Miss Tong from Tongfu is also a big topic of conversation in Tanyang County. Regardless of her unmarried age of twenty years, just talking about her toughness is enough to talk about it for three days and three nights. Now she suddenly hanged herself. Although the reason is still unknown, those who are interested have already connected Tao Mo's visit to Mr. Yichui. There are even more rumors that Miss Tong hanged herself at a young age because she didn't want to marry the county magistrate Tao and begged her parents to no avail.
In short, all kinds of rumors shrouded the entire county like snowflakes, making it even more noisy on the eve of the New Year.
Although Ms. Tong said she hanged herself, but she was killed, the county government still has to intervene as usual. As soon as Cui Jiong received the news, he took Wu Zuo for an autopsy. Although there were no rumors and gossips at that time, the Tong family was a big family in the local area, and they were related to Mr. Yichui by marriage, so they couldn't be contemptuous, and the investigation was very detailed.
Miss Tong's parents cried a lot, but they had no complaints. Obviously, this result was not surprising.
Cui Jiong interrogated him for a long time, and he went back to the county government office to report to Tao Mo after seeing that the witnesses, material evidence and corpse were all unsuspicious.
Tao Mo sighed immediately after hearing this. Although he had no intention of marrying that girl Tong, Mrs. Yichui's words finally got them related. He didn't know if Miss Tong was really as the rumors said, and she would commit suicide if she was afraid of marrying him. If this is the case, it is really his great sin.
On the third day after Miss Tong's death, Mrs. Yichui came to the door with a gift.
Tao Mo was baffled by her overtures at the beginning. After all, Miss Tong was dead, and getting married was no longer possible. Later, she found out that Mrs. Yichui had heard the gossip in the city and knew that she had caused him trouble because of her whim, so she came here specially. Apologize.
Tao Mo didn't take these things to heart, thinking back in his hometown, the rumors he received were far more than these, and he ignored them as nothing, not to mention this little thing that came out of nothing, and now he turned to comfort her to mourn and change.
Persuading and persuading, Mrs. Yihammer's eyes turned red. "It's Yinghong who is not blessed. If she has met County Magistrate Tao and knows how gentle and considerate you are, she might not be so overwhelmed."
Tao Mo blushed from being praised, "Ma'am, I'm overwhelmed. You can't come back to life after death. If Miss Tong knows, she will be disturbed to see Madam so sad."
"How can she be uneasy, she is afraid she will hate me." Madam Yihammer sighed softly, "I didn't kill Boren, but Boren died because of me."
Tao Mo was stunned for a moment and said, "Who is Boren? How could he be dead too."
Mrs. Yichui was stunned, and then smiled through tears: "My lord is as rumored, illiterate and illiterate."
Tao Mo said awkwardly, "The rumors are always true."
"Speaking of which, it's my fault that I caused you to fall into these gossips. Don't worry, I will definitely refute the rumors for you." Mrs. Yihammer promised.
"Actually, as long as Miss Tong's boudoir name is not damaged, I'm fine."
Mrs. Yichui hurriedly said: "You can't say that. My lord hasn't married a wife yet, letting go of these rumors will only make the good girl deter you."
"That's right." Tao Mo blurted out.
"What?" Mrs. Hammer looked at him blankly.
Tao Mo knew that he had slipped his words, and immediately looked at Lao Tao who was standing aside as if to help him.
Old Tao really lived up to expectations, and said: "My young master said that it is just right for such a woman who believes in rumors to stay away."
Mrs. Yichui was stunned, and said with a smile, "You still have insight." She had noticed Lao Tao from the very beginning, and after following Mr. Yichui for so many years, she didn't dare to say anything else, but she still had a good eye for people. Although the old man in front of him was not outstanding in appearance, he had a calm demeanor. He was by no means an ordinary person, but the young master Tao Mo paled in comparison. "This old gentleman is..." She couldn't help asking.
Tao Mo said: "This is my housekeeper, Old Tao."
Old Tao humbly said: "I have seen Mrs. Yichui."
"The old man will kill me." Mrs. Yichui waved her hand lightly, pretending to look out of the window, "It's getting late, I have to go back first, Master Tao, please take care of Yinghong's matter. She had a bad life , please let her be quiet after death."
Tao Mo couldn't understand this sentence, but Lao Tao understood it. After sending Mrs. Yichui away, I asked Hao Guozi to talk to Cui Jiong. If there is no doubt about the case, let Miss Tong go quietly.
