This case is actually not difficult to investigate. When Siyun's identity is revealed, the cause of her death will be revealed. The difficulty is only how to convict, after all, although it is illegal to kill slaves in private, no one will really make trouble in the open.
Mrs. Hong quickly flipped the rosary in her hand, and the storm was already stirring in her heart, but her face was still calm: "Lord Gongsun, why do you understand this, although my Hong family is not a famous family, but it is also a scholar generation, can't tolerate it. Others are so slandering."
She is a woman in a deep house. She stays behind closed doors, and her temples are white, which makes people feel pity. The people didn't know the reason, but they listened to the words and said the words, and they began to whisper again at this time.
"This old lady of the Hong family doesn't look like that vicious person. Could it be Lord Gongsun's mistake?"
"Yes, she is an official wife, why can't she get along with slaves?"
"Eighty percent of it is a mistake."
Just when the people were talking about it, Gongsun Zhuoyu spoke up at the right time and asked Mrs. Hong: "This official came to the door yesterday and asked about Siyun, but Mrs. you said that there are many servants in the house, and you don't remember this woman. Is it or isn't it?"
Mrs. Hong didn't know what medicine was sold in his coffin, so she could only reply coldly: "It is true."
The people around also felt that there was nothing wrong with it. The Hong family was rich and noble, and there were groups of maids and servants. How could the master remember them one by one.
Gongsun Zhuoyu folded his arms and suddenly felt that today's sun was extremely dazzling: "I heard that the young man in the palace died suddenly due to illness, and the old lady was so devastated that she specially invited a Taoist priest to recite the scriptures, is that right?"
Mrs. Hong became more and more unsure of what he wanted to do, and unconsciously clenched the dove stick in her hand. After hearing him mention her most beloved grandson, her tone finally fluctuated a little, and she said angrily, "So what?!"
Gongsun Zhuoyu looked directly at her: "No, it's just that this official heard that the young master was waiting in the room on the night of his sudden death, and Siyun was the one serving in the room. You were extremely annoyed, and you blamed her for not serving her well, and even had someone drag her out to applaud her. Is it possible that the old lady's memory is so bad that she has forgotten what happened some time ago, not to mention the death of your beloved grandson?!"
This is the first lie that Mrs. Hong told. She pulled out the radish and brought out the mud. Naturally, what she said later would have no credibility. The onlookers looked at her with strange eyes.
The old lady Hong was present, and she did not panic at all: "Oh, what Lord Gongsun said turned out to be the cheap maid, the old man did meet her, but he didn't know her name. ."
Gongsun Zhuoyu nodded, as if suddenly: "But according to the servants of the mansion, after Siyun was dragged out, he disappeared the next day. Does the old lady know what happened?"
Mrs. Hong made up her mind to keep her mouth shut: "Of course I don't know."
Gongsun Zhuoyu looked at the servant behind her with a serious look: "Where is the manager?"
The housekeeper secretly thought that he was unlucky, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and stepped forward tremblingly: "The villain is here, what do you want to say?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu asked, "You dragged Siyun down to punish you?"
The steward was sweating like rain: "Exactly, after 20 palms, and 30 more slaps, then... let someone carry her back to the house."
Gongsun Zhuoyu didn't lift his eyelids, he knew he was lying: "When did you go back?"
The steward stammered: "Jomo... Jomo came back from Hai Shi."
Gongsun Zhuoyu said calmly, "Oh? Who is the maid who lives in the same room as Siyun?"
When the steward heard the words, he looked behind him subconsciously, and called a green-clothed maid to come over: "Master Hui, the maid who lives with Siyun is Sixia."
Sixia was also so scared that she didn't dare to raise her head, but she only saluted: "This servant has seen the adults."
Gongsun Zhuoyu stared at her: "Did Siyun go back to sleep that night?"
Sixia didn't know how to answer, so she looked at Madam Hong subconsciously, but she saw the other party was looking at her with cold eyes, her heart - panic, thud - fell to her knees, and said in a lack of confidence: "Back... back..."
