Nongmen Shenjue

When the only son had an accident, Master Pan was anxious and angry, and fell ill with blood rushing, unable to move half of his body.Fortunately, the doctor was called in time, and after acupuncture and medicine, he regained consciousness, but his vitality was seriously injured and he had to lie on the bed to recuperate.Master Pan didn't have any brothers, only two sisters who were married far away. As a last resort, he had to ask Uncle Pan to help with Pan Xiu's affairs.

Uncle Pan sighed: "It's hard to support a single tree. At the beginning, my brother-in-law and the others didn't like the girl from the Zhuo family. It was because the Zhuo family was an only daughter, and they were alone and had no help. My niece and daughter-in-law are different now, and they are incomparable. The Zhuo family has a solid family background, but there are two brothers and several nephews in the family. This time it is also thanks to their family, if they hadn't come to Pan's house to accompany their nephew and daughter-in-law, the Zhuo family would have called on them long ago."

There is a saying: It is difficult for an upright official to break up housework

In fact, it's not just about housework. There are not a few cases of homicides like this where the victim makes trouble at the murderer's house.The sufferer is justified, even if the murderer's house is smashed, outsiders will sympathize with the sufferer.Only when there are many brothers in the family, others are afraid of it.

Mrs. Pan motioned to the maid standing beside her, and the maid took out a palm-sized wooden box and presented it to the table next to Mu Qingyan.The box was opened, and there were stacks of banknotes inside. Although the exact number was not visible, the denomination was 100 taels, at least a few hundred taels of silver.

Mrs. Pan said: "My family's Xiu'er is an innocent disaster. My grandson has not yet been born, so I can't lose my father. I heard that Mr. Qiu from Fengzhou rewarded Mr. Mu with 1000 taels of silver. Although my family is not as good as the Qiu family Wealthy, but Xiu'er is the lifeblood of our husband and wife, even if the family wealth is lost, as long as he can be fine..."

After all, it was the mother, who mourned for days, choked up and couldn't speak.

Uncle Pan had no choice but to answer: "Master Mu, forgive me, my sister can't eat and can't sleep well now, if it wasn't for her nephew, she would have collapsed on the bed long ago."

Mu Qingyan can naturally understand, but: "Forgive me, I can only investigate cases, but I am not in the yamen, let alone in charge of trial cases. Even if according to what you said, Pan Xiu was wronged in this matter, but it is true that he killed someone , how can I help? Besides, if Pan Xiuzhen recognized Zhuo Yanyan as a ghost and killed someone in panic, the yamen will naturally consider this, you might as well find a lawyer who is good at litigation, Or take a look at the mouth of the county magistrate, and then talk about how to deal with it."

Mu Qingyan was also thinking about it at the same time, thinking that the Pan family would not come to him in such a panic.

Uncle Pan told the truth: "To be honest, we tried to ask the county magistrate, but... although we didn't see the county magistrate, we found out something else. If in the past, there was room for nephew, but , But now that the imperial envoy is in Wanxia County, it is said that he was very dissatisfied with the county magistrate earlier, causing the county magistrate to be strict in everything, and I am afraid that he will not allow my nephew to be dealt with lightly."

When mentioning the imperial envoy, Mu Qingyan raised his eyebrows.

Since the Pan family was able to find him, they naturally knew why he was in Wanxia County, so they wouldn't want to get anything through him, would they?In fact, Pan Xiu's murder case is well-documented, but different people will get different results.For example, the most serious case is to be executed as homicide, and the light case is to be acquitted.

The key lies in the time when the crime happened, Zhuo Yanyan, who was the victim, was special.

Mu Qingyan pondered for a moment: "If we can find out the truth about Zhuo Yanyan's death and resurrection a year ago, maybe it will help Master Pan's case."

"Master Mu, please take care of me." Uncle Pan said hastily.

Mu Qingyan said first: "All I can do is to find out what happened in the past, but I can't influence the government to decide the case."

To put it bluntly, Pan Xiu's murder was undisputed, and all he could do now was to find out some hidden things to prove that Pan Xiu did not kill intentionally, but was just a manslaughter in a panic.These were presented to the county magistrate who decided the case, but it is unknown whether the county magistrate will give a lenient sentence in the end.

After hearing this, Mrs. Pan cried again.

Uncle Pan also wiped away his tears, and nodded: "Mr. Mu, don't worry, we all know this. It is a fact that my nephew killed someone, but this matter... I just feel too wronged. Now we can only do our best and obey the destiny. I hope that when the time comes, the county will Let the master feel sorry for his nephew, as long as he can save his life."

After all, killing is worth life, as long as you don't pay for your life, everything else is easy to talk about.

In this case, it is more beneficial to have more chips in your own hands.

The Pan family didn't go to the doctor in a hurry, but had discussed it long ago, and felt that Zhuo Yanyan's resurrection was the key. Their Pan family insisted on this point, and the Zhuo family couldn't get rid of it.

