In the early years, there was a large mansion in Jiyang County, which was the mansion of the famous local family Ning.
Ning Guodong, the head of Ning Mansion, was a tribute student. His first wife died early, leaving no man or half a woman. His stepwife was named Hong Xiaofu, young and handsome, good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. Although Xiaofu was beautiful, she could not have children, which led to Ning Guodong, the owner of Ning Mansion, who was in his 40s, still without half a son.
Ning Guodong has a younger brother named Guozhu. Because he had lost his parents since he was a child, he was raised by his elder brother. Ning Guozhu is talented and has never forgotten all his studies. He became a scholar at a young age. Because Guozhu is not married yet, Xiaohua cares about this uncle of the same age as him on weekdays. Guodong also regards his sister-in-law as his mother, but he is not without ritual.
In the autumn of this year, Guozhu went to Shuntian to participate in the provincial examination. After the exam, he stayed in the inn, waiting for the best news to be released.
Guodong failed many tests, and secondly, he had no children in middle age and was discouraged by fame and fortune. He stayed at home, planted grass and trees in the back garden all day long, and drank with a few frustrated literary friends to write poems.
Ning Guodong has a friend named Jiao Xijun, who is a scholar. This man is in his 20s, handsome and suave. The two families are family friends. Jiao Xijun has been in Ning Mansion with his parents since he was a child. He is also a fellow generation. He is in love with the older Ning Guodong and has an extraordinary friendship.
But Jiao Xijun's wife Ma, ugly and clumsy, is a very vulgar country woman. He often sighed that he had a bad fate and married such a stupid woman.
Because the Ningjiao families have a deep friendship, they do not avoid suspicion when they interact with each other in daily life. Once, Jiao Xijun led his wife to Ning Mansion to greet him. During the conversation, Jiao Xijun often compared two women with his eyes, one beautiful, cute and ecstatic, and the other ugly, stupid and disgusting. Gradually, he was imaginative about laughter, but he was only concerned about his friendship with Guodong, barely suppressing the inner commotion.
Who knew that although this Hong Xiaoqi looked gentle and virtuous, she was a woman with aphrodisiac. When she saw Jiao Xijun, a white-faced scholar, she looked at her with her eyes. She couldn't help but feel the spring heart rippling, and she watched the autumn from time to time, and greeted each other, leaving only waiting for the opportunity.
One night, Jiao Xijun came to Ningfu with a jar of fine wine. Ning Guodong set up a table of hearty wine and dishes in the garden, and the two of them started to drink happily. Ning Guodong was not as good as Jiao Xijun, and under Jiao Xijun's compliment, he got drunk. Jiao Xijun was overjoyed and hurriedly asked Xiaohua to have a secret meeting in the bamboo forest, Xiaohua followed him happily. The two of them crawled into the depths of the bamboo forest hand in hand and rolled together impatiently...
Two hours passed without realizing that, Xiao Yan was worried that Guodong would wake up and urged his lover to leave. The two of them vowed to make a vow, and then Jiao Xijun left reluctantly.
Jiao Xijun must go to Ning Mansion almost every day. He doesn’t want to leave when he comes, and he will commit adultery with Xiaoke whenever he has the chance. Once, on Ning Guodong's wedding bed, Jiao Xijun tentatively said, "Miss, would you like to be a long-term couple with me? Such fears and fears are not a long-term solution after all."
laughed and said, "Dear, I am more willing than you, but I just can't deal with my husband."
Jiao Xijun muttered to discuss with her, and finally said, "Be careful! Get rid of your husband's affairs, you must wait for an opportunity, and don't act hastily."
The opportunity finally came. That day, Ning Guodong slept outside the house after drinking and suffered a cold. At first, he didn't care, but later he had a high fever.
Xiaobing and Jiao Xijun secretly discussed, "This is a God-given opportunity, and you can be a long-term couple."
Jiao Xijun attached to Xiaobing's ear and said this, Xiaobing and nodded repeatedly. So Jiao Xijun guarded Ning Guodong's bed every day and asked this and that with concern.
