Lu Jinping asked: "Do you remember the day of the accident?" What was going on then? ”

Speaking of the events of that day, the daughter-in-law of the Su family showed a trace of fear on her face: "That day, he had a very big temper, and after beating me, he also pinched my neck. I thought I was going to die because I couldn't breathe, and then my daughter threw herself at him and pulled and pushed him. I later heard my daughter tell me that she couldn't pull it off, and that I was about to be strangled to death, so I pinched him from behind, so that he let go, slapped her with his backhand a few times, and then rushed out, and I don't know where I went. ”

"Your father-in-law always thought that your husband was killed by the head of a winter melon, what do you think? Is this possible? ”

Unexpectedly, the daughter-in-law of the Su family nodded, and said in a very firm tone: "Of course he may kill him!" ”

"Oh, why do you say that?" Lu Jinping was a little surprised by her answer.

"Because, when the child's father beat me and my daughter, he always made excuses that I hooked up with winter melon heads and scolded me in the yard. Winter melon head's house is not far from our house, his voice is loud, and his voice is high, winter melon head heard it several times rushed over to beat him, or I and my neighbors blocked it, and winter melon head didn't really knock him down. The head of the winter melon threatened him, saying that if he dared to scold him, he would definitely kill him. However, he ignored him as if he was crazy, and although he couldn't beat him, he didn't let go of his mouth. As long as you are angry, take this as an example. The father-in-law heard the threat of the winter melon head, so he always believed that the winter melon head killed him. I also believe it, but on the day the people of the Yamen said that on the day of the accident, Dongguatou was eating and drinking wine in a village more than ten miles away, and everyone in the village proved that he was still drunk and had never left the village at all, so it was impossible for him to kill him. ”

"Then you say, who killed your husband? Or how did he die? Do you know?

"The father-in-law said that the head of the winter melon came back quietly and strangled him, and then pushed him off the cliff. I don't think it's possible, because everyone in a village says he hasn't left the village, how can it be? Their village is more than ten miles away. It takes at least an hour or two to go back and forth, how can God come and kill him without knowing it? Besides, the winter melon head is not the kind of person with a heart. He was afraid that he couldn't come up with this trick of killing and going back, so I believed that the winter melon head might kill him. But I don't think it's possible. ”

After asking, Lu Jinping asked the daughter-in-law of the Su family to call Su Laohan and them back, and then told the old man that he would conduct some investigations the next day, so that he should not be in a hurry.

Tong County Linghe County Lieutenant hurriedly came in with a few arresters and said to Lu Jinping: "Just now Su Laohan came to us again to tell us about his son's grievances. We explained to him for a long time. By the way, sir, according to your arrangement, we have found some discoveries after visiting the village, and we would like to report to you. ”

Lu Jinping nodded, looked at Su Laohan and said, "Old man, go back to the room first, we have business to deal with." ”

Su Laohan hurriedly agreed to go back to the room, Lu Jinping stood in the courtyard and said to Tong County: "What did you find?" Let's talk about it. ”

"There is a farmer who said that on the day Su Laohan's son died, he once saw Su Laohan's son running to the school like crazy, yelling loudly as he ran. Hit yourself on the head with your hands. There is also a child who also met Su Laohan's son that day. At that time, the child was playing on the ridge, and he directly lifted the child into the field, and then rushed over, and the child looked terrible at him, and he didn't even dare to cry. I've called them, and they're outside. Do you want to ask? ”

Lu Jinping said: "Such an important witness, of course I have to ask in person, why didn't you find such important evidence before?" ”

Tong Xianling smiled a little embarrassedly and said: "We just checked the time when the winter melon head did not kill, and his son had no other external injuries. It didn't look like murder either, so there was no further investigation. ”

"Why are there no external injuries? His son has a pinch mark on his neck, and you should investigate further. ”

"Yes, it is the negligence of the lowly position. The lord pointed out. ”

Lu Jinping didn't go any further, in fact, he knew that for a county order, more things are better than less, especially life lawsuits. As long as there is insufficient evidence to prove that there is murder, the government will generally not take the initiative to rely on him for murder. Otherwise, it's a homicide. The murder requirements must be solved, and if it can't be solved, then the performance of the official will be affected. Therefore, Su Laohan insisted that it was the winter melon head who killed his son, and the winter melon head did not have time to commit the crime during their investigation, so they ignored the case, which is also the thoughts of these officials.

Lu Jinping called two eyewitnesses to ask them about what happened at that time, and the two of them said that it was the same as what Tong County Ling said just now.

This discovery allowed Lu Jinping to further confirm the speculation in his mind.

After the report was completed, Tong Xianling and others took their leave and left. Lu Jinping was standing in the courtyard, thinking about it, Su Laohan came over cautiously, and said with a smile: "Sir, it's late, can you rest in peace?" ”

Lu Jinping nodded, turned around and walked into the house, Su Laohan followed behind him, and asked: "Sir, the people from their county government helped the winter melon head and refused to redress my son's grievances, don't listen to their nonsense, my son was indeed killed by the winter melon head." ”

Lu Jinping turned his head to look at him: "Don't worry, I will definitely give you an explanation for your son." ”

As soon as he heard this, Su Laohan was immediately overjoyed, and felt a little hopeful, so he hurriedly Su Xiaomei helped tidy up the house, gave the largest room in their house to Lu Jinping, and brought the only bed of cotton wool in the house to Lu Jinping to cover.

