Late Song Dynasty: From Imposter Magistrate to Emperor Donning the Imperial Robe

Chapter 115 Confession

Following Li Chong's instructions, everyone turned around to look.

Four bailiffs carried a black coffin into the hall. The coffin hit the ground with a heavy thud.

"Thump!"

The sudden noise startled Zhu Bingzhong, who immediately became more alert and quickly moved away from the coffin.

Turning to look at Li Chong, his face showed a mixture of anger and embarrassment: "What does the county magistrate mean by this?"

Li Chong raised an eyebrow: "You'll find out soon enough what I mean."

Immediately, Li Chong ordered in a deep voice, "Men, open the coffin!"

The heavy coffin lid was opened, and a putrid stench filled the entire hall, causing most people to instinctively cover their mouths and noses.

Those who didn't cover their mouths and noses weren't unwilling, but simply couldn't free their hands, like the few yamen runners responsible for opening the coffins.

"Clang~~~"

The coffin lid was placed on the ground, which startled Zhu Bingzhong so much that he broke out in a cold sweat. He already had a bad feeling.

Li Chong glanced at him, then looked at Zhu Li and the Zhang couple standing to the side.

"In order to solve the case, this county official has no choice but to desecrate your daughter's body. Fortunately, it hasn't been too long, so she won't be left naked in death. Are you willing?"

The corpse in the coffin, without needing to ask, should be clear that it was the deceased, Zhu Lan.

It's summer now, and the weather is hot. Although it's only been a few days, the corpse has already started to stink.

Fortunately, he was buried underground in a cold, dark place like a mass grave, so his face was still recognizable and not completely unrecognizable.

But naturally, the smell wouldn't be very pleasant.

Zhu Li, holding his wife, asked in a trembling voice, "Sir, are you saying...that...that's my daughter inside?"

Li Chong nodded heavily.

Tears streamed down the couple's faces. After a short while, Zhang said bitterly, "Sir, please proceed with the judgment. I just want to know how my daughter died!"

"Very well! This county will certainly give you justice!"

Li Chong waved his hand dismissively: "Men, revive the corpse!"

Four constables, enduring the stench, carefully carried out a corpse and placed it directly in the main hall.

Many of the onlookers below the hall had drastic changes in expression, and some even ran out to vomit.

Only Zhu Zhicheng stared at Li Chong with a livid face, without uttering a word.

"Li Chong, you brat, are you really determined to fight me to the death?" the old man thought angrily.

In the hall, Zhu Bingzhong became increasingly frightened upon seeing the corpse.

Despite how Zhu Bingzhong had humiliated Zhu Lan while she was alive, now that he saw her corpse, he couldn't bear to look directly at the life he had personally strangled.

"Guards!" Li Chong said coldly, "Have Young Master Zhu guard the corpse; this magistrate wants to question him!"

Zhu Binghe stepped forward: "Your Excellency, this is against etiquette..."

"I am the magistrate! If you want to order me around, go and pass the imperial examination first!" Li Chong said coldly. "What are you waiting for, sir?"

Seeing Li Chong's domineering attitude, the bailiffs in the hall naturally disregarded Zhu Binghe's thoughts.

Anyway, they were just following orders, so we shouldn't take our anger out on them, right?

Several constables stepped forward and restrained Zhu Bingzhong. Ignoring his struggles, they forcibly pried open his eyelids and made him stare intently at Zhu Lan's corpse on the ground.

Li Chong then asked, "Zhu Bingzhong, you said Zhu Lan died from an accidental fall into the water, but why does she have so many wounds on her body?"

Zhu Lan lay on the ground, her clothes tattered, her limbs mostly exposed, and anyone with eyes could see the bluish-purple discoloration covering them.

It was obvious at a glance that she had been severely abused before her death.

"Furthermore, since she drowned, why isn't her body swollen? Do you have any explanation for this?"

Zhu Bingzhong stammered for a long time, unable to utter a single word.

This was also within Li Chong's expectations.

As early as yesterday, when Li Chong sent Wu Dalang to arrest Zhu Bingzhong, he knew that Zhu Bingzhong would not confess easily.

Therefore, when Li Chong sent people to arrest Zhu Bingzhong, he instructed Wu Dalang to arrange for people to gather information and find the deceased's body.

There are naturally two reasons. First, in order to solve the case and convict Zhu Bingzhong of the crime; second, for the same reason, the deceased's family should be allowed to see the deceased.

As for the corpse, to be honest, in that mansion, hardly anyone cared about the body of a maid who had been beaten to death.

No one would think of deliberately hiding the body or destroying the evidence.

The Zhu family were gentry, not outlaws, so they weren't that vigilant.

Li Chong's sudden attack drew everyone's attention to Zhu Bingzhong. Who would have thought that it was all because of a maid who was beaten to death a few days ago?

Therefore, the two constables simply searched the vicinity, asked some people for information, and easily found Zhu Lan's body.

With the help of the men Wu Dalang sent later, they were able to find Zhu Lan and bring her to the main hall within a day.

Li Chong then looked up at Zhu Zhicheng, who was listening to the trial below: "Grandpa, the witnesses you found yesterday all said that the deceased always had some property of unknown origin in his possession."

"However, our county ordered a long search, but found no unusual spending by the deceased. Her family was also extremely poor. We don't know where she spent that money."

Zhu Zhicheng's face turned ashen. After standing silently for a long while, he turned and left without looking at his son again.

It's one thing for the son to lose face, but we can't let him, the father, be dragged down with him.

Seeing this, Zhu Bingzhong quickly chased after him, calling out, "Father! Father! Don't go!"

He hadn't gone far when he caught sight of Zhu Lan's corpse in the hall, and he was startled again, immediately stopping in his tracks.

By the time he came to his senses, his father had already disappeared.

"Snapped!"

Li Chong slammed his hand on the court table: "Zhu Bingzhong, in this courtroom, no one can save you! You might as well confess the truth! What exactly caused the death of the deceased!"

"She, me..."

Zhu Bingzhong was momentarily at a loss and subconsciously turned to his brother for help.

But Zhu Binghe had just been reprimanded by Li Chong, so how could he possibly have a solution? Besides, he might not even really want to save his younger brother.

Just then, the bailiffs on both sides slammed their water and fire sticks to the ground in unison: "Majesty!"

Everyone looked at Zhu Bingzhong, which made him even more flustered.

"If you don't confess, don't blame the county for resorting to torture!"

Zhu Bingzhong took a few steps back, then suddenly stopped, feeling as if he had bumped into something. He turned his head and saw that he was face to face with Zhu Lan on the ground.

"Ah! I... I didn't mean to! Who would have thought she was so fragile? I was just venting my anger, who knew she'd die! I... I didn't mean to kill her!"

He was already a spoiled brat, and under immense pressure, he naturally couldn't hold back.

Zhu Bingzhong collapsed to the ground, spilling the beans like beans from a bamboo tube, recounting the whole story and confessing his guilt.