When he mentioned the Chen family, everyone looked at the beautiful woman who had come with Li Man before. Tang Fan saw that the woman had a shrewd face and heard Li Man say that she helped him a lot, so he knew that this woman was not easy. Similar to her generation, it was only after Li Man was exposed as the murderer that she kept a low profile intentionally or unintentionally, as if she wanted to integrate herself into the background.
Hearing Li Man say this at this time, Chen Shiyingying knelt down and raised her sleeves to wipe her tears: "What is the concubine, what kind of virtue, how can I be so deeply loved by my husband, I'm really ashamed, if you're gone, what's the use of being a concubine alone! "
She sang well and made her cry, but Tang Fan was expressionless and didn't even look at her.
Li Man didn't seem to hear Chen's words, his mind was immersed in memories, he paused, and then continued: "I never thought of killing her... A long time ago, I proposed to Zhang to make peace. Li, and I was willing to subsidize the family property to her, but Mrs. Zhang was unwilling. Later, I proposed to give her half of the family wealth to let her worry about her old age, but she still refused to divorce, saying that I should not forget the original The oath. If it happens a few times, I really can't do it!"
His face turned grim: "She obviously knows nothing, and she can't help me. There are many women who are more beautiful and capable than her. Back then, for her, I had already scattered all my family's wealth, and I have done my best to her. Since If you can't have children, why bother occupying the position of the main wife? I can't bear it anymore, it's not that I owe her, but she owes me! She owes me!"
The hall was silent, and everyone looked at Li Man in surprise, especially the people from the Li family.
Although Li Man seldom returned home, he and his wife Zhang were always respectful in front of others, and he was not harsh to his servants. The Li family respected him very much.
But no one knew that under the appearance of Li Manping and benevolence, there was such a beast lurking!
Li Lin, the young master of the Li family, was completely stunned. He looked at his father and murmured, "Father, why are you doing this?"
Tang Fan said coldly, "It's not that you think she can't help you, and it's not that she can't give birth, but in your heart, the past thirty years ago has always been in your mind, and you blame her family for dragging you down. , made you pay so much! Thirty years ago, when you were young, when your love was strong, you felt that these sacrifices were acceptable, but when you get older day by day, you will be crawling in the business world, watching people's hearts. , Knowing that scholars, peasants, industry, commerce, or only scholars are precious, you will gradually regret your choice in the past. This kind of regret accumulates day by day, and becomes a demon in your heart. All the reasons you say now are just making excuses for the mistakes you made!"
"Although you paid a lot in your early years, but for so many years, Mrs. Zhang has taken care of your housework for you and helped you take care of your son. Even if you owe you, you will have already paid it off! If you want to divorce her, what is there to do if she refuses to do so? Wrong? Which one of the seven crimes did she commit? Do you think that even if it is a reconciliation, the woman won't have to be scorned? What about you supplementing the family wealth? Over the years, her affection for you can be measured by money? ?"
Li Man sneered: "You don't understand, you don't understand! My ancestor was also a third-rank servant, what a beauty, just because I gave up the imperial examination and switched to business, I was looked down upon everywhere. The Li family is today, and I have worked hard. She only earned it back with her hard work. She doesn't have to do anything, she just enjoys wealth and wealth at home. I'm not reconciled, I'm not reconciled! If I could have participated in the imperial examinations back then, I'm afraid that the jade belt would have wrapped around my waist by now, you little sesame officials. , and bow down in front of me!"
Rao is Master Tang, no matter how well cultivated, he couldn't help rolling his eyes when he heard these words: "You think too much, if I remember correctly, you just said that you were in your thirties when the accident happened to Zhang's family. Years old, even if you were enlightened at the age of six, that is to say, you have read books for 24 years, and you have not even been admitted as a scholar. Even if you are given another 24 years, it is estimated that you will not be able to pass the test. Come on. Wake up, you still want to be my Shangguan with your character? I'm afraid that you will be an official, and you will not be able to enjoy your life!"
Li Man sneered: "I naturally know that you officials of the imperial court will always have such a high-profile face, obviously reaching for money, but you have to pretend to be a righteous face. The hypocrisy is absolutely disgusting!"
