Meng Tianchu and Murong Yuxue came to the lobby, and sure enough, they saw the black crowd gathered in the yamen hall, and kept asking the yamen to bring the bad guys to justice and seek justice for Wu Xiaomei. The scene was very chaotic.

Meng Tianchu thought to himself, I don't know if this case is murder, if it is just a medical accident, how can there be any justice to be served.

That Cai Zhao stood on top of the warm pavilion in the lobby, anxious to walk back and forth, this kind of thing has always happened in the past few months, it really gives him a headache, the last time the yamen mortuary case was finally settled, and now this incident has happened again, why do these people surround the yamen to petition at every turn, and only against themselves, if this is to let Shen Naichun, the magistrate of Qiantang County, know, and maybe how to chew the root of his tongue behind his back.

He was so anxious that he was pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pot, and when he saw Meng Tianchu coming, he hurriedly greeted him: Sir, you are here, what do you think you should do?

Meng Tianchu came back too late last night, so he didn't have time to report to the county magistrate, and waved his hand: Dong Weng don't be nervous, this matter will be handled by Wansheng.

Although so many people were coaxing and petitioning, but Wu Lai stood aside, sneering proudly, Meng Tianchu stepped forward and laughed in a low voice: Wu Gongzi, you can incite so many people to make trouble at the entrance of the yamen, you can't see it, you are quite capable.

Where, where... No, no! We're not here to make trouble... Wu Lai heard Meng Tianchu praise him for his ability in front of him, and he smiled and wanted to be humble, but then he heard that Meng Tianchu's words were wrong, and he hurriedly argued.

Meng Tianchu's face sank: It's not a trouble? Then why did you gather so many people to come to the Yamen? Do you want to demonstrate with the Yamen?

This big hat was buttoned up, Wu Lai couldn't bear it, and was frightened: No, no. How dare you be small, it's just... I just want to urge that the real culprit who killed my sister be arrested as soon as possible...

Who is the real culprit?

Hao Tianbao!

Then you should go directly to Hao Mansion to arrest Hao Tianbao, what kind of coaxing did you come to the yamen?

We... We're not fast, how can we arrest people.

You say that Hao Tianbao is the murderer, is there any evidence?

What other evidence do you need, my sister gave birth to a child at his house and died of hemorrhage, and he instructed someone to do it! I just want that little bitch to be the main house!

Did you see him directed?

I... I don't, isn't that obvious?

Can you arrest people casually? If Hao Tianbao said that you were jealous that he was rich, you deliberately bribed Wen Po to kill your sister, and then blamed him. The purpose is to extort his money, so are we going to arrest you too?

Nonsense! How could I have killed my own sister! Wu Lai roared.

Meng Tianchu's face sank: I warn you for the last time. You framed others at will without evidence, and now you have gathered hundreds of people to storm the yamen. I dare to accuse this master of talking nonsense to my face, this is a roaring court, and he will be punished according to the law!

This sentence exploded like a thunderbolt on the top of Wu Lai's head, and he suddenly came to his senses, he didn't think about it so much, and only then did he realize that he was indeed too reckless, and hurriedly bowed down and said: The villain is guilty. Please forgive me.

Hum. Thinking of your sister's new funeral, I was impulsive in grief. Spare you this time, you let them all disperse.

Wu Lai hurriedly turned to the villagers and said: Master has promised me that I will deal with this case as soon as possible, and the villagers have accompanied me Wu Lai to stand here for so long. I'm afraid that my body can't stand it, let's go back, with the result, I, Wu Lai, am the first to thank you. Let's go first.

When those villagers heard Wu Lai say this, they slowly left the hall one after another and dispersed after him.

Meng Tianchu stood aside and looked at this Wu Lai coldly, thinking to himself, this kid has a certain ability to incite and is good at rhetoric, so he can't be underestimated.

That Cai Zhao was really scared into a cold sweat, and when he saw that Meng Tianchu came, he just talked to Na Wu for a few words and got things done, and he couldn't help but be happy.

Subsequently, Meng Tianchu told him about the investigation last night, and Cai Zhixian knew what was going on. Hurriedly asked Meng Tianchu how to deal with this case.

Meng Tianchu asked Cai Zhixian to ask about the case, and carefully investigated this Wen Po, the key to the final determination of this case is on Wen Po. And he gave him the bag of things that the king had searched to the ground.

ascended to the court, Wen Po Cao was locked up in prison for a night, already haggard, without yesterday's arrogance, was brought to the court, when I saw the county lord sitting high on the ground, the officials on both sides had not yet shouted mighty, her feet were weak and she collapsed on the ground, her head was lowered, and she trembled.

Before this, Meng Tianchu had already told Cai Zhao what to ask, and Cai Zhao naturally understood how to ask, Meng Tianchu took a chair and sat behind the screen of the warm pavilion to listen to the trial.

