The head of Huyang Pavilion is named Zhen, he is over 20 years old and lives in the county town. He is said to be a relative of the county's left lieutenant. He inherited his father's title and is a third-level "Zan Niao" (zān niǎo). He passed the Qin official assessment with his martial arts skills and was appointed as the head of Huyang Pavilion. He was successful at a young age and was always frivolous.
Perhaps because Zhen has a title and an official rank, he was the first to tell the story...
"So that the superiors will know."
Zhen seemed to be very familiar with the interrogation procedures. He bowed respectfully to the chief judge and said slowly:
"That day, I was in Huyang Pavilion, practicing weapons with two or three people in the pavilion. Suddenly, a local merchant Bao came to ask for help, saying that a group of thieves attacked him nine miles south of the pavilion."
"I didn't dare to neglect it. I immediately summoned the thieves and the pavilion guards and went there quickly. When I arrived at the place, I saw that the three thieves had been tied up, but the two who captured them were whispering on the spot. I don't know what they were discussing."
"I was suspicious and went forward to interrogate them. According to the routine, I checked the two-person verification and the biography, and at the same time asked them how they could capture the thief with two against four. Unexpectedly, the soldier named Heifu refused to do anything. He started fighting with me after a disagreement and beat me! Later, when he saw the official's carriage, he knocked down the thief and the guards, ran to the middle of the road and falsely accused me of stealing the credit and reward... That's what happened, there is no other explanation."
"He lied!"
Ji Ying was anxious, but at least he remembered why he was beaten just now. He endured it until Huyang Pavilion Chief finished speaking, and then he hurriedly refuted him.
"Huyang Pavilion Chief, I didn't know you before, and I have no grudges. Why did I falsely accuse you? With my own strength, how dare I beat you, a pavilion chief, in front of everyone in Huyang Pavilion?" Heifu couldn't help but began to question him.
Huyang Pavilion Chief rolled his eyes: "Maybe you have something to hide, or maybe you are relying on your martial arts to look down on your superiors."
At this time, Xi signaled Heifu to make his statement, so Heifu repeated the story of Huyang Pavilion Chief coveting the reward from the three thieves, trying to persuade them to share the credit but failed, and then trying to seize it by force...
"It's just that I was too eager to run to the roadside to complain to the superiors, and accidentally knocked down the thieves and the pavilion guards, that's all. As for what the pavilion chief said, I resisted with force and hit him, there is no such thing, I don't know why he said that... That's the case, no other explanation."
Heifu almost figured out the operating rules of the Qin court, emphasizing procedural fairness, judges with strong meticulousness and logic, and witnesses and physical evidence, which is really very similar to the court trials in later generations.
In this case, Huyang Pavilion Chief still dared to lie, was he lucky? Or was he well prepared?
Hei Fu felt a little uneasy, and then he looked at the merchant Bao who was still sweating in the late autumn, and vaguely guessed the reason...
In the court, the chief judge Xi listened to the two people's statements, wrote down two places where their statements were inconsistent on the bamboo slips, and raised questions.
"First, did Huyang Pavilion Chief Zhen persuade Hei Fu and the other two to share the credit and cheat for the reward?"
Hei Fu and Ji Ying of course said yes!
The pavilion chief, Qiu Dao, pavilion guards and others flatly denied it and said no!
When asked the three thieves again, they said that they were tied to the side at the time and were far away, so they could not hear clearly.
Therefore, the merchant Bao, as a witness, became the key point. Xi looked at him with an inquiring look, but saw Bao hesitate for a long time and then answered cautiously: "I didn't know about this..."
"No! This guy really changed his confession!"
As soon as these words came out, Hei Fu's heart sank, and Ji Ying was even more furious, shouting: "You treacherous merchant, we clearly saved your life, but you turned a grudge and colluded with them to commit fraud!"
"I was not imprisoned with them, how could I collude with them to commit fraud?"
Merchant Bao also risked his life, and took out the posture of quarreling in the market, patting his chest and said: "It is true that you two saved me from the bandits, but in this court, in front of the prison officials, if I dare to say a word that is untrue, let Qiu Gui visit my house!"
Qiu Gui is one of the many ghosts and gods that the locals believe in. It is said that whoever it visits will become poor and destitute. As a merchant, it is quite brave to swear such a poisonous oath.
Ji Ying was so angry that he wanted to jump over and hit the merchant, but Hei Fu held him back and said to Xi: "Yu clerk, this merchant is from Huyang Pavilion and is familiar with the Pavilion Chief and others. He acted as a lobbyist for him that day and wanted us to share the credit with Huyang Pavilion. His testimony is not credible!"
"It is not up to you to believe it or not! It is up to the prison clerk to investigate!"
Huyang Pavilion Chief saw the situation reversed and began to smile.
However, Xi did not listen to either side's words, but turned the page and asked the next question.
"Second, did Hei Fu really attack Huyang Pavilion Chief?"
Hei Fu knew why Huyang Pavilion Chief and others wanted to smear him like this. Qin law stipulated that if a soldier fought with others, he would be guilty of "private fighting". Because the other party was an official, the crime was even more serious and was treated as "thief injuring people". He should be shaved and sentenced to do hard work for a year, which was to repair the royal mausoleum and build the city wall.
So the head of Huyang Pavilion and others insisted that Heifu had done it, and he really had evil intentions.
Of course, Heifu and Ji Ying denied it, saying that they knew it was not allowed by the law and they did not have the courage to fight with officials.
However, the people in Huyang Pavilion said that they saw Heifu beating people, probably because he relied on his strong martial arts and looked down on officials.
As for the three thieves, they said that their vision was blocked by the guards at the time and they did not see clearly.
The two sides had opposite statements, so the merchant Bao became the key witness again...
