In order to solve the case as soon as possible, the county magistrate Weng sat in the county government overnight and ordered people to find out the ancestral home of Wei Ce and the rest of the Wei family, and then send them to the inn early the next morning.
Tang Fan had a good night's sleep, and after eating breakfast, he looked at the blue and black eyes below the eyes of Weng County magistrate who came to the door, and said a little embarrassedly, "You come over to eat first, I'll take a look at these."
"Xiaguan is not hungry!" Weng county magistrate said hurriedly and politely.
Tang Fan lowered his head and started to read the dossier, "Then tell me the situation."
"Yes," Weng county magistrate took a deep breath, "Wei Ce is indeed not a native, but a native of Daming Prefecture. His scholar and fame were still tested in Daming Prefecture. He moved to the local area more than 20 years ago because of business. As for For the rest of the Wei family, Wei Ce's original wife died before he came to Daming Mansion, so there is no registration on the official household post, so it is estimated that he will have to go back to Daming Mansion to find it."
"Wei Ze's successor, the Chai family, is a local. Three generations of the Chai family have settled in Xianghe County."
"Xiaguan started to check all the people in Wei's house, including the servants of the Wei family-although their deeds of betrayal belonged to the Wei family, they still need to be registered in the government, but they have never found anything suspicious, like serving Na Wei. Xiaolu and Xiaoshuang's second maid, they are both the sons of the Wei family, until the lower officials found out that the birth mother of the Wei family's child, Li Shi!"
"After investigation, it turns out that Mrs. Li is from Daming Mansion. The generation of her grandfather fled to Daming Mansion because of the famine in Shanxi. It happened that Wei Ce went to Daming Mansion to talk business and got to know Mrs. Li's father. Take it to Xianghe County and take it as a concubine."
Tang Fan pondered: "Ms. Li is the biological mother of the Wei family's child. It stands to reason that she would never attack her own son?"
Weng county magistrate said: "Yes, when the Wei family's child died, the lower official also visited the Wei family. The woman was heartbroken and did not seem to be a fake."
Tang Fan asked, "Apart from the Li family, is there no one in the Wei family from the Daming Mansion?"
Weng County Magistrate: "Yes, when Mrs. Li entered the Wei Mansion, she brought a maid and a maid. That maid was called Chunying, and she was with Mrs. Li when the incident happened, and that maid was Wei. Hu Shi, the nursing mother of the family's children."
Tang Fan's heart moved: "The Hu family is also from the Daming Mansion?"
Weng county magistrate said: "It is written like this on the household post, and it should not be false."
Tang Fan said, "What about Hu's husband, parents and brothers, maybe they'll find out?"
Weng county magistrate shook his head: "I'm afraid we have to go to the Daming Mansion to find out. Your Excellency suspects this Hu family?"
Tang Fan said, "Send someone to investigate first. It's too early to draw a conclusion now."
Without further ado, after discussing with Suizhou, he asked Yan Li and Gongsunyan to go to Daming Mansion to find the origin of the Hu family together with the officials from Xianghe County.
This kind of incident that strives for efficiency, if only the officials of the county government are dispatched, and just dawdling back and forth with the people of Daming Mansion, I don’t know how many incidents will be wasted, but if Jinyiwei goes out, it will be different. , no one dares to slack off.
Therefore, although Jinyiwei's external reputation is always dominated by fierceness, and it is always regarded as the emperor's eagle dog and minion among the Qingliu, but in Tang Fan's view, if used properly, Jinyiwei can also be an invincible blade. , the most important thing is that although Sui Zhou is also in a spy agency, he is a person with principles and bottom lines, which is completely different from the likes of Wantong.
Whether a knife saves or kills is not the knife itself, but the person who uses the knife.
If you hold a negative attitude to it because of your inherent prejudice, nothing can be done.
