During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Shang Yicai, a famous member of Guide Mansion, was killed in his studies. The news quickly spread throughout Guide Mansion, and the people of Guide Mansion were running around telling each other. It turned out that Shang Yicai relied on his brother Shang Yichen, who was a third-ranking official in the capital. Although he was nearly 60 years old, he bullied men and bullied women and did all kinds of evil, so his death made the people of Guide Mansion happy, but Ma Dingan, the newly appointed prefect of Guide, could not be happy.

Ma Dingan knew that if he could not quickly find the murderer and bring him to justice, Shang Yichen would never let him go. At best, he would lose his position, at worst, he would lose his life, and more importantly, the people of Guide Mansion might also face a disaster.

After several investigations, Ma Dingan got an important clue. On the day Shang Yicai was killed, Zhang Erbao passed by the gate of Shang's mansion, and he didn't want the guard dog of the Shang family to jump out of the gate and tear and bite him. Zhang Erbao was shocked and angry, and kicked the dog and broke his leg. The dog of Shang's mansion was kicked, is that okay? That afternoon, Shang Yicai took the housekeeper Shang Wu and a few servants to Zhang Erbao's house and robbed and smashed it, and kicked Zhang Erbao's elderly mother to the ground. Zhang Erbao knocked her head on the threshold and left. Zhang Erbao was angry and hated, and threatened to kill Shang Yicai.

Soon Zhang Erbao was brought, and the yamen also found a few silver tickets in the grass in his backyard. After investigation, it was Shang Yicai. Ma Dingan was shocked and asked Zhang Erbao to explain honestly. Zhang Erbao shouted that he was wronged, but he could not provide evidence that he was not at the scene last night, nor could he explain the origin of the silver tickets. Ma Dingan immediately decided to imprison Zhang Erbao first.

Sleepless all night, Ma Dingan thought of many doubts about the case: On the night Shang Yicai was killed, why didn't the dozen or so watchdogs in Shang's mansion bark? Moreover, the courtyard wall of Shang's mansion was as high as four or five people, and it was impossible for ordinary people to climb in. There were only two possibilities, one was the murderer's skill, and the other was the person in Shang's mansion. Shang Yicai had two wounds on his body, one was on his chest, and the other was on his throat, and the knife edge was inconsistent, which was obviously caused by two weapons. According to common sense, murderers usually don't carry two weapons when they kill people. Could it be that the murderers were two people? All kinds of guesses seem to be unexplainable on Zhang Erbao. Besides, if Shang Yicai's death was really done by Zhang Erbao, he knew that he was the most suspicious, how could he stay at home as if nothing had happened, and still carelessly scatter Shang Yicai's silver bills in the grass behind his house?

These were all very unreasonable. The more Ma Dingan thought about it, the more he felt that Shang Yicai's death had nothing to do with Zhang Erbao. Someone must have found out about the conflict between the two and killed Shang Yicai, and finally put the blame on Zhang Erbao.

The next morning, Ma Dingan took the case to court and announced that Zhang Erbao had insufficient evidence to kill and was released. Who knew that as soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Erbao, who was kneeling in the hall, shouted loudly: "I killed Shangyi!" Ma Dingan was taken aback: "Zhang Erbao, I have declared you innocent, why do you say that Shangyi was killed by you?" Zhang Erbao cried and said: "Master Qingtian clearly saw that Shangyi was really killed by me. He killed my mother, so I want to kill him to avenge my mother." Ma Dingan was puzzled and asked again: "Did someone force you to admit it?"

"No, if you kill someone, you should pay for it. Besides, I don't have any relatives anymore, I just want to die."

"Then let me ask you, Shang Yicai's courtyard wall is as tall as four or five people, how did you climb in?" Ma Dingan asked. Zhang Erbao said, "I have loved climbing trees since I was a child, and I have developed the ability to climb high.

Ma Ding'an frowned and asked Zhang Erbao, "If the person you killed should have the weapon, where is the weapon?" Zhang Erbao said that he could not remember where the knife was hidden. Hearing this, Ma Ding'an's doubts became even more serious. It has been less than a day since the crime was committed. If Zhang Erbao did this, how could he not remember where the weapon was hidden? Since he has admitted to murder crime, why hide the murder weapon?

But Zhang Erbao insisted that Shang Yi was the one who killed him, so Ma Dingan had to put Zhang Erbao back in prison again.

That night, Ma Dingan came to Shang Mansion to investigate carefully, and when he returned to the yamen, it was already dawn. Although he hadn't slept all night, Ma Dingan's face didn't show a trace of tiredness, but was relieved. At this moment, a yamen came to report that Shang Yichen was here. Ma Dingan was startled, then smiled slightly, and quickly welcomed him out.

