In the Qing Dynasty, there was a Xiucai surnamed Chen, who had a son named Chen Sheng when he was young. Chen Sheng was gifted and intelligent, loved to read, and was only eighteen years old when he was admitted to the Jinshi, and was appointed by the emperor as a county commander after the palace examination. Chen Sheng's father was worried that he was too young to distinguish between right and wrong, so he decided to go with him. When handling documents and case files, Chen Sheng's father did it himself, and Chen Sheng only had to go to court to perform his duties. Chen Sheng's father was extremely resourceful, and in his spare time, he often warned his son about right and wrong and shared with him the way to govern. Less than a year after taking office, Chen Sheng's reputation spread rapidly, and the people all admired him. Among the ** below the governor, there are few such demeanors, and no one is bullied because of his youth.
One day, Chen Sheng left the city on business, and when he passed by the Guanyin Temple on the outskirts of the city, he encountered a grand funeral. There are hundreds of hearses, accompanied by various musical instruments and flags. According to tradition, when encountering a funeral, you need to avoid it first and wait for the funeral procession to pass before moving forward. Therefore, the county officials and their entourage temporarily stayed on the side of the road, waiting for the funeral procession to pass by.
The hearse drove by, followed by the filial piety chariot, and the cry of a woman, apparently having just lost her husband, could be heard in the car. Suddenly, a southerly wind lifted the curtain of the car, revealing the woman's clothing. She wore a bright red dress that contrasted sharply with the mourning dress on her body. The magistrate was puzzled by this, so he asked his men to inquire about the situation.
The message was returned: "The deceased was a prisoner and his wife was in the car. The county magistrate was even more suspicious of this, feeling that there must be something unknown behind the matter. He ordered a stop and told him to wait for further investigation at the temple, but did not disclose why.
Most of the people who were buried were local gentlemen and wealthy businessmen, and they were very surprised to hear that the county magistrate wanted to stop the car. Some distinguished elders came to **, hoping that the county officials would let them go. The county magistrate asked, "Since you are close to the deceased, why don't you investigate the truth?"Under pressure from everyone, the county magistrate finally decided to conduct a further investigation. Some private commentators say, "Let him test first, and if he can't prove it, then talk about it later, and see how he responds." The magistrate then consulted with his father.
When Father Chen heard this, he pondered for a moment and said, "I'm very happy that you can do this." But these people are not ordinary people, and we need hard evidence. The county magistrate responded, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it." Chen's father warned him: "This matter concerns the women of the family, so you must be careful and not be easily touched." The magistrate was deeply instructed and said that he would follow it carefully.
The next day, the county magistrate pretended to be sick and did not go to the temple to check. When the local gentry heard about this, they laughed and said that the county magistrate had behaved like a child and had delayed the hearse for no reason, but they had made excuses not to come to verify. They jointly wrote an official letter urging the county magistrate to come and check it out as soon as possible. When the county magistrate got the letter, he just chuckled, did not respond, and discarded it. In the days that followed, this situation recurred, and despite repeated urgings, the county magistrate's attitude remained indifferent. Seeing this, the staff of the county ** were at a loss, and the family members of the hearse were even more angry.
The local gentry felt that the matter had dragged on for too long, so they wrote to the prefect detailing the misdeeds of the magistrate. Although the prefect did not want to be too harsh on the county magistrate, he still wrote a letter to him, hoping that he would admit his mistake to everyone. However, the county magistrate did not take responsibility and wrote back: This is not my intention, just unwell;And human lives are at stake, so it's okay to delay the funeral a little. I would like to give me ten days to check it out when I get better;If I can't find the problem in the end, I'm willing to admit my mistake. When the prefect saw this frank reply, he understood the county magistrate's difficulties and had no choice but to agree to him.
At the same time, the elders of the Chen family conducted a multi-day investigation in the form of divination, but there was no result. One day, when he came to the countryside, it was getting late, and there was nowhere to live, so he could only live in a simple hut in the field for the night. Suddenly, a farmer walked in. The elders of the Chen family hurriedly got up and saluted, fabricating that they were now living by divination because of the failure of their business, and because it was getting late, they had no choice but to come here, hoping to spend the night here. The farmer believed it and warmly invited him to stay.
When the two were chatting, Chen's father had a plan, and cleverly mentioned in his words: "This year's crops have grown so luxuriantly, and it is really fortunate that there is a reasonable parent official, which has saved the people from many troubles." The man sighed deeply and said, "Our county has been at the mercy of many mean officials in recent years, and now although the county is young, it is really difficult to be able to sympathize with the people. It was only heard that he might not be able to stay in office for long, and there was a fear that his successor would not be able to emulate his good governance. Father Chen was overjoyed when he heard this, so he asked why. The man replied, "Listening to your accent, it seems to be similar to that of the county honor, I dare not say anything." Father Chen waved his hand and smiled: "I am far from him, it is rare to have the opportunity to see him in this life, are you afraid that I will leak the secret?"”
