[Seven Five] Sword Que Merry

In this way, until midnight passed, there was no wind and grass on the street, and Taiyuan City was surprisingly peaceful tonight.

It is uncertain when the ghost baby will come and go, so the three of Zhan Zhao can only sit on the steps of the inn overnight.

Although it's spring now, it's still freezing cold at night. In the middle of the night, several people can't hold it anymore, so they each find a place to take a nap.

The chilly spring breeze whistles in the streets and alleys in the distance.

Before I knew it, the night passed.

The sky gradually turned gray, and the clouds were dyed with a little red light. Zhan Zhao leaned against the wooden pillar with his sword in his hands and closed his eyes to sleep lightly.

The sight is the market and houses shrouded in the morning light, it is already dawn, I think the ghost will not appear again.He moved his body slightly, and suddenly felt a little heavy on his shoulders, and when he turned his head, he saw that Nian Yi was leaning on him and fell asleep soundly...

Zhan Zhao originally wanted to wake her up, but seeing her frowning eyebrows vaguely in the dream, he didn't make a sound after all.

I know she has a lot on her mind.

When I first met her, I thought she was very mysterious, she seemed to be fearless, but she wanted to hide but was not good at words.He never thought that he was such a person who liked to get to the bottom of things, but for some reason, the deeper she hid, the more he wanted to know the truth.

But once he knew the truth, he realized that it was better...not knowing.

At first he wanted to help her, but today, he suddenly wanted to save her.

Want to save a ghost stuck in the past...

"Hey hey - who is this, smashing my lantern like this!"

People who got up early, looked out of the window and saw the mess.

"Ah, the same is true for my lantern."

"We also have..."

"Who is so wicked!"

Not long after, there was a commotion on the street, Bai Yutang and Nianyi were awakened by the sound, and when they looked up, they saw that it was bright day.Bai Yutang clicked his tongue, shook his head and said, "No, hurry up, if they find out that we did it, we will be in trouble soon."

Nian Yi let out a drowsy "hmm", stood up and followed Zhan Zhao to the inn with his head buried in his head.

Breakfast was porridge, pickles and white flour steamed buns. Since the wind blew all night last night, in order to make up for himself, Bai Yutang specially ordered an extra portion of bacon.

"Why doesn't this ghost come out?" He asked for a mouthful of steamed buns, and became suspicious of Nian Yi, "Did you read it wrong, it's not a ghost at all."

Her tone was displeased: "My hair was eaten by it, what could be wrong?"

"That's strange." He chuckled, "Could it be that Mr. Bao was really frightened and didn't dare to go out?"

"It's okay if that's the case." Nian Yi put down his chopsticks, his eyes darkened, "I'm afraid it's just tired of playing, and it will go elsewhere to harm other people."

"In this case..." Bai Yutang pondered while eating, "Then let's split up tonight. The two of you are in Taiyuan City, and I'll go to a nearby town to see."

Just as Nian Yi was about to say something was wrong, someone outside ran all over the street beating gongs and drums, shouting:

"Master Bao has been promoted, and Master Bao has been promoted to try the case—"

All of a sudden, the diners in the inn paid for their meals one after another, and rushed out to see it.Bai Yutang stared at the door, finished his porridge in two or three gulps, and lifted the sword on the table, looking quite expectant.

"Come on, let's take a look too."

After he finished speaking, he followed up, Nian Yi was not in a hurry, he just finished eating the steamed buns in his hand slowly, Zhan Zhao was waiting for her, then took out money from his pocket and put it on the table.

"Xiaoer, put the money down."

Behind the court, in front of the yamen, there were crowds of people from the city standing. The magistrate asking questions was more lively than watching a play. Bai Yutang dragged the two of them to squeeze in front of the crowd with great difficulty.

I saw that inside the government office of Taiyuan, solemn and solemn, there was a picture of a red sun and a white crane in the middle, and a plaque on the picture, with the words "high hanging mirror" written on iron and silver hooks.There were eight yamen servants standing on both sides of the court hall, holding hall sticks and looking awe-inspiring.In the center of the hall, covered with a white cloth, there is a dead body, which must belong to the embroidered girl Liu Yue.

And after this public case, there was a person sitting upright, looking at him, he looked really good.

He is probably past his age. He is wearing a scarlet gown, a leather belt around his waist, and a square headband. His eyes are piercing, his eyes are divided into two characters, and there is a crescent moon mark on his forehead. He looks dignified, but what is surprising is that His face was as black as coal.

Bai Yutang sized him up for a long time, then sighed with a low smile while holding his sword: "This man's face is really dark enough."

Nian Yi said to himself: "Is he Bao Zheng?"

