Although Dali Temple is the primary place of justice, the size of its public hall is not much different from that of ordinary prefectures and counties.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Jin Dynasty, it was the first to build the official office, and then there was the capital, when the Dali Temple only had one or two court officials "judging the ministry affairs", and later because of the development of the matter, there was now the scale of nearly 100 officials. However, the capital has already been an inch of land, that is, the book forced the expansion of the street and demolition of houses for fire prevention is not enough, let alone only for the benefit of the office, to expand the Dali Temple.

At this moment, on top of this small public hall, Li Chengwei straightened his waist and retorted without fear or fear: "...... The villain listened to the words of the housekeeper, and only thought that someone was going to frame me for the Li family's property, and in a hurry, he gave birth to a left sex and made a fork in the road - this is a sin, and he admits punishment, but if he wants to ask the villain to admit the crime of killing Chen Siqu, even if he dies! ”

In just a few days, he was much haggard, and although his eyes were bloodshot, he could still speak without leaking.

Taoxiang, the girl in Chen Siqu's house in Xiangfu County, stood aside, and was a little beaten by his words.

Li Chengwei Zhenzhen said: "This case has been many years, and the villain was not in Xiangfu County at that time, as long as you check the previous account books, you can know that it is Pingyang Mansion that collects tea - this road is long and long, and the food and dew are dewed, how to find any witnesses?" Is it just because of this that only one person can be convicted of murder by just one person? ”

He pointed to Momoka and said, "You can see clearly, is the old man really the person you saw before?" ”

Many years ago, the little girl turned into a mother-in-law, that is, the handsome young man who was missing half of his ear stood back in front of him, and Momoxiang may not be able to recognize it, let alone Li Chengwei, who was much fatter and had one less ear.

She suddenly opened her mouth and stammered, and said helplessly: "That thief broke half of his ear......"

Li Chengwei sneered and said: "There are many people in the world who have broken ears, fingers, and even broken arms, can I conclude that person is me just by one ear?" ”

Speaking of this, he bowed to the officials who asked about the case, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, when Chen Siqu was killed, it coincided with the death of the villain's father not long ago, and I had no brothers, and the family was very tidy, so I had to support the door alone. ”

"The old man and Chen Siqu have no life-and-death enmity, but because of some blockages, they made trouble in the yamen, only a few copper coins, is it worth killing for me?"

Even in this court, human and physical evidence are not favorable to him, but it does not prevent Li Chengwei from talking like a river and swaying freely, and the words "only a few copper coins" are almost hummed out of his nose, and the contempt in them is overflowing.

This passage is really convincing.

The Li family has been rich for generations, Li Chengwei has always been rich in clothes and food since he entered the Li family, and the silver and goods that he sued Chen Siqu for coveting that day may seem huge in the eyes of ordinary people, but for Li Chengwei, it can't be called a break at all.

No matter who this matter is talking about, he will not feel that Li Chengwei needs to take risks for this lawsuit and kill Chen Siqu in person.

He has no evidence, but he has no motive, and although he has the ability, he has no need.

Unless there was some special reason that he had to kill that Chen Siqu.

As soon as Li Chengwei's interrogation was over, he was led down and waited in the outer hall for the officials of the Dali Temple inside to interrogate the witnesses.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one cared, he put his hands on the hem of his clothes, gently wiped the sweat on his palms, and slowly exhaled a breath of air in his heart.

This breath has been held for too long.

On the evening of the day his ear was removed, he returned to prison, and he slowly came to his senses, and then he heard the peach fragrance identification in the hall, and it was as if he had received a basin of cold water, which made him regret it.

The actions of the past few days were really caused by haste and chaos, and from chaos to mistakes!

The first is that he didn't dare to ask in detail, he got too little information, otherwise how could he get to this point!

He saw that Wang Gou was so vicious, and he heard the steward say that the main culprit in the case of Chen Siqu was being wanted outside - he was a person with a half-severed ear on the right, and he always thought that it was the first time he did things before, first, he was young, and secondly, he was a little flustered, leaving some big flaws, and it was a big mistake between the emperors.

It turned out that he just saw his severed ear!

In fact, it is known that he has a right ear that is half severed, so what should he do?

