[February 15, 71st year of the Great Qiankang Yuan, noon, southwest of Chang'an City, Duliushu Law Field]

On this day, the weather was gloomy, the cold wind gusted, and on the Duliushu Dharma Field in the southwest of Chang'an City, there were three death row prisoners with their hands tied behind their backs and kneeling on the ground. Each offender has a wooden sign on his back, with his name, surname, place of origin, and what crime he has committed. The three criminals to be beheaded are two men and a woman, and the wooden plaques behind them read, from left to right: "Cangzhou thief, Xiong Wu, committed homicide, sentenced to beheading", "Suzhou merchants, Zhou Yu, committed the crime of forced rape of widows and murder, sentenced to beheading", "Xuchang Minnu, Yao Zibei, committed homicide, sentenced to beheading".

At this time, the two men were dejected, and they were already waiting for death. The young woman beside her, although unkempt and disheveled, straightened up and raised her head to the sky, as if to complain about the injustice of the sky. Her delicate goose egg face had been covered with her hair indiscriminately, but the crowd outside the court could still see her eyes full of grief and indignation through the messy hair......

Today's weather is cold, and these three condemned prisoners are not from Chang'an, so there are not many people beheaded outside the court. Most of these people came to see the excitement, and when they saw the woman kneeling on the ground but standing upright, they were all infected by her sad and unyielding look, and they began to talk about it......

"What crime has this woman committed, and she is going to be beheaded?"

"I heard that she is the son who killed Lord Zhao, of course she will be killed!"

"Lord Zhao, which Lord Zhao?"

"Isn't that the ...... Zhao Shilang of the Ministry of War?"

"Huh, that Zhao Gongzi...... He was actually killed by this woman?!"

"Isn't it! It's just this weak woman, I can't imagine it...... It's a pity!"

"That Zhao Gongzi...... specializes in kidnapping folk women, if he doesn't kill people, how can he be killed by a woman?"

"Anyway, that's how the official of the Criminal Department sentenced...... I can't wait for the little people!"

"I think it's that Zhao Gongzi who didn't commit adultery, but was killed by mistake?......

"Shh......h Be quiet, be quiet! The people sitting on it are all officials of the Criminal Department!"

......

Today's prison officer is Langzhong Huang Chaodong of the Criminal Department. He vaguely heard the chatter and discussion in the crowd, and thought that there must be no good words, so he felt a little irritable in his heart, so he turned sideways to a young man in a light blue official uniform, with a square face and clear eyebrows, and asked, "Jinhua, the hour is almost there, right?"

The man with a Chinese face, clear eyebrows, and one in his thirties is Song Jinhua, the new official of the Criminal Department. In the year-end official examination, he was promoted two levels in a row because of his "outstanding ability and reputation" and was promoted to a criminal department from the fifth grade. Today he was ordered to accompany the prisoner, and at this time, when he saw Huang Chaodong, the chief officer of the headquarters, asking, he hurriedly replied:

"Lord Huang, it's two o'clock in the afternoon, and when you leave the chop, there is still one ......."

"Another moment?" Huang Chaodong couldn't help but look up at the sky, and said in his heart, how could this hour pass so slowly! He had already been sitting on the stage for a long time, and he had to wait another moment!

At this time, the north wind blew more and more fiercely, blowing Huang Chaodong couldn't help but pull up his collar, shrink his neck, and couldn't wait to find a thick cotton mattress to wrap around his body. Helplessly, the prison cutting platform of this Dharma field is facing the tuyere, where to find a cotton mattress at this time? This Huang Chaodong had to keep rubbing his hands and breathing, and his feet were so cold that he stomped his feet. He also kept cursing this god in his heart, what the hell did he make in this early spring!

Accompanied by the north wind with the call sign, a few snowflakes fell in the gloomy sky. At first, there were only one, two, three snowflakes...... After that, it goes down more and more, and it gets denser and denser. The flying snowflakes, following the cold wind, swirled and fluttered in the air, as if to wash this muddy and dirty world anew......

This white snowflake, like a white petal, fluttering, flying all over the sky. She was pure without a trace of impurities, she was light and clear without a sound, she came with the wind, quietly falling to the ground, as if she was sighing helplessly for the woman in the court.

Snowflakes fell on the court, on the crowd, and on the hair, face, and body of the young female prisoner...... I saw that the female prisoner was muttering while munching on the snowflakes that had fallen into her mouth......

