Chapter 739 A Heinous and Inhuman Case of a Son-in-Law Murdering His Wife
The sixth day of the sixth lunar month is auspicious for all activities.
This was Li San Niang's day off. She had planned to take Lu Zhu'er to the market, but the weather was not cooperating. The sky was gloomy from morning onwards, and the rain started to fall drizzly just after the mother and daughter had finished their breakfast.
Thus, Li San Niang had no choice but to spend her time at home with Lu Zhu'er.
However, little Dewdrop wasn't throwing a tantrum at all. Li San Niang asked her, "Is Dewdrop unhappy?"
"Mother thinks the rain should stop by noon. How about Mother takes Zhu'er out for lunch?"
Nestled in Li San Niang's arms, Dewdrop looked up in confusion at Li San Niang's question and asked, "Is Dewdrop happy? I'm happy when Mother is home."
Looking at Lu Zhu'er's little face, Li San Niang felt her heart overflowing with emotion. She rushed forward, hugged Lu Zhu'er, and kissed her twice.
As it rained, Li San Niang, along with her mother, sister-in-law, Qiu Xiang, and Ling Lan, sat down in the side hall with the window open. They watched the rain in the courtyard, sipped their warm drinks, and chatted idly, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
After letting Lu Zhu'er, Xiao Liu Lang, and Xiao Ping An play on the low couch, Li San Niang and the other women gathered around the round table.
Of the women at this table, only Li San Niang and Qiu Xiang were not holding needles and thread.
The two of them really couldn't do any needlework at all; the calluses on Qiu Xiang's hands were from handling weapons since she was a child.
As for Li San Niang, her hands had no calluses; they were soft, slender, and beautiful. Although she didn't know how to sew, she could take pulses and use different kinds of needles and thread to suture people and save their lives.
Li's mother, Li's sister-in-law, and Linglan all held needles and thread, idly poking at the fabric in their hands.
Since giving birth to Xiao Liulang, Sister-in-law Li spent two months in confinement at the Li family home, and the whole family was reluctant to let her work too hard. However, giving birth at an advanced age is inherently difficult, and the unprecedented cesarean section ultimately took a toll on her health.
Fortunately, Sister-in-law Li came from a family of martial artists, and her health was usually very good; otherwise, the outcome would have been predictable.
Li San Niang gently patted the back of Li Da Sao's hand. Seeing Li Da Sao looking over in confusion, she quickly took the needle and thread from Li Da Sao's hand. "Sister-in-law, you can finally rest."
I've finally managed to come back, and this is such a wonderful opportunity for us to get together. Sister-in-law, please keep me company and talk to me a bit more.
Sister-in-law Li wasn't one to ignore advice; she understood what Li San Niang meant—Li San Niang was showing her concern.
"You know what, you've all been busy with your duties in the outskirts of the capital lately, but there's been something truly heartbreaking happening in Chang'an recently."
When Sister-in-law Li said that, not only Li San Niang, but also Qiu Xiang and Ling Lan looked over with some curiosity.
As soon as Li's mother heard Li's sister-in-law's tone, she knew what she wanted to say.
Mother Li carefully fastened the needle in her hand and put it back into the small winnowing basket. She looked up and glanced at the low couch, seeing that the little ones, including Lu Zhu'er, were playing happily and hadn't noticed them.
"Tell me about it, this is something our mother really needs to hear."
Since Li's mother had spoken, Li's sister-in-law slowly told everyone about a recent case in Chang'an City involving a murder of a wife, which was adjudicated by the Dali Temple.
The reason is that the Dali Temple recently judged a case of murdering a wife. If it were an ordinary case of murdering a wife, it wouldn't have caused such a big commotion in Chang'an, making people gossip about it.
After all, there are countless sad stories in this world. There are many instances of incompetent men beating women and children at will, and there are even quite a few cases of people accidentally killing someone under the pretext of being drunk.
When people in Chang'an heard about such a thing, they would mostly sigh a couple of times and say "bad luck" and that would be the end of it.