When Chen Siqu died, it was many years ago, and he was seen by one or two people, and his severed ears were just empty mouths and white teeth, which could not prove that he was the murderer. Now that time has passed, as long as you deny it, who can judge the case based on this?

If he was really sentenced like this, he would not need to be helped, but he would personally go and beat the drum, so that the people of the world would know that there were also people among the merchants who knew the law and were articulate, and they must not be despised for it!

It's just that he was too anxious and stupid, so he hurriedly cut off his ears, but he fell down, attracting the suspicion of others.

***

The case is being tried in Dali Temple at one end, and Ji Qingling has already returned to Jinliangqiao Street at the other end.

It is said that it is good to be at home for a thousand days, but it is difficult to leave home for a day. Although she went to Xiangfu County, which is not far away, but this time she traveled in winter, and encountered continuous snowfall, not to mention the many things she brought, and it was not convenient to act.

The group simply put things away, and rested for two days, and finally recovered some energy, early this morning, Ji Qingling was arranging for someone to send Tuyi, and before he could count the invitations and letters he received for a while, he saw Qiu Shuang trotting into the door, and said hurriedly: "Madam, I heard that the person sent to Quanzhou to investigate the case in the Criminal Division has returned!" ”

Quanzhou is far away from the mountains and rivers of the capital, and the officials of the Criminal Department have to go back and forth, and they have to add the investigation of the matter, which is a lot of delay.

The case of Li Chengwei's murder of his mother and wife was originally tried by the Kyoto Prefecture, and later transferred to the Criminal Division, and was finally picked up by Dali Temple, but at that time, the person sent by the Criminal Department to investigate the case had already arrived in Quanzhou, and the case was also half investigated, and it was too late to recall.

At present, these people not only brought a lot of clues, but also brought back a few witnesses, including Li Chengwei's husband and father-in-law of the original daughter, and a mother-in-law who has taken care of Li Chengwei's grandson since childhood.

Since Li Liniang's death, the Thai half-steward has redeemed himself, and he is not working in that house now, but he has not set up his own door, and still helps take care of the original shops.

Qiu Shuang didn't listen to much, and learned them one by one at this time.

"Several officials went to Quanzhou, in the end not like rosin, the name is not right, it is very inconvenient to act, they have an official letter in their hands, and they went to the yamen to transfer the household registration of Li Liniang's husband's family - it turned out that the Wei family was not from Quanzhou, but it was moved over, although they lived for a few years, but the business could not be done, but they opened two shops to eat together, not to say rich, but it is not as good as ordinary rich people."

Quanzhou is near the sea, and there is a port for trade, its commerce and trade are prosperous, and the atmosphere of wealth and nobility is not necessarily weaker than that of the capital. It is said that a strong dragon does not suppress the head snake, it is not a strong dragon, and when it comes to a new place, it is naturally more difficult to get ahead.

"It's just that coincidental, when the officials arrived at the place, it happened that the Wei family was selling their homestead land, and they heard that the business in Quanzhou couldn't continue, so they were going to move away - looking for the Chinese people, it was easy to find the main owner."

Hearing this, Ji Qingling couldn't help but lean forward and interjected and asked, "Then where did the Wei family move to Quanzhou?" ”

Qiu Shuang smiled so hard that he even narrowed his eyes, and said: "Originally, it was said that he was from the Daimyo's Mansion, but now he is being tried in the hall - I heard that he has a Yingzhou accent." ”

"I don't know where Li Chengwei found this living treasure son-in-law, as soon as he arrived in the hall, his two legs trembled, his father didn't look like a businessman, he couldn't say anything, several officials asked Quanzhou again, it is said that the father and son of the Wei family are not in Quanzhou all the year round, and Li Liniang was originally married, and she and her husband have not lived together for a few days."

Ji Qingling listened attentively and asked, "Can you say how did you know that Li Chengwei at the beginning, and how did you get to this kiss?" ”

"I said I met when I was doing business,......" Qiu Shuang smiled proudly, "These two fathers and sons have really helped a lot, and Madame can't imagine what good things the two of them have done!" ”

She didn't sell Guanzi either, she was more excited than she heard, and said: "That day, Li Liniang was still in confinement because of dystocia, and she didn't see her husband before she died, so she entrusted her son to the girl who accompanied her to take care of her mother-in-law. ”

"Later, the Wei family caught fire, everything was burned, and the child was also seriously injured, and it didn't take long to disappear."

