Chapter 408: Mystery of murdering husband (Part 2)
"Put a few wet towels on the rack so the master can use them to wipe his sweat later."
"Put two cups of iced sour plum juice on the desk."
"Remember to freeze some watermelons in the well. Our master likes them best."
There was still some time before the hour of Wei, but the yamen runners had already started to get busy in the lobby. They were all sweating profusely, but their faces showed their relief at having survived the disaster.
Instead, there were a few shirtless, staggering idlers in the side hall, their faces as black as the ash at the bottom of a pot.
Seeing that everything outside was cleaned up, the leading yamen runner went to the side hall, knocked on the wall with a ruler, and shouted in a loud voice: "Brothers, wake up, put on your clothes and come out to stand guard!"
"I understand, Li Tou'er."
"It's not time yet, why are you acting like you're urging me to die?"
"This damn God, is he really going to make me die of heat?"
There was a sudden murmur of complaints in the side hall. The "idlers" cursed and put on their black robes and square towels reluctantly, then fetched the water and fire sticks from under the wall and walked out of the side hall breathing heavily.
It turns out that these were the unlucky guys on duty today. No wonder they were so relaxed just now and no one envied them.
You have to know that the black robes of the yamen runners are made of coarse cloth, which is much more stuffy than the silk official uniforms. Especially when they stand together, they may not be able to move for an hour or so. The feeling is really excruciating.
When they got to the lobby, Li, the team leader, urged again, "There's a bucket of well water at the door. Go wash your faces and wake up. Be alert when you go to the hall. If anyone dares to embarrass himself in front of me, don't blame me for being merciless!"
The yamen runners responded weakly, placed their water and fire sticks on the sign of silence, rolled up their sleeves and went outside.
However, they were still quite a distance away from the bucket of well water when the two yamen runners in front suddenly stopped, their four eyes shining brightly. How could they show any sign of dejection?
It turned out that when the lobby was being arranged just now, Xu was taken outside again. She was sweating profusely under the scorching sun. Her emerald green skirt was already mostly soaked through. It was tight and wrinkled, showing off the enchanting curves unique to young women.
Moreover, her sleeve was half torn off, revealing an arm as white as porcelain. It was like a glimpse of the whole situation, or a single leaf telling the coming of autumn. It made people imagine more and more, and they imagined the spring scenery under her skirt to be charming and colorful in all kinds of ways.
In this case, what use is there for well water?
The yamen runners were already in high spirits, and began to discuss with each other:
"How could such a pretty young woman murder her husband?"
"Nonsense! How many ugly women are there who murder their husbands these days?"
"Brothers, if the master wants to torture me later, I must do it first. I have never had such a fair and tender woman before..."
"Get out of the way! It's decided that I will be the one supervising the execution today..."
While they were talking and making a fuss, they looked at Xu indecently for hundreds of times. Only then, at the urging of Li Bantou, did they reluctantly return to the lobby.
Because of this delay, Sun Shaozong walked out from the back hall almost as soon as he had taken his place. He sat down behind the case first, and waited for Qiu Yunfei and Sun Chengye to come to the left and right seats with their writing brushes, inkstones, and paper. Then he slammed the gavel and shouted, "Come here, bring the plaintiff and the defendant to the court!"
"Mighty~"
The yamen runners, who had looked so filthy just now, immediately started shouting with righteous indignation.
Amid the sound that sounded like the beats of gongs and drums, seven or eight people came rushing in from outside. There were both men and women, old and young. All of them looked indignant. It was obvious that they were Song Changgeng's uncle and his family.
Before these people could kneel down in a mess, two yamen runners brought Xu in again.
Originally, he wanted to take her to the front and make her kneel down, but when he saw Xu come in, a maid rushed over to her, scratching her with her teeth and claws, and yelled, "Shameless little bitch, give me my life back now!"
After watching for a while, he first took in the performance of everyone in the court. Seeing that the remaining two middle-aged women were also getting ready to make a move, Sun Shaozong hurriedly slammed the gavel and shouted, "Come here, drag this crazy woman who is roaring in the court out!"
The two yamen runners were accidentally tickled by the old woman a few times. When they heard what she said, they knew it was exactly what they wanted. They grabbed the old woman and dragged her out like a dead dog.
"grown ups!"
The old woman was stunned for a moment, and she raised her neck and screamed, "I am the victim, I am the victim! I am..."
When her harsh voice faded away, Sun Shaozong asked calmly, "Who are you suing and what is your grievance?"
Seeing his wife being dragged out after a disagreement, Sun Changgeng's uncle was feeling distressed. When he heard the master asking questions, he kowtowed carefully and said, "In reply to the master, I, Tian Dahai, am here to sue this little bitch... sue this Xu for murdering her husband and killing my nephew Song Changgeng!"
After hearing this, Sun Shaozong turned his gaze to Xu: "Xu, is what Tian Dahai said true?"
Xu hesitated for a long time with tears in her eyes, and then stammered: "I didn't mean to kill him, it was just a coincidence, I don't know how..."
"grown ups!"
Before she could finish her words, a middle-aged woman behind Tian Dahai pointed and sneered, "This woman is clearly lying. If she hadn't been waving the kitchen knife around, would the eldest son of the Song family have rushed to bump into the blade?"
Being accused of this, Xu became even more panicked: "I... I just wanted to scare him, no..."
