Chapter 412 Yamen encounters a ghost
After Zhu Pingan had deliberated on the method of sorting the books, he asked Lao Li and Lao Ma who were in charge of cleaning the Zangshu Pavilion, and planned to mobilize them to tidy up the Zangshu Pavilion together, but then found that they could not read at all, so they had to give up.
It seems that he can only be a lonely handsome man.
But just when Zhu Pingan rolled up his sleeves and was about to start his journey alone, he heard a commotion from the Imperial Academy, and then saw Zhang Siwei, who was working in the study room, walking in from the outside with a face full of constipation.
"Zi Hou, come out with me quickly, something strange has happened." Zhang Siwei came in and pulled Zhu Pingan out, with the aftertaste of surprise remaining on his face.
"What's the matter? It made our well-informed brother Ziwei change his face?" Zhu Pingan couldn't help asking curiously as he walked out with Zhang Siwei.
"You'll know when you come out with me." Zhang Siwei pulled Zhu Pingan to speed up his pace.
Soon I came to the hall where the Imperial Academy entered. There were many people in the hall. Li Chunfang, Yuan Wei, Zhang Juzheng and others were all there. In addition to the people from the Imperial Academy, there were two officials, one of whom was dressed in The fifty-year-old official in the fourth-rank Yunyan official uniform, this person Zhu Ping'an once met, it was Mr. Zhou Houjie, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, who draped himself in red silk when he praised the official in the imperial street. There is also a seventh-rank magistrate sitting on the lower head.
After Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei came in, they greeted the superiors present. Li Chunfang nodded and signaled Zhu Ping'an and Zhang Siwei to take their seats.
"The Imperial Academy handles literature and history, and reads the historical materials and newspapers. Is there any news of seeing ghosts in the previous dynasty or at that time?"
Master Zhou, the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, sat on the top seat. His face was a little pale at the moment, as if he had experienced something unimaginable. He drank a sip of tea and asked all the Hanlin present.
"There are a lot of unofficial stories, but there is hardly any official history." Li Chunfang shook his head.
"I saw a ghost the night before yesterday." Mr. Zhou, the prefect of Shuntian, clearly stated the news that he saw a ghost the night before yesterday, serious and formal.
"Huh?" Li Chunfang was slightly taken aback, and the others were also surprised.
After staying in the capital for a long time, you will know that Zhou Houjie, the prefect of Shuntian, is a serious official who never lies. The seventh-rank magistrate is the fourth-rank magistrate. It is precisely because of knowing Zhou Houjie's personality that Li Chunfang and others are surprised.
"The thing is like this." Master Zhou took a sip of hot tea, and slowly told the whole story.
This matter is also related to the seventh-rank magistrate who sits at the head of Mr. Zhou. Zhou Houjie is diligent in government and loves the people, and he is serious in his work. After examining the prison lawsuit files submitted by his subordinate counties, he found that among the files submitted by Wanping County, there was a murder case. There are flaws in the materials in the prison litigation file, and the facts of the case seem to be wrong.
The magistrate of Wanping County is the seventh-rank magistrate who is sitting under Zhou Houjie at the moment. Zhu Pingan sees that this person is about forty years old.
Continuing from the above, after Zhou Houjie discovered the problem with this file, he sent someone to bring the case to trial. Wanping County belongs to Jing County, and the county magistrate of Wanping County quickly took the detainees and relevant evidence witnesses to Shuntian Prefecture Government Office.
Zhou Houjie interrogated the criminals and witnesses himself, and gained a deeper understanding of the case. As usual in difficult cases, Zhou Houjie stayed in the Yamen that night to study the files and materials related to the case.
That night, Zhou Houjie lit up the oil lamp in the yamen, sat by the window and studied the files all night.
It happened to be a light rain that night, that is, the light rain before Zhu Ping'an's vegetable release ceremony. The light rain at night was pattering, and the moon was covered by dark clouds outside. It was so dark that you couldn't see your fingers.
While Zhou Houjie was fascinated by the study of the dossier on the oil lamp, he suddenly heard a faint cry from outside the window, the sound came from far to near, so desolate.
"Tang San, go and see who is crying outside." Zhou Houjie ordered Tang San, the guard on duty, to see who was crying and whether there was any grievance.
In ancient times, it was common for people to block the way and cry for grievances, even crying outside the yamen, but it was rare to cry inside the yamen.
"I obey, my lord." Tang San was a thin man, he nodded and left the room after listening to Zhou Houjie's order.
Almost a second later, Zhou Houjie, who was reviewing the research file in front of the oil lamp, heard a cry of surprise, and then the sound of falling to the ground.
"What happened?" Zhou Houjie was surprised, and left the room with the oil lamp.
Tang San, who just went out to investigate as ordered, was lying on the ground at this moment, just now he fainted on the ground after screaming.
Seeing this, Zhou Houjie was even more surprised, this Tang San is also a hero with skills, and he also transferred him to his side because of Tang San's skills. Unexpectedly, he only uttered a scream in time and passed out on the ground.
What happened?
Zhou Houjie looked out with the oil lamp in his hand, and then saw a scene that made his scalp tingle. He saw a man with disheveled hair and **** face kneeling not far from the steps outside the door, dressed in clothes that had been cut by a knife and bloodstained. clothing.
very spooky
Because there was light rain that night, the sky was dark, and the light from the oil lamp was small, so we couldn't see as clearly as during the day.
"Who are you?" Zhou Houjie pinched himself, and asked loudly with courage.
As soon as Zhou Houjie finished speaking, he heard the man kneeling at the bottom of the steps with disheveled hair and **** face kowtowing and replying in a faint resentment.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, I am the dead ghost who was killed in the murder case that Your Excellency interrogated today. I have grievances to report to Your Excellency. The Wanping county magistrate made a generalization and wrongly arrested him, making the real murderer Zhang Dalin go free. The one who killed me The person is Zhang Dalin, not Lin Dafu who is in the prison. Today I am here to sue my grievances, begging my lord to catch the real culprit, so that I can rest in peace.”
"I understand."
Zhou Houjie nodded, his hand holding on to the oil lamp trembled slightly.
As soon as Zhou Houjie finished speaking, he saw the dead ghost kneeling on the ground kowtow again and then drifted away.
After the dead ghost left, Zhou Houjie still had doubts about it. After dawn, Zhou Houjie interrogated the prisoners and witnesses again, and carefully asked about the body of the deceased, the style and color of clothes, shoes and socks worn on the day of death.
After asking, Zhou Houjie felt his scalp numb. He was tall and thin, and his navy blue Cheng Ziyi, black shoes and white socks were exactly the same as the dead ghost last night.
Then, Zhou Houjie overturned the murder case in Wanping County, released the suspects in prison, and ruled out the guards to arrest the real murderer Zhang Dalin said by the dead ghost, and personally arraigned him.
Zhou Houjie did everything by himself, and interrogated Zhang Dalin who was arrested and brought to justice.
The magistrate of Wanping County did not agree with Zhou Houjie’s reversal of the case, and defended it many times, but all he got was a sentence from Zhou Houjie: Nanshan can be moved, Beihai can be filled, and this case cannot be reversed.
The county magistrate of Wanping County insisted on pleading, and the real murderer Zhang Dalin still pleaded not guilty under strict interrogation, so Zhou Houjie came to the Imperial Academy to find similar records and add evidence to the case.
(end of this chapter)