The Sage of Confucianism and Taoism

That Ni Xian was only fifteen or sixteen years old. He had heard the legend about Fang Yun almost every day in the past two years. In his heart, Fang Yun was no longer the young man of the same age, but a peerless genius with strong talent and literary skills. In the future, he had a great chance to be crowned as a semi-saint. He was a rare talent.

Now, this rare talent was in front of him, and his tone was obviously unfriendly. Ni Xian was so scared that his legs softened and he knelt on the ground, shouting: "I am innocent! I am innocent! Although I was wrong to fight, it takes two hands to clap in such a matter. If he had not repeatedly provoked me, how could I have used such a heavy hand! Sir, I am innocent! I admit that I have a personal grudge with Tian Lu, but I am not as shameless as he said!"

The father and son of the Tian family were so angry that they trembled all over. This was the same as the previous rhetoric, which was nothing more than trying to turn bullying into an ordinary fight.

Fang Yun nodded and stared at Ni Xian. His eyes became particularly bright because of his talent and literary courage, like the bright moon at night. Then he slowly said: "Ni Xian, you must know that if you tell a lie in court, you will be punished even more severely! Once I confirm that there is something untrue in your words, I will punish you severely!"

Ni Xian's eyes flashed, and he instinctively looked at his father Ni Kuo.

Ni Kuo stepped forward and said, "Sir, may I speak?"

Fang Yun said, "Well, you are the father of the defendant, and the defendant is young. If the defendant does not know how to answer, you can answer for him."

Ni Kuo was overjoyed and said hurriedly, "My son is a strong-willed person. He became enemies with Tian Lu because of the ranking dispute in the academy. That day, my son mocked him a few times, and Tian Lu blamed my son. My son felt that he was humiliated in public and took action. Tian Lu, tell me the truth, did you blame my son that day?"

Tian Lu said angrily, "Ni Xian did evil things in the academy, and I..."

Ni Kuo interrupted Tian Lu abruptly and said, "I just ask you, did you blame my son?"

Tian Lu's momentum weakened and said, " He mocked me first, so I naturally fought back. "

Ni Kuo immediately looked at Fang Yun and said, "Sir, you heard it too. But what you don't know is that my son didn't do it that day, but a few days later, he heard someone secretly slandering him, and someone said that it was Tian Lu who slandered him, so he led people to beat Tian Lu!"

Fang Yun asked, "Tian Lu, did you slander Ni Xian afterwards?"

Tian Lu hurriedly shook his head and said, "It's impossible. After refuting Ni Xian that day, I was worried that Ni Xian would retaliate, and I was hesitating whether to confess to him. How could I continue to slander him!"

"Oh? Worried that Ni Xian would retaliate? Did Ni Xian have many bad deeds before? Explain everything you have seen with your own eyes. "Fang Yun said.

Ni Kuo's eyes showed anxiety, and he wanted to refute, but he didn't dare to speak when he remembered the slap in the face before. The other defendants, father and son, were also silent, and they didn't dare to go against this vigorous county magistrate.

Tian Lu immediately said, "I have personally seen Ni Xian blocking classmates in the academy or on the road and beating them three times. I have seen Ni Xian molesting female students at least four times. As for the things I heard Ni Xian say about bullying someone, there are too many to count. There are too many."

"Oh, did those people report it to the authorities?" Fang Yun asked.

"Ni Xian is very smart. He only bullies us poor students. Who would report it to the authorities? As for those female students, although their family backgrounds are good, they are not much different from Ni Xian. Ni Xian only verbally flirts with them. By the way, I heard that Ni Xian had..."

Then Ni Xian suddenly glared at Tian Lu and shouted, "Tian Lu! Are you looking for death?"

Tian Lu's body trembled, and panic appeared in his eyes. He didn't dare to continue.

"Bold!" Fang Yun slammed the gavel, and the power of literary courage burst out. A strong wind was born out of thin air and swept in all directions.

Everyone's clothes were blown up, and the pages of books were flying. Many people instinctively exclaimed and looked at Fang Yun with awe.

