The Four Great Cases of Wu Zetian

Chapter 27

The young man confessed to being a prostitute and a shrew endured the humiliation and endured the torture
But he said that Duke Di filled the cellar and brought a group of criminals back to the Yamen. In the afternoon, he had arrived in the city.All the men were sent to the Yamen, and Di Gong first ordered Tang Dezhong to be taken care of by the arrest hall. The adulterers and adulterers were imprisoned separately so that they could be tortured in the hall tomorrow morning, and he went to the study to rest quietly.I thought wholeheartedly: The first half of my dream the day before yesterday came true. The first couplet is "Looking for the trace of the child, staying in the air to spread the eternal friendship", but the murderer is surnamed Xu, and the reason for solving the case is in this "couch" If Ma Rong hadn't entered the room pretending to be a thief and searched under his bed, how would he know?There is also a wall, which is the reason for adultery. Since this cellar is indeed under his bedpost, this is really the so-called divine response.One person thought for a while, and then went to bed.

On the next day, when she was promoted to the hall early in the morning, she knew that Bi Zhou was a cunning woman, and she would not admit it for the time being, so she ordered Xu Detai to be brought forward first.All the messengers promised that they would bring Xu Detai here and kneel down in the hall.Di Gong asked, "Yesterday the county searched out the place where the adulterer was committed. You are a young scholar and cannot be tortured by the bandit. When did this matter start and what killed Bi Shun?" If you confess the truth, the county may open the net on three sides, and the crime is intended to be lighter, especially kind." Xu Detai said: "The students really don't know about this matter, I don't know where this cellar came from, and we can deduce the reason. , or the former landlords wanted to bury gold and silver, so they left it to this day. Just because the ancestors of the students became officials and returned home when they were old, they lived in this town and bought this house. The house of the Bi family at the beginning is the same as the house here. It all started at the same time, and all of them were practitioners with the surname of Zhao, the first homeowner. Since the ancestors bought it, there were many houses with few people, and they resold several houses, and lived in the partial house with Bi's family. The gate of this diyao, because of this But yes, I don't know. If you say that the student is a place for adultery, the student is really wronged, and I beg my father to be extra merciful." After hearing this, Di Gong sneered and said: "Look at you, a young man, who has such a clever argument, You have cleaned up the incidents that everyone has seen, and blamed them on the predecessors. No wonder you have this ability, and you killed people without leaving the door. You can see that this county is also a shrewd official! You say this The underground kiln used to bury gold and silver. For decades, it should be full of dust and dirt, and it smells bad. Why is there no wood inside and no dust?" Xu Detai said: "In the past, it was built with wood on all sides. Afterwards, no one used it, and the body was not damaged." Di Gongdao: "It is counted as he was burying gold and silver, why did he use that bell? There is no need for severe punishment for such a thing. I forgive you for not confessing. Command the left and right, whip the back with the cane!" There was a shout from both sides, and his clothes were stripped off, and he was beaten down on the back, and within fifty or sixty blows, his skin was torn apart, blood was flowing, and he kept shouting.Seeing that he still refused to confess, Di Gong ordered people to stop, pushed him up, and said angrily: "This is also the restoration of the sky net, which is not leaked and has been severely punished. Since you are so cunning, and you have been severely punished, you will know the law of the country." Strictly guarded, no life can be played as a trifle." Then he ordered someone to move the balance shelf.In an instant, the police officers had made arrangements.I saw everyone twisting Xu Detai's hair braids on the crossbar, and tied the backs of their hands behind their backs. There were two round holes in the front, and the bottom of the bowl was connected inside. They knelt down with Xu Detai's knees facing the bottom of the bowl, tiptoes On the ground with the heels facing upwards, after he kneels down, use another very thick and round wooden stick to hold down on both legs, with a tolerance at each end, stand at both ends, and step down randomly.Poor Xu Detai is also a child of a noble family, how can he bear this pain, when he knelt down for the first time, he could still grit his teeth and bear the pain, but now he could hear shouting, sweating profusely, when he didn't have a cup of tea, he gradually couldn't help the pain, his eyes A faint, fainted.Di Gong ordered his subordinates to send someone to execute the execution. He woke up slowly with fire and vinegar, helped Xu Detai up, walked around the hall several times, and gradually became able to speak, and then knelt down in front of Di Gong's platform.Di Gong asked: "In this three-foot law hall in this county, even the thieves of Jiangyang can't escape this torture. Besides, you are a young scholar, how can you suffer this kind of suffering. You know that harming people's lives is unacceptable in nature. Please confess according to the facts. So as not to cause suffering. The county is responsible for the cooking, and it may not be your own initiative, so you should give it in detail, avoid the important and take the light, it is not impossible."

When Xu Detai arrived at this time, he knew that he would not deny it, so he had to report to the superior: "The student regretted his mistake at the beginning and had evil thoughts. It was because Bi Shun opened a woolen store in his day. The student went to his store to buy goods that day, and his wife Mrs. Zhou, sitting in it, saw the students coming in, and couldn't help but look at her with affection. She didn't care at first, but after a few times, whenever the students went to buy goods, she would be happy and deal with them by herself, so she took advantage of Bi Shun's day to go out and have sex with each other It happened. Later, Mr. Zhou managed to order Bishun to live in the store and moved to the house by himself, thinking that the students could go there often. Unexpectedly, his mother was at home all day long, so he ordered the students to secretly bribe her husband after school at the end of the year. A craftsman opened this tunnel, so they can come and go from time to time. Except the craftsman, no one is aware of it. However, Bi Zhou's heart is too poisonous, and he often said that it was a long-term plan to murder her. husband.

