Although Fang Caixia married the eldest son of the Zhou family at the age of sixteen, she was a widow. Before their wedding night, the eldest son of the Zhou family fell and drowned.
So until now, she is still a virgin.
In ancient times, there were many ways to verify virginity, including sneezing, palace sand, and blood tests, but there were only two most reliable methods: one was observing the first bleeding, and the other was a midwife's examination.
The latter has been the main method for the imperial family to verify the virginity of their concubines since the Han Dynasty. The same was true for wealthy families getting married, comparable to premarital medical examinations in later generations.
Zhao Jun knew that the villagers might be coerced, and even if he asked the midwives to appear directly, they would still be coerced. Therefore, without the midwives' knowledge, he paid them to verify the pregnancy, and then wrote a document and had them sign it to create legal effect.
At least in the Song Dynasty, a dynasty that valued contracts, the legal effect of signing a contract was established. This means that the midwives can indeed testify that Fang Caixia is still innocent and the adultery is completely false.
As soon as this document came out, it basically slapped the faces of County Magistrate Shi and everyone present, making everyone's face look very ugly, especially the villagers who had just given false testimony.
Because they had previously perjured themselves, they could comfort themselves in their hearts that they themselves did not know whether Fang Caixia had committed adultery. What if she had indeed committed adultery and the Zhou family discovered it, so they asked the Wang family to send someone to drown her in a pig cage? Then Fang Caixia's death would have nothing to do with them.
Now that Fang Caixia's innocence has been proven, it means that they were actually framing an innocent woman, causing her to almost lose her life in vain. If no one had come forward to see justice, an innocent soul might have appeared under the water.
The field was banned for a long time.
Landlord Wang coughed and said, "It's still unclear whether this document is true or not. Even if it is true, it's possible that you coerced the midwife into doing it."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "That's interesting. How about this? I'll submit a petition to the Huainan Road Transport Commissioner and the Ministry of Justice. Under their witness, I'll find another midwife to verify the baby's identity. What do you think?"
County Magistrate Shi laughed dryly and said, "It's just a small matter, so there's no need to trouble the Transport Commissioner and the Supervisor."
"A small matter?"
Zhao Jun glared at him and said, "Human life is more important than anything else. How can you think that taking human life is a trivial matter? County Magistrate Shi is such a high-ranking official! As the head of a local government, you should be protecting the people's peace. Instead, you deceived your superiors and subordinates, aiding and abetting the tyrant's evil deeds. Are you worthy of being an official of the imperial court?"
County Magistrate Shi's face turned cold and he looked around. If it had been before, he could have refused by pretending that he didn't know about it or that he respected the local clan rules and laws.
But now they directly say that they are colluding with the landlord Wang and taking human lives lightly. This is a complete break.
Scholars also need to save face.
Some things can be done in secret, but cannot be exposed in broad daylight. Although it is night, there are too many people around. If his reputation gets out, his career will be completely ruined.
Magistrate Shi resolutely refused to acknowledge the matter and angrily shouted, "What nonsense are you talking about? You're taking human life lightly! This is the Zhou family's own affair, and we should punish it according to clan rules. What has this county got to do with it? What crime do you deserve for slandering an official appointed by the imperial court?"
"I saw it with my own eyes and you call it slander?"
"hehe."
The county magistrate sneered, "All of this is just your wild speculation. Do you have any evidence?"
"interesting."
Zhao Jun smiled and nodded, waving his hand. "It's an indisputable fact that the Wang family takes human life lightly. Arrest and interrogate them all. Anyone who resists will be killed without mercy."
"You dare!"
The county magistrate opened his eyes wide in disbelief.
But at this moment, there was a terrifying roar around the village, and hundreds of guards rushed in, surrounded the village and surrounded everyone.
These soldiers were all wearing leather armor and carrying bows and crossbows. They had sword and shield soldiers in the front row, spearmen, archers in the back row, and even cavalry.
The county magistrate was horrified and asked, "How can you, the Imperial Guards, arrest people at will in this area? Who gave you the authority?"
“Given by the government!”
Zhao Jun pulled out the Imperial City Division badge from his waist and said, "I'm still a member of the Imperial City Division. Since last year, the government has given the Imperial City Division the power to investigate and arrest. I witnessed this incident, and it's only natural for the Imperial City Division to handle the case!"
The county magistrate was stunned for a moment, then shouted, "Even though you have the important task of going to Yingzhou to establish the Imperial City Office, this is Bozhou!"
"It doesn't matter."
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "At least for now, the Imperial City Administration hasn't yet demarcated the jurisdiction of each region. The government and the prefect have given us the power to act at our discretion. This means that as long as we come across something, we have the power to intervene."
The county magistrate's face turned pale in an instant.
The news of the Imperial City Administration's great power in Bianliang last year naturally spread throughout the world. People had long heard about how many corrupt officials were arrested and how many criminals were beheaded.
Although the power of the Imperial City Bureau is now limited to Kaifeng Prefecture, the news that the high-ranking governor wants to spread the Imperial City Bureau throughout the country and set up branches in counties, states, and roads has long been spread throughout the court and the country.
It is said that it will be established throughout the country between this year and next year to restore the glory of the Wude soldiers.
What's even worse than the Wude soldiers is that they didn't have the power to arrest people before, at least at the local level. But now the Imperial City Division has it, and the other party can report it to the emperor, so this matter becomes really difficult to handle.
"Catch him!"
Zhao Jun was too lazy to talk nonsense with him. With a command, hundreds of soldiers swarmed in and arrested them in the midst of everyone's panic.
Landlord Wang was still shouting, saying that his brother and Magistrate Guo would definitely report to the court and impeach him for abusing the law.
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