Rise From the Humble

Zhu Ping'an sat in the high hall and carefully looked at the plaintiff and defendant in the hall. The general reason had been learned before the ceremony. Eighteen villagers beat drums and complained, saying that they had discovered the affair between the monk and the nun and had arrested the two on the spot to report to the officials.

The eighteen villagers who reported to the hall were all filled with indignation and excitement. The leader was a man in his forties, who was better dressed than the others. The other seventeen villagers were all typical farm men.

The accused monk and nun were young, both about 20 years old. They were tied up and looked very embarrassed. The monk's face turned red and the nun's head almost dropped to the ground. Looking at their posture, they wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl in. Same.

There is a certain reason why the ancients emphasized the five hearings in deciding cases. By observing words and colors, Zhu Ping'an had a rough judgment in his mind. However, the trial cannot rely on subjective assumptions, but also pays attention to evidence and laws. These details must be heard in court before a true, accurate and specific judgment can be made on the entire case.

"Please report to me one by one the names of the plaintiffs in this hall and where they live. There are many of you. After you have finished reporting, choose a representative and then explain to me in detail why you have bound two monks. This office."

Zhu Ping'an first spoke to the plaintiffs who were kneeling in the hall, asking them to identify themselves, and then choose a representative to answer the question. People would talk too much and could not get to the point. After the representative finished speaking, others could add more.

"Returning to the eldest magistrate, the younger one is Zhang Dalong from Hongmiao Village. He lives in the middle of Hongmiao Village."

The leading man knelt on the ground and kowtowed, then raised his head and said to Zhu Pingan.

"The younger one is Zhang Daniu, who is also from Hongmiao Village and lives in the west end of the village."

"The younger one is Zhang Tiedan, who is also from Hongmiao Village. He lives next to Daniu's house, next to the main road in the village."

"Little Wang Da Onion..."

More than a dozen villagers knelt on the ground, kowtowed one by one, and stumbled over their names and addresses.

After the report was completed, Li Zheng, as the representative, knelt on the ground and explained the reasons for the report in detail.

"I would like to report to the county magistrate, the young people are all decent families in Hongmiao Village. Our village is called Hongmiao Village because there are two temples on the mountain in front of the village and behind the village. There is a monk temple on the mountain in front of the village, called Hongmiao Temple. There is a nunnery behind the village, called Hongmiao Nunnery. These two temples have always been very efficacious and famous. They are famous all over the country. It is unimaginable that these two immoral temples have appeared. This morning, Zhang Daniu from our village got up early and went to collect mushrooms in the woods at the foot of the mountain behind the village. When he heard something moving in the woods, he thought it was a blind bear or a wolf or something like that. He was so frightened that he tiptoed back to the village and reported to the police. He killed me. I was worried that the wild beast would hurt people, so I brought some strong young men in the village to do some work, and prepared to eliminate this big harm to the village."

"But we didn't expect that when we entered the woods and found a place with movement, we didn't find any wild animals. Instead, we found this pair of unruly and immoral people! When we caught them, these two people were still hugging each other. Oh! They didn’t even notice us! Oh, they are so immoral! So, we caught them on the spot, used the ropes we prepared to tie up the beasts, tied up this pair of immoral people, and reported them to the officials!"

In the middle of the night, Zhang Dalong knelt on the ground and told in detail the reasons why he tied up the monks and nuns and reported them to the official.

After hearing this, Zhu Pingan nodded and asked the more than ten kneeling villagers, "Do you have anything to add?"

"Master Magistrate, what Li Zheng said is everything. We have nothing to add."

More than a dozen villagers shook their heads.

"Hahaha, this can be considered a mistake. I wanted to kill a wild beast, but I didn't expect to hit a pair of wild mandarin ducks."

"Haha, tying them with the rope used to tie wild beasts can be considered useful. Are these two shameless things any different from wild beasts?"

"It's so shameless. You are still a monk."

"No wonder there is a nun temple next to the monk temple. This is a perfect match."

After hearing Zhang Lizheng's words, the people watching outside couldn't help but start discussing with excitement. This was not the first time they had come to the county government office to watch the county magistrate review a case. They knew the rules and kept their voices low, so they did not dare to disturb the county government office's review of the case. Otherwise, at least they will be expelled from the county government office, and at worst they will be fined.

After Zhu Ping'an finished asking the plaintiff, he turned to look at the tied monks and nuns, and ordered to the government officials in the hall, "Untie them first. Before the government concludes the case, any defendant is a suspect, not a criminal. Wait until After this court concludes the case, the guilty will be severely punished in accordance with the law, and the innocent will be released."

"Thank you so much, Mr. Magistrate." After the monk and nun were untied, they knelt down and kowtowed to express their gratitude to Zhu Pingan.

Zhu Ping'an waved his hand and said to the two of them: "You two should declare your family status first."

The monk knelt on the ground and clasped his hands, "Report to the county magistrate, the young monk's name is Wu Zhen, and he is registered at Hongmiao Temple."

"Xiao Nifa's name is Shen Yue, and she was born in Hongmiao Nunnery." The nun also knelt on the ground and kowtowed in response.

"What is your lay name? Where do you live? When did you leave home?" Zhu Pingan asked again.

"The young monk's surname is Liu, his family name is Liu Suo, and he lives in Liujia Village. The young monk became a monk last year." The monk reported back.

"The nun's lay name is Wang, and her name is Wang Lian. She lives in Liujia Village. The nun was also ordained last year." The nun immediately replied.

Oh, they are from the same village and were born in the same year. Hearing this, Zhu Pingan touched his chin.

There must be something going on here.

Zhu Ping'an made a basic judgment in his mind, so he further asked, "Why did you two become monks?"

"I don't dare to hide it from the magistrate. The young monk and the Wang family's sister have been childhood sweethearts since childhood. But the young monk's family is poor and he went to propose marriage. Uncle Wang refused and wanted to marry the Wang family's sister to Ma Yuanwai in the town as a concubine. Ma Yuanwai is already sixty. , there would be no happiness if the Wang family’s sister went to be his concubine. The young monk knelt down at Uncle Wang’s house and begged Uncle Wang to betroth the Wang family’s sister to me. Not only did Wang Uncle disagree, but he also ordered the young monk to be beaten and driven out of the house. The young monk was beaten. The disease became serious and he stayed in bed to recuperate for more than a month. Later, he learned that Uncle Wang insisted that the Wang family's sister marry Ma Yuanwai, but the Wang family's sister swore to death, ran away from home, and became a nun. When the young monk learned about it, he lost all hope and also cut off his hair as a nun. Monk, he went to the nearby Hongmiao Temple to become a monk."

The monk kneeled on the ground and replied with red and swollen eyes.

After hearing what the monk said, the melon-eaters watching outside immediately started talking again. No one thought that the two of them had such a past. Two factions were immediately formed. Some people sympathized with the miserable couple, the monk and the nun. Some people felt that since they became monks, they should abide by the rules and precepts. Adultery was deeply disgusting, so they should be severely punished to serve as a warning to others.