The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua

Chapter 12

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The mansion of the Marquis of Wu'an has been clouded with gloom recently.

The eldest son, Zheng Cheng, is the real eldest son of the Marquis of Wu'an. Although the canonization of the imperial court has not been granted due to his bad reputation, this is actually a technique used by the imperial court, although it may not be given to you in the end. Noble title, but there is such a thing, you can take care of your servants and let the Marquis of Wu'an be careful and dare not make mistakes.

Not only to the heroic family, but also to the court's own people in the old Zhu family. For a long time after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the surnamed Zhu opened branches and leaves scattered all over the country, and the clan was worthless. To the emperor and the court, they were a bunch of worms who would only waste the court's food but have nothing to do. Because of the ancestral rules, they could not be abolished. That's it.

But that is the attitude of the imperial court. For Zheng Ying, even if Zheng Cheng always gives him a headache, he is still his eldest son after all. No one can still be happy when his son is dead. Zheng Cheng's mother, Mrs. Marquis of Wu'an, even cried. Tears, excessive sadness, bedridden.

When Suizhou and Tang Fan arrived at the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, they were all pale. Although Zheng Cheng's body was still detained in the Beizhen Fusi, the man was always dead. They are also wearing filial attire.

Seeing them, Wu'an Marquis Zheng Ying naturally had no good face, but because of the reputation of Jin Yiwei, he had to fight hard: "I don't know how many of you are here, what are you doing?"

Suizhou didn't even greet him, and said directly, "Master Hou, we want to see Madam Hui."

The Marquis of Wu'an was stunned for a moment, and quickly reacted: "Is she related to my son's death?"

Suizhou: "It's just necessary for handling the case, and I haven't been able to draw a conclusion yet."

The Marquis of Wu'an didn't say much nonsense, and immediately asked someone to bring Hui Niang over.

On the night of the incident, when Tang Fan followed Pan Bin to the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, he had already met Zheng Cheng's one wife and three concubines.

Zheng Sun's family is virtuous, but because of their average appearance, they are not liked by Zheng Cheng, so the couple rarely have the same room.

The eldest concubine, Wanniang, entered the door early and was honest, but she was fascinated and relaxed. Zheng Cheng seldom set foot in her courtyard before his death.

Yu Niang was a concubine who had been newly married. She was beautiful and beautiful, and she was the most charming and charming age in the manor. She was the most loved by Zheng Cheng in the manor, but home flowers were not as fragrant as wild flowers, and Zheng Cheng had to develop outward from time to time. Although favored, but not only favored.

Only Hui Niang, who was once more favored than Yu Niang, heard that Zheng Cheng gave her a lot of jewelry to please her. Among the four women's different reactions to the news of Zheng Cheng's death, Madam Hui cried the loudest, and at first glance she was also the saddest, but now that I think about it carefully, because the reaction was too big, it was a bit unreal.

Madam Hui was brought over quickly.

As the saying goes, if you want to be pretty and look filial, Madam Hui who wears plain white filial piety clothes is really charming, but it is a pity that neither Tang Fan nor Sui Zhou have the heart to appreciate it.

Suizhou directly asked Xue Ling to show the portrait: "Do you recognize this person?"

Madam Hui looked at it: "I know, he is the little woman's cousin."

Xue Ling: "Where are the people?"

Madam Hui's eyes filled with tears, and her face was sad: "If I go back to your lord, my cousin was accidentally hit by a carriage when he went out three days ago. At that time, he was dead, and now he is buried!"

Xue Ling sneered: "How can there be such a coincidence, we came here to find someone, and something happened on your side?"

Madam Hui: "It's absolutely true, my distant cousin is a servant of the mansion, and he doesn't dare to disturb the Hou Ye, but the housekeeper knows about it. If you don't believe me, you can ask him to confront him!"

Xue Ling: "It's okay, we're not looking for your cousin, but you. The shopkeepers of Sanyuantang and Renxintang have already identified them. Your cousin bought a lot of Bupleurum from their pharmacy. no?"

Madam Hui: "Sir, this is a good question for no reason. My cousin went to buy medicine, why did he tell me in advance, and what did he have to do with me?"

Xue Ling: "Fuyangchun comes from an ancient recipe. Although it is not good for the body, it will not kill people in just a few months, but it is you who instructed your cousin to add Chaihu in the pill. It made Zheng Cheng die of a violent illness, pretending to be deprived of yang!"

Madam Hui: "The little woman was wronged..."

Her grievance was finished, but she was interrupted by the screaming anger next to her. It turned out that the Marquis of Wu'an couldn't help rushing up and slapped Madam Hui fiercely!

