Several big men followed the cell leader and hurried towards the direction of the death row. When they arrived at the door of the death row, they saw something horrifying. There was a person lying on the ground, unconscious or something else; the person standing was being held by two people.
He was lying, his mouth and nose blocked, and his face was already turning blue.
Seeing the cell leader bringing someone in, Zhao He scolded: "Old man Xing, don't be troublesome. This is my second uncle's order!"
Without waiting for the prison boss to react, the big men had already stepped forward, subdued Zhao He and his followers, and rescued the restrained people, but they were able to get more air in and less out.
These few people were ordered by Eunuch Zhang to come and watch the prison to prevent Yan Juren from "jumping over the wall". Unexpectedly, Yan Juren was so brave that he still attacked the Shen family members even after the imperial envoy had arrived.
Killer. Except for the weak one holding his hand
, and then look at the condition of the man on the ground, which is even more miserable. His left arm is hanging down, the tendons have been severed for a long time, and it is already useless. There are white spots swarming around the wound, which are none other than maggots. He is now in a coma due to high fever.
No wonder Zhao He and his followers ignored this person for the first time.
If everyone had arrived a step later, these two people's lives would have been lost.
The cell leader had made a decision and had no way out, so he endured his fear and said to those people: "The one on the ground is the second master Qi from the fifth room of the Shen family, and the other one is the second master Jun from the clan room of the Shen family."
While they were talking, another group of guards in golden uniforms followed the prefect's Yamen prisoner in. Seeing Shen Jun, Shen Qi's tragic situation was shocking. I didn't expect that the Songjiang prefect would dare to torture her like this before the case was officially tried.
"The imperial envoy wants to examine a case, where is the other member of the Shen family?" a guard in brocade clothes asked the prison chief.
The warden smiled bitterly and said: "The other person, the other person... is in the prefect's Yamen icehouse..."
This prison chief was a ninth-grade clerk. Like the prison chief, he was a little cautious about the Shen family. After Shen Ling "committed suicide out of fear of crime," he persuaded Zhao Xianzhong not to burn Shen Ling's body but to keep it.
As evidence of "suicide", to prevent the Shen family from biting him back. This is the apparent reason, but the real reason is that he is afraid of being implicated by the prefect.
Lian also wanted to stay on the safe side and did not want to really offend the Shen family. However, before Shen Li returned home, the Shen family was in disarray. Shen Hai, the head of the Shen family, was not able to take the responsibility, and the warden did not dare to send a message.
I have postponed it until today. I don't want the imperial envoy to come down, so I don't want to investigate the "Japanese pirates" causing trouble in the place. Instead, I want to investigate the case of the Shen family members collaborating with the Japanese.
Both of them looked like they had died half their lives. In addition, it was midsummer. When the guards heard the word "ice cellar", they understood the reason. Two people were separated and followed the warden to the ice cellar. The others supported Shen Jun.
, Shen Qi, together with Zhao He, who had been subdued, his followers, and the cell leader also went to the lobby.
In the lobby of the prefecture, since the imperial envoy was using the place to try the case, Wang Shouren took the seat without hesitation. The first person sitting on the lower left was the plaintiff Shen Li, followed by Yang Baihu who was observing; on the right were Zhao Xianzhong and several high-ranking assistants from the prefecture's Yamen.
Official. As for Shen Rui, he was only a scholar, so naturally he was not qualified to sit down. He could stand behind Shen Li and listen, but Wang Shouren turned a blind eye.
When the Jin Yiwei came to the hall and helped Shen Jun and the Shen Qi brothers up, Shen Li's expression became colder and colder, but Shen Rui breathed a sigh of relief. Because of the ice cellar incident, Shen Rui was worried that something happened to Shen Qi, but now Hongda
The master looked like he couldn't bear to hear such news. But then, Shen Rui realized that one person was missing.