A few days have passed, and Ning Guodong's condition has not improved. Jiao Xijun went to Jinan Prefecture overnight to invite a well-known old Chinese doctor. The old man took Guodong's pulse, prescribed a prescription, and asked him to take the medicine according to the prescription. Xiaoqi immediately sent his servant to the famous Daseido Pharmacy in the city to catch it.
On the evening, the maid decocted soup and medicine were delivered to Mr. Ning’s room. Xiaofeng said affectionately: "Oh, this medicine tastes too bitter. I'll add some sugar. My husband must drink it in one breath." Xiaofeng secretly threw arsenic into the bowl.
In the middle of the night that day, I suddenly heard Ning Guodong screaming, bleeding his mouth and nose to death. When the servants and maids at home learned about it, they were all shocked. I just couldn't figure out the inside story, so no one dared to ask questions.
During the time when Ning Guodong's coffin was placed at home, news of the provincial examination was announced. Then the people from the government took a big red post written in mud gold and sent it to the home of the new imperial examination master.
Xiaobian did not receive a big-name post, and knew that his uncle had failed the exam again. Thinking that her uncle was about to come back, she couldn't help but shudder. Ning Guozhu is a young man who is wise and meticulous in his work. He regards his elder brother who raised him as a strict father. His brotherly feelings are extraordinary. Guodong's body is placed at home. If he has to open the coffin and look at his brother's remains, will he see the flaws? The more I think about laughing, the more I feel scared.
The next day, Xiaohua made an excuse and quickly buried her husband's Lingshu.
The next day after Ning Guodong was buried, a carriage was parked in front of Ning Mansion. Xiaoyan thought that the mourning man was coming again, so he hurriedly hid in the mourning hall and prepared to cry. The servants ran out to welcome the guests. After a closer look, it turned out that the second master Ning Guozhu had returned.
But Ning Guozhu saw that something was wrong at home and hurriedly asked what happened at home. Before the servant could cry, he walked out laughing and wearing mourning clothes. Ning Guozhu guessed the incident at home and rushed into the mourning hall. He saw his brother's spirit tablet on the altar table, stomped his feet and screamed, fainted on the ground, unconscious.
Ning Guozhu cried bitterly after waking up. He felt that his brother died too suddenly. His brother has always been healthy. Why did he leave his brother after only more than two months of going out? At this time, Xiaoqi turned around to comfort her uncle: "A person cannot be resurrected by death, sister-in-law will rely on you in the future. If you cry and hurt your body, how can I live in the future!"
Guozhu asked sadly: "My brother has always been better than me. What disease did he die?"
Xiaoqi cried and said: "That night, your brother was happy about something. He got drunk and caught a cold in the back garden. At first, he felt that he was just a cold and did not take it seriously. Later, he developed a heart disease, and it was useless to let the magic medicine go... I was a widow at a young age, and my life was so hard!"
Guozhu stared at his sister-in-law's somewhat artificial expression, with a look of doubt, but he had no evidence and dared not act recklessly.
On the evening, Xiaohua sent a secret code from the north wall of the back garden and asked Jiao Xijun to come and discuss matters quickly. When Xiaoqi saw Jiao Xijun coming over, she said anxiously, "Ning Lao Er is back. He is very suspicious of Guodong's death. You should come up with a solution as soon as possible."
Jiao Xijun said unhurriedly, "Don't be afraid, my husband has his own trick. Put your clothes on for my wife, then kill her, cut off her head and buried it by the river, put the body in your garden, and you secretly hide in my house overnight. When others find the corpse, they think it is you Xiaoqi."
Hong Xiaoqi said happily, "The trick is really wonderful."
That night, Jiao Xijun returned home, picked up a machete, and cut off the head of his wife who was sleeping. Then he wiped the blood and put on Ma's clothes. Just as he was about to carry the body away, Hong Xiaoqi had already hid in.
Early the next morning, Jiao Xijun shook the banana fan and walked to the back garden of Ning Mansion, and said deliberately, "No, there is a headless female corpse here. Where did it come from?"