Suddenly, seeing him pick up the gavel and slap it heavily, he shouted loudly:

"Bring Xiao Qi, Mrs. Zhang!"

A row of yamen servants hurriedly passed it on: "Bring Xiao Qi, Mrs. Zhang—"

Not long after, several police officers brought two of them to the court.One person is over sixty years old, with gray hair at the temples, and she looks like the old lady at first glance; the other person is dressed as a scholar, with a pale face, a haggard look, and slightly messy hair, obviously having spent a day in a prison cell.

Zhan Zhao nodded slightly, and said in a low voice, "This is Xiao Qi."

Seeing that the two of them had knelt down, Bao Zheng asked in a slow voice: "Mr. Zhang, let me ask you, did you beat the drums yesterday to accuse this Young Master Xiao of harming your granddaughter?"

Granny Zhang nodded hastily when she heard the words, she burst into tears, "Yes, my lord!"

"Your granddaughter Liu Yue died by hanging herself. Why do you suspect it was Young Master Xiao?"

"Although I, Liu'er, hanged myself, there must be a reason for it. She was always well-behaved and sensible, but she didn't even leave a suicide note before she died. She only went out once and hanged herself for no reason when she came back. Isn't it strange enough?"

Bao Zheng asked again: "Then what does that have to do with Xiao Qi?"

Mrs. Zhang kowtowed and burst into tears: "Your Excellency, I don't know. I, Liu'er, had a relationship with this person at the Lantern Festival earlier, and the two have been in constant contact since then. Liu'er also often mentioned him to me. He also said that when he was promoted by the Commander, he would marry her and go home with three matchmakers, oh yes, he even went out to meet him before the incident happened." She choked up and said, "It's not what he did. Who could it be?"

Just as Mrs. Zhang's voice was falling, Xiao Qi yelled "I'm wronged".

"My lord, Xiaosheng did ask Miss Liu to go out before, but... But Xiaosheng didn't see the girl when he arrived at the appointed place that day!" After speaking, he kowtowed and said, "My lord, please be careful."

"He didn't go if he said he didn't go?" Bai Yutang disagreed, "Now that all the girls are dead, there is no proof of death, so you can say whatever you want."

Bao Zheng stroked his beard and thought for a while, then asked him quietly: "Do you have evidence?"

"Evidence..." Xiao Qi thought about it, and suddenly said, "By the way, Xiaosheng asked a little girl named Caifeng in the embroidery village to bring a message to Miss Liu. Maybe...she passed the wrong message?"

"Oh." Bao Zheng paused slightly, nodded and said, "The colorful phoenix is ​​here."

Not long after, a young girl came in from outside, she looked exactly like the girl who poured tea in the embroidery village last time.

"Caifeng." Bao Zheng looked down at her, "Let me ask you, Xiao Qi once said that he asked you to bring a message to Liu Yue, is it true or not?"

"It's true." The little girl glanced back at Xiao Qi, who was kneeling beside her, and said truthfully, "Our Miss Liu embroidered a picture for him, and he wanted to come to thank him, so he asked me to invite the girl to come the day before Laba. Let's meet under the locust tree at the entrance of Changfu Alley. But our girl has no time, so I changed the time to go three days later."

Xiao Qi was surprised: "What three days later? Why don't I know?"

Bao Zheng was thoughtful: "What's going on? Tell the truth quickly."

The girl frowned and stared at Xiao Qi, then she repeated what she said yesterday with Nian and the others.

Xiao Qi became more and more confused the more he listened, he clasped his fists and saluted, "My lord, this girl is talking nonsense, Xiaosheng has never received that painting before!"

"Why don't you support the testimony?" Nian Yi was also at a loss at this time, "Who is lying between the two of them?"

Hearing this, Zhan Zhao smiled and shook his head: "Not necessarily, I don't think it's the two of them who lied."

She turned her head puzzled: "Who could it be?"

Behind the desk, Bao Zheng was still stroking his beard, but there was a faint smile in his eyes.

"It seems that someone is obstructing it."

"My lord." Sitting next to him was a middle-aged man dressed as a scholar, with a thin figure and holding a ink pen. Seeing the situation in the hall, he leaned forward and asked, "Do you want to pass on the steward and the doorman? "

Bao Zheng smiled lightly and waved his hands, "No need to tell, they are among the crowd."

"Come here, bring Zhou Lang and Wang Guanshi here."

The people onlookers were wondering, when they saw two servants in the hall strode forward, stretched out their hands, and arrested the two spectators in front of them.

With a plop, Zhou Lang and Guanshi Wang were arrested and quickly knelt on the ground.

"Wang Guanshi." Bao Zheng asked, "Did you bring Xiao Qi what the girl left you that day?"

