My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 81 Interrogation (2)

"Zhang Ershun, you've got some nerve, daring to even beat the petition drum." Shi Yong glanced at Zhang Ershun and said coldly.

Zhang Ershun rubbed his hands, his face showing fear: "This...this was arranged by my brother, I...I can't disobey him, besides, two lives are at stake, I...I'm scared too!"

"Heh, I haven't seen your son Zhang Xiaohu these past few days?" Shi Yong asked Zhang Ershun as he casually sat down.

“He…he went to help out in the next village these past two days. If Grandpa Shi needs anything, I’ll ask him to come back,” Zhang Ershun said.

"Sir, have some water..." At this moment, a middle-aged woman brought over several bowls of water and carefully handed them to Shi Yong.

Lin Ziping recognized her as the person who had disapproved of Hu Xinhua when he first arrived in Pingding Village. It turned out she was Hu Xinhua's neighbor, so her comments at the time were not surprising.

As Shi Yong spoke casually, he reached out to take a glass of water: "I heard that on the day Hu Xinhua had his accident, someone saw you coming out of his yard?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the bowl in Zhang Ershun's wife's hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

"Sir, I'm sorry, I didn't hold it steady." She quickly apologized.

Shi Yong didn't care and looked at Zhang Ershun, saying, "When you were in the county government, you didn't say that you had entered Hu Xinhua's courtyard."

Zhang Ershun's face flushed red as he protested, "Who...who is slandering me? I was at my brother's house that day!"

"Sir, my husband Ershun really wasn't home that day. Please investigate!" Zhang Ershun's wife said, her voice trembling with tears.

"From what you're saying, you were at home, so you didn't hear anything?" Shi Yong looked at Zhang Ershun's wife.

“This…this…” Zhang Ershun’s wife stammered, unable to speak.

"Can't remember? Brothers, take them next door and help them recall slowly," Shi Yong instructed the other constables.

Several constables responded and dragged Zhang Ershun and his wife out.

A short while later, painful wails came from next door.

Hearing this voice, Lin Ziping felt a pang of pity and asked Shi Yong, "Brother Shi, isn't what we're doing a bit inappropriate?"

Shi Yong calmly said, "Ziping, you're new here and don't understand these troublemakers yet. They won't tell the truth without some tricks. You'll see, they'll confess in no time."

Lin Ziping's heart sank; this was clearly forced confession. Looking at Shi Yong's unchanging expression, he felt a mix of emotions, constantly reminding himself: things are different now; he must adapt to the rules of this era.

The wailing continued for a while before falling silent. Soon after, a constable came over and reported to Shi Yong: "Brother Shi, Zhang Ershun and his wife have confessed."

Shi Yong's face lit up with joy as he said, "Bring him over, I'll ask him myself."

Zhang Ershun and his wife were escorted to the main room.

Zhang Ershun was covered in sweat, his face was pale, and his hands hung limply at his chest. His wife's face was red and swollen, her hair was disheveled, and tears streamed down her face.

"Now that you remember clearly, can you speak properly?" Shi Yong asked.

Neither of them spoke.

The constable next to him kicked Zhang Ershun and said fiercely, "Brother Shi is asking questions."

Zhang Ershun and his wife immediately knelt down, kowtowing and begging for mercy, saying, "Master Shi, we'll tell you everything we know... we'll tell you everything."

Shi Yong nodded in satisfaction: "It would have been better if we had done this sooner, so we wouldn't have had to suffer. Did you go to Hu Xinhua's house on the day the incident happened?"

Zhang Ershun said with tears streaming down his face, "I went there, I went there, but when I got there Hu Xinhua was already dead. That crazy woman Qinniang was slashing around with a kitchen knife. At that time... I was so scared that I ran out of his house in a panic. When I got out, I met my older brother, and he told me to go to the county government to report the case. Uncle Shi, I really didn't kill anyone... I really didn't... Waaah..."

Shi Yong frowned in disgust: "Alright, stop howling. Tell me, what were you doing at his house?"

"This...I...I..." Zhang Ershun stammered, unable to finish his sentence.

"You covet Qinniang, but you're usually afraid of Hu Xinhua's strength, so you're trying to take advantage of her?" Shi Yong said.

"As expected, you old bastard, you're going to kill the whole family!" Zhang Ershun's wife cried as she hit Zhang Ershun after hearing Shi Yong's words.

While dodging, Zhang Ershun said, "I've said it so many times, no, no, why don't you believe me, woman!"

"Stop!" a constable shouted.

After a moment of stunned silence, Zhang Ershun's wife covered her face and began to cry softly.

