Chapter 119: A person is among thorns, and they are stabbed even if he does not move
Xu Muchen was brought to the court, and he was a little dazed for a moment. Before he could see anyone clearly, nor could he see clearly in the lobby, two government servants shouted: "Kneel down!" Two water and fire sticks touched the crook of his knees, and Xu Muchen said "poof"
"Boom!" I knelt down in the lobby, knocking my knees so hard that they were numb.
He raised his head with a grin and looked at the main hall of Bazhou Mansion, feeling a little uneasy in his heart. Although he had extensive knowledge, he had never been to the main hall of the government office. The last few times he had been introduced to the government office, that
This is an interrogation, not a trial, so you are only waiting for interrogation in the second hall. Where have you ever seen such a momentum?
In the main hall with double eaves on the top of the mountain, as soon as you enter the lobby, a solemn atmosphere hits you. The plaque of "Upright and Bright" is clearly visible above, and on the screen under the plaque, the surging seawater laps against the rocks, and the waves splash, making it majestic.
fill.
On the three-foot public case in front of the screen are placed the Four Treasures of the Study, the Gael Wood, the Judgment Sign, the Order Signing Sign, the Magistrate's Seal, and a sign tube. There are red signs for executions and several black signs for arrests in the sign tube. Standing on both sides of the desk are
There are tiger head signs with the words "avoid" and "be quiet". Two rows of government servants hold water and fire sticks in their hands, standing solemnly.
This is the so-called official authority. Even if you have done nothing wrong, you must be cautious in this court built by power. Xu Muchen has a ghost in his heart, which naturally makes him even more timid, but he thinks about the actuality of all his actions.
Even if there were no mistakes at all, now it was a public trial, how could the government fabricate evidence and get beaten? So my heart calmed down again.
The people in the government office eagerly watched the case being questioned in court. As usual, Chen Watcher asked about Zhutou Jieku's bribery to Magistrate Liu. Xu Muchen naturally denied it. Chen Watcher sneered: "Xu Muchen, you are the governor of the state government."
Are all my subordinates unacquainted with accounting? I already have the real evidence in my hands, are you afraid that you, a cunning villain, will deny it? Come on, tell me about Feng Youwei, Li Qunzhou, and Lin Zhiyang, our clerks."
Three old officials came to the court to see the Lord. Chen observed: "Please tell me one by one the doubtful points in the account books you have checked."
"I obey." The three old officials held the account books and pointed out the doubtful points in the three accounts one by one. They explained in detail and in simple terms. Even if the people in the government office did not understand the accounts, they could still hear them clearly. The government office suddenly became uproar.
.
Xu Muchen, who was originally confident, heard what he heard like thunder. He could no longer restrain himself and jumped up and shouted loudly: "Observe your lord, the common people have been wronged. This is a frame-up. This is a forged account book. The common people have never recorded such an account before."
"I have never done anything like this before. This is all framed deliberately. If you want to punish the sins of the common people, please show me the account books written by the common people. Only then will the common people be convinced."
Chen Kuan was furious and slapped the case: "You are bold and wanton. The entire Bazhou Prefecture knows that there was a fire in the west wing of the government office and all the account books were burned. You are roaring in the court like this. Are you confident?"
After hearing these heart-wrenching words, Xu Muchen was shocked and angry, so he had to explain angrily: "Sir, the government office of the state has been in disrepair for a long time, either due to natural disasters or man-made disasters, and this is not the first time that flooding has occurred.
I have been here in Bazhou City for twenty years, and I remember that the government office has been through the water six times. I have always done my duty. Could it be that your Majesty suspects that it was the common people who set the fire and destroyed the evidence?"
When Cheng Dexuan heard this, he closed his eyes slightly and thought to himself: "Although this man is cunning and witty, he has never been in any big situation. He panics and throws himself into disarray! You are afraid that the crime of burning the West Wing will fall on you.
How can Chen Kuan not be afraid of fabricating evidence and being accused of destroying the original evidence? Now that you have said this, Chen Kuan is really dozing off with a pillow. The prisoner awaiting trial is worried that he will not be able to block his own confession.
Are you talking about the mouths of officials and envoys?"
