The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 12: The Murder is not the Murder but is still the Murder

The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty. 《成化十四年》Chengnian Shisi Nian
The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, Chapter 12: The Murder is not the Murder but is still the Murder

　　The Marquis of Wu’an Mansion has been in a fog of sorrow lately.

　　The first son Zheng Cheng is the eldest son of the Marquis of Wu’an, although he is not well regarded, the imperial court has been delayed to give him the title, but in fact this is also a way to establish control for the imperial court, although in the end they may not give you the title, but there is such a thing, you can manipulate the subordinates, so that the Marquis of Wu’an is careful, does not dare to make mistakes.

　　Not only to the meritorious family, but also to the court's own people in the noble families. Once the emperor and the court were established, they were a bunch of assholes who wasted the court's food, but had nothing to do, and could not be abolished because of their ancestral rules.

　　But that is the attitude of the imperial court, for Zheng Ying, Zheng Cheng even though he always give him a headache, after all, he is still his eldest son, no one can have a dead son and still rejoice, Zheng Cheng's own mother, that is the Marquis of Wu’an wife was even more crying into tears, overly sad, lying in bed weeping.

　　When Sui Zhou and Tang Fan arrived at the Marquis of Wu’an house, all eyes were white, and Zheng Cheng's body was still detained at the Northern Administrative Court division, but he was still dead, and the house was covered with white cloths, and even the people were dressed in mourning filial clothes.


　　Seeing them, the Marquis of Wu’an Zheng Ying naturally did not have a good face, but in the way of Jinyiwei's reputation, had to deal with it with a strong spirit: "I do not know how many of you to come to the house, what do you want?"


　　Sui Zhou also didn't bother to placate with him and said directly, "My master, we want to see Madam Hui."


　　The Marquis of Wu’an froze and quickly reacted, "She was involved in the death of my son?"


　　Sui Zhou: "It is only necessary for the case to be dealt with step by step, it is not yet possible to conclude."


　　The Marquis of Wu’an didn't say anything more, and immediately asked someone to bring Madam Hui over.










　　On the night of the incident, when Tang Fan followed Pan Bin to the Marquis of Wu’an’s residence, he had already seen the three concubines and Zheng Cheng's wife.


　　Zheng Sun is a virtuous woman, but because she was not attractive to Zheng Cheng, the couple rarely share a room together.


　　The eldest concubine, Madam Wan, was early in her life, honest in temperament, but she had a grew older and her beauty was loosing, and Zheng Cheng had rarely set foot in her small courtyard before his death.


　　Madam Yu is a concubine's room near the young master. She is beautiful and she is the most beloved one to Zheng Cheng in the house, but her home flowers are not as sweet as wildflowers. Zheng Cheng sometimes grow wearily of the beauties outside and go back to her from time to time. She although he is favored, she is not alone.


Only Madam Hui was once more favored than Madam Yu. He heard that Zheng Cheng sent a lot of jewelry for her to please her, but as the newcomer who married the latest, Madam Hui’s status gradually became unsafe. Tang Fan remembered that night, the four women reacted differently to the death of Zheng Cheng. Madam Hui cried the most loudly and was the saddest at first glance, but now he think about it carefully. It is because the reaction was too large, it is a bit concerning.


　　Madam Hui was quickly brought over.


　　It is a common saying that Madam Hui, who wants to be pretty and filial, is indeed beautiful in her white filial dress, but it is a pity that Tang Fan and Sui Zhou both have no heart to appreciate this.


　　Sui Zhou directly let Xue Ling display that portrait: "Do you recognize this person?"


　　Madam Hui looked over, "I recognize him, he's the little cousin."


　　Xue Ling: "Where is he?"


　　Madam Hui was in tears and had a sad face: "If you'll excuse me, my cousin was hit by a carriage three days ago when he was going out, and he died.


　　Xue Ling laughed coldly, "What kind of coincidence is it that something just happened to happen on our side only find someone had died on your side?"


　　Madam Hui: "It's true. My distant cousin is from a branch family, and I don't dare to alarm his excellency for such thing, but the house steward knows about it, and if His excellency doesn't believe me, he can be confronted!"


