Tranquility

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!" The heavy and slow sound of drums cut through the quiet morning of the town.

The people around the county government came over curiously to see who was going to seek grievances. Cangping county magistrate has been in peace for a long time, and it has been a long time since no one beat the drums to appeal for grievances.

But I saw a handsome young man standing in front of the big drum, with a dignified expression, holding the drum in one hand, beating unhurriedly, his figure was extremely thin, and he wore a sackcloth that seemed to be hanging on his body.

Under the plaque hanging high in the bright mirror, County Magistrate Min yawned and patted the gavel, "Who is under the hall? Who are you suing for what?"

"Tang Ning, a member of Zhangjia Village, Cangping County, sued Zhang San, an only daughter in Zhangjia Village, Cangping County, for disobedience to women's morals, disturbing the rules and regulations, getting pregnant before marriage, and killing Zhuo Jing because of theft."

As soon as this remark came out, the people watching the excitement began to whisper, people are always interested in such things as unmarried first pregnancy.

County Magistrate Min's hands trembled and he almost dropped the gavel. Looking up, it was Tangning.

"Hey, there is a paper, please bring it up and have a look."

Tangning took out the pleading paper from her sleeve and handed it over.

The county magistrate Min took the pleading paper, pondered for a long time, hesitating in his heart, if he remembered correctly, the three only daughter should be Tangning's step-sister, who was engaged to the Zhang family years ago, and the pleading said she was pregnant with the Zhang family's child. The Zhang family's heirs are notoriously difficult.

"The three only daughters should be your step-sister, so they belong to the Tang family?"

Tang Ning's expression remained unchanged, "It is true that Zhang San's widow married my father to fill in the house, but Zhang San's only daughter is not listed in the Tang family tree. She is still surnamed Zhang. How can a woman of this character be a daughter of the Tang family!" Tangning came Before, in front of Aunt Tang's Niuniu, he crossed out Niuniu's name on the genealogy tree, and he could give them what they wanted, and he could also get it back.

This is really difficult. It seems that the Tang family is determined to punish Niu Niu. County Magistrate Min thought about it, and finally decided to send Niu Niu to ask and see the reaction of the Zhang family. Anyway, Niu Niu is pregnant. The death penalty has to wait until the child is born, so it's better to delay this matter.

In ancient times, if a woman was summoned, for the sake of her reputation, her male elders or male relatives would usually go to court on her behalf, or at least be a male servant. That's all.

So after Niuniu received the subpoena from the yamen servant, Aunt Tang hurriedly went to the Zhang family. Niuniu's father was dead, her uncle was unreliable, and she herself was a woman, and her waist was injured, and she could not move in bed. Carpenter Tang wanted to Don't even think about it, the person in the hall is his own son, so she can only ask Zhao Huiniang to find Zhang's door.

The Zhang family was also shocked. The Tang family held a funeral a few days ago, and they thought that Tangning's daughter-in-law died of dystocia. There were not many witnesses that day, and those who knew the incident did not talk nonsense, so the villagers always thought that Sister Cheng died of dystocia. of.

In fact, if the Zhang family divorced, there would be no need to send someone to stand up for Niu Niu, but Niu Niu is pregnant with the first great-grandson of the Zhang family. No one can say whether the one in her belly is the only one of the Zhang family The great-grandson was once bitten by a snake for ten years and was afraid of well ropes, so despite his reluctance, the Zhang family sent the housekeeper to the court.

After a long while, the magistrate of Min County came back from a recess for dinner, and the housekeeper of the Zhang family arrived.County Magistrate Min frowned and slapped the gavel, "Who is in the hall? Why don't you kneel?"

The butler was calm and dignified, "Going back to the county magistrate, my young master donated a seventh-rank judge a few years ago. Tang Juren told the young lady that she is my young master's fiancée, so she should not kneel as usual."

The magistrate of Min County failed to succeed, but instead suffered a dark loss. He felt a little unhappy, coupled with a subtle jealousy. He was born in the imperial examination, and he was an official for more than ten years. A few hundred taels of silver would be able to sit on an equal footing with him, but he didn't show the slightest difference, his expression was still serious.

"Tangning, you said that the defendant killed your wife through theft. Do you have evidence?"

"Yes." Tangning took out a small box from her sleeve, "This box is filled with 300-year-old ginseng pieces, which can be worth about 400 taels in total. It was originally locked, but the defendant used a hairpin to pry the lock open. After discovering that it was ginseng, he stuffed it in his sleeve, and because he was in a hurry to go out, he knocked down Zhuo Jing, which caused Zhuo Jing to have a heart attack and dystocia, and unfortunately passed away. The hairpin is still at the defendant’s house, and Lord Min sent someone to search it to find out.”

Without further ado, the county magistrate of Min ordered people to search for hairpins at Tang's house, and arrested Niuniu by the way. After all, it was a murder case and there was evidence, so even pregnant women had to be detained.