After listening to Xu Muchen's words, Chen Kuan suddenly turned from anger to joy, and laughed and said: "When I inquire about the case, I am talking about evidence. There is no evidence. How can I put the leakage of the West Chamber on your head?" "Come on. I just want to ask you, this account book has been reviewed by you personally, and the signature and calligraphy on this account book are your own handwriting, Xu Muchen?"
Xu Muchen hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands and said, "I want to see the account book."
Chen observed with a slight smile in his eyes and said, "Come on, show the account book to the suspect."
The three scribes came forward one after another with the account books and asked Xu Muchen to identify them. They were already familiar with each other, having banquets and wine were commonplace, and they also had prostitutes in the Goulan Courtyard. Now they met in a place like this. Unavoidably a little embarrassed, Xu Muchen had no time to look at their faces. He just stared at the account book. When he saw it, Xu Muchen's eyes immediately straightened: "In the fifth year of Qiande, on the eighth day of June, I will die for ten pieces of Liu Zihan's poplin. One hundred and twelve pieces of silk are folded, thirteen pieces of silk are folded, one hundred and ten pieces are folded, twenty pieces of cloth are folded and thirty pieces are folded; one catty and six ounces of silk is folded and fifteen pieces are folded..."
"This...this..." Xu Muchen was going crazy, twitching all over. He refused to believe everything he saw. He had a photographic memory, and he clearly remembered what was written here. It is clearly "the fifth year of Qiande, on the eighth day of the sixth lunar month, Liu Zihan's death will be one hundred and ten pieces of poplin, and it will be exchanged for one hundred and twelve strings..."
The silk, cloth, and silk items recorded later are also roughly the same. In addition to cash, the salaries distributed to officials by the imperial court also include discounted rice grains and silk cloth. It is a normal social gift. These things cannot be used at home, and most of them have to be liquidated. There is no doubt that all the officials do this. But now all the silk, silk, satin, cloth and other items pawned by the Liu family are left. It was only a fraction, and something was immediately obvious. How could this happen? Where did the missing characters go?
Xu Muchen's eyes widened and he tried hard to close the account book. The three clerks were afraid that he would tear the account book apart in a hurry, so they hurriedly guarded it nervously in case something went wrong. Xu Muchen looked carefully and saw that the paper on the account book was intact and unframed. There were traces of tailoring, but the places where the numbers were originally recorded suddenly became blank.
However, Ding Hao's handwriting is extremely ugly, crooked and crooked, with no lines or vertical strokes. In addition, the characters are sometimes large and sometimes small. Therefore, the missing characters do not look out of the ordinary. This is his usual style.
Secretary Feng showed him the account book with an expressionless face. He took a step back. Lin Zhiyang took another step forward, took the account book and said, "Shopkeeper Xu, please see clearly. The signatures and inscriptions on this account are yours." ?”
Xu Muchen didn't need to look at it to know that it was indeed his signature. His eyes were looking straight at the inaccuracies in the accounts that Lin Zhiyang had specially sketched out, and he was looking at the amount of money paid to Ding Ting recorded in the account books. There was only a fraction left, and I was going crazy.
Lin Zhiyang stepped back, and Li Qunzhou came up to him with a dull face, coughing and saying: "Shopkeeper Xu, look at this book of mine. Those live things are often sold in advance, but..."
Xu Muchen stopped looking at the account books. He suddenly stretched his neck, like a desperate turtle, stretched out his head desperately, stared directly at Li Qunzhou, and hissed: "Li Shuli, you know these accounts are all It's fake, you know it, you all know it! You have seen my account books. Although the account books have been burned, you are all veteran officials who have done accounting for many years. You will not remember a single thing. This is not what was recorded in my account at all. This thing is not what I remembered at all, why is this happening, why is this happening?"
Li Qunzhou was startled and quickly took a few steps back, feeling a little annoyed in his heart: "Prefect Liu is finished. Seeing that you are also finished, now you want to drag me into trouble? Do you remember this account? You
Are all the dirty things he did in Bazhou City, including embezzling the money from the Mo Ding family and bribing state officials, all fake? Let me give you a try? This Chen Kuan is now clearly using every stick as a needle.
