Bai Jiu's confession was very likely to prove that Huang Qi and the others were guilty of arson. Naturally, the other two helpers did not dare to hide anything anymore, and immediately hurriedly said similar words, which were also told by Xu Fei. The news caused several people to flee Tokyo quickly.
After the three helpers finished speaking, they kowtowed and begged for mercy again, while the three Huang Qi people beside them were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they almost collapsed to the ground. Sun Tu took the opportunity to stare at the three of them again: "What do you have to say now? If you weren't guilty of being a thief, why would you want to leave as a family? Also, I have found a witness. Someone saw you in Maojia Lane last night. The area is infested, do you still dare to say that you are unjustly accused?" At the end of the sentence, his words were stern and powerful.
Under his coaxing and intimidation, the psychological defenses of several people collapsed completely. Yan Huan had already taken the lead and said: "Tong San, I'm going to do it... We did go to Maojia Lane, Changxingfang, and Zhang Lao last night." Four…”
Xue Yuanpeng's face became more and more gloomy upon hearing this: "So you also set this fire? Do you know how many casualties this fire caused?"
"You are wronged, we did not set this fire!" You Laoba also said: "Although the younger ones are not angry, they don't dare to do such crazy things. We just... just... "As he spoke, he hesitated a little.
"Why, do you still want to deny it at this time? If you didn't set this fire, who else could be there? If you didn't set this fire, why do you want to flee in fear of crime?" Sun Tu stepped forward and asked loudly road.
Facing his aggressive and powerful pressure, several people no longer dared to hold back and shouted almost at the same time: "It's Mr. Tian... It's Mr. Tian who asked us to find trouble with Zhang Laosi's family, and he also said that he would give us a thousand The benefits of...”
"Huh? Who is this Mr. Tian? You have all made it clear to me." Upon hearing that there was something else going on in this matter, Xue Yuanpeng's expression suddenly became solemn and he asked immediately.
"Mr. Tian is the big shopkeeper next to Boss Fang. The younger ones used to benefit from him before going to Zhang Laosi's house to collect debts..." At this time, the three of them had nothing to hide, and they poured out everything they knew like a bamboo tube. Tell the truth truthfully.
The boss they mentioned was Fang Boguang, Fang Yasi's elder brother. He had made a fortune by collecting usury money and had opened several shops in the city. Huang Qi, Lu Fang and others had helped Fang Yasi collect his accounts many times under the instruction of Fang Yasi before, and had received a lot of benefits from this.
But what they didn't expect was that the three of them had listened to Lu Fang's arrangement and not been at the Yamen in the past two days in order to give Sun Tu a boost. As a result, they had lost their jobs, which naturally made them find it difficult to accept. The three of them did not dare to cause trouble to Lu Fang or Fang Boyan, so in the end they had no choice but to seek out Fang Boguang for some benefits.
But this time, the person who came to see them was Mr. Fang, the shopkeeper next to Fang Boguang. This man was easy to talk to at first and admitted that he did have some responsibility for this matter. But when the three lions asked Fang Boguang to take 600 guan as compensation, he flatly rejected the request: "I can give you one or 20 guan as compensation, but more is not enough."
"Mr. Fang, our brothers ended up like this because of Boss Fang. It is only natural that you should give us money to compensate us. If you don't give it to us, even though we are no longer in the Yamen, we will always find ways to make it difficult for you!" Huang Qi, who was suffocating in his heart, immediately threatened in a bad tone.
Mr. Tian was also stunned for a moment, but then he laughed: "It's not like you don't know that our boss's brother is the governor of the government. I forgive you for not doing anything."
"That's hard to say. We are now called Wu Guan, but we are not afraid of wearing shoes."
Speaking of this, Mr. Tian really couldn't resist, so he fell silent. After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke: "If you really want money, there is nothing you can do, but you need to do something for us."
"What he asked you to do is to set fire to Zhang Laosi's house?" Sun Tu suddenly interrupted their conversation and asked.