The student repeatedly insisted on refusing to do so, but after the Dragon Boat Festival that day, he did not know how to kill his husband.The students didn't know it at the time, but they didn't know until the next day when they started crying. Even though they knew she was the cause of death, they still dared to speak up.After Bi Shun's coffin was buried, she saw that the student hadn't arrived for several days. She came to the student suddenly that night and said to the student: "You enemy, the slave will end up with your husband, and you will ignore me instead. It is not as good as me." Take advantage of this time to come forward and say that you are the mastermind.If you follow my opinion and have been married for a long time, after only one or two years, you can try to marry you. At that time, the student became like riding a tiger, so he had no choice but to agree, and since then he has not been to her every night.When the former father went to the door to solve the case, the coffin was opened for inspection. The students were so frightened that they were restless day and night.For several days, I was plotting with my students to choose another day to escape. Unexpectedly, my father understood the interview and proposed to the students.For the above, there is no empty words and half a sentence.As to how the Zhou family killed Bi Shun, although the students asked her many times, the Bi Zhou family finally refused to tell, so he had to ask his father to torture him again.It's all the student's momentary mistake, which caused this disaster. I only ask my father to be kind to me, so I can save my life. " After finishing speaking, he kowtowed on the ground.

Di Gong ordered the torture room to record a statement, ordered him to confront in the hall, and then brought Bi Zhou's name, and sent someone to take the prison card.Di Gong said to Zhou: "You said that your husband Bi Shun died of a sudden illness. After his death, he didn't go out. It shows that you are a virtuous woman, but this cellar is directly under your bed. The adulterer has confessed to it. You still have How can you argue? If you don't confess today, the county will not manipulate you like the day before yesterday." Seeing that Xu Detai's back was red, his skin was torn, and his legs were bleeding profusely, he knew that he had been tortured, so he said: "The little lady's husband died, but no one knew he had a sudden illness, and the grandfather opened the coffin for inspection. There was no injury, and he has already asked for punishment. Now that he has sent a letter to the constitution, he took off his hat, but he cherishes his own future, and suddenly thinks about rehabilitating , isn’t it a trifle with human life? If it is said that the cellar is used as evidence, the Bi family bought it from the Xu family. Xu’s surname is Shi, how can future generations know? , have you ever been subjected to such severe punishments? Whip on the back and step on the stick, both of them, how can he not believe in nonsense. This little woman is really wronged. If the grandfather cherishes his future, but please delay the invitation of eminent monks to save my husband, In order to redeem the blame for opening the coffin, the little woman may be more sympathetic and not go to the Shangxian Yamen to sue; the grandfather's official business can also be reported lightly, and the matter is ambiguous. If you want to be demanding on purpose, you can kill it. Don't say that Detai is a child of a noble family, and he refuses to give up. Even if a little woman suffers a sea of ​​blood and enmity, she can't rest in peace. You can't sleep on your skin in life, and you must eat your flesh in death. , the little lady has already put her life and death at her mercy." Di Gong couldn't help being furious after hearing Zhou's words, and shouted loudly: "You bitch, you have already made it known to the world, and you still dare to stand in this Dharma hall. Argue, if the county is not sure, how would you know that Xu Detai is your adulterer! You can know that this county is a yang official by day and a yin official by night. The gods instructed you to get this secret. I can't let you go." After finishing speaking, he ordered someone to put on the clamp stick as before, and immediately dragged her down, put her legs into the eyes, pulled the rope, and inserted the crossbar, only to hear "Ouch", He rolled his eyes and passed out.Di Gong saw it from above and said to Xu Detai: "This is because she has committed a lot of crimes and has not yet served her sentence. Therefore, she will not budge and accept the law of this country. How did Bi Zhou's murder that day, you tell her on her behalf. Even if you did not Your accomplice, I didn't talk to you about it afterwards, so you don't know why." Xu Detai couldn't bear the pain when he arrived at this time, and when he saw Di Gong came to question him again, he was afraid that he would be punished again, so he couldn't help crying, and asked Di The public said: "The student didn't know this fact, and now he has no time to regret. If he conspired to kill him, the court would dare not refuse to confess. How dare he try the law again? I beg my father to torture Bi Zhou again. Understood." Seeing Xu Detai's appearance like this, Di Gong knew that it was not intentional, so he had to order someone to put Zhou's pine off and spray cold water on his head to wake him up.After a long time, he just turned around and lay lazily on the ground, the blood from his legs was already dripping all over his feet.

Xu Detai stood beside him, unable to bear it, so he could only speak: "I see that you have been tortured so hard, so you should not confess truthfully. Although you are for me, if you listened to my words that day, although it would not last long, you will not suffer like this today. Great disaster. Since you killed him, this is retribution for wronged people, so you can’t avoid paying with your life, so why bother to torture and suffer?” Listening to his words, Mrs. Zhou wished to go forward and beat him badly, which showed the man’s meanness. At this time, they came back to force me to confess that since you want my life, I want your heart and soul, so it's no wonder that you are hurt by retorting.At that time, there was a "hum", and he began to curse: "You innocent dog, you accused me of adultery with you, when Bi Shun died, you should have known about it, why did you say you didn't know at this time? Saying that you were not accomplices, since you said that you had an affair first, is there any reason not to ask about it afterwards? It is obvious that you have not been punished, and you speak nonsense in order to avoid torture now. Otherwise, you will be bought by this dog official to deliberately frame me. If you ask me about my confession, there is not a single word about how Bi Shun's husband conspired to kill him." I don't know how Di Gong will interrogate these words, but let's see the breakdown in the next chapter.

(End of this chapter)