The county official was taken aback when he saw Yang Congyi suddenly break free from the suppression of the officials and jumped, his face turned pale with fright, and he was about to stand up and dodge, but he saw that the officials quickly grabbed Yang Congyi and held him down.

The county magistrate quietly exhaled, calmed his frightened heart, sat up straight again, and pointed directly at Yang Congyi and said angrily, "Bold fanatics, how can you be presumptuous in the court!" Come on, give the official a heavy hit with thirty boards! ”

The officials didn't say a word, ignoring Yang Congyi's angry shouts, kicked him to the ground, and directly greeted him with a board.

The previous 20 boards had already opened the skin of Yang Congyi's beating, he couldn't sit or stand, at this time, every board hit his body, like a heartache from the flesh, the first few boards, he could barely bear it, and he could still scold in his mouth, and the next heavier board made him unable to shout, so he could only grit his teeth and transfer the pain in his body. Although he was young and strong, the pain in his heart was really unbearable, and he had passed out in pain before the thirty boards were finished.

The county official's frightened anger had subsided, and when he saw that Yang Congyi was still unconscious, he waved his hand and said, "Take it down and put it on death row." ”

Then he looked at the scribe and asked, "Can the interrogation be fully recorded?" ”

The scribe stood up and replied, "Not a word for word, all of them are recorded." ”

The county magistrate nodded, "Okay." Wang Xiaoqi, look at your confession, if it is correct, sign it. ”

Wang Xiaoqi took the master's confession and quickly read it, confirmed that it was correct, signed his name, pressed his fingerprint, and then knelt down and kowtowed, "My lord, my lord and young lady are now unknown in life and death, and I don't know where they are. ”

The county official said, "Lord Mo has always been admired, and this official also looks up to him." Master Mo was killed, and the official was also very distressed, and if I didn't find out the case, my heart was really uneasy. If you cultivate with peace of mind, this official will definitely cut off the bandits' heads to correct the law of the country, and Lord Wei Mo is in the spirit of the sky. ”

Wang Xiaoqi kowtowed and thanked again, "Lord Xie administers justice for my lord and young lady." ”

The county magistrate then instructed, "Zhang Zhutou, you take the portrait of Lord Mo, go all the way west to find out the whereabouts of Lord Mo, and report back quickly if there is any news." ”

Zhang Zhutou was worried and asked, "My lord, this is looking for a needle in a haystack, we don't know anything about Lord Mo, the bandits said that Lord Mo is going west, we really want to go west?" ”

The county official said, "According to what the bandit said, what Wang Xiaoer said, no matter whether Lord Mo lives or dies, he must still be in Susong County." You wait and look for it quickly, and do not delay, and within five days, the official will get results. ”

Zhang Zhutou listened to the words of the county master, although he disagreed with it very much, but it was not easy to refute it, only a hard trip, whether he could find it really depends on luck.

There are good and bad luck, bad luck is hard to find, and good luck is even more rare.

Zhang Zhutou did not have such good luck. In just five days, it is not easy to find an old man passing by in Taihu County and Susong County. He led people all the way to the west, went straight to Susong County, widely distributed Mo You's portrait along the way, and asked his colleagues to help him find it when he arrived in Susong. In the past five days, they have not eaten well, slept well, and their legs are about to break, but Susong County is located in a mountainous area, with a vast area, dozens of catches and scattered quickly, and the waves are not flooded, and the result is of course nothing, and no one has ever seen the person in the painting.

After listening to Zhang Zhutou's complaints and reports, the county official didn't say anything superfluous, just asked him to go back to rest.

The county magistrate had already made up his mind that they would bother to find it, but it was just to verify the authenticity of the prisoner's confession, just in case. Zhang Zhutou had already proved that the prisoner's confession was false, and by extrapolation, combined with the confession of the servant Wang Xiaoqi, then the prisoner's murder and robbery were true, and the human and material evidence was complete.

When Yang Congyi came to the county government hall again, he was dragged by the officials, dozens of boards were next to his body, his bones all over his body were like falling apart, he didn't have half the strength, his eyes couldn't be opened, his face was pale, there was no blood, if it wasn't for the slight breathing, no one would think that he was still alive. In the past few days, he has not been allowed to rest in prison, his body is covered with blood, and there are a few blood marks on his face, which looks a little terrifying, for the bandits who are about to die, the jailer has never been soft, and abusing him is considered karma, avenging the bitter master.