Gongsun Zhuoyu hissed and paced back and forth in front of her: "Since you live in the same room, how come you don't even know when she left?"
Sixia tightened her handkerchief: "The slave and maid are fast asleep, so I didn't notice..."
Gongsun Zhuoyu saw that her back was soaked with sweat: "But the steward said just now that Siyun was sent back after 30 slaps, it must have been ripped apart and hard to walk, I'm afraid he won't even be able to get off the bed when he is carried back. How can you leave without knowing it?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu squatted in front of Sixia and deliberately said: "This official sees that you are hesitating and stumbling, and the foreword does not fit the second. I think there must be a ghost in your heart. I am afraid that Siyun's death will not be related to you. She was taken away and sent to the prison, to be severely tortured by this official!"
His voice was so severe that he was so shocked that he lost his soul. Sixia was already scared when she heard that he was going to put herself in prison, so she hurriedly cried and kowtowed on the ground: "My lord, forgive me! Siyun didn't come back that night!"
Seeing this, Mrs. Hong's chest rose and fell instantly, and she secretly cursed the cheap servant in her heart.
Gongsun Zhuoyu cheated out one, and the second one would be easy to cheat, he looked at the steward with a burning gaze: "Since Siyun hasn't gone back, why do you say that people have brought her back to the house, you are lying, after all, Or did the escort do something wrong?!"
The housekeeper panicked, he didn't know what to say, Gongsun Zhuoyu saw this and stepped forward, pressing step by step: "Who did you ask to send Siyun back that day, let this official find it, if you can't find it, It was you who deliberately deceived and put you directly into the prison for torture!"
The trick is not new, it is useful. Ordinary people know that the prison is not a good place, and there is no one who will come out alive.
Cold sweat broke out on the steward's forehead, and he was about to cry. Seeing this, Gongsun Zhuoyu pulled him directly in front of Siyun's corpse, and said solemnly: "You will face Siyun's corpse and say, word by word, what happened that day, if there is a half-truth, You will be haunted by injustices, and you will not die!"
The steward was in a rush to break free, but was pressed by Gongsun Zhuoyu so that he couldn't even lift his head. He was so frightened that he was urinating, tears and snot covering his face: "My lord! My lord! I said what I said! You let go, let go!"
Gongsun Zhuoyu released him.
The steward ran away from Siyun, slumped on the ground, gasping for breath, and then knelt at Gongsun Zhuoyu's feet and cried bitterly: "The villain is just doing things according to orders, that night Siyun has already been beaten. When she was dying, the old lady ordered me to lock her up in the firewood room. The Taoist priests came to give the little master some extravagance the next morning, so they took Siyun away, and the rest of the little people didn’t know about it…”
He may also know about the other side, but in order to save his life, he did not dare to say it.
Seeing that Gongsun Zhuoyu asked more and more questions, Mrs. Hong was already a little panicked, and got up from the chair with crutches: "Lord Gongsun, it's just a few servants crawling and biting. If you really believe it, wouldn't it be ridiculous!"
Gongsun Zhuoyu sneered: "Look at what the old lady said, the servants are also human, how can they not believe what they say?!"
After he finished speaking, seeing that the dojo in the mansion had not withdrawn, he expected those Taoist priests to be still in the Hong Mansion, and waved his sleeves and ordered the yamen, "Hurry up and get in, and capture those demons!"
Mrs. Hong stepped forward and became furious: "Gongsun Zhuoyu, how dare you—"
Gongsun Zhuoyu rolled up his sleeves, thinking to himself that I'm afraid of you, the old witch, and said, "Why doesn't this official dare!"
He held on to his official hat, and his crimson official robe was dazzlingly red under the scorching sun. Gongsun Zhuoyu stood on the steps, his voice was not loud, but his words were clear, and he said to the onlookers: "If you make laws, you will abolish your own interests, and if you follow the laws, you will abolish your own ways. The meaning of this sentence is to establish laws and regulations. The purpose is to abolish private business. When the decree is implemented, private business must be abolished."