Zhao Xianzhong could not sit still for a long time. When he saw Shen Jun and Shen Qi's miserable condition, all his subordinates were also shocked. It was obviously the first time they saw the two people after torture. The key is that these two people themselves are famous for their achievements. But now Shen Qi's right arm is obviously disabled, and Shen Jun looks slightly better than Shen Qi. He can barely stand against the Jin Yiwei, but there is something wrong with his left leg. People with physical disabilities cannot be officials, and the two people in front of them have not yet been convicted. , he became disabled and his future was ruined. Even if he was cleared of his charges, he would never have a chance to have an official career.
To be able to serve as an official in the magistrate's yamen, even if you are not a Jinshi, you are probably a civil servant. Although it is not that your lips are broken and your teeth are cold, it still shocks your superiors.
Wang Shouren was not in a hurry to ask the case. Shen Li said: "Master Zhao, there are three people in custody from the Shen family. May I ask where the other one is?"
Zhao Xianzhong was on pins and needles, but at this moment he finally had the confidence to say: "The suspect Shen Ling committed suicide after pleading guilty, and there is a corpse to prove it!"
As if cooperating with Zhao Xianzhong's words, the prison chief brought two Jinyi guards and brought up Shen Ling's body. Although two months had passed, the body remained intact because it was stored in the ice storage. There were still traces of torture on her face and hands. The neck of the corpse had obvious strangulation marks, and Jin Yiwei carefully inspected it again and determined that there were no signs of homicide.
Zhao Xianzhong seemed to have regained the upper hand, raised his chin and said: "When I thought about colluding with the Japanese bandits, Shen Ling didn't know that it would harm the people in the city and the Shen clan. She felt so guilty that she chose to hang herself!"
Shen Rui stood behind Shen Li, looking at Shen Ling's body, his eyes bursting with fire. If anyone among the three detained Shen family members could not endure the torture and committed suicide, it would probably be Shen Jun or Shen Qi, but it would definitely not be possible. It can't be Shen Ling.
Shen Ling was the eldest son of a concubine and had an embarrassing status. She had to make a living under her aunt's mother since she was a child. She started working as an apprentice in a shop when she was in her teens. She was most tactful and capable, not to mention the coquettish wife who was kicked out of the third room of the Shen family. Son, how can I die with peace of mind? If I hadn't been harmed by others, there would have been another reason for committing suicide.
Thinking of this, Shen Rui lowered his head and whispered to Shen Li: "Brother Six, Brother Ling is wearing the wrong clothes."
Just looking at the injuries on Shen Ling's face and hands, it seemed that Shen Ling had suffered a lot during the torture, but the clothes on her body were not new and clean, and there were no blood stains.
Shen Li sneered at Zhao Xianzhong and said: "The case has not yet been formally tried. Mr. Zhao has been convicted too early. Or is he bullying the deceased and unable to speak?" At this point, he stood up and said to Wang Shouren: "Please allow me, your Majesty the Imperial Envoy." Let’s conduct an autopsy to find out the real cause of death!”
Wang Shouren was in prison in Anhui a few years ago. He was used to torture, but he was still shocked by what happened to the Shen family members. The Ming Dynasty valued civility over military affairs. Regardless of Zhao Xianzhong's hidden agenda, doing so was already a taboo among officials and scholars.
Wang Shouren didn't even save face for Zhao Xianzhong, and directly ordered: "Give the plaintiff's request, conduct an autopsy in court, and thoroughly investigate the cause of the deceased's death!"
There was a widower in the magistrate's yamen, but Wang Shouren did not abandon him and ordered the widower to conduct an autopsy in the hall. Just as the widower was about to take off Shen Ling's clothes, Shen Jun, who was a little confused at first, came to his senses and immediately rushed over to stop the widower, preventing him from continuing to do anything.
"Shen Jun, why are you preventing the autopsy?" Wang Shouren frowned.
Shen Jun looked towards the hall. He didn't recognize Wang Shouren for a moment, but saw Shen Li sitting next to him. His eyes that were originally lifeless suddenly became a little more angry, but when he lowered his head to look at Shen Ling, he felt more sad and angry: " Your Excellency, this member of our clan died unjustly, please allow him some dignity and do not want to be examined in court."
