In this case, trying to hide the past is undoubtedly a fool's dream.
Xue Tingxiang is also a person with a chest, he stepped forward calmly, his face was slightly down: "It's a bit of a coincidence, Xue's grandmother just passed away."
Wang Zhixian and the imperial commissioner looked surprised,
"It's so unfortunate." The imperial envoy pinched his beard, his face full of regret: "Mr. Xue probably doesn't know that the imperial court has just made an appointment about you, and your majesty named you as the young master of the prince. You must know that this position is not true. A person of merit must be someone whom His Majesty admires greatly, and many people in the court envy him, but who would have thought that such a thing would happen."
Surprised sounds were heard all around.
Others don't care, many people don't understand whether this official position is low or high, but Xue Jun understands it, and the old patriarch and his son also understand.
The old patriarch's body shook for a while, and Xue Jinquan hurriedly hugged his father.
Just as he was about to whisper a few words to comfort him, the old patriarch pushed him away and said, "It stands to reason that when all the adults are talking, the old man should not intervene. It's just that this child is filial and righteous. The lord has to say something for him, the person who passed away was not Ting Xiang's grandmother."
No one thought that the old patriarch would say such a thing. This blood relationship cannot be erased. Even if the Zhao clan is a mess, and he has done countless wrong things, the deceased is a big one, and he can't just talk about it.
Especially if this matter can be covered up, if you ask casually, you will know whether it is true or not. The old patriarch must not be old, he is hysterical.
Xue Tingxiang knew the good intentions of the old patriarch. After he took the first case, the old patriarch treated him with special love. Even if this love is mixed with interests, Xue Tingxiang has seen the old patriarch's benevolence and righteousness in all aspects over the years.
As far as he is concerned, this official can do it or not. Since he can climb up step by step, he may not be able to stand up after a year. He didn't want the old patriarch to have a mean and vicious reputation in vain in order to protect him.
To live a lifetime, to get old, is not just a reputation.
Since returning to his hometown these days, he has especially lamented that life and death are impermanent, and no one knows when someone will die, so he should keep his innocence.
Just as he was about to come forward to explain, he heard the old patriarch say: "This Zhao family was divorced by my elder brother more than ten years ago, and there is a certificate of divorce as proof."
"This Zhao family is lazy and hates labor, and everyone in the village knows that, because of this, my eldest brother fought with her how many times. My Xue family is innocent, how can there be such a vicious woman, old man Back then, as the patriarch of the Xue clan, he came forward to rebuke more than once, and asked my brother to divorce her. But my brother cared about the relationship between husband and wife, and he couldn't bear it..."
"At that time, Mr. Zhao was really making trouble, so I forced my eldest brother to divorce his wife. He begged me, and promised that Mrs. Zhao would not commit crimes in the future, so he personally asked someone to write a divorce letter and hand it over to me. Keep it safe, and claim that if the Zhao family commits another crime, he will use this letter of divorce to divorce his wife, and there is no need to talk to him again...
"My eldest brother was so pissed off by the Zhao family. At that time, there was a funeral, and it was such a shameful scandal. I, the Xue family, didn't tell the public. Zhao's name was scratched from the genealogy. I wanted to drive her away, but her parents' family had nowhere to go, so she was allowed to live in the ancestral hall all the time, which was regarded as serving in front of the deceased husband's spirit to atone for her sins.
"This time, Tingxiang returned to his hometown to worship his ancestors because of the woman's gossip. This Zhao family could not think of hanging on to suicide. Everyone knows what his intentions are. No matter what the court's decision is, my Xue family's descendants are not so vicious and irreversible. Of course, there is no such thing as filial piety.”
Because they couldn't stand under the sun and speak, the group moved to the patriarch's house.
The magistrate of Wang County, the imperial envoy, and Xue Tingxiang and other important people were all sitting in the hall, while some villagers and Xue's clansmen stood outside the door.
Everyone listened to what the old patriarch said, and the scene was silent.
After the previous scene, the villagers in Yuqing Village also knew the seriousness of the matter.
It doesn't matter whether Mr. Zhao is dead or not, what matters is whether Lord Xue will resign because of this.
Because there was a high-ranking official in the village, Yuqing Village now seems to be the largest village in a radius of 100 miles. No one will take a look at it when you go out, not to mention the various conveniences it brings.
An official is an official in the court, and when he resigns, he is no longer an official, so everyone naturally does not want Xue Tingyan and Ding You to go home.