Steward Wang turned pale with fright, and quickly shook his head, "No, never... Mr. Xiao went out with my master. He happened to meet Mr. Zhou that day. I was busy with business, so I asked him to bring the message."

"So that's how it is." Bao Zheng didn't say much, raised the gavel and slapped it, and shouted sharply:

"Zhou Lang, you are guilty!"

Unexpectedly being called out like this, Zhou Lang shuddered all over, and tremblingly said: "My lord, why did you say that, villain... I don't know what crime I have committed..."

Bao Zheng snorted coldly, "How dare you argue even now."

"Because Xiao Qi was favored by the commander, you held a grudge. Seeing that he was going to present a big gift to his wife, you pretended to pass on the message for him, but in the end you took the embroidery for yourself!"

"My lord!" Zhou Lang kowtowed to him, "The villain is wronged..."

"Still complaining!" Bao Zheng shouted at him, "That pair of embroidery is now displayed in the Jinyun Jewelry Shop in the city, and the owner said that it was bought from you, how dare you argue?"

Hearing this, Zhou Lang slightly tightened his hands supporting the ground, rolled his eyes, and suddenly bowed his head and confessed:

"Yes, the villain admits that this embroidery... is indeed taken away by the villain. But... but the embroiderer will not be unable to figure out why she hanged herself because of this, right? I'm afraid she has a ghost in her heart and has something to do with me. what relationship!"

"Zhou Lang!" Xiao Qi, who was at the side, couldn't help being annoyed when he saw him admitting, "It's useless for me to help you as a confidant brother, but you lied to me like this, and you said that Miss Liu was sick and couldn't finish the embroidery, so... Oh it's you……"

Sadness came from it, he couldn't be himself for a while, Xiao Qi got up and was about to rush towards Zhou Lang, when Bao Zheng saw this, he frowned and ordered around.

"Presumptuous, don't take him down yet!"

The guards on both sides grabbed him in a hurry and pushed him back to his original position in a daze.

Nian Yi watched quietly, and muttered to himself: "He can be so angry, he should have a deep affection for Miss Liu..."

After the surroundings calmed down, Bao Zheng's face sank like water, and he said:

"Well, Zhou Lang, you still haven't pleaded guilty. You said you don't know why she died? The government tells you that Liu Yue is still pregnant with a child!"

As soon as he said this, the whole hall was in an uproar, Zhou Lang was like a thunderbolt in a sunny sky, and was speechless for a long time.

Bao Zheng's eyes were cold, and his words were like iron, "You are greedy for that embroidery, and seeing Liu Yuehua's beautiful appearance, you feel malicious. The girl in the embroidery village came to send a message, and left a message for Wang Guanshi to change the time. After three days, and Xiao Qi is not there, Guanshi Wang told you what he said, so you will use your plan, and the person who wants to go to meet Liu Yue on that day is you!"

Nian Yi and Zhan Zhao were startled when they heard this.

The area around Changfu Alley was sparsely populated, and it was dark that night, so maybe he couldn't see clearly, maybe it was this person who cheated the girl.And Liu Yue always thought that it was Xiao Qi that night, so when she found out that she was pregnant, she secretly left home to give birth to the child. She didn't want to know that it was not Xiao Qi who came that day by accident, so...she committed suicide in shame and indignation.

If not, then she would not have said that she was sorry for Xiao Qi...

"Brother Zhan!" Nian Yi seemed to be thinking of something, stretched out his hand to tug at the hem of his clothes, and said in a low voice, "The fetus in Miss Liu's womb may be..."

"My lord, these are just speculations!"

In the courtroom, Zhou Lang stayed there for a long time, and suddenly said, as if he was planning to plead not guilty, "You have no evidence, how can you conclude that I was the one who went there that night? Could it be that someone saw it?"

Before Bao Zheng could speak, Xiao Qi was already flushed with anger, "You didn't tell me the date changed, who else would you go if you didn't go?!"

"Boss Wang didn't come to me in private that day. There are so many people in Mr. Li's house, so it's impossible for someone to listen to you." Zhou Lang straightened his back and said loudly, "My lord has always been reasonable in handling cases, and now I have no evidence. I just said There is a child in Liu Yue's womb, could it be mine? Who can testify?"

Bao Zheng was also taken aback by his question: "You!..."

"If your lord wants to torture him severely, it's a trick of torture!" Zhou Lang looked smug, as if he had expected that he would not use the pincer.

There were endless discussions among the spectators outside the court.

Bai Yutang raised his eyebrows in displeasure, "Hmph, is this kid trying to play tricks? It seems that it's not good to meet a stupid official, and it's not good to meet a good one. As he said earlier, this guy with the surname Bao will be treated as a gift." It's hard for him to convince the public even if he punishes him."

