Zhu Pingan sat on the high bench and carefully watched the plaintiff and the defendant. He had already learned the general situation before the court session. Eighteen villagers beat drums to file a lawsuit, saying that they had discovered the monk and the nun having an affair, and arrested the two on the spot and reported to the police.
Eighteen villagers came to report to the authorities. They were all indignant and excited. The leader was a man in his forties who was better dressed than the others. The other seventeen villagers were typical farmers.
The accused monk and nun were not very old, about twenty years old each. They were tied up and looked very miserable. The monk's face was flushed red and the nun's head was almost drooping to the ground, and it looked like she wanted to find a hole to crawl into.
There is a reason why the ancients emphasized the five listening methods to judge a case. By observing the words and expressions, Zhu Ping'an has a rough judgment in his mind. However, the trial cannot be based on subjective assumptions, but also on evidence and laws. These specifics must be judged in court to make a true, accurate and specific judgment on the entire case.
"Please tell me the surname, name and where you live of the plaintiff. There are many of you. After you have finished reporting, please choose a representative and tell me in detail why you tied up two monks and brought them to this yamen."
Zhu Ping'an first spoke to the plaintiffs who were kneeling in the hall, asking them to identify themselves and then choose a representative to answer the question, so as to avoid too many people talking and not getting to the point. After the representative finished speaking, others could add to the conversation.
"My Lord, I am Zhang Dalong, the head of Hongmiao Village. I live in the middle of Hongmiao Village."
The leading man knelt on the ground, kowtowed, then looked up and said to Zhu Ping'an.
"The younger one is Zhang Daniu, also from Hongmiao Village, and lives at the west end of the village."
"The younger one is Zhang Tiedan, also from Hongmiao Village. He lives next to Daniu's house, on the main road in the village."
"Little Wang Dacong..."
More than a dozen villagers knelt on the ground, kowtowed one by one, and stammered as they gave their names and addresses.
After the report was made, the village head knelt on the ground as a representative and explained in detail the reason for reporting the matter to the authorities.
"Your Highness, we are all from the respectable Hongmiao Village. Our village is called Hongmiao Village because there are two temples on the hills in front and behind the village. There is a Buddhist temple on the hill in front of the village, called Hongmiao Temple, and there is a nunnery behind the village, called Hongmiao Nunnery. These two temples are usually very effective and famous, and they are well-known in the surrounding area. I didn't expect that these two people who are immoral would appear here. This morning, Zhang Daniu from our village got up early and went to the woods at the foot of the hill behind the village to pick mushrooms. Hearing some noise in the woods, he thought it was a blind bear or a wolf, so he ran back to the village in fear and reported it to me. I was worried that the wild animals would hurt people, so I took the strong young men in the village, took up weapons, and prepared to get rid of this great harm for the village."
"But we didn't expect that when we entered the woods and found the place where there was movement, we didn't find any wild animals, but we found this couple who didn't abide by the rules and regulations and were immoral! When we caught them, they were still hugging each other! They didn't even notice us! Oh, they are really immoral! So, we caught them on the spot, tied up this pair of immoral people with the ropes we prepared to tie up wild animals, and reported to the police!"
The village head Zhang Dalong knelt on the ground and told the whole story of why he had reported the tied-up monks and nuns to the police.
Zhu Pingan nodded after listening, and then asked the dozen or so villagers who were kneeling, "Do you have anything to add?"
"Mr. Magistrate, the village head has explained everything. We have nothing to add."
More than a dozen villagers shook their heads.
"Hahaha... This can be considered an unexpected success. I wanted to kill a wild beast, but I ended up killing a pair of wild mandarin ducks."
"Haha, using the ropes for tying up wild animals to tie them up is a good use of things. What's the difference between these two shameless guys and wild animals?"
"How shameless! He is still a monk..."
"No wonder there is a nunnery next to the Buddhist temple, it's a perfect match..."
The crowd outside who were watching the case could not help but start a discussion with great excitement after hearing what Zhang Lizheng said. This was not the first time they had come to the county yamen to watch the county magistrate try a case. They knew the rules and kept their voices down, not daring to disturb the trial. Otherwise, they would be expelled from the county yamen at best, or even fined at worst.
After Zhu Ping'an finished questioning the plaintiff, he turned to look at the bound monks and nuns and ordered the yamen runners in the hall, "Untie them first. Before this yamen concludes the case, any defendant is a suspect, not a criminal. After this yamen concludes the case, the guilty will be severely punished according to the law, and the innocent will be released."
"Thank you, Mr. Magistrate." After the ropes were untied, the monks and nuns knelt down and kowtowed to thank Zhu Ping'an.
Zhu Pingan waved his hand and said to the two of them, "You two should introduce yourselves first."
The monk knelt on the ground, clasped his hands together, and said, "My Lord, the magistrate, my name is Wuzhen, and I am staying at the Hongmiao Temple."
"The little nun's name is Shenyue, and she comes from Hongmiao Temple." The nun also knelt on the ground and kowtowed in reply.
"What is your secular name? Where do you live? When did you leave home?" Zhu Ping'an asked again.
"My secular surname is Liu and my given name is Liusuo. I live in Liujia Village. I became a monk last year." The monk replied.
"My surname is Wang, my name is Wang Lian, and I live in Liujia Village. I became a nun last year." The nun replied immediately.
Oh, they are from the same village and were ordained in the same year. Zhu Pingan touched his chin when he heard this.
There must be something going on here.
Zhu Ping'an had a basic understanding in his mind, so he asked further, "Why did you two become monks?"
"I dare not hide it from the magistrate. I and Miss Wang have been childhood sweethearts since we were young. But my family is poor, so I went to ask for marriage, but Uncle Wang refused and wanted Miss Wang to marry Mr. Ma in town as a concubine. Mr. Ma is already sixty years old, how can Miss Wang be happy as his concubine? I knelt down at Uncle Wang's house and begged him to marry Miss Wang to me. Uncle Wang not only disagreed, but also beat me up and kicked me out of the house. I was beaten so badly that I stayed in bed for more than a month. Later I learned that Uncle Wang insisted that Miss Wang marry Mr. Ma, but Miss Wang refused to obey and ran away from home, becoming a nun. When I learned about this, I was completely desperate and became a monk at the nearby Hongmiao Temple."
The monk knelt on the ground with red and swollen eyes and replied.
After hearing the monk's words, the onlookers outside started to talk about it. No one thought that the two had such a past. Two factions immediately formed. Some people sympathized with the monk and the nun, a pair of star-crossed lovers, while others felt that since they had become nuns, they should abide by the rules and regulations. Having an affair was abhorrent and should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others.