The county official sat on the top of the hall, looking at Yang Congyi who was like a dead man, he was very calm in his heart, this kind of bandit who did evil should be killed one by one. He picked up the shocking wood and slapped it heavily, and then said slowly, "Prisoner Yang Congyi, on the twelfth of this month, you and the Xiaosongpo bandits killed the father and daughter of the resigned and returned to the township in the area of Xiaosongpo in the southwest of Meishan Town, Taihu County, and a group of entourage, injured eleven people, and looted five boxes of property, can you plead guilty?" ”

Yang Congyi remained motionless, did not express anything, neither pleaded guilty nor pleaded not guilty. In fact, he didn't listen to anything, he didn't even feel that he was alive, how could he answer the county official's question.

When the county magistrate saw Yang Congyi's situation, he knew that it was difficult for him to answer and confess, so he said to everyone in the hall, "The prisoner Yang Congyi, who was originally a remnant bandit in Tianzhu Mountain, was a victim of one party, and recently fled to this county, colluded with the bandits in this county, and on the twelfth of this month, robbed property in Meishan Town, killed the father and daughter of Lord Mo and his entourage who resigned and returned to his hometown, a total of 11 people's lives, seeking wealth and killing people, and the crime was extremely heinous. After receiving the report, the county quickly ascertained the facts of the case, widely issued a wanted notice, and arrested Yang Congyi, a co-defendant. Although the prisoner did not admit his guilt to death, and his mouth was full of lotus flowers, reversed right and wrong, and quibbled in every way, but the human and material evidence was there, and the county could not tolerate such bandits who disregarded people's lives to escape the punishment of the Great Song Dynasty in Taihu County. Today, in accordance with the law of the Great Song Dynasty, the county sentenced the bandit Yang Congyi to death, and after reporting to the Criminal Department for review, he paraded through the streets and apologized. With a shocking sound, the verdict was announced.

Then the county magistrate instructed, "Let him sign the confession." ”

The scribe picked up the confession he had written last night and walked to Yang Congyi and spread it out, and the official grabbed his finger and dipped it in the mud and printed his handprint on the confession.

When the county magistrate saw that the prisoner had been taken into custody, he ordered, "Take it down and take care of it." ”

The prisoner was taken back to the prison and the congregation dispersed.

So far, this sudden bloody case has been closed in less than ten days, and the process has been quite smooth, without too many twists and turns, which should have been something worth celebrating, but the county officials are not happy.

The county official has a headache, eleven people died in a robbery, and the bitter lord is still a servant of the ministry who has just resigned, how to report this, and what kind of punishment will the court have? He needs to think about it, and if he is not careful, his career will end here.

When Yang Congyi woke up again and found that he was tightly bound by chains and locked in a dark and dreary prison, he seemed to think of something and kept shouting for injustice.

When a jailer heard the shouting, he came over scolding, and cursed, "Be quiet for Lao Tzu, you will be beheaded." ”

Yang Congyi saw someone coming, and hurriedly struggled to get up and said, "I'm wronged, I'm wronged, I want to see Lord Zhixian." ”

The jailer looked around, pointed to the other prisoners in the cell, and said coldly, "They are all wronged just like you. Now that I know that I have been wronged, I should not commit a crime in the first place, and the legal net will be restored, and I will not show it. What kind of world, murderers dare to cry out for injustice. Phew! After saying that, a mouthful of spit flew towards Yang Congyi, and then turned to leave, ignoring the damn prisoner.

Yang Congyi shut up when he heard this, the fighting spirit and hope that had just been ignited were extinguished in an instant, and he fell to the ground and couldn't move, his eyes no longer had any brilliance, only tears kept pouring out, hate? Unwilling? Or regret it? Maybe both.

How long is left, he doesn't know, what awaits him, he can guess.

But he didn't want to die, a year ago he accidentally fell off the cliff to come to this era, and was rescued by the uncle who hunted in the mountains by chance, and he recuperated for two or three months before he survived.

Yang Congyi shouted loudly in his heart, he was really unwilling! But so what? Tears slipped down their eyes like beads of broken thread, flowed to the ground, and wet themselves.

As an orphan in this world, he is in prison, and no one will come to save him, and no one will care about his life or death, because he is a lonely foreigner.

was unwilling, but he could only accept the arrangement of fate, lying in a dark corner, crying silently, waiting for the last moment to come.