People and neighbors from Ning Mansion rushed over after hearing the news. Everyone suggested that they should report to the official immediately and not implicate good people. So someone immediately set out to report the case to the magistrate.
Jiyang magistrate named Zheng Daliang, from Longyan, Fujian, he was born in two Jinshi. Although he was full of knowledge, he was a greedy and stupid official. Behind the people, he called him "Zheng Dalang".
But the magistrate Zheng led the yamen runners and coroners to the scene of the accident. After the coroners finished inspecting the body, he suddenly asked, "Who is the owner of this garden?"
The attendant said, "Sir, it is Master Ning Guozhu of Ning Mansion." Zheng immediately ordered the yamen runners to arrest Ning Guozhu.
But the yamen runner broke into the Ningfu main hall and took the Guozhu Lock inside. Ning Guozhu didn't know how to argue with the yamen runners, so he had to stagger and be pushed away by the yamen runners.
Back to the county government, Zheng Magistrate immediately went to the court to ask about the case.
天子子: "Ning Guozhu, as the master of Ning Mansion, why do you want to kill someone?"
Ning Guozhu replied: "The young actor just discovered that his sister-in-law had escaped for some reason. He really didn't know who the murderer was."
天子子子: "They ordered Guozhu to test who the headless female corpse was. Ning Guozhu was shocked after looking carefully and said, "Isn't this my sister-in-law?" My brother's body was not cold, and his sister-in-law's body and head were different. Guozhu was sad and scared and almost fainted.
Zheng Magistrate stared at Guozhu. Seeing his shocked and scared expression, he suspected that he had raped and killed his sister-in-law. He shouted loudly: "It must be you who teased her sister-in-law. Sister-in-law doesn't want to commit adultery with you, so you killed her in anger. But I don't understand why you want to hide the head? Did you do it alone? You have to come from the real thing to avoid the pain of flesh and blood!"
Guozhu didn't know the inside story, but just argued: "It was not me who did it, I don't know anything."
Zheng Magistrate was willing to believe it? He thought Guozhu was quibbling and ordered his scholar to be removed first and then tortured. Ning Guozhu was a scholar who had been pampering since childhood, so he could not bear such torture, so he had to admit the crime of murder. County Magistrate Zheng asked where the head was hidden. Whenever Guozhu was punished, he would just talk about it casually, which caused the yamen run around and there was no trace of it after a long time.
Minister Zheng saw that it was difficult to close the case for the time being, so he put Ning Guozhu in jail and waited for the person to be found before the case was decided.
However, it was said that the magistrate Zheng could not get a head from Ning Guozhu, so he ordered the yamen runners to arrest the servants of Ning Mansion and interrogate them one by one.
There is a servant named Zhou Zhaoyi in Ning Mansion. He has a strong personality and is quite kind. He felt very unfair when his second master Guozhu suffered this strange injustice for no reason and suffered torture. So, when Zhou Zhaoyi was interrogated, he knelt in the lobby and shouted for his second master.
Zhou Zhaoyi said: "My second master Ning Guozhu has been studying and polite since he was a child. He is a gentleman. He will never commit acts of raping his sister-in-law and killing people."
County Magistrate Zheng asked: "You are just a servant, how dare you conclude that he will not kill people?"
Zhou Zhaoyi said: "My second master went home in the Shuntian provincial examination and found that his eldest master Ning Guodong had suddenly passed away. He was so sad that he fainted several times. , refused to eat, just lay in bed and pondered, suspecting that my brother died inexplicably. The next morning, the big grandmother Hong was killed in the back garden. The villain kept serving the second master, guaranteeing his life. The big grandmother was definitely not killed by the second master. Please observe clearly! "
Magistrate Zheng is a stupid official who does not understand political affairs. He only uses the amount of money as the criterion as the criterion. He relies on power to suppress people. He has no idea how many people have wronged him. Seeing that Zhou Zhaoyi tried his best to defend Guozhu's grievances and was quite excited, and without analyzing whether the servant's words were reasonable, he insisted that he was his master's accomplice. The yamen runner ordered Zhou Zhaoyi to beat him forty boards and he was limited to handing over the head within three days, otherwise he would be punished the same as his master.
