Chapter 26 Corpses Containing Grievances
Xiaodie thought about Madam’s threat, forced herself to calm down, and said: “I found someone forcing my lady at the door of the bedroom, but there was only the back of the assailant. It was a tall man, I was afraid that I could not save my lady alone, so I wanted to ask someone to help. When I passed by the window facing the bed, I glanced and recognized the side face of the young master. I happened to see him pinching my lady’s neck and picking up the pillow beside the bed to hit my lady.”
Hearing this, County Magistrate Gao became skeptical. Although Xiaodie’s statement was not inconsistent, the additional statement may be because the guard did not inquire carefully about the process at the time. The result was the same, but Gao Fenglin’s sensitivity was still there.
Song Que was not annoyed, and asked, “Is it possible that you were mistaken? Or you were too far away at that time? Are you sure you can see my face and the movements of my hands clearly?”
Xiaodie felt guilty, and her voice became louder and faster: “This servant can see clearly!”
Song Que immediately asked: “Since you said you can see clearly, please imitate my movements.”
Xiaodie froze for a moment, thought about the scene she had described, and gritted her teeth. With her left hand, she pinched Aunt Chen’s neck in her imagination, and with her right hand, she picked up something from Aunt Chen’s right ear and slammed it on Aunt Chen’s head. At that moment, Aunt Chen’s face seemed to appear in front of her, such a delicate and beautiful face, instantly became eerie, as if she was saying that even if she became a ghost she would not spare her a helper of evil.
Xiaodie screamed, covering her ears, and shivered.
Gao Fenglin felt that her behavior became more and more suspicious.
Song Que had a preconceived idea in his mind and said: “My lord, the accuser’s statement contradicts the results of the autopsy. She kept seeing my movements clearly, that is to say, I was lying on Aunt Chen’s body, pinching her neck with my left hand, my right hand picked up the pillow and smashed it on her head. This movement was indeed very smooth, but the wound in this direction should be deep on the forehead near the face and shallow on the forehead near the top of the head because the force is from the front.”
As soon as he was taken out of the prison cell, Song Que’s hand was bound by a small wooden shackle. At this moment, he couldn’t demonstrate it, but his explanation was very clear. Some of the onlookers demonstrated by themselves and found that it was indeed the case.
Xiaodie immediately trembled and said: “I misremembered. Because of my lady’s death, I was too scared, so I misremembered.”
Song Que chuckled and said, “That means I hit from another direction?”
Xiaodie nodded desperately.
Song Que said: “Then please demonstrate it.”
Xiaodie grabbed the non-existent Aunt Chen’s neck with one hand, and held the pillow in the other, trying to smash it down close to the back of her head. Her movements froze, and even she herself realized that this was an extremely awkward movement, even if she did it deliberately, it would be difficult to use her strength. She slumped down in the courtroom, her mind went blank.
The people at the gate were in an uproar.
Gao Fenglin had no choice but to pat the gavel, and the scene fell silent.
He threatened: “Xiadie, what explanation do you have?”
Xiaodie was at a loss for words. She wasn’t a very smart girl in the first place, not to mention that her heart had long been filled with two emotions of guilt and guilty conscience, and at this moment she actually felt like she was done with it.
Xiaodie didn’t speak, but Song Que said again: “Actually, the attempt just now also revealed one thing. There were two people who killed Aunt Chen. One insulted Aunt Chen and pinched her neck to prevent her from escaping. The other took a jade pillow and beat Aunt Chen to death from the other side.”
County magistrate Gao nodded slightly but still reminded: “Although you have proved that Xioadie’s words are not credible, the suspicion has not been cleared away. The scars on Chen’s neck can only be done by an adult man in terms of length and depth.”
Song Que said: “It’s easy, my lord. To tell you the truth, I have great power. If the mark on the neck is done by me, there is only a deeper truth. I don’t need other people’s help to kill. In addition, you can see the difference in the mark by comparing the length of the finger.”
In fact, after what happened just now, Gao Fenglin had already slightly inclined to him, so he asked someone to untie the wooden shackle for him so that he could prove himself.
Song Que said: “Don’t bother this little brother. My lord, please take a look.”
Song Que wanted to play tricks. Once he finished speaking, he used his strength on his wrist. His internal strength was said to be basic and it was really basic. There was a thin air gathered at the wrist at this moment. His physique had already thawed out, and he could untie the wooden shackle with strength alone, but he didn’t want to show his face turn red when excreted his strength, so he used his inner strength to forcibly split the wooden shackle in half, his face was still calm.
Gao Fenglin was dumbfounded, Song Que stretched out his hand, and said to the stunned guard, “Brother, please measure the length of the fingers, so that it can be compared with the marks on the corpse’s neck.”
Gao Fenglin couldn’t help thinking, Song Que obviously had this ability. He didn’t do anything when he was arrested or sentenced and insisted on waiting for the court hearing to clear himself of the crime. He was a person who respected the legal process very much. Moreover, he first proved that Xiaodie’s testimony was false before resorting to this trick. It should be because he has some thoughts about the real culprit, let’s see what he thinks.
