Criminal investigation in ancient times

The two put on their clothes and hurriedly got up to light the candles, only to find that the sound was gone...

"Dong dong dong..." There was a rapid knock on the door.

Zhang Rui: "Come in."

Duan Xiaobai and Zhan Qing walked in and said, "My lord, did you hear that voice just now?"

The two nodded and said, "You heard that too?"

Zhan Qing: "It sounds like a woman crying from the backyard."

Zhang Rui: "The two of you go down and check to see if someone is causing trouble." The two of them clasped their fists together and left the room.

Zhou Yin said: "Do you suspect that someone is playing tricks?"

Zhang Rui nodded: "I don't believe in ghosts. Unless someone doesn't want this store to do business."

Zhou Yin: "How do you know it's man-made?"

Zhang Rui smiled and said, "We were just about to fall asleep when we heard the crying sound, why did it stop when we got up?"

Zhou Yin thought for a while and said, "Candles?"

Zhang Ruidao: "That's right, the candlelight must have made that person vigilant, let's see if the two of them can find any clues."

After a while, Zhan Qing and Duan Xiaobai ran up and said, "My lord, there is no one behind, there is only one woodshed, and there is no one in that woodshed, as well as our horses and the carriage that is parked, we all search for them." There's no one in sight."

Zhang Rui: "What about other places? Didn't find any suspicious traces?"

Both of them shook their heads.Zhang Ruidao: "Don't worry, we still have to stay for one more night. Tomorrow night, let's sit on the sidelines and see what's going on!"

The next morning, several people walked down the stairs with blue eyes. Qing Luo and He Xiangru lived in the same room, and Lao Han led Huzi to live together. When the two children met, they all looked terrified and said: "Yesterday Did you hear anything tonight?!"

Huzi said: "I heard someone crying, it was so scary!"

Qing Luo nodded straight like a chicken pecking at rice: "That's right, that's right! I was so scared that I didn't sleep all night."

Seeing that the two children were a little frightened, Zhang Rui called the waiter who was cleaning the lobby and said, "Is there anything behind you?"

Xiao Eryi's face changed when he heard that, the rag in his hand dropped on the ground, he bent down to pick it up hastily and said, "Returning to the guest officer... I don't know... I don't know."

Zhang Rui squinted his eyes and touched his earlobe, just as he was about to call the shopkeeper to inquire, when suddenly several yamen servants came to the door.

The yamen servant came in and asked, "Which one is the shopkeeper of this inn?"

Xiaoer said: "Report to the official, the shopkeeper has gone out and has not come back." Just as he was speaking, the shopkeeper walked in from the door to see the people in the room and said: "The young one is the shopkeeper of this inn. I don't know how many officials are there. What are you looking for?"

The yamen servant said: "Did two merchants leave your inn yesterday?"

The shopkeeper thought for a while and nodded, "There are two merchants, but they both checked out and left yesterday."

The yamen servant said: "Come with us to the yamen!" After speaking, he took the shopkeeper and Xiao Er and left together.Only Zhang Rui and his group of hotel guests were left looking at each other.

Zhou Yin said: "Let's go to the yamen together to have a look, maybe something happened."

Zhang Rui nodded, and several people followed the officials to the yamen. Many people had already gathered outside the gate. Zhan Qing stepped forward to inquire and said: "It is said that two passing businessmen died, and their deaths were miserable...the head was slapped Cut it off." He stretched out his hand and gestured.

Zhang Rui and Zhou Yin exclaimed: "The head was cut off?!" Zhan Qing nodded.

Squeezing into the crowd and looking inside, sure enough, there were two corpses on the lobby floor, the corpses were covered with a white cloth and their faces could not be seen clearly.But there was a mass of blood on the head, and it looked like he had been beheaded.Why did the murderer behead the two of them?Is it murder for money, revenge, or some ulterior secret!

The shopkeeper of the inn and Xiao Er knelt in the lobby, both of them were pale and trembling.After a while Xu Chang went to the hall, patted the gavel and said: "The hall is the shopkeeper of Kelaiju?!"

