Once upon a time, there was a businessman in Hangzhou named Zhu Youcai, who came from a wealthy family and liked to help others do good deeds. One year at Qingming Festival, Zhu Youcai walked home with a few servants after sweeping graves. From a distance, he saw two people throwing a rattan basket into a ditch and running away. Zhu Youcai went over to take a look and saw a woman lying in the ditch, thirteen or fourteen years old, with scars all over her body.

The girl said her name was Xiumei. She was a girl from a large family who had been beaten and scolded because of her ugly appearance. This time, she was thrown out by her master because she was seriously ill.

A few years later, Xiumei grew up, gentle and capable, but still not good-looking, and no one married. The eldest lady had passed away due to illness, and Zhu Youcai helped the concubine Lan Niang, and handed over the field shop to the housekeeper Zhu Qin to take care of, so that she could study with peace of mind and educate her young son.

Early that morning, the family rushed to tell them that Xiumei had hanged herself!

Zhu Youcai hurried to Xiumei's bedroom. Xiumei had already been relieved, but she was just crying blindly. Zhu Youcai sent Lan Niang to inquire, and only then did she know the reason.

It turned out that Xiumei was secretly getting along with Zhu Qin, and she was actually pregnant. Seeing that her stomach was almost unable to cover it, Zhu Qin kept hiding and did not mention the matter of marrying her. Xiumei couldn't think about it for a while, so she found a short-term view. This Zhu Qin was originally a nephew of another branch of the Zhu family, who had lost his parents since he was a child and was wandering the streets. It was Zhu Youyou who took him in at home, taught him to read and write, and handed over the housework to him to manage. I didn't expect this to happen!

Zhu Youcai immediately found Zhu Qin to reprimand him and ordered him to marry Xiumei within three days. He also arranged a new house for them in the yard and instructed Lan Niang to prepare a generous dowry.

The night before they got married, Zhu Qin actually disappeared! Zhu Youcai had no choice but to manage the housework by herself, and at the same time instructed Lan Niang to treat Xiumei well and not let her do rough work, and her daily diet was the same as that of her master.

That night, Zhu Youcai saw Lan Niang sitting in her bedroom crying and asked her what was wrong. Lan Niang wept and said the reason. It turned out that the child who coaxed Xiumei all over the city was Zhu Youcai!

Zhu Youcai swore by the sky and the earth, but Ke Lan Niang couldn't hear a word of crying, so she drove him to the study to sleep.

The next day, I woke up with a splitting headache. My family ran in panic and said, "Xiumei is dead! She died on the ground with her stomach up, and there were a few faint bruises on her neck. Zhu Youcai and his wife couldn't help but shed old tears.

In the middle of the chaos, several yamen barged in aggressively, saying that someone had reported Zhu Youcai for forcing him to rape and strangle the girl. Behind the yamen was the name of the new county magistrate Tang Zhiming.

Tang Zhixian carefully investigated and asked everyone about their whereabouts last night. When he heard Zhu Youcai say that he slept in the study with Lan Niang last night, no one testified. Tang Zhixian asked him why he quarreled, and Zhu Youcai hesitated for a long time before explaining the reason. Tang Zhixian sneered "Hehe": "Madam is different from what you said just now!" Lan Niang hurriedly said: "Master, didn't you sleep in the concubine's room last night? Why are you confused?" Zhu Youcai understood that it was Lan Niang's lie that aroused the suspicion of the governor of the county. Tang Zhixian shouted, "Locked and brought back to the yamen for interrogation!"

When they arrived in the lobby, facing Zhu Youcai's complaints, Tang Zhixian took out a few gray hairs and a piece of white jade and said, "This was found between Xiumei's fingers. You are the only one in your house who has this white hair, right? I have verified this white jade, and it is inlaid on your hat! What else do you have to say?"

Zhu Youcai cried out for grievances, and Tang Zhixian was eager to solve the case, so he was sentenced to death. Zhu Youcai was over fifty years old and used to be pampered on weekdays, how could he stand this? After a few beats, he confessed that he had cheated on the maid, causing her to become pregnant, and the housekeeper was unsuccessful. Xiumei threatened to formally marry him, and in a moment of anger, she accidentally strangled him to death. Zhu Youcai expected that according to the laws of the Qing Dynasty, the master would not be guilty of strangling the servant to death. Unexpectedly, Tang Zhixian practiced heavy punishment, killing one and making an example of a hundred, and approved it layer by layer, and actually sentenced Zhu Youcai to be beheaded after autumn!

Zhu Youcai was tortured in prison, and he was not so eager for life anymore. Thinking that the child was already ten years old, and finally had a bloodline, but Lan Niang was weak and the child was young, how could he support the family business in the future?

On the day of the execution, there was a sea of people on the court, and everyone in the city was talking about it. This Zhu Shanren looked kind, but it turned out to be false mercy!