It's a pity that they can't intervene, they can only listen.
"Old man, although this official respects the old and loves the young, this matter is not unfounded by you. Although this official also feels sorry for Lord Xue, but Ding You is only a year old, it is really not like this." Although the imperial envoy had a smile on his face , but obviously dissatisfied.
"Of course, the old man is not without grounds. Your lord will wait a moment, and the old man will go get the thing." After speaking, the old patriarch trembled and went to the back room.
After a while, he came out again, holding a yellowed piece of paper in his hand.
Paper is not good paper, and after so many years, it has become very rolled and brittle, and you can feel the loss of years in your hand.
"This is the letter of divorce from the beginning."
Having said that, the old patriarch ordered someone to bring Xue Cai's daughter-in-law up again: "This is the woman who is rude and troublesome, tell the adults what happened."
Xue Cai's daughter-in-law was trembling with fear, but she still talked about the situation at the time. And through her words, you can also hear that the Xue family did not treat the Zhao family badly.
Which country old lady can be treated like this by the Zhao family, someone is waiting, and there is no need to do anything, and the food is full of fish and meat. Every month, the moonlight will spend a few taels of silver to hire people to wait for her, as well as food money.
"I have something to say about this matter. I mentioned it to Master Xue before, and he felt a lot when he found out. He also said that he planned to tell the clan to let the Zhao family go home and enjoy his old age." The person who spoke was Xue Juncai. , he is a human being, and he is also qualified to speak in front of officials.
"There are thousands of villagers in Yuqing Village, and many people who knew about it back then were still alive. If the adults feel that we have excuses, you can ask at will. The reason why we will prove this is not for other reasons, but only for the sake of Show me the innocence of the Xue family, and I can't be an adult."
It has to be said that the old patriarch is really mature, and this behavior shows what happened, and puts the responsibility on the imperial envoy.
Everything is too deliberate, it will appear very fake, and now these deliberate, all because of the questioning words of the imperial envoy.
It is true that it is impossible to do so, but you question us so much. In order to prove it, I will disclose everything to the public. As for whether we can do it or not, it will be judged by the world.
The imperial envoy was speechless, and was actually humiliated by an old country man.
Xue Tingyuan sighed in disappointment, stood up and said: "Well, I'll write a letter to ask Ding You, no matter what, there is always a blood relationship."
Xue Tingxiang left, so naturally the play couldn't go on.
The imperial envoy waited for news from the court, and hurried away.
Wang Zhixian didn't want to leave. At this time, he also saw that the imperial envoy was afraid that he was deliberately embarrassing Xue Tingxiang, and even the death of his grandmother seemed a little strange, and he had long regretted why he had to make this trip.
But the imperial envoy took the initiative to come to the door, he dared to say that he did not accompany him, he could only blame himself for being unlucky.
…
Xue Tingxiang wrote the memorial, and ordered someone to send it to the capital at an accelerated speed through the post station.
Turning his head to the old patriarch's house, he didn't know what to say.
The old patriarch was lying on the couch. This incident consumed all his energy, so he was extremely tired. He sighed and sighed: "You are the same kid, you don't want to say anything. In fact, when you came back and stayed in the village, my cousin knew that something must have happened. It's just that I don't know about your big event, so I can only do it for you. Do it here, and the rest is up to you to decide for yourself.”
"Cousin."
"You are the backbone of our Xue clan. No matter what you do, remember that our Xue clan is behind you. Don't be afraid that they will investigate this matter..."
…
"Is that divorce letter real or fake?" Zhao'er asked curiously after returning.
"What is true, what is false, since there is something, you should take it all as true."
After hearing this, Zhao'er knew that things were not simple.
How did she know that the divorce book was indeed true, but it was written by the old patriarch himself.
Originally I wanted to scare off the Zhao family, but who knew that the Zhao family was too bearable and useless at all. He has kept this letter of divorce, knowing that the Zhao family has always been a hidden danger. Just in case, he never expected to use it at this time.
While the couple were talking at home, the turmoil outside did not actually pass.
Originally thought that Zhao's death was because of his resentment, deliberately disgusting, and wanted to ruin Xue Tingxiang's reputation. But Xue Tingxiang said something like that, but it made the old patriarch interested, so he asked Xue Jinquan to check it below.
The people who lived near the old ancestral hall have been questioned, and even Ning Ning and a few little guys have been questioned.
Zhao's death is indeed strange, but not strange.
