Qin Official

On the first day of the next day, Heifu, who was sleeping on the table, woke up in a daze and found that it was not yet dawn, and what came to his ears was not the crowing of roosters, but the screams that had not stopped all night... …

"We've been fighting all night."

He couldn't help but feel a little pity for the suspect, probably because Qin's laws did not advocate the use of torture in trials. Qin's executions were still primitive. They simply beat the body with wooden sticks and bamboo sticks, but the pain caused was huge enough. Moreover, if you don’t beat me, that’s it. Once you are tortured, I will beat you until you open your mouth!

After a while, the intermittent screams gradually subsided. When Shi was brought up again, his body was covered with bruises.

Wei Shi Anpu, who was nearly vomited blood after being hit last night, personally tortured him. He was merciless. There was almost no intact skin on Shi's back, and there were all bloody marks. The man was so painful that he fainted and was poured on him. After taking a sip of cold water, I woke up shivering.

"To say it, or not to say it?"

Ling Shi Le also secretly resented Shi for scaring him just now. This amiable Qin official who used to love to smile now had a cold expression on his face.

Shi, who was beaten to pieces, raised his head, glanced at Hei Fu who was trying to stop him from committing suicide, laughed at himself, and finally relaxed.

No matter how iron-clad a man is, he cannot survive the torture unless he is dead, as the dead cannot speak.

The story begins a year ago. One day, Shi went up the mountain to cut firewood, but accidentally stepped on a trap used by a hunter to capture animals. This thing couldn't be broken open by himself. He called for help to no avail, and even attracted a large and colorful leopard...

Seeing that he was about to die, at this moment, a thin man passing by killed the leopard and saved his life.

From then on, Shi regarded that man as a benefactor and obeyed his advice. The two of them often communicated with each other and gradually became an irreversible friend.

"What's the name of the man who saved you? What's his place of origin and identity?"

Shi became honest at this time and said clearly: "His name is Ao. He is a farmer and lives in the countryside. He was originally a scholar in the Chu State. He fled from the south bank of the Yangtze River three years ago. They did not receive any share. The land can only be used as a mediocre servant to barely make ends meet.”

Sure enough, it was the group of mediocre cultivators who had close contact with Shi. Wei Shi Anpu said softly, don't worry, he had already sent people to control this group of people.

Shi continued: "A few days ago, Ao found me again and wanted me to do something for him..."

"Kill?" Heifu asked with a frown.

"No." Shi, wearing shackles, shook his head with difficulty: "According to what he said, he was going to catch an adulterer..."

Seeing that Shi finally reached the key point, everyone immediately cheered up.

Ao told Shi that the prison guard in Liushu Village had insulted the wife of one of his companions. He also heard that the prison guard there often hooked up with the widow in Li Zhong, and would also take advantage of Orion's absence to commit adultery with Orion's wife...

In the State of Qin, although illicit relations between men and women were cracked down, it was not acceptable to make false accusations that a man or a woman had committed adultery. It would only count if the adulterer was caught in bed. Ao planned to ask Shi to go with him to catch the adulterer and take revenge on the prisoner.

Shi was stupid and believed it to be true. He followed Ao's instructions that day and brought his own knife, but he didn't think carefully about what it was for.

"I will first go to the place where the mediocre cultivators live in the countryside and bring Ao out, because the mediocre cultivators are not allowed to leave the countryside without the help of soldiers to hire them."

"When Ao and I arrived at the willow tree, it happened to be morning meal time. All the men and women in the house had gone to the fields. When I arrived outside the door of Orion's house, I looked through the window and saw that the prison door was indeed committing adultery with Orion's wife..."

"Ao said he could do it, and asked me to look outside. After saying that, he lent me his shoulder, kicked open the window, and jumped in. Only then did I realize that the patty hanging on my waist had already I don’t know when it was in Ao’s hands!”

When this matter was mentioned, Shi was still in disbelief.

Heifu nodded slightly. His conclusion that there were two murderers, one standing outside the house and the other jumping in to kill, was completely correct!

Wei Shi Anpu couldn't wait any longer and immediately stood up and said: "I asked yesterday that those mediocre cultivators went to a certain place in the countryside to help harvest rice, and that Ao must be among them. I have asked several pavilion chiefs to lead people there to arrest him. I'll rush over right away!" After saying that, he hurried out.

Le urged: "Then what!"

"Everyone knows what happened next. Ao didn't act like he was trying to catch an adulterer at all. He directly killed Li Jianmen, chased after Orion's wife, stabbed her to death, and then took Li Jianmen's sword and returned the favor. There is a bag of copper coins coming out... and by the way, there are also two wooden animal traps."

"And you got the animal trap?"

Hei Fu was slightly surprised. They didn't know this before. Orion's house was packed with things in a mess, especially the animal traps. He made a lot of them. I'm afraid there were a few missing. Orion himself didn't know that, so he didn't report it. What a confused and honest man. He just didn’t know what the murderer Ao was doing with the animal trap?

Le continued to ask: "Will Ao tell you afterwards why he wanted to kill the prison gate!"

Shi was silent again, seeming to be hesitating. He once risked his life to protect this secret.

Hei Fu immediately said: "Shi, look at it. In my left hand is a pottery bowl with water in it, and there will be rice later. In my right hand is a bamboo stick for continuing the execution. Which one you choose is up to you."

Shi looked at Heifu with some resentment. He had not had any water since yesterday and had been whipped all night. At this moment, his lips were cracked, he was thirsty and hungry, and his spirit was at its weakest.

