"Is that..." Meng said, continuing the conversation.

  "Didn't ask you! One more word and I'll slap your mouth!" Guo Sheng's face changed instantly, sternly scolding.

  The Meng family was so frightened that they didn't dare say a word, and even their crying stopped.

  "She said that, got angry, went back to her mother's home, and came back after two days." Zhao Hongqing was still stuttering, but he managed to get the sentence out.

  "Was it your wife who told you that she wanted to go back to her parents' home after giving birth, or was it someone else who told you?" Guo Sheng continued to ask.

  "It was... it was what she said, I wasn't at home, didn't... didn't go home." Zhao Hongqing pointed at Meng.

  Meng thought of making excuses and explanations, but faced with Guo Sheng's cold gaze, he shrank his body down and didn't dare to make a sound.

  "When was the last time you saw your wife? What time?" Guo Sheng continued to ask Zhao Hongqing.

  Kuo Sheng's tone and expression were always very gentle, Zhao Hongqing's mind gradually calmed down, "It was the day before yesterday, after lunch."

  "Tell me everything that happened after lunch two days ago, don't leave out a single thing, tell me in detail."

  "After lunch, Mingde called me outside... " Zhao Hongqing recounted how Hu Mingde found him, what he said, and what his elder sister and brother-in-law said. Although it was quite disorganized, he indeed told everything without leaving anything out."

  "...I went to get the silver, Zheng Shi found out and got angry, slapped me, rushed out of the house and never came back. Later, Ming De found me and said don't take the silver, let's go quickly, so I followed him to the county, then from the county back home, it was already dark, I was exhausted and hungry, after eating dinner I fell asleep. In the morning, she said Zheng Shi got angry with me yesterday and ran back to her mother's house, saying she'll stay for two days before coming back."

  Magistrate Li was taken aback, hadn't Zhao Hongqing said that his wife had been going around burning incense and spending money everywhere because she was angry, so how did it become the responsibility of the local gentry?

  "Alright, don't be afraid." Guo Sheng comforted Zhao Hongqing with a sentence, then turned his head to look at Meng Shi, who had already become somewhat flustered. "Who told you that Zheng Shi was returning to her maiden home? How did you know that Zheng Shi was going back?"

  Meng's eyes flickered uncertainly, "I... Zheng's temper... no need to say..."

  "Capital punishment." Guo Sheng stood up before Meng's words were finished, gritting his teeth.

  Meng's family was so frightened that they knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing, "I said, I said, it was Big Sister, Big Sister said that Zheng's family had a big fight with Hongqing, and Zheng's family went back to her mother's home, and will come back in a few days..."

  "Take her away!" Guo Sheng stared at Meng Shi, whose eyes were rolling wildly, and nodded to the two bailiffs. The two bailiffs shook out a pair of handcuffs and put them on Meng Shi's wrists. Meng Shi was so frightened that she screamed and begged for mercy, "I'll say it! I'll say everything! Please spare my life, sir!"

  "Speak!" Guo Sheng squeezed out a single word from between his teeth with great ferocity.

  "Yes, yes, yes! The elder sister said that Zheng Shi and Hong Qing had a fierce quarrel. Hong Qing was so angry that he lost control and strangled Zheng Shi to death..."

  "I didn't!" Zhao Hongqing shrieked in fright.

  "Go on," said Guo Sheng, ignoring Zhao Hongqing. A bailiff stepped forward, covering Zhao's mouth with his hand and slapping him twice in the face.

  "The elder sister said it was Hong Qing who strangled Zheng Shi to death. It was the elder sister who told me to say so, everything is the elder sister..."

  Guo Sheng let out a cold laugh, "What benefits did Big Sister promise you in exchange for framing Zhao Hongqing?"

  Before she could finish, Guo Sheng stepped on Meng's fingers with his toes, and Meng let out a pained cry. "I'll say it! I'll say it! Take Erni to Hangzhou City, the Zhao family... one person, half..."

