"Where are you going, my lord?" He Xianwei cupped his hands, familiar and friendly.
Solemnly bowed his hands in return, and his attitude was also extremely friendly, "Naturally, I went to investigate the case. The county magistrate has many things that are still unclear, but he is not as leisurely as the county magistrate."
This remark was a bit ironic, but County Captain He didn't hear it, "It's the great fortune of Meixian County that you can work diligently for the people. The official has long heard that the county magistrate is very good at investigating cases, and I have always wanted to ask for advice. It was a coincidence that today came across such an opportunity, but I don't know if my lord is willing to let the lower officials follow me around?"
Zhuang Zhong's eyes darkened. He Xianwei suddenly appeared at this time. He didn't believe it was the reason in the words, but he was afraid that he had some plans. But since the other party has such a humble attitude, he can't refuse, so he smiled and said: "Thanks to the county magistrate He's looking up to me, this county magistrate will naturally not refuse. Speaking of this county magistrate, he has just arrived here, so naturally there is no magistrate He. I am familiar with it, and I still need to ask He Xianwei for many things."
"My lord, please." Lieutenant He stretched out his right hand in a gesture of 'please'.
Nodding solemnly, with one hand behind his back, he walked towards the cell.
He Xianwei approached him all the way, and asked, "I wonder which case my lord is going to investigate?"
Zhuang Zhong didn't respond, rubbing his chin and frowning as if thinking.
County Captain He was rather annoyed, and Master Tong explained with an apologetic expression, "Once an adult in my family thinks, he will fall into samadhi, and outsiders' words can't be heard."
The corner of He Xianwei's mouth twitched, and he said inexplicably, "I've heard that your lord was a monk a long time ago, so he really has some connections with Buddhism."
Master Tong smiled and said nothing, the cell was not far from the yamen, and he arrived there in a while.
When the cell boss and jailers saw Zhuang Zhong and County Captain He, they no longer dared to be negligent, and nodded and bowed their heads in a fawning manner.
"Where is Zhou's Zhenniang?" Zhuang Zhong asked.
Hearing this, the head of the female cell subconsciously looked at He Xianwei, and He Xianwei said angrily: "Your Excellency asked you something, and you haven't answered quickly."
The head of the female prison quickly replied: "My lord, I'm inside, but this death cell is too filthy, and it's not a place for such a noble person as your lord to set foot in. You might as well wait outside, and let the young lady wash up before coming back." See you, my lord."
"As long as you are busy, your lord is not such a particular person." County Captain He said displeased.
The female prison's head was lowered to the floor, and she said submissively: "The small one is also for the sake of the adults, this cell is full of fleas, lice and mice, these small things are the most annoying, if you go in, you will definitely be contaminated. "
He Xianwei couldn't help but paused when he heard this, and turned solemnly, "My lord, why don't we just follow what the head of the female prison said? Anyway, the interrogation is the same everywhere, there is no need to contaminate these little beasts for this, once contaminated It’s going to be sad for a while.”
Let’s not say that Zhuangzhuang doesn’t care about these things. He used to inspect deeply decomposed corpses, with disgusting maggots crawling all over his body without blinking his eyes, so he would not be afraid of such pediatrics as fleas and lice. Just because of the inexplicable appearance of He Xianwei, and to prevent him from being imprisoned, Zhuang Zhong will go to investigate.
Zhuang raised his hand and refused, "It's okay, it's just some small bugs, if the county captain is afraid of these things, just wait outside."
As he said that, he stepped in and asked the head of the female prison to lead the way.
He Xianwei frowned slightly, but followed suit.
The situation in the prison is really unsightly. It perfectly interprets what is dirty and messy. Compared with the modern labor camp, it is simply a paradise. Even the prison cells I entered in the capital before are not so disgusting. This is still a women's prison, no matter how beautiful it was in the past, now it can't be avoided. A stream of stench rushed into Zhuangzhuang's nose, even though Zhuangzhuang had long been used to all kinds of odors, he couldn't help frowning. In such an environment, it's no wonder that sick old Zhou died not long after he came in.
"My lord, this is the Zhenniang of the Zhou family."
Sitting in the corner of the cell was a disheveled woman, whose clothes had long lost their original color and were hung in tatters, revealing the solemnity of the skin, but it was disgusting to see insects crawling around.
Before Zhuang Zhong could speak in the future, County Captain He yelled, "Zhou Zhenniang! The county magistrate is here, why don't you kneel down and salute! You poisonous woman must know what to do."
This roar shocked everyone in the small prison cell, and he said solemnly and displeased: "Lieutenant He, everyone is not deaf, why are you yelling like this?"
He Xianwei cupped his hands and said, "The lower official has a loud voice, which frightened you."
Zhuang Zhong waved his hand, "Since you can't control your volume, don't make a sound for a while, my lord will have one life, and I can't stand such a toss."
After all, he ignored Captain He and asked the cell boss to open the cell and leave, but the cell boss's first reaction was still County Captain He to the west.
So obviously solemn and displeased, "Why, my lord can't command you, only He Xianwei can do this? If so, you will follow He Xianwei from now on, and I will replace the cell leader with someone else!"
The head of the female prison was startled when she heard this, and begged for forgiveness and explained, while hurriedly opening the cell door.
County Captain He wanted to stop him, but Master Tong stood in the middle, and said with a smile: "If you don't watch, County Captain He, we adults don't like being disturbed when we investigate the case."
Don't look at Master Tong's appearance as a scholar, County Captain He can't push Master Tong, and the other party is actually a practitioner. No matter how unwilling He Xianwei was, he had no choice but to back away, looking into the prison with unkind eyes. Master Tong has always been smiling and harmless, with a humble attitude.
Zhuang Zhong walked up to the woman, "Are you Zhou's Zhenniang?"