As soon as Ma Dingan arrived in the lobby, before he could salute, the aggressive Shang Yichen asked about the progress of the case of Shang Yicai's murder. Ma Dingan gave a detailed account of the interrogation in the past few days. After listening, Shang Yichen said, "Since he has confessed, ask him to sign and be beheaded after autumn." Ma Dingan said, "Although Zhang Erbao admitted that he was the murderer, there are many doubts. The murderer should be someone else, and the case needs to be reopened."

Shang Yichen was furious: "You are full of nonsense, I see that you are clearly protecting Zhang Erbao! Do what I tell you to do!Ma Dingan smiled lightly and said, "Human life is at stake, and I dare not call the shots. If Lord Shang thinks that this case can be closed, please give me a written indication, so as not to make it difficult for me in the future."

Shang Yichen looked at Ma Dingan with disdain: "I really don't know how to lift up." After saying that, he sat down in the lobby and wrote with paper and ink. Ma Dingan noticed that Lord Shang was left-handed.

Shang Yichen quickly wrote the note, and threw it to Ma Dingan: "Is this okay? Hurry up and ask Zhang Erbao to sign and draw."

Ma Dingan nodded and ordered someone to bring Zhang Erbao to the hall. Outside, the yamen was crowded with people who came to watch the fun, and Ma Dingan said loudly, "Zhang Erbao, you have no right to kill for personal revenge. What else do you have to say?" "I have nothing to say, I just want to die." Zhang Erbao said. Ma Dingan laughed: "Okay, then I will fulfill you. Come on, ask Zhang Erbao to sign the painting and put him on death row.

When the people outside the yamen heard such a judgment, they were all very dissatisfied. They secretly scolded Ma Dingan as a dizzy official who did not rule the people, and some simply scolded him. But Ma Dingan didn't seem to hear anything, and said to the yamen, "Why don't you do it?"

"Wait," Ma Dingan said before a very strong young man came in. He said loudly, "I killed Shang Yi, and it has nothing to do with Zhang Erbao." Looking at the young man, Zhang Erbao looked surprised.

Ma Dingan was stunned for a moment, then smiled faintly: "The one who should have shown up has finally shown up." He said to Shang Yichen, "Lord Shang, someone has come to confess again, shall we retry the case? Otherwise, if you take revenge for the wrong, Brother Ling will not rest in peace underground."

Who knew that Shang Yichen said impatiently: "Stop talking nonsense, there is no need to try again, since he also came to confess, then behead with Zhang Erbao." Ma Dingan said: "There is no rush at this time, let's try it again." After saying that, ignoring Shang Yichen's objection, he asked the young man with a pat of shock: "What's your name? Where is Renshi? Why did you kill Shang Yicai?"

The young man said disapprovingly: "My name is Yang Ligong, a foreigner. Shang Yicai beat Zhang Erbao's mother to death in the fish meat village, and I killed her out of righteous indignation." Before he finished speaking, Zhang Erbao pushed the young man aside: "You are talking nonsense, I killed the person, and it has nothing to do with you at all." Yang Ligong smiled and said: "A hero does things like a hero, don't worry about it."

Then Ma Dingan asked Yang Ligong again, "Then let me ask you, how did you kill Shang Yicai?" Yang Ligong replied, "I flew into Shang's mansion and stabbed Shang Yicai in the chest. He died without a word." Ma Dingan asked again, "He didn't react at all, did he?" The young man said, "No, how did you know?" Ma Dingan laughed and said, "The case has finally come to light. Did you know that you killed a dead man?"

Before Ma Dingan could finish speaking, the people outside the yamen shouted. Yang Ligong didn't know what Ma Dingan was talking about, and was even more surprised. Shang Yichen said unhappily, "Ma Dingan, what the hell are you doing? Since they have already confessed, why are you still excusing them? Immediately ask them to sign the arrest, and this official will personally execute them."

Ma Dingan looked at Shang Yichen, "Lord Shang, why are you so anxious to kill them?" "Nonsense, I want to avenge my brother," Shang Yichen said. Ma Dingan asked, "Since it's for revenge, don't you want to clarify the case and know who the real murderer is?"

Shang Yichen was startled: "You are presumptuous, what do you mean by saying this?" Ma Dingan smiled slightly, and suddenly said angrily, "Because it was you killed Shang Yicai!" Hearing this, everyone was amazed again.