Tang Fan was not in a hurry to have him escorted back: "You came back early to kill your wife, and you don't want people to know about it, you must have someone to cooperate with the inside and outside to help you send those servants away. It stands to reason that the Li family is divided into inner and outer houses. , If you come in through the front door, you must pass through the outer house and the inner house, and you have to hide it from your eyes and ears, which is extremely troublesome, but if you enter through the back door, it will save you a lot of trouble. The back door is connected to the garden, and in front of the garden is Zhang’s house. The other party only needs to help you watch, and in the name of not disturbing the wife to rest, let people not wander in the back garden that night. Who is this person? "
Li Man didn't answer, and Tang Fan didn't mean to let him answer. His eyes swept across the different faces of the Li family, and finally fell on someone.
"Asha."
A-Xia raised her head in amazement.
Tang Fan looked at her deeply: "Mrs. Li's wife is not mean to you, she can be said to be the most kind and righteous, but why do you treat her like this?"
A Xia shook her head again and again: "No, I didn't..."
"How dare you say you don't!" Tang Fan said sharply, "You were not feeling well that night, A Chun had already said that he would watch the night on your behalf, but you insisted that you would keep vigil with her even when you were sick, one of these!"
"Secondly, there was an abnormal noise in your wife's house. You and A-Chun entered the room to check. A-Chun didn't enter the back room, only you went in. However, after you entered, instead of going up to check, you only glanced at the door. , and also prevented A Chun from entering. At that time, the wife of the Li family was killed. You are afraid that A Chun will find something strange after entering. What is it that you have a ghost in your heart? Say!"
Li Man is undeniable in the face of solid evidence, let alone a woman like A Xia who has never experienced anything in the world. As soon as Tang Fan said the word "said", she immediately collapsed: "I didn't! I didn't! It was the master who threatened me! I was forced! I didn't kill my wife!"
Tang Fan: "What did he threaten you with?"
A Xia covered her face and sobbed: "I was unwell that day, and went out to see a doctor to get medicine, but I met the master, who lured me to a place, and then told me... and told me that now I have He belongs to him. If he doesn't listen to him, he will tell his wife back, saying that I seduced him and made my wife sell me! He wants me to kill my wife, but I refuse, so he asks me to help him Take Feng, help him to send away the servants of the Li family, and said that he would do it himself, I, I really have no choice... Why didn't you agree to my wife that day, if you wanted me to leave at that time, the latter things would not be It will happen!"
The corners of Tang Fan's mouth are usually raised slightly, with a warm smile, and those who see him are like a spring breeze, but when his face is expressionless, there is no majesty that makes people dare not look directly.
"People always like to find all kinds of compelling excuses for their mistakes. How does your wife treat you on weekdays? Don't you know her character? Just because Li Man tarnished your innocence, you helped him commit murder, Do you dare to say a clear conscience in front of your wife!"
A-Xia burst into tears: "Madam, I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry for you!"
Tang Fan ignored her, turned to the Wanping County Chancellor and others and said, "This case should have been handled by Wanping County, but now that I'm taking over, won't the Qian County Chancellor blame me?"
The county magistrate of Wanping hurriedly said, "No, no! Your lord judges the case like a god, and the subordinates greatly admire it!"
Tang Fan: "Then I will trouble the two of you to take over."
Wanping County Chancellor: "This is a post within the rank of a lower official!"
Tang Fan: "Pharaoh, hand over Li Man and A Xia to the Qian County Chancellor."
Old Wang responded, took Axia into custody, and handed it over to the yamen brought by the Qian County Chancellor.
Tang Fan added: "Xianxian Qian, although this A-Xia is suspected of being an accomplice, after all, he did not personally participate in the murder, and he has already confessed the crime. All interrogations should be subject to the national law, and please don't use torture in private."
The secular view is particularly harsh on women. Once a woman is in prison, everyone feels that the woman has lost her innocence. Those prison guards may also take the opportunity to molest her in prison. In view of this, Minglu takes special care of female prisoners. Sometimes it is possible to interrogate her at home even after going to court, but A-Xia now threatens to commit murder. The evidence is conclusive, so she must be imprisoned. Tang Fan doesn't want her to suffer humiliation other than the sanctions of the national law, so she makes a special explanation.
This also shows how careful he is.
A-Xia stopped crying and stared at him blankly, her brow was miserable, and she didn't know what she was thinking.
Maybe he lamented that his life was miserable, and he had no luck to follow Tang Fan, or maybe he regretted that he shouldn't have been coerced by Li Man for a while, so he helped him do such a wrong thing.
