He Mengyou and He Zhi were brought to Hucao Yamen by the yamen. The two were walking behind, and He Zhi took the opportunity to secretly ask He Mengyou, "Master, why did Hucao suddenly call you here?" It would be great if the reason could be known in advance.
Thinking of countermeasures.
Compared to He Zhi's nervousness, He Mengyou didn't care much. But after all, he was the big manager of the family, and even compared to him, Grandpa trusted He Zhi more, so He Mengyou was also polite to He Zhi, "It must be because of Jiuquli's
House.
My house was only sold for 120 taels, but now the house price has risen to nearly 500 taels, so I asked He Yijiu to come forward and sue Qian Laoer. Now they must find Qian Laoer guilty. Come to me.
Confrontation.”
He Zhi's brows couldn't help but frown. He knew what happened in that house. Out of caution, he whispered to He Mengyou:
"Young Master, in my opinion, since the house is involved, you will only suffer a loss. But if other things are involved, the gain will outweigh the loss."
He Mengyou glanced at him, a little unsure, "Then...hasn't it been dealt with already? It's been half a year, what else can be involved."
"Be careful with your ten thousand year ship." He Zhi affirmed: "When I go to court later, the young master will pass the responsibility for this matter to He Yijiu, saying that you don't know anything about it, and you also recognize the one hundred and twenty taels of silver. It's best
I can withdraw immediately."
He Mengyou hesitated for a while, then half-objected: "We'll see what happens later."
He spent nearly 400 taels of silver on the purchase and repair of his house. He hadn't even lived in it for a month, but now he had spent 120 taels of silver.
Although he was not short of that little money, he just couldn't bear to think about it. He was the eldest son of the He family. Why should he have to swallow his losses? He didn't have the good temper to swallow his anger.
He Zhi sighed in his heart, there was nothing he could do, he could only pray secretly that nothing would go wrong.
But he had a guilty conscience. The more times like this, the more panicked he felt, and he always felt that something was wrong. If he was really going to testify in court, why didn't the government officials tell him just now?
"Young Master..." He Zhi wanted to persuade him again, but the officer in front suddenly turned to look at him. He quickly shut up, bowed and smiled.
At that time, Wei Pingxiao had already arrived at Hucao's inner hall and had finished listening to the first half of the hall. Seeing that he was silent for a while, Su Zhen asked, "Brother Wei, do you also think there is something fishy about this matter?"
Wei Pingxiao stood up, secretly looked through the door curtain of the inner hall into the court hall, then looked back, pointed at the middle-aged man in the hall and asked: "He is... the master of the Shange Pavilion..."
Su Zhen also walked over and said with a smile, "I didn't expect that."
However, Wei Pingxiao squinted his eyes and looked carefully for a moment, then sat back with a confused look on his face. After thinking for a while, he asked Wei Pingxiao: "Don't you think this person looks familiar?"
"Familiar?" Su Zhen thought for a while, then took a breath, "You said it, it does sound familiar. I just said that the people in the hall felt a little strange just now. At that time, my attention was all on the master of the mountain pavilion.
Think about it carefully. Have we met this person before?"
Wei Pingxiao shook his head: "I've definitely never seen him before, but I know who this person looks like. You haven't seen him much, so it's normal that you can't remember him for a moment. However, maybe I'm overthinking it. I'll take a look at it later in the hall."
.”
Su Zhen said quickly: "You can sit directly in the hall later, and I will sit and listen. Since it is involved in a murder case, it is not under my jurisdiction."
Wei Pingxiao did not refuse, and nodded. The two of them waited for a while, until the Yamen servant came into the room to report that everyone had arrived, and then the two of them went to the hall. Wei Pingxiao sat in the hall, while Su Zhen sat down and watched the hall.
In the courtroom, He Yijiu was still kneeling on the ground, but at this time he had already received thirty strokes. His face was pale in pain, but he did not dare to groan, so he could only grit his teeth and endure it.
Qian Laoer knelt on the other side, while Zhufeng stood beside him, staring at one place, closing his eyes slightly, standing still, but taking advantage of his free time to meditate.
Wei Pingxiao first gave a slap in the face, and then shouted seriously, "He Yijiu, you first sued Qian Laoer for falsely reporting the house price, and then changed your story for no reason. Why did you change your mind? You will be punished based on the truth."
He Yijiu said with some trembling: "Back to my lord, I already know that my accusation is unreasonable, so I asked to withdraw from the court."
"You're lying." Wei Pingxiao's expression was stern and his voice was high-pitched. He Yijiu was so frightened that he trembled all over and almost fell to the ground, "I don't dare... I don't dare."
Wei Pingxiao asked again: "In that house, a maid died. Was she a domestic servant of the He family or a servant?"
He Yijiu blinked in panic and hesitated, "It's a family...no, no...yes, a servant."
Wei Pingxiao continued to question, "Since he is a foreign servant, from whom did he buy it? When did he buy it? Where is the deed of sale now? How old is he? Where does he live? How many people are there in his family? Tell him everything honestly."
He Yijiu was so frightened that he was sweating profusely and said in panic: "Sir, I'm just the head of the house and only responsible for the sale and purchase of houses. As for the maid, I really don't know."
Wei Pingxiao snorted and said with a straight face, "If you don't know, of course someone knows. It's said that He Mengyou."
Then he said sternly to He Yijiu: "He Yijiu, I won't let you speak later. If you dare to speak, I will take off your head immediately."
He Yijiu trembled with fright and put his head on the ground, panicking.
The yamen servant at the door immediately shouted and called He Mengyou. Soon, two yamen servants took out He Mengyou and He Zhi from the witness room.
He Mengyou strode into the hall, lifted up his clothes, knelt down and kowtowed, "He Mengyou, a common man, kowtow to your lord."
He Zhi also lowered his head slightly and knelt down: "Little He Zhi, please kowtow to your lord."
"He Mengyou, can you admit that you are the original owner of the fifth house in Jiuquli, and that you entrusted Qian Laoer to sell the house in the first month?"
He Mengyou responded yes.
Wei Pingxiao asked again: "Then why did you sell the house? But because someone died in the house?"
He Mengyou was surprised. He really didn't expect to ask this question. He thought for a while and replied: "The common people only live in that house occasionally, but they feel it is useless, so they plan to sell it."
Wei Pingxiao did not accept this trick and continued to ask: "Has anyone died in the house before? Who was the deceased and what does it have to do with you?"
He Mengyou became a little uneasy and glanced sideways at He Yijiu in the corner. Seeing that his face was dripping with sweat, his heart sank. Sure enough, something was wrong. He thought for a moment and replied: "Ordinary people don't know either.
"
Alarm bells were already ringing in He Zhi's heart, fearing that He Mengyou would say something inappropriate, so after listening to He Mengyou's words, he quickly replied: "Sir, the young master has only lived in that house for a few days, so he doesn't know.
"
Wei Pingxiao smiled half-heartedly, "You are the chief steward of the He family. I think you know it best. So tell me, who died in that house?"
He Zhi's lowered eyes were also panicked, and he did not dare to raise his head. He hesitated for a moment and then said: "It's a slave."
He Yijiu, who was kneeling in the corner, was so frightened that his hands softened and he fell directly to the ground.
When He Zhi heard the movement, his heart skipped a beat. He felt that the scrutinizing eyes in front of him were like fire burning on his body, and he was suddenly sweating.