Zhenniang's eyes were dull, and she didn't respond to the outside world.
Seeing this, County Captain He wanted to speak out again, Master Tong smiled and said: "County He, I have something unclear, I wonder if County Captain He can answer it?"
Although County Captain He is unwilling, he can only deal with Mr. Tong. Although Mr. Tong is not an official official, he still has a certain status in the county government.
Zhuang Zhong said again: "Did you and your younger brother Zhou Jizu kill your husband Wu Baosheng?"
Zhenniang's eyes fluctuated when she heard this, but then she became sad again, still silent like a wooden person.
"Zhou's Zhenniang, this county magistrate will ask you again, is it true that you colluded with Zhou Jizu to kill your husband?!" Zhuang Zhong suddenly roared, the word 'fornication' was particularly forceful.
Zhenniang's eyes fluctuated, "I didn't! I didn't have an affair with an outsider, and I didn't kill my husband! I didn't..."
Zhenniang howled and burst into tears. She thought she had taken everything lightly. After all, her parents and brothers were dead. What's the point of her living? But when she heard that her younger brother who was slandered and cheated on her, although she was not her own younger brother, she always doted on her like her own younger brother, how could she bear such humiliation. This was incest to her, and she couldn't face it calmly anyway.
Seeing this, He Xianwei stepped into the cell regardless of Mr. Tong's entanglement, and angrily said: "Zhou Zhenniang, you have already pleaded guilty and now you want to retract your confession. Are you treating the previous plea as a joke?!"
Solemnly glanced at him, then looked at Zhenniang, "Zhenniang Zhou, are you going to retract the confession? But if you think about it, if the confession needs to be retracted first, you might as well wait for the execution obediently. If you want to come to your underground parents and Brother doesn't want you to suffer, and won't blame you."
Zhuang Zhong's words seemed to be persuading Zhenniang to give up retracting the confession, but in fact it reminded Zhenniang how she would face her parents and younger brother who died wronged if she died like this.
The law of Dayou is different from the previous life. If the criminal pleads guilty, unless he or his relatives retract the confession, in most cases, the officials will not be able to intervene and the original sentence will be followed directly. Otherwise, there would be a lot involved, and ordinary officials naturally don't want to take risks for a person who is not even willing to retract his confession. At that time, if you can't find out why, it's fine, and you have to pay for it yourself.
Zhenniang of the Zhou family did not disappoint her solemnity. The original ancient well turned into a surging ocean. Anyway, she was going to die anyway, so what if she tried again, at least she would not be too ashamed of her parents and younger brother if she worked hard.
"My lord! I want to retract the confession! I didn't have an affair with anyone, let alone killed my husband. The women are wronged. I beg you to make the decision for the women!"
County Captain He still wanted to make threats, but Zhuang Zhong would not let him succeed, "County He, we are doing things for the people, what do you mean by obstructing us in every possible way?"
County Captain He snorted coldly, "This poisonous woman pleaded guilty a long time ago, and now she comes to retract her confession. Isn't this just playing with the law! If you can't find out why, it will take a lot of time."
"Last time is more important than human life? Hexian Wei, don't forget one sentence, human life is more important than heaven! Even if it is repeated investigation, since someone has retracted the confession, it is necessary to investigate, or to find out the tricks, or to make her convinced !"
"The county magistrate likes to waste time when he has free time, and he has nothing to say when he is dismissed from office, but this week's Zhenniang is going to execute, so he can't postpone it by writing a letter?"
"The county magistrate knows the rules. Even if the confession is to be retracted, if nothing can be found out during this period, the execution date will naturally remain the same."
Lieutenant He laughed strangely, "It's only ten days before the execution day, and it's been two years since the case has passed. Your Excellency seems to have a complete grasp of it, so he dared to deal with this matter. I'm a lowly official."
"As an official, it is for the people. If someone calls for injustice, the official will naturally investigate. Could it be that for County Captain He, time is tight so he can ignore the people and just appeal?"
"Loyal words are harsh to the ear, my lord insists on misunderstood me like this, I have nothing to say, I just hope you will not regret taking this hot potato, my lord." After saying that, He Xianwei shook his sleeves and left, not forgetting before he left. Warn Zhenniang, "You dare to tease this official and treat the court as a child's play. If you can't find out why, let's see how this official treats you!"
Zhuang Zhong looked at the back of He Xianwei's leaving, his face darkened, he, the county magistrate, dared to blackmail the wronged person like this, he didn't know how to be arrogant in private.
Looking solemnly at Zhenniang, "Are you scary?"
Zhenniang smiled wryly, "Women are not afraid of death, so what else is there to be afraid of?"
Seeing this, Zhuang Zhong was also relieved, if Zhenniang herself was not firm, it would bring great obstacles to his trial. Murder cases in this world are difficult to investigate due to various reasons. If there are more people involved in the case who are not firm, he really has no confidence to find out the truth.
Zhuang Zhong gave Mr. Tong a wink, Mr. Tong understood, and said to the head of the female prison: "Ms. Zhou's Zhenniang wants to retract her confession. Before that, she needs to be beaten with ten sticks. She is too weak to bear it. You have taken good care of her during this time, and you must ensure that she can survive these ten boards after the class begins."
The head of the female prison repeatedly said yes, and got a tael of silver from Mr. Tong, and she became even more attentive.
Master Tong handed over the money, squinted his eyes and threatened: "If there is anything wrong with Zhou's Zhenniang these days, you can just go with her as a companion!"
The head of the female prison shuddered and complained in her heart. I'm afraid this task will not be so easy.
The two came out of the cell, Master Tong asked: "My lord, where are we going now?"
Zhuang Zhong touched the prayer beads on his wrist, "I want to open the coffin for an autopsy."