After making preparations, Su Laohan invited Lu Jinping aside with a smile, and said in a low voice: "Sir, thank you for avenging my son's grievances, tonight, just ask my little sister to accompany you, right?" Anyway, in the future, she will also be your person, and she will be your person as a slave and a servant. ”

Lu Jinping shook his head and said, "I told you, it doesn't have to be like this. Catch Ming'er to find someone to marry her, there is no shortage of slaves around me, they are all supported by the imperial court, and I don't need to pay for them. ”

"My third sister doesn't want a penny, but she is grateful to you, so let her follow you. It's all right, sir, do you look down on her? She doesn't like to talk, in fact, she wasn't like this before, and she was like this after his father beat her crazy. Actually, I know that her father beat me, I told my son several times and reprimanded him, but he didn't admit it, this child is pitiful. ”

Lu Jinping saw that he couldn't make sense, knowing that this old man was very stubborn, he firmly believed that his son was murdered, so he would do whatever it took to avenge his son, maybe he was a little paranoid, now it's better not to tell him these things, so Lu Jinping shook his head and said: "Don't talk about it tonight, let's talk about it tomorrow, okay?" I'm sleepy and want to go to bed early. ”

Su Laohan hurriedly nodded and agreed, and asked Su Sanmei to help make the bed and fold the quilt, Ye Qingqing couldn't grab Su Sanmei, Su Sanmei folded the quilt, stood there with her head down but didn't leave.

Su Laohan has already left, presumably before leaving, he must have told Su Sanmei, so Lu Jinping said: "Third sister, go back to sleep, you don't need to serve here." ”

Su Sanmei's face was slightly red, and her voice trembled a little: "Grandpa said that I will accompany you tonight, I must be grandpa." ”

Lu Jinping sighed, what a pair of grandsons with dead eyes. So, he called Su Sanmei over and said, "Do you want to follow me?" ”

Su Sanmei nodded very seriously, glanced at Lu Jinping quickly, and quickly lowered her head

Lu Jinping said: "If you want to follow me, the first thing you have to remember is that my words must be carried out, and there is nothing negotiable." Got it? Lu Jinping said very seriously, and even put on an official posture.

Su Sanmei was really frightened, and glanced at Lu Jinping quickly, with panic in her eyes, she nodded, her movements were a little big, and the hair on her sideburns was a little scattered, covering half of her face.

Lu Jinping said: "Okay, then I will order you now, go back to your room, you don't need to serve here, do you understand?" ”

Zhu Sanmei nodded hurriedly, glanced at Lu Jinping quickly, bit her lip lightly, thought about it, and still didn't say the words that came to her mouth. After a blessing, he turned and left.

Ye Qingqing sighed and said to Lu Jinping: "Actually, he is quite pitiful, if you bring him to your side, it is not unavoidable." I think it's very smart, train well, and it must be your good helper. ”

Lu Jinping said: "I Qingqing is the best helper in the world, with you, I don't need to ask others." ”

Ye Qingqing didn't continue the topic, and began to lay on the floor, Lu Jinping went to bed, and slept on the floor under the bed, just like before, when the two of them had not yet started to make a career.

Just lying down, the moon faintly came in through the window lattice, Lu Jinping said, "Qingqing, are you asleep?" ”

Ye Qingqing hurriedly got up, sat on the edge of the bed and looked at him and said, "I haven't slept yet?" Don't want to drink water? Or do you want a toilet? ”

"Don't mix these two things together, okay?" Lu Jinping smiled bitterly, lifted the quilt and said, "You come up, lie next to me, I have something to tell you." ”

His voice was very low, Ye Qingqing was a little surprised, but without hesitation, he got into his quilt, covered the quilt, stuck to him, and waited for him to speak.

Lu Jinping lowered his voice and said, "Su Laohan is next door, you are under the bed and I will talk to you, the voice is loud, and you can't hear the small words, so I called you up." ”

Ye Qingqing nodded, still didn't speak, and quietly waited for Lu Jinping to say immediately.

Lu Jinping said: "What do you think, how did Su Laohan's son die?" ”

"I can't tell me, I always feel that the winter melon head seems unlikely to kill him, because since all the people of the village have proved that he is drunk there, and it is impossible to come back, how can he kill him? And I always felt that it was not quite reasonable to run to the edge of a cliff in the middle of nowhere and push people down the mountain. ”

"You are right, from the results of today's investigation, I can draw a preliminary judgment, Su Laohan's son died in an accident, and there are two eyewitnesses who testify that he ran in the direction of the cliff, which further confirms your speculation just now, that he accidentally fell off the cliff and died."

"However, he should know that there is a mountain cliff there, and the people in the village that his father said know that they usually don't go there, so how can they run and fall down by themselves?"

"Because he has a disease, a disease that makes it difficult to control his behavior!" (To be continued.) )