Zhou Zhaoyi not only ignored his defense, but instead accused him of being a complicitor, and was extremely sad and angry. Considering that Guozhu is imprisoned in prison and will die sooner or later, things have come to this point, it is better to let him suffer less and die more happily. So, Zhou Zhaoyi cried, hating that the sky had no eyes, which made the Ning family suffer such a catastrophe, hoping to find a female corpse and cut off the head to deal with the magistrate's coercion.
However, he walked through the surrounding cemeteries and trenches and found no trace. Three days passed in a flash. Zhou Zhaoyi was unable to submit a job and was beaten by the magistrate twenty whips. After Zhou Zhaoyi begged, the magistrate was graceful for another day. Zhou Zhaoyi was walking on a remote path, thinking about countermeasures while walking. If he passed the day limit, he would definitely be beaten up again. It would be better to take some risks and kill someone else to work.
At dusk, I finally waited for a passing woman. This is a rural old lady in torn clothes, and he raises her knife to cut her head. The old lady knelt down, cried about her misfortune at home, and begged Zhou Zhaoyi to spare her life.The old man's husband's surname is Yuan, and he died of illness less than three years after marriage. She raised her only son with great difficulty and married a wife for her son. The couple was also very filial to the old man. Although the old man's life in his later years was poor, he was very happy. Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected situation in the world. A few years later, my son died of illness. Soon my wife died for her husband. Only her grandson, who was only 7 years old, was left to rely on her for life. Recently, my grandson suffered from smallpox. The old man lamented that his life was miserable, so he sold the only valuable things in his family and ran for more than ten miles, asking a famous doctor to treat his grandson's illness and get medicine. Look, this is a bad thing on the way home.
Zhou Zhaoyi heard the old man's cry and thought that killing her would be like killing her grandson and breaking Yuan's incense. So he sighed, put away the knife, helped the old man up, and asked her to go home quickly to feed her grandson medicine.
Helplessly, Zhou Zhaoyi returned home listlessly and saw his seventeen-year-old daughter cooking for him. After dinner, Zhou Zhaoyi looked at his daughter who was washing dishes and thought that he would be handing over tomorrow morning and there was no head. The second master didn't know how much torture he would suffer. He would definitely be unable to escape the death penalty. It would be better to kill his daughter and use her head to pretend to be a lie to alleviate the second master's flesh and blood. At night, Zhou Zhaoyi took advantage of his daughter's sleeping soundly and cut off her head with a fierce knife, wrapped it in a cloth and took it to the county government office. In the lobby of
, County Magistrate Zheng looked carefully at the head given by Zhou Zhaoyi and was furious: "Why will the head that has been cut for a few days still be bleeding? It must be a murderer. Come from the real thing quickly to avoid the pain of flesh and blood."
Zhou Zhaoyi was helpless and told the story.
County Magistrate Zheng was furious and roared, "You have not yet eliminated your crime, and you have killed your own daughter. The crime is even more serious, and it is hard tolerate God!" After that, he ordered the yamen runners to be punished.
Zhou Zhaoyi was tortured but begged, "The head is a hundred miles away. Please beg for the mercy of the master and let the villain take it right away."
So, the county magistrate Zheng ordered the two yamen runners to set off with Zhou Zhaoyi.
And the two yamen runners followed Zhou Zhaoyi for about twenty miles. Zhou Zhaoyi lied that he wanted to go to the toilet, got into the cornfield on the side of the road, took the opportunity to get rid of the yamen runners, went straight to the Shandong Censor's Office, beating the drum and shouting for justice.