The crowd of onlookers boiled again, and they all said:

"It's snowing heavily, this is a grievance! This woman ...... I must be wronged!"

"God has opened his eyes!

"The snow fell on the law field, my old man has never seen it in his life!

......

"Lord Huang, the time has come!" Song Jinhua said.

Huang Chaodong, who was already shivering from the cold, heard this, as if he had been amnestied, hurriedly threw a token from the lottery holder, and shouted vigorously: "The hour has come, behead!"

After the cannon rang out three times, the executioner's hand raised his knife and fell, and a bearded human head of the Cangzhou thief Xiong Wu rolled down with a grunt.

Because there were only three criminals, there was only one executioner who used a knife in the court today. After cutting Xiong Wu, the executioner with a hideous face walked to Zhou Yu's side again. At this time, Zhou Yu was so frightened that he was paralyzed, and before the knife arrived, the person had already fallen to the ground. The executioner seemed to be surprised by this, and when he saw this, he beckoned to the side, and hurried up a sturdy young man.

The sturdy fellow seemed to be the executioner's apprentice. He got the master's order, so he stepped forward to take Zhou Yu's body

Zi helped up, grabbed Zhou Yu's long hair firmly, and then nodded at the master. The executioner didn't say a word, he lifted the ghost head knife and cut his head, Zhou Yuzhi was so frightened that his eyes closed, and he suddenly felt a chill on his neck, his body and head had been separated, and the blood in the remnant body immediately gushed out......

The executioner held the devil's broadsword, and finally walked over to the young female prisoner. He couldn't help but look stunned when he saw that the girl was straightening up at this time, and her eyes were staring at the sky, and then he waved his hand to the apprentice beside him, and the sturdy young man immediately retreated.

"Brother Xu Ke, Xiaobei will only see you again in the next life!" The young female prisoner raised her head to the sky, and finally let out a mournful roar!

In the snowflakes, the burly executioner raised his ghost-headed broadsword with both hands and was about to cut it down at the neck of the female prisoner......

"Wait!" suddenly shouted someone on the high platform.

The executioner had no choice but to put down the machete, and at this time, a man who had already "soared" from the high platform was Song Jinhua, the newly arrived director of the Criminal Department.

"My lord, ...... you?" the executioner asked Song Jinhua. He was very dissatisfied in his heart, and said in his heart that this knife to cut off someone's head is not a joke, but must be done in one go! You are now shouting out of thin air, so that I can't lift this breath, wait a minute, how can I cut people? If you can't cut off your head with a knife, or if you delay the hour, whose responsibility is it!

However, when the executioner saw Song Jinhua's blue official robe, he knew that he was a five-grade official, and his words were naturally extremely respectful.

"This official asks two words, you retreat first!" Song Jinhua waved his hand to the executioner, and the burly man had to take the big knife and retreat aside.

Song Jinhua walked to the young female prisoner's side, and asked her, "Girl...... What's your name? Who is the 'Brother Xu Ke' you just shouted? Is he in Chang'an City?"

The young female prisoner, who was disheveled and ragged, still holding her head high, said:

"The people's daughter Yao Zibei, 'Brother Xu' is the life-saving benefactor of the people's daughter, and his family lives in Liquanfang, north of Chang'an. He's an amazing hero!"

"Miss Yao, that 'Brother Xu' of yours...... How old is she, what does she look like, and what does she do in Chang'an City? Can the girl tell the official?" Song Jinhua asked again

......

This Song Jinhua and Xu Ke have worked together in the household department for many days, and the two are very close to each other. As soon as he heard Yao Zibei shouting "Brother Xu Ke" on the court today, he immediately stopped the executioner's execution. He didn't care about the rules in the criminal department at this time, so he hurriedly ran to Yao Zibei and asked carefully......

Song Jinhua also knew that Xu Ke's family lived in Liquanfang, north of Chang'an. On the same day, he was also ordered by Qiu Mingli to personally rush to Xufu to report the news. At this time, he heard Yao Zibei talk about Xu Ke's body and age, and after comparing the two, he knew that this woman must be Xu Ke's old acquaintance.

At that moment, Song Jinhua returned to the stage and said to the supervisor Huang Chaodong: "Lord Huang, this woman can't be killed!"

Huang Chaodong was already very annoyed when he saw that Song Jinhua had interrupted the execution for no reason, and at this time, he heard that Song Jinhua was going to exempt the female prisoner from the death penalty, so he immediately became furious and took the case, but after thinking about it, he couldn't help it again, but asked with a cold expression:

"Song Tuiguan, this female prisoner has been tried in the lobby of the Criminal Department, and she herself has confessed to the death penalty of the painting, and Lord Shangshu has personally sentenced her to death!