He pointed to Siyun's corpse and said, "If this woman breaks the law, the Hong family can make it clear to the government, beating, killing or punishing, and obeying the laws of our Great Ye, rather than killing them at will. way to make adult wax!"
After Gongsun Zhuoyu finished speaking, he turned to look directly at the old lady Hong who was trembling with anger: "Your Majesty is praying every day for peace in the world, peace and happiness for the people of Li, and the people of the world have no worries of starvation and endless hard work. - Jie slaves, but also His Majesty's people, why can your Hong family waste your life and turn a poor weak woman into adult wax?! Just because she is just - Jie slaves?!"
But if Siyun's death was not so tragic, Gongsun Zhuoyu would not be so angry: "This official is the governor of Jingzhao, and he is in charge of the security of the capital. No matter if the murderer is rich or rich, whoever dares to stop it will use the law as a crime!"
After he finished speaking, he gave the order, and the yamen rushed into the Hong Mansion aggressively. In no time, he captured all the Taoist priests who were doing it, tied them and threw them to the ground.
The onlookers listened with enthusiasm, and at the same time they were trembling with anger at what the Hong Mansion had done. That's right, why did the Hong Mansion turn a poor innocent weak woman into adult wax? Why!
Gongsun Zhuoyu grabbed the steward's collar and asked him to identify one by one: "Who are the Taoist priests who took Siyun away at the beginning, please point it out to this officer, if you can't point it out, you will be charged!"
Despite the fact that he was afraid of this evil spirit, among the Taoist priests in blue clothes, he pointed to a man with a goatee and said, "Hui... Master Hui... He was the one who took Siyun away..."
Seeing this, Mrs. Hong fell back into the chair with a thud, her face pale. Immediately, the yamen escorted the goatee Taoist priest to Gongsun Zhuoyu. The other party was as thin as a stump rod, with tall and thin cheekbones. He didn't look like a good person. He couldn't speak with something in his mouth, but when he saw Siyun's corpse beside him, he was shaking with fear.
Gongsun Zhuoyu pulled out the sackcloth from his mouth with a blank expression: "You took Siyun away?"
The goatee Taoist widened his eyes and looked at Madam Hong subconsciously, but was slapped back by Gongsun Zhuoyu: "Ask you, did you take Siyun away?!"
The goatee can be considered to be stubborn. He was so angry that he couldn't speak. He shivered and pointed at Gongsun Zhuoyu: "You... you..."
The yamen put the saber on his neck and said, "Speak!"
The Taoist priest was startled by the cold iron on his neck, and stammered, "Yes... yes..."
Gongsun Zhuoyu stared at him: "After taking it away, what did you do?"
The Taoist priest refused to speak, and looked at Mrs. Hong as if begging for help, but she didn't know that she could not protect herself. Gongsun Zhuoyu scolded him angrily: "If you don't say anything about this official, you will be rectified on the spot!"
The yamen cooperated and put the knife on his neck, the force was too great, and a blood line appeared faintly.
The Taoist priest hurriedly raised his hand: "Don't, don't, I said! I said! Pindao was ordered by the old lady to make the woman into a human wax, and kneel before the little son's tablet to help him achieve bliss!"
At this point, everyone was in an uproar. I didn't expect that this matter really had nothing to do with Mrs. Hong!
The yamen is also a man of temperament, and kicked the Taoist priest to the ground with his feet: "Yao Dao!"
Onlookers - a lot of scolding, even more people spit on him directly.
Gongsun Zhuoyu slowly exhaled after hearing the words, and walked to Mrs. Hong: "I don't know if the old lady has anything else to say?"
Mrs. Hong - her breath was stuck in her throat, she couldn't go up or down, her face was ashen. She forced herself to stand up from the chair, slammed her crutches on the ground, and asked in a cold voice, "Master Gongsun is going to arrest the old man for the sake of Jiejian maid?!"
Gongsun Zhuoyu: "The law of Great Ye clearly states that the prince breaks the law and is guilty of the same crime as the common people. Even if your majesty does something wrong, you will have to issue an edict of your own. Why can't you arrest the Hong family for killing people?!"