Shandong Censor Tong Huai ordered Zhou Zhaoyi to come to the hall to speak. In the lobby, Zhou Zhaoyi told his master Ning Guozhu in tears. After hearing this, Lord Tong felt that the magistrate Zheng’s case handling committee was really hasty, and he couldn’t help but be furious. On the one hand, he ordered Zheng Daliang to handle the case with all his heart and not to be innocent; on the other hand, he reported to the governor and sent his accompanying master Qiu Yuanwu to be the Tongzhi (Deputy County Magistrate) of Jiyang County to help solve the case.
The next day, Zheng Magistrate Zheng received an order from the inspector and was shocked and did not dare to neglect it. He changed his previous rough and arbitrary style and carefully interrogated it. He secretly sent someone to reconnaissance, and the yamen runners came back to report, but there was no clue. Magistrate Zheng had no choice but to go to the City God Temple to pray and ask for guidance from the gods. After waiting for a long time, there was no supernatural sign. Zheng Magistrate felt tired and took a nap in front of the candle on the altar.
Besides, Qiu Yuanwu received the order, pondered the case, and took a lecturer and went on the road. Jinan is a hundred miles away from Jiyang. When Qiu Yuanwu arrived in Jiyang, the sun had already set. He did not rush to report to the county government office, but came to a family opposite Ning Mansion, claiming to be an fortune teller , and came in to ask for some water.
After talking, Qiu Yuanwu looked up and asked, "The house across the street is very grand. Who is his owner?"
The old man said, "Sir, aren't you a local? This is the mansion of the Ning family, a famous rich man in Jiyang City."
Qiu Yuanwu sighed and said, "The Ning family is exhausted. Don't look at him now, you may be destroyed in a year or two."
The old couple looked at me and I look at you, and then said in surprise: "Sir, I am a god, To be honest, Ning Guodong, the owner of the Ning family, suddenly died of illness not long ago, and then his wife was cut off from her head. The second owner, Ning Guozhu, was arrested in the county government because he was suspected of killing his sister-in-law. He heard that he would be executed soon. Poor Ning's huge family business is about to fall into decline in a blink of an eye."
After the old man said that, he wiped the corners of his eyes with a towel and lit a bag of cigarettes.
"Is Ning Guodong's wife really killed by Ning Guozhu? "
"Ah, which temple has no ghosts who died? Ning Guozhu treats his sister-in-law like his mother on weekdays, how could he kill his sister-in-law? However, he had just arrived home the day before, and the next morning, the headless female corpse appeared in the back garden of Ning's family. It was quite strange to think about it. "
" When this big incident happened to Ning Mansion, hasn't anyone come forward to help clear the grievance? "Qiu Yuanwu asked.
" There was a scholar named Jiao Xijun who was close friends with Ning Guodong. He used to come to Ning Mansion to play every day. Since Ning Guodong and his wife died, they have never seen him again. This world..."
The old man took a puff of cigarettes and continued, "Fortunately, a servant named Zhou was very loyal to his master and risked his life to defend his grievances for his master. He heard that the county magistrate also beat him into an accomplice. "
" Where does Jiao Xijun live in? " Qiu Yuanwu asked anxiously.
"I heard from someone who said he was from Xiguan, the county town. I can't explain clearly where he lives. "At this point, the old man asked with confusion, "What's the matter with this sir?" ”
Qiu Yuanwu said calmly: “I just ask casually. "After saying that, he got up and said goodbye.
Qiu Yuanwu came out of the old man and took the book boy straight to Xiguan. Because Jiao Xijun was a scholar, he found out that his home was in the No. 1 Alley. Qiu Yuanwu went straight to his neighbor's house. The one who came out to open the door was a mother-in-law in her seventies, and there was a widowed daughter-in-law in her family to accompany her.
Qiu Yuanwu said that he was in Jiyang for the first time to do business. A cousin married a scholar named Jiao Xijun. Because he had no contact with his cousin for many years, he asked about their situation.
The old lady said: "The guest cousin lives next to the old woman. Your cousin's husband is good at wandering outside of school. I am idle, the housework and farming are all handled by your cousin. Recently, I heard that your cousin has gone back to her parents' home, and your cousin's husband became more and more unrestrained. Last night, the old woman got up to the toilet and heard the laughter of women coming from your cousin's house. I don't know where the sluts were brought back..."
