Chapter 81 The Truth [Seeking monthly tickets]
The Han family is not close to the county government office, so the time taken to get there by car and on foot is naturally different.
It was a long time after Li Nuo returned to the county government office before County Lieutenant Wang arrived with a group of witnesses.
Because there was no doubt in the case, Magistrate Pei simply asked the neighbors of the deceased some routine questions, and after completing the procedure, he let them go.
The household registration office of the county government was actually quite busy today, with many people queuing outside.
At the instruction of Magistrate Pei, the officials of the Household Department gave priority to canceling Han Zhuo's account.
By the time Han Zhuo had finished all his work, a carriage was already waiting outside the county government office.
Li Nuo sent him to the carriage and said again: "My condolences..."
Han Zhuo had a sad face. He clasped his fists to him and moved his lips, but no sound came out.
He seemed too sad to speak.
Soon, the carriage started and slowly drove away from the county government office.
Han Zhuo sat in the carriage, not knowing if it was an illusion, but he felt that the road from the county government office to his home was particularly long.
It was so long that it didn't seem much faster than walking back.
Maybe it was because his mind was so confused that even time seemed to be taking so long.
After an unknown amount of time, the carriage finally stopped at the doorstep.
"Azhuo, please accept my condolences."
"Your mother is doing this for your own good."
"After returning to the academy, you must study hard to live up to all that your mother has done for you..."
"We will help you arrange Aunt Zhang's funeral..."
…
Han Zhuo got off the carriage, and his neighbors came to comfort him again.
After a while, Han Zhuo returned to the yard, closed the gate, leaned against the gate, and let out a long sigh.
After an unknown amount of time, he took another step, crossed the courtyard and came to the main room.
During the time he was at the county government office, his neighbors had already set up the mourning hall for him.
The coffin has not been bought yet, and there is only a simple wooden bed in front of the mourning hall.
My mother's body was lying on the wooden bed, covered with a white cloth.
He knelt on a cushion in front of the mourning hall, looking at his mother's body under the white cloth, with a complicated expression on his face.
There is sadness, pain, guilt, but also a hint of deep-seated relief and liberation.
He couldn’t be where he is today without his mother.
His mother gave birth to him and raised him. She was reluctant to spend money on food and clothing, lived frugally all her life, and worked hard to support his studies. Only then could Han Zhuo be what he is today.
If it weren't for his mother's efforts over the years, he would not have been able to enter Qingfeng Academy as an exception.
He also wanted to enjoy life with his mother after he became successful.
But... Qianqian doesn't want to.
She was the daughter of a noble family and was unwilling to pay respects to a pariah every day. The only condition she agreed to marry him was that she could not live with her mother.
If the two get married, the Huaiyang Marquisate will give him a house.
The house was very large and located in the prosperous area of Chang'an. It was a mansion that he could never afford in his lifetime.
Not only that, they will also invite the best archery and horse riding masters, and the best musicians to give him the best instruction within the next six months, so as to help him make further progress in the imperial examinations in the near future.
He grew up in a poor family, but his academic performance in subjects such as literature, mathematics and etiquette was good, and he was able to make up for it with his own efforts.
However, riding, archery and music were not something that a poor student could afford to learn. They were his biggest weaknesses and he was far inferior to those students from wealthy families.
If I could receive better education, I would definitely be able to get a higher ranking in the imperial examination.
Achieving a higher ranking in the imperial examination means a higher starting point in officialdom. Even if it is only half a level difference, it can save him several years of hard work.
Moreover, once he climbs up to the Huaiyang Marquis Mansion, even if he starts out as a small ninth-rank county lieutenant, he will be able to rise rapidly in the future and quickly climb to a position that others will never be able to reach in their entire lives.
On the contrary, if he had no noble help, he might have wasted his entire life in the ninth rank.
This was an opportunity, an opportunity for him to rise to prominence and make the Han family’s ancestral graves proud.
If he doesn't grab this opportunity, there will never be a second one in his life.
The academy gathers elite students from all over the world. Even if Han Zhuo is not there, there will be Zhang Zhuo and Li Zhuo, and someone will replace him at any time.