Yan Li was in a state of excitement for a while because of his relationship with the Eighth Girl. Suizhou couldn't see him running to lie on the wall of other people's houses all day long, losing all the prestige of Jinyiwei, so he put down the words and checked it sooner. If the truth is clear, he will be able to come back one day. At that time, he will make an appointment with the eight girls through Tang Yu, so that he can express his sincere feelings.
When Yan Li heard this, his motivation was unprecedentedly strong, and without saying a word, he took people straight to the Daming Mansion.
He didn't let Tang Fan down either. In just four days, before the person came back, he sent an official from Xianghe County to bring the news on a fast horse.
As Tang Fan and the others expected, the wet nurse Hu was indeed from the Daming Mansion, and her father was once a well-known local man of great kindness. Beheaded.
After more than 20 years, Yan Li and Gongsun Yan searched everywhere, and many people still remember this incident. Hu had been married for many years before her father's accident. Later, because her husband died of illness, she and her daughter-in-law were at odds, so she went to the Li family to be a nanny.
At that time, Mrs. Li married into the Wei family as a concubine, and she needed a trusted and capable person by her side. Many people in the Li family were reluctant to leave their hometowns, but Mrs. Hu took the initiative to apply and went to the Wei family with Mrs. Li and Chunying. .
In addition, Yan Li and others also brought unexpected news: Hu's father, the one who killed was Wei Ce's original wife, Zhang. It is said that when he tried to rape Zhang's family, he failed, and because of Zhang's resistance, he accidentally killed her.
Because of this incident, Hu's father was sentenced to be executed.
Hearing this, the county magistrate suddenly realized: "Could it be that this Hu family is really the murderer of the Wei family's child, and she wants to take revenge for her father?"
Tang Fan shook his head: "It's not that simple."
Weng county magistrate puzzled.
Tang Fan said: "In the news from Yan Li, there is a more important sentence, he said that Wei Ce and the Hu family were originally related, and Wei Ce's family was not good enough to take his wife to go to Hu. At home, Hu's father took in their husband and wife, and Wei Ce lived here for three years. Just imagine, if Hu's father had really molested Zhang, why would he endure it for three years before starting? Let's say , If it wasn't the first time that he molested Mrs. Zhang, then Mrs. Zhang had acquiesced in the past, so why did he suddenly resist?"
County magistrate Weng was a little dizzy when he was surrounded by him, and it took a long time to understand: "So, this is indeed a suspicious point."
He just got excited just now because he found the clues, and being reminded by Tang Fan, he immediately thought of a lot of doubts.
"If Father Hu molested Mrs. Zhang, it means that he is a lecherous person, but sir, look, here it is said that Mrs. Hu's father has not continued since the early death of Mrs. Hu's mother. contradicted."
"The Hu family was wealthy back then, and whether he wanted to continue his relationship or take a concubine, it's not that he didn't have that condition. Since Father Hu didn't marry or accept it, it means that he never forgets Mother Hu, and he doesn't like women. In this case, he Why would you want to go hungry and attack the Zhang family? Could it be that the Zhang family was born more beautiful than Yang Guifei?"
Tang Fan nodded in appreciation: "Yes, that's exactly the reason!"
He sighed again: "There are so many doubts about the case, and I don't know how it was broken in the first place, but it can still be broken into an iron case!"
It was stipulated in the Ming Dynasty that major death penalty cases could not be decided by local officials.
Although unjust, false and wrongful convictions are still unavoidable, but with the protection of these reporting procedures, at least this kind of thing has been prevented to the greatest extent.
The county magistrate Weng checked the date and whispered: "This case was settled by the Daming House in the seventh year of Jingtai, and the Ministry of Punishment's approval was issued in the next year, which is the first year of Tianshun."
Hearing this date, Tang Fan also fell silent.
In the first year of Tianshun, a very important thing happened in the capital, that is, the change of seizing the door.
Emperor Yingzong, who was under house arrest, was reset with the help of Shi Heng, Cao Jixiang and others, and imprisoned his half-brother, the then Jingtai Emperor.
