Yes, of course there is.
The magistrate of Xiyang County looked surprised and uncertain, but his tone was resolute: "Your Excellency, this is all slander and false accusation. I am an honest and upright official. How could I have done such a thing? It was clearly Magistrate Xu who embezzled public funds. After being sentenced, he could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide."
He knelt on one knee, flicked his official robe, and pleaded, "Please, Your Excellency, see the truth!"
When faced with a crime, no one's first instinct is to plead guilty, but rather to defend themselves and seek acquittal.
The Prefect of Anshui was not surprised and looked at Xu Mo, saying, "Present physical evidence and witness testimony."
The physical evidence is simple: the account books left by Magistrate Xu's former accountant, which is enough to prove that Magistrate Xu was honest and upright throughout his life and never embezzled or accepted bribes.
The witness was Fang Heng and Zheng Ruqian, who rushed to the dilapidated temple in the west of the city to fetch the wife of the clerk.
Although the clerk's wife was sometimes lucid and sometimes confused, when she knelt down in the hall, she mistook the person under the plaque for Magistrate Xu and burst into tears, "Your Honor, it is my husband and I who have wronged you. It is I who accepted the bribes from that scoundrel Zhu Zhi. I have wronged you. The evidence of embezzlement and bribery is all fabricated."
"You wicked woman!" The magistrate of Xiyang County roared in anger and stood up to attack.
The clerk's wife was startled and suddenly screamed, "Villain! Villain! Zhu Zhi, you will die a horrible death!"
The magistrate of Xiyang County was named Zhu Zhi.
Everything seemed clear, and Xu Mo took the opportunity to accuse the magistrate's wife of hiring someone to commit murder.
The evidence was simple: the dark blue longsword that Fang Heng had seized was the physical evidence. Then, bring in the head maid who was already trembling like a leaf, and with a slam of the gavel, she confessed everything.
That very day, the magistrate's wife was charged with a crime.
But when it came to Magistrate Zhu Zhi, he vehemently denied it, repeatedly proclaiming his innocence.
No matter what methods the Prefect of Anshui used, whether it was beating or other forms of punishment, Zhu Zhi simply refused to admit it.
There was no other way but to temporarily detain him in the cell.
That day, at a time when no one knew, Zhu Zhi's advisor secretly boarded a carriage and headed straight for Anshui County.
It seems they've gone to call for reinforcements.
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