"This is what happened..." The woman knelt there and began to talk.
It turns out that this person's name is Hu E, and he was originally a slightly famous family in Bodao. There were monks in the family for generations. When her father arrived, due to a business problem, his father mortgaged the ancestral ten acres of spiritual land to the Huang family in exchange for ten gold bahts. The two parties signed an agreement. If the ten gold bahts are returned within one year, the Huang family will return the ten acres of spiritual land. Otherwise, the ten acres of spiritual land will belong to the Huang family. His father wanted to start a profitable business again, but after a trip to Ningzhou, not only did he not earn any money, but he lost all ten gold bahts. These ten acres of spiritual land are the most precious property passed down from generation to generation by his Hu family, and they are the lifeblood of their Hu family. His father could not accept it under any circumstances that the hope of the descendants of the Hu family to cultivate themselves in the future would be ruined if it reached his hands. So, he begged the Huang family again and asked for another year of grace. But no matter how much he begged, the Huang family would not allow it.
Finally, one day, after his father failed to plead and was humiliated by the Huang family, he committed suicide in front of the Huang family with a knife. After the Hu brothers buried their father, they blamed the Huang family for their father's death and threatened to avenge their father's murder one day.
After the Huang family learned about it, they were annoyed and resentful. Seeing that the Hu family brothers were studying hard and determined to become officials, they were afraid that one day when the Hu family became prosperous, the Huang family would be retaliated against, so, Huang Ang came up with an idea. That was to secretly pay money to a thief in the mountains of Zhuti County, so that they could learn about the lives of the Hu brothers while they were on a business trip.
This was originally done without anyone noticing. But as the saying goes, it takes three years for a thief to catch himself. A few years later, a member of the Huang family accidentally let the matter slip while he was drunk, and the matter spread.
But all the men in the Hu family have died, and only Hu E, who has been married long ago, is left. After Hu E learned the news, she burst into tears all day long and vowed to seek justice for her brother. She went to the county government alone many times to sue the Huang family. But when we get to the government office, what we need to talk about is evidence. There is no way to convict the Huang family based on hearsay and no evidence. What's more, the Hu family has died out, and the Huang family's family business is getting stronger and stronger. Despite all the efforts, no one paid any attention to Hu E's complaint. Even Hu E's family, firstly because of the pressure from the Huang family, and secondly, they couldn't bear the fact that the daughter-in-law complained every day. After repeated attempts to dissuade her failed, they divorced Hu E and kicked her out of the house.
The other members of the Hu family were originally angry that Hu E's father had mortgaged the ancestral spiritual field, and after receiving a large apology from the Huang family, they also acquiesced in the matter. Hu E was left alone in a thatched hut, shouting all day long to avenge her father and brother.
One day, this woman who was already mentally disturbed in everyone’s eyes disappeared. No one knows where she went.
Some people say that he is dead, and some people say that he was kidnapped by thieves and taken to the mountains for those people to vent their lust.
A few years later, there was another crazy woman here. She wandered around naked all day long, and was followed by some children who laughed at her every day. This crazy woman had no shame and went around begging for food with her naked body exposed.
By the time Hu E finished telling all this, Huang Ang had already returned here. In fact, he recognized this crazy woman as Hu E a few years ago, but he thought that this woman was already crazy and it would not be a big deal to keep her. Moreover, letting her be so embarrassed and exposed outside was not only a joke of the Hu family , but also has some unspeakable thoughts.
Establish authority?
Proud?
He himself couldn't tell, but every time he saw this crazy woman, he couldn't help but feel proud of the idea he came up with back then.
Seeing at this time that Hu E was not crazy, but also filed a complaint with the newly appointed monarch, Huang Ang broke out in a cold sweat.
We are all fellow villagers. At that time, we could not hide the incident from everyone. Everyone from all over the country knew about it. But as long as the Huang family doesn't admit it and there is no evidence, no one can do anything to them.
Thinking this way, he rushed out and knelt at Zhou Xing's feet, shouting: "Master, I, Huang Ang, have been wronged. This woman is slanderous, but I hope that the master will understand and make decisions for the little people." ”
Zhou Xing’s heart was broken at this time. He now regretted extremely that he had eaten enough to settle the unjust case.
At this moment, he finally understood deeply the meaning of the words of Sage Confucius in this world: "Hearing a lawsuit, I am still a human being."