The shopkeeper hastily kowtowed and said, "It's the little one."

Xu Chang: "These two corpses under the hall are the same people who left at your inn yesterday?"

The yamen servant next to him came over and lifted the white cloth. The shopkeeper turned his head stiffly and took a look, only to see that the heads of the two were chopped off and placed on the necks, their faces covered with blood.With a scream, his stomach turned up, and he covered his mouth and said, "Yes, yes... those two people from yesterday, how did these two people become like this!?"

Xiao Er also looked at it, but he was too timid, and probably passed out from fright before he could see clearly.

Xu Chang said: "These two people were killed outside your inn yesterday, don't you have any clues?"

The shopkeeper kowtowed and said: "I really don't know why these two people died, it has nothing to do with me!"

Xu Chang: "You said that it has nothing to do with you. How did I hear that these two people refused to stay in your store because of strange noises in your store, and they died after leaving. Did you send someone to kill the two people? You really brought them here! "

The shopkeeper yelled: "My lord, you are wronged! The little one has no guts to kill people! These two people really thought there was a strange noise in my shop and left at night, but the little one didn't hurt them!"

Zhang Rui frowned and looked at the people in the hall, Zhou Yin said, "What do you think of these two people?"

Zhang Rui: "You look anxiously at the shopkeeper's face, trembling, sincere words, the murderer is not the shopkeeper's. This little girl is a little suspicious but there is no time to commit the crime. The murderer must be someone else. Let's see how the magistrate will interrogate him."

Xu Chang: "Then tell me, why did these two people die on the way out of your inn? Their belongings were also confiscated. You must have made a strange noise in the inn to force them away after seeing Cai Qiyi." , when the two left your inn and walked out of the city, you murdered the two of them! Is what I said right?"

The shopkeeper was so frightened that he wept bitterly and kowtowed, "My lord, you are wronged, my lord...the noise in the inn has been going on for several months, and it wasn't a small thing that made it on purpose. , who would do such a self-defeating thing!"

The onlookers whispered to each other, some said that the shopkeeper's heart was too dark, and some said that the shopkeeper was wronged.

Xu Chang's complexion turned dark, and he didn't want to hear his sophistry anymore: "Come here, give him fifty slaps! It depends on whether you recruit or not!"

Zhang Rui frowned. He didn't ask anything, and started playing the board?Besides, there was no witness and no physical evidence, how did he know that the murderer was the shopkeeper?

Seeing the shopkeeper being put on a stool and beaten with a board, the shopkeeper was so frightened that he kowtowed and shouted for injustice.

Zhang Rui said angrily: "Wait a minute!"

The yamen servant stopped the stick in his hand and watched Zhang Rui walk out from the crowd.

Xu Chang said: "Who is outside the hall!"

Zhang went up to the hall, arched his hands and said, "I've seen Mr. Zhifu."

Didn't Xu Chang see that he was only a half-grown child, and he dared to trespass in the courtroom to despise his official prestige and said: "Why did you break into the courtroom! If you can't tell, I will punish you with [-] boards, are you convinced?"

Zhang Ruidao: "My lord, I am a traveler in the past. I happened to sleep in the guest house yesterday. I have seen the two people who died. I don't know when they died."

Wu Zuo next to him said: "Judging from the wounds of the deceased, it is true that Xu Shi died."

Zhang Rui nodded: "The two left the inn before they died. It is unknown where they went and who they met during the two hours before they died. But it is certain that this guest came to live here. The shopkeeper should have an alibi."

After being reminded by Zhang Rui, the shopkeeper remembered that he went to gamble with some old friends yesterday evening, and everyone in the casino had seen him! "My lord! Xu Shi is still in the casino and has not come out. Everyone in the casino can testify to the young one. Please learn from me!"

