The prison of Zhang Deng Yamen is divided into three floors.
The first level of the prison was built on the ground and was called the "custodial courtyard". It housed ordinary prisoners. Some of them would cause trouble at night and get into fights. They would be caught by the lantern man, beaten with a board, whipped, and punished, which usually did not last more than three days.
will be released, so this place is also called "Three Days Residence".
The second level of the prison is underground and is called the "dungeon". All felons are imprisoned in the dungeon. Even if they are not guilty of capital crimes, they will not be released in the short term. Therefore, the dungeon is also called the "Ten Thousand Years Cage".
The third level of the prison, below the dungeon, is called the "deep prison". "The prisoners here are all death row prisoners, and they are all death row prisoners with high cultivation levels. Therefore, the deep prison is also called the "Ghost Gate".
There are Mohist institutions and Yin-Yang magic circles in the deep prison. There are dedicated personnel to watch the prisoners one-on-one, and there are only three cells.
This is because the custody capacity of the Deng Yamen is limited. If there are more than three high-level criminals imprisoned in deep prison, the Deng Yamen will not be able to take care of them.
Even though it is so tight, the deep prison is by no means foolproof. Liang Yuming was once detained in the deep prison, but because of the mole Xiao Songting, he was allowed to escape that night.
When Xu Zhiqiong came to the cell door, there was only one woman locked up in the entire deep prison.
Qiao Shungang, who came with Xu Zhiqiong, pointed at the woman and said, "This woman is vicious. She has a family of fifteen, including her biological parents."
Xu Zhiqiong focused his eyes and looked carefully for a moment. The woman had less than an inch of karma on her head and no cultivation. She did not look like a villain who had killed fifteen people.
Could it be that she is of extremely high rank and has blinded the eye of sin?
But if she really has such a high rank, the Deng Deng Yamen can't shut her down.
"Who captured her?"
Qiao Shungang said: "It was the Ministry of Punishment that arrested her in the first place. It had nothing to do with our yamen originally, but the useless people like the Ministry of Punishment couldn't stand her. It is said that many people died.
This woman ran out, and that bitch Shi Chuan happened to catch her, and he took her back to the Yamen. I wanted to send this person back to the Criminal Department, but Shi Chuan had to take credit from this woman, and wanted to be promoted to Qinglanlang.
You also know the rules of our yamen. No matter how great the credit is, you can't be promoted to Qingdeng without the eighth level of cultivation. Shi Chuan went to Shi Xun to make trouble, and Shi Xun temporarily left the person behind, hoping to wait for the commander to come back and deal with it.
As a result, she was kept for two days, which frightened the lantern man guarding her. She is still unconscious. It is impossible to send her back again. The Ministry of Punishment refused to accept her alive. They said that the review was completed and she would be executed in Lingchi. They would come back five days later.
people!"
The lantern holder was so frightened that he fainted and was still unconscious. What kind of method was this?
Xu Zhiqiong looked at the woman and asked, "Did you really kill this person?"
The woman lowered her head and said nothing.
Xu Zhiqiong shouted: "Raise your head and answer honestly!"
Qiao Shungang quickly stopped her: "You can't raise your head, you can't look at this woman. She is so handsome. If you take one look at her, your soul will be gone."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "Brother, how handsome can she be? How come I have never seen a woman?"
Qiao Shungang said: "Brother, I am not joking with you. From the moment she entered the Yamen, I didn't dare to take a look. Haven't you heard that three jailors in the Penal Department Yamen died at her hands, along with her?
I don’t know how many prisoners in custody have died.”
Xu Zhiqiong became even more suspicious: "If she really has such good skills, how can she be caught by that idiot Shi Chuan?"
Qiao Shungang said: "I'm also puzzled about this, but brother, you have to listen to me, but don't believe in evil. After these five days, just send her away and forget it. Don't get too close to her, and don't talk to her. Qian
Don't go into the cell, just stay in the cell and pretend you haven't heard anything."
"How can that be okay? If she runs away, won't she have to blame me?"
Qiao Shungang sighed: "Shi Xun, that bastard, just doesn't like our brothers. He is deliberately trying to make things difficult for you. We can't fall for his trick. If he runs away, just let her run away. At most, she will scold us a few words and fine us two silver coins."