After a battle between heaven and man, Shi seemed to have given in. He chose water. After taking a few sips, he said dejectedly: "I was also very confused at the time, but I didn't say anything. When Ao took me there, After getting to a safe place, he bowed down to me and apologized, and then he told the truth.”

"It turns out that they, a group of Chu people, ten of them in total, came here to escape famine after hearing that life in Qin was better than that in Chu. Unexpectedly, they had no place to stand and could only work as mediocre people. Whenever there was work on projects, they would The government also gave priority to recruiting them, and two of them died in Chengdan. So the remaining eight began to regret coming to Qin and wanted to go back to their hometown in Chu. It was Ao who brought them out in the first place, and now he also wants to bring them out. Take everyone back with you..."

Le Pai An said: "It turns out he wants to destroy the country! Hey, does he think that our Qin State is the same as the Chu State, that you can enter if you want and get out if you want? Ersanzi, send someone to chase Captain Shi immediately. , tell him about this, and tell him that none of those mediocre farmers can be spared! Catch them all!"

The death of a country, in the Qin State with a strict household registration system, is synonymous with defection. The leader will be directly executed, and the rest will be tattooed as Chengdan!

Shi Dao: "Ao also knew that this was not an easy matter, so he pooled together money with everyone, bribed the inner prison gate, and asked the inner prison gate to help them forge inspections and biographies, so that they could lie about doing corvee work, arrive near the border, and then leave from there. Hide in the mountains and woods."

"This is how the more than two thousand dollars that the prison gate received came from!" Le quickly asked someone to record it, and another doubt was solved.

At this time, Heifu could roughly guess what was going to happen next: "But the prison gate took the money and refused to do anything. Or was it because he was afraid and decided to report them to the government?"

Shi Dao: "Yes, Ao also noticed Li Jianmen's intention, so he decided to kill him before he reported it!"

Heifu asked strangely: "Ao clearly deceived you and asked you to intervene in a murder case, but you didn't resent him or report him. Yesterday, you even tried to kill yourself to keep Ao's secret. Why?"

Shi Ang raised his head and said: "Ao fought with the leopard that day and was injured all over. He helped me save my life. I owe this life to him. He can take it whenever he wants to use it! What's the point? What’s not a drag?”

"Don't you know that harboring murderers violates Qin's laws?"

Shi Dayi said solemnly: "You are a despicable person who doesn't understand the laws and orders, but only knows how to be a human being. If you don't keep your promise in the prison, you will deserve to die. If you commit adultery, you will also deserve to die. I would rather disobey the laws and orders than violate my husband's loyalty!"

"It's this damn chivalry again."

Le cursed, Hei Fu knew that what Qin officials hated the most were these light-hearted people.

But breaking the law is breaking the law, and Shi will pay the price for it. As an accessory, he did not report it afterwards, and even violently resisted the law after being arrested. He is guilty of the same crime as a murderer and will inevitably die!

"As for Ao Ao, and those mediocre farmers who try to conquer the country and enter Chu, they will also be captured by Wei Shi soon. I heard that there is a reward of seven gold for capturing a person who has conquered the country!"

Le looked at Heifu and said with a smile: "Heifu Pavilion Chief, I finally get a share of the bounty this time!"

Le was teasing the first two cases where the black men were rewarded. He was always a step late.

Unexpectedly, Shi Que laughed again at this time.

"Hahahaha, you two superiors, if you think that you can catch Ao and others in this way, you are totally wrong!"

"What else do you have to hide!"

"Nothing else. It's just that after Ao killed Li Jianmen that day, he immediately came up with a new idea and invited me to leave Qin with him. I deeply felt his kindness. Although I was unwilling to escape into Chu together, I was willing to Help him, and seeing the officials tracking down the person who lost the sword, he continued to hang the scabbard with the sword in it, pretending that nothing happened. But he didn't expect that he would be captured by you and others so quickly. Heifuting Chang Anlu The reputation of the Tengu and the destroyer of families is indeed true! The villain is in awe and admiration, and has nothing to say."

Regarding these two nicknames, Heifu couldn't laugh or cry.

Shi continued to sneer: "But now that I have been arrested, Ao Ding has learned the news and took people away yesterday! If you go to arrest me now, it is already too late!"

"Hurry up and tell Ao how he plans to escape!" Le suddenly changed his expression, raised the bamboo stick and swung it hard at Shi!

At this time, Shi gritted his teeth and refused to say anything no matter how hard he was beaten.

"Could it be that his confession just now was a deliberate attempt to delay time for Ao and the others?" Heifu suddenly realized. Thinking about it this way, it makes sense for Shi's strongness when he wanted to commit suicide last night and his sudden weak confession today. He is a smart and righteous young warrior, what a pity.

At this moment, the door was pushed open! Wei Shi Anpu, who was sweating profusely, rushed in with a frown.

"I met a pavilion soldier on the way and reported that those mediocre cultivators did not go to the place where they were hired! Some people said that they disappeared halfway there!"

"Are these people planning to flee back to Chu State on foot?"

Everyone felt a little incredible. Although Anlu County was adjacent to the Chu State, whether you were going south or east, you had to walk dozens of miles and pass several pavilions along the way. Once the Qin government issued an arrest warrant, sent light cavalry and sharp chariots to pursue them, and asked every pavilion to search the mountains and forests, there would be no way for those eight people to escape safely!

At this moment, someone came rushing to tell me: "Gentlemen, something bad has happened! There is a fire in the direction of the garden in the countryside!"

"Xiangzhongyuan..." Heifu's expression suddenly changed. Wasn't that the place where he wanted to go horse racing on the day of the crime? In this way, everything becomes clear.

"No! They want to rob the horse and escape!"