Shang Yichen was furious: "Ma Dingan, you fart, aren't you afraid that I will take off your black gauze hat?" Ma Dingan said: "I'm not talking nonsense, last night, I went around Shang Yicai's mansion again and found a lot of doubts. First of all, Brother Ling had two wounds on his body, one on his chest and one on his throat, and the knife edge was different, which meant that the murderers were two people. If it were one person, it would be difficult to explain why he carried two knives. Although the knife edge on his chest was deep, it didn't hurt his heart, so he shouldn't die immediately, and there should even be resistance. And I also found that there was only a little blood on the wound, which is not in line with common sense. The only explanation is that when the knife was stabbed in, Shang Yi was already dead, so there was no large amount of blood flowing out. Yang Ligong's confession just now confirmed my judgment, so I said that Yang Ligong killed a long-dead Shang Yicai. And what really killed Shang Yi was the wound in the throat, which deepened from right to left, indicating that the murderer was left-handed, because only the wound cut with the left hand would be like this, and you, Lord Shang, are left-handed. When you wrote this note just now, I could see it clearly. "

While speaking, Ma Dingan threw the note in front of Shang Yichen. Shang Yichen looked very nervous, but he tried his best to hide it: "You, you are talking nonsense, it is true that I am left-handed, but I did not kill anyone, why should I kill my own brother?"

"That's a good question, because Shang Yi asked you to get him an official job, but if you refused, he threatened you with the account book that he used to scavenge people for you in Guide Mansion all these years. This fashion benefit is not a big brother in your heart at all, but an enemy that threatens your future, so you hurt the killer."

"You, you are talking nonsense."

"This is evidence." Ma Dingan threw a ledger on the case. "Why is the ledger here with you?" Shang Yichen was surprised. Ma Dingan said: "When I first saw the murder scene, I felt something was wrong. Later, I finally figured out that what was wrong was that the scene seemed to have been turned over. If it was Zhang Erbao's revenge and murder, what would he have to look for if he killed someone? Shang Yicai had dozens of taels of silver on him, which meant that the murderer was not looking for silver, and it also proved that the murderer was definitely not Zhang Erbao. Therefore, I judged that the real murderer must be looking for something very important. Unfortunately, you still haven't found it."

Shang Yichen was startled, "You, where did you find it?" Ma Dingan said, "It's in Shang Yicai's shoes. Last night, I carefully checked Shang Yicai's whole body and found that the soles of his two shoes were much thicker than ordinary ones. When I opened them, I found that there was a ledger hidden inside, as well as your letter to him." Hearing this, Shang Yichen's face changed, and he quipped, "This doesn't mean that I killed him at all." "There's no other way, I can only invite Shang Yicai to the lobby for questioning." Ma Dingan's words surprised everyone again.

When Shang Yichen heard this, he shouted, "That's impossible, I was accurate and ruthless at that time, he would never be alive!" As expected by Ma Dingan, Shang Yichen's psychological defense line completely collapsed at this time. In fact, Ma Dingan just gave Shang Yichen a psychological trap.

Just as Ma Dingan had said, the two brothers of the Shang family turned against each other for their own selfish desires, and Shang Yichen quietly came to Shang Yicai's mansion that night, and took advantage of Shang Yicai to take out a dagger and cut Shang Yicai's neck. Shortly after Shang Yichen left, Yang Ligong, who saw Shang Yicai's crime during the day, came again with righteous indignation. The dead Shang Yicai leaned back on the imperial chair at that time, and Yang Ligong did not distinguish between life and death, and stabbed Shang Yicai in the chest. Just like that, Yang Ligong thought he had killed Shang Yicai.

Later, when Shang Yichen found out what happened in Zhang Erbao's house during the day, he put a few of Shang Yicai's silver bills in the grass in Zhang Erbao's backyard and blamed Zhang Erbao. Zhang Erbao naturally refused to admit that it was not his own doing, but the night he was locked up, he suddenly thought of someone, and that person was Yang Ligong.

The day Shang Yi kicked his mother to death, although Zhang Erbao had threatened to kill Shang Yicai, he knew that Shang Yicai was powerful and that killing him was easier said than done, so he had the idea of committing suicide. Just as he was about to hang himself, Yang Ligong, who had witnessed the whole process, saved him and said that he would help Zhang Erbao take revenge. Zhang Erbao didn't believe it, and it wasn't until Shang Yi was really killed and he was caught that he knew that what Yang Ligong said was true. He should bear the blame for avenging himself, and he couldn't drag down his benefactor, so he later admitted that Shang Yi was the one who killed him.

A few days later, Shang Yichen was dismissed by the imperial court and sent to death row. Zhang Erbao was acquitted, and Yang Ligong was also acquitted because he killed a "dead person." The people of Guide Mansion applauded, and Ma Dingan smiled happily.