The next day, the entire Wang family, the neighbors, and Yang Ling were brought to the main hall again. Magistrate Min, who had received the report from the yamen last night and had been carefully taught by Ma Lian according to Yang Ling's idea, was already very confident. He could not describe the words he had said, but this old soldier was a person who did not speak much, so he could use his own words to judge the case in a fair manner.
Lord Ma hid behind the screen behind Magistrate Min to listen to the hearing. When Ma Ang was escorted to the court, Magistrate Min patted the gavel and said to the two sons of the Wang family kindly,""Second Prince Wang, yesterday, I found Miss Ma's pearls on your father. Old Shopkeeper Wang saw the money and took other people's pearls. Do you have any objections?”
"This…" Wang Da and Wang Er looked at each other, not knowing what the Magistrate was up to. The two brothers exchanged glances and said to Magistrate Min, Old Master, this lowly one wasn't by my side when my father and Ma Ang had an argument. This lowly one doesn't know if my father had forgotten his intentions or if Ma Ang had deliberately framed him."
Ma Ang knelt in the hall and said angrily,""Bullsh * t, could it be that I've wronged him? That old thing took my sister's pearls and denied taking them, deliberately cheating my family of their belongings."
Magistrate Min slapped the gavel and shouted,""I didn't ask you anything. If you dare to interrupt again, I'll slap your mouth!”
Ma Ang snorted and stopped talking angrily. Magistrate Min smiled and stroked his beard,""In that case, you said that your father was beaten to death by Ma Ang, but you didn't see it with your own eyes?”
" Master," Wang Da said angrily," I didn't see the murderer beat my father with my own eyes, but my father has always been healthy. If it wasn't for this person, how could my father have died so suddenly?" When he saw that I came out to stop him, he even ditched my father and wanted to attack me. The neighbors saw this and can be witnesses."
County Magistrate Min chuckled and said," This is difficult. Scholar Yang Ling was there at the time and saw the whole thing clearly. According to Scholar Yang, your father had stolen the pearls of the Ma family's eldest daughter. The Ma family's eldest daughter's elder brother held him back and argued with him. From the beginning to the end, he did not beat him up. From this, your father was old and weak. He was exposed on the spot and died of embarrassment!”
When King Wang heard this, he kowtowed and said,"Sir, my father is innocent. My father is innocent."
County Magistrate Min waved his hand." Slow down, slow down. I haven't finished speaking." However, according to your brother, your father has always been in good health. He would never lose his life in a moment of anger. At that time, Ma Ang was arguing with your father, and then your father fell to the ground and died. Although you didn't witness it with your own eyes, the neighbors can testify that Ma Ang was the only one who argued with your father from the beginning to the end. Therefore, the murderer must be Ma Ang.”
Second Prince Wang and King Wang repeatedly kowtowed." Sir, you are wise. Sir, you are wise. My father was beaten to death by this crazy murderer. My father is so young. How could he withstand his punches and kicks? Not to mention that my father did not covet his property, even if he really saw the benefits, he would not be punished to death. I beg the First Master to uphold justice."
Ma Ang was anxious when he heard that. He straightened his legs and was about to stand up. The two bailiffs next to him held the Water and Fire Cudgels in their hands and pressed them down on his knees. Ma Ang cried out in pain and knelt there, unable to move.
Ma Lian 'er saw this and quickly went over to hold his shoulder."Brother, don't be impatient. Lord Min is honest and will judge impartially!”
Ma Ang widened his eyes and said anxiously and angrily,""When did brother beat him up? That old man extorted money from others, and his son is such a trash. He's clearly scamming me. Hurry up and find Father.
Before he could finish speaking, Ma Lian 'er pinched his shoulder. He looked up in shock and saw his sister glaring at him. He immediately understood and shut his mouth.
County Magistrate Min looked at him with a smile and thought,"" You're a fool with no brains. If it wasn't for the fact that your father and I were both officials at Jiming Posthouse, I wouldn't have bothered to save you. If you don't know what's good for you, you deserve to be tortured."
County Magistrate Min cleared his throat and said solemnly," This official has been in Jiming Posthouse for two years and has always enforced the law impartially. I'm honest and upright, and my faction is prosperous. My reputation is well-known. I won't condone a criminal or malign a good person."
Yang Ling wanted to laugh when he heard this. He didn't need others to praise him. It was funny enough that he praised himself in front of everyone, but the bearded man was serious and laborious, as if he was memorizing something. However, when he thought about how everyone praised themselves in the end of the year in the future and how they praised themselves like flowers, he felt relieved.
County Magistrate Min changed the topic and raised his voice." Ever since I received this case, I braved the snow last night to visit the neighborhood to investigate and collect evidence. I also ordered Wu Zuo to examine your father's remains. As far as I know, there are no external injuries or bruises on your father's body, so it's difficult to have direct and independent evidence of his death."
County Magistrate Min secretly swallowed his saliva and thought,""Where did this Scholar Yang get such an awkward phrase? But it sounds quite profound, hehe!”
He took a sip of tea and continued,""According to what I know, your family moved here from Minnan two years ago. Your father fell seriously ill last autumn, so it is not true that he has always been in good health.
