Seventy-nine    Ghost lawsuit

In the ninth year of Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty, there was a scholar in Qiuzhuang, Hejian Prefecture, Hebei Province. His surname was Qiu Mian, and he was full of talent. However, his luck was not good and he failed many times. After his parents died, they had no way to make a living, so they opened a private school in their own home to teach and live a life without worries about food and clothing.

In the evening of autumn, he walked for several miles to a naughty child's home visit. The parents held a banquet to him. He drank and said goodbye to the hour of Hai. When he was walking by Dongzhuang, his neighboring village at night, he saw a big locust tree on the side of the road. He knew that it was less than two miles away from his home. So he accelerated his pace and walked towards Qiuzhuang. However, he didn't know that after walking for two miles, he returned to the big locust tree. He thought he was drunk and misunderstood, so he continued to move forward. After walking for two miles, he returned to the big locust tree. What a strange thing! He looked up and saw that there was a wall more than a meter high on the side of the road. The moon was above the wall, and the wall extended forward. Under the hazy moonlight, he looked infinitely. He suddenly realized that this was a ghost hitting a wall! I must meet a ghost. Although he was a scholar, he was born brave and did not fear ghosts and evil spirits. He shouted loudly on the wall: "Who is the monster? He dares to tease me!"

Qiu Mian shouted and fell to the ground. The ghost hit the wall instantly. He saw two ghosts turning out from behind the big locust tree. One man and one woman. The man dressed like a businessman. The female ghost was dignified and beautiful, like a young couple. Qiu Mian pointed to the two ghosts and said angrily, "I am innocent and have never done anything wrong. Why do you joke about me?" The male ghost said, "I know that Mr. Qiu has come here and wants to make a joke to recognize him. Please forgive me." The female ghost apologized, "I know that Mr. Qiu is talented, has a high writing style, and is bold.

He was so extraordinary that he wanted to know him to have a deep friendship and had no malice." Qiu Mian said after hearing this, "I heard that the two said something, and it seems that there is something to ask me for it. Don't say anything more. Please tell me the truth." The male ghost said, "Mr. Qiu is so generous, admired, admired! We kneel down and thanked, and the injustice will be clear!" Both ghosts knelt down, crying and crying, "We were married during our lifetime, and our surname was Cai and Jin. This is my wife, Zhao, ten years ago..." He complained about his injustice:

Cai Jin was a businessman in Dongcai Village, Hejian Prefecture City, and made a living by reselling gold and silver jewelry. His newlywed wife Zhao Rui was not patient with loneliness after marriage and was willing to follow her husband to go on a business trip. In the 16th year of Hongzhi, one day in autumn, the couple was carrying soft and soft packages. They wanted to go to Baoding Prefecture to do business. They passed by Qiuzhuang and walked to the big locust tree. They rested under the tree.

There was a villager in Dongzhuang, named Dong Mao, who was not a ignorant since childhood, and did not do his job properly as a grown-up, and was addicted to gambling as if he was a lifelong life. His parents died early and had not yet started a family after the age of 1999. On this day, Dong Mao went to the city to lose and returned home. He walked to a big locust tree outside the village. He saw two people resting under the tree. He looked at it carefully. The man was carrying a package and the woman was wearing a gold hairpin on her head. He was as beautiful as a flower. Dong Mao thought to himself: These two must be husband and wife. Although they were not rich in clothes, the woman had a high price for gold hairpin on her head. Now that the blood transfusion is gone, why don’t I take it and compensate him? The woman is beautiful, why don’t I force myself to make it happy? Seeing that there are no people everywhere, I suddenly became malicious.

Dong Mao walked past the big locust tree, and turned around and hid behind the big locust tree. He lifted a large stone and smashed Cai Jin's head hard. His brain burst and blood splattered everywhere. Cai Jin died. When the woman saw it, she screamed and wanted to escape. Dong Mao rushed towards Zhao Rui. The woman struggled. He slapped the woman out of the way. After doing evil, he strangled her to death. He opened the package and saw that there were many gold and silver ornaments in the bag. He was very happy. He hid the two corpses first in the grass, went home to get shovels, and then wiped out the corpses and destroyed the grass under the tree.

