Chapter Fifty-Six: Good and Evil Matters Don't Discriminate
The officer touched the knife and thought to himself that the style of the knife looked familiar. However, he did not think much about it and took Li Chengzhao and others back to the county government office to report the case to the county magistrate.
The Hedong County Magistrate was in his fifties and had white hair. After he learned that a murder had occurred in Huaili, he immediately started investigating.
Yamen.
"How is it? Have you found out how Widow Zhao died?" the county magistrate asked the coroner.
This coroner was not a small official in the establishment, but a well-known doctor in the county. Because of his superior medical skills, he was often invited by the county magistrate to examine autopsies.
"Ahem, she was strangled to death." The coroner lifted up the white cloth covering the body and pointed at Widow Zhao's neck. A circle of strangle marks was clearly visible on it.
The county magistrate thought: "So, those outsiders are indeed likely to kill people?"
"In addition, she was still having sex with others before she died." The coroner took the county magistrate to look at other places.
The county magistrate was speechless for a moment, and then said: "This makes sense. It should be those outsiders who took advantage of her. Widow Zhao refused to obey, so she was strangled to death by them."
The coroner didn't know how to answer. He was not investigating the case.
At this moment, the officer responsible for escorting Li Chengzhao rushed over.
"Mingfu, I recognize it." He took out the knife and said, "This knife is the royal standard. I saw it once when I was training in Zhechongfu."
The county magistrate's head was pounding and he murmured: "Why is it so complicated?"
Is there a mystery to the identity of these outsiders who brought the palace knife makers with them?
While he was thinking hard, the county magistrate came in a hurry.
"Mingfu, take a look at this." He handed over a small seal tremblingly.
The county magistrate opened it and fell to the ground.
"The Seal of King Qi Qi?"
The county magistrate swallowed his saliva and said: "This was found from that young man. Judging from his age, it is probably true."
"Quick, quick, let him go quickly!" After the county magistrate finished speaking, he hurriedly said: "No, I will go and let him go myself."
The group of people left quickly.
At this time, Li Chengzhao was in the cell thinking about who the murderer was.
He was not worried about his own safety, because he knew that there were actually people sent by his father to protect him behind him. Because of this, he followed the officers to the county government office.
"Do you think the murderer could be that Zhao De?"
The guards looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.
"Why do you say that, Master?" someone asked.
Li Chengzhao said: "I just thought about it again. Zhao De's attitude is too arbitrary. Even if we are a little suspicious, it is not to the extent he said. He simply wants to accuse us of murder.
"
The guards were thoughtful.
At this moment, the Hedong County Magistrate arrived in a hurry.
"Your Majesty, Wu Yan, pays homage to His Highness King Qi."
Li Chengzhao looked at him and said, "You know my identity."
"Yes, I only found out after reading this." Wu Yan took out the small seal.
In this era, privately engraving someone else's seal was a capital offense, especially for a prince of Li Chengzhao's level.
"How was the investigation of the case?" Li Chengzhao asked.
Wu Yan lowered his eyebrows and said, "I already have an eyebrow."
"Do you know who the murderer is?"
"Uh" Wu Yanwei said, "I don't know yet."
"Then you can continue investigating the case." Li Chengzhao said.
Seeing that King Qi had no intention of coming out, Wu Yan became anxious. He quickly returned the seal to Li Chengzhao himself, and ordered someone to open the cell and return all the belongings of the guards, including swords, silver and other items.
"Your Highness, it's not convenient to talk here. Let's go out first."
Li Chengzhao thought for a while and said: "That's okay. If I don't go out, I'm afraid someone outside will come in."
If the person sent by his father to protect him cannot see him for a certain period of time, there is a high probability that the county government will be massacred with blood.
Hearing this, the county magistrate turned pale.
In fact, just as Li Chengzhao expected, the cavalry sent by Li Zhiyun was already preparing to attack the county government.
"Brother, His Highness King Qi is out."
The leader looked at the county government office and saw that King Qi had come out and stayed outside for a while before re-entering.
"It's okay, His Highness King Qi is telling us not to be nervous." The leader waved his hand and asked the brothers to put away their knives.
"Hey, our Highness is really awesome." The man said, shaking his head with a wry smile.
Within the county government office.
Li Chengzhao already knew how Widow Zhao died.
"Didn't you arrest a few villagers and come back? You can ask them."
"Yes." The county magistrate hurried down to investigate the case.
Li Chengzhao followed the county magistrate with his hands behind his back and came to a cell.
The county magistrate walked in to interrogate, and Li Chengzhao leaned aside and listened carefully. He also wanted to know whether his judgment was correct.
When several villagers saw the county magistrate, they were like a mouse seeing a cat, and they quickly told everything about Widow Zhao.
"You are saying that Zhao De's son, Zhao Dadun, is having an affair with Widow Zhao?" came the voice of the county magistrate.
"Yes, we have seen it with our own eyes several times. These two people hooked up and did things in the haystack."
"Then why didn't you tell me when I arrested him?" the county magistrate asked.
"We dare not say that Zhao De is the village chief. If we offend him, we will not have a good life."
Li Chengzhao leaned against the wall and closed his eyes slightly.
Based on this clue, the county magistrate sent people to arrest Zhao Dadun. After a little interrogation, Zhao Dadun came clean.
"I didn't want to kill her. She said, strangle her neck and do it. She was more vigorous, so I followed her wishes. Unexpectedly, I really didn't expect that I would strangle her to death." Zhao Dadun knelt on the ground and told the county
He was ordered to kowtow and beg for mercy.
At this point in the case, Li Chengzhao also roughly understood it.
It was simply that Zhao Dadun accidentally killed someone, and Zhao De used himself as a scapegoat in order to help his son cover up the truth.
What if today it is not you, but other villagers who are framed by Zhao De?
Li Chengzhao breathed out softly, his chest rising and falling.
He has always thought that most people are kind-hearted, but now it seems that is not necessarily the case. Some people will do evil things if they have some power, regardless of whether they are big or small!
A small village chief dares to do such a thing, but what if he is a local county magistrate?
Or, is it the governor of a state?
"Sure enough, I can't believe what these guys say. I have to find out the truth myself." Li Chengzhao's eyes were serious, and he felt more and more that his decision was right. If he stayed in Chang'an forever, he didn't know that good and evil do not matter.
Besides, he admired his father even more.
It is indeed not advisable to sit down and talk about Tao!
The case was soon settled. Zhao Dadun committed murder and was sentenced to death. Zhao De framed King Qi and was sentenced to death together with his family property.
"King Qi?" Zhao De has never read a book, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what these two words mean. He looked at the servants stupidly and asked loudly: "How is it possible? You must have made a mistake.
That person must be pretending!"
The guard gave him a pair of supercilious looks, and he was still pretending?
The governor of Puzhou is now admitting his mistake to His Highness King Qi!
"Stop talking nonsense. Before His Highness King Qi leaves, he ordered that you and Zhao Dadun's heads be seen first. Don't delay things!"
The officer stepped forward and carried Zhao De to the execution ground.
After settling the matter in Hedong, Li Chengzhao had to return to Chang'an.
Because the person who came to find him was Zuowei General Li Zhen.
"Your Highness, please." Li Zhen pointed to the carriage.
Around it stood a circle of plate-armored cavalry.
Li Chengzhao cupped his hands and asked, "May I ask General, why did my father call me?"
Li Zhen said: "You will know when you return to Chang'an."
Hearing this, Li Chengzhao had no choice but to go back.
Since the emperor sent Li Zhen here, it meant that there was no room for negotiation.