The old lady said this, Qiu Yuanwu had already understood the case seventy-sixth in his heart, so he used the excuse of busy business affairs. Since his cousin was not at home, he would not wait.
walked out of the old lady's house, Qiu Yuanwu said to Shutong: "The inn has been closed. Let's go to the City God Temple to rest. "
Walking into the City God Temple in Jiyang County, Qiu Yuanwu found a man carrying a seventh-rank official hat lying on the altar table and was dozing. He was about to come forward to ask, but suddenly he heard two yamen runners shouting loudly: "Who is the unlucky person? How dare you alarm the magistrate? "
Qiu Yuanwu was shocked when he heard that he was the magistrate Zheng Daliang and hurriedly stepped forward to salute.
At this time, magistrate Zheng was also awakened by two yamen runners, rubbed his eyes, and asked, "Who are you? Why are you doing in this Chenghuang Temple in the middle of the night? "
So, Qiu Yuanwu handed over the Governor's documents and letters from the Censor. After reading it, Zheng Daliang hurriedly returned the greeting and said, "I don't know if Brother Qiu is here, so many offends, and many offends! "He turned around and looked at the two yamen runners who followed him: "This is the new Lord Qiu." "The two soldiers were so scared that they knelt down and kowtowed to apologize.
Qiu Yuanwu asked about the situation of the headless female corpse in Ning Mansion. Zheng Daliang said sadly: "It's difficult. The inspector ordered the adult to solve the case within a deadline. The brother took the third yamen run away for a day but did not find any clues. He had to go to the City God Temple to seek help from the gods. The gods had not yet appeared, so he fell asleep in tears. I didn’t expect to meet Brother Qiu here. , , , sent you here. God is really helping me. Brother, I will hand over this case to you. "After saying that, he pulled Qiu Yuanwu's hand and wanted to go back to the county government.
At the next morning, Qiu Yuanwu suggested to capture a man named Jiao Xijun and search for any suspicious women in the Jiao family.
Zheng Daliang said: "Everything is arranged by the Lord. ”
And after Jiao Xijun killed his wife, he hid the laughter in the cellar during the day and was happy with the laughter at night.Jiao Xijun thought this was a headless case. Unless Bao Qingtian rebirth, no one could solve it, and he didn't care at all. When it was reported that the National Pillar was about to be beheaded, he was still proud of his brilliant plan!
When Zheng Daliang and Qiu Yuanwu led the yamen runners into the Jiao family to arrest Jiao Xijun, he became panicked, but he always thought that the government did not have enough evidence, so he still insisted on making a mistake and refused to plead guilty.
At this time, a yamen runner reported to Qiu Yuanwu: "I found a woman from the cellar in the house."
Qiu Yuanwu suddenly asked, "Who is this woman to you? Why is she hidden in the cellar?"
Some people onlookers recognized Xiaoya and said, "This woman is Ning Guodong's wife Xiaoya!" Jiao Xijun was speechless when he heard this.
So, Zheng Magistrate set up a court in the Jiao family's yard to interrogate Jiao Xijun and Hong Xiaoqi respectively. County Magistrate Zheng ordered the yamen runners to be punished. Jiao Xijun sighed, confessed everything about him, and explained the location where the heads were buried.
The yamen runners took the heads and presented them to the audience. The onlookers exclaimed loudly: "This is the head of Jiao Xijun's wife Ma's!"
interrogated Hong Xiaoqi again, and the confession was exactly the same as Jiao Xiucai. Only then did the magistrate Zheng realize that Jiao Xijun's heart was more cruel than the poisonous death.
So, the county magistrate Zheng pronounced a sentence: Jiao Xijun and Hong Xiaoqi were guilty of murdering their husband and wife, and were executed by Ling Chi; Ning Guozhu was acquitted; Ning Mansion servant Zhou Zhaoyi's murder of daughter was unforgivable, and felt that he was loyal to his master, and he no longer investigated his crimes and was released in court.