The man said slowly, "You and I are ordinary people, so it should be no problem to tell you;."The landlord I rented was a student of Guozijian and had been in good health, but recently he died suddenlyI went to mourn and ask about the cause of death, but the family said they didn't know, only a little scholar knew;He told me privately that it turned out that the wife of the student was having an affair with his brother-in-law and was planning to marry her husbandI thought that a good thing was about to succeed, but I didn't expect to be stopped by the county during the funeral, leaving the body waiting for the autopsy;And the squire who was mourned was very rich, and most of them were his clansmen, and because they coveted his family property, they wrote urgently to request the burial as soon as possible, but the county lord was in trouble, and it was a matter of time before he was dismissed from office. When Father Chen heard this, he secretly rejoiced in his heart, and said: "I'm afraid that the county will not be able to find a solution, and it will be the misfortune of the people at that time." The man also said with emotion: "The county is probably afraid of the squire's **, so he didn't dare to open the coffin for an autopsy;."If the coffin can be broken and the body can be found out alone, maybe the matter will be clear?He saw that Chen's father was suspicious, so he whispered a few words, Chen's father nodded yes, and returned to the yamen the next day.
In order to find out the truth, the Chen family went out all night to investigate the case, while the county respected it all the time and forgot to sleep and eat. When the Chen family came back, the county respected him and saw that he was tired, so he opened his mouth to reproach: "Idiot, you have to be an excellent **, why do you have to work so hard?."So, the Chen family told the county the truth they had investigated. Under the guidance of his father, at noon the next day, the county took the forensic doctor to the temple for an autopsy. Knowing that the county respected the county came to conduct an autopsy, all the squires rushed one after another, but they did not greet them with smiling faces. Seeing this, the county respected and said with a smile: "I am solving the problem for you, but you are anxious to divide the family property, right?"These words made everyone's faces change suddenly.
After the county lord sat down, he ordered the coffin to be opened. The corpse smelled of decay, and only forensic doctors were allowed to approach it. The county magistrate instructed the forensic doctor to focus on examining the lower half of the body, and the forensic doctor conducted a detailed examination according to the procedure, and soon found a five-inch-long silver needle, on which there were still traces of blood, hidden in the lower vulva.
When everyone saw this, they were all shocked, and relatives and friends bowed their heads one after another, saying that they had been wronged. The county lord smiled: "You were angry first and then bowed your head and admitted your mistakes, you are so ignorant, and now I have found it." He then asked, "The cousin of the Tai student is in **?."As far as everyone's eyes could see, they saw that the cousin was pale and didn't say a word, and everyone suddenly realized.
The county ordered the servants to arrest him and send him to prison, and then arranged for the hearse to leave the temple for funeral. After returning to the county office, he signed a swift summons to arrest the scholar and the wife of the student for interrogation. The county honored the scholar in court: "Tell me everything you know, so that you will not be severely tortured." Because he was afraid of punishment, the scholar confessed the whole case.
The prisoner's wife and her cousin had already had an illicit relationship in private, and the scholar was originally a close confidant of the cousin, so in order to facilitate the fornication between the two, the cousin introduced the scholar to the prisoner. Whenever the prisoner was not at home, the scholar would notify his cousin to come, and this collusion had been going on for a long time. One day, the prisoner's wife conspires with her cousin to seize the family property and spend the rest of her life together. She said to her cousin, "If you want to be long, you have to give up his life." The cousin said, "In this way, others will definitely suspect us." The wife said, "We need to find a cunning way;Poison is not feasible, and neither is it possible to kill. The cousin said, "I have an idea." The two of them muttered in a low voice, the plan had been made. Soon after, the prisoner came home drunk, and his wife ordered the scholar to ** him, and then pricked his genitals with a needle, going deep into the ruthless. The prisoner was too drunk to support him, so he shouted loudly and eventually died. Seeing that he was out of breath, the scholar and his wife untied him, helped him to the bed, and deceived everyone with a hypocritical illness.
When the scholar confessed everything, the prisoner's wife and cousin realized that their justifications were useless, and confessed one after another. The county leader laughed and ordered his wife's ** to be ripped off, and she is still wearing a red dress. When all the squires saw this scene, they were all filled with righteous indignation. The county lord reprimanded angrily: "Since you have the intention of harming your husband, why are you afraid of retribution in the future?"Why do you always wear this red dress all the time?After that, he ordered someone to be flogged and then handcuffed and sent to prison.
The case was reported in detail and on the spot, and the higher-level leaders all praised it. The county said with emotion: "Although I am a **, it is really unfilial to let the hard work of the old father." So, on the pretext of serving his parents, he said goodbye to his official position and returned home. 100 help plan