The next day, Shen Zhiyan was promoted to the court to hear the case of the murder of Huang's father and daughter, and three witnesses were called.
With all the witnesses and material evidence, He Qiaoliang admitted to raping Miss Huang, but he did not admit to instigating the servants to beat Old Man Huang. He claimed that those servants voluntarily taught Old Man Huang to protect his master. The four servants of the He family gave false testimony in the hall that He Qiaoliang did not order them, and they did it voluntarily. Shen Zhiyan stated his interests and yelled majesticly and angrily. They retracted their confession because they were afraid of being beheaded, and they accused He Qiaoliang of instructing them to beat Father Huang.
In this way, He Qiaoliang could no longer deny it.
He Hongtian listened to the trial outside the lobby, and even invited the Minister of the Ministry of Officials to try to put pressure on the presiding judge Shen Zhiyan.
Murong Ci was hearing the trial in the hall, and when Shen Zhiyan was about to pronounce the sentence, he saw the Minister of the Ministry of Officials requesting to leave the hall and rest for half an hour.
When they came to the inner hall, she hid and listened intently.
The Minister of the Ministry of Officials lured him with money, and then threatened Shen Zhiyan's future and official career, asking him to keep He Qiaoliang's life. He could be sentenced to imprisonment for many years, as long as he stayed.
"Lord Shen, it seems that someone has accepted bribes and offered you bribes in order to pervert the law for personal gain. You can report to Yushitai, or you can report to the imperial court to impeach this person and dismiss this black sheep who is corrupt and perverts the law."
Murong Ci came out with a clear and cold voice.
The servant of the official department was startled for a moment, his face changed slightly, and then he bowed and saluted, "I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."
Shen Zhiyan said contemptuously: "The case of Father Huang's father and daughter was investigated by the crown prince. If you want to save the murderer He Qiaoliang's life, you might as well ask your highness for mercy."
The Minister of the Ministry of Officials regretted and hated, and wanted to die, "Your Highness, this official was also deceived by He Hongtian, and this official was at fault. Then He Qiaoliang beat Mr. Huang to death, and raped Miss Huang. This crime cannot be pardoned. You must be beheaded to convince the people of the imperial capital. Your Highness, I have official duties, so I will retire first."
Shen Zhiyan didn't want to say any polite words, but when he saw him leaving in a hurry, he shook his head and sneered.
Murong Ci's bright eyes froze coldly, "It seems that this servant of the Ministry of Officials has not been long."
"It is necessary to check carefully, and we will surely find out a lot of family property."
After all, he went to the court to pronounce the sentence.
He Hongtian almost fainted when he heard that his son was sentenced to be beheaded.
After lunch, they went to Li's house.
Next door to Li's house is Ye's house, and they saw a few women gathering at the door, eating melon seeds and chatting, as if they were talking about the tragedy of Li's house.
Murong Ci told the horse to walk slowly, and pricked up his ears to listen.
"Don't tell me, I really heard and saw the crime that night." A fat lady said mysteriously.
"Oh, what did you hear, what did you see?" a thin old lady asked curiously.
"I dare not say."
"Hurry up and talk, you can't just stop after raising your head." Others urged.
"I'm worried that the ghosts of the Li family will come looking for me in the middle of the night." The fat aunt said in a ghostly manner.
"How come you haven't harmed anyone from the Li family? Don't think about it." The thin aunt said.
"That night, I couldn't bear it anymore, so I got up and went to the hut. I was squatting in the hut, and heard a shrill scream." The fat aunt covered her mouth with her hand, looked around and whispered.
"Did it really come from the Li family?"
"It was the scream from the Li family. At the time, I didn't feel anything in a daze, but when I think about it later, it was creepy. It must have been the scream when the Li family was killed."
"What else did you hear and see?" The others asked with interest.
"I came out of the hut and took a few steps when I saw a black shadow flying out from the roof of Li's house." The fat lady was good at creating an atmosphere, and said vividly, "The black shadow flew very fast and disappeared in the blink of an eye. "
"You can't see it wrong, it may be a big bird." The thin aunt said.
"Scary, how could I mistakenly see that black shadow is a person, the lightness kung fu is very powerful, and it flew over with a whiff."
"So, the Li family was killed by the enemy"
"I think it's a vendetta. If it wasn't for the deep hatred, would it be necessary to kill the whole family?" The fat lady raised her chin triumphantly.
"Who are you and what are you doing?" The skinny aunt looked at Murong Ci and Shen Zhiyan and asked cautiously.
Murong Ci smiled kindly and softly, "Ma'am, is what you said just now true?"
The fat aunt asked fiercely: "Is it true, what does it have to do with you?"
Shen Zhiyan also said politely: "Everyone, don't panic, we are from Dali Temple, and we are responsible for investigating the tragedy of killing the Li family. If you know anything, please let us know."
Several great gods looked at each other, seeing that they were from the government, they became more vigilant and wanted to leave.
Murong Ci hurriedly stopped them and said: "The whole family of Li's family was killed without leaving any blood. It's so desolate. You and Li's family are neighbors. You don't see each other when you look up and look down. There is some kind of friendship. If you know If you let us know, it will be regarded as justice for the Li family, so that the souls of the Li family can rest in peace, right?"
Shen Zhiyan continued: "You know some inside information, but you don't want to say it out, the Li family can't avenge their grievances,
Maybe those ghosts will haunt you every night, making you unsafe, right?"