Mu Qingyan picked up the banknotes in the box, exactly ten of them, he took two out of them, and pushed the rest into the box: "I will find out about Zhuo Yanyan, try my best to open the banknotes before the county government office. Give me a result. 200 taels is enough."

The fee of 200 taels is not low, which is different from previous cases.

Furthermore, he also had some speculations about Zhuo Yanyan's sudden appearance in the middle of the night.

"This, how can this be done!" The Pan family siblings were anxious.It's not that he doesn't feel sorry for money, but he needs others. Not only does he have a low profile, but he can't be stingy with money. I hope that because of this, Mu Qingyan will pay more attention to it.Whether you work with your heart or not, and how much attention you use, makes a big difference.The Pan family is not afraid of spending money now, but they are afraid that the money will not be spent.

Mu Qingyan naturally understood the Pan family's psychology, so he just said lightly: "If Master Pan can be acquitted, please thank me."

The Pan family accepted the returned banknotes, and an hour later, they sent another carload of New Year's goods, all of which were needed for the New Year.Pan's family is in the business of dry goods, and the New Year's goods delivered include all kinds of dry goods, neatly packed in boxes, such as mushrooms, fungus, white fungus, kelp, fish and shrimp, etc., all of which are in good condition.

"How about eating hot pot at night?" Mu Qingyan asked Wen Jixue.

"Is there enough stuff at home?" Wen Jixue took out dried mushrooms, fungus, and kelp from it, and asked Gao Tian to soak them in warm water.

"That's enough. I originally planned to have a few hot pot meals during the Chinese New Year, and the ingredients are all ready." I bought a lot of various bean products, and the ingredients for frying the hot pot base. At least a dozen meals are enough.

"Go inside, your hair is not dry yet." A brazier was lit inside the house, so it was naturally much warmer than outside.

The two entered the house, the door was not closed, but it was covered by a thick curtain, which cut off the cold wind outside, and surrounded the brazier to keep warm, and felt sleepy after a while.

Wen Jixue chatted with him about the Pan family.

Mu Qingyan smiled and said: "Although I only heard what the Pan family said, I think Zhuo Yanyan must not have returned to the Zhuo family after she came back to life, otherwise the Zhuo family should not have kept it a secret, let alone rejecting her last night. Outside the door. The Pan family said that the reason why Pan Xiu killed Zhuo Yanyan was because she mistook people for ghosts. Zhuo Yanyan was indeed buried a year ago, but if she hadn't come to the door in the middle of the night and was dressed in white, where would she be? It would be so frightening."

Seeing that he was sleepy, Wen Jixue took him into her arms and pulled the cloak over him.

Mu Qingyan leaned on his lap, closed her eyes, and said lazily: "It's unlucky for anyone to wear white clothes during Chinese New Year. Besides, Zhuo Yanyan knocked on the door of Zhuo's house first, and Zhuo Yanyan knocked on Zhuo's house first. She turned to look for Pan's family when she refused to open the house. Pan's family was not her first target, not to mention, after a year, she didn't seem to be looking for trouble on purpose.

The Zhuo family was also frightened by Zhuo Yanyan's appearance, mistaking it for a ghost.Then, the Zhuo family didn't know about Zhuo Yanyan's resurrection, at least not on the surface.So, where is Zhuo Yanyan this year?Why is she willing to feign death all the time?And why did you choose to go home alone on the night of the New Year's Eve?I think that her place of residence this year must be not far from home.Her white dress may be an inner skirt. "

The inner garments of the ancients were mostly white.

Wen Jixue immediately understood: "Do you suspect that she has been in Xiliupu?"

Mu Qingyan chuckled: "Last night, there was a fire in Xiliupu, and several houses were burned. We can assume that if she happened to be in a house that was on fire, or a house nearby, she was frightened by the fire, and it was too late to wear her clothes. Come out. At that time, Xiliu shop was in a mess, she might not be able to find anyone to ask for help, or there were some other reasons that made her want to go back to Zhuo's house for help. Who knew that Zhuo's house thought she was a ghost and refused to open the door for her. The Pan family was rejected again. She had a relationship with Pan Xiu, and Pan Xiu abandoned her to marry another. Resentment? Unscrupulous words must have angered Pan Xiu, and also induced fear, thinking that Zhuo Yanyan had really turned into a ghost to seek revenge on him, and that's why the manslaughter happened."

He said so, but Mu Qingyan still had reservations about Pan Xiu's "manslaughter".

"You don't rest during Chinese New Year." Wen Jixue never interfered with his acceptance of commissions, but just complained casually.

"Make money to support your family." He laughed as he said it.

The next day, after breakfast, Mu Qingyan and Wen Jixue went to Pan's house.

He didn't go in, he just stood at the corner of the street, recalling what happened on the night of the New Year's Eve.

Because she suspected that Zhuo Yanyan was from Xiliupu, she paid extra attention to the time when Zhuo Yanyan appeared.