This year, the ministers who once supported Jingtai Emperor fell one after another, the officialdom in the capital was facing a major reshuffle, and the court was panicking.
Under such circumstances, many officials are afraid that they will become one of the victims accidentally, and they have nothing to do with it.
In their opinion, such a trivial case is not worth the trouble to overturn the case, so it is not surprising that the original judgment of the Daming House is finally upheld.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Sui Zhou reminded: "First go to Wei's house to arrest Hu's family, and then ask Wei Ce to come and question him."
Tang Fan nodded and patted Weng County magistrate on the shoulder: "Guangchuan is right, we should investigate the Wei family's child's case first, and we have to listen to Hu's words for such old things. When we get home, don't startle the snakes first, don't tell Wei Ce that we doubt him, just tell him that we are almost sure that the Hu family is the one who killed his children, he will definitely ask the reason, and then talk about the old case of the Hu family. , to see how he reacts."
Weng county magistrate understood: "I'm going to go now!"
After Magistrate Weng left, Tang Fan browsed the dossier again, shook his head for a while, and said to Suizhou, "When I was in Shuntian Prefecture, I always encountered a lot of such things, and at this time I felt that I could help them It’s really too little to do, I just wish there would be more officials like Weng County magistrate who are not afraid of trouble and are willing to investigate the root cause!”
Suizhou poured a cup of tea for him, and said leisurely, "Why not look at it this way, there is a Weng county magistrate here, and there are countless Weng magistrates across the country."
Tang Fan lifted his spirits, touched him with a teacup, and said with a smile, "You're right, I'm the one worrying!"
Suizhou shook his head: "When you investigate a case, it is inevitable that sometimes you will get to the point of the bull's horn, and bystanders will be clear. It's good to look at it from this angle."
Tang Fan couldn't help but joked: "Guangchuan, Guangchuan, you are really my Jie Yuhua, but unfortunately you are not a woman, otherwise I will marry you!"
Suizhou calmly said: "The slave family has already prepared the dowry. When will the officials marry the slave family?"
He didn't pretend to be a woman's tenderness either, he just sat beside the table with a golden sword and said these words in a deep voice that should have caused goosebumps all over the floor.
Tang Fan couldn't help laughing: "It depends on when you can serve me comfortably, I can consider taking you as my first concubine!"
Sui Zhou raised his eyebrows: "Why not his wife?"
Tang Fan winked at him: "Get a few more concubines, whoever serves best will straighten up!"
Suizhou asked back: "Who can cook for you like me, live and die with you, and protect you, as the so-called can enter the kitchen, warm the bed, go to the officialdom, and suffer. Who is it? "
Master Tang was stopped.
He touched his chin, and fell into deep thought because of the other party's words.
It seems... Really not
Sui Zhou looked at the other party's tangled expression calmly, and leisurely picked up the teapot and poured water.
He has not hunted a lot before, so he naturally knows that there are two ways to deal with the prey. One is to catch the prey in one fell swoop before it has time to react. Slowly simmer, try to get close to the prey, lower its defense, then slowly let it get used to your presence, and finally actively send it into the net.
The tea poured into his throat, and Uncle Sui felt it, um, although it wasn't as good as the capital, it was also different.
The next day, magistrate Weng came over to invite Tang Fan and Suizhou, saying that the case had made significant progress.
When the two came to the county office, the county magistrate Weng personally greeted each other, and after greeting each other, the county magistrate Weng said: "Hu's family has been detained. There are other grievances, and murder is a last resort, and I want to see adults."
Tang Fan asked, "Where is she now?"
Weng county magistrate: "Xiaguan will lock her in a separate cell first. If the adults want to see her, I will bring her up."
Tang Fan said, "What about Wei Ze?"