Qiu Mian finished hearing this and sighed deeply. He said angrily, "The bright world is bright, under the blue sky and the sun, the thieves are so rampant. This thief is immortal, and the law of heaven is hard tolerate!" Cai Jin begged, "My husband and wife have nothing to ask for, but only asks Mr. Qiu to write paper for writing, telling him to the government, and bringing Dong Mao to justice. My husband and wife will be a cow and horse in the next life to repay him." Qiu Mian asked, "Do you still have relatives? Why not ask for complaints?" Cai Jin said, "My parents have died, but I have no brothers and sisters, and my relatives have no support." Zhao Rui said, "My parents are alive, but my parents' home is far away from Zhao Village, Jinan, and it is more than 600 miles away. There is a blockade of the Yellow River, so I have no boat to cross it.

It is hard to come to your family and ask for it." Qiu Mian asked Zhao Rui again: "Do you have brothers and sisters in your family? I can go to the court with him to tell him." Zhao Ruisi replied: "I have no brothers, only a little sister, named Zhao Xue. Now I am over the age of birth. My parents want to hire a family, but I don't know if they are married?" Qiu Mian comforted and said: "Don't worry, you and your wife, I will set off for Jinan to discuss with Zhao Xue. Later, I went to the county government. I will not give up until I got rid of this thief!" Zhao Ruihui said: "I still have something to ask for. Please ask Mr. Qiu to burn a paper boat for me tomorrow. I can collect it. You can cross the Yellow River south and tell your parents and younger sister first. Can you tell them?" Qiu Mian replied:

The next day, Qiu Mian invested the money and asked the paper maker to frame the paper boat and burn it under the big locust tree. Then he told the students that they wanted to travel far and visit their relatives and had three days off.

Qiu Mian set out and went to Zhao Village, Jinan to inquire.

As expected, a woman from Zhao Xue came to her house and detailed what she heard about Dahuaishu. After hearing this, she exclaimed that the whole family had a dream last night, dreaming that Zhao Rui returned home, and complained that she was killed by a criminal ten years ago, and told me that Mr. Qiu came here tomorrow to help write paper and make a grudge against him.

Zhao Xue and her parents burst into tears and swear to avenge Zhao Rui. After discussion, Zhao Xue and her father followed Qiu Mian and went to court to inform him.

The county magistrate took the paper and heard what Qiu Mian said, and was amazed. He ordered people to dig up the big locust tree. The fruit dug out two corpses of men and women. The corpses were rotten and the bones were left. After identification, there were cracks in the male skull, which was the same as Xu. The county magistrate arrested Dong Mao to examine him.

The murderer Dong Mao killed someone and robbed money, and used ill-gotten wealth to build a house and married a wife and married a family. His wife had two sons, the eldest son was mentally retarded, and the second son was lame. He suffered from back pain for years and could not be straightened, which made him a pot of silk. He sighed inside that this was the retribution for the sins he committed back then! He recalled his evil deeds ten years ago, and was afraid that he would be exposed, so he lived with fear.

Dong Mao was arrested and went to court. After trial, he refused to plead guilty. He thought secretly: It has been more than ten years since this incident, and no one has proved it or there is no physical evidence. What can I do to me? I cannot convict me based on ghost words. Even though I was tortured, he still refused to plead guilty. The county magistrate had no choice but to imprison him to be tried.

When Qiu Mian and the father and daughter of the Zhao family heard this, they were helpless and could not help. That night, Zhao Ruihun suddenly came to Qiu Mian's bedroom and told him, "Mr. Qiu, don't worry, Dong Mao robbed the golden hairpin on my head. The name of my husband was engraved on the golden hairpin. The golden hairpin can be proved." After saying that, he passed away.