Song Jinhua's face did not change, and he bowed his hand and said, "Lord Huang, do you know who this woman is?"

Huang Chaodong said indifferently: "Isn't it just a folk girl from Xuchang Mansion in Huaiyang Road......? She is a disaster victim, so she can't be killed?" he thought to himself, don't tell me, this woman can't be beheaded if she is a disaster victim, although the emperor said that he would not let a disaster victim starve to death and freeze to death, but the disaster victim who violated the law and killed people must also pay for his life!

Song Jinhua couldn't help sneering in his heart, and said secretly, it seems that you also know the details of this folk girl! At that moment, he said in a deep voice: "Lord Huang, this woman's surname is Yao Mingzibei, and she is the godsister of Xu Ke, a hundred households in the Anping Division of Qingyi Weibei. ”

"She's Xu Baihu's godsister?how is it possible?!" Huang Chaodong wondered. He had already heard of Xu Ke's name. As one of the 100 households appointed by the emperor and the youngest Wupin court official in the history of Daqian, Huang Chaodong still has some concerns about the word "Xu Ke" in his heart......

"Master Hui! Xia Guan had already asked the prisoner clearly! She told Xu Baihu about his appearance, age, identity, and even the location of the Xu Mansion completely true. If these two are not righteous brothers and sisters, how can they know so clearly?"

Huang Chaodong was still suspicious: "This Xu Baihu is in Chang'an, how can there be a godsister in Xuchang Mansion hundreds of miles away?

Song Jinhua said: "If you don't believe it, you can come forward and ask in person, or send someone to invite Xu Baihu to take a look......

Huang Chaodong's face suddenly sank, and he said unhappily: "Jinhua! Even if this woman is Xu Baihu's godsister, she has committed a capital crime, and our criminal department has already sentenced her to death." This country has national laws, and the family has family rules, and since she has killed someone, she should be asked to behead her! Today, the official is ordered to supervise and behead, no matter whose godsister she is, or her own sister, she will be treated equally in front of the national law! Now that the time has been missed, you have to say it again, and the official will behead her!"

After that, Huang Chaodong took out a wooden chopping card from the lottery on the case, and was about to throw it into the court, and his mouth was ready to shout, "Behead the prisoner!"

Song Jinhua next to him just said coldly: "Lord Huang, Xu Baihu is the master of Qiu Shangshu, and he is still a confidant of King Wei

It's good to explain, please think twice......"

At first glance, when he heard the word "King of Wei", Huang Chaodong's hand holding the card was frozen in mid-air. Li Jin, the king of Wei, was the prince of Jiuzhu in the current dynasty, and it was rumored that the holy family was Zhenglong, and he was a popular candidate for the new crown prince. If he was allowed to risk offending the King of Wei, he, Huang Chaodong, would not have the courage to do so anyway. Moreover, he also heard that this time the King of Wei was ordered to go south to raise food, and encountered a surprise attack by assassins on the way, thanks to Xu Baihu's desperate guards, his life was saved......

"According to you...... What should I do?" asked Huang Chaodong in a low voice. His right hand, which had been held high in the air, finally hung down softly at this moment. The wooden plaque engraved with the word "chop" seemed to be reluctantly thrown back into the lottery holder by Huang Chaodong.

Song Jinhua immediately bowed his hand and said: "Lord Huang, this case is full of suspicions, how can this Yao Zibei, a weak woman, commit murder? Today, there was a sudden heavy snowfall on the court, and the audience all said that God was crying out for this woman...... In the opinion of the following officials, Yao Nu should be escorted back to the Criminal Department and retried with Yousi!"

"This ...... If Lord Xiao asks...... Huang Chaodong waved his hand again and again.

"If Xiao Shangshu asks, you can put it all on the lower officials!" Song Jinhua immediately said.

"That's what you said!" Huang Chaodong was waiting for this sentence, as soon as he heard Song Jinhua's words, he immediately stood up, hurriedly got off the high platform, and walked away.

"Song Tuiguan, I'll leave it all to you here! You can do whatever you want, just treat it as if the official has ......never been here" Far away, Huang Chaodong didn't forget to throw a word to Song Jinhua.

