Rise From the Humble

For both public and private matters, and for law and reason, now that he knew about Chen Erlang's wife murder case, Zhu Ping'an could not stay out of the matter, so he said to Chen Dacheng with a serious face, "I am the acting deputy envoy of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Prosecution Commission. , it is my authority and responsibility to review criminal cases in Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Since I have encountered the case of my brother killing his wife, there is no reason to turn a deaf ear. I also ask Patriarch Chen to describe the order in detail from beginning to end. Please don’t hide anything about your brother’s case, and don’t make any fabrications. If your brother is indeed innocent, I will never allow the local county government to wrongly accuse him; if your brother deserves what he deserves, I will never let Chen The relationship between the patriarch and the clan leader, and bending the law for personal gain."

After hearing Zhu Pingan's words, Chen Dacheng's eyes suddenly ignited with the flame of hope.

Yes, Mr. Zhu, as the acting deputy envoy of the Jiangsu and Zhejiang Prosecution Commission, has the responsibility to review criminal cases.

I have been working on my brother's case for a year, and the county government and the prefect have all tried to solve it, but to no avail.

My younger brother is still in prison. When the autumn wind blows next year, he will be identified and beheaded in public.

Now is the best and last chance.

"Yes, yes, yes, the common people will tell you my brother's case in detail from beginning to end." Chen Dacheng said excitedly.

"That was last year." Chen Dacheng closed his eyes and spoke slowly.

The crime occurred last year, but the story begins two years ago.

Erlang of the Chen family, whose given name is Chen Jiaxing, was a scholar who was twenty-one years old. Two years ago, through the advice of a matchmaker ordered by her parents, she got back her beloved wife Zhang in a large sedan chair. Zhang is the youngest daughter of a cloth merchant's family. She is beautiful and has a good reputation in eight villages ten miles away. Chen Erlang loved Mrs. Zhang very much, and the couple lived a harmonious life with few quarrels.

After getting married, Chen Erlang and his wife lived in the west of Beilei Village. The two elders of the Chen family built a new big house for them.

Chen Erlang usually studies at home, but he goes out for a few days every month to meet friends, exchange knowledge and improve his talents.

Last winter, Chen Erlang went out to meet friends and exchange knowledge as usual. Three days later, Chen Erlang returned home.

"ah!!!"

After Chen Erlang returned home, a harsh scream came from his home, breaking the tranquility of Beilei Village.

When the neighbors heard Chen Erlang's screams, they thought that Chen Erlang's home had been robbed, and hurriedly came to help. Then they were shocked to find that Chen Erlang's wife had been brutally killed, and Chen Erlang collapsed at the door, screaming.

What shocked everyone even more was that there was only the body of Chen Erlang's wife Zhang in the house, but Zhang's head was not seen.

Suddenly, Beilei Village was boiling, and everyone came.

Chen Erlang's father-in-law and mother-in-law also came with people after hearing the news. When they saw the miserable state of their beloved daughter, they were heartbroken and thought that their son-in-law had killed their daughter, so they filed a complaint against Chen Erlang at the Yamen.

The magistrate of Yiwu at that time was still the former magistrate. After receiving the case, the county government came with the coroners and officers.

The police officer found a bloody coat worn by Chen Erlang under the bed of Chen Erlang's house, and fished out a blood-stained kitchen knife from the well. Unfortunately, the kitchen knife had been soaked in the well, so there wasn't much blood left, and the fingerprints had also been washed away.

However, Zhang's head has never been found.

Chen Erlang was arrested and taken to the county government for a public trial. At first, the county magistrate interrogated Chen Erlang as to why he killed his wife.

Chen Erlang insisted on refusing to admit to killing his wife, saying that he found his wife brutally murdered as soon as he returned home from visiting friends.

The county magistrate interrogated Chen Erlang again and found out that the bloody clothes belonged to him.

Chen Erlang said that the clothes were indeed his, but they were dirty clothes he changed into before visiting friends. They were not stained with blood at the time, but they were stained with blood for some unknown reason.

The county magistrate interrogated Chen Erlang again and found out that the kitchen knife belonged to his family. Chen Erlang confessed that the kitchen knife belonged to his family.

The magistrate interrogated, the bloody clothes are yours, the kitchen knife is yours, your wife was killed, and you said it had nothing to do with you, you are really telling lies with your eyes wide open, why did you kill your wife, and threw her head somewhere, hurry up and find the truth .

Chen Erlang shook his head and refused to admit it.

The county magistrate was angry and issued an order. Because Chen Erlang was stubborn, he ordered the officers to beat him with fifty killing sticks. Chen Erlang, a frail scholar, had never suffered such pain before. He screamed in agony. After being beaten with the fifty-killing stick, he passed out. After pouring cold water on him, he woke up.

Interrogated again, Chen Erlang shook his head while breathing heavily.

The magistrate ordered him to be beaten with a stick. After being beaten for a while, Chen Erlang couldn't stand it anymore. He shouted for mercy, confessed his crime, and admitted to killing his wife. He said that the reason for killing his wife was the discord between his wife and his wife. His wife said that he was incompetent. As a scholar, he killed his wife in a rage. The bloody clothes he wore when he committed the murder were the same, and the kitchen knife was also the murder weapon he used.

As for the head, he forgot where to throw it. After the torture, Chen Erlang remembered it and said that it was still in a forest. The officer went to the forest to search for several days but could not find it. Maybe it was eaten by wild dogs or wild beasts. .

At the beginning of the year, the former magistrate Gao Sheng was transferred and magistrate Zhao took office.

Chen Dacheng held a blood letter and cried out for injustice.

Zhaozhi County's examination files, witness evidence, and physical evidence were all complete. Chen Erlang also personally admitted to killing his wife and signed a signature.

The facts are clear, the evidence is complete, and the verdict remains unchanged. Chen Erlang accidentally killed his wife out of spite and will only wait for the canonical punishment in Qiu Ming next year to comfort Zhang's spirit in heaven.

"That's just the way it is. Please make the decision for our little brother Cao Min." Chen Dacheng knelt down with his fists clasped.

"Clan Chief Chen, please get up quickly." Zhu Pingan helped Chen Dacheng up.

This case seemed to have both human and physical evidence, as well as motivations. However, Zhu Ping'an went through it carefully and still saw several irregularities. First of all, the first point is that Chen Erlang's motive for killing his wife was not sufficient. Even if Zhang said that Chen Erlang was incompetent and could not pass the scholar examination because he had been away all year round, according to common sense, this stimulation was not enough to motivate Chen Erlang to kill his wife. Erlang is still young, only twenty-one years old. No, he was only twenty years old at the time of the incident. It is normal to fail to pass the scholar examination at the age of twenty. There are also many people in their sixties who still pass the scholar examination. Erlang Ten-year-olds are the main ones who take the scholar exam. If someone in their forties or fifties is told that they are incompetent for not passing the exam, they may be more irritated. Also, the neighbors said that Chen Erlang and his wife had a harmonious relationship, and they had never heard of any quarrel between them. Second, after Chen Erlang killed his wife, he also threw her head away, which was superfluous, meaningless and unreasonable. Third, even if someone kills his wife out of spite, he will inevitably find some excuse to get away with it, or he may claim to have died of illness, or he may have caused an accidental death. Killing his wife in such a blatant and undisguised way is not consistent with common sense.

Human life is at stake. Since there are so many doubts, a thorough investigation must be carried out.

Zhu Ping'an then told Liu Dadao, "Dadao, go and ask Magistrate Zhao to come and ask him to bring the files on the case of Chen Erlang's murder of his wife. I want to retry this case with Magistrate Zhao."