　　Xue Ling: ''No harm, it's not your cousin we're looking for right now, but you. The treasurer of Sanyuan Hall and Renxin Hall has already identified that your cousin once went to their apothecary to purchase a large quantity of Chaihu, yes or no?"


　　Madam Hui: "Your Excellency, you have no reason to ask you this. My cousin went to buy medicine. How can I tell me in advance what to do with me?"　　


Xue Ling: "Fuyangchun comes from an ancient recipe, and although it is not good for the body, it can be used as a means to kill a person in just a few months, but it was you who instructed your cousin to add Chaihu to the pills, which caused Zheng Cheng to die of a violent illness, which seemed to be the disease of excessive libido!”


　　Madam Hui: “This little woman is wrongly accused......"


　　She was still shouting her injustice, when she was interrupted by a sharp shout, and it turned out to be Mrs. the Marquis of Wu’an who couldn't resist rushing up and shaking Madam Hui in the face!


　　"You bxtch, you still dare to argue slyly, your cousin has no grudge against Cheng'er and has no chance to get close to him, how could you go and plot against him! The evidence is overwhelming, who else would it be if it wasn't you, I've long seen that you're uneasy about you position, I didn't expect you to dare to murder Cheng'er, bxtch!"


　　Marquis of Wu’an wife, Mrs. Liu who was born from a literary family, although she was devastated by her son's death, she at least remained restrained and calm, but now that she saw the possible murderer within reach, she naturally could no longer hold back.


　　Madam Hui let out a cry and ducked to the side, covering her cheeks: "Help me, please help me, I'm innocent!”


　　Seeing that she still dared to dodge, Mrs. Liu became more and more furious, pounced on her and tried to fight, the scene was in chaos.


　　Sui Zhou looked at the mess and coldly said, "Does the marquis want us to watch this monkey show?"


　　Although Madam Hui is the most suspicious, but after all, one the wife of the marquis’s son, and the other is the marquis' wife, there is a difference between men and women, and Jinyiwei is not good to intervene.


　　The Marquis of Wu’an took a deep breath and shouted, “Not had enough! Are you all dead? Take the lady aside and hold Madam Hui!"


　　When he spoke, the servants sisters swarmed up and finally pulled the two apart.










　　Even though she was helped away, her eyes were still full of resentment and hatred, and she couldn't help but shudder.


　　Sui Zhou looked at Madam Hui with a pearly face as she cried: "Do you want to criminalize yourself, or do you want to go to the Northern Administrative Court Division?"


　　Before Madam Hui could react, Tang Fan said, "You are a woman of the house, and you are literate, not to mention well versed in medical science; how could you have the audacity to murder Zheng Cheng? The Great Ming Law has already stated that the murderer should be executed. If you don't confess your guilt, you'll have to go to the Northern Administrative Court Division, where you'll be flogged and have your fingers chopped off with your fingers, so that you can't survive or die. And if you want to die there won't be an easy way out.”


　　His words were light and fluffy, but Madam Hui could hear the teeth trembling straight up and down. Jinyiwei’s method? Who had never heard of them, Madam Hui seemed to see herself covered in blood in the prison.


　　In fact, the imperial prison is not the one she wants to go into, can go into the imperial prison are the imperial prisoners, you may die in the inside if you escape torture, like Madam Hui this identity, at best she would want to just go to Shuntian Prefecture prison, the imperial prison is not a good place to take him in.


　　Sui Zhou glanced at Tang Fan and was indifferent to the latter's use of an imperial prison to frighten Madam Hui.


　　Tang Fan: "General Sui Zongqi, I have heard that there is a punishment in the Northern Administrative Court Department called Rain On Plum Blossoms, which is to hold the prisoner by his hands and feet, and then cover his face with water-soaked thin paper, layer by layer, layer by layer, and the prisoner will not feel much at first, but he will slowly find it difficult to breathe, and the water-soaked paper will cling to his face and cover his mouth and nose so that he cannot breathe, and the prisoner will slowly suffocate to death in this ordeal, will he?"


　　Sui Zhou, his face expressionless, slowly nodded his head, "Well, its just about right."