We don’t have to take it seriously!”
Not taking it seriously?
Brother Qiao, you are not taking it seriously. If this female prisoner really escapes, Shi Xun will definitely make a fuss about me.
There are only two red lantern men in a lantern yamen. You and I are brothers, one on the left and one on the right. Can Shi Xun feel happy?
Shi Xun found out that I should be dismissed from my job.
After Qiao Shungang left, Xu Zhiqiong went to the dormitory first. This was not a dormitory in a yamen, but a special dormitory in a deep prison.
Since the prisoners have to be watched one-on-one, the lantern holder cannot live in the cell. There is a small cabin next to each cell for the lantern holder to live.
The small cell was quite spacious and very clean, with new bedding and incense and a tea stove. The jail manager knew that Xu Zhiqiong was coming, so naturally he did not dare to let the red lantern man suffer.
Xu Zhiqiong tapped the mechanism on the wall, and a palm-sized dark window opened on the wall. The dark window led directly to the cell next door, which was used to monitor the prisoners.
The woman had been huddled in the corner of the cell, and Xu Zhiqiong listened intently, only to hear her stomach growling.
Grrrrrr!
hungry.
This woman was sixteen or seventeen years old, and she was old enough to eat. She was given one meal a day in prison, so she would definitely not be full.
Xu Zhiqiong walked outside the prison door and called a jailer: "Bring some food."
"Xu Qianhu, what would you like to eat?"
"Fat chickens, fat meats, pick the fattest ones and eat them. Add more salt and sauce, and bring some water and wine."
The jailer did not dare to neglect and hurried to prepare. After a while, he cut a large plate of fat meat and a large plate of fat chicken, and also poured a jar of wine. Xu Zhiqiong felt that the wine was too strong, so he added some water.
He entered the cell with food and wine and said to the woman, "Eat."
The woman did not dare to move.
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "What? Are you afraid that I will poison you? Poisoning will make you easier, but poisoning you to death will not be better than Ling Chi?"
The woman sobbed twice, quietly picked up a piece of chicken and ate it.
It had been a long time since I had seen meat. The girl couldn't stop eating, and she ate half a plate of chicken in a short time.
The chicken was too salty and there was too much sauce. The girl looked at the wine jar next to her and took a careful sip.
The wine was a little spicy, so the girl coughed twice, ate two more pieces of fat, and felt it was too salty, so she picked up the wine jar and took a big sip.
Xu Zhiqiong smiled sinisterly and said he was very experienced in tricking girls into drinking.
With the help of alcohol, I can make this girl tell the truth.
While eating and drinking, Xu Zhiqiong saw clearly the woman's appearance.
Handsome, indeed handsome, comparable to Xia Hu's beauty, but it's sheer nonsense to say that one glance at her will make you lose your soul.
Moreover, this girl is a bit stupid and doesn't know how to seduce people.
After finishing a plate of chicken, half a plate of fatty meat, and drinking half a jar of wine, the girl burped and looked at Xu Zhiqiong with a red face: "Is this food really poisonous?"
Xu Zhiqiong nodded and said: "Yes, you will die at dawn tomorrow."
The girl hugged her knees and sobbed: "I died unjustly!"
"You killed a dozen members of a family, how can you still claim injustice?"
The girl shook her head repeatedly and said, "I didn't kill those people."
"Then who can kill?"
"I don't know, I had a fight with my father that night, and then I took a nap, and when I woke up, they were gone!"
"Why did you fight with your father?"
"Because he wants to beat my mother to death, my sister to death, and me."
Specializing in beating family members? Isn’t this the Angry Husband Cult?
Xu Zhiqiong asked again: "When you woke up, you only found that everyone was gone. How did you know that they were dead?"
"I searched everywhere at home. From noon to dusk, I found my parents and my sister in the woodshed. The family's long-term worker and maid were also in there."
It took me a whole morning to find it?
Xu Zhiqiong asked: "Are there no blood stains in your house?"
The girl shook her head and said, "No, I didn't see a drop of blood."
Xu Zhiqiong frowned. There were serious doubts about what this girl said.