In fact, in Sun Shaozong's view, the argument between the two was completely meaningless, because according to the Great Zhou law, if a fight resulted in death, it would be treated as intentional homicide.
In other words, regardless of whether Xu did it on purpose or not, as long as she killed someone with a sharp knife, she would be deemed to have done it intentionally - and although "intentionally killing one's husband" is a lighter charge than "murdering one's husband", it is also a capital crime punishable by immediate execution.
Therefore, Sun Shaozong was too lazy to listen to their nagging. He observed for a moment and then asked with a double meaning, "Xu, so you confessed to killing your husband Song Changgeng?"
He deliberately emphasized the words "her husband Song Changgeng".
Mrs. Xu was still stunned for a long while, and then she suddenly realized and cried, "Master, please understand, that man...that man is really not my husband!"
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged woman who had just spoken straightened her back and cursed like a fighting cock: "What a vicious woman! You called the Song brothers "husband" all the time, and everyone saw it with their own eyes! Now you have killed him, but you say he is not your husband - it seems that you are the only one who has the final say?!"
Once this woman took the lead, the men and women of the Tian family also started clamoring in unison. Some cursed the Xu family for being heartless, while others spoke up for Song Changgeng. The hall suddenly became a mess.
Pah~
After observing carefully for a while, Sun Shaozong suddenly slammed the gavel, causing Sour Plum Juice to jump high up - because of the previous experience, everyone in the Tian family was afraid that he would chase people out again, so they were so scared that they immediately shut their mouths.
Sun Shaozong then said coldly: "Don't make any noise. It won't be too late for you to speak up when I ask you."
Then he asked Xu: "You said the deceased was not Song Changgeng himself, do you have any evidence?"
"this……"
Mrs. Xu lowered her head and said hesitantly, "He...he used to have a light taste, but now he likes to eat strong food. His body is also darker and thinner than before, and... and..."
"Xu!"
What she said were just trivial matters, which were not decisive evidence for a person who had been missing for four years and was dead without any witnesses.
In addition, she was hesitant in her words, as if she was hiding something. Sun Shaozong immediately raised his voice and said in a deep voice: "If you can't provide strong evidence, I'm afraid I can only sentence you to 'intentionally murder your husband'!"
As he said this, he winked at Sun Chengye.
Sun Chengye immediately responded, "According to the laws of this dynasty, if you kill your husband, you should be punished by hanging, beheading, or beheading."
After a pause, he made a four-word summary: "All are sentenced to death!"
After hearing these four words, Mrs. Xu collapsed to the ground, but then she suddenly jumped up and said anxiously, "Sir! I have evidence, I have evidence!"
"Because this thief knew everything about my family and looked exactly like my husband, I didn't suspect he was a fake until last night..."
At this point, Xu struggled a little, and finally gritted her teeth and said, "It was not until I slept with him last night that I suddenly realized something was wrong. My husband's... that thing is different from his!"
"Even if we haven't seen each other for four years, that object...that object wouldn't have changed out of thin air, right?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, there was an uproar in the hall. Not to mention the people from the Tian family, even the yamen runners on both sides could not help but whisper to each other.
No wonder she was so secretive before. Who would be willing to tell others about such a private matter unless it was a matter of life and death?
"What a silver woman!"
Just as Sun Shaozong was about to order everyone in the hall to calm down, another person suddenly jumped out from behind Tian Dahai. This time it was a young man in his early twenties. He shouted angrily, "Brother Chang Geng has already been killed by you, and you still want to humiliate him like this!"
"Brother Chang Geng has been home for more than two months, and you are a legitimate couple. How come you didn't notice anything strange until last night?"
"Besides, you, a silver woman, have secretly hooked up with countless men while Brother Chang Geng is away. You have been measuring those things all day long. I'm afraid you have already forgotten what Brother Chang Geng's thing looks like, right?!"
“You…you…you…”
"Xu!"
Xu's face flushed with shame and anger. She was about to argue a few words when she heard Sun Shaozong ask in a deep voice, "Don't pay attention to this person's dirty words. Tell me first, what did you say just now? Is there any difference in your usual appearance?"
What does he look like in normal times?
Xu was stunned for a moment before she understood what he meant. She blushed and shook her head, saying, "It doesn't seem to make much difference, but when we go to bed..."
"Hey!"
Sun Shaozong let out a low growl, half-seriously and half-fakely angrily, "Now that Song Changgeng is dead and there is no evidence, you insist on talking about what they looked like in bed?! Are you deliberately making fun of me in order to get away with it?!"
After a person dies, the body will gradually become stiff, but that place will never become hard again, so there is absolutely no evidence.
"I dare not. I absolutely dare not!"
Xu was so frightened that she threw her head to the ground and cried, "I really had an argument with him because I realized something was wrong last night..."
She cried and protested her injustice, but everyone in the Tian family praised the "honest judge" for his sharp eyes, who saw through the vicious woman's sophistry at a glance.
Pah~
The two sides were arguing and tangling, when Sun Shaozong suddenly slammed the gavel and said solemnly: "Xu, you said that you quarreled with him because you found something wrong. Did you mention the matter of 'impersonation' in your conversation at that time?"
"I mentioned it, I mentioned it!"
Xu felt as if she had grasped a life-saving straw, and hurriedly said, "I mentioned this several times when I was arguing with him, and it happened to be heard by a beggar outside the door. If you don't believe it, just go find the beggar and ask him!"