"Although Li Liniang said that she left early, she had a motherly heart, because she was afraid that her husband would remarry, her stepmother was mean, and she was afraid that the evil servant would bully the weak master, and her son would grow up and be in a desolate situation, so she left something for her son and put it in Hengtong Building.

"The token is a copper lock that the child carries, the lock is hollowed out, and there is a key, and the key can open the box in the Hengtong Building."

"The father and son of the Wei family didn't know where they knew about this matter, and when the officials of the Criminal Department went, the two of them were taking the copper lock and key, and discussed with the steward in Hengtong Building, to take the property of Li Liniang in that place."

If it was just an ordinary treasure, it would naturally not be called Qiu Shuang's performance.

"The steward of Hengtong Building refuses, and he must agree to it only after the original agreement is agreed that the owner and the token will arrive at the same time." Qiu Shuang raised his chin slightly, shook his head and said, "In my opinion, I think it was Hengtonglou who wanted to swallow what Li Liniang existed in, but because the Wei family did not die, the two sides were deadlocked. It is the snipe and the clam that compete with each other, and the fisherman profits! ”

"When the box is opened, suppose ma'am, what's in it?"

***

Don't say that Ji Qingling couldn't think of it, but when Gu Yanzhang learned the details, it took a while to react.

"Handwritten?"

"Exactly, it is a handkerchief, and there is another letter, that handkerchief thinks it has been put for many years, it has been yellowed, there are only a few words on it, and it can be vaguely recognized, and the letter looks like Li Liniang's tone, except for the one written to her son, there are a few pieces of paper behind it, and she guesses the cause of the death of the old lady Xu on it."

Gu Yanzhang took the letter from his subordinates and looked down.

I think that the handkerchief has been stored in a humid place like Quanzhou for a long time, even if it has its own rue fragrance - when it is used to prevent moisture and insects in the box - it is still slightly moldy.

There are eleven words on it.

"The big finger of the killer of mine has a wounded wrist and a tooth mark."

Although the handwriting on the top is beautiful, it is not neat, it looks a little blurry, and the first few are barely with the structure, and after writing, there are fewer words and fewer paintings.

If you look at this veil alone, it is really confusing, but if you read it together, it is very clear.

There are two pages of the letter, one page is to exhort his son not to rely on the silver ticket in the box when he reads this letter, no matter what his situation is, not to sit on the empty mountain with the silver ticket in the box, and if he is in a very bad situation, he should take the money, whether he is studying or doing business, as long as he has the heart to do it, it is the right way, and he must not be presumptuous and arrogant.

Another page of fragments, apparently written in two parts. The first half of the handwriting is still a little tender, and the writing is also in the tone of a little girl, recording the anxiety and worry of taking care of her mother during the day.

Gu Yanzhang skipped the previous large paragraph of narration, only glanced at it, and found the key words in the middle place.

The vertical handwriting is very messy, the writing is completely illogical, it looks very confusing, but it is a vernacular sandwiched with literary language, simply saying that he went to take care of his mother during the day, and was called away by the servant woman halfway because of something, and when he came back, he saw that his father was in the room, and the mother, who had gradually improved, suddenly became worse after resigning.

She was very nervous, and was about to ask someone to ask for a doctor, but was appeased by the person who was waiting next to her mother, saying something, "Your father said that the first few are unreliable, and they have already gone to someone to find a famous doctor, and they will be there in a moment."

Who would have expected that before the doctor arrived, her mother woke up halfway.

At this time, although Xu Shi returned to the light, he couldn't even say a word, and only secretly handed her a handkerchief.

Although Li Liniang is young, she is very clever, since her mother got sick, she has seen something wrong, and she did not dare to see it on the spot. The next day, when her mother died, she accidentally saw her father Li Chengwei's left little finger wrapped in a cloth.

In the end, it is the biological father, with only a handkerchief, how dare Li Liniang convict him with this? is convicted, she is a girl in the boudoir, don't say that in the future, even if she eats now, she will rely on her father and the Li family, where can she dare to react?

What's more, her father and daughter, if she speaks out to expose her father, she will be unfilial.