However, there are three unusual aspects to this case of murdering a wife. First, the perpetrator was a minor official, a clerk working in the county government.
The second perpetrator was a son-in-law who married into the family;
The status of a son-in-law is rare and quite unusual.
The third perpetrator not only killed his wife, but also his parents-in-law and his own children!
Even tigers don't eat their cubs, so someone who can be so heartless as to kill their own child is truly a cruel person!
More importantly, because the case was truly heinous, the Dali Temple posted a notice after the verdict, making the case and the verdict public.
The Dali Temple's actions were naturally meant to inform everyone that justice prevails, the net of law is vast and its meshes are wide, and no bad person will escape punishment.
This move both reassured the public and deterred bad actors.
However, this action by the Dali Temple has made this inhumane case of a son-in-law killing his wife a hot topic of discussion among the people of Chang'an.
In Li Da Sao's words, "Not only in the teahouses, but even next to the tea stalls in the bustling city, there are storytellers telling this story."
"He's actually an official?" Linglan asked in surprise.
Sister-in-law Li nodded, "Yes, although this Xu Lang is not from our Chang'an City, he is indeed an official."
If I remember correctly, he was a clerk in the county government of Lin'an County, Yuhang Prefecture.
According to the notice posted by the government, Xu Lang was very intelligent in his youth and had received several years of schooling. However, after his father's unexpected death, his family fell into poverty, and he was unable to continue his studies.
I heard that he was good-looking, and when he reached a certain age, a wealthy local family took him in as their son-in-law.
Qiu Xiang asked curiously, "Sister-in-law, did the Xu family agree to let their son become a live-in son-in-law?"
How would we know that?
The notice didn't mention this; it only said that he had become someone's son-in-law.
"I'm afraid it's because his family is poor or he has many brothers. If he doesn't become a live-in son-in-law, he won't be able to get a wife."
Li San Niang guessed and said this, and the other women thought about it and nodded in agreement with Li San Niang.
"I guess Xu Lang was not very confident in his wife's family before he became a scribe. The incident occurred in the second year after Xu Lang became a scribe. His wife, Hui Niang, was ambushed and killed by bandits on her way to a temple in the mountains with her two children and parents. The whole group of them died."
Upon hearing this, Li San Niang thought back to the time mentioned by Li Da Sao earlier, and wondered if Xu Lang's position as a scribe must have been obtained when the emperor first mentioned the imperial examination system.
"Sister-in-law, since Xu Lang is a clerk in the local county government, I'm afraid this case was initially classified as a robbery and murder by bandits, right?"
So how did they end up targeting him?
Li's mother continued speaking to the crowd, "I've heard about this. It's said that the coroner from the county government discovered something amiss during the autopsy and found evidence proving that the bandits didn't just rob and kill randomly, but rather committed the murder intentionally. The robbery was just an incidental act to make people think it was a robbery."
And by sheer coincidence, a contingent of Du's army happened to be nearby at the time. Hearing of the bandits, they went to suppress them, only to discover that the bandits were actually a dozen or so fugitives who had committed crimes.
Li San Niang nodded, but still asked with doubt, "If that's the case, the local authorities can just make a judgment directly. Why would it need to be submitted to the Dali Temple?"
Sister-in-law Li sighed and continued, picking up where her mother left off: "Alas, because the county government can't find any evidence to prove that Xu Lang committed the crime!"
However, who doesn't know that this situation is because Xu Lang instigated the fugitive to deliberately kill his wife, parents-in-law, and his own two children under the guise of bandits?
That made up a family of five. I heard there was also an old man who drove the cart and a cleaning woman who went with them. All seven of them died.
The magistrate was a good man; he immediately imprisoned Xu Lang and submitted the case file to the Court of Judicial Review.
Then, officials from the Dali Temple went to Lin'an County to investigate thoroughly. They found Xu Lang's pregnant lover, whom he had hidden elsewhere, and only then did the truth come to light!
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