Chapter 48 Chapter 25

The official reply of the Ministry of Criminal Affairs of the Beijing Normal University on the Xiao Chunyu case, the Puci Temple case and the Lin Fan case has not yet been issued.Di Gong has always been in a bad mood, and often sits in his study alone in a gloomy mood, thinking hard.He seldom discusses criminal affairs with his entourage, let alone reveals what is in his mind. One day, officials from the Ministry of Punishment and officials from the Ministry of Officials rode two posthorses to the Yamen in Puyang Prefecture, declaring that Di Cishi would greet him with incense, candles and red capes.When Di Gong heard the news, he didn't dare to be negligent, and immediately gathered all the officials of the prefectural government office, with incense candles and red capes, ringing bells and drums, and opened the main gate of the prefectural government office to welcome the two angels.

The Ministry of Criminal Affairs sent an official to declare: "The Ministry of Criminal Justice has approved the three cases submitted by the Puyang Prefecture Yamen, and the original verdict has been approved according to the law. Twenty obscene monks in Puci Temple have been beaten to death by citizens in advance. It belongs to the category of mob riots, and is exonerated and will not be held accountable." The official sent by the Ministry of Officials declared: "The sage commends Di Renjie, the governor, for his clear and upright voice and outstanding achievements in governance. He bestows a special gift on one side of the imperial plaque, which will be hung in the main hall of the prefectural government today."

On the plaque, there are four impressive characters of "Yibi is more important than life" in the real book of the imperial pen. Di Gong was overjoyed, knocked three times and knelt nine times, set off cannons and rang the bell, wore red and green, and solemnly hung a plaque.The two angels were entertained at a banquet, and at noon Yamen read out the approval document from the Ministry of Punishment.The people in Puyang heard the thunderous cheers, and they put up lanterns and streamers, gongs, drums and firecrackers to celebrate. According to the approval of the Ministry of Punishments, the rapist and murderer Wang San was beheaded, and his head was hung by the east gate for three days.Lin Fan conspired to kill an official of the imperial court, which is a felony of treason, and he was sentenced to death by quartering the corpses of five bulls.

On the day of the execution, all the people in Puyang city were empty, and they all flocked to the court outside the south gate.At three o'clock in the afternoon, two prison cars came rattling over, and two lines of sergeants held bright daggers in their hands, guarding left and right with great arrogance. Wang San thought he would die, and it was only a one-shot pain, so he remained calm.The law enforcement officer verified his body, and the Zhubi approved it. The two executioners pushed Wang San out of the prison car, pushed him ten steps forward, ordered him to kneel down, and pulled out the dead card inserted in his back, unshackled.The law enforcement officer waved the red flag, raised his knife and dropped it, a bloody head rolled a few feet away from the body, and the pair of eyes remained closed.The executioner wrapped the head with oiled paper, put it into a wooden cage that had been prepared, and galloped back to the east gate to hang it for public display.

Here, the law enforcement officer shouted an order, and the executioners led five strong bulls in from behind the tent.The bulls jumped up and kicked, neighing in a low voice, and pairs of sharp horns shone black in the autumn sun. The executioner dragged Lin Fan, who had already been limp, into the center of the execution ground like a chicken.The people in a circle on all sides involuntarily backed up about ten steps, and made another passageway about ten feet wide, allowing five bulls to be led into the execution ground.Five executioners bound Lin Fan's head and limbs with ropes, and tied each of them tightly to a bull, waiting for the law enforcement officer to wave a flag to order.

At this moment, the people watching felt frightened, and some of them ran away one after another, and some of them covered their eyes. Suddenly, five bulls raised their front hooves in five directions.There was only a piercing scream, followed by the sound of a dead tree being torn apart. ——Poor Lin Fan has been decapitated in five places, leaving a large pool of blood sticking to his belt and flesh on the ground. When Mr. Di heard that the execution in the court had been completed, he was uneasy and in a trance, only feeling bouts of inexplicable fear. Suddenly the leader of the yamen came to report: "My lord, Mrs. Liang committed suicide by taking poison!"