　　Xue Ling on the other side jerked his eyes: ... Since when did the Northern Administrative Court Department have such a sissy punishment, isn't that the invention of the Eastern Depot gang of dead eunuchs?”


　　Madam Hui felt the same way, as Tang Fan vividly described it, only to feel as if her face was covered by an invisible wet paper layer by layer, and even her breathing became difficult.


　　"I move! I'll talk! I didn't kill him! It's Zheng Zhi! It was Zheng Zhi, who told me to do this!" She finally broke down and cried out.


　　The Marquis of Wu’an shouted, "Shut up! You bitch, you don’t know what you're talking about!"


　　Madam Hui screamed: "I didn't! I didn't! I didn't kill Zheng Cheng, and neither did my cousin, it was all Zheng Zhi! He's the one who told me to give that prescription to Zheng Cheng, and then he told my cousin to go and buy the apothecary guys and add Chaihu to it! By the way, there's that drugstore dude death! That's also Zheng Zhi, who made the people silenced, not me, I don't know anything!"


　　The Marquis of Wu’an: "Shut up!"


　　Mrs. Liu sounded out coldly, "Shut up about what, and let her keep talking!"


　　The Marquis of Wu’an said angrily: "Is there anything more to say, this bxtch is biting casually and is involved in random, is she willing to drag everyone in the house into the water?"


　　Mrs. Liu laughed coldly: "It's clearly you who want her to shut up because you're afraid she'll reveal someone who shouldn't be talking?"


　　The Marquis of Wu’an was furious: "How have I ever had such a mind, don't you think it's not messy enough!"


　　Watching the couple argue, Sui Zhou turned a blind eye and said to the Marquis of Wu’an, "Please ask the marquis to invite the Second Young master Zheng over."


　　The Marquis of Wu’an had to stop his quarrel with Mrs. Liu, and he glared viciously at Madam Hui, his lips hanging open before finally bursting out a few words: "Go and bring Zheng Zhi to me yet!"


　　The subordinates took orders and left immediately.


　　Zheng Zhi quickly came over, and with him was a middle-aged beauty.










　　He vaguely remembered that this woman was the concubine of the Marquis of Wu’an.


　　Zheng Zhi curtsied, "Greeting my father, mother, I wonder if these two are...?"


　　His eyes fell on Sui Zhou and Tang Fan, and on the night of the crime, he did not appear at the scene, and naturally he did not recognize Tang Fan them.


　　The appearance of Zheng Zhi was six or seven points similar to that of the middle-aged woman beside him, adding a few bit of femininity, but his words and mannerisms were so refined that from this point on, Zheng Cheng could not compare with him.


　　Since the title inheritor had not yet been ordained and his name had not yet been determined, but the second son has even merits than the eldest, the Marquis of Wu’an would definitely have a struggle in his heart.


　　This struggle is inevitably tilted in the heart, and a bowl of water is difficult to even equalize out.


　　Strife arises from this.


　　The Marquis of Wu’an tensed his face, “These two are Master Tang of Shuntian Prefecture, and Master Sui of the Northern Administrative Court Division, who have come for questioning over your brother's case, and I ask you, is your brother's death related to you?"


　　Zheng Zhi was astonished: "My father said that to kill me unjustly; how could I quarrel with my brother enough to murder him?"


　　Although he had made a full play, Tang Fan did not miss the glance that he had just subconsciously looked at Madam Hui.


　　Sui Zhou: "Zheng’er, Madam Hui now accuses you of instigating her to drug Zheng Cheng and kill her cousin in order to silence him, is there any such thing?"


　　Zheng Zhi said flatly, “There is no such thing!"


　　Madam Hui cried bitterly, "You murder me with a thousand swords, you made me do it, and you said that when that dead ghost died, you would marry me!"


　　Zheng Zhi said angrily, "You woman is out of your mind, you are my elder brother's concubine, how could I be marry you!"


　　The middle-aged beauty screamed, "I'll let your little bxtch hooves climb over me and bite at will!"


　　Then he pounced on Madam Hui and slapped her in the face.


　　Just as the Marquis of Wu’an Mrs. Liu wanted to do the same, Xue Ling directly went up and pushed her away: "The Jinyiwei are here, and you dare to be reckless!"