"You bitch, you dare to argue, your cousin has no grievances with Cheng'er, and he has no chance to get close to him at all, so how could you murder him! The evidence is conclusive, who else would it be if you were not, I have seen you long ago Uneasy in the room, I didn’t expect you to dare to murder Cheng’er, bitch!”

Mrs. Liu, the Marquis of Wu'an, came from a scholarly family. The last time she saw Tang Fan, although she was heartbroken over her son's death, she at least kept her restraint and calmness, but now that the possible murderer was close at hand, she would naturally Can't stand it either.

Madam Hui let out a cry, covered her cheeks and hid to the side: "Master Hou, save your life, Master Hou, I am wronged!"

Seeing that she still dared to dodge, Liu Shi became more and more angry, and even rushed up and wanted to fight, and the scene suddenly became a mess.

Sui Zhou looked at the chaos and said coldly, "Master Hou wants us to watch the monkey show?"

Although Madam Hui was the most suspect, she was, after all, the daughter-in-law of the Hou family, and there was also Mrs. Hou. There were differences between men and women.

The Marquis of Wu'an took a deep breath and shouted: "I can't stop it! Are you all dead? Help Madam aside and hold Madam Hui!"

As soon as he spoke, the maids and maids swarmed up, finally pulling the two away.

The Marquis of Wu'an was panting heavily. Although she was helped away, her eyes were still full of resentment and resentment, which made Madam Hui shudder, and even her crying became quieter.

Suizhou looked at Madam Hui crying with tears in her eyes, but there was no trace of emotion on her face: "Do you want to recruit it yourself, or do you want to recruit it at Beizhen Fusi?"

Before Madam Hui could react, Tang Fan said, "You are a woman from a deep house, and you are illiterate, let alone proficient in medical theory. How dare you plot against Zheng Cheng, someone must be instigating you behind your back, if you are willing to follow the truth If you invite him, you may be able to avoid the death penalty. If you blindly hide it for the person behind you, then he will be fine, but you will suffer. The law of the Ming Dynasty has already stated that the murderer will be executed. If you do not plead guilty, you will inevitably have to go to Beizhen After a walk, water, fire, knives, whips and fingers, everything will make you unable to survive, but you can’t die, then you just want to die, I’m afraid it won’t be so cheap.”

His words were light, without a hint of fireworks, but Madam Hui could hear her teeth chattering. No one had heard of Jin Yiwei's methods. Madam Hui seemed to be able to see that she was covered in blood in the prison.

In fact, it's not that she can enter the prison if she wants to. Those who can enter the prison are ordered to commit crimes. If she dies in it, she may be able to leave her name through the ages. Tianfu prison, Zhao prison is not uncommon to take him in.

Sui Zhou glanced at Tang Fan, and was noncommittal about the latter's use of a prison to scare Mother Hui.

Tang Fan: "Sui Zongqi, I heard that there is a punishment in the Beizhen Fusi, called rain pouring plum blossoms, which is to hold the prisoner's hands and feet, and then cover his face with tissue paper soaked in water, adding one layer to the other. Layer upon layer, the prisoner didn't feel anything at first, but gradually it became difficult to breathe. The paper that had absorbed the water was tightly attached to his face, covering his mouth and nose, making it impossible for him to breathe. The prisoner will slowly suffocate and die in this torment, right?"

Sui Zhou was expressionless and nodded slowly: "Well, yes."

Xue Ling on the side twitched his eyes: ... When did our Beizhen Fusi have this kind of sissy punishment? Isn't that the invention of the dead eunuchs in Dongchang

Madam Hui felt the same way. Following Tang Fan's vivid description, she only felt that her face was covered layer by layer with invisible wet paper, and it became difficult to even breathe. Slowly torture people to death!

"I recruited! I recruited! I didn't kill people! It was Zheng Zhi! It was Zheng Zhi who told me to do this!" She finally burst out and shouted.

The Marquis of Wu'an shouted: "Shut up! You bitch, you know what you're talking about!"

Madam Hui: "I didn't! I didn't! I didn't kill Zheng Cheng, nor did I kill my cousin, it was all Zheng Zhi! He asked me to give the prescription to Zheng Cheng, and then asked my cousin to buy a pharmacy guy. , put Chaihu in it! Oh, and that pharmacy guy! That's what Zheng Zhi killed, it's not me, I don't know anything!"

Marquis of Wu'an: "Shut up!"

Liu Shi said coldly: "Shut up, let her continue!"

The Marquis of Wu'an said angrily: "What else is there to say, this bitch is casually biting and rambling, is she willing to drag everyone in the house into the water!"