"Death is a big deal. Since the family of the deceased does not want an autopsy, the imperial envoy will allow him to do so." Before Wang Shouren could speak, Zhao Xianzhong persuaded in a low voice.
"Who says you don't want to?" Shen Jun looked at Zhao Xianzhong with red eyes: "If there is no autopsy, how can we reveal your evil deeds of insulting ethics and harming scholars?"
Zhao Xianzhong became angry and stood up and shouted: "How dare you! How dare this little suspect roar in court and pull him down and give him forty slaps!"
There were also Yamen servants in the hall, but with the guards in full robes in front, no one dared to take a step.
Zhao Xianzhong suppressed his blush and turned his head to look at Wang Shouren.
Wang Shouren didn't look at him, but told the man: "Go into the inner hall and have a look."
Several Jinyi guards carried Shen Ling's body and took Wu Zuo into the inner hall.
Zhao Xianzhong's face was pale, and his eyes were full of panic. All the officials in the prefecture noticed something was wrong, and they wanted to get up immediately and line up on the left, as far away from Zhao Xianzhong as possible.
*
In the side hall of the prefecture, Zhang Yong did not follow Wang Shouren to the main hall to hear the trial. Instead, just in case, he asked the Jin Yiwei to take over the defense of the prefecture's Yamen.
After hearing the reply from the Jin Yiwei who had gone to the prison before, Zhang Yong laughed angrily. He never expected that Yan Juren would be so bold and have such means to falsely convey Zhao Xianzhong's orders and fool Zhao Xianzhong's nephew into taking action. .If all the Shen family members were really killed, who would believe Zhao Xianzhong even if he complained about injustice?
"Keep an eye on that kid, follow the clues, and see where there are nails in the city. If the kid is in the city, let him, if he goes out of the city, he will be caught!" Zhang Yong ordered, and several guards in golden clothes got the order, I did as I was told.
Zhang Yong looked at the blood-red sunset in the distance and felt a little uneasy in his heart. The people who went to Suzhou to ask for help should have already arrived in Suzhou. Now he only hopes that tonight will be safe and that Gao Nianen will bring his men here early tomorrow.
*
Behind the main hall of the magistrate's office, Shen Ling took off all her clothes, and there were many traces of torture on her chest. But when she looked down, she couldn't help but widen her eyes, and the Jin Yiwei who was doing forensics next to her was also dumbfounded.
No wonder Shen Jun blocked the autopsy in court and wanted to accuse Zhao Xianzhong of murdering Shilin. The dead Shen Ling was also wearing a Confucian shirt and had the status of a supervisor.
When men reach this point, few can survive.
When Wu Zuo put on Shen Ling's clothes and returned to the lobby to reply, he replied honestly: "The deceased had whip marks in four places on his chest, three ulcers on his back, and his lower body was cut off at the root, leaving one circular wound... …”
Although everyone in the hall thought that there was something inappropriate about Shen Ling's body before when Shen Jun blocked the autopsy in the hall, they did not expect that it would be so inappropriate.
"Zhao Xianzhong, you!" No matter how gentle Shen Lirao was, he couldn't help but burst into anger at this moment.
The officials in the prefecture's Yamen originally wanted to cling to Zhao Xianzhong because of Mr. Li Ge, but they also gave up their thoughts at this moment. Is the prefect crazy? If only the Shen family were ordinary people, then he would do such harm to the Shen family, a family of officials. The children of the Shen family even kept the corpse as evidence. This is the end of their foolishness to become a magistrate.
Zhao Xianzhong saw the strange looks in everyone's eyes and hurriedly cried out: "I have been wronged. It is really not my order, but a mistake. I only ordered people to ask for confessions, and I did not order torture. It was because the execution room clerk had a personal grudge with the Shen family. Take advantage of the opportunity to strike..."