　　The middle-aged woman was pushed to the ground, her face was blue and white, she wanted to be angry but dared not, so she twisted her back and pounced on the Marquis of Wu’an, hugging his thighs and sobbing, "Master, you have to look after us mother and son!"


　　The Marquis of Wu’an, who had two heads, took her by the hand: "Get up, get up, what decency is this you are showing here!"


　　Having said that, the tone of voice was after all much milder than the one just spoken to the Mrs. Liu.


　　Mrs. Liu watched coldly and did not say a word.


　　In the face of such a chaotic scene, it was fortunate that Tang Fan and Sui Zhou were able to keep their faces as usual.


　　Tang Fan said, "Madam Hui, you identified Zheng Zhi, do you have evidence?"










　　Madam Hui was stunned and speechless.


　　The middle-aged woman pointed at the mulberry and accused the locust tree: "Well, you can't say it now, can you? Zheng Zhi is innocent, how could he have murdered his brother? Is it not someone who watched the death of a Gongzi and resented that A-Zhi would become the titled son, and therefore instructed you to falsely accuse A-Zhi, say!"


　　In the midst of this series of shouting and cursing, Madam Hui suddenly screamed, ''I have proof! I have proof!"


　　She is really scared by Tang Fan's description just now, whether it's the Northern Administrative Court Division of the imperial prison or that punishment of "Rain On Plum Blossom", she does not want to try any of them.


　　Sui Zhou: "Say."


　　Madam Hui gritted her teeth, "Zheng’er Gongzi has a red birthmark on his hip, the size of half a palm, in the shape of a plum flower!"


　　As soon as these words came out, the middle-aged woman's shouting and cursing also came to a screeching halt.


　　There are differences between men and women, and the birthmark on the hand is not a problem.


　　Madam Hui is Zheng Cheng's concubine, but Zheng Zhi is Zheng Cheng's brother. As brother maybe Zheng Cheng may have seen Zheng Zhi birthmark but not Madam Hui, but now Madam Hui knows that Zheng Zhi has a birthmark on his xss.


　　Sui Zhou looked at Zheng Zhi, whose face had changed drastically: "Is this the case?"


　　Zheng Zhi didn't answer, and Sui Zhou didn't need him to answer, directly waving his hand, “Take him down and bring him back to Zhen Fu!"


　　And she pointed to Madam Hui: "You go with me, too, for you have just confessed, so that I may ask you to accompany me."


　　The middle-aged woman cried out and pounced on her son, clinging to him, not letting anyone come near.


　　When she cried, the others pulled and persuaded, and the scene began to chaos again.


　　"Slow down!" the Marquis of Wu’an raised his voice, "Master Sui, this is my the Marquis of Wu’an house, Zheng Zhi is from the Marquis of Wu’an’s house, how can I allow him to be taken away at your word!"


　　Sui Zhou: "My master, I will order the son to be released at the end, naturally, if he is found not guilty."


　　The Marquis of Wu’an said angrily, "Sui Zhou, don't you hold a chicken feather as a sign of authority! His Majesty asked you to investigate the case, not to take me Wu'an Hou out of the pot, what are you trying to do! I'm going to go on the record and impeach you!"


　　Sui Zhou was unmoved: "My duties are my duty, please."


　　The Marquis of Wu'an was out of breath and was about to speak when he heard his wife Mrs. Liu’s say, "Master Sui just handle the case impartially, I'll take care of anything!"


　　"You! Don't you dare!" the Marquis of Wu’an pointed at Mrs. Liu, so angry that he couldn't say a complete sentence.


　　"Why wouldn't I dare? Does this Marquis of Wu’an Mansion want to leave me without a share of justice?" Mrs. Liu looked at him, his gaze icy, as if he were looking at a vendetta. "Don't forget, I'm the lady you've married in plain sight, equally ordained by the imperial court and of good character and rank, this Marquis of Wu'an House, I also have the right to be in charge!"


　　The Marquis of Wu’an: "Cheng'er is already dead, the dead are already gone, you want to make the whole family not be at peace, what good will it do you!"