The county magistrate Weng slapped his forehead: "Yes, I almost forgot about this! The next official deliberately told Wei Ce about Hu's life experience. Wei Ce was stunned at first, and then said angrily that he had indeed received the favor of the Hu family back then, but that Hu Hanyin is not as good as a beast. He even tried to get his hands on his wife, but he accidentally murdered him. The case had already come to light at that time, and he himself did not want to stay in his sad homeland, so he left Daming Mansion and came to Xianghe County. To hold a grudge because of his own father's fault."
There was no flaw in these words, Tang Fan said, "See you first, see Hu."
Weng County Magistrate: "Sir, please sit down for a while. The subordinate officials ask the yamen to pick up the person. Sir, can you personally interrogate him?"
Tang Fan shook his head: "No, you are the presiding judge in this case, and the two of us can just sit in and watch."
Hu Shi was quickly brought over. She was still wearing the clothes of ordinary women, and she looked relatively clean and tidy. It could be seen that the Weng county magistrate did not torture her, nor did she treat her harshly.
Weng county magistrate: "Hus, this is the Master Tang, the imperial censor of Zuoqiu, that you want to see. This is Master Sui, the envoy of Jinyiwei Town."
Hu Shi showed an excited look, and quickly bowed down and said: "The criminal wife Hu Shi has seen two adults!"
Weng county magistrate said solemnly: "This official asks you, you admitted earlier that you killed the Wei family's child, right or not?"
Hu nodded without any hesitation: "Yes."
The county magistrate Weng gave a jingle: "Why do you do what you do, come from the truth quickly!"
Hu Shi said: "The crime of the wife is for revenge. Even if Wei Ce escaped the sanctions of the government, I will let him cut off his sons and grandchildren, and regret what he did in the past!"
The magistrate Weng frowned: "Your father's death is entirely self-inflicted, what revenge do you have?"
Hu said: "This matter is a long story, and the lord will allow the criminal woman to report it."
Weng county magistrate said: "Speak."
Hu said: "My late father, Hu Hanyin, was a member of the famous mansion. He was a good businessman. He was a rich man many years ago. However, he did not hoard wealth like other merchants. Instead, he donated most of the money to build bridges and pave roads. He made porridge and built a temple, and he was well-known in the local area. His late mother died early, and his father did not continue the string, but raised me up and found a family for me to marry."
At that time, Hu was married far away and could not go home to visit from time to time. Until one day, her family sent someone to tell her that her father had been arrested by the government for murdering by mistake.
When she heard it, she was stunned. When she rushed home, her father had been convicted by the then-grand prefect at that time, and the case was brought to the court.
For serious crimes like Hu Hanyin, family members were originally not allowed to visit, but after traveling in many directions, Hu finally got to see the haggard-looking old father in prison, and only then did he understand what happened.
Hu Hanyin told his daughter that three years ago, a couple surnamed Wei came to their home. The man’s name was Wei Ce and the woman’s surname was Zhang. They were relatives of Hu’s mother’s maiden family. Because their family was poor, they had to come to the house for help.
Seeing that they were pitiful, Hu Hanyin took them in, and Wei Ce also improved. After the Hu family settled down, he studied hard and was admitted to the title of scholar. Unfortunately, the next Juren failed to pass the test, so Hu Hanyin comforted him. He said that few people pass the test in one go, so let him not be discouraged and live with peace of mind, and the Hu family will not miss them much.
Hearing this, Wei Ce was naturally very grateful, and said that without Hu Hanyin's shelter, how could he still be able to get a job title now? As a foster father, when you are in high school, you can honor him well.
After Hu Hanyin, the Hu family had a daughter. The daughter married far away and had no relatives by her side. After hearing Wei Ce's words, she couldn't help but be moved. Besides, Wei Ce is still a scholar, and having a scholar to be his adopted son is a beautiful thing that can't be asked for. , then agreed.
The two soon went to the government to submit documents, and Hu Hanyin officially accepted Wei Ce as his adopted son.
But before he could tell his daughter who was married out of town, a big event happened that Hu Hanyin didn't expect.
One day, when he returned home from the pawnshop, he saw his door was half-open. He thought it was the maid who forgot to close it after cleaning the room, so he pushed it in.
