"Master Zhou, you are right as you expected. This is indeed a case of injustice!"
Shen Ning could read it very quickly, and he could read it at a glance. The file was only a few pages long, describing the events, reasons, and final verdict of the case that year.
Zhou Zhongkang was startled and said in surprise: "You, have you finished reading?"
What surprised him was not just how quickly she read the dossier, but how quickly she made a judgment after reading it.
You must know that it was only after he read it several times that he realized that this was most likely an unjust case, but he was not completely sure.
"Well, I've finished reading."
Shen Ning nodded.
This case is not complicated, except that it happened seven years ago, and it happened to the previous magistrate.
The previous county magistrate's surname was Yu Dechang, and he had gained a reputation for being honest and upright during his tenure. Then he received an imperial edict to transfer him to another place as magistrate, which could be regarded as a one-step success.
On the night when he left the county town, he held a banquet at his home to entertain the guests. During the dinner, everyone practiced it for him, and the banquet ended happily.
But no one expected that that night, Yu Dechang fell seriously ill and died.
Wu Zuo came for an autopsy and found traces of bleeding from the mouth and nose of the corpse. He determined that Yu Dechang did not die of a sudden illness but of poisoning.
It was like a commotion stirred up in calm water.
The whole county was in a frenzy over this case.
The head of a county was actually poisoned to death before he left office. There must be a huge conspiracy involved.
The imperial court also paid special attention to this matter and specially sent an inspection envoy to investigate the case, making sure to find the real culprit who killed Yu Dechang.
The inspector was sent to investigate everyone who attended the banquet that night, and took a confession. Then he interrogated all the servants in Yu Dechang's house, and soon found out.
As the saying goes, paper can't contain the fire. The inspector discovered that one of Yu Dechang's concubines was having an affair with a servant at home. This was the motive of the two men who wanted to murder Yu Dechang, so they were arrested and tortured.
As a result of the torture, the two men quickly admitted that they had indeed had an affair with each other, but both refused to admit that they poisoned Yu Dechang. Later, the two could not withstand the torture and finally confessed that they were the murderers of Yu Dechang. .
The concubine's confession stated that she pretended that there were mice in the house, went to the drug store and bought half a catty of arsenic. After returning home, she gave it to the servant, who then put arsenic into the roast lamb for the banquet that night. Later, Yu Dechang was poisoned and died.
There was also a confession from the drugstore owner in the case file, stating that the concubine had indeed bought half a kilogram of arsenic. There were both witnesses and physical evidence. Soon, the government issued the final verdict and sentenced Yu Dechang's concubine and servant to be executed. Punishment, Qiu Hou asked and beheaded.
The case finally came to light and the truth was revealed.
The inspector who discovered the case reported the case to the court and received praise and rewards from the court.
Soon the new county magistrate also arrived. After seeing the case, he concealed his feelings and sighed.
Originally, this matter was settled. If something that happened later was not recorded at the end of the case file, Zhou Zhongkang would not have paid more attention to this case.
Not long after the verdict was handed down, the concubine who was in the cell waiting to be executed suddenly hanged herself in the cell. Before she died, she bit her finger and left two bloody characters on the stone wall of the cell: Unjustly accused.