Cui Jiong originally worked so hard because of the relationship between Mr. Yichui and the Tong family, but now seeing Mrs. Yichui coming to the door, Lao Tao gave hints behind him. Treated as suicide.
At this point in the development of the matter, it should have come to an end, but who knows that there will be another wave of unrest.
It was another early morning when Tao Mo was sleepy, and the drums outside the county government office were beating loudly.
Hao Guozi hurried in, dragged Tao Mo up, dressed and washed, and sent him to court after hastily tidying up.
Poor Tao Mo didn't wake up until he sat on that chair and knelt down.
"What... what's the matter?" He rubbed his eyes vigorously.
"My lord! Please avenge me, my lord!" The man looked angry and stared straight at Tao Mo with his big eyes, like two nails, as if he was going to nail him to the wall.
Tao Mo was horrified by him, his voice was trembling, "What wrong? Tell me."
"Caomin wants to sue the Tong family and the magistrate of Tanyang County for forcing Tong Yinghong to death!"
He has a great voice, and every word is resounding.
Tao Mo was confused, and it took him a long time to say: "The county magistrate of Tanyang County is... me."
"It's your lord." The man thought he was pretending to be stupid, and his anger grew a little more.
Master Jin shook his head as he watched. Sure enough, three people became tigers. Although he didn't know the relationship between this young man and that Tong Yinghong, but now it seems that he must have been deceived by the rumors, thinking that Tao Mo really wanted to marry that Tong girl. In the past few days, he had also heard a lot of gossip, but he laughed it off. After all, he was there when Mrs. Yichui mentioned the marriage, so he naturally knew that Tao Mo was so innocent.
Tao Mo said, "Why did you sue me?"
"Master Tao! Let me ask you, do you want to marry Tong Yinghong?"
"Of course not." Tao Mo replied quickly.
That angry man said, "My lord, a manly man, stand upright, one person does things and one person is responsible. Don't you want to be the grandson of a tortoise?!"
"Presumptuous." Master Jin couldn't bear to listen anymore, and couldn't help but reprimanded him. He didn't know why Tao Mo put up with him, but it was really inappropriate for such a man to speak out in court. He turned his head and said to Tao Mo: "My lord, this person is talking nonsense and is too rampant. Please clean up the court discipline."
Tao Mo asked suspiciously, "How to clean it up?"
Master Jin laughed back angrily, "The gavel!"
Tao Mo realized that the piece of gavel placed on the case was not only worth touching, but could also be lifted up and photographed. He looked at the man, who stared back at him defiantly.
Tao Mo thought for a while, and finally tapped the table lightly with a gavel, and said, "Everything I said just now is true."
"..." Master Jin is not angry with that man now, he just wants to throw the one sitting on the hall out.
The man seemed to be stunned by Tao Mo's unexpected performance, and he said after a long time: "No wind, no waves! How do you explain those rumors in the streets?"
Tao Mo said, "I didn't pass it on."
The man said bitterly: "Sir, do you dare to deny that you have never had any interest in Yinghong?"
"It's true that I didn't intend to." Tao Mo replied honestly.
The man blushed with anger and his neck was thick. He had already prepared for the worst before he came to beat the drums. His friends are also ready, and if he makes a slight mistake, he will immediately ask Lin Zhengyong's disciple to be a lawyer to defend him. It would be best if Tao Mo tortured him to extract a confession and let him suffer injuries, no matter how serious they were, he would be willing to accept them. But no matter what kind of plan he planned, it was not as it was in front of him, as if no matter how he punched, he would hit a ball of cotton without any sense of force.
Could it be that the county magistrate intends to be foolish to the end
I heard that some litigators are the best at wrangling, but I didn't expect that the county magistrate is also a master. Thinking of this, he straightened his heart, stood up abruptly and said, "Tao Mo! There is a god standing three feet above your head. Feel your conscience. Yinghong died of injustice. Can you really sleep peacefully?"
Tao Mo obediently touched the position of his heart, and said, "Ruo Yinghong really died of injustice. As a local parent officer, I will definitely uphold justice for her!"
The man stared at him, and suddenly walked away.
In his imagination, no matter how forbearing Tao Mo was, he would definitely be angered by his contempt of the court. But the strange thing is, he walked out of the county office all the way, without any scolding or obstruction. Tao Mo and the yamen servant seemed to lose their voices, and even the master who had scolded him earlier remained silent.
Looking at the surprised friend outside the county government office, the man was also confused.