Nian Yi said in a low voice: "Despicable."

She suddenly raised her eyebrows slightly, and made a "click" sound when she pulled the bones with both hands, and a smile appeared in her eyes, "He said there is no evidence, so I will make a proof."

Glancing at this expression, Zhan Zhao guessed what she might do next.

"Brother Zhan." Sure enough, she took a deep breath, "Take care of my body."

"you……"

Before he had time to call her, he felt a gust of wind passing by on the flat ground, and Nian Yi was about to fall staggeringly, Zhan Zhao hurriedly stretched out his arms to hug her, and probed her nose with his fingertips, but he was really breathless.

He couldn't help shaking his head: "This girl..."

"What's wrong?" Seeing Nianyi's eyes closed tightly when he turned his head, Bai Yutang couldn't help wondering, "She is..."

Zhan Zhao could only explain briefly: "I didn't sleep well last night, I was sleepy."

"Oh……"

At this moment, Bao Zheng was discussing with the chief secretary next to him, when there was some movement on the wooden shelf where Liu Yue's body was placed on the side of the courtroom.

"Oops!" A sharp-eyed person present pointed to the corpse and said, "The corpse is moving. Look, the corpse is moving!"

Zhan Zhao looked around, and saw that the corpse that was lying quietly in the distance raised one arm and lifted off the white cloth covering his body, and sat up slowly.

"Yes, there are ghosts!"

"What a ghost!"

The onlookers were so frightened that they took a step back tacitly, and in an instant, only Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao stood in front.

Fortunately, Liu Yue's body had been stored in Yizhuang's ice cellar before, and it did not rot. Otherwise, even if she was possessed, she would still have nausea for several days when she went back.

Liu Yue stood up slowly from the ground, turned her head and glared angrily at Zhou Lang who was already ashen-faced.

"You... you... are you a human or a ghost..."

She stepped forward and asked him calmly and softly, "Do you think I am a human or a ghost?"

"you you you……"

Zhou Lang was so frightened that he moved back, but his legs were so weak that he couldn't even stand up.

"Didn't you just say you want evidence?" Liu Yue smiled lightly, "I'm the evidence?"

"Aren't you already dead?!"

"Of course I'm dead." Without changing her face, she turned around and knelt down towards Bao Zheng.

"My lord, Liu Yue, a civil daughter, cannot be reincarnated because of unresolved grievances. Now I heard that your lord was promoted to trial, but the real murderer cunningly argued and denied it. It is really hard to dispel her anger, so I dare to use the dead body to revive my soul. Please also, my lord." Seek justice for the women of the people!"

As she spoke, she bowed down respectfully and kowtowed.

In that class, Bao Zheng and Master Gongsun were also stunned. After a while, Gongsun Ce was the first to react, turned around and reminded with a light cough:

"grown ups."

Bao Zheng came back to his senses, "What's your opinion, Mister?"

Gongsun Ce gave him a look, "Since Miss Liu has shown up, it can be regarded as the gathering of witnesses and evidence, and I can be convicted."

The latter understood and nodded.

"Since that's the case..." He slapped the gavel, which resounded throughout the hall, "Zhou Lang, you are guilty!"

Zhou Langshang was so frightened that he could hardly speak.

"Zhou Lang?!"

After hearing no sound for a while, Liu Yue raised her head and frowned at him: "My lord is asking you something."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Zhou Lang was trembling at the sight of her, and he couldn't stop kowtowing, "Confess, confess, the villain confesses."

"Okay." Bao Zheng took out a piece from the lottery and threw it on the ground, "The sinner Zhou Lang cheated and raped a woman from a good family, and resold other people's property. According to the laws of my Song Dynasty, he will be executed according to the laws of the Song Dynasty. Since you have contemptuous of the court before, Now let's stick to eighty." After saying that, he shouted at the yamen servants on the side, and the arresters quickly put Zhou Lang on the ground, raised their sticks, and started beating him.

Seeing it in her eyes, Liu Yue felt very happy in her heart, and glanced at Zhan Zhao outside the arena again, and couldn't help smiling at him.

Still hugging Zhan Zhao who was all over his body, seeing Liu Yue who was looking at him with a smile in his eyes, he knew that it was her who did it, and couldn't help but smile when he was worried, and shook his head with a secret sigh.

Although this is a good way, it is really...too risky.

Just as Nian Yi looked away, his wrist was suddenly clenched.

"Yue'er, Yue'er!"

Before she could turn around, she was hugged by Xiao Qi in his arms.

"Is it really you? Are you really back?"