Just after noon, with the loud and ear-piercing sound of grievance drums, the cold Haikang County government office gradually became lively. Before the government officials were dispatched, they were surrounded by nearby people watching the excitement.
The sound of drumming rang in front of the county government office for about a quarter of an hour, and then a group of lazy government servants came out listlessly and surrounded the area around the injustice drum.
Not long after, a tall and lanky man with a goatee, about forty years old, walked out of the government office. He looked around at the crowd casually, first let out a long yawn, and did not look at the person who was beating the drum to complain.
He turned a deaf ear and asked himself: "Who are these unruly people who dare to complain about injustice and beat drums here so early in the morning to disturb my dream?"
Afterwards, a yamen servant went to report respectfully: "Returning to the master's office, we are the mother and daughter of the Liu family of the Sun family."
"Isn't this a trap for yourself? Let me catch it."
Tan Miao waved his hand with a very leisurely expression, and saw several government officials running straight towards Sun Liu and his daughter.
"Wait a minute."
Chu Nanzhi was angry when he saw this. This person was only a ninth-grade chief registrar. He was not a high-ranking official, but he was quite powerful. It could be seen that he often acted arrogantly and arrogantly.
When he heard that it was Tan Miao, the chief clerk, Chu Nanzhi walked over without thinking.
Tan Miao raised his eyebrows lightly, looked at Chu Nanzhi closely, grinned and said: "Where did you, a woman, come from?"
Chu Nanzhi did not face his question directly, and began to express her feelings directly: "My lord is really a vigorous and resolute person. He insults people and makes trouble for the people without asking where they came from. Once he knows there are those who complain about injustice, he will take advantage of them without asking the reason. This is how
He made a decisive decision, I wonder if it was the order from the county magistrate or the authority given by the emperor today?"
"What a clever mouth."
Hearing this, Tan Miao's whole body was lifted up. He did not dare to be careless anymore. He looked at the beautiful woman in front of him carefully and said sincerely: "I don't know who this lady is. What's the point of coming to my county government office?"
What's the matter?"
"A common woman comes here for one thing only."
Chu Nanzhi replied: "That is to appeal to the prisoner Sun Wuji."
"Sun Wooji?"
Tan Miao was stunned when he heard this, and he squeezed out a faint smile with trembling brows: "Madam, please don't joke. The case has been closed a long time ago. The documents for review by the county will be sent back in the next few days. Don't follow that mother and daughter."
Come and cause trouble, otherwise I will charge you with disturbing the court."
Seeing that his expression was getting serious, Sun Lizheng hurriedly came forward and explained respectfully: "Master Registrar, Wu Ji's case has not yet come to execution. In the meantime, we can find a lawyer to plead on Wu Ji's behalf."
As he spoke, he slowly looked at Chu Nanzhi and continued: "This is Mrs. Chu from Luyan Gang who investigated the tax bank case and Zhao Mansion murder case for the county government. She is the new lawyer we hired for Wu Ji today.
"
"Ms. Chu?"
When Tan Miao heard this name, he was frightened and immediately stood in awe. However, thinking of her intention, he suddenly turned serious and replied calmly: "Even if His Majesty is here in person, the witnesses and physical evidence in this case will be taken away."
There is no need to re-examine the case, so please don’t make any more futile struggles.”
"I didn't expect that the matter of human life and fate would be so lightly spoken by the Registrar. He would describe it as a futile struggle, which is ridiculous."
Chu Nanzhi couldn't help but sneer: "As a parent and an official who treats human life as nothing, I would like to ask, what should adults believe in?"
"Don't talk nonsense."
Tan Miao stared lightly and said sternly: "Ms. Chu, I know that you are not an easy person, but just now I said that there are all the witnesses and material evidence in this case. You should have a basis to plead guilty for the criminal. Isn't that right?
Can’t we let the government offices of our dignified county allow you to break in as you please?”
“Where is the human evidence, and where is the physical evidence?”
Chu Nanzhi's words hit the mark, and Tan Miao was stunned on the spot.
After a moment, he regained his composure and calmly defended: "Although no one saw it with their own eyes, it is true that the criminal had a dispute with the county magistrate that day. The criminal and his family all admitted it personally. The county magistrate Zhu disappeared the next day.
The body was also fished out from under the fish pond behind the criminal’s house. Is it possible that this is just a coincidence?”
"But what if it's really such a coincidence?"
Chu Nanzhi immediately asked back: "Do you want to take this coincidence as irrefutable evidence?"
"this"
Tan Miao squinted his eyes in embarrassment, glanced at Sun Liu and her daughter in a daze, and then replied calmly: "The government officials found a sharp weapon in the convict's wife's house, which was very similar to the wound on Zhu County Cheng's neck.
It matches, there is a motive for the murder, there is physical evidence, and the criminal confessed it himself, so there will be no falsehood."
"But the woman heard that someone was coercing Sun Wuji's family, so he had to admit the unfounded crime. I'm afraid the fish-killing knives are similar in all the villages, so it's not necessarily the only one that his family can have, right?"
Chu Nan Zhi argued meaningfully.
"Ms. Chu, where do you start with this threat?"
Tan Miao looked at Sun Liu's mother and daughter angrily, and said sternly: "This mother and daughter want to cover up the fact that Sun Wuji murdered the imperial official. It is the unshirkable responsibility of the county magistrate and me to hold them accountable. How can they do it?"
threats."
"Since it's not a threat, let's bring the culprit to face the county magistrate in court. What do you think?"
Chu Nanzhi raised her eyebrows and looked directly at him with an imposing manner.
Today, as long as we can get Sun Wu Ji to retract his confession personally and insist on the fact that there is no witness, we can win the chance of a retrial.
Tan Miao laughed dryly, but an inexplicable fear arose in his heart.
He had heard about this woman's reputation for a long time. If she overturned the case, his previous vows would also be overturned. It would be a small matter to ruin his reputation, but a big thing to implicate the county magistrate.
Not wanting to comment, he glared fiercely at the people around him who were about to help, and then refused righteously: "The court is not a child's play, how can you allow you to confront me when you say it? Madam Chu, you are neither an official of the imperial court nor a native of the country."
People from the county dare to question the facts of the case that have been closed based on only a few hearsays, without witnesses or evidence. Isn't this a great disrespect to me and the county magistrate?"
"Your Majesty, my words are serious. I am not disrespectful to you. Although I am not from this county, the law does not stipulate that people in this county cannot hire lawyers from outside the country if they violate the law. There are many doubts about this case.
, Since a civilian woman is a criminal's lawyer, she naturally has the responsibility to defend the criminal."
Chu Nanzhi's loud words left Tan Miao unable to refute.
Indeed, the laws of the Dahe Empire clearly stipulate that as long as a criminal cries out for injustice before being beheaded, he may be retried and sentenced.
After repeated deliberation, he had no choice but to compromise: "Since Mrs. Chu insists on this, then please go ahead."
As soon as he finished speaking, he reminded with a somewhat threatening tone: "But Mrs. Chu, don't blame me for saying ugly things first. If you can't make a fool of yourself today, don't blame me and the county magistrate."
Your Excellency will not spare you lightly."
"My lord please."
Chu Nanzhi replied with a half-smile, and walked towards the court with dignity.