If we are going to convict Magistrate Liu, who can help me if I give you a hand?"
When Xu Muchen saw him running away, he rushed towards him and grabbed him, shouting: "Brother Li, what kind of friendship do we have as brothers? We have been friends for so many years, so you have to be loyal. Now that my brother is in trouble, you have to help him."
, give me a hand, my brothers will always be grateful for your kindness. Tell them the truth, tell them... Oops!"
Xu Muchen received two more hard blows on his knees, followed by another blow to the back of his spine, knocking him to his knees on the ground, hunched over and screaming miserably. Li Qunzhou took a few steps back in embarrassment, and shouted loudly on purpose
: "That's unreasonable. I, Lao Li, have been working as a clerk in the yamen all my life. Public service and private life can be confused. If you feel wronged, tell the boss. Lao Li is a man of his own duty. How can I follow the rules?
You are violating the law privately. You have already read the account book, so you can just report it to the Observer. The signatures and signatures on this account book are your own handwriting?"
Such public dating was a taboo in the officialdom. Lin Zhiyang, Feng Youwei, and even some local officials had some sympathy for him, but because of his words about seeking medical treatment in a hurry, they immediately became angry.
Disgusted, no longer showing any affection.
When Xu Muchen saw that people who had always been friendly with him treated him like a plague, he became even more panicked and shouted in embarrassment: "Sir, the common people have been wronged. The common people have been wronged. That account book... the signatures and signatures on that account book are indeed true.
It is written by the villain, but...but that account book has never been reviewed by the villain."
Chen Kuan's face changed and he shouted: "You are a bold suspect and you still want to make excuses. I want to ask you, how many account books have you reviewed and how many account books have you checked?"
"Three volumes."
"In that case, the signatures on these three books are yours?"
"It belongs to Xiaomin, but..."
"Bah!" Chen Kuanzhu was shocked and shouted angrily: "You have only signed three account books, and there are only three account books here. You also said that these three account books were not reviewed by you. It is so confusing and contradictory.
Are you teasing me?"
"No, Xiaomin, Xiaomin..."
"Pa!" Gaiden slapped him again: "As soon as you came to the court, you roared loudly, thinking that you are old, and I am not proud of myself. You are now a suspect, but you don't kneel before the official, and you don't answer questions.
, are you contemptuous of the court? "
"My lord has misunderstood, Xiaomin..."
"Pa!" The gavel still made a crisp sound. Cheng Yasi was sitting close to him, and his ears were itching after being slapped three times. He couldn't help but frown and pick his ears.
"You talk sophistry, roar in court, don't kneel before officials, answer questions without answering questions, and cling to public office in the lobby. You are clearly a cunning citizen who doesn't abide by his duties!"
"Xiaomin..."
"Bang!" As soon as the gavel sounded, Chen Zhuan retracted his numb right hand, pulled out a red lottery from the lottery tube, and threw it to the ground with a "dang" sound: "Come on, slap your mouth ten times, as a warning to others."
!”
Four government officials rushed over, two held Xu Muchen's shoulders, and the other two each held a board with a palm and mouth. They threw away their arms and opened their bows left and right. After three boards fell, Xu Muchen's cheeks were blue and his mouth was bleeding. When he reached the seventh board, he was slapped backwards.
Two molars were punched out.
After slapping his mouth, the officer threw Xu Muchen to the ground and returned to the train. With a chilling sneer on his lips, Chen Kuan said solemnly: "Xu Muchen, you have already seen the account books, do you admit your guilt?"
Xu Muchen lay there, salivating at the corners of his mouth, and slurring his words: "Xiaomin... was wronged. There is something strange about this account book. Xiaomin... wants to confront Ding Hao..."
"Okay, come on, Xuan Dinghao comes to the hall!" Chen Kuanzhen calmed down and sat back on the chair upright. He glanced at Cheng Yasi who was sitting at the bottom with a proud look. Cheng Dexuan smiled softly, and Yun Danfeng
Qing and Chen observed that they couldn't help but feel bored.