But Han Zhuo could not openly abandon his mother. If he really did that, the people would not tolerate him, the law would not tolerate him, and the court would not tolerate him.
For his future and the future of the Han family, he had to sacrifice his mother.
This is the best solution, which will satisfy Qianqian without damaging his reputation.
When he told his mother about this idea, although she had not slept all night, she still agreed to it at dawn.
She would take the initiative to end her life on the grounds that she was seriously ill and didn't want to burden herself.
In this way, Han Zhuo himself will not be involved, and Qianqian will also be satisfied with the Huaiyang Marquis' Mansion.
Sure enough, this plan was flawless and easily fooled the people from the Chang'an County Government and the Ministry of Justice.
It can't be called a lie. His mother was already dead, and if he didn't tell anyone, no one would know the truth. He didn't even tell Qianqian.
He will bury this matter in his heart and take it into the coffin.
He breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s finally over…
Just at this moment, he suddenly heard a strange sound in his ears, and Han Zhuo turned around.
The door, which was originally open, suddenly closed by itself, scaring Han Zhuo.
The next moment, there was a noise behind him. Han Zhuo turned around again and saw his mother's body covered with white cloth on the simple wooden bed suddenly sitting up, slowly turning her head, and staring at him with bloodshot eyes.
"ah!"
Han Zhuo was so frightened by this sudden scene that he scrambled to the door.
He wanted to open the door and escape, but the door seemed to be nailed shut. Even if he used all his strength, he could not open the slightest gap.
Inside the mourning hall, a white mist rose up at some point, bringing with it a slight chill that made Han Zhuo shiver uncontrollably.
He looked towards the simple wooden bed, where only a piece of white cloth remained. He turned back suddenly, only to find his deceased mother floating three feet away from him, her eyes rolled up, her face blue, her tongue hanging out, and a purple mark on her neck was particularly clear...
"You unfilial son..."
A hollow and ethereal old voice that seemed to come from the underworld made Han Zhuo's body tremble uncontrollably.
Matricide is a capital crime. He has been living in fear these past few days and has nightmares almost every night.
This scene completely broke down his already weak psychological defenses.
He knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and cried bitterly: "Mom, you can't blame me, I did this all for the Han family. If you don't die, Qianqian won't marry me. When will our Han family become a wealthy family...
Besides, you were willing to help me, so you can rest in peace. I will burn a lot of things for you every year!"
"You fucking beast!"
The old voice suddenly became young. Before Han Zhuo could react, he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
He flew out of the main room, smashed the door, and flew into the yard, where he landed heavily on the ground, holding his chest, with blood oozing from the corners of his mouth...
Li Nuo, who was hiding behind the mourning hall, was frightened by Li An Ning's sudden outburst of rage.
He ran to the yard and found that Han Zhuo had fainted with a large pool of vomited blood around him.
This kick was quite heavy.
Compared with the princess, Li Nuo suddenly felt that the lady was still very gentle.
call out!
A sharp voice came from behind him. Li Nuo turned around and found that Wang Xianwei's sword had been pulled out by Li An Ning.
Seeing her coming towards him aggressively, as if she was going to kill Han Zhuo, Li Nuo quickly hugged her arm and advised, "Miss Li, don't be impulsive, don't be impulsive..."
Although this guy is indeed an unforgivable beast, he has not been tried yet. If he dies like this, all his work today may be in vain.
Li Anning finally calmed down and threw the long knife in his hand to the ground. He was still very angry and cursed: "Beast, this beast..."
Han Zhuo is indeed a beast, and calling him a beast is even a bit of an insult to beasts.
Crows repay their parents and lambs kneel to suckle their mothers; this is a truth that even animals understand, but some people don't.
"In order to clear him of suspicion, his mother committed suicide seven days after he left home. Who could have imagined how she spent those seven days? Before committing suicide, she found an excuse, bought medicine, and told the neighbors, just to make us not suspect him. She was trying to exonerate him until her death. How could this beast have such a heart!"
Li An Ning became angrier and angrier as she spoke. Her body was shaking non-stop. Li Nuo was really worried that she would get hurt by the anger, so he patted her on the back and said, "Don't be angry, don't be angry. It's not worth getting hurt by the anger for this beast..."