Liu Shi sneered: "You are obviously afraid that she will recruit someone who shouldn't say something, so you hurriedly want her to shut up?"

The Marquis of Wu'an was furious: "I've never had such thoughts, don't you think it's not messy enough!"

Seeing the couple quarreling, Sui Zhou turned a blind eye and said to the Marquis of Wu'an, "Please, Lord Marquis, please invite the second son of Zheng over."

The Marquis of Wu'an had to stop arguing with Mrs. Liu. He glared at Madam Hui, his lips opened and closed, and finally came out a few words: "Don't go and bring Zheng Zhi to me!"

The servant hurriedly took the order and left.

Zheng Zhi came over soon, and there was a middle-aged beautiful woman with him.

Tang Fan had seen her. On the night of the incident, all the female relatives of the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion were there. He vaguely remembered that this woman was the concubine of the Marquis of Wu'an.

Zheng Zhi saluted, "I have seen my father and my mother, but I don't know who these two are...?"

His eyes fell on Sui Zhou and Tang Fan. On the night of the crime, he did not appear at the scene, and naturally he did not recognize Tang Fan and them.

Zheng Zhi's appearance is six or seven points similar to the beautiful middle-aged woman next to him, which adds a bit of femininity, but his words and deeds are gentle and polite. From this point alone, Zheng Cheng can't compare with him.

The eldest son has not been canonized yet, and his name has not yet been determined, but the second son is better than the eldest son. Marquis of Wuan will definitely struggle in his heart.

This struggle will inevitably lead to a tilt in the heart, and it will be difficult to level a bowl of water.

This is where the conflict started.

The Marquis of Wu'an said with a sullen face: "These two are Lord Tang of Shuntian Prefecture and Lord Sui of Beizhen Fusi, who came to question your brother's case. I ask you, is your brother's death related to you? "

Zheng Zhi was taken aback: "Father's words are to kill the child unjustly, how can the child be against the wall and murder the elder brother?!"

Although he had done enough, Tang Fan didn't miss the look he subconsciously looked at Madam Hui just now.

Suizhou: "Second son of Zheng, Madam Hui is now accusing you of instigating her to drug Zheng Cheng and killing her cousin in order to silence her. Is this the case?"

Zheng Zhi said categorically: "There is absolutely no such thing!"

Madam Hui cried bitterly: "You slaying a thousand knives, you clearly asked me to do it, and you said that when the dead ghost dies, you will send me over!"

Zheng Zhi said angrily: "You woman is crazy, you are my eldest brother's concubine, how could I have a connection with you!"

The beautiful middle-aged woman screamed, "I'll let you little hoof climb and bite!"

Then he rushed up to slap Mother Hui.

The wife of the Marquis of Wu'an, Mrs. Liu, also did the same. Xue Ling is not easy to intervene. Now that there is a concubine, Xue Ling directly stepped forward and pushed her away: "Jinyiwei is here, An dare to be arrogant!"

The middle-aged beautiful woman was pushed to the ground, her face was blue and white, she wanted to get angry but didn't dare, she twisted her waist, rushed to the Marquis of Wu'an, hugged his thigh and cried, "Master Marquis, you have to protect our mother and son. Be the master!"

The Marquis of Wu'an, one big and two big, quickly grabbed her: "Get up, get up, what a formality!"

Having said that, his tone was much gentler than what he had just said to Liu Shi.

Liu shi looked on with cold eyes and said nothing.

In the face of such a chaotic scene, Tang Fan and Sui Zhou were still able to look as usual.

Tang Fan said, "Mother Hui, do you have any evidence to identify Zheng Zhi?"

Madam Hui was stunned and speechless.

The middle-aged beautiful woman pointed at Sang and scolded Huai: "Okay, you can't tell, right! Azhi is clearly innocent, so how could he murder his elder brother? Did someone watch the eldest son die, dissatisfied that Azhi would become the heir, so he instructed you Whoever framed Azhi, say it!"

In this series of shouts, Madam Hui suddenly shouted: "I have evidence! I have evidence!"

She was really frightened by Tang Fan's description just now, whether it was the imperial prison of Beizhen Fusi or that Lao Shizi "raining the plum blossoms", she didn't want to try it at all.

Suizhou: "Speak."

Madam Hui gritted her teeth: "Second Master Zheng has a red birthmark on his hip, the size of half a palm, and it's in the shape of a plum blossom!"

As soon as these words came out, the scolding of the middle-aged beautiful woman also stopped abruptly.