Hong Canjun, Tao Gan, Qiao Tai, and Ma Rong all screamed. "what happened!" Di Gong felt relieved, and his face was surprisingly flat, as if he had known such a scene a long time ago.He ordered the leader of the yamen servants to rush to the scene to collect the body and fill in the body, saying that Mrs. Liang committed suicide by taking poison due to mental disorders.The leader of the Yamen was ordered to leave the study. Di Gongnai took a sip of fragrant tea slowly, and said to himself, "The feud between the Liang and Lin families for decades has finally come to an end today. The last man of the Lin family divided his body, and the only survivor of the Liang family committed suicide by taking poison." .The autumn wind kills, not a blade of grass is left, and the death is the end."

The four relatives seemed to understand but didn't understand. Seeing Di Gong's abnormal expression, they didn't dare to intervene to ask questions for a while. Di Gong felt a little self-aware, as if waking up from contemplation.He continued in a calm tone: "I noticed a suspicious phenomenon when I first received this case. Lin Fan is a vicious and vicious person who kills without blinking an eye. He tried to kill the entire Liang family without leaving any children behind. However Mrs. Liang went to the Yamen to file a complaint against him, claiming that he was not at peace with him. He was rich and powerful in Puyang, and had a lot of confidantes, but why didn’t he touch Mrs. Liang’s hair? In Puyang, he brutally killed Liang Kefa. Last night, he did not hesitate to pry off the stone drum and put down the bronze bell, and dared to murder us. He was brave and daring, without any scruples, but why didn’t he dare to kill Mrs. Liang?——I always I was puzzled, until I found the golden lock under the bronze bell, and I suddenly realized it.

"That kind of golden lock is worn under the boy's neck. If the tether is broken, it will only fall between the clothes, so it is definitely not something worn by Lin Fan, let alone he left it on the bone. The golden lock was found between the neck and chest of the corpse. It is undoubtedly the victim who wore the golden lock. Lin Fan did not notice the golden lock under his neck when he killed him. The golden lock was revealed.——I therefore suspected that the corpse was not Liang Kefa, but a man surnamed Lin." Di Gong paused for a while, picked up the teacup, sucked up the tea in one gulp, and said, "I soon discovered a second doubt. Liang Kefa should be thirty when he arrived in Puyang, and he also indicated it in his household registration. He was 30 years old. But according to Lijia Gao Zhengming's description, the deceased was only a young man about 20 years old. So it seems that it was not Liang Kefa who was killed by Lin Fan, but another person.

"So I became suspicious of Mrs. Liang's true identity. At first I thought she was a maid of the Liang family. She hated Lin Fan just like Mrs. Liang and knew the inside story of the enmity between Lin and Liang. But why didn't Lin Fan dare What about killing this trouble-making maid by hand? It doesn't look like it. Suddenly I had a ridiculous idea, and I couldn't believe it, but the facts later revealed such a clue. "You may wish to recall that after Lin Fan raped Liang Hong's wife Rong, Liang Hong's sister Liang Ying, Lin Fan's wife, also disappeared. At that time, it was speculated that she was killed by Lin Fan, but this statement has no basis , and there is no proof, and even the body was not found at the time. I suddenly understood that Lin Fan did not kill Liang Ying, but Liang Ying escaped from the Lin family by herself. She loved her husband deeply, even though Lin Fan She murdered her elder brother and angered her father to death. She remained silent and never turned back. It was only when she heard that her husband had raped her sister-in-law Rong in despicable ways, her love for her husband was overwhelmed. Enduring the humiliation, she fled resolutely, cut off her love with her sinful husband, and tried to sue Lin Fan with deep hatred.