Xu Chang's face became more and more ugly, he thought that the case could be settled hastily, who would have thought that Cheng Yaojin would be killed on the way, this kid would not only demolish himself, but also boldly help the murderer get rid of the charges.Seeing that the end-of-year assessment is coming soon, it will depend on this time whether I can be promoted smoothly next year.If this murder case cannot be solved, it will have an impact on his official career.

Xu Chang argued strongly: "You bastard is full of nonsense, maybe you want to get rid of his crimes!"

Zhang Rui smiled and said: "My lord, why did you say that? I'm just discussing the matter as it stands. This shopkeeper is not suspected of committing a crime. My lord doesn't care about indiscriminate crimes, and he beats him when he comes up. In case the shopkeeper who came to live in this guest can't stand it." Hold on, torture is a trick, is it possible that the case can be closed and the real murderer is allowed to go unpunished?"

Zhang Rui's words hit Xu Chang's heart, and he suddenly became angry from embarrassment.

"Presumptuous! Presumptuous! I think you dare to disturb the court at such a young age. You have a mouthful of thirty!" He said and threw the token from the table.

Two yamen servants came forward and held Zhang Rui's shoulders.The executioner was a stout man, his slap was like a cattail leaf fan, if he had been slapped thirty times, he would knock out all his teeth and be speechless!

"I see who dares to be presumptuous!" Seeing that Zhang Rui was being bullied, Zhou Yin immediately pushed away the people in front of him and walked in.

Xu Chang fixed his eyes, and saw a daring person broke into the court. "Are the two of you planning to quarrel in court today?! Come on, take them down for me!"

Zhan Qing and Duan Xiaobai immediately jumped out from the crowd and stood in front of them, kicking out all the yamen servants who were close to them.

Seeing this situation, Xu Chang immediately broke out in cold sweat. These two...could they be people from the Jianghu?But it has long been an unwritten rule for people in Jianghu not to care about official affairs. Could it be related to this shopkeeper?

Zhou Yin looked at Xu Chang and said with a sneer, "The little magistrate dares to offend others."

When Xu Chang heard this, his legs felt a little weak. After thinking about it, he never thought that any big shot would come to Duanzhou!Although I am only a fifth-rank magistrate, I am considered a great official in Duanzhou. Other officials have to bow their heads and leave when they see me. Even the prefect of Linzhou only wants to have a good relationship with me, and it will never be like this Dismantled.

Xu Chang: "I don't know who these people are, but I dare to speak wild words! But if you dare to make a scene in court today, I will definitely not let you go, go and take them down!"

More than a dozen yamen servants surrounded the people, and the people outside were discussing, many said: "These people are really daring, they dare to break into the court."

Someone else said: "What do you know? Did you see those two sword-holding men? These two must be martial arts heroes. They came out to stop them because they were not used to the magistrate's judgment." The people around him hurriedly pulled him He said: "The misfortune comes from your mouth, you dare to talk about the magistrate's trial, you will die!"

The man hurriedly looked around, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he patted his chest and said: "I'm careless, you can eat indiscriminately, but you can't talk indiscriminately, if someone hears this, it will be as light as a board, or as serious... Maybe I don’t know what it is.”

Everyone shook their heads and said, "I'm afraid these people are more ill-fortune than good luck."

After a fight, the yamen servants fell down and all lay on the ground crying, while the others were too frightened to stand aside and dare not move forward.

Xu Chang swallowed his saliva and said, "You...what exactly do you want to do?"

Zhang Ruidao: "What are you doing? My officer will teach you what trial is!" He walked to the top, pushed Xu Chang aside and sat down with a pat on the gavel, and said: "Wake up this little boy."

Duan Xiaobai stepped forward, among those who grabbed Xiao Er, Xiao Er woke up after a while, looked up at the chaotic courtroom, remembered the two dead men he saw just now, knelt down and kowtowed in fright: " People are not killed by small people, please learn from adults."

Zhang Rui said: "Xiaoer, where were you at Xushi yesterday?"

Xiaoer said: "Yesterday at Xushi, the little one was in the inn and never went out. The chef in the backyard can testify to the little one."