The strange thing is that the death was too sudden, and how could an old woman who has been crazy for many years hang up because of a broken remark, or she was deliberately disgusting. What is not surprising is that the thinking of lunatics is always different from that of ordinary people.
In the end, it was Xue Juncai who came up with the idea and asked someone to find an old man who had been working in the county office for many years and now returned home to care for the elderly.
Now in this Xia County, who doesn't know the name of the Xue family, even if they try to forgive the other party, they don't dare to go out and talk nonsense. Lao Zuozuo was invited overnight, and Xue Tingxiang was invited over as soon as he rested.
Because the cause of Zhao's death is suspicious, her body has not been moved, and she has not even changed her shroud.
Everything in the old ancestral hall remained the same, for fear of losing any clues.
At this time, many people gathered in the house where Zhao lived.
Xue Jinquan, Xue Juncai, and several members of the Xue clan were all there, and Xue Tingxiang also came along with Zhao'er. Zhao'er was a little scared, but she was really curious and worried that Xue Tingxiang would come alone, so he came with him.
In the middle of the room, two benches were used to erect a door, and Zhao's body was placed on it.
"Actually, it's easy to tell whether it's a suicide or a suicide. Suicide, the weight of the human body is put on the neck, and it is the lower jaw, which is here, as the key point, so Yuhen should be inverted, and most of the neck bones will be broken. . And he hanged—"
Afraid that everyone would not understand, the old man called his son to demonstrate. While his son was half-squatting, he took a rope, wrapped it around his neck from behind, and slowly tightened the rope.
"The force of his hanging is all around, that is, the circular or semi-circular Yuken, and the position should be in the center of the neck."
The old man dropped the rope in his hand and came to Zhao's body, revealing the marks on his neck.
"Look at the neck of the deceased, there are two kinds of marks in different depths. One is a straight line, and the other is an inverted eight. Look at the bones of his hands, which are curved like eagle claws, and there are also marks on the nails, which seem to be scratched. Someone was hurt, so the results were obvious."
Zhao'er couldn't help but add a sentence: "That is to say, someone strangled her and hung her on the beam, pretending to hang herself to death?"
Seeing his dress, the old man was standing next to Xue Tingxiang, and he could guess his identity, so he said, "Madam is right, that's exactly what she said."
Xue Tingyan looked thoughtful, several descendants of the Xue family were already excited, and Xue Juncai came to Zhao's side and knelt down with trembling hands.
Maybe he deliberately excused Xue Tingxiang before, for the sake of the Xue family, he also knew that Xue Tingxiang was not to blame for this, but now this result made him relieved.
It seems that Zhao Shi was hanged by him, which removed her viciousness that she would rather die than hurt others, and also made him, and even Xue Tingxiang, appear less cramped and embarrassed in it.
"Go to check, check from house to house, focusing on the person surnamed Zheng." Xue Jinquan said.
"Patriarch, let's go."
…
Lao Zuzuo and his son were sent away, but Yuqing Village, who was in the middle of the night, suddenly woke up.
The barking of dogs, the light of torches, and the sound of chaotic footsteps opened the chaotic prelude.
"What's wrong?" In a dark room, an old woman's hoarse voice sounded.
"Who knows what happened, maybe someone lost something."
That said, Zheng Lizheng, no, it's old man Zheng, or he put on his clothes and got up. It seems that there is movement, and his eldest son Zheng Gaofeng.
The Zheng family had long since split up, so when old man Zheng stepped down from his position in the middle, they split up. It was he who took the initiative to give his sons the share because he didn't want to implicate other children and grandchildren.
Standing in front of the door and watching for a while, but could not see why, Old Man Zheng asked Zheng Gaofeng to go back to the house.
Today's Zheng Gaofeng doesn't look as tall and burly as ten years ago. His back is hunched, his waist is hunched, and his hair has long had silver threads.
It is the burden of life, but also the life is not comfortable.
"Father, then you should go back to the room early to sleep." After speaking, Zheng Gaofeng went back to the west wing.
Old Man Zheng sat alone on the kang in the main room, took out a dry smoke pot, lit the fire again, lit a pot of cigarettes, and started smoking.
The bluish-white smoke spread in the darkness, nothing could be seen, only sparks could be seen in the darkness.
There were footsteps, and it seemed that many people came.
The door to the main room was pushed open at once, and the light of the torches illuminated the dark room.
"Old man Zheng, show your hands and arms for everyone to see."