Red Dust Daqian

In the afternoon, Zhou Sen woke up and returned to the firewood room of Qianmutang again.

Ouyang Zongren had not slept all night, with two big dark circles under his eyes. Seeing someone coming, he didn't care who the other person was, and hurriedly asked what place this was, the underworld or the house of the living? After getting the answer that this was the house of the living, Ouyang Zongren looked incredulous. Wasn't he hacked to death yesterday? Wasn't he already in the underworld? How could he appear in the house of the living again?

Ouyang Zongren tried to ask Zhou Sen again if he knew what happened last night. Zhou Sen, who was a Taoist priest, started to talk nonsense: Yesterday, the King of Hell told me in a dream that you had not finished your affairs in the world of the living, so you could not be reincarnated. He sent you back to the world of the living in the hope that you could settle your affairs after death yourself. Zhou Sen held the confession signed by Ouyang Zongren and continued: King of Hell, please give me the evidence of your guilt and ask me to help you complete your redemption.

Ouyang Zongren was confused and half-believing and half-doubting. Before he could sort out his thoughts, he was taken directly to the governor's office.

Zhou Sen and others brought Ouyang Zongren to the governor's office again. After entering the palace for the second time, they were familiar with the way. After beating the drum to complain, they were taken directly to the court. Governor Zhu Deling believed that Zhou Sen had a relationship with the princess. Although he didn't know what the relationship was, he chose to treat it with caution for the sake of safety and not offend him easily.

Zhou Sen, Li Ning'er and Xiang Cao brought Ouyang Zongren to the court. Without further ado, Zhou Sen handed over all the charges confessed by Ouyang Zongren to his lawyer Ma Piwen and roughly stated Ouyang Zongren's guilt.

After reading the petition, the lawyer and the governor were also shocked. They did not expect that Ouyang Zongxin was killed by Ouyang Zongren. Ouyang Zongren, who usually looked harmless and submissive, was so cruel and a habitual offender. In addition to Ouyang Zongren, he had killed other people.

The murder of the girl also involved Ouyang Changshi's concealment of the crime and shielding of his family, but it was a long time ago. Moreover, Ouyang Changzong's backer was a prince, and a large part of the power of the governor's office was controlled by Ouyang Changzong, and the governor Zhu Deling had no way to deal with him. If the governor was not sent by the court, he might have been arrested long ago.

Ouyang Zongren, who gradually came to his senses, had intended to refuse to admit his guilt in court, saying that he was forced to take the blame. However, when he wrote down his guilt yesterday, he had written it in too much detail, including many details, so it was not easy for him to refute it now.

The governor and the lawyer were not fools. They knew that what was written in the confession was true. Ouyang Zongxin's case must have been committed by Ouyang Zongren. So far, Zhou Sen's suspicion in the government office has been completely cleared. However, the process still had to be followed, so the yamen runners were ordered to go to Ouyang Mansion to inform Ouyang Changshi of the situation and see if he was willing to come and check it in person.

Ouyang Changzong suffered a series of blows in succession, and was so angry that he vomited blood and lay in bed, and he was mentally depressed. He had not come to the government office for many days. Hearing that the government office had captured the murderer who killed his son, he had no time to ask for details, and he did not care about his physical condition. He ordered people to carry him to the government office, vowing to deal with the murderer himself.

After arriving at the main hall of the government office, when Ouyang Changzong saw that the person kneeling in the hall was Ouyang Zongren, his heart sank. In his heart, he really hoped that it would not be the result he had never dared to believe. Ouyang Zongxin and Ouyang Zongren, one is the legitimate son of the Ouyang family, the person entrusted with the heavy responsibility of the Ouyang family in the future; the other is a nephew with great knowledge, but he is the most likely to pass the imperial examination and win fame for the Ouyang family. Both of them are the people that Ouyang Changzong is most optimistic about, and the future hope of the Ouyang family...

Ouyang Changzong couldn't bear to know the truth, so he didn't dare to ask after arriving at the government office. The lawyer saw that Ouyang Changzong was still silent, so after receiving a hint from Shan Ci, he told Ouyang Changzong the truth.

Ouyang Changzong had completely given up hope and tremblingly took over Ouyang Zongren's confession. The detailed confession included details unknown to outsiders and the murder of a young girl that he had concealed for a long time. There was no doubt that it was true. His legitimate son Ouyang Zongxin was undoubtedly killed by his nephew Ouyang Zongren.

Did the Ouyang family fall into his hands like this? After reading the confession, Ouyang Changzong couldn't calm down for a long time. Finally, he spat out another mouthful of blood and was almost half dead.

The governor Zhu Deling looked at the weak Ouyang Changzong and could not bear the suffering of the Ouyang family, so he persuaded Ouyang Changzong to return home to heal his wounds. But the old man Ouyang Changzong was still very stubborn and insisted on wiping the dirty ass of the Ouyang family.

Ouyang Changzong glared at Ouyang Zongren and cursed, "I didn't expect this ungrateful bastard to be so heartless as to kill his own brother."

After Ouyang Changzong calmed down, he said to everyone, "I have read the confessions, and only the last two cases are true. Rape and murder of a girl, and covering up the evidence are pure slander. I have been working diligently for more than ten years since I took office, how could I break the law knowingly."

The word "official" means what it means. The governor Zhu Deling did not want to cause any more trouble. He just wanted to quickly resolve the case of Ouyang Zongxin's murder. As long as he could not offend Princess Wanning and the chief secretary, he would do anything. Zhu Deling responded, "Brother Ouyang, as an upright official, how could he protect a suspect? The first case is definitely slander."

In the face of self-interest, benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, and fairness and justice are all thrown out the window. Faced with such perfunctory handling of the matter, Zhou Sen, Xiangcao, and Li Ning'er were dissatisfied, but there was nothing they could do.

Finally, Ouyang Changzong even proposed to take Ouyang Zongren away and punish him according to the Ouyang family's family rules. At this moment, Li Ning'er could no longer bear it, and pointed at the noses of the governor, the chief secretary and other officials, and cursed: "You corrupt officials, do you want family rules to be greater than national laws? Where does this treatment put the Daqian court?"

First of all, this woman of unknown origin dared to insult the imperial official in court. How bold she was. The governor wanted to order the yamen runners to beat Li Ning'er to death, but when he saw Zhou Sen and Xiangcao also surrounded Li Ning'er, he realized that this woman might not be simple. Zhou Sen had a relationship with the princess, so this woman must also have a relationship with the princess, otherwise, how could a commoner dare to insult the imperial official in court. Thinking of this, the governor had to give up and ordered the yamen runners who wanted to step forward to retreat.

Li Ning'er refused to accept the charge and insisted on executing Ouyang Zongren according to the national law, because he not only killed Ouyang Zongxin, but also murdered others. Ouyang Changzong insisted on bringing Ouyang Zongren back and punishing him according to the family law, believing that Ouyang Zongxin was more important and the other victims were just civilians and insignificant.

The pressure was once again put on the governor Zhu Deling. Master Duanshui said that he was very troubled. He was in danger on both sides. He didn't care about the truth, but just didn't want to offend anyone.