The butler next to him was not calm anymore, and said anxiously: "The defendant is a pregnant woman, what if something happens on the road, what should I do? Besides, how could he be convicted based on his one-sided words? His wife obviously fell down by herself, and the defendant didn't even touch her." bump into her."

Tangning glanced at the hand pointed at by the housekeeper, "That day, I invited two doctors, and both of them could prove that Zhuo Jing was pushed down. At that time, the defendant's cousin was also there, and the servants were also there. The only ones at the door were Zhuo Jing, the defendant, and the defendant's own mother, if the defendant didn't push it, who else would it be?"

The butler blurted out: "It's the defendant's mother."

Tangning did not speak, but looked at County Magistrate Min.

The Min County Magistrate could only say: "If that's the case, let's bring the defendant's mother here too. It's getting late at this time, and the trial will start when the defendant arrives in court tomorrow. Let's leave the courtroom."

After Tang Ning left the yamen, he went straight to Dr. Lu's house. After the yamen servant left the yamen, he rushed back to Zhangjiacun with a dozen servants.

Dr. Lu and Xie Baiyun have been staying at Tangning's house. Sister Cheng gave birth to a son. Doctor Lu diagnosed him when he was born. Although he was very weak, his heart disease was much milder than his mother's. Dr. Lu was good at treating weak children. For those with symptoms, as long as they are well adjusted, they can be like normal children at the age of five or six.It's just that you need to be very careful during these days, and you can't tolerate any mistakes. Moreover, Mr. Cheng has suffered too much. A person who is not usually sick, suddenly has a serious illness and is aggressive. He is so thin that he is out of shape. Doctor Lu is busy. I have to go around and around, and my head is battered.

It was getting dark, and when Tangning returned home, she handed over a dozen servants to Xie Baiyun to arrange. There was no one in charge at home. Tang Mu was powerless, and Zhao Huiniang's identity was sensitive. He was busy suing, so Xie Baiyun took care of all the trivial matters. thing.

Xie Baiyun took over a dozen servants, watched Tangning enter the east room again, and locked the door tightly, he couldn't help but sighed.These days, he watched Tangning lose weight day by day, and her person was no longer as gentle and peaceful as before. Now he looked at others with cold eyes. Xie Baiyun was very worried, but there was nothing he could do. He only hoped that Tangning would feel better after taking revenge.

However, this enmity is not easy to repay. Tangning is just a small person with no power and power, but Zhang Dehuai is backed by a big tree, has power and connections, and the court is in a sensitive period. It's hard to say what the outcome will be.A few days ago, he had sent Mo Yi to the capital to find someone to come to the town. If it wasn't convenient for him to show up, it would be more appropriate for him to go. We can only wait for Mo Yi to come back.Moreover, Mr. Cheng also sent a letter to the Cheng family in Jiangnan, but the journey is far away, and it is hard to say whether he can make it in time, but Shui Mingxuan is more convenient. Even if he can't come forward directly, with the support of these two forces, the lawsuit will win Still pretty big.

In the east room, in the shadow of the moonlight, Tangning sat alone. The smell of blood in the room seemed to have not faded away, but he seemed to smell the scent of Sister Cheng that morning. It was faint and very pleasant.

In this room, every corner and every object was arranged and used together by him and Sister Cheng, each of which recorded their past beauty.If Tangning didn't scan one item, his heart would be in excruciating pain, but he still tortured himself, scanning carefully every night.

In the end, his gaze was fixed on the makeup box. It was a gift made by Tang Mu for his husband when he was six years old. She only cared about the exquisiteness of the Surprise makeup box, and there is actually a small door and a small lock, but she didn't expect that this makeup box is the beginning of everything, and it also witnessed the final ending.

From the age of six to ten to 15, his heart became colder and colder in the end, until even he himself was numb from the cold, and there was only a cluster of cold flames, which was the fire of revenge, which was cold and hot. heart, then he will burn all enemies to death.

It's not that he has never thought about how difficult the Zhang family is, especially after Gao Pu came to power, the Zhang family's take-off is just around the corner, he can wait for Niu Niu to give birth to a child, and then he will rub the balls and flatten them casually, and the Zhang family will not try their best Prevent.

However, he didn't want to wait for a moment. At the beginning, he just wanted to wait, marry Niu Niu after the exam, wait for Niu Niu to go out after seven months, and wait for her son to move. However, God never waits for him, Tang Ning thought This will make you hate why you have to wait, why you are so cowardly and incompetent, you can't even protect your wife and children.Besides, would the Zhang family be innocent in this matter? If they hadn't boasted in front of Niuniu's mother and daughter, making them overjoyed, would Niuniu dare to steal something, would Aunt Tang dare to push sister? out……

Suddenly, the lights were brightly lit and there was a lot of noise outside. Tangning stood up and pushed open the door, only to see many servants from the Zhang family surrounded by the Tang family next door.

Tangning snorted coldly and finally came.