He actually believed Hu E's statement in his heart, but his reason told him not to act emotionally, but to provide evidence. What if Hu E is talking nonsense?
Also, what should I do if Hu E is still unable to produce evidence as before?
Torturing Huang Ang?
Wouldn’t he become a tyrant?
For a while, Zhou Xing was really on pins and needles.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat and said calmly: "Mr. Huang Ting, don't be anxious. You can't listen to one side's opinions on the right and wrong. Don't worry, I will definitely He can distinguish between right and wrong. He who is white cannot become black, and he who is black cannot become white."
"Yes, yes, yes." Huang Ang was determined when he heard Zhou Xing's words. He had inquired about the thieves and found that they had been wiped out a few years ago by the then magistrate of Nanguang County, Zhuti County. evidence? Doesn't exist.
Just when he thought he had nothing to worry about, he looked at Hu E next to him and took out a crumpled yellow paper from his arms and said: "Your Majesty, the civilian woman has evidence!"
As soon as this statement came out, the surrounding audience was in an uproar!
However, Hu E was determined to collect evidence that Huang Ang bribed the thieves to kill her brother after she was unable to complain in Bodao. So she first asked around about the location of the thieves, and then tried every means to get there. Then she pretended to pick at the foot of the mountain for a few days. Just as she expected, she was kidnapped by the thieves and carried to the mountain.
She was naturally beautiful, and with her deliberate flattery, she soon became the favorite of this bandit leader. And she also successfully asked about the time when Huang Ang came here in person and asked this group of bandits to kill the Hu brothers on the condition of five buckets of spiritual valley.
But just knowing this, she knew that she still couldn't sue Huang Ang. Naturally, the bandits would not let her testify about these things. In less than a year on the mountain, she gave birth to a boy for the leader, and her position became increasingly secure. After having a child, the leader finally let down his guard against her completely when he saw that she was thinking about him wholeheartedly. In addition, she was literate and shrewd in her work. In the end, she took charge of all the work such as selling stolen goods in the city.
Over the years, she did not hesitate to sacrifice her appearance and got in touch with the thief Cao Tie in Nanguang County. The two sides agreed to use her as an internal agent to work together internally and externally to take down the bandits that had been entrenched in the mountains all year round. Her condition was that when the bandit leader was tried, they needed to be asked about the private deal between them and Huang Ang to kill her brother.
With her as an internal agent, Nanguang County successfully wiped out this group of bandits, and the county magistrate was also favored by the Yizhou Governor and promoted to his side. And Hu E also successfully got what she wanted. The leader knew he would die and answered all questions. He admitted on the spot that he had collaborated with Huang Ang to kill the Hu brothers.
"Your Majesty," Hu E cried with tears streaming down her face: "The yellow paper in your hand is the Nanguang County file that I copied. If your Majesty still has any doubts, you can send someone in person. After checking it in Nanguang County, we can find out whether this is true or not. I also hope that your lord will make a clear decision and clear up the injustice for my Hu family. In the next life, my daughter will wear a grass ring to repay your kindness."
Not to mention that everyone in the audience was shocked and sighed on the spot after hearing Hu E's tortuous story. Huang Ang's face was already pale before he finished listening. After Hu E said that sentence, he let out a long sigh, kowtowed heavily on the ground several times, and said tremblingly: "I dare not trouble your lord to send people to Nanguang again. I, Huang Ang, just plead guilty." ."
"Papa!" There were a few crisp sounds, but Hu E came to him on her knees and slapped Huang Ang hard with all her strength. Huang Ang didn't make any move, and didn't even dare to look into Hu E's angry eyes. He just endured it silently.
These few blows seemed to have exhausted all the strength of Hu E's body. After the beating, she let out an earth-shattering cry, and then she collapsed on the ground and continued to cry. She has walked this road of revenge for eight years, and the hardships involved are beyond description in words.
"This girl is truly a martyr!" Du Chou looked at the situation and said softly to Zhou Xing: "I will report it to the state and county for a reward."
"A reward? "Zhou Xing didn't understand Du Chou's thinking. As a person from that world at heart, he first felt angry and even shuddered. In his opinion, what Huang Ang did was really a heinous crime. It's extremely bad.
He suppressed the anger in his chestHuo stood up slowly, looked at the angry expressions of the melon-eating crowd around him, and said to the elders sitting on both sides: "The case is clear. Huang Ang took the initiative to plead guilty. If you elders have any objections, please tell me. Come."