…
Just now when Li Nuo asked someone to send Han Zhuo back, he made some arrangements in advance.
He deliberately asked Han Zhuo's driver to slow down and take a long detour so that they could arrive first and make some arrangements in advance.
In fact, there is nothing much to arrange. Butler Wu is at the fourth level of martial arts. It is a simple matter for him to use his true energy to control the opening and closing of the door and control the corpse to do some simple movements.
As for the smoke, it was just a few pieces of dry ice.
Li Nuo and Li An Ning had designed a lot of plots, and they thought it would take more effort. But they didn't expect that Han Zhuo had something to hide, and before they could use most of the tricks they had prepared, he told the truth like a bamboo tube pouring beans...
The two chief officials of the Chang'an County Government are both here, and Her Royal Highness the Princess is also here. They have seen it with their own eyes and heard it with their own ears, so there is no need for any other evidence to convict him.
A moment later, Han Zhuo, who had fainted, was dragged away by two yamen runners.
Pei Zhe looked at Li Nuo deeply and said from the bottom of his heart: "You are worthy of being a young master. You can tell at a glance that there is something wrong with this person..."
Li Anning also recovered a little at this time. He looked at Li Nuo and asked in disbelief, "Did you really see those things in his eyes and guess that he was the one who ordered his mother's death?"
She had been practicing law for so many years and had solved countless cases personally, but she had never developed this skill.
Not to mention him, even the Minister or the Shangshu couldn't do it.
She was really curious about how he did it.
Before Li Nuo could say anything, Pei Zhe said, "This is nothing. In the last murder case, there were more than 200 suspects. Young Master did not go to the crime scene, did not understand the case, and did not even interrogate the criminal. He only used a pair of eyes to find the murderer from more than 200 people. This is nothing..."
Li Anning was even more shocked and blurted out, "Are you telling the truth?"
Pei Zhe waved his sleeves and said, "Who am I? How can I deceive you?"
After that, he said to her in a warning tone: "Little girl, you are young, but you have a bad temper. As an official, you'd better change your temper. If you beat the prisoner to death, you can't escape responsibility. Losing your job is a small matter, but losing your life is a big matter..."
Li Anning didn't say anything, walked out of the yard, and got on a carriage parked at the gate.
Although the county magistrate's words were not very polite, he meant well, so she did not take it seriously.
Pei Zhe looked at Li Nuo and asked casually, "Is this person a detective from the Ministry of Justice? Are there female detectives in the Ministry of Justice?"
Li Nuo nodded: "About the same."
Pei Zhe was stunned: "Almost. If it's not a constable, could it be the head constable?"
Women in Daxia were not allowed to be officials, but there were no restrictions on being constables, and he did not think of anything higher.
Li Nuo said, "Her name is Li An Ning, the youngest princess of the royal family, and she is training in the Ministry of Justice. You just came to Chang'an not long ago, so it's normal that you don't know her."
County Lieutenant Wang was walking in front and hadn't heard County Magistrate Pei's voice for a long time. He turned around and saw him sitting on the ground. He immediately walked over quickly, helped him up, and asked with concern: "Master Pei, Master Pei, what's wrong with you..."
…
Han Zhuo woke up after being taken to the county government office, but since waking up, he has not said a word and refused to say another word.
However, it makes no difference whether he says it or not.
The Chang'an County Magistrate, the County Lieutenant, and Princess An Ning were all present. They would not collude to frame an academy student who had nothing to do with them.
In the eyes of the people and the powerful in Daxia, this was something that only the treacherous Li Xuanjing could do.
Especially since Princess An Ning was a powerful person at the fourth level of the Legalist school. She was a princess of a country and had no grudges against him. There was no need for her to do something that would be detrimental to her own practice just to frame him.
Han Zhuo indirectly murdered his mother, which was a heinous crime and unforgivable crime, and he should be hanged according to the law.
Anyone who instigated Han's mother to commit suicide would not be punished so severely.
Only Han Zhuo, as her son, committed such a serious crime that goes against human ethics. It is intolerable to heaven. If he doesn't kill him, it will not arouse people's indignation, and the law will not be upheld.
Even if there is a general amnesty, there is no place for him.