People from the Zhang family heard that they were going to take Niuniu to the court tomorrow, maybe they would go to jail, what kind of place is in the prison, the living can be tossed to death, let alone a pregnant woman.So they sent people overnight to greet the county magistrate Min with gifts, and at the same time sent letters to the capital. At the same time, they asked people to guard the Tang family, so that Niu Niu could never be taken away.

The magistrate of Min County sent four yamen servants over. As soon as they entered Tang's house, they searched out all of Niuniu's hairpins and put shackles on Aunt Tang. When a room was locked up, everyone in the Tang family was frightened. It has to be said that the yamen servants are still very intimidating to these villagers.These yamen servants were ordered by the magistrate of Min County, and just now they received an errand fee from Xie Baiyun that they couldn't imagine, how could they not work hard.

It's just that now the Zhang family directly sent people to block them, and the other party had a lot of people, and the four yamen servants were a little at a loss. Fortunately, the reward given by Xie Baiyun was too generous, enough to make them work hard, so they insisted not to open the door. .

Xie Baiyun quickly led people to surround Zhang's family. Dr. Lu and Tang Ning also followed. Although there were few people on their side, Xie Baiyun and Dr. Lu were not vegetarians. Dr. Lu knew martial arts and kept secrets. Knows martial arts, but what he learned since elementary school is the army's killing moves, so he doesn't give up.

Soon, the members of the Zhang family collapsed. Zhang Dechun shrank back and shouted sternly, "Tangning, do you still have the humanity to send a pregnant woman to jail? She is your sister!"

Tangning stared at him expressionlessly, the fire reflected into his eyes, but he couldn't see any light, what kind of human nature, and they are worthy of talking about human nature, what about pregnant women, what about innocent children, and what about caring for pregnant women in previous lives, Tang Ning did everything He just wanted to take revenge. Sister Cheng was so innocent. Sister Cheng was also pregnant. Tangning was furious. She wished she could beat Niuniu to have a miscarriage right now. It would be better to let her have a miscarriage in prison, killing two people.

Looking at Tangning's empty eyes, Zhang Dechun felt extremely frightened, and couldn't help but take a few steps back.The fire was on and off, making Tangning's beautiful face fluctuate. He suddenly raised the corner of his mouth, "Since you guys can't wait even one night, you should start early. Don't worry, Niuniu will be fine. I will personally escort her of."

Not long after the Min County Magistrate sent the Zhang family away, he received news that the yamen guards had escorted Niu Niu and Aunt Tang back. Hearing that they were escorted by Tang Ning herself, her head grew bigger.

In this case, Tang Ning is in charge, but Zhang's family is in power. He also wants to uphold justice, but he doesn't want to lose his black hat, but he has no choice but to put Niuniu and her daughter in a separate cell with better conditions, and send them over with all the quilts and food. .Perfunctorily sent Tang Ning away, seeing that it was really difficult for Tang Ning to move at night, so she had to go back to Lu's residence.

The next day Tangning received news from the county government that the pregnant woman was in poor health and the court would start ten days later.

In the past five days, the case of the Tang family has spread throughout the city, and it has become the topic of discussion among common people after dinner.

In the capital, Zhang Dehuai received the news. He knew that it was easy for Tang Ning to raise a person, but it was Mr. Cheng who was difficult. At the beginning, he was demoted for no reason. Now that he returned to the capital, he hadn't had time to find out who did it. It was Mr. Cheng's fault. handwriting.So, he went to Gao Pu and exaggerated the matter, saying that there was someone behind Mr. Cheng, and seeing that he was unhappy when he first came to power, he took the opportunity to make trouble.

After Gao Pu came to power, there were indeed many Qingliu civil servants who were dissatisfied, especially after Mr. Yu Ge was beheaded, the civil servants rebounded greatly. At this juncture, this incident just happened. Gao Pu suspected that it was launched by someone with a heart to test the water , he was furious, this wind cannot rise, he must kill those people's prestige.

On the other side, Xie Baiyun took over the gold medal from Chang Shi of the Princess's Mansion, and asked with some doubts, "Why does mother-in-law intervene in this matter?"

Chang Shi shook his head and said, "I don't know about this lower official either. The lower official was just ordered to save Tang Juren's life."

Xie Baiyun was shocked: "This case is just a matter of the Tang family's family affairs, why is it threatening Zi'an's life?"

Chang Shi said: "This case will not happen, but Mr. Gao was instigated by Zhang Dehuai, thinking that someone was against him. Even if he wins the lawsuit, Tang Juren's life is in danger."

That night, Xie Baiyun brought Chang Shi to meet County Magistrate Min. As soon as he showed the gold medal, County Magistrate Min plopped down on his knees.

Spring is a good time for outings. In the old days, Tangning would definitely wear the clothes made by sister Cheng and go out to meet friends and discuss poetry.

But now, he feels that he can only stand on this mighty courtroom, next to the government servants holding water and fire sticks, in the next room kneeling are former relatives and current enemies, and there are crowds of people watching the excitement behind.

Amid the "mighty" sound, the most ups and downs case in Cangping County was opened.