The fire in Xiliupu happened at about [-]:[-] p.m., and although it gets dark early in winter, it was still early, so the fire was discovered in time.It took about half an hour for the fire to be extinguished, and Zhuo Yanyan appeared at the street corner at half past five hours (ten o'clock in the evening).

There is an hour gap in the middle, which is strange.

At half past five, there were very few people on the street, and there was only the light of lanterns on both sides of the street, which looked quite lonely.A woman in white came from one end of the street with shrugged shoulders, and the light cast a slender shadow.It was the cold winter of the twelfth lunar month, and the woman was only in a white silk skirt, with a white gauze upper body and a moon white bijia.

She walked straight to the gate of Zhuo's house and knocked on the door: "Father! Mother! Open the door, I am Yanyan."

Zhuo Yanyan!

On such a cold day, walking all the way in only thin clothes, she was already shivering, her face was frozen innocent, and her voice was fluttering and flickering.Not to mention that everyone in the county knew that Zhuo Yanyan was dead, even if they didn't know, they would yell "ghost" when they saw such a woman at night.

Naturally, the concierge of the Zhuo family was also frightened, especially the voice outside the door was indeed a bit like a dead lady.The concierge reported it to the housekeeper, but the housekeeper half-opened the door with half-belief, and closed it quickly after only one glance.

"Miss, I know that your death was wronged, but it has nothing to do with us. I will burn paper money and clothes for you. Miss, don't scare us." Burned in the corner.

"I'm not a ghost, I want to see my parents." Zhuo Yanyan was too cold to knock on the door.

However, because of fright, the porter and housekeeper did not dare to get too close to the gate, and hid far away.

Zhuo Yanyan had no choice but to vaguely hear a voice from the Pan family across the door, so she walked to the door of the Pan family and knocked on the door.

After being frightened to the concierge of Pan's house, Pan Xiu came over, and with the same reaction, Zhuo Yanyan was turned away.

"Yanyan, I betrayed you, but I can't help it. Your parents don't agree with me marrying you. You are dead, you are separated from yin and yang, don't look for me again." Pan Xiu also ordered her servants to burn paper money.

Zhuo Yanyan was rejected again and again, and was always considered a ghost, angry from the heart, her pale complexion turned red, and she cried bitterly: "Pan Xiu, you are heartless, it's you, you're the one who killed me. I am not reconciled, open the door, open the door! I will not let you go, you will die! You will die!"

Pan Xiu didn't respond.

Zhuo Yanyan was crying through the door, when she suddenly heard a woman's voice inside the door, upon closer listening, it turned out to be Pan Xiu's wife.

Xu was touched, Zhuo Yanyan was even more angry: "Pan Xiu, you have been in chaos and abandoned! You swore that I am the only one in this life, and you said that you would not marry anyone else. I curse you, the curse will not end well!"

Pan Xiu felt ashamed of Zhuo Yanyan, and thought she was a ghost, which made her afraid, so she avoided falling before.However, Pan Xiu's wife was anxious and angry when she heard this malice, because she was pregnant and her fetus moved.This made Pan Xiu very anxious, and the rabbit would bite people when it was anxious, not to mention his wife and son.

Pan Xiu took the sword, and with a surge of anger, opened the door and slashed outward with the sword.

After all, he was afraid of ghosts, so he retracted into the door after a sword strike, and closed the door tightly, not daring to breathe.After a long time without hearing any movement, I felt that the ghost might have left. After all, ghosts are also afraid of evil people, so he even moved his sword. Maybe he has restrained Zhuo Yanyan?

Pan Xiu's mind was in a mess, and her hands and feet were weak. With such guesses in her heart, she didn't dare to open the door to look.

It was precisely because of this that he did not see Zhuo Yanyan, whose neck was chopped off with a sword, and fell to the ground dead.

Until dawn the next day, when the body was found, crowds screamed and watched, revealing the identity of the deceased.

Zhuo Yanyan didn't deserve to die.

That's all for the Pan family. On the Zhuo family's side, although the housekeeper thinks that Zhuo Yanyan is a ghost, he should still report the matter.The strange thing is that the Zhuo family didn't respond until the next morning when the incident broke out, Mr. Zhuo and Mrs. Zhuo personally confirmed that the deceased was Zhuo Yanyan, and fainted from the pain.

but……

With so many people watching, there was a lot of discussion, but there was one person who was quite suspicious.

It was a man in his thirties, eight feet tall, well-proportioned, wearing a brand new padded robe, and from a good family background.This man's palms are broad, with calluses marks from doing hard work, and his demeanor is powerful and powerful, he should know some fists and feet.He didn't push in, but only asked around. When he heard that it was Zhuo Yanyan who died, his expression changed immediately.

"Brother Zhou!" Someone who knew him greeted him.

But this person was absent-minded, exchanged a few casual greetings, and left in a hurry under the pretext of having something to do.