The guard measured the length of Song Que’s fingers, which were much longer than the marks on the corpse’s neck. Although there were other possibilities, Song Que’s series of performances from the beginning to the present have proved his innocence.
Gao Fenglin didn’t put a wooden shackle on him again, but said: “You said that the real culprits are two people, do you have any idea who it is?”
Song Que looked at Xiaodie.
Only then did Gao Fenglin realize that he left such a big breakthrough aside and went to the original suspect to find a breakthrough. Gao Fenglin was a little annoyed in his heart, but he didn’t show it on his face, he was more severe to Xiaodie: “Xiaodie, why did you make a false accusation?”
Xiaodie wanted to faint, her lips opened and closed, closed and opened again, unable to utter a word for a long while.
Song Que said: “It is a felony for a servant to falsely accuse her master. It was impossible for Xiaodie to falsely accuse someone for personal gain, there must be someone behind it.”
There were only two elders in the Song family who could instruct these servants, one was Song Que’s father who was lying on the bed and could not move. At this point, it was clear enough. Song Que didn’t make it clear and kept the attitude of eyes observed nose, nose observed heart. Although she was a stepmother, he was a son, so there was no reason to sue her personally.
[眼观鼻鼻观心 (yǎn guān bí, bí guān xīn) One of the meanings is the appearance of lowering one’s head due to shyness, and shame. The second meaning is to concentrate and not be distracted]
Gao Fenglin sharp-eyed saw someone outside the hall was about to leave in a panic, and immediately sent someone to detain him, saying, “Bold criminal, tell me the truth!”
Xiaodie was scared out of her wits. When the county magistrate called out “Bold criminal”, she knew that she could not escape the punishment, so she burst into tears and said, “It’s Madam, I ran into Madam and a man carrying My lady’s body back to her room. Madam threatened me to falsely accuse the eldest young master. Otherwise, Madam would kill my whole family. My lady died a horrible death. I’m scared. Madam said she would send someone to observe me. If I said something that should not be said, she would immediately send someone to kill my parents. My lord, please save them.”
County magistrate Gao sent someone to bring Madam Qian, and at the same time asked someone to bring the person who had just escaped outside the hall.
Song Que said, “My lord, Xiaodie mentioned moving corpses just now.”
Before Gao Fenglin could speak, the guard who had been called up but hadn’t been able to speak immediately knelt down.
Seeing Song Que overturn the case in just a few words, the guard who took the bribe was terrified. Instead of lying and being exposed, he chose to confess immediately.
Gao Fenglin’s face darkened. He thinks he was very talented, if he hadn’t suffered a disadvantage in appearance, he would never have been dispatched to a remote place as a county magistrate. Who knew that the first murder case caused him to stumble hard. Although the county magistrate’s position was not high, it was not easy to be a magistrate. The county lieutenant in charge had limited ability and could not see more details from the results of the autopsy. The guards sent to search the scene were unreliable and accepted bribes to report false information. From what Gao Fenglin could see, his judgment was not messed up, but lax governance was his biggest flaw.
The more Gao Fenglin thought about it, the more angry he became. Some of the anger was directed at the cunning murderer. He thought after the truth came to light, a heavy punishment would be imposed.
The guard confessed to Madam Qian and explained that Madam Qian bribed him. Apart from concealing the removal of the corpse, she even got him to waive the inspection of Madam Qiani’s bedroom.
On the other side, the guards brought back the man Gao Fenglin signaled to arrest. As soon as the man showed up, Xiaodie shouted: “My lord, it’s him!”
Gao Fenglin showed his majesty, and he shouted: “State your name!”
That man was Zhang Li, Madam Qian’s cousin. As soon as this identity came out, everyone knew what was going on. But the man was still stubbornly resisting and said: “This maid first slandered the young master, but now that the slander failed, she then turned to slander the mistress. Her words are not accurate. My lord, please be clear.”
Song Que echoed, “Precisely, why don’t we ask the guards to measure the length of uncle’s fingers to prove your innocence? Uncle can’t just meet every point. How can there be such a coincidence in the world?”
Zhang Li’s eyes widened. Song Que spoke for him, but every word seemed to put him to death. He clenched his hand into a fist and was unwilling to open it, but his hand was forcefully broken open to measure, and the result was consistent with the bruise. Originally, this consistency didn’t mean much, but his relationship with Madam Qian. Madam Qian was a suspect in this case, and Xiaodie’s accusation, all these points were deadly. As Song Que said, how can there be such coincidence in the world?
At the same time, the officials also brought Madam Qian. Madam Qian was the same age as Song Que, she was a graceful and beautiful woman, she was quite calm when she was brought to the hall, her eyes were red, and she fell to her knees like a weak willow trembling in the wind. The people watching were worried that the beauty would be frightened.