  Magistrate Li listened with his eyes wide and mouth agape, pointing at Meng's wife, "The most venomous thing in the world is a woman's heart, a poisonous woman! Was it you who killed Zheng? Was it...?"

  "County Master!" Guo Sheng interrupted Li County Magistrate's words with a splitting headache, "Please allow me to finish asking."

  Magistrate Li nodded, he was already confused, utterly confused.

  "Tell me carefully and clearly when did the big girl find you, what did she say? Don't miss a single word, otherwise I'll chop off these slender fingers of yours first!"

  Meng's hand was stepped on by Guo Sheng, and she was in so much pain that she was sweating profusely. "It...it was the young master who spared my life. It happened yesterday morning, very early, before dawn. The big girl came knocking on the door, and her husband was with her. She said that yesterday afternoon, she and her husband had come to visit Hong Qing, but Zheng Shi found out and rushed over to fight with Hong Qing, not letting him see her. Hong Qing was so angry that he lost control and strangled her to death."

  Guo Sheng let out a gentle sigh, this time at least half of it was true.

  "Older sister said... said... Hong Qing is her own brother, said... if you can deceive, then deceive, if not, then so be it. She asked me to help deceive, and when the time comes, let Erniang bring half of the family property as dowry, and leave a small villa for me to live out my old age..." Madam Meng's head hung down, her words trailing off incoherently.

  Guo Sheng smiled, "You heard that Zheng's family died and you knew who killed them, right? The idea of framing Zhao Hongqing was yours, wasn't it? With Zhao Hongqing dead, there are only you and your daughter Erniang left in this household."

  "It's not... great lord, have mercy, the common women are all listening to what the eldest daughter says, it's all because of what the eldest daughter said." Meng Shi kneeled two steps forward, begging Li County Magistrate with tears in her eyes, but he turned his face away, unable to bear looking at her.

  "Take both of them away first." Guo Sheng ordered the bailiffs as he stepped over County Magistrate Li.

  Watching the yamen runner take away Zhao Hongqing and Meng, Guo Sheng called over the baozheng again and asked about the whereabouts of Zhao's eldest daughter. He found out that she had been married off to a man in Qiantang County's Bridge Town. Walking up to Magistrate Li, he said quietly: "Your Honor, this Zheng's death must be connected to Zhao's eldest daughter and her husband Hu Da and his third brother Hu Mingde. However, these three are from Qiantang County, so we can't arrest them without going through the proper channels. This case might have to be reported to Hangzhou Prefecture."

  "It's already the twelfth lunar month, and the Empress Dowager... If this case is reported to the higher authorities, I'm afraid...” County Magistrate Li was thinking carefully at this moment. With a homicide case like this happening now, if it's reported to the Hangzhou Prefectural Government, he's afraid that the crime of dereliction of duty would be unavoidable.

  "County Magistrate, a case of this magnitude will surely not be suppressed. If the report is delayed and the culprit escapes, it would be considered dereliction of duty." Guo Sheng warned with his eyes cast downward, his voice carrying a hint of chill.

  Magistrate Li was stunned for a moment, shivered with fear, but he knew that human life was at stake and the case couldn't be concealed or left unsolved. If he delayed reporting it further, the criminal would escape, and that would be a grave mistake. "What you said is absolutely right."

  "It's better to be quick than slow, now hurry up and send the prisoner and confession to Hangzhou Prefecture Government, I'll take a trip. County magistrate returns to county government, find that indictment paper handed over by Zhao Hongqing, Wu Xianwei has handled it, if County magistrate can't find it, ask him, found it, hurry up and send someone to deliver it to Hangzhou Prefecture Government, that's also one of the physical evidence."

  Guo Sheng informed County Magistrate Li, who nodded repeatedly. Guo Sheng ordered his men to bring Meng's wife and Zhao Hongqing along, and they rushed straight to Hangzhou City.

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