Ding Hao walked into the hall, and Xu Muchen was lying there, with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, staring at him fiercely with a snake-like gaze. If he hadn't been beaten by Chen Kuan and dared not be so bold anymore, he would have pounced on and bit off a piece of Ding Hao's flesh.
Just willing.
As soon as Ding Hao came to the hall, someone called out to his eldest brother. The voice sounded familiar to him. Ding Hao took a chance and looked back, but it was Scimitar Xiaoliu, Tieniu and Da Tou who were crowded in the crowd and waved their arms to him in encouragement. Ding Hao couldn't help but
He smiled. There were still several servants from Ding Mansion standing in the crowd. Each of these servants had a fast horse tied to the horse post outside the government office. The progress of the case should be reported back to the government at any time.
"Common man Ding Hao, I've seen Mr. Observation!" Ding Hao stepped forward and lifted his robe to bow. Chen Observation already knew from County Lieutenant Zhao that the turnaround of the case was all thanks to this man, so the cruel official's face dropped and he said in a pleasant tone.
: "Ding Hao, you don't need to be polite. You are seconded by me to handle the accounts. You are half a yamen person. Stand aside and reply."
Chen Zhunzhen said a word and took the first credit on himself. Ding Hao stopped when he heard this, bowed and said: "Thank you, sir." Then he stood aside politely.
Chen Zhuan asked: "Ding Hao, did you organize this account book yourself? But Xu Muchen made the signatures with his own hands. Please explain it in detail in this courtroom."
"Yes, the grassroots were ordered by the Observer to sort out the account books in the government office. It took half a month to organize the accounts with large amounts into books, and then invited Shopkeeper Xu to come to the office to review them. Shopkeeper Xu's three
Du went to the Yamen, and all three account books were signed and stamped by him. After the account books were cleared, it was the Orchid Festival. The people sent the account books to Zhaoxian Lieutenant for review.
They asked for a detailed investigation and the account books were collected into the government treasury. All this was known to the two officials sent by the government to monitor the common people sorting out the account books."
"Okay!" Chen Zhu observed that he was speaking very enthusiastically, and his expression became gentler: "Come forward and take a look at these three books of account, you have compiled them yourself."
"Yes!" Ding Hao stepped forward, looked at the three account books in the hands of Feng Youwei and the other three, and handed over to Chen Kuan and said: "Sir, these three account books were compiled by Xiaomin himself."
Chen Observation turned his head slightly and twisted his beard and said: "The suspect Xu Muchen refuses to plead guilty and accuses you of forging evidence. What do you have to say?"
Ding Hao bowed and said: "Sir, the common people are the inspectors of the Ding Mansion. They are just helping to clean up the accounts under the orders of the government. This case involves interests and has nothing to do with the common people. How can the common people have any reason to test the law? This is the first one. All the accounts
, although it was handled by Cao Min, every page, every line, and every word was seen by Xu Muchen with his own eyes and signed by him. Today he recanted his confession in court and denied it, and Xiao Min had nothing to say. Xiao Min had nothing to say.
The people just want to ask him, if his signature and fingerprints cannot be used as evidence, then... what else can be used as evidence?"
Xu Muchen shouted: "No, there is a ghost in here, there must be a ghost in here! Yes, I remembered, he can do witchcraft, he can do magic. I have heard people say that he has encountered monsters.
Know the magic."
Chen Kuan, who was in the hall, slapped the gavel and shouted: "Nonsense, this is the main hall of Bazhou, a place with strict laws and a place where righteousness gathers. What kind of evil things can enter the gate of the government office? Without being interrogated by this official,
You suspect, you dare to interrupt again, you really don’t know the lesson, come on, give me another twenty slaps." He stretched out his hand to pick the red sign.
"Sir, wait a moment." Ding Hao saluted with a smile: "Sir, please calm down. This account book was signed and sealed by Xu Muchen. It is written in black and white and cannot be faked. If the punishment is severe, some people may accuse you of using torture to extract confessions. Why not let him be convinced.
?" He turned to Xu Muchen and said: "Shopkeeper Xu, you said it was a magic spell? Then do you want to get a pot of black dog blood to break my evil spell?"