Who knows that this push will let him see the woman lying on the bed.
Hu Hanyin took a closer look and found that the woman was none other than Mrs. Zhang, the wife of her adopted son.
Mr. Zhang was naked, with a knife stuck in his heart, and his eyes stared blankly at the roof, obviously dead.
Hu Hanyin was so terrified that he immediately shouted loudly.
The first person to arrive was Wei Ce. He was stunned when he saw this scene, and then accused his adoptive father in grief and indignation of trying to rape his wife. He was so embarrassed that he even killed her.
Hu Hanyin naturally denied it, but Wei Ce quickly reported it to the official. After the official came to investigate, they found that the knife inserted into Zhang's heart was the paper knife that Hu Hanyin used to cut paper on weekdays. .
Zhang died in Hu Hanyin's room, and the murder weapon was also Hu Hanyin's.
This time, Hu Hanyin couldn't tell even with his long mouth.
After he met Hu, he kept saying that he was wronged, because he and Wei Ce were righteous father and son, how could he attack his daughter-in-law.
Hu Hanyin also asked her daughter to avenge him, but Hu was a weak woman, and her husband's family was not able to do anything. Even though she ran around in many ways, the court finally sentenced Qiuhou to be executed, and her father died in Huangquan.
Hearing this, Tang Fan said, "Even though there seems to be a lot of evidence in this case, there are still loopholes. Didn't the prefect at the time find it, why did you insist on the first sentence? Didn't you hire a lawyer?"
Hu Shi gritted his teeth and said, "Why not! But the prefect is not a practical one. He recognized the principle of bullying the poor with the rich, and said that Wei Ce has a reputation as a scholar, so it is impossible and unnecessary to lie, while his late father is a businessman. , so it must be benevolent on the surface, treacherous on the inside, not only did not listen to my defense, but also beat me hard and kicked me out of the government!"
"I heard that a capital crime like my late father had to pass through the province first, and then submit it to the court, and then finally be sentenced. At that time, because my injury was still unhealed, I held a glimmer of hope and asked my late husband to help me walk around the province. , who knew that when we encountered a heavy rain on the road, my husband was still a step too late. The case has already been submitted to the court by the province! We have no way to go to the capital again, we can only wait hard, but who knows, but our late father is sentenced to death. information!"
She burst into tears and said, "It's a waste of my old father's good-heartedness. At that time, he thought that Wei Ce's wife was killed. He didn't expect that as soon as the Hu family fell and his property was seized by the government, he didn't know what method he used, and he became prosperous in a blink of an eye. He got up, and then left the Daming Mansion, where he disappeared, and it was not until later that I found out that he claimed to be rich in business and moved his family to Xianghe County!"
"For more than 20 years, the case has long since become a death case, so I thought of letting Wei Ce also experience the pain of cutting off his sons and grandchildren, in order to avenge his late father's unjust death!"
Weng county magistrate frowned: "Since you have been thinking about it, why did you do this after more than 20 years?"
Hu said sadly: "Because at that time I was already married and had a husband and son of my own, so I couldn't leave them alone. It wasn't until my husband passed away a few years ago and my son had grown up that I could have no worries. Do what you want to do!"
Tang Fan asked: "After your father's accident, you used to run around for him. Wei Ce should have seen you? Why didn't he recognize you when you entered Wei's house?"
Hu said: "At that time, Wei Ce heard that my surname was Hu and I came from the Daming Mansion. It's a big difference from more than 20 years ago, so he's not suspicious."
Tang Fan asked, "You knew that Mrs. Li was going to marry into the Wei family, so you approached her on purpose?"
Hu said: "No, at that time my husband had died of illness, and my daughter-in-law and I were at odds, so I didn't want to be at home all day, so I found a part-time job at the Li family's house, because my hands and feet were still smart, and I was very much appreciated by the Li family's wife. Later, I heard that Wei Ce wanted to take Li as a concubine, and the Li family just happened to find someone to accompany Li. her confidant."