However, if I knew this earlier, why should it be in the first place.
Tang Fan turned to look at the housekeeper of Li's house: "Old Li, come here."
"Master Tang." Old Li's expression was bleak. He was loyal to the Li family, but he didn't expect his master to kill his wife. This sudden blow was so great that his waist suddenly bent a lot.
Tang Fan took out a stack of white paper from his arms: "There are 2,000 taels of silver bills here, just now your master told me to call me into the inner room, and gave me this stack of things, wanting me to stop tracking them down, you can take the money. Now, go back and take care of your young master."
Old Li took it and said with tears, "Thank you, Mr. Tang, for your great kindness to our Li family, which I will never forget!"
Li Man said indifferently: "Taking my Li family's money as a favor, Master Tang is a good planner!"
Tang Fan smiled and said, "You're so embarrassed and angry that you can't pay a bribe, why don't you just shut up and the murderer should be punished. Now the money of the Li family has nothing to do with you, it's all your son's."
Li Man was so angry that his face flushed red, and two resentful eyes almost burned a hole in Tang Fan's body, and said in a dark voice, "I won't die, don't be too happy!"
Tang Fan said to the Wanping county magistrate: "It seems inappropriate for a suspect with such a bad attitude to rant about the court officials here?"
The Wanping county magistrate woke up from a dream and waved his hand quickly to have Li Man and Axia be escorted back.
When Tang Fan and others were about to leave, Lao Li stopped him: "Master Tang, the family is unfortunate, now the master is like this, the wife has passed away again, the young master is the only one left in the family, and the two concubines have never been in charge. It's abrupt, and I want to ask the adults to help me get a charter."
Tang Fan glanced at the dumbfounded Li Lin: "If you have any reliable distant relatives in your master or wife's house, you can ask them to help and preside over them, now that your young master is half a teenager, he will always provoke him in the future. In this family, everything can be discussed with him."
Old Li nodded again and again: "Master Tang is right!"
After Lord Li's residence, Tang Fan stopped Wanping County Chief, with a half-smiling smile: "This case is not complicated, with Qian County Chief's ingenuity, it may not be impossible to break it out, but why do you have to call me here, don't you think? Is there a reason?"
The county magistrate of Wanping smiled awkwardly: "Your lord is joking. If it hadn't been for the adults, even the lower officials wouldn't even know there were so many inside stories. I'm afraid that a good person would be wronged!"
In fact, Li Man had bribed Tang Fan, and naturally he had also bribed Wanping County Chancellor and the chief clerk, but because Tang Fan took over the case at the beginning, Qian County Chancellor and the others just wanted to accept it, and they were afraid that Tang Fan would take over. They stabbed them out, so they invited Tang Fan over first to see if Tang Fan would accept it. If Tang Fan accepted Li Man's bribe and decided to change the murder to suicide, with him on his head, the Qian County Chancellor and the others would naturally It's also reassuring.
Tang Fan understood this, but he didn't expose them. When the water is clear, there will be no fish, and if people are careful, there will be no disciples. Exposing Qian Xiancheng's intentions will only make him angry and useless. Many people will not repent because of your righteous and awe-inspiring education, but it is easy to hate you for it. It is not difficult to be an honest official, but it is difficult to be an honest official who wants to do things.
So he just clicked to stop and let them wake up.
Early the next day, Xue Bing sent someone over and told Tang Fan that he had not heard anything from Wang Changgong.
In other words, Jin Yiwei couldn't find out why Wang Zhi invited Pan Bin to dinner.
He relayed the news to Pan Bin, who was indeed saddened when he heard the news.
Tang Fan comforted him: "Senior brother, don't worry, the murder of the Marquis of Wu'an has indirectly benefited Wang Zhi, and Shuntian has no intention of planting willows. Maybe he wanted to express his gratitude?"
Pan Bin: "Do you think it's possible? Wang Zhi doesn't even care about the elders of the cabinet, where do you need to invite a small person like me to dinner? Well, if you come with me tomorrow, you can tell me anything. wake up."
Tang Fan: "Isn't that bad? He's the only one who invited you. I'm not here because I'm afraid it will make him unhappy?"
Pan Bin waved his hand: "It's alright, when the time comes, you don't want to be the official of the Shuntian Mansion, but as my junior brother, that's it!"