Shocked, Cai Zhixian asked: Who is in the hall?

Cao's grass

Why was he arrested?

The grass people don't know.

Well? You repeat! Cai Zhao's voice suddenly raised a little.

The Cao clan was so frightened that his face was like a blank piece of paper, and there was no blood: the grass people only... I only know that yesterday's catcher said that I killed the Hao family's mother-in-law, and I was wronged, my lord!

So did you kill or didn't kill?

I didn't kill, I really didn't kill anyone. That Wu Xiaomei was too old when she gave birth, and there were certain difficulties in childbirth, and the fetal position of the fetus in the womb was not correct, I tried my best and didn't kill anyone!

Cai Zhao threw down a flower cloth bag on the long plan and landed in front of the stable woman, which was the bag of things that Wang Yi found back to catch the head. When the woman saw the sack, she was like a sifting chaff.

Diao woman Cao, where did you get the silver taels in your cloth bag? Cai Zhao patted the startled wood, and the stable woman immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed: Master, I don't know what you say, and I don't know what silver taels are.

Cai Zhao didn't expect this old woman to be so stubborn, so he shouted angrily: It's really stubborn and stubborn, give me a hundred boards! Pick up a handful of tokens and throw them out.

Behind the screen, Meng Tianchu thought to himself, this old woman has a thin body, I am afraid that she can't help these guys' boards, and there will be no clues if she is killed. Busy coughed heavily.

Cai Zhixian hurriedly put down the token in his hand and snorted: Okay, you poisonous woman, no one can be hard against me in this court, this county will ask you again at the end, do you say or not?

The stable woman saw sweat on her forehead: I really don't know what you said, master, what is the so-called silver tael.

Okay, you girl, let me ask you, this cloth bag has your surname embroidered on it, and it was quickly searched from your rice jar, what do you explain? If the money came from the right place, why should it be buried in a rice jar? And why should you hide your husband who is seriously ill in bed?

… Wen Po's body trembled even more. but he did not speak.

Hello life, look, there is a mark on the silver in the bag. It was made by Hao Tianbao and Hao Yuan's foreign family in the silver house, and it has the imprint of their house. How do you explain it?

… This is... It was the old man who delivered the baby for their grandmother, and the silver he gave... That Cao Shi shuddered and whispered.

Oh? It turns out that your stable wife's business is so profitable, and it is dozens of taels for one gift? Cai Zhixian sneered, and Zhenjiang, the housekeeper of the Hao family, came to the hall to ask!

When Cao Shi heard this, his face changed suddenly. I lowered my head and trembled even more.

Before ascending to the hall, Meng Tianchu had already asked someone to send Zhenjiang to the court. Soon. Zhenjiang was rumored to the lobby and knelt down.

Cai Zhi County Road: Town steward. Look at the silver in this money bag, but you Hao Mansion made it?

The town steward took out a silver ingot from the cloth bag. After taking a closer look, I turned the bottom up and saw that the bottom of the silver was engraved with the word Tianbao. Said: Back to the master, this is indeed the silver cast by my Hao family's silver house.

Can you be sure?

Yes, the little ones are sure! Zhenjiang nodded firmly.

Then let me ask you, yesterday you asked Wen Po to come to your home to deliver the baby for your grandmother, did you pay the honorarium?

Yes, it was paid, it was given by the villain.

How much was given?

Two by two.

Hehe, a lot. Cai Zhixian turned his head, stared at Wen Po, and patted the shocked wood hard: Cao Shi, there are fifty-two taels of silver in your money bag, all of which are made by the Hao family, and the county asks you, where did the fifty taels come from?

Wen Po Cao lowered her head and was silent.

Bold woman, it seems that you don't suffer a little, you won't say the ground, come on, punish me!

Meng Tianchu never approved of using torture to extract confessions, he thought it was a manifestation of incompetence, but in the Ming Dynasty, in order to obtain confessions, the king of evidence, the law clearly stipulated that torture could be used to extract confessions.

The two soaps stepped forward to give the stable woman a hammer, put the ten fingers of the stable woman into the clip, and the two servants stood on one side and pulled it tightly, only to hear the stable woman's long scream, but did not faint, and soberly felt the intense and continuous pain.

This hammer is a multi-diamond-shaped wooden stick, the edge is relatively sharp, and after pulling it hard, it is deeply stuck in the flesh of Wenpodi's fingers, and the blood flows down the fingers, dripping and falling to the ground.

Wen Po trembled in pain, her eyes rolled, and she resisted for a cup of tea, but finally couldn't resist it and fainted in pain.

Another soap brought a basin of cold water and splashed it on the face of the stable woman, and she woke up after a while, her face was still pale and trembling.

Cai Zhixian said triumphantly: Cao, do you want to talk about it now? Where did you get those extra fifty taels of silver?