　　Mrs. Liu laughed coldly, "Zheng Cheng is my own son, and the marquis's own son, but in the marquis's eyes, Zheng Cheng, the eldest son of the first wife, is not as good as Zheng Zhi a bastard born, since his father does not fight for our dead son, then it is only for his mother to help him get justice!"


　　The middle-aged woman wept and fell to her knees: "Sister, sister, everything is my fault, please spare A-Zhi, he is a good boy! I'll do whatever you want me to do in the future! Sister, I beg of you!"


　　Women who are driven to the extreme are often very tough, Mrs. Liu directly grabbed her lapel, slapped, threw several slaps, even with long nails on the hands, instantly in the middle-aged woman's white smooth cheeks cut several long blood marks, and she also severely choked her neck.


　　"Bxtch, I've put up with you long enough to return my son's life!"


　　The middle-aged beauty screamed loudly, and Zheng Zhi also shouted up, "Father! Dad! Dad! Help me! I don't want to go with them!"


　　His struggle was of no avail to the Jinyiwei, and with one look from Sui Zhou, the man waspulled out.


　　The girl was treated better because of the identification, and was supported by a maid, but she was also watched by the guards behind her, so she was not allowed to escape.


　　Tang Fan left the Marquis of Wu’an’s house with Sui Zhou, leaving behind a chaotic and noisy scene that had nothing to do with them.


　　"You bitch! You shall not die!" Zheng Zhi cursed loudly, and although he was being held, he hated to pounce on Madam Hui and bite her to death.


　　Now, he has lost all the poise he had when he first appeared.


　　Sui Zhou frowned, "Shao Bing."


　　"Zheng’er, excuse me!" Xue Ling agreed and directly shoved a handkerchief into Zheng Zhi's mouth.


　　The world went quiet.


　　Things went unexpectedly smoothly, and as soon as he entered the Department, before he even had a chance to use his punishment, Zheng Zhi confessed to everything.


　　What he confessed was not very different from what Madam Hui had said.










　　The Marquis of Wu’an although had no real power, but they cannot resist this is a hereditary marquis title, the temptation is still very big, the current the Marquis of Wu’an and the main family wife Mrs. Liu had an affectionate disagreement, that then led to the favor the beauty of concubines and concubines born a second son Zheng Zhi, who was more than merit than the performance of the eldest son, the number of times he had exceed his brother performance, Zheng Zhi naturally will be on the heart of many people in the family who will want his to be the family master of the next generation, plus Zheng Cheng was originally a womanizer, Zheng Zhi will naturally think: the Great Ming Dynast Code had no provisions saying that the concubine’s son cannot inherit the title, why because I was born two years later than him, will I surrendered to the title.


　　Zheng Cheng was a very bad man, and since he had lost his health because of his nightly singing with beauties, he was unable to produce a son, so Zheng Zhi seduced Madam Hui and instigated her to send Zheng Cheng the prescription of Fuyangchun, and through Madam Hui's cousin, added an extra flavor of Chaihu to the prescription.


　　He had been pampered Madam Hui before, but Zheng Cheng was so disenchanted with the new concubine that Madam Hui naturally had resentment in her heart, and in this case Zheng Zhi could easily persuade her.


　　According to Zheng Zhi, he did not intend to harm his brother, but only wanted Zheng Cheng to weaken his body, so that he could not give birth to a son, because Chaihu would increase the medicinal properties of Fuyangchun, so that it would be easy for Yang energy to fall off, so that the title would naturally fall to Zheng Zhi.


　　The evidence and confessions were presented by the Sui Zhou side as well. The cabinet had originally voted for Zheng Zhi's death sentence, but the emperor couldn't resist Marquis of Wu’an's plea and finally changed the death sentence to a living one, and Zheng Zhi was sent out to serve the people and ordered not to return to the capital for the rest of his life.

[1] In the drama Zheng Zhi committed suicide.... This is why I prefer the Novels to drama


　　When the case came to an end, Sui Zhou mentioned Shuntian Prefecture help in passing when he reported it, saying that they had assisted in the case and had contributed much to it.


　　Don't underestimate this, since the Yongle Emperor, the cabinet position gradually rose by merits, and by the present dynasty, the emperor did not love to work, the cabinet butchers were almost equal to the prime minister, and the emperor shared power.