Their expressions changed greatly in fright, and they suddenly felt chills on their backs.
The thin aunt and others persuaded the fat aunt to tell the truth, and the fat aunt finally said: "It's true, I never made up anything to deceive people."
Murong Ci was overjoyed and asked, "Do you still remember when you got up at night?"
The fat aunt replied: "About the fourth watch, yes, it's the fourth watch."
"That black shadow is really a person"
"It's a person, I'm not mistaken."
"Did you see his face?"
"Then how can we see the distance so far? It was dark at that time, and I couldn't see the face of that person at all."
"Did you see the long sword in that man's hand?" Shen Zhiyan continued to ask.
"Let me think about it." The fat aunt thought for a while and said with certainty, "That man does have a long sword in his hand."
"Auntie, thank you." Murong Ci's eyes turned, and he asked again, "Do you know anything about the Li family? Has the Li family had any grudges with other families?"
"Isn't it the He family in the east of the city? The eldest son of the He family brought many people to the Li family to provoke him, threatening to destroy all the Li family's belongings and tear down the Li residence." The thin aunt said bluntly, and the fat aunt Lala asked her not to say anything, but she didn't listen, and continued, "But the Li family is an official, no matter how much gold and silver the He family has, what can the yamen do? "
"Besides the He family, does the Li family have any other enemies?"
"It seems that there are no more. Although the Li family is an official and a member of the Ministry of Rituals, the people in the Li family are pretty good. They are well-educated and polite to others." The thin aunt said.
"Then does the Li family have any relatives and friends who have a lot of contacts? Does the Zhu family of Mrs. Li's natal family have a lot of contacts with the Li family?"
"Zhu's family, we don't come and go much, just walk around during the holidays."
"There are two families that come and go a lot, don't you remember? Didn't the eldest lady of the Li family discuss marriage a while ago?" an aunt reminded.
"That's right, that's right, Miss Li's marriage discussion almost caused a big incident."
"Which son is the one who is discussing marriage with the Li family?" Shen Zhiyan asked along.
"There are two sons, one is the Gao family and the other is the Wang family."
"Are there two young ladies from the Li family who are so attractive?" Murong Ci pretended to be curious.
"Miss Li looks like a flower, she is knowledgeable and well-educated, she is both talented and beautiful. The threshold of the Li family was almost broken by the matchmaker. However, if the matchmaker offered to marry, she was politely declined by Mrs. Li and Mrs. Li," said the thin aunt. Jianghu Bai Xiaosheng looks quite proud of knowing so many things.
"Is that why they look down on the matchmaker?" Murong Ci asked.
"It's the second best thing to look down upon. Mrs. Li already has the best candidate for a son-in-law, and that is the son-in-law of the Gao family. By the way, the Gao family is also a scholarly family. Master Gao works in the court. Mrs. Gao and Mrs. Li grew up together when they were young. Therefore, Mrs. Li wants to betroth her daughter to Mr. Gao, the son of the sister in the boudoir." The thin aunt continued, "And Mr. Li has other plans. Mr. Li has a friend from the same class, that is, Mr. Wang. The Wang family also As an official, although his official position is lower than Mr. Li, but the mansion is well-off, with thousands of acres of fertile land and a few shops. The prince is also a good-looking talent, with a handsome appearance. Mr. Li is determined to be in-laws with the Wang family, and he has a lot of trouble with Mrs. Li Let's make friends, and the Gao family and the Wang family also come to Li's house to make a fuss from time to time."
"Then which son will Miss Li betroth to in the end?"
"This matter has not been settled for three months. Mr. Li insisted on getting married with his classmates and friends, and Mrs. Li insisted on getting married with his girlfriends, and there were troubles from time to time. Mr. Gao and Mr. Wang three He ran to Li's house every day, tried every means to please Miss Li, even if there was a disagreement, there would be a fight, if it wasn't for Miss Li's persuasion, there would have been countless fights."
"Then the relationship between the Gao family and the Wang family is not very good." Shen Zhiyan and His Highness looked at each other.
"That's natural. When Mr. Gao and Mr. Wang meet, their faces are red and their necks are thick, and they have to argue a few times." The fat aunt said.
"Thank you for telling us this."
After Murong expressed his thanks, he went to Li's residence.
When Shen Zhiyan saw those aunts scattered, he rushed over and said in a low voice: "Your Highness, we guessed right, the murderer really possesses martial arts, and his lightness kung fu is quite good."
She sighed, "It's a pity that the fat lady didn't see what the murderer looked like."
He was quite excited, "At least we can know that the murderer is not an ordinary person. I was wondering if the person who wanted to kill the Li family would buy the murderer."
She nodded, "It's not impossible. Let's go to Li's house and see if there are any clues left by the murderer."
"By the way, does Your Highness think that the Gao family and the Wang family are related to this case?"
"The Gao family and the Wang family are hostile to each other because of Miss Li, so they shouldn't hold grudges against the Li family. It should be the Gao family or the Wang family who want to destroy the family, not the Li family."
"I was thinking that the Gao family and the Wang family knew that it was Li Chunqiu and Mrs. Li who had a disagreement that caused the two families to quarrel. After being so angry, they hated the Li family."
"That's not going to kill everyone in the Li family, and it's not a deep hatred."