There is a difference between men and women, and the birthmark on the face and hand is easy to say. Unless the birthmark on the butt is extremely close, how can they know

Hui Niang is Zheng Cheng's concubine, but Zheng Zhi is Zheng Cheng's younger brother. The two should not be able to fight, but now Hui Niang knows that Zheng Zhi has a birthmark on his ass. What does this mean

Sui Zhou looked at Zheng Zhi, whose face changed greatly: "Is there such a thing?"

Zheng Zhi didn't answer, and Suizhou didn't need him to answer, so he waved his hand directly: "Take him down and bring him back to the Zhenfu Division!"

He pointed at Madam Hui again: "You also go with me. I just confessed to being lenient, and I can make a maid accompany me."

The middle-aged beautiful woman burst into tears and rushed to hug her son tightly, not letting anyone approach.

When she cried, others pulled and persuaded, and the scene began to become chaotic again.

"Wait!" The Marquis of Wu'an said, "Sir Sui, this is my Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, and Zheng Zhi is from the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion, how can you take it away if you say it is!"

Suizhou: "Master Hou, if your son is found innocent, he will naturally be released in the end."

The Marquis of Wu'an said angrily: "Suizhou, don't use chicken feathers as an arrow! Your Majesty asked you to investigate the case, not to let you take my Wu'an Marquis's house, what are you trying to do! I'm going to impeach you on the table!"

Suizhou was unmoved: "The duty of the lower official is, the Hou Ye please do it."

The Marquis of Wu'an twisted his nose in anger and was about to speak, but he heard Mrs. Liu, the Marquis of Wu'an, say, "Master Sui just handles the case impartially, I'll take care of it if I have something to do!"

"You! How dare you!" The Marquis of Wu'an pointed at Liu, so angry that he could not say a complete sentence.

"Why don't I dare? Do I have no part in this Marquis of Wu'an Mansion?" Liu shi looked at him with cold eyes, like hatred. "Don't forget, I am the wife you are marrying. I have also been canonized by the imperial court, and I have the right to be in charge of this Marquis of Wu'an Mansion!"

Marquis of Wu'an: "Cheng'er is already dead, and the deceased is already gone. If you want to make trouble for the whole family, there will be no peace. What good will it do to you!"

Liu Shi smiled coldly: "Zheng Cheng is my biological son, and also the biological son of Lord Hou, but in Lord Hou's eyes, Zheng Cheng, the eldest son, is not as good as Zheng Zhi, who is a cheap man. Since his father is not up to par. , then only let his mother come to help him get justice!"

The middle-aged beautiful woman cried and knelt down in front of her: "Sister, sister, everything is my fault, you just forgive Azhi, he is a good boy! I will do whatever you want me to do in the future. From! Sister, I beg you!"

When women are pushed to the extreme, they are often very sturdy. Liu directly grabbed the front of her clothes, slapped her, and slapped her several times. With the long nails on her hands, she instantly scratched the fair and tender cheeks of the middle-aged beautiful woman. A few long bloodstains strangled her neck again.

"Bitch, I've endured you long enough to pay my son's life back!"

The middle-aged beautiful woman screamed loudly, and Zheng Zhi also shouted: "Father! Daddy! Daddy! Help me! I don't want to go with them!"

His struggles were of no avail to Jin Yiwei. Sui Zhou gave him a look, and he was escorted out.

Because of the identification just now, Madam Hui was treated better, and she could have a maid to support her, but there were also guards in Jinyi who were also staring at her, so she couldn't allow her to escape.

Tang Fan and Sui Zhou left the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion together. The scene behind them was chaotic and noisy, but it had nothing to do with them.

"You bitch! You can't die!" Zheng Zhi shouted loudly. Although he was being held, he could not wait to jump on and bite Madam Hui to death.

Right now, he has lost the demeanor he had when he first appeared on the stage.

Suizhou frowned: "Shao Bing."

"Second son Zheng, I've offended you!" Xue Ling understood and shoved a veil into Zheng Zhi's mouth.

The world is quiet.

Things went smoothly unexpectedly. As soon as he entered the Zhenfu Division, Zheng Zhi did everything before waiting for the punishment.

What he confessed was not very different from what Mother Hui said.

Although the Marquis of Wu'an has no real power, he can't resist that he is a hereditary marquis. The temptation is still great. The current Marquis of Wu'an and the main family Liu Shi are not in harmony, but instead dote on the beautiful concubine and Zheng Zhi, who was born by the beautiful concubine. More than once in the United States. The concubine showed her anger towards the eldest son in front of her, and when the number of times was high, Zheng Zhi naturally became interested. In addition, Zheng Cheng was originally a dude, Zheng Zhi would naturally think: Daming did not stipulate that concubines could not inherit the title. , why should I give up the title because I was born two years later than him

Zheng Cheng is a very scoundrel, and because of his singing every night, he has lost his body, making it difficult for his offspring, and so far he has not been able to give birth to a son, so Zheng Zhi seduced Hui Niang and instigated her to give Zheng Cheng Fu Yang. Spring's prescription, and through Hui Niang's cousin, added a taste of Bupleurum to the prescription.