　　Then Sui Zhou had a great-uncle who had been the Ministry of War's General Secretary, and who had been a man who led the Ministry of War for many years, and had always been well remembered by the cabinet, and because of Sui Zhou relationship with the Empress Dowager Sui, he was able to speak well before the Emperor. In other words, with the relationship between the two sides, Sui Zhou's sentence is more effective than others' ten sentences, and the responsibility of the Shuntian Mansion will eventually disappear.


　　People are happy and Pan Bin doesn’t need to be dismissed, he doesn’t have to have his wages, he was just being frivolous. Just like the breeze, there’s nothing which happened to him. Of course he was very happy. In spite of the anxiety of the previous days, he went to find Tang Fan and said: “Ruiqing ah, thanks to you, the implicated in the case was solved, allowing the Shuntian Mansion and to continue and not be held accountable!"


　　Tang Fan said, “This is His Majesty's mercy, and it is also the General Sui Zongqi's righteousness, it has nothing to do with me so I, Runqing, I dare not take the credit!"


　　Pan Bin was very satisfied with his modest and cautious attitude, nodded his head, stroked his beard and smiled: "You don't have to be too modest, after all, you were involved in this case, I heard Sui Zhou in the memorial he sent to the emperor also mentioned you, this credit you still deserve! This prefecture is divided into public and private, merit is rewarded and guilt is punished, since you have merit, say no more, what do you want?"


　　The General Judge Wei Yu of the Shuntian Prefecture sat beside him and laughed along with him, “The case of the Marquis of Wu’an Mansion has been solved, and Runqing has worked very hard to travel with it."


　　Tang Fan is still very modest: "I don't want anything, Master Wei!"


　　Pan Bin shot his thigh: "Well, aren't we still betting out last time? I still owe you a bowl of noodle soup. It's better to choose the day than hit the day. When the meeting is over, I invite you to eat noodles! "


　　Tang Fan: “......”


　　Although he knew that this Senior Brother Pan was a bit stingy, it was really eye-opening to be stingy like this.


　　Tang Fan helplessly looked at Wei Yu, who wanted to laugh, but didn't dare to, revealing a delighted smile: “Thank you, Your Excellency, then!"


　　Wei Yu clenched his fist and coughed twice: "This Master, I wonder if I'm lucky enough to taste the soup noodles invited by my master as well?"


　　Pan Bin gave him a look, "Xuanzhang ah, this is what's wrong with you, by the way, you came to the Shuntian Prefecture later than Runqing, and neither of us have yet tasted your promotion wine!"


　　Wei Yu was very depressed and shot while lying down. He just asked for a bowl of noodle soup to eat, but the result was that he owed a banquet, and the Prefecture Governor was too good to down the donkey!


　　"Naturally, naturally, my master and Runqing, if they are willing to show their appreciation, we will go today!"


　　Pan Bin: “Then don't go to that soup noodle stall that Runqing was talking about?"


　　Wei Yu: "No way, no way, the promotion wine will naturally go to the Xianke House, I'll let someone go to the location!"


　　Tang Fan looked at Wei Yu's face as id he had eaten a fly and laughed so hard that he almost hurt himself internally.


　　The author has something to say: The case is not over, it's just over for now, and so far no child's shoes have been seen that makes anyone completely guessed the killer, only one that is fairly close to the truth.


　　For story continuity.


　　Some bountiful people have asked about the functions of Dali Temple and Shuntian Prefecture, and here is the answer.


　　The Dali Temple is equivalent to the current Supreme Court, Ministry of Criminal Affairs is equivalent to the Ministry of Public Security in Republic of China (but the functions of the ancient institutions overlapped, it would also have part of the functions of the Supreme Court and the Censorate), Shuntian Prefecture Governor is equivalent to the mayor of Beijing, so why Pan Bin this Shuntian Prefecture Governor will be very pathetic, it is good to understand this, the capital city is full of high cadres, or the capital, the mayor of Beijing is half a grade higher than foreign officials, but because there are many big heads who roam around Beijing, such like Pan neither has little qualifications, or is he strong enough to apply the law equally for fear of international accidents.







- The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty -






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