"Liang Ying's departure dealt a heavy blow to Lin Fan's evil spirit, and he was almost devastated. Although Lin Fan was a vicious husband, he never lost his deep love for Liang Ying. His behavior towards Rong was just a temporary evil thought , Liang Ying has always been a gentle and virtuous wife in his mind, occupying an unshakable position. "After Lin Fan lost Liang Ying, he turned from regret to resentment, which in turn aroused his even stronger hatred for the Liang family. He bribed the bandits to enter the farm where Mrs. Liang lived, and killed every dog ​​and dog. In fact During that looting, Mrs. Liang and her two grandsons—one was Liang Kefa—never survived. "Liang Ying heard the news, and from now on, Lin Fanzhen's so-called fraternity and righteousness will be severed. It is not difficult for her to pretend to be Mrs. Liang. Originally, mother and daughter are alike, and she knows the details of the Liang family's internal affairs, so she has never revealed any flaws. She secretly prepared to report. According to Lin Fan's pleadings, Liang Ying must have met Lin Fan, and told Lin Fan her intentions frankly. She wanted to go to the government to report Lin Fan's crimes, which would ruin his family and reputation. Lin Fan faced this situation After all, he was afraid, and his reputation was at stake, so he could only give in. So he fled to Puyang, and Liang Ying chased him to Puyang, and continued to entangle him. He couldn't bear the torture, so he planned to escape from Puyang and return to Guangzhou. "Although Liang Ying made her intentions clear in front of Lin Fan, she never told the truth to the young man beside her. The young man was none other than Lin Fan's own son. Lin Fan didn't know that his wife was pregnant, because When Liang Ying was pregnant, the Lin and Liang families had already started a feud, and Liang Ying concealed the matter. Later, Lin Fan really regarded his own son as Liang Kefa, and brutally murdered him. Although Liang Ying passed on the Lin family's ancestor The golden lock was worn under her son's neck, but the truth was not revealed. Her son still thought that he was Liang Kefa, the grandson of Mrs. Liang. "In order to prove this point, I deliberately threw the golden lock to Lin Fan for identification during the interrogation. Lin Fan was astonished and almost told the truth. Finally, at the moment when Lin Fan and his wife met for a short time, their performance confirmed Liang Ying wanted to condemn Lin Fan in grief and indignation: "You killed your own flesh and blood, your own son!" At that moment, her love and hatred for Lin Fan intertwined into an indescribable emotion, gushing out .Lin Fan has gone bankrupt and ruined her reputation, and her own deep hatred suddenly disappeared. She couldn't bear that kind of heart turning, and she even regretted it. Standing in front of her was her once deeply loved husband. Hating herself for being reckless, hating herself for being ruthless, she finally fainted. At the same time, Lin Fan also realized her sin, but it was too late. When he reached out to support Liang Ying, I can conclude that it was out of sincere love between husband and wife . "This story is like this. I can't try Lin Fan and judge him for the crime of killing his own son, and I don't want to entangle the old account of more than 20 years ago. Lin Fan is certainly unforgivable, and the only crime against him can only be It is the crime of treason for plotting to murder court officials. The crime of peddling illegal salt cannot knock him down and kill him at once. And Liang Ying, I don’t want her to inherit the Lin family’s property as a victim. I have been waiting At an appropriate time, she pierced her disguise, but she never came to the Yamen again. Hearing the news of Lin Fan's execution, she took poison and committed suicide without hesitation, which shows that she has self-knowledge and self-love. Decades of grievances, Once everything is over, she is still yearning for this indifferent world? The sad play is over, so why would she just stay on stage and refuse to take off her costume and wash off her makeup." There was silence in the study. His entourage was so enthralled by the story that they could think of no more word to break the suffocating silence. Di Gong shuddered, wrapped his official robe tightly, and said: "Winter is coming, the weather is going to get cold, don't forget to ask the yamen servant to prepare a brazier at night." At this moment, Di Gong only felt that his five internal organs were turned upside down, and his six emotions were swaying.He suddenly thought of the royal plaque bestowed upon him by the Holy Spirit, and felt a little more at ease. He walked out of the study silently, turned out of the inner office, lifted the curtain and came to the main hall of the outer hall.The curtain embroidered with Xiezhi on the main hall made Di Gong awe-inspiring, and the imperial plaque was hung high above the curtain. "Righteousness is more important than life" four impressive gold characters shone in the setting sun, and Di Gong couldn't help but knelt down.