We searched all over the east, west, north and south, but we didn't find a single bone. What should we do?" The other went on to say: "Alas! If we can't find any bones again, what should we do? My butt is about to be smashed. I need to find a way quickly."So, the two of them agreed to find a substitute to handle the errand.
In the evening, the sky was dark, and the two policemen were tired from walking. They sat by the river to rest. Suddenly, they saw an old man riding a donkey across the bridge. Come on. The two of them had an idea, and they stepped forward to fight with the old man. When he was not prepared, they pushed him into the river with a "plop". The old man was old and frail, struggling in the river. After a few blows, he was drowned alive. The two policemen took the old man's body out of the river, threw it in a nearby ditch, and let the donkey run away.
After more than ten days, the two policemen estimated that it was dead. The old man's body was so decomposed that he was unrecognizable, so they took him out of the ditch and asked someone to carry the body to the Police Patrol Court for reporting. After months of hard work, I finally found this body in a ditch in Dong'an Village. Please inspect it. "
The police patrol officer summoned Shen Wenying to come and identify the body. As soon as Shen Wenying heard that the government asked her to go, Shen Wenying turned pale and trembled all over. She thought that she had been exposed for killing her husband. As she walked along, she thought about how to make up lies to deceive the officials. When she entered the door and saw a rotting corpse on the ground, she couldn't tell how happy she was. Her heart that was so frightened now calmed down. She threw herself in front of the corpse with a blurred face. He opened his sharp voice and cried: "Oh, my dear, you died so miserably! You are no longer alive, and I don’t want to live anymore..." The Police Patrol Court was ready to end the case. She carried the body to a nearby ditch, called out the spirit of her husband, cried and howled, and bought another coffin. , buried the body. Only a few days later, the murderers got married. At this time, the children and grandchildren of the old man riding the donkey also reported to the police patrol court because they could not find the old man. Case.
On this day, a businessman happened to be walking by on the road carrying a donkey skin. The old man's son felt that it looked like the skin of his donkey , so he opened the donkey skin and looked at it, and concluded that the donkey skin was from. He thought that the businessman had killed his father, so he took the businessman to the county magistrate. Although the businessman was obsessed with money, he was as timid as a mouse and could not afford to be frightened. Once interrogated, After being tortured and extorted a confession, he confessed that he first robbed the old man’s donkey and then killed the old man.
The interrogation officer further asked him: “Then where did you hide the body? "The businessman just lowered his head and complained. First he said that he had hidden it by the river in East Village, but the police did not find him. Then he said that he had thrown it in a cesspool in West Village, but the police did not find it. He changed his confession again and again, which annoyed the officials, so he He was tortured continuously. The businessman had a heart disease and could not bear the torture, so he died of myocardial infarction. More than a year later, with the approval of his superiors, Foreman Qi was beheaded. There were more than a hundred workers, and they sent people around to try to overturn the case for the foreman, but after many trips, they found nothing. At this time, a young worker named Ding said: "There must be brave men under heavy rewards. "He came up with a way to ask everyone to donate money, collect 500 taels of silver, and post a reward notice on the wall on the roadside in front of the workshop: Anyone who can tell the details of the death of the carpenter named Jin will be rewarded 500 taels of silver. .
At that time, when Shen Wenying was doing a dojo for her husband, many beggars came to beg for food. Among them was a fourteen-year-old street boy, Yan Jinwen, who was none other than the beggars. The child abandoned by Shen Wenying and her adulterer Yan Baokun became a street child because his adoptive parents were old and frail and had no one to take care of him. Sometimes he could not beg, so he stole to survive. On July 15th, superstitious people say that this day is the ghost festival, the king of hell opens the gate of hell, and all kinds of ghosts are released from hell to collect money and cause mischief, so every family has to prepare wine and burn it. Paper money. This street boy begged for nothing during the day, so he fell in love with a wealthy family, and wanted to steal something at night. It was still early and it was difficult to move, so he walked to the door of Shen Wenying's house and quietly hid in the corner of the west wall to wait. .
This night, the moon is dark and the wind is high, and the sky is dark and the earth is dark.The wandering boy found a drunk man staggering into Shen Wenying's house. This person is Yan Baokun. He lost a lot of money in gambling, so he glared fiercely and yelled at Shen Wenying: "It's all because of you, a loser, who said unlucky words early in the morning, causing me to lose everything!" Shen Wenying was not to be outdone, He also scolded: "You are such a thin lover. I gave you all my family's money and now you have lost it all. Who can be blamed?" After hearing this, Yan Baokun drew his fist and hit her. Shen Wenying was punched several times and shouted: "You killed my husband Xiaojin, are you going to beat me to death too?"
"Kill the little carpenter, you will also do it." Yan Baokun said while beating: " If you scream again, I'll beat you to death."
The street boy understood that it turned out that the two of them killed the carpenter Xiao Jin together. He remembered walking past the door of the carpentry factory during the day, and many people were watching the notice. He heard that if he reported the murder of the carpenter Xiao Jin, he would be rewarded with a silver reward of 500 taels. Could it be that this is a God-given opportunity to make a fortune? Instead of stealing something, it was better to listen carefully to the situation, so he pressed his ear tightly against the door and listened with bated breath.
A woman's voice: "If you hit me again, I'm going to sue the official!"
A man's voice: "If you want to sue the official, I'll beat you to death and stuff you and Xiao Jin into the earthen kang..."
"Oh, It turned out that Xiao Jin's body was hidden in the earthen bed. "The wanderer was delighted: "The physical evidence is still there, so I will definitely get the silver reward."
Strangely, the scolding and fighting in the house gradually disappeared. How did the wanderer know? In fact, the drunk Yan Baokun fell on the bed exhausted and fell asleep. The street boy was about to leave when the woman, Shen Wenying, sobbed and lamented again in the room: "You ungrateful Yan Baokun, I had a child with you, Xiao Jinwen, and now you have turned your back on me. Xiao Jinwen, Xiao Jin." Wen, where are you now? You have been alive for fourteen years. This heartless man must sell you to others..."
The wandering boy was startled after hearing this. My parents told me about my life experience, and tonight I accidentally found my biological parents. Obviously, the woman in the house is my mother, and the drunk man is my father. Thinking again, they are not his parents. How can these vicious men and women, who seek people's lives, be worthy of being his parents? ...He turned around and ran straight towards the Jingcheng Wood Factory.
At dawn, the street boy went into the factory and reported everything he heard. The workers immediately took action and found Xiao Jin's body in the Tukang.
The workers tied up Shen Wenying and Yan Baokun and escorted them to the Police Patrol Court. At this time, a governor minister happened to come. He wanted to investigate the case of Yan Baokun and Foreman Qi's murder of Xiao Jin, so he tried the case himself. At this point, the matter is self-evident.
The result is: Shen Wenying, Yan Baokun and two policemen were sentenced to death. The official who originally sentenced Foreman Qi to death was demoted to serve as a civilian. The official who forced the businessman to death was also punished. The wandering boy Yan Jinwen reported meritorious services. In addition to receiving 500 taels of silver from the carpentry factory, the governor also gave him a heavy reward. He transferred the bounty to Foreman Qi's son, the old man's children and grandchildren, and the merchant's daughter respectively, without keeping any money for himself. After the governor and minister learned about his life experience, he sent him to study, and later recommended him to work as an official in the Police Patrol Court. Later, he worked diligently and worked tirelessly, solving many difficult cases for the local people.