"Zhang Ershun, I'm asking you one last time, what were you doing at Hu Xinhua's house?" Shi Yong said impatiently.

"This...this...sigh, I went to his house to find some silver." Zhang Ershun closed his eyes and said with a look of resignation to his fate.

Shi Yong asked in confusion, "Hu Xinhua's family is even poorer than yours. What kind of money does his family have?"

Lin Ziping remembered what he had found on the roof beam of Hu Xinhua's house, took it out of his pocket, and handed it to Shi Yong.

"This is..." Shi Yong opened the cloth bag, revealing a gold hairpin and silver notes inside, and said, "This was found at Hu Xinhua's house?"

Lin Ziping nodded and said, "I found this on the roof beam of his house."

"Zhang Ershun, how did you know that Hu Xinhua's family had money?" Shi Yong handed the cloth bag to Lin Ziping and continued to ask Zhang Ershun.

Perhaps it's true that everything is difficult at the beginning, and since the most difficult reason had already been explained, Zhang Ershun's subsequent answers were much smoother.

In the twentieth year of Shunhua, Hu Xinhua and his wife, Qinniang, arrived in Pingding Village with their young child, intending to settle down there. Qinniang was generous and quite beautiful, leaving a deep impression on the villagers. The arrival of the three attracted the attention of the village head, Zhang Dashun. Seeing their well-dressed appearance, Zhang Dashun wanted to befriend them and generously agreed to let them build a house on the vacant land next to Zhang Ershun's house. During the construction of the house, Hu Xinhua's family stayed at Zhang Ershun's house. However, while helping Hu Xinhua move, Zhang Ershun inadvertently glimpsed the silver notes in Qinniang's trunk. This glance ignited Zhang Ershun's greed. He repeatedly entered Hu Xinhua's house under various pretexts, secretly searching for the silver notes, but always found nothing. He even instructed his son, Zhang Xiaohu, to befriend Hu Xinhua. However, as time went on, the family's life gradually fell into hardship. Later, Hu Xinhua even broke Qinniang's leg, and the family became even more desolate. Seeing this, Zhang Ershun secretly guessed that the silver might have been used up, and his desire to steal gradually faded. Until recently, without silver for Zhang Xiaohu's wedding, Zhang Ershun's life became increasingly difficult. In despair, he remembered Hu Xinhua's silver notes again, and his greed was reignited. He decided to take the risk and try his luck at Hu Xinhua's house once more.

"Why did Hu Xinhua break Qin Niang's legs?" Lin Ziping asked.

Zhang Ershun shook his head to indicate that he did not know, but his wife's eyes darted around, clearly indicating that she knew something.

"You say it," Shi Yong said, looking at Zhang Ershun's wife.

"Sir, I...I don't know!" Zhang Ershun's wife stammered.

Shi Yong winked at the bailiff beside him, who stepped forward as if to strike. Zhang Ershun's wife shrank back and said, "Sir, I only heard it from others, I don't know if it's true or not."

"Tell us what you have to say," Shi Yong said expressionlessly.

"I heard from others that Qinniang used to... used to be a prostitute at Chunhua Brothel, so I've always worried that she might seduce... seduce other people. Also, I once heard Hu Xinhua beating Qinniang, saying she was unfaithful, that she'd been with a thousand men and slept with ten thousand. Hu Xinhua seems like an honest man on the outside, everyone says he's kind and righteous, but what do other people know? This man beats his wife to death, he even broke Qinniang's legs. And Hu Xinhua might have some feelings for his daughter. Once I heard him beating Qinniang saying that her daughter's experience was much better than Qinniang's, that mother and daughter should serve one person..." Zhang Ershun's wife spilled everything out like beans from a bamboo tube.

Lin Ziping was stunned. He had thought Hu Xinhua might be a bad person, but now he realized that Hu Xinhua was utter scum!

"Alright," Shi Yong interrupted Zhang Ershun's wife, "Don't go anywhere these next few days. Just wait for the yamen to summon you at any time. Let's go."

Lin Ziping followed Shi Yong away, and after reaching the door, he turned back to Zhang Ershun's wife and asked, "Do you know what Qinniang's name is?"

Zhang Ershun's wife was taken aback. After a long while, she lowered her eyebrows and said, "Once I heard Hu Xinhua call her Dai Qin."

If the surname is Dai, then how come there's a jade pendant engraved with the character Yang?

Lin Ziping suppressed his doubts, took out a bottle of medicine from his pocket, put it in Zhang Ershun's wife's hand, and said softly, "Thank you."