Lan Niang and her son brought him a severed head meal and cried, "Master, you haven't left yet. The clansmen have come to occupy the land and want to drive our girls out. Fortunately, Zhu Qin came forward several times to help with the siege.

Zhu Qin took out a few plates of wine and vegetables from the food box and shouted for the old master to enjoy it. Zhu You only said with tears, "After I die, I am afraid that I will be bullied if I leave Mother Lan. You have been loyal for many years, and you are my family's nephew, so I will entrust her to you!" Zhu Qin kowtowed repeatedly, crying so hard that he could not speak.

Tang Zhixian, the execution officer, gave an order: "It's noon, let's cut!" The deadly signature was thrown down, the executioner raised the ghost head knife, pulled out the wooden board, and "brushed" Zhu Youcai's neck and cut it down. Lan Niang and Zhu Qin cried out. As soon as Zhu Youcai closed his eyes, he felt the "brush" on his neck was cold, and when he heard the "crack" sound, Zhu Wei's people screamed in unison, Zhu Youcai felt that something was wrong, turned his neck, and his head actually grew well on his neck and did not fall off! The executioner was also confused, it has been decades since the execution, this is the first time I have seen this, evil door! He hurriedly "brushed" and swung it round with another knife. This knife was harder than the first knife, but there was still a "chop" sound, but the head was still fine, nothing happened!

The onlookers shouted loudly, and Tang Zhi County was also stunned! When the third time had not been cut, the onlookers stopped and rushed over and shouted: "If you can't kill yourself with three knives, you obviously have a major grievance! Please re-investigate!" The executioner was sweating like water, and the ghost head knife sagged weakly, and could no longer cut.

Tang Zhixian stood up trembling and bowed to the sky a few times, and prayed repeatedly: "God's will is like this, I dare not act against the sky! Come! Bring people back to you!"

Zhu Youcai was brought back to the yamen for retrial like a dream.

Tang Zhixian returned to the county office and slowly thought about this matter, which was really evil. The little maid suddenly came to report that the young master's condition had worsened again. Tang Zhixian's only son was sick for many days, and he didn't get better after seeing the doctors. He sighed and came to the Guanyin Hall to offer incense and kowtow, and suddenly the little maid on the side sneered and said, "You, a sesame petty official, would also waste your life, and close the case hastily for the sake of political achievements, how could the Buddha cover your descendants?"

Tang Zhi County was shocked and asked the maid hurriedly, "What did you say?" The maid was sweating and looked ignorant.

Tang Zhi County remembered what had happened during the day, and could not help sweating profusely. He hurriedly kowtowed and said, "I am guilty. I am guilty!"

The next day, Tangzhi County ordered a new autopsy. It was May when Xiumei died, and now it is September, which is a few months of intense heat in Jiangnan, but there is no odor in the coffin, and the body is not only not rotten, but also looks like life! Tangzhi County was secretly amazed, and when he took a closer look, he suddenly fell and fell, and cold sweat came out.

The head of Xiumei in the coffin was broken at the neck! Tang Zhixian hurriedly bowed to the corpse a few times, and carefully inspected it again, and found that Xiumei's neck was clearly showing cyan fingerprints. Tang Zhixian shouted, "Come on! Catch that Zhu Qin for me!"

The yamen shouted violently, like a wolf like a tiger, and grabbed Zhu Qin from the crowd watching the fun. Zhu Qin was scared like a sieve and shouted injustice. Tang Zhixian sneered and grabbed Zhu Qin's hands - there were only nine fingers on that hand. Tang Zhixian took the hand and compared it to the bruises on Xiumei's neck, which were exactly nine fingerprints. It turned out that Zhu Qin had a little finger cut off a few years ago because of a gambling debt, and it was Zhu Youyou who redeemed him. Zhu Qin's face was sweaty, and he knelt down and kowtowed to confess.

He remembered that Zhu Qin had seduced Xiumei into getting pregnant, but then he saw how annoying she was, so he ran away from the marriage the night before the marriage, but he was obsessed with the Zhu family's property. That night he jumped into Zhu's mansion, originally intending to steal, but happened to hear Zhu Youcai and Lan Niang quarreling, so he had an idea and jumped into Xiumei's house, coaxed her to open the door and choked her to death. He quietly sneaked into the study and blew in the ecstasy incense from outside the window. After Zhu Youcai fell asleep, he pulled off a few of his gray hair and the white jade on his hat and threw them at the scene, and then tricked Zhu Youcai into supporting his orphan, so that he could dominate the Zhu family's property in the future.

When the truth came out, Zhu Youcai hurriedly thanked Tang Zhixian, who said guiltily, "It's still Miss Xie Xiumei. Although she has entrusted someone with the wrong step, fortunately Yin and Spirit also know righteousness.