Chen Kuan listened to Xu Muchen muttering about some evil magic. He was really afraid that the account was really filled with evil magic. Once it was broken, he would be blinded again. Hearing Ding Hao's words so confidently, he felt relieved and hurriedly said: "Here comes someone."
, I’m going to look for a black dog. Although I don’t believe these nonsense, I still want to convince the people of Bazhou. Hmm… I remember, there seems to be one in this Yamen?”
The clerk Lin Zhiyang said with a bitter face: "Sir, there is a black dog in the yamen, and it was raised by a villain."
Chen Kuan said happily: "If you raise it well, you can take people to kill the dog and bring out its blood in a basin."
Secretary Lin said with both laughter and laughter: "No, the villain is saying... old man... villain... obey your orders!"
Lin Zhiyang was dejected and took a knife to catch the black dog. To show his fairness, he killed it in front of the people in front of the government office. He brought the blood up in a wooden basin and smeared the dog's blood on the account books. All the people
They all looked at it with wide eyes. Those officials who were scholars believed in the Confucian teaching of "The Master does not speak strange words, uses strange powers, and confuses the gods." They naturally sat upright, without squinting, and made a gesture of disdain, but that
The corners of the eyes are also tilted at an angle of 45 degrees, which looks very strange.
At that time, not only the common people, but also most people in the world believed in the existence of ghosts and gods. Therefore, they also believed that black dog blood could break all evil spells. But now that the black dog blood has been applied, the account books are completely unchanged. Obviously, they have not been used.
The officials who had experienced sorcery secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but the people in the hall were disappointed. This ending was too unspectacular.
Xu Muchen really couldn't figure out how the account books could become like this. He could only think about it from the perspective of magic. Now the account books were no different. The last glimmer of hope was shattered. His spirit collapsed immediately and they were piled on the ground.
Chen Kuanzhan sneered at Xu Muchen: "Xu Muchen, what else do you have to say now? The evidence is conclusive, and you still want to deny it, and you have to force me to impose punishment?"
Xu Muchen's face turned pale, and he said incoherently: "This is a frame-up... There is something weird in it. It was the deposit of the old man's painting, but the account... is really not the account that the old man has seen. There is something weird in it. It's really
Something weird..."
Cheng Dexuan sat there, looking at everything in front of him coldly, and finally focused his eyes on Ding Hao, looking at him with great interest. Master Fu Yin asked him to act according to the situation, delaying Chen's observation, but if the other party had real evidence,
He won't stand in the way. Mr. Fu Yin is now making a lot of connections and establishing popularity. How can he lose a big thing for a small thing?
Chen Kuan now has strong evidence, proving that Xu Muchen not only bribed the prefect, but also made false accounts to deceive the family owner, deceived the superiors and subordinates to construct his own circle of influence, and it was written clearly in black and white. It was impossible for him to retract his confession.
Cheng Dexuan, a small character who is not even a chess piece, would not feel regretful if he gave up on him.
He could feel that all the twists and turns were due to the young man named Ding Hao in front of him. Cheng Dexuan looked at his eyes, and some appreciation flowed in them.
Xu Muchen was talking dreamily, and when he saw Ding Hao with his straight eyes, he suddenly pounced on him like a cat seeing a mouse, rushed over and grabbed him by the collar, spraying blood and foam from his mouth and roared: "You black-hearted thief"
, it was you who harmed me, it was you who harmed me! What tricks did you, a little thief, use to frame me? Tell me, tell me, how could that word disappear? How could it disappear..."
Ding Hao did not resist, he opened his hands and said innocently: "What Shopkeeper Xu said is wrong. How can I, a little thief, have the ability to harm an old thief like you?"
When the government officials saw Xu Muchen jumping up to arrest the witness, they were afraid that the master would blame them for not being able to guard him well, so they immediately rushed forward, dragged Xu Muchen back and pushed him to the ground, crossing fire and water sticks on his neck so that he could no longer move.
Ding Hao straightened his messed up clothes, looked at Xu Muchen's unwilling eyes, smiled helplessly, and said in his heart: "Speaking of which, it's really not me who harmed you, an old thief, it was just a few...
It's just a squid. The black heart of the squid can cure the black heart of an old thief like you..."