"I saw with my own eyes that Heifu punched the head of the pavilion!"
Bao no longer cared about his guilty conscience at this time, and began to throw dirty water on Heifu desperately, describing how Heifu quarreled with the head of the pavilion, how he was angry, how he relied on his martial arts to punch... vividly.
When Bao was making his statement, Heifu pursed his lips and did not speak. Ji Ying listened to all this and became anxious like an ant on a hot pot.
"We are in danger, in danger!"
Ji Ying knew that things were already very bad. The two questions raised by the prison official and the final testimony were not good for him. If they were all confirmed, he and Heifu would face heavy punishment!
Not to mention the "thief wounding" crime of beating officials, if the two of them sued Huyang Pavilion Chief for stealing merit and defrauding rewards and failed, they would also face the "false accusation crime!" According to Qin law, the false accuser will be punished with the corresponding punishment for the false accusation, which is "false accusation against the emperor".
With two crimes, he and Heifu will not only not get the reward money, but also be severely punished. Maybe tomorrow they will be tattooed on their faces, become official slaves, be sent to the frontier as garrison soldiers, and even implicate their families.
On the other hand, Huyang Pavilion Chief Zhen seemed to see that the balance of victory was slowly leaning towards him, and he was immediately complacent.
It seems that the news from outside is correct. Those secret operations are still useful. Merchant Bao has always been timid, and he stood on their side after a little scare.
He was already thinking about how he would celebrate after winning the case. Maybe he could go to the brothels in the city to have fun and laugh at Hei Fu's stupidity and overestimation of his abilities to the women who snuggled up to him...
A little soldier dared to sue the officials? Ridiculous!
At this time, Shang Jia Bao had finished his statement.
After writing down the key testimony, Xi looked at Hei Fu and the other two: "Do you have anything else to say?"
This was their last chance to defend themselves, otherwise, their fate would depend on Xi's judgment.
But Ji Ying had no other choice. He muttered that he was wronged, but his head was lowered...
At this time, Heifu stood up and asked Xi: "Sir, can I ask Shangjia Bao and others a question?"
Xi was slightly surprised that Heifu could still be so calm in a desperate situation, and nodded: "You can ask as much as you want."
Heifu walked in front of Shangjia Bao: "You said you saw me punching Huyang Pavilion Chief with your own eyes?"
Bao tried to straighten himself: "I saw it."
"How many punches did you throw?"
"One... one punch."
In order to prevent the testimony from being too untrue, he only dared to fabricate that Heifu punched the Pavilion Chief, and was stopped by everyone.
"Then let me ask you, did you see clearly which hand I used to hit him?"
Heifu raised his hands. His family had been farming for generations. These were hands that had been working all year round. There were calluses on his palms and his arms were strong and powerful. It seemed that he could strangle the rat-eyed merchant Bao to death with just a slight push forward...
Bao took a half step back guiltily, looking left and right with his two small eyes, unable to make up his mind. In the end, he could only follow his common sense and said firmly: "It should be the right hand! Yes, it was the right hand!"
Heifu smiled but said nothing, turned around and asked everyone in Huyang Pavilion: "You also claimed that you saw me punching someone, which hand did I use?"
The thieves and the pavilion guards looked at each other, and finally chose to agree with the merchant Bao's statement: "It was the right hand."
Finally, Heifu stood in front of Huyang Pavilion Chief Zhen. The two were about the same height. When they looked at each other, they had regarded each other as enemies. Today, either you die or I die!
Hei Fu sneered, "Captain, you got beaten yourself, don't you remember it?"
Huyang Pavilion Chief felt that this might be a trick, but at this point, if he gave a different answer, it would definitely make the prison guards suspicious, which would be bad. He pointed impatiently at Hei Fu's right hand and said, "It was the right hand that hit me, hitting my abdomen..."
As he said that, he lifted up his shirt, and there was indeed a shallow bruise on his abdomen - this was caused by a guard under Huyang Pavilion Chief's command.
Before he finished speaking, a burst of laughter suddenly broke out in the corner of the hall!
"Hahaha, funny, really funny!"
Everyone looked closely and saw that it was the bearded thief "Pan" in shackles, who was laughing so hard that his whole body was shaking.
"Criminal, why are you laughing?" Xi stopped the prison guard who was about to punish Pan.
Pan raised his head and said, "I laugh at the stupidity of the pavilion chief and the merchant. I remember clearly that Heifu drew the sword with his left hand, and he always held the blade with his left hand afterwards. That's why we didn't expect his moves and fell into his trap."
"When he fought with me bare-handed, his left hand was stronger. Whenever he punched me, he used his left hand first, which hurt me. The pavilion chief and the merchant didn't know, but they accused him of using his right hand to hurt people. Isn't it ridiculous?"
As soon as these words came out, the merchant Bao, the pavilion chief of Huyang and others were stunned, and the hall was filled with the sound of clerks recording their testimonies at a rapid speed.
"That's right, how could I use my right hand?"
Heifu also rolled up the sleeve of his right hand and handed it to Ling Li Nu, but saw that there was a scab on his right elbow: "Sir, please be clear, my right hand was injured when I caught the thief, and it is still inconvenient to move. How could I hurt someone?"
"Doctor, it is true." Nu checked carefully and turned back to report.
Xi was surprised, Xiao listened to Hei Fu's statement with interest, while the Huyang Pavilion Chief and the merchant had already turned pale.
Hei Fu slowly walked to the center of the hall. At this moment, he had become the undisputed protagonist of this interrogation.
"What's more, as Pan confirmed, even if I am not injured, I always punch with my left hand first when fighting with others. As for why..."
Hei Fu smiled at them, showing his big white teeth, and then raised his left hand above his head, like an athlete announcing victory after a game:
"Because I am left-handed!"
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