Mrs. Hong is an orderly wife, not an ordinary boudoir girl, so naturally she is not so easily fooled. She sneered: "The old man is indeed at fault, but he did not report to the government when he killed that slave, so it's a big deal to fine him more money."
Gongsun Zhuoyu's expression did not change: "What does the old lady say?"
Mrs. Hong, with rosary beads in her hands, said, "If the old man kills Siyun for no reason, it is indeed a violation of the law, but the slave did not take good care of my grandson, causing him to suddenly catch a cold at night and die, and he deserves it. , even if she reports to the government, she will not escape the death penalty, even if Lord Gongsun captures the old man, he will only be fined some silver taels."
This is the normal state of aristocratic wealthy families. After killing the slaves and servants, they will be charged with any crime, and the government will only turn a blind eye.
Mrs. Hong turned against the army, and the people were anxious and angry when they saw this, and secretly scolded her for being extremely shameless.
Gongsun Zhuoyu laughed instead of being angry: "The old lady said that it was because Siyun didn't take good care of the young master, which caused him to catch a cold and get sick, so he killed him?"
Mrs. Hong: "So what?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu shook his sleeves, walked down the steps with his hands behind his back, and said loudly, "No, it's just that this official once asked the doctor who treated the young son of your house that night, and he clearly died of the wind, not the cold. , I wonder how this crime can be blamed on Siyun, isn't it possible to add a crime without excuse?!"
"you!"
Mrs. Hong's complexion suddenly changed, she never thought that Gongsun Zhuoyu would actually check this. His eyes widened, his throat twitched, and he couldn't say a word. After a while, he spit out blood, and fell on the chair with a pale face.
Seeing this, the servants of Hong Mansion exclaimed: "Old Madam!"
"What's the matter with you, old lady!"
"Go and ask the doctor!"
Gongsun Zhuoyu saw the servants of the Hong family carry the old lady into the house with all her might, thinking that the Hong family has been an official for generations, and the eldest daughter in the family is pregnant with a dragon child. Pick it up, put it down gently, and endure a reprimand. After all, who would have a hard time with an old lady who was half-in-the-earth.
He walked down the steps and saw Siyun's body still lying quietly on the ground, and he could vaguely see that she was a beautiful woman before she was born. Not only did she sigh, she squatted down and gently covered her body with a white cloth.
Gongsun Zhuoyu said to himself: "Girl, I can only do so much. I will give birth to a good child in my next life, and don't be born in this world..."
After he finished speaking, he stood up from the ground and waved to them to carry Siyun away: "Find a good place to bury."
Siyun has no father or mother, and there is no one to collect the corpse after his death.
The yamen asked, "Sir, what about these Taoists?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu said in a cold voice, "To confuse the public with evil words, it is natural to be sent to the prison, waiting for this official's decision."
Seeing this, the surrounding people spontaneously gave way, and looked at the young men in crimson official robes in the crowd, all with mixed feelings. Several years after the establishment of the Great Ye Dynasty, Jing Zhaoyin changed positions and positions, but no official would dare to directly confront the Hong family for the sake of the lives of Jiewei Mo's slaves like Gongsun Zhuoyu.
I just hope he can sit in this position for a long time, everyone thinks so.
When Shilang Hong heard the news and rushed back to the mansion, it was already dark. He only felt that the house leak happened during the night of rain, he had just been reprimanded, and this incident happened at home again, what if it spread to the emperor's ears!
People from the mansion came and went in a hurry, and Shi-Lang Hong grabbed it casually - and asked, "Where's the old lady?!"
The servant pointed to the inner room and said, "Go back to the master, the old lady is lying in it."
Shilang Hong shook off him and walked quickly into the inner room, only to see the old lady lying on the bed weakly: "Mother!"
Seeing this, Mrs. Hong reluctantly cheered up, and sat up with the help of the maid: "De Zhang..."
Hong Shilang supported her: "Mother! How is your mother?!"