Who knew that although the old woman was in unbearable pain, she still kept her mouth shut.

Cai Zhixian was furious, and ordered to continue to be tortured with a whip, and after several consecutive times, Wen Po passed out several times. But he still did not confess.

Cai Zhixian was helpless, so he had to order to retreat.

This Wen Po refused to confess to death, but Meng Tianchu couldn't, his eyes rolled a few times, and he decided to go to Wen Po's house in person to see what he found.

Meng Tianchu called Wang Zhutou and took Murong Zhenxue out of the house to the house of the Wenpo Cao family.

Cao lives in a residential area in the east of the city. They asked as they walked, and finally arrived at the house of the Wenpo Cao family.

Although the small courtyard is not big, it is also very tidy, Murong Zhenxue called outside the door, and a man in the house responded that the door was not closed and let him go in directly, Murong Zhenxue looked at Meng Tianchu and nodded, opened the chai door by himself, and walked in front.

Suddenly, a big black dog flew out of the corner, and the frightened Murong Yuxue screamed, and the man in the room scolded, and the dog obediently retreated to the corner.

Meng Tianchu turned his head and looked at Murong Yuxue, whose face was pale: It's okay, right?

Out of the way, let's go inside. Murong Yuxue touched his chest and calmed down.

Meng Tianchu and Murong Zhenxue were stunned by the simplicity of the furnishings in the room, an old man was lying on the bed, his face was pale, and there was a dilapidated toilet next to the bed, the red paint on it had been peeled off, and there was some yellow urine in it, emitting a pungent and unpleasant smell of urine. The light in the room is good, the window paper on the window is already very tattered, fortunately the weather is warm now, if it is winter, how can such a house live?

When the old man heard someone enter the house, he struggled a few times and wanted to get up, but Meng Tianchu saw it and hurriedly stepped forward to help the old man up.

Who are you? The old man asked in a weak voice, staring at Wang Zhutou several times, feeling familiar, but he didn't dare to recognize it.

Wang Zhutou said: We are from the Yamen of Renhe County, and this is our criminal master Master Meng. I'm the headcatcher Wang Yi, and I came here yesterday.

Oh, yes, it turned out to be the master and the two officials, the little one...

The old man struggled to get out of bed, but was held down by Meng Tianchu: Old man, who are you? Meng Tianchu smelled a smell of sweat from the old man's body, thinking that it was because he didn't take a bath.

It's my wife... The old man suddenly coughed very quickly, bent down, and spat out a mouthful of phlegm into the toilet next to the bed, and Meng Tianchu found that there was blood in the phlegm.

The old man took a few breaths and said slowly: She said the day before yesterday that she went to deliver a baby to a very rich foreigner, and she came back halfway, and then left, and she has not come back until now. My body is not angry, I can't get out of bed for many years, and if she doesn't come back, I'm afraid I'm going to starve my old bones to death in bed.

Murong Yuxue heard the old man say this, walked to a corner of the room, lifted the lid of the pot on the stove, and a rancid smell rushed to her face, she couldn't help but want to gag, it seems that what the old man said is true.

Murong Yuxue looked at the brown rice in the rice jar and some of the rice bran mixed with it, and said, "I'll make some porridge for the old man to eat."

When the old man heard this, he couldn't help it, Meng Tianchu knew that Murong Zhenxue had always been kind-hearted, and when he heard this, he naturally wouldn't stand by and watch, and said with relief: Old man, there is nothing to do, she is quick with her hands and feet, and you can eat porridge after a while, you have been hungry for so long, how can you not eat?

When the old man heard Meng Tianchu say this, his eyes turned red, and his voice choked: Master, two officials and masters, you are all good people! My wife and I have been meeting good people lately.

Meet good people? Meng Tianchu asked curiously.

The old man nodded.

At this time, Murong Yuxue first boiled water to make tea, and handed the tea bowl to the old man, who didn't care about the burning, and drank it all up. Then he gasped and said, "Oh, yes! The day before yesterday, my wife happily went to deliver the baby, saying that this time someone gave us two taels of silver, and asked her what I wanted to eat.

Meng Tianchu thought to himself, two taels of silver made this old man feel extremely happy, what kind of poor family is this.

Yesterday, the official came and found a bag of silver from the rice jar, and I learned that my old woman still had so much money hidden, thinking that I was the only living dead in the house when she was away, and I was worried that the thief had stolen the bag of silver, so I hid it in the rice jar. I asked the official uncle, and he said that something happened to my old lady and let the yamen arrest her, and he said let me not think about it, there is nothing else.

Speaking of this, the old man coughed for a long time before he eased up, and then continued: I'm really confused, if something happened to her, why hasn't she come back yet? In the past, she never took business too far, she was afraid that she would not come back at night, no one would cook for me, and she had not come back yet, thinking that something had happened!

After saying that, he coughed violently again.