Chapter 1801: Encountering a Bully in a Restaurant (2)
His roar broke the silence of the early morning. Soon, people ran out from the next door. The pedestrians who came out early on the street not far away also heard it and ran over to watch the excitement.
Caiwei sighed in her heart. The man looked like he was no more than 23 or 24 years old, and his wife was not much older, at most 4 or 5 years old. It was a pity that he was hanged at such a young age!
More and more people gathered around, pointing and talking, making a lot of noise. Caiwei couldn't fall asleep, so she opened her eyes and watched the excitement.
In the yard of the dead house, two children cried and called their mothers. The older one was only 7 or 8 years old, and the younger one was only 3 or 4 years old. The tender crying and the sound of "mother" made people feel distressed.
The onlookers also felt sorry for her and said: "Hey, you are so young, why are you so depressed? How will you live your life after leaving these two little ones behind!"
"Yes, she is at peace after kicking her legs and closing her eyes, but how can she live with these two motherless children..."
At this time, the woman next door poked her head out from the wall, snorted, and said: "I have seen the young wife of that family. She is gentle and obedient. She will never commit suicide. In my opinion, maybe Zhang San strangled his wife and hung her up!"
"What, sister-in-law, human life is at stake, you can't say such nonsense!"
The onlookers shouted, and the woman's words were like a stone thrown into the lake, stirring up a thousand waves!
The wife curled her lips and said, "You dare not talk nonsense. Last night, Zhang San beat his wife. We heard it for real. She screamed like a ghost and a wolf, and she was beaten like a pig being slaughtered. Maybe he beat her to death and then hanged her up, and then pretended to be hanging herself!"
"Oh, is this true? In this case, Zhang San is really suspected of killing his wife?"
"I think so too. Otherwise, how could a young man with two children bear to die?"
"Hey, look, the government is here to examine the body. Look, the coroner is here too. We will know what happened in a while!"
After hearing what they said, Caiwei looked into the distance and saw a police chief with two police officers and a coroner, swaggering over.
The police chief and the police officer were naturally dressed as officials, but the coroner was wearing a coarse silk dress, with a large black face full of oil. He looked more like a butcher than an official.
According to the laws of the Jin Dynasty, when a person died in a family, officials and coroners had to go to check. Only after verifying that the deceased died of natural causes could the person be buried. The government would immediately remove the person from the register and file. However, in remote areas, when a person died, the family would usually bury the person secretly, because if the officials were invited, they would have to provide them with a meal and wine, and they would have to take out one or two strings of money before they left. Therefore, most people could not afford it, so they buried the dead secretly without anyone knowing.
The people of Lin'an Prefecture could not do that. They were in a prosperous place, and it was impossible for them to bury a dead person secretly. If the government found out that it was a private burial, the family would be fined to the point of bankruptcy, or even worse, they would be charged with murder and hiding the body. Therefore, no matter if the family was rich or poor, they would report the death to the government as soon as possible and ask the government to come and check the body.
Not long after the head of the police, the police and the coroner entered the house, they heard a commotion: "It's unjust, sir. How could I kill my wife? Please understand!" Amid the commotion, the man named Zhang San was seen being tied up and brought out. Zhang San had a bitter face and kept shouting that he was unjust.