Zhang Rui nodded and said to Xu Chang who was next to him: "The shopkeeper also has alibi, which shows that these two people have nothing to do with this murder case at all. Why don't you even try the trial and use the torture directly."

Xu Chang's face flushed with embarrassment, and he said awkwardly: "What are the identities of you two..."

Zhou Yin walked over and said: "What identity? I am the twelfth prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he is the inspector and imperial envoy of the fourth rank. You say that the two of us can't try this case!"

When Xu Chang heard the "plop", he knelt down and hurriedly kowtowed: "I don't know if it is two adults who have come here. It is a crime to offend the two adults. I beg you to let the younger one go!" At this moment, Zhang Rui only had one sentence in his heart: "Don't do it!" If you die, you will not die."

Xu Chang kowtowed and begged for forgiveness, but he wondered why these two Buddhas suddenly came to Duanzhou?Think about it carefully, news came from Kyoto some time ago that they sent people to Jiangzhou. Could it be these two people?The two came from Tongzhou and happened to pass by Duanzhou?The more I think about it, the more I feel that this is the case. I am really blind, and I wish I could slap myself twice!You are fine on weekdays, why did you encounter such a thing today!To be caught by someone with such a small braid, and it happened to be caught by the two of them, if this spread to the top, not to mention promotion, whether they can be demoted or not, I really want to cry without tears.

Zhang Ruidao: "You review the case so hastily today. I heard on the road that Duanzhou thieves would be sentenced to beheading. I will write a note on this matter and send it back to Kyoto."

Xuchang suddenly wilted like a frost-beaten eggplant. It took three years to make some political achievements in Duanzhou, but it would be planted in the hands of a half-grown child, who is still a senior official than himself .Xu Chang was dissatisfied!His achievements in governing Duanzhou are obvious to all. Now how can he erase all his books just because of him? !No, absolutely not.

"My lord...although I am strict, there is no wrongdoing."

Zhang Rui smiled slightly and said: "There is no grievance, so it is not a matter of grievance to drag people into the yamen for no reason to beat [-] boards?!"

Xu Chang didn't say a word, although he said that he was wrong, but most of the state government's trials are like this, the most suspected person will be punished first, if the case is recruited, the case will be closed, if not, the investigation will continue.

"Your Excellency may have misunderstood. Although the official said that he was punished, he did not force him to confess. If he did not kill him, then the official will continue to investigate."

Seeing that he was still stubborn, Zhang Rui said angrily, "You beat him up indiscriminately. Do you have any witnesses, but have you checked the time when the case happened? You didn't do anything and decided he was the murderer. I But I don’t know that Mr. Xu is so clever! Thinking of resolving this case hastily, now I still want to confuse this matter, I tell you, if you can’t find the real culprit who killed these two people, every time you beat an innocent person, you will be punished. The officials will call back for them!"

Xu Chang's head exploded with a "boom", it's over, it's over, this time I completely pissed him off!It is also to blame that he has been going smoothly in the past few years. His colleagues fawn on him when they see him, and his subordinates are even more cautious when they see him. As a result, he has almost forgotten how to get along with people who are higher than himself in his current appearance.

Zhou Yin snorted: "You are disrespectful to the lord, this alone is enough for this king to cut your official position."

There is also a big Buddha here, Xu Chang hastily kowtowed to Zhou Yin to apologize.

"My lords, it's the lower officials who are wrong now. Please give the lower officials a chance to take the blame and make meritorious deeds. I will definitely investigate this case to the bottom and never wrong a good person."

Zhang Rui got up and looked at his remorseful expression, and said: "I will give you another chance, if this case is not handled well, then you, the prefect of Duanzhou, will come to an end."

Xu Chang hastily thanked him, "Thank you sir, thank you lord, I will definitely not disgrace my life."

Zhang Rui: "Send someone to the scene of the murder immediately to see if there are any clues!"

Xu Chang said: "Obey!" As he spoke, he dispatched his men to rush to the scene.Looking back at the two of them, they felt chills in their hearts. Now they can only make up for it by investigating this case...