"It's not about setting a fire. It's about letting us sneak into his house at night and teach them a lesson so that they can force them to hand over their daughter to pay off their debts. And Mr. Nata also said that if things work well, he can give us a thousand guan..." After a pause. , Huang Qi added: "So that night we went to Zhang Laosi's house as he said, and gave him some lessons, forcing him to agree to hand over his daughter to Boss Fang early the next morning. But surprisingly, Not long after we left, a fire suddenly broke out in Maojia Alley, and then the fire increased in intensity and burned the entire Changxingfang. We didn't dare to cause more trouble, so we left quickly.
"Originally, we planned to go to Mr. Tian early this morning to ask for the money, but in the end, something like this happened. As a wise judge, no matter how daring the young one is, he would not dare to set fire to the city of Bianjing..." Finally, Huang Qi kowtowed again, and the other two people shouted loudly that they had not set the fire, and then kowtowed.
"So according to your opinion, Mr. Na Tian had someone set the fire?" Judge Xue Tong frowned and asked, why did things change like this again
The three of them hesitated for a moment, then nodded: "That's right, I dare to confront him!"
"Sun Dutou, I'll leave this matter to you. Bring the relevant people for questioning immediately." Xue Yuanpeng gave the order immediately.
Sun Tu cupped his fists and accepted the order. Just as he turned around and wanted to go out, two more people came to the front of the hall, but it was another Dutou He Wu from the yamen. Next to him stood a handsome and intelligent middle-aged man. year man. He Wu stepped forward and reported: "Xue Tongpan, a businessman Tian Ning came to report the case today, saying that he knew the identity of the suspect in the fire last night."
"Oh? Come in and talk." Xue Yuanpeng's energy suddenly lifted and he spoke quickly.
The two of them then entered the hall. When Tian Ning stood still, the expressions of Huang Qi and the three people who were kneeling on the ground suddenly changed, and they almost jumped up from the ground: "Mr. Tian, why is it you..."
Tian Ning also let out a surprised look, and then pointed at the three of them and shouted: "Xue Tongpan, the three suspects that the grassroots want to report are the three of them. Yesterday, they went to the small shop to cause nuisance. , and then threatened that if my boss refused to compensate them, they would give us a good look, and also mentioned that they would operate on Zhang Laosi’s family to let us know their methods. As expected, there was an uproar in Changxing Square last night. When the fire broke out, the common people felt that the three of them were suspicious, so they came to report them."
"You're so slanderous. It's clear that you asked us to find trouble with that fourth child, and now you're blaming all the crimes on us..." Yan Huan immediately retorted.
Tian Ning immediately replied: "How is this possible? My boss has always been responsible, how could he do such a thing? And although the fourth Zhang owes us a debt, we will never dare to do such a thing Come on. It is clear to everyone that there is no reason in this world for a creditor to burn the debtor's family to death without asking for money."
Xue Yuanpeng was convinced when he heard this. It is indeed the most important thing for creditors to recover their debts. The lives of debtors are not what they want at all, let alone doing such a thing.
So he immediately slammed the table again: "Well, you three bastards, not only committed such a serious crime, but also dared to deceive me and pass the blame to others. Do you really think that I am easy to bully? It seems that you don't need to be punished. If it doesn’t work, someone will come and serve me with a stick!”
Following his order, several officers immediately came forward, first pushed Yan Huan to the ground, put his feet into a simple torture device made of ropes and wooden sticks, and pulled both ends. Below, the wooden sticks quickly closed and clamped his legs tightly, causing him to scream loudly in pain.
Seeing this scene, Sun Tu's expression changed several times, and the matter became more and more confusing. It turned out that he really identified Huang Qi and the other three as the arsonists, but now it seems that there is something else going on. It's not that their words are credible, but that Tian Ning arrived just in time. It happened to be shortly after the three of them were taken to the government office, as if he came to deal with the confessions of the three of them.
Another point is also very important. If you think about it carefully, Huang Qi really has no reason to set this fire. Even if he is angry with Zhang Laosi and his family, he will not do such a thing. It's just that Sun Tu doesn't have any evidence to exonerate them now, and their previous accusations have been confirmed, which makes him somewhat confused.