The other party cleaned up the blood stains and the body, and did so carefully. How could he let this girl go?
Xu Zhiqiong asked again: "How did the Criminal Department know that you had killed someone?"
The girl said: "I went out to report to the officials, but I didn't know which yamen I should report to, so I went to the Criminal Department and told the story, and they arrested me."
"I caught you and you admitted it?"
The girl cried: "They beat me, beat me to death! I couldn't stand it anymore, so I admitted it!"
Is that really the case?
The Ministry of Punishment has indeed sentenced many stupid cases, but they are not so ridiculous as this.
Beat the accuser and convict him directly after meeting him? At least some clues must be found first.
Xu Zhiqiong glared: "Are you hiding something?"
The girl shook her head and said: "I am already dying, how can I dare to hide anything?"
Xu Zhiqiong said: "If you tell me the truth, I will give you a plate of chicken and a plate of meat every day. If you dare to deceive me, I will make your life worse than death for the next few days."
The girl was frightened and huddled in the corner, trembling and saying: "What I said is the truth, every word is the truth."
…
Xu Zhiqiong went outside the prison and called a warder to get the female prisoner's case file.
A copy of the case file of the Criminal Department was given to the Yamen in charge, and Shi Xun was in charge of it. The jailer asked for it several times, but Shi Xun refused to give it to him. He also told Xu Zhiqiong not to meddle in other people's business and just look after the prisoners.
Don’t let me pull you down, I’ll take it myself!
Late at night, while Shi Xun was sleeping, Xu Zhiqiong found a mouse and sneaked into Mingdengxuan and stole the case file.
This woman's name is Shi Shuangliu. She was born on the sixth day of June. She has a rustic name, but her family is pretty good. Her father, Shi Fu, opened a dyeing shop. He is not very rich, but the family has no worries about food and clothing.
On the day of the incident, she went to the Ministry of Criminal Justice to report to the police. The content of her confession was basically the same as what she just said.
The reason why the Criminal Department suspected Shi Shuangliu was because there was a major doubt in her confession.
The Criminal Department discovered the same suspicion as Xu Zhiqiong. She had an argument with her father Shi Fu in the front yard, and suddenly fell asleep during the fight. When she woke up, her family members were all dead, but she survived.
If someone really broke into the house to commit murder, why was she left alone?
At this point, Shi Shuangliu couldn't explain it because she fell asleep and didn't know the process of the crime.
The Penal Department Yamen did not convict Shi Shuangliu based on this, they just imprisoned Shi Shuangliu. What really made the Penal Department convict was the confession of a witness.
This witness was a regular customer of the dyeing shop. He came to the dyeing shop to get cloth, but the door was not open, so he pushed the door open and entered the front yard. He saw Shi Shuangliu dragging a sack into the backyard.
At first, he didn't take it seriously. It wasn't until he heard that all Shifu's family was dead that he ran to the Yamen to testify.
During the autopsy, the Ministry of Punishments discovered that Shi Fu's body was indeed in a sack.
From this point of view, the conclusion of this case is not confusing, the witnesses and physical evidence are consistent, and it was Shi Shuangliu who did this.
But how to explain the crime on her head?
Is her cultivation really that high?
To be able to deceive the pupil of sinful karma, one must be at least fifth grade. Xu Zhiqiong's hair slowly stood up.
Ta-ta, tap-ta!
Shi Shuangliu was knocking on the wall, as if calling Xu Zhiqiong.
Xu Zhiqiong twisted the mechanism and opened the dark window. Shi Shuangliu lay on the window and said to Xu Zhiqiong: "Master Denglang, please help me."
Xu Zhiqiong sounded wrong, his voice was still Shi Shuangliu's, but his tone was not as clumsy as before.
"What do you want me to help you with?"
"I want to relieve myself, but I can't untie my clothes. Mr. Deng Lang, please help me."
Xu Zhiqiong smiled and said: "How did you relieve your hands before?"
Shi Shuangliu said: "Master Deng Lang is a good person, but he is unwilling to help the slave family. The slave family can't hold it in any longer!"
As he spoke, a smell of blood drifted in through the dark window.
The lantern man who was guarding her before didn't seem to be stunned by fright.