Zhou Xian was shocked, and asked sharply: "Chang Qingqiu, you are so bold, you dare to murder a worker because of a quarrel and a trivial matter, now that the human and material evidence are there, what else do you have to say?" ”

Chang Qingqiu heard the seriousness of the problem, and hurriedly kowtowed to plead: "The villain is wronged, although the villain and Ma Xiaoqi say that they don't care about each other if they lift the bar, it's not a big deal, and the villain never dares to kill anyone." Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info Besides, the villain has reconciled with him last night, if the adults don't believe it, the workers can testify. ”

Zhou Xian said loudly: "Witness! ”

After a while, several carpenters were brought to court.

Zhou Xian asked, "Where did you guys drink last night?" Recruit from the truth. ”

The carpenters replied in unison: "If you go back to your lordship, drink at the foreman Chang Qingqiu's house." ”

Zhou Xian asked again: "Why are you drinking?" ”

The carpenters replied again: "Chang Qingqiu is our leader, and Ma Xiaoqi is our partner, and they don't care about each other, so we prepared wine and food and took Ma Xiaoqi to Chang Gongchang's house to drink, so that they can be reconciled as before." ”

"What happened next?"

"The little people were very happy to see the foreman and Ma Xiaoqi reconcile, and they drank a lot of wine until late at night."

"Ma Xiaoqi is walking with you?"

"That's not it, the villains saw that they were drinking happily, so they left Ma Xiaoqi and left, wanting them to talk alone. I don't know when Ma Xiaoqi left, and the villains didn't tell half a lie. ”

Zhou Xian asked Chang Qingqiu again: "When did Ma Xiaoqi leave?" Who can prove it? ”

Chang Qingqiu replied: "After the workers left, the villain and Ma Xiaoqi drank a few more bowls, and fell asleep because they were too strong to drink. Ma Xiaoqi was also drunk, when he left, the villain lady knew. ”

Zhou Xian sneered: "Joke, how can your lady be a witness?" Boldly Diao Min, do you think this official is easy to fool? If you have not been in contact with the deceased for half a year, how can a bowl of wine resolve it? It is clear that you took advantage of the opportunity for the workers to know that the two of you were reconciled, deliberately let the workers go first, and then drunk Ma Xiaoqi, followed him, and killed him on the way home. But you were clever but were mistaken by your cleverness, and you didn't expect to leave one of the deceased's shoes on the side of the road when you hid the body, and the official didn't wronged you, right? ”

Chang Qingqiu shouted that he was wronged.

Zhou Xian was furious and ordered the officials to be punished. Poor Chang Qingqiu came down with a stick three times, and he was already dying, but he still refused to give in. Zhou Xian saw that he was about to die if he was clamped again, so he had to be taken into custody and tried again another day.

Besides, Luo went home from the official office, put on heavy filial piety, and pretended to handle Ma Xiaoqi's funeral. She invited monks to chant sutras for Ma Xiaoqi, and she cried while burning paper, and fainted several times due to excessive grief. After a few days, even the neighbors who usually hated her shed tears.

When Zhou Xian learned of this, he took pity on Luo even more, so he gave Chang Qingqiu a heavier punishment every day. For a few days, he was tortured to the point of flesh and blood.

Chang Qingqiu's daughter-in-law, Wang, came to visit the prison, and Chang Qingqiu said to her: "It seems that Zhou Xian, a faint official, must put me to death, but I died unjustly, and let the Chang family be infamy, I am really unwilling." After I die, you have to contact your co-workers to avenge me......"

After speaking, the couple hugged their heads and cried.

The next day, Chang Qingqiu confessed in court, saying that he was insulted by his subordinates, and he was indignant, and took advantage of the opportunity for his co-workers to drink together to murder Ma Xiaoqi.

Zhou Xian saw Chang Qingqiu's confession, and hurriedly asked where Ma Xiaoqi's body was hidden.

Chang Qingqiu was originally wronged, how did he know the whereabouts of the corpse? Zhou Xian was anxious to close the case, so he ordered the official to be punished again.

Chang Qingqiu was afraid of torture, so he had to make up a place to avoid the pain of this flesh and skin.

So he said: "That day, I followed Ma Xiaoqi and killed him halfway through the knife and threw the body in a nearby toad ditch. ”

After hearing this, Zhou Xian immediately sent two experienced servants to search for the body, and once the body was found, the case could be closed.

One of these two servants is named Zhou Cheng and the other is Wang Ling, and they have been in charge of autopsies in the yamen for more than ten years and have never missed. The two of them received an order from Lord Fu Yin and immediately searched for the location provided by Chang Qingqiu. The location of the hiding body was made up by Chang Qingqiu, where did the two of them find it? Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling searched for a day and didn't even see a corpse, and when they saw that it was getting late, they had to go back to the yamen to report to Zhou Xian.

Zhou Xian has reported to the Criminal Department and solved this mysterious case. Prisoners may be executed as soon as the body is found.

Hearing Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling's report, Zhou Xian angrily reprimanded: "You two heard the location clearly this morning, why can't you find it?" You will not be able to help, and you will be given ten days to find the body, otherwise you will be punished with favoritism. ”

With that, he brushed his sleeves and left.

Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling searched for the ditch countless times, the stones that should be lifted, and the soil that should be turned over, were still empty-handed, and the two had to beg Zhou Xian for a few more days.

At this time, Zhou Xian had just received a document from the Criminal Department, asking him why he had solved the case but had not closed it for a long time?

When Zhou Xianzheng was worried, when he saw Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling returning empty-handed, he was angry, and ordered the servants to beat each of them with twenty boards, until the skin of the two of them opened, and they cried for their fathers and mothers.

After the fight, Zhou Xian was given another seven days.

This time, the two searched for the places around the toad ditch one by one, not letting go of any suspicious places, but the result was still a big disappointment.

In desperation, Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling had no choice but to find someone to come up with ideas.

There is a lawyer surnamed Kuang in Chang'an City, who has great ability and specializes in giving people some crooked ideas.

Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling found Kuang Lawyer's house and explained their intentions, of course, they had to send some silver.

The lawyer smiled slightly: "This is not difficult, I will send you a few words, as long as you do what I want, you will be safe." ”

As he spoke, Kuang Lawyer picked up the brush and wrote a few words, and the two of them took it and looked at it, which turned out to be the four words "stealing beams and changing pillars".

Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling have lived for most of their lives, and they only know how to examine the corpse, and they really don't understand what these words mean.

Seeing that the two of them were holding the note in a daze, the lawyer said coldly: "Just find a corpse and say that it belongs to Ma Xiaoqi, don't you have it?" ”

The two of them suddenly realized and thanked each other.

Zhou Cheng and Wang Ling went to a nearby cemetery to find the bottom of the earth, but they did not find a single corpse.

When it was dark, they heard that a man had just hanged himself in a village outside the city, and the two were overjoyed and immediately went to the vicinity to hide.

At night, the family of the deceased was afraid that the body would be gnawed by wild dogs, so they found a broken mat to cover it, and asked two people from the same village to keep vigil and watch over it.

In the middle of the night, the two caretakers took a nap, and one of them said, "Let's go into the house and drink wine to warm up, for the beasts will not come in a moment." ”

The other agreed. So two night watchmen came into the house with lanterns.