The day after Cui Jianfeng arrived in Wucheng, he asked the county magistrate to retry the original case. Through careful questioning, he quickly figured out the ins and outs of the original case.

Although this case is indeed mysterious, it has nothing to do with rebellion or anything like that. It was only because the judicial judge sent to investigate the case by the state who was present at the trial of the county magistrate randomly added the word "rebellion" when reporting the case.

The case was characterized as rebellion.

On that day, based on the accounts of the county magistrate, county lieutenant, the parties involved, and the criminal, Cui Jianfeng quickly restored the case and truthfully presented it to the public.

This case is a "drama" that started on the night when a villager named Wei Kangshun, accompanied by Li Zheng of his village, flew to the county government office to beat a drum and complain about injustice because his wife was murdered:

…

Dong dong dong——

The sound of rapid drumming suddenly sounded, breaking the evening tranquility around the Wucheng County government office.

At dusk, most of the shops on the street in front of the Yamen were closed, and the bustling scene in front of the Yamen during the day had gradually faded away.

Because it was already the time to light the lanterns, in the small cross street in front of the county government in Wucheng, there were only two lanterns lit in front of a small inn where a pig had just been killed, and a few waiters were sitting on a makeshift earthen stove built for killing pigs.

On a few bamboo and cane chairs nearby, I watched the butcher who was packing his knives chatting and laughing. The surroundings were deserted because of the darkness.

The small shop kills the pigs at night, perhaps in the dead of night so as not to affect the business during the day. At this time, it is also the time for the county government officials to return to the backyard. The pigs are killed at this time, so as not to disturb the people sitting in the hall.

The county magistrate, anyway, the common people are afraid of the county magistrate, this has been the case since ancient times.

In the Tang Dynasty, those who served in the county government, whether they were county magistrates or government officials, usually gathered at dawn and dispersed at dusk. It is midsummer now, and the county magistrates only go back to the backyard at around eight or nine o'clock.

's home.

"Hey," the county government watchman who had just gone down from the hall to beat the drum and walked into the watchman's room suddenly heard the dull sound of the drum of injustice behind him. I don't know what happened, but he pulled back his kick as soon as he opened the door and stepped into the watchman's room.

, hurriedly slammed the door and ran back.

You must understand that in the small county town of Wucheng in the Tang Dynasty, no major cases occurred in the past ten years. Except for the fact that the yamen servants would go outside the yamen and beat a few drums every day when waiting for the county magistrate to go home, and then inform the county government.

Those who are on duty, the county magistrate has gone back, you can go home; secondly, through the street merchants, inform the farmers who came from the countryside who came to complain in the evening that all the county government officials have gone home, and they will come tomorrow if they have anything to do.

But the sound of the drums tonight was extraordinary.

Something big has happened!

The night yamen servant was so frightened that he ran out of the yamen in a panic. Looking at the lanterns hanging on both sides of the yamen, he saw two young men from the country standing in front of the big drum in front of the door. One of them kept banging the drum.

"Stop fighting!" the county government watchman shouted as he rushed out of the government office.

The drumming suddenly stopped, and the surroundings returned to their usual tranquility.

However, at this time, some people walked out of the small side doors next to the doors of many closed shops on the street, holding lanterns and looking here.

"What's the matter?" the yamen servant asked displeasedly. But he also noticed that one of them was holding two horses. The two horses kept panting, occasionally shaking their heads and tails, and kicking their front legs a few times.

"My mother-in-law was killed?" The young man who was playing the drum just threw the drumsticks to the ground, squatted on the ground and cried loudly.

Mother-in-law was a title used by country people in the Tang Dynasty for their wives. At that time, the titles given to relatives and friends by all social classes were slightly different from today.

"But now the county magistrate has gone home. If you call the county captain, the yamen servant will have to wait for most of the day." The county yamen watchman was a little embarrassed: "How about you follow me to the watchman's room and wait. I

Immediately report to the county magistrate and ask him to send someone to investigate the case."

"My name is Lu Tong, and I am the mayor of Liuhe Village, Huainan Township." The young man holding the horse said gloomily, "His name is Wei Kangshun, and he is a farmer from the third neighbor of our village."

"Who killed his wife?"

"It's still unclear. The elder asked me to come with him to report the crime in person."

Elders are equivalent to today's township chiefs, but the difference from today's township chiefs is that elders are not among the registered officials in the Tang Dynasty.