"Master, we have no objections."
"Okay," Zhou Xing shouted loudly and walked slowly to Huang Ang. In front of me, "Huang Ang, you are guilty of murder, obstruction of official duties, deception of your superiors, and collusion with bandits. Do you know your crime!"
"The people know your crime." Huang Ang lay on his back in Zhou Xing He said tremblingly under his feet, "But Xiaomin is a little dissatisfied. I hope the Lord will let Xiaomin explain something."
"Oh." Zhou Xing's eyes flashed coldly, and he said coldly: "Okay. , I will give you this opportunity to make a statement."
Hearing Zhou Xing's words, Huang Ang raised his head and said loudly: "Your Majesty, I admit that I collaborated with the bandits to kill the Hu brothers. , Even if I was sentenced to death, I, Huang Ang, would admit it."
"The Hu brothers threatened to avenge their father every day and wanted my Huang family to die. Could it be that the Huang family just watched helplessly? It was written in black and white that it was their father who took the initiative to mortgage the ten acres of spiritual land to the Huang family, and it was not the Huang family who forced his father to mortgage it. Hu E, do you think this is true? All the villagers present can testify that their father committed suicide in front of our Huang family. What’s wrong with our Huang family? Wouldn’t it be unlucky for our family to bury them if they died in front of our house? When my father was here, our family also received a lot of gifts, and we wanted to reconcile the two families and let the matter go, but the Hu brothers refused. They promised to return the ten acres of spiritual land first, and then knelt down in front of their Hu family to apologize. Apologize, this can be discussed. Everyone present can testify to this. It was because the Hu brothers were so aggressive that I had no choice but to take this step."
Huang Ang said this. Then he saw a person breaking into the field, and quickly came to Zhou Xing, knelt on the ground with a bang, kowtowed continuously and said: "Huang Xuyuan, a young man, has been punished for his father. I hope that your lord, my father, will see that he has a reason for what happened and spare this small man." Father."
After listening to Huang Ang's words, Zhou Xing's original anger had long since disappeared. He looked at Hu E, who was still crying beside him, at Huang Ang, who had an angry face, and then at Huang Xu, who was still kowtowing and his forehead was bleeding, and then at the people around him. The melon-eating crowd no longer had expressions of anger but expressions of sympathy, and he couldn't help but feel at a loss.
A good person?
Bad guy?
Right?
Wrong?
What seemed to him to be a simple matter turned out to be so complicated. Killing for life originally seemed to him to be very simple and clear, but now it seems to be so complicated.
His heart was very heavy now. He thought a lot. He wanted to find the answer from some regulations and cases in his world, but he sadly found that he could not find the answer.
Silence, silence all around. Except for Hu E's crying and Huang Xu's pleading. Everyone looked at Zhou Xing standing in the middle of the field eagerly, waiting for him to give a result.
Suddenly, he thought of a word he had heard countless times, which was called "beyond suspicion". At this moment, he seemed to have grasped another life-saving straw. No matter whether this straw could save his life or not, whether the "suspended innocence" was suitable for this case, or whether it was the "suspended innocence" view. There is no problem. He just wanted to end this case that was weighing heavily on him right now.
"The Hu family brothers threatened your Huang family. This was only a verbal threat and did not cause actual harm." He carefully considered the words and said slowly, "And you, Huang Ang, joined the bandits to kill the Hu family. Brother, the evidence is conclusive. I judge Huang Ang guilty of murder, conspiracy to deceive his superiors, and obstruction of official duties. He is sentenced to death for several crimes. "
"Your Majesty, this is inappropriate." Du Chou came to him at some unknown time and said immediately after hearing his words.
"Oh, what's wrong?"
"Although Huang Ang is the people under your rule, only the county magistrate is qualified to impose the death penalty, and it must be reported to the state and county Only with approval."
For some reason, Zhou Xing breathed a sigh of relief and said, "In that case, let's hand Huang Ang over to the county government."
Just when he thought the matter was about to end, Huang Xu, who had already kowtowed and his face was covered with blood, suddenly said: "Your Majesty, I also have a case to sue."
"What are you suing?" Who?"
"The person Xiaomin told is none other than Guo Guiguo, the steward of the Lord's Mansion." Everyone was shocked when Huang Xu said this.