"I know I was wrong! I know I was wrong!" Ni Xian hurriedly bowed his head and begged for mercy.

Fang Yun snorted coldly and said, "You dare to threaten the plaintiff in court, which shows how domineering you are in your daily life! What you just said has been recorded and will be dealt with together afterwards. If you dare to roar in court again, don't blame this county for severely punishing you! Tian Lu, please continue."

Tian Lu bowed his head and said, "That was a rumor I heard, not something I saw with my own eyes, so it is not appropriate to say it in court."

Fang Yun said, "That's wrong. If this rumor has no effect on you, you don't have to say it, but if it has an effect on you, it involves whether you are afraid of Ni Xian. This county asks, what effect does the rumor have on you?"

Tian Lu was silent for a long time, and slowly said, "After hearing the rumor, I am even more afraid."

"Then tell me about the rumor in detail." When Fang Yun spoke, he looked at Ni Kuo and Ni Xian, father and son. The two wanted to defend themselves, but they didn't dare to speak.

Tian Lu was silent for a moment, and then said, "Everyone in the academy knows about this. Ni Xian met a girl by chance and was very fond of her beauty. When he learned that she was a commoner, he wanted to buy her into the Ni family as a maid. A maid is not even as good as a concubine, and the family disagrees. Who doesn't want their daughter to be the legal wife? Up to this point, the rumors are all the same, but the rumors after that are different. Some say that Ni Xian defiled the girl, and the girl committed suicide out of shame. Some say that Ni Xian abandoned her after having an affair, and wanted to marry into a famous family but was afraid that the girl would ruin his reputation, so he killed her. In short, the girl She died after all, and there are still many different opinions about why she died. "

Fang Yun turned his head to look at the chief secretary of the criminal department and asked: "Does the criminal department have any records of the death of this girl?"

The chief secretary of the criminal department was stunned and said hurriedly: "Ning'an is a big county, and the number of deaths every year is difficult to estimate. I don't know it clearly."

Fang Yun nodded and asked: "Tian Lu, do you know the name of the girl?"

Tian Lu shook his head, but his father Tian Fusheng said: "Reporting to the adults, I remember that the girl's surname is Lu, her maiden name is Ping'er, and her home is in the west of the city, it seems to be in Laohuai Lane."

"Ni Xian, have you ever heard of this girl?" Fang Yun looked directly at Ni Xian.

Ni Xian looked strange, as if struggling with something. His father Ni Kuo hurriedly said, "Sir, my son and Lu Ping did have a relationship, and my son wanted to marry her, but later the two broke up because of the relationship, and the woman hanged herself. I went to the Lu family to apologize in person and obtained the understanding of the Lu family."

Fang Yun nodded and said, "This woman's matter involves whether Ni Xian has done anything wrong on weekdays. Where is the chief secretary of the criminal department!" As he said, Fang Yun took out a warrant from the lottery tube.

"I am here." The chief secretary of the criminal department hurried forward and said.

"Send two people to the Lu family and bring the Lu family to the county government."

"Yes!" The chief secretary of the criminal department stepped forward to take the warrant and left the lobby to find someone.

Fang Yun saw from the corner of his eye that Ni Xian's legs were shaking slightly and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Fang Yun said, "Let's get back to the case. The first fight between the two of you was caused by a verbal dispute. Then why did Ni Xian beat him repeatedly and even burned and cut him?"

Ni Kuo bowed and said, "After my son beat Tian Lu, he wanted to stop, but he could always hear Tian Lu cursing and slandering behind his back, so he repeatedly took action! Sir, my son and I have been influenced by you and decided to plead guilty and obey the law. Not only will we compensate the Tian family with 1,000 taels of silver, but we will also make my son apologize in public in the academy and whip him 30 times, and confine him for one year to serve as a warning to others!"

The Tian family father and son were stunned. If Ni Kuo had made this punishment earlier, the two would never continue to sue the officials. Making Ni Xian admit his mistakes in public and whip him was beyond their expectations, and this case might be settled.

The Tian family father and son looked at Fang Yun gratefully.