Mrs. Hong clenched his hand tightly: "I just pretended to vomit blood, otherwise Gongsun Zhuoyu will be entangled, go and deliver the letter to the nobles in the palace, you must let her help us Hong. The family presides over justice!"
Hong Shilang stomped his feet and sighed: "Mother, don't you know, the noble person has already been reprimanded by the emperor, and the situation is worrying, how can we help us!"
The old lady's eyes widened, panting heavily: "Is it possible that Gongsun Zhuoyu will bully us?!"
Lord Hong sighed repeatedly: "Mother, I told you not to listen to those Taoist priests for a long time. Now that you have caused trouble, you can just let it go. I will ask Your Majesty for mercy tomorrow, and don't bring this up again."
Mrs. Hong wanted to say more, but Mr. Hong didn't want to listen any more. He held her hand and said, "Mother, take care of your health, I have something else to do, so I will go back to the study first."
After saying this, he asked the servants to take care of her and turned to leave.
Mrs. Hong was already depressed, and now she is even more depressed. The servants all over the room didn't make a sound when they saw this, so it was obvious that they were very tired of her on weekdays. Still the close-fitting maid stepped forward and patted her chest for her: "Old Madam, it's getting late, you should rest early, if you're angry, I'll talk to the master tomorrow."
The old lady had to nod her head.
Seeing this, the maid gently lowered the bed curtain and slowly backed out.
Autumn is rainy. It was still sunny during the day, and suddenly lightning and thunder erupted at night. The old lady was awakened by the noise of the rain, and felt dry mouth again. She wanted to call the maid to come in to pour water, but no one answered, so she could only get out of bed in the dark.
There were no candles in the room, so the old lady took out a candle from the drawer and wanted to light wax. Unexpectedly, at this moment, a burst of thunder suddenly struck, and even the room suddenly lit up.
She drank the medicine today, her head was already drowsy, and she was frightened by Siyun's death. In a trance, she saw a female corpse kneeling and laughing at herself in the corner of the wall, her hands shaking, and she was so scared that she retreated.
The old lady exclaimed: "Someone! Come on!"
The rumbling of thunder drowned out her old cry.
The floor was covered with a soft blanket, and Mrs. Hong had inconvenience in her legs and feet, and staggered back. Unexpectedly, she tripped and fell to the ground screaming. - The heavy bronze sparrow candlestick was brought down by her random wave and pressed down on her.
"prick-"
Hearing the sharp sound of cutting through the fabric, the old lady suddenly died.
Another burst of thunder flashed, and the house lit up for an instant. I saw that the pointed mouth of the copper sparrow candlestick was impartial, just stabbed Mrs. Hong on the back, and the red candle that was half-burning rolled to the ground, and gradually congealed with the blood.
"What? Dead?"
Early the next morning, just when Gongsun Zhuoyu was worried about how to deal with the old lady of the Hong family, she suddenly heard the news of her passing, which was not surprising.
Wen Zhongqing stood at the foot of the hall, with a little more sincere respect than usual when he handed over his hands: "Master Hui, I heard that I was drinking water at night, and I didn't stumble on the candlestick and was killed."
Tianli is reincarnated, and retribution is unhappy. Mrs. Hong turned Siyun into a human wax, and now the cause and effect is also retribution on her.
Gongsun Zhuoyu sighed inexplicably: "Well, save me from worrying about it, and remember to bury Siyun well."
Wen Zhongqing asked subconsciously, "Sir, who will pay for this money?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu touched his sleeves, but only a few pitiful taels came out. It's all because of his cheap mouth. Last time, he said he wanted to go to prostitutes, but Du Lingchun took all the money back and discussed with Wen Zhongqing: "How about... how about the two of us share some?"
Wen Zhongqing swallowed: "Sir, how do you spread it?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu thought about it for a while, and compared a "two" with his left hand and a three with his right hand: "I give three taels, you give twenty taels."
#This is not called a stall, this is called a robbery! #
Wen Zhongqing took a step back: "Sir, my subordinates have clean arms, and my family is poor."