When asked this question, Cao Ji was completely panicked. His teeth chattered crazily. He mentally recalled the events of that day and tried to find any loopholes.
Leng Moran, however, had already gained insight into everything through his memories. He said, "Master Tao, go to his house."
Although Magistrate Tao didn't think that Cao Ji would put the body at home after killing someone, he had missed too many things before and it would be a good idea to go to Cao Ji's house to investigate now, so he agreed.
Cao Ji couldn't even walk now, so he was helped home by two government servants.
The courtyard of his house is not big, with only three rooms, one for Cao Ji and his wife, one for his son, and one for Cao Ji's old mother.
Seeing people from the Yamen approaching, Cao's mother walked out with a cane and saluted.
Magistrate Tao gave her a weak hand and signaled the officials to search the house.
Cao's mother asked in a panic: "Master, my eldest son has committed a crime?"
Leng Moran looked into Cao's mother's cloudy eyes to confirm that she really knew nothing and did not speak.
Magistrate Tao asked: "Did you hear anything on the day Mrs. Cao disappeared?"
Mother Cao pointed at her ears and shook her head and said, "As I get older, not only are my legs and feet inoperable, but my ears are also not easy to use. Not to mention that even if they are across the room, I may not be able to hear even if they are standing in front of me.
clear."
Magistrate Tao looked at the three houses, pointed to the middle one and asked, "Is this where Cao Ji's son lives?"
Mother Cao nodded and said, "Exactly, but he lives in the academy and will only come back during the holidays."
"Isn't the academy not in the county seat?"
"Yeah," Mother Cao couldn't help but sigh, "He thought his parents were always quarreling, so he didn't want to live at home, saying it would affect his studies, so he only came back to stay for one day during the holidays.
"
Magistrate Tao frowned and asked, "It's such a big deal that Madam Cao disappeared, but he didn't even come back?"
Cao's mother explained: "I was worried that it would delay his studies, so I didn't tell him that it wasn't the holiday yet. Besides, his mother might come back soon."
During the cross-examination, Magistrate Tao also learned that in addition to frequent quarrels with Cao Ji, the proprietress of the bun shop had left several times, but came back within a few days, and sometimes she was away longer than this time.
So although the landlady was missing, her family didn't pay much attention to it. They only reported it to the police after hearing that many people had gone missing in the county recently.
Magistrate Tao asked the government officials to call in all the neighbors and ask them about the day when Lady Cao disappeared.
One neighbor said: "I seemed to hear a dispute."
Magistrate Tao asked: "Have you come over to see it?"
The neighbor shook his head and said, "They often quarrel, but I don't take it seriously."
When Leng Moran saw that the questions were almost there, he glanced at the apricot tree in the courtyard.
The leaves on the trees have long fallen off, but the soil underneath shows signs of being turned.
When Cao Ji saw Leng Moran walking towards the apricot tree, the muscles on his face couldn't help but twitch.
Magistrate Tao had just finished his inquiry and noticed something was wrong with Cao Ji. He followed his gaze and noticed something unusual under the apricot tree.
He asked: "Why has this soil been turned over?"
Cao Ji didn't answer, but Cao's mother walked over with a cane, glanced at the soil on the ground, and shook her head to express her ignorance.
Magistrate Tao asked the government officials to come over and see if there was anything under the tree.
Cao Ji gritted his teeth hard to prevent himself from making any sound.
The two government officials took shovels and dug into the ground. After a while, they dug out something. Upon closer inspection, they found several bones.
Magistrate Tao looked at Cao Ji and asked, "What is this?"
Cao Ji's voice trembled: "Pig, pig bones..."
If he didn't answer, he could still lie and claim that he didn't know what it was, but when he answered, it would mean that he knew what was under the tree.
Xiao Xixi on the side said silently: "These are human bones."
Although she had never learned medical skills from Divine Doctor He for a few days, she still knew him.
When Cao Ji heard this, he was completely panicked. He quickly knelt on the ground and said, "Sir, please forgive me. I didn't do this on purpose."
Magistrate Tao asked him with a cold face: "But your wife's bones?"
Cao Ji didn't expect to be discovered. At this time, the evidence was in front of him. His body was trembling and he said honestly: "Yes."
Cao's mother raised her cane and called to Cao Ji, her body trembling from the exertion, "You're a traitor, have you committed a crime? Why don't you tell the truth!"
Cao Ji was in great pain from the beating and did not dare to move. He could only let the crutch fall on him.
Once he really said it, his panic disappeared and he quickly told what happened that day.
He and the landlady have been married for many years and have only one son, who is now thirteen years old. Cao Ji wants his wife to have another child, but she is unwilling. The two often quarrel over various things, and his wife even
During the quarrel, he said that Cao Ji was not as good as other men.
In addition, his wife often ran away for several days without returning, which made Cao Ji think that his wife did not want to have children with him because she had betrayed him. During the argument that day, he took a kitchen knife and chopped his wife in the neck...
Worried about being discovered, Cao Ji shaved off all the flesh from his wife and mixed it into the stuffing of the steamed buns. The parts that could not be used for stuffing were buried under the apricot tree.
After hearing this, the yamen officer continued digging, and sure enough he dug out a head.
Xiao Xixi couldn't help but shudder. This man was too cruel, even his wife could be made into stuffing for steamed buns.
Steamed stuffing?
Xiao Xixi was startled, thinking that when she passed by the bun shop that day, she had wanted to buy it.
Judging by the time, there might really be something wrong with the stuffing of the buns at that time.
Thinking of this, she turned her head and looked at Leng Moran, with a little gratitude in her eyes.
If it weren't for him, she would have bought steamed buns that day.
Leng Moran looked back at her and quickly looked away again.
Cao Ji had already confessed, so Magistrate Tao asked the Yamen officials to take him back to the Yamen and arrange a formal trial.
The common people did not expect that the yamen could be held in court twice a day, so they quickly rushed over to join in the fun, only to find that the person in court this time was Cao Ji.
Cao Ji told the court again about his murder of his wife. The faces of the people watching became more and more ugly, especially the people who had eaten his steamed buns in recent days. They wanted to rush up and beat Cao Ji hard.
A meal.
Cao Ji was sentenced to hanging, but he still had to report to the Ministry of Punishment for review and was temporarily detained in the county government office before execution.
For a long time after this, the business of large and small steamed bun shops in Qing'an County was greatly affected. The people in the county had a psychological shadow because of this incident. Not to mention eating, seeing the steamed bun shops
I wish I could take a detour.
This kind of thing is simply a disaster for other bun shops.
Only Liu Juren was still living safely in the county government office, as if nothing had happened. After repeated interrogations, he was still determined to be unjust.
Magistrate Tao had a headache, but what made him even more troubled was that a murder suddenly occurred in the county government office. The deceased's eyes were also gouged out and a sharp knife was stabbed in the chest.
But this time the victim was a brothel woman, and the perpetrator left the body at the crime scene after the murder.