After Pei Zhe finished writing Han Zhuo's verdict, Li Nuo's life span was increased by another ten days according to the law code.
Although Han Zhuo was a disciple of Confucianism, he did not cultivate the great righteousness and could only be regarded as an ordinary person. Li Nuo's increased lifespan did not double.
It would be strange if such a beast who killed his mother for fame could cultivate the spirit of righteousness.
Confucianism and Legalism are similar in some ways, but different in others.
Confucians must become officials, and so must Legalists. Legalists improve themselves by settling cases, while Confucians improve themselves by governing the country, settling cases, redressing grievances, and seeking the welfare of the people.
A mean person with a despicable character can successfully reach the high level of legalism as long as he can always judge cases correctly. Judging cases is just a process of cultivation.
But if one has a guilty conscience, even if he solves cases for a lifetime, it will be impossible for him to cultivate even a trace of righteousness.
The Confucian spirit of righteousness is the best business card of Confucians.
Those who cannot cultivate a righteous spirit are not necessarily treacherous ministers. They may just not be that great and only care about their own families but not the world.
But anyone who cultivates a righteous spirit must be a benevolent minister with the world in mind.
For an official with a sense of righteousness, even if what he does is wrong, others will only doubt his ability but not his motives, otherwise he will not be able to cultivate a sense of righteousness.
Compared with officials, in fact, more students in academies have cultivated a sense of righteousness.
But whether or not one can cultivate and display the noble spirit has nothing to do with academic performance.
He is proficient in all six arts, but he is cruel and treacherous, and naturally lacks righteousness.
Although his grades are poor, he cares about the world and may be a man of integrity.
Han Zhuo obviously belongs to the former.
County Magistrate Pei sighed deeply and said, "His mother did so much for him just to clear his suspicion, but in the end he still ended up like this. How sad, how sad..."
He bowed to Li An Ning and said, "Your Highness, I need to ask the Ministry of Justice to go to Qingfeng Academy and explain the reason. Otherwise, if there is a commotion in the academy, I will not be able to bear the consequences..."
The academy has a very special status in Chang'an. Although there are students and teachers there who have no official position, even important officials in the court are unwilling to offend them.
Those young people were fearless and insolent, with clear but foolish ideas. When they felt dissatisfied, they would take to the streets of Chang'an to protest, and no government office wanted to be blocked by them.
When the matter became a big deal, the court finally dealt with these officials.
The case was over, and Li Nuo said goodbye to County Magistrate Pei and prepared to go home.
As soon as he walked out of the county government office, a figure followed him out. Li Anning walked in front of him and asked curiously, "How did you know that he had something to hide? Teach me..."
Li Nuo shook his head and said, "Well, if you know how to do it, you know how to do it. If you don't know how to do it, you don't know how to do it... There's really no way to teach you."
Li Anning glanced at him and said unhappily, "How stingy."
Li Nuo got on the carriage and said to her, "Your Highness, I hope we'll see you again someday."
Li Anning was not surprised that Li Nuo knew her identity.
He is Li Xuanjing's son and can easily find out her identity.
Although she really wanted to know how he managed to identify the criminal at a glance, the other party's identity was special and she couldn't use any special means.
Having grown up listening to stories about Li Xuanjing, even she was a little scared of that man.
After watching the carriage go away, she turned around and went back to the county government office.
Pei Zhe was just about to see if Her Royal Highness the Princess had left when he ran into her coming back. He was so frightened that he immediately bowed and said, "I didn't know your identity and offended Her Royal Highness the Princess. Please forgive me..."
Li An Ning waved his hand, not caring about the matter, and said, "You arrange a few people to take that beast to the Ministry of Justice. The Ministry of Justice will try this case!"
The Ministry of Justice has this power, and Pei Zhe immediately complied with her request.
After a while, after watching the group go away, he leaned against the stone lions at the gate of the county government office and let out a long breath.
Chang'an is really different from other places. In the past, he was a small seventh-rank county magistrate, but he could decide all matters big and small in a county. Now that his official position has been promoted to the fifth rank, he is often ordered around by people without any official position.
In this world, it is really better to have a good life than to do well in the exams...
(End of this chapter)
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