Zheng Youhe shouted, "Zhou Dafu, why don't you tell the truth?"
Zhou Dafu kowtowed three times to Prefect Zheng and said in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, my master has indeed coveted the Xu family's manuscript for a long time. He first ordered me to steal the manuscript, but when he failed, he decided to hire someone to write a fake manuscript. Of course, this happened after he ordered me to burn down the Xu family's bookstore. As for the threats and intimidation against Xu Wei, the Xu family's shopkeeper, they did happen."
Before Zheng Youhe could ask any more questions, Zhou Dafu spilled the beans all at once.
This scared Zhou Youde.
He didn't care about anything else and pointed at Zhou Dafu's nose and cursed: "What an ungrateful slave! He actually colluded with outsiders to frame the master. How shameless!"
He turned to Zheng Youhe and said tearfully, "Please, sir, please help me, my lord."
Zheng Youhe felt a headache coming on. He slammed the gavel and shouted, "Silence!"
Zhou Youde was stunned for a moment and dared not make any more noise.
"Xu Wei, let me ask you, do you have any evidence that Zhou Dafu was ordered by Zhou Youde? I can't convict Zhou Youde based on his one-sided statement, can I?"
Zheng Youhe asked this because he hoped Xu Wei would quit while he was ahead and let Zhou Dafu take the blame, which would be a better ending.
But before Xu Wei came to report to the police, he had already agreed with Xu Yan that they must find out the mastermind behind the incident and would not compromise under any circumstances.
The Zhou family was wealthy and powerful, so it was normal for them to have some connections in Hangzhou's official circles. Xu Yan had anticipated this, and therefore instructed Xu Wei to maintain a strong stance and not show any signs of compromise. Only in this way could he exert pressure on the government and demonstrate that the Xu family was not a pushover.
"Your Excellency, Xu has additional evidence."
Xu Wei came prepared and answered confidently.
Hmm? Circumstantial evidence?
Prefect Zheng was skeptical and cleared his throat, saying, "Bring the supporting evidence to the court!"
As soon as he finished speaking, two yamen runners came into the hall with a young woman.
"My humble self, Dehui Banshelimei, greets the Master."
The moment Zhou Youde saw Xuelimei, he was shocked.
How did she get here?
It turned out that the Dehui Troupe was a troupe that Zhou Youde had recently invited to perform at Little Penglai. Xuelimei was one of the actors in the troupe.
Because of her excellent voice and melodious and clear singing style, Xuelimei was deeply loved by Zhou Youde.
Zhou Dafu came to Xiao Penglai several times to report to him, but Zhou Youde was so fascinated by what he heard that he did not send the troupe away in time.
If Xuelimei was paying attention, she would be able to hear the conversation between him and Zhou Dafu clearly.
As expected, after Governor Zheng ordered Xuelimei to tell the truth, she repeated without hesitation what Zhou Youde had said to Zhou Dafu.
"Slander, this is all slander!"
Zhou Youde was furious and yelled, "How much money did you take from the Xu family, you bitch? How dare you lie like that? How despicable!"
"presumptuous!"
Zhou Youde roared in the court several times, causing the official authority of Zheng Zhifu to be completely destroyed.
How could Governor Zheng tolerate this?
He threw down a stick and said coldly, "Zhou Youde roared in court. He should be punished with twenty lashes of the cane as a warning to others!"
When the prefect gives an order, the yamen runners will naturally obey it.
Two yamen runners dragged Zhou Youde to the ground, stripped his pants and started beating him.
Zhou Youde lived a life of luxury, enjoying the tender meat all day long, and had never experienced such pain.
After a few beatings, he started wailing and crying for his parents.
After hearing this, Prefect Zheng felt even more disgusted.
At the beginning, he did have the intention of smoothing things over and trying to keep things peaceful.
But the Xu family was so well prepared, with both primary and circumstantial evidence, how could he defend them?
You can't just lie with your eyes open, right?
The only person to blame is Zhou Youde himself. It would have been fine if he had just been greedy, but he was so inefficient in his work and left so many handles behind.
After the twenty strokes of the cane, Zhou Youde was already exhausted. Prefect Zheng snorted coldly and said, "If you dare to roar in court again, the punishment will be doubled!"
Prefect Zheng paused, slammed the gavel, and continued to ask Xuelimei, "Let me ask you, is what you just said true?"
Xuelimei bit her lip and said, "Every word is true."
"Someone, come and ask her to sign!"
Seeing that the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable to him, Zhou Youde, without caring about anything else, shouted, "Wait a minute, Prefect! Don't you care about Master Yao's dignity?"
His shout was so shocking that Prefect Zheng's face changed drastically and he sneered in his heart.
Originally, he still took into account the face of Yao Buzhengshi and wanted to give Zhou Youde a light punishment.
But I never thought that Zhou Youde was so stupid that he actually involved Lord Yao.
If Zhou Youde admitted it silently, Governor Yao might have hinted to Zheng Youhe for the sake of his concubine.
But now, Governor Yao might even want to kill Zhou Youde.
"Zhou Youde is so abominable for accusing an official of the imperial court. Give me another twenty lashes!"
When Zhou Youde heard that he was going to be beaten with a stick again, he cried out, "Master Prefect, you can't beat me. Master Yao, save me, Master Yao, save me!"
Zheng Youhe thought to himself, "How can I tolerate you yelling here?" He ordered, "Shut his mouth for me!"
Zhou Dafu, who was standing by, felt extremely happy when he saw Zhou Youde being gagged and beaten with a stick.
When they threw him to the Xu family like a dead dog to take the blame, they never thought that this day would come, right?
Twenty strokes of the cane is not too many, but not too few either.
Zhou Youde had been hit with twenty boards before, and he fainted after those twenty boards.
Zheng Youhe ordered someone to fetch water to wake him up.
A basin of cold water was poured on him, and Zhou Youde woke up with a start.
Prefect Zheng said coldly, "Qiantang merchant Zhou Youde was jealous of his fellow merchant, the Xu family, and ordered his men to burn down the Xu family's bookshop. What is the punishment according to Ming Dynasty law?"
These words were spoken to the criminal lawyer standing beside him.
"My Lord, the Great Ming Code states: Anyone who intentionally sets fire to official or civilian houses, government warehouses, or government-owned property will be beheaded. Those who intentionally set fire to vacant houses or farmland will have their sentence reduced by one level. The value of the burned property will be deducted, and any property confiscated will be used as compensation, which will then be returned to the government and the owner."
"What is the penalty for stealing property?"
Anyone who commits theft but fails to obtain any property shall be punished with fifty lashes and spared from tattooing. However, if property is obtained, the crime of the thief shall be considered heavier and the crime of the thief shall be considered as well as the property of the thief. The punishment of the thief who is an accomplice shall be reduced by one level. Furthermore, if the thief is less than one guan (a certain amount of money), he shall be punished with sixty lashes. If the thief is between one guan (a certain amount of money) and ten guan (a certain amount of money), he shall be punished with seventy lashes... If the thief is one hundred and twenty guan (a certain amount of money), he shall be punished with only one hundred lashes and exiled three thousand miles.
"Sentence Zhou Youde to behead for both crimes. The items burned in the Xu Family Bookstore must be chopped up as compensation and returned to the Xu family!"
Stealing property is punishable by caning, but deliberately setting fire to a private house and causing great damage is punishable by death according to the law.
When Zhou Youde heard the word "behead", he completely collapsed and burst into tears.
"Take him away and put him in jail!"
Prefect Zheng felt extremely unlucky and waved his hand.
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