Mother Hui was once favored, but then Zheng Cheng liked the new and hated the old, so she naturally felt resentment and dissatisfaction in her heart. In this case, Zheng Zhi could easily make sense of her.

According to Zheng Zhi, he did not intend to murder his brother at first, he just wanted Zheng Cheng to destroy his body and never give birth to a son, because Chaihu would increase the medicinal properties of Fuyangchun, which would easily make people fall off the yang. , In this way, the title of nobility will naturally fall on Zheng Zhi's head. Who knows that he has not mastered the medicine properly, so Zheng Cheng's death is completely unexpected.

In any case, the evidence of the crime is conclusive, Zheng Zhi pleaded guilty to the law, and the Marquis of Wuan just tried to defend his son. The evidence and confessions were also presented here. The cabinet originally voted for Zheng Zhi's death penalty, but the emperor couldn't resist the bitter plea of the Marquis of Wu'an, and finally changed the death penalty to a living crime. Zheng Zhi was sent out to serve the people, and ordered He cannot return to Beijing for the rest of his life.

When the case got here, it finally came to an end. When Sui Zhou was performing the performance, he also mentioned Shuntian Prefecture, saying that they helped to handle the case and contributed a lot to it.

But don't underestimate this. After Yongle, the status of the cabinet has gradually risen. In the current dynasty, the emperor did not like to work very much, and the ministers in the cabinet were almost equivalent to prime ministers and separated power from the emperor.

Because Suizhou had an uncle who was a minister of the Ministry of War and had disciples all over the court and the opposition, the cabinet had a good impression of him, and because of his relationship with the Queen Mother of Zhou, he was also very talkative in front of the emperor. With the relationship between these two sides, one sentence of Suizhou is more effective than ten sentences of others, and the responsibility of Shuntianfu will eventually be over.

People are in good spirits on happy occasions. Pan Bin doesn't have to be dismissed from office, or deducted from his salary and deported to other places. He looked for Tang Fan and said, "Runqing, thanks to you, this case was solved, and our Shuntian Mansion was not held accountable!"

Tang Fan said: "This is His Majesty's kindness, and it is also the Sui Zongqi's loyalty. It has nothing to do with Runqing, and the lower officials dare not take credit!"

Pan Bin was very satisfied with his modest and cautious attitude, nodded, stroked his beard, and smiled: "You don't have to be too modest, you are involved in this case after all, I heard Sui Zhou's memorial. I also mentioned you here, you still deserve this credit! The government is clearly defined, if you have merit, you should be rewarded, and if you are guilty, you should be punished. Since you have merit, after all, what do you want?"

Shuntian Prefecture sentenced Wei Yu to sit next to him, and also laughed: "This time the case of the Marquis of Wu'an Mansion is solved, and Runqing follows him around, it's really hard work!"

Tang Fan was still very modest: "Xiaoguan has nothing to do, the lord is wrong!"

Pan Bin slapped his thigh: "That's it, didn't we still make a bet outside last time, I still owe you a bowl of noodle soup with meat and succulent, it's better to hit the sun if you choose another day, I'll get the yamen later, this manor will invite you to eat noodles! "

Tang Fan: …

Although he knew that Senior Brother Pan was a little stingy, it was an eye-opener to be so stingy.

Tang Fan reluctantly glanced at Wei Yu, who wanted to laugh but didn't dare, and showed a happy smile: "Then thank you sir!"

Wei Yu clenched his fists and coughed twice: "Sir, I wonder if Xiaguan has such a blessing, and you can also taste the noodle soup that the lord invited?"

Pan Bin glanced at him: "Xuanzhang, this is your fault. Speaking of which, you came to Shuntian Palace later than Runqing, and neither of us have tasted your promotion wine!"

Wei Yu was very depressed, and was shot while lying down. He was just begging for a bowl of noodle soup, but in the end, he owed a banquet.

"Naturally, naturally, if adults and Runqing are willing to appreciate the glory, let's go today!"

Pan Bin: "Then why don't you go to the noodle soup stall that Runqing said?"

Wei Yu: "Don't go, don't go, the promotion wine will naturally go to the Xianke Building to drink, I will let people go to the position!"

Tang Fan looked at Wei Yu's face as he ate flies, and laughed so hard that he almost hurt himself.