In addition, according to the sauce shop, your father told him that he was bitten by a snake in Huguang on the way here. He delayed the journey for more than ten days because of this. Because he was in a hurry, he resumed the journey before he had fully recovered. These could have buried the cause of death.
In order not to malign a good person and not to indulge a bad person, the county has decided that Ma Ang will be detained and kept in custody. The case will not be released until it is clarified. At the same time, he will dissect your father and examine whether there are any internal injuries. At the same time, your family needs to find the doctor who treated your father last year and ask for the prescription that was given to prove that your father's illness is not fatal.
"In addition, your family must quickly send people to Huguang to find the doctor who treated your father and ask for the prescription. Of course, you must also ask the famous doctor in the prefecture to show that the poison in his body has not been cleared and that he will not die. This county will sentence Ma Ang to death according to this."
"Ah? It was easy to find the doctor who treated his father. It was also possible to go to the prefecture to invite a famous doctor. However, he still had to go to Huguang to find the doctor who had prescribed the prescription. If he had moved elsewhere, wouldn't it be a waste to travel thousands of miles?”。
County Magistrate Min smiled darkly. This was only the first move. If the Wang family were to be ruthless and really brought the doctor's prescription from afar, he would arrange for Ma Ang to protest and ask the Wang family to go to Huguang again to get the certificate of the pharmacy. If that didn't work, he could also send the two brothers back to their ancestral home to look for the documents issued by the local government and the local security.
In short, the longer the journey, the better. The more detailed the evidence, the better. It would show that he was cautious in the trial and valued human lives. At the same time, he would be tired and exhausted until he gave up the investigation. This was one of the common tricks of insurance claims.
Wang Da and Wang Er were dumbfounded. Before they could defend themselves, Magistrate Min's eyes widened. He slapped the gavel and shouted,""Come on, take the suspect Ma Ang back to the prison and keep an eye on him. The rest of you, go back to your homes. When the victim's Wang family finds evidence, this county will hold a court hearing.”
All the bailiffs gave a loud " oh ", and immediately, two burly bailiffs rushed out and dragged Ma Ang out like wolves and tigers. Although this fiendish act was directed at Ma Ang, it scared the Wang brothers so much that they swallowed their words back.
When the Wang brothers returned home, they were speechless. They were unwilling to give up just like that. After discussing for two days, they decided that Wang Da would pack up and go to Huguang. After retrieving the evidence, they would go to the prefecture to invite people. At home, Wang Er would take care of the business first.
As they were discussing, Wang Da's wife rushed in and said anxiously,"Husband, I thought that we didn't have any guests these past two days and thought that someone had just died. The villagers were worried during the New Year festival, but it turned out that the people from the post office were talking nonsense everywhere, saying that our business was fake and fake, and that we were forcing people to buy and sell. It was said that those bloody messengers passed official documents everywhere and spread rumors everywhere. Even foreigners wanted to know. If this goes on, how can our family still have business? Wouldn't the family just wait for death?”
The Wang brothers were shocked when they heard this. Business people were most afraid of losing a bad reputation. Not only did the Courier Station spread rumors locally, but they also used the convenience of their hundreds of messengers to spread nonsense everywhere. The Wang family's musical instrument store could only close down.
The Wang family did not have any land in this area and relied solely on business for a living. Although the family was richer than ordinary farmers, they valued agriculture over business at that time, and their social status was not as good as farmers.
The Ming court stipulated that farmers could wear silk like people with achievements, but even the wealthiest merchants did not have this treatment. Therefore, even though the peasants could not afford silk, the rich merchants could afford it but were not allowed to wear it. Even those wealthy merchants could only wear silk at home and still had to change into coarse clothes when they went out. Otherwise, it would be a great crime to report it to the government.
Therefore, going to the Wang family to file a lawsuit was already at a disadvantage. If they ruined the business, the gains would not make up for the losses. Look at this big family. Could it be that they wanted to make a family unable to survive because of a dead person?
As a result, the two brothers 'thoughts of fighting the lawsuit to the end faded a little. Thinking that the end of the year was approaching, it was not appropriate for them to go far at this time. It was better for the two brothers to take care of the shop first and wait until the Spring Festival.
The two brothers went to the front hall to attract business. After two days, not only did they fail to do business, but they also heard rumors that Old Man Wang had extorted money from others. He was exposed on the spot and died of shame. The two sons of the Wang family were even more greedy than his father. In the cold winter, they left his father's body in Wu Zuo's room and allowed Wu Zuo to dissect him and dissect him. They wanted to swindle some money.
。
As the saying went," People's gossip is terrible. Who cares if it's true or false? In short, don't ruin your own reputation by interacting with them." Therefore, some of the originally friendly neighbors had strange expressions when they saw them in the past two days, and gradually began to alienate them.
The two brothers went to see the county magistrate indignantly, but they heard that Liu Jiaping had collapsed three houses because of the heavy snow. The county magistrate, who loved the people like his children, had already gone to appease and relieve them. He would go the next day. They also heard that the county magistrate had gone to the Xuan Manor to transport the winter grain from the local government office and the post office.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。