At this time, although the heavy snow gradually stopped, the wind was strong, and Huang Chaodong didn't want to stay longer for a moment in this cold and freezing field......

"Come on, bring the people's daughter Yao Zibei back to the prison of the Criminal Department, and the official will be retried immediately!" Song Jinhua sat up straight and commanded loudly.

"Yes!" replied in unison to the officials standing below.

Seeing that several officers from the Criminal Department stepped forward, they took out the wooden plaque inserted behind Yao Zibei's neck, and did not behead her, but escorted her out of the court. The crowd of onlookers pointed and pointed again, and everyone started to speak, most of them applauded, some people bowed to the sky, saying that God opened their eyes, and some people lowered their heads and shook their heads, sighing and saying that the retrial may not be able to overturn the case, and then the woman is afraid that she will inevitably have a knife in the neck......

Strange to say, after a cadre of the Criminal Department escorted Yao Zibei out of the court, the heavy snow suddenly stopped, the north wind gradually slowed down, and the originally gloomy sky became clear.

Song Jinhua ordered his subordinates to escort Yao Zibei to the prison of the Criminal Department. He himself didn't dare to delay, and immediately rode a fast horse to Tsing Yiwei.

Song Jinhua explained his intention to the guard guarding the door, and when the guard heard that it was Xu Baihu's old colleagues visiting, he didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly ran inside. Before long, the guard ran out again and replied to Song Jinhua, the Lord of the Hundred Households was ordered to go out on business, but he was not in the guard at this time.

"When did your Xu Baihu go out, what did you do, and when will you come back?" Song Jinhua hurriedly asked.

"Lord Xu went out three days ago, I don't know when he will come back, as for what Lord Baihu is doing, this ......" The guard touched his head and said with a sad face.

Song Jinhua knew that all the important members of the Tsing Yi Guard would often go to do some secret errands for the Son of Heaven. At this time, he saw that the guards hesitated and did not answer, and he could not force himself, so he turned around and went straight to the household.

Song Jinhua rushed to the Yamen of the household department in a hurry. When the doorman saw that it was the former Song chief who came back, he did not step forward to stop him. Song Jinhua didn't wait for the ceremony, so he walked straight into the official room of Lord Shangshu.

At this time, Qiu Mingli was sitting in the room with Pan Wenjuan, the newly promoted household servant, to discuss official business. As soon as Pan Wenjuan saw Song Jinhua running into the room panting, he immediately showed displeasure and scolded: "Song Tuiguan! Lord Qiu's official room, how can you trespass at will! You have just been transferred to the Criminal Department for less than two months, how can you ...... Can you not follow the rules of my household?!"

Or Qiu Mingli waved his hand and said kindly: "It's Jinhua, why do you want to find the old man, and you are so eager?"

Song Jinhua immediately walked up to Qiu Mingli and whispered, "Lord Qiu, I am in a hurry to come, is it ...... It's for Xu Baihu's business......"

Qiu Mingli saw that Song Jinhua's expression was quite solemn, and he understood in his heart, so he stood up and said to Pan Wenjuan: "Master Pan, the old man who should be said has also said it, and the rest of the affairs in the government office will be decided by Lord Pan......

Pan Wenjuan also hurriedly got up and replied with a smile: "Okay! Lord Qiu has been busy for a long time, so he should rest for a while, and leave the rest of these trivial matters to the lower officials!"

After Pan Wenjuan walked away, Song Jinhua hurriedly said: "Lord Qiu, today I was ordered to behead three death row prisoners, but I didn't expect that there was a female prisoner to be beheaded, who actually claimed to be Xu Baihu's righteous sister!"

"Oh, where is this woman now?" asked Qiu Mingli hurriedly.

Song Jinhua said: "When I heard that this woman was Xu Baihu's sister-in-law, I stopped the executioner on the spot, and now I have temporarily detained her in the cell of the Criminal Department. But ......"

"Let's go, go to the criminal department immediately!" Qiu Mingli said immediately, and as soon as he spoke, the person had already walked out of the door......

Song Jinhua hurriedly followed and ran out. At this time, he saw Qiu Shangshu's striding figure, and he was not surprised in his heart. He secretly said that Lord Shangshu was not lame in his left leg, how could he still walk as fast as he could without crutches now?

It turned out that since Qiu Mingli took Hu Yiyi's healing medicine and practiced the leg training method taught by the Bibo Fairy, now not only can his legs walk as usual, but he can also walk like a fly compared to ordinary people...... Full Book - Free Full Book Reading Network