Qiu Mian told the government that this was reported to the government, and the government sent a yamen runner to Dong Mao's house to search it. However, Dong Mao's family was already poor, so how could there be a golden hairpin in it? The search was fruitless and returned.

Where does the golden hairpin fall? Analysis of the reason, Dong Mao has already pawned it because of life, or Dong Mao enters the city to gamble and lose it long ago. This is a confusing matter, and the sea of ​​people is vast, where can I find it? Qiu Mian hopes that the souls of Cai Jin and his wife will reappear, and tells the whereabouts of the golden hairpin to solve the difficulties. However, it is silent for a few days, and it is difficult for ghosts to know. The government told that if there is no evidence, Dong Mao will be released in the near future. Qiu Mian and the father and daughter of the Zhao family are extremely anxious, how can the murderer be free from justice and not punished?

Just when Qiu Mian was not allowed, a young student in the private school told him: "My family is neighbors with Dong Mao. When I was young, I often heard that his wife was quarreling with him. Because he had a mistress in the city, he had a deep relationship with him. This girl may know where the golden hairpin fell, but I don't know who this girl is?" After this clue, Qiu Mian discussed with the Zhao father and daughter and wanted to go into the city to explore it. Zhao Xuesi said for a long time, "I have a plan to know who this woman is." Then he talked about his plan. Qiu Mian heard it and clapped his hands and praised him, "This plan is very wonderful, you can try it."

The next day, Zhao Xue dressed up as a woman in the city and brought gifts to Dong Mao's house. Dong's wife saw a beautiful woman coming to the door and asked, "Who is the lady? What's the matter with climbing the humble door?" Zhao Xue said, "I heard that Brother Dong was in trouble, I was entrusted to visit him." Dong's wife asked, "Who is entrusted to him?" Zhao Xue smiled but didn't say anything. Dong's wife shouted, "Can you be entrusted by rapeseed Xishi?" Zhao Xue followed the words and responded to it. Dong's wife was furious and said, "I don't accept the rituals of this fox spirit, get out!" Zhao Xue pretended to be afraid and retreated.

After obtaining this information, I found that there was indeed a woman selling rapeseed in the western area of ​​Hejian City. Because of her charming dress, she was jokingly called rapeseed Xishi. Qiu Mian then entered the city to visit her. When he arrived at the western area, he saw a rapeseed stall selling rapeseed. The stall owner was a woman, dressed in gorgeous clothes, with thick powder on her face and flashed with pink eyes. He looked around. This was definitely rapeseed Xishi. Qiu Mian stepped forward to chat and looked at it carefully. Seeing that the girl was wearing a golden hairpin, Qiu Mian was secretly happy and pointed to the golden hairpin and said, "I saw that the golden hairpin worn by the hostess looks like an ancient decoration. I am a purchaser of antiques. Can I take it off? If it is true, I would like to buy it at a high price." Cai Xishi heard it and took it off happily. Qiu Mian held the golden hairpin in his hand and looked at it carefully. As expected, he saw the word Cai Jin engraved on the golden hairpin. He was ecstatic, but his face said solemnly: "This golden hairpin is a robbery. Please follow me to see the official!"

Qiu Mian took rapeseed Xishi to the county government office and handed the gold hairpin to the county magistrate to explain the origin. The county magistrate immediately went to the hall and tried Dong Mao again. In front of the evidence, Dong Mao had to admit guilt and seal it. Dong Mao was sentenced to beheading and sentenced, and Cai Jin and Zhao Rui finally suffered a grudge. Zhao's father buried the two corpses again and asked the monks to do rituals to survive the cycle of reincarnation.

To thank Qiu Mian for his righteousness, Zhao's father was willing to betroth Zhao Xue. Zhao Xue's beauty is stronger than his sister, so Qiu Mian naturally agreed. Choosing an auspicious day, Qiu Mian and Zhao Xue got married. This incident has become a good story to this day.
Chapter completed!