Tang Fan asked, "Then how did you kill the Wei family's child?"
Hu said: "At that time, the young master was with me and Xiaoshuang and Xiaolu, and they did watch me being called over by Li, but I kept an eye on it and came back early to take advantage of Xiaolu and Xiaoshuang. When he was not in the room, he suffocated the young master first, then found a place to hide, and when he heard the screams of others, he pretended to be back just now, so that no one would be suspicious."
She really had questions and answers, without hiding anything.
In the case handled by Tang Fan, almost all the murderers and suspects, before they are completely exposed, as long as there is a glimmer of hope of escape, they will recklessly quibble. It is the first time for him to take the initiative to explain everything like Hu. see.
When the magistrate Weng heard this, he couldn't help but ask, "Does Wei Zhuniang's death have anything to do with you?"
Hu shook his head: "No, Wei Zhuniang has nothing to do with the past, how could I kill her? But if it wasn't for her death, the Wei family wouldn't be in chaos, and I wouldn't have the chance to do it."
The county magistrate Weng sneered: "You have a good conscience, and you know that you have a debt and a debt, so why did you choose the Wei family's child who can't speak?"
Hu said: "Since I entered Wei's house, I wanted to use this opportunity to kill Wei Ce, but I found it difficult to do it by myself..."
Weng county magistrate said: "You can sneak into the kitchen and poison his meals."
Hu Shi replied with a wry smile: "Wei Ce is very suspicious, and the food will be tried by the elders around me first. I don't have a chance, and it's easy to be discovered that way. There are many Wei family members, this chance is only one time, and I can't do it for nothing. Waste. When I saw Wei Ze's son was born, I felt that it was not enough to kill him, let him also experience the pain of losing his son."
Suizhou suddenly asked, "After the Wei family's death, did you deliberately spread those rumors outside?"
He went to court today for the hearing, and naturally he was wearing Jin Yiwei's unicorn suit. Sitting there was quite imposing. Hu was very calm when facing the magistrate of Weng, but he still couldn't help but take pictures of Suizhou's aura.
She bowed her head and said, "If you say it back to your lord, it was done by a criminal woman."
Suizhou: "Why?"
Hu: "I know that this old case is suddenly brought up, and no one will believe it, so I want to use the deaths of Wei Zhuniang and Wei Ce's young son to make up a story of a wronged ghost and his life, to attract people's attention. Master Qingtian came to avenge me. Next step, I will spread the story of Wei Ce killing his first wife, blaming his adoptive father, and taking the property of the Hu family. Even if he doesn't get any punishment in the end, at least it can make him famous. If he is dead, if there is still a chance, you can kill him, and then fabricate the story of the ghost's life, and confuse the world's attention!"
Tang Fan asked lightly: "It seems that you have everything calculated, but why are you so sure that I will help you overturn the case? You must know that the only case in front of you is the murder of the Wei family's child, since you have admitted yourself It's the murderer, the evidence is conclusive, and the case can be closed, we can't go to work for an old case more than 20 years ago."
Hu Shi banged his head a few times and said with tears: "Because of this case, I heard that at the beginning, even Wei Ce himself didn't know it was related to me, and urged the adults to close the case. Your lord insisted on investigating, which made me invisible. I know that good officials like a few adults who are not too troublesome will probably become my late father's only hope for reversing the case. All I want is for a few adults to show great mercy and to do good deeds for my late father, Zhao Xue, and he shouldn't end up like that!"
County magistrate Weng couldn't help looking at Tang Fan, who shook his head slightly.
The magistrate Weng understood, and immediately slapped the gavel: "Go down first, and then try again!"
After Hu was taken down, Magistrate Weng asked Tang Fan's opinion: "Sir, what do you think?"
Tang Fan only said two words: "Tricky!"
Weng county magistrate also sighed: "Yes, it's been so many years, where can I find evidence for her father to overturn the case!"