In the official establishment of the Tang Dynasty, the lowest level was at the county level. Those below it were only auxiliary administrative staff. In the Tang Dynasty, when county lieutenants handled such cases, their subordinates were neither called police officers nor good people at that time.

Bad people refer to plainclothes personnel outside the establishment, that is, assistants, that is, undercover personnel who often mix with bandits. This causes misunderstandings among the people and is called bad people. Those who take the lead are also called bad people.

No. Good looking.

"Is the magistrate's house far from here?" Lu Tong seemed anxious. A murder occurred in the village. This was no joke. Because at that time, Wu Zetian relied on sages like Di Renjie to strengthen the governance of the dynasty. In this case, he

If such a big thing happened in his village, he could only admit that he was unlucky.

"It's not too far, it's just in the backyard, but I don't know if I'm at home now." Although the official on duty can be considered a minor Tang official, this kind of case doesn't have much interest for him, and he doesn't have many dings.

He is an errand boy and will not face the risk of being held accountable and deposed like a county magistrate if a major case occurs. So he is not too anxious.

"The elder is at the crime scene waiting for the county government to send someone to investigate the case." Lu Tong said anxiously.

As Li Zheng, when a murder was discovered in the village, he was of course as anxious as an ant on a hot pot and worried.

That's right. Although Li Zheng is not a registered official, as a person who manages more than a hundred households, he is decent enough. But this matter may make him face the misfortune of losing his official position.

"Is there any way?" The Yamen servant spread his hands and expressed difficulty: "The county magistrate has returned. It's so late. Even if the sky falls, he may not come to deal with the matter immediately."

"Who said I might not come right away?" At this moment, a short, stocky, middle-aged man about forty years old trotted out of the door.

This person is none other than Zheng Mingjie, the magistrate of this county.

Zheng Mingjie, nicknamed Zheng Zizi, was a seventh-rank official in the Tang Dynasty. His ancestral home was Jiangnan. He was born in the sixth year of Emperor Xianqing's reign and grew up in Yangzhou. He was forty-eight years old.

"Mr. Zheng," the yamen servant nodded hurriedly, smiled flatteringly, and stepped forward to support the disheveled county magistrate in front of him. "They are here to report a murder, saying that a murder occurred in their village."

When Zheng Zhengzi heard this, his heart couldn't help but screamed in pain.

Why?

It was the second year that Wu Zetian changed the Tang Dynasty to the Heavenly Grant of the Zhou Dynasty, and used sages like Di Renjie to govern the country. All officials in the Tang Dynasty were worried about their respective political affairs, for fear that something would go wrong and they would be demoted and killed.

Now that a murder has occurred on his own territory, is this okay?

Of course, his disheveled appearance was not caused by being diligent and neglecting his duties, but by secretly stealing something from his old lady behind his back after class.

It turned out that after leaving the hall, he ostensibly ran toward his home in the backyard, but secretly turned the corner and slipped into an unused room at the back gate of the county government office.

This house became the place where he hid his love behind his wife's back. Not only the county magistrate's wife didn't know about it, but even the officials who were on duty in the county government didn't notice it. They all thought that their county magistrate was taking a shortcut to show off his affection to his wife.

It’s over!

Zheng Taozi didn't mind that he was short, but he actually liked to find tall prostitutes.

Of course, no one knows when and where he secretly got a prostitute from a prostitute into the backyard of the county government office.

His disheveled appearance was regarded by Lu Tong, who came to report the case, as a sign of the county magistrate's diligence. But he knew that when Wei Kangshun endured the great grief of losing his beloved wife and complained about injustice, the county magistrate had already taken off his clothes.

Even though he was in public clothes, he didn't even bother to change into his regular clothes, but he pounced like a hungry wolf on Sun Xiaofang, who had already taken off his skirt and flirted with him with winks and flirtatious looks.

"It's so late, who's playing the drums?" Zheng Taozi pushed Sun Xiaofang away and sat up in confusion.

"No, no." Sun Xiaofang still held Zheng Zizi's arms like a baby, trying to get him to lie down again.

"Maybe something serious has happened." Zheng Taozi suddenly felt something bad, and shook off Sun Xiaofang's hand with a straight face: "I have to go and see immediately to see what happened."

"It's so late and you still don't want to play with me." Sun Xiaofang became unhappy, pouting and ignoring Zheng Zizi.

"I have to go." Zheng Zizi didn't care whether the young lady was happy or not. He looked for official clothes to put on his body, kicked off his shoes and tied his waist, and ran out towards the Yamen in a panic.
Chapter completed!