Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Shen Zheng's legs were still weak, so she leaned on Xu Zhubu's arm for support.

"Who is the deceased? Who reported the crime to the police? Is the crime scene cordoned off? Are there any suspicious people?"

At this time, Xu Zhubu didn't care about Shen Zheng holding his arm and told her the case.

"The deceased was a landlord named Wang from the east of the city. The murderer has turned himself in. He is the deceased's son, Wang Guangjin."

"Surrender yourself?"

Although Shen Zheng didn't understand why Wang Guangjin surrendered himself, she still felt relieved.

The murderer came to his door, and his official hat was saved.

But if this son kills his father, I'm afraid the matter is not simple.

"Where is Wang Guangjin?"

"He's waiting in the hall. His stepmother and stepsister are here too."

Shen Zheng raised an eyebrow when she heard this. Family relationships are quite complicated.

Then she walked towards the court.

Before he even arrived at the court, he could hear a lot of noise in the hall, mostly from the county residents criticizing Wang Guangjin.

"What a beast! You dare to kill your own father!"

"That's right. Landlord Wang provided him with good food and drink, and even spent money to send him to study in the next county. This is how he repays his father!"

"He was thrown into prison today and I'm afraid he'll be beheaded!"

"It's been a long time since there's been a murder in our county!"

Some people expressed disapproval.

"What do you know? If you don't know, don't talk nonsense."

At this time, Shen Zheng and Xu Zhubu walked in, went to the desk and sat down.

"The county magistrate is here!"

"Humph, just a woman."

"Bang!" Shen Zheng slammed the gavel, and the hall became quiet instantly.

She said to the county residents in the hall: "All outsiders should leave and not interfere with the trial."

Two constables standing on the left and right of the court gate held up their batons in order to intimidate the residents. Although the residents were reluctant, they still retreated.

After the hall became quiet, Shen Zheng began to look at the three people kneeling in the hall.

Leading the group was a sturdy young man with signs of fighting on his face and clothes.

There was a large pool of bright red blood on his chest.

Shen Zheng touched his chin. It seemed that Wang Guangjin had turned himself in right after the murder, and his blood had not yet oxidized.

Kneeling behind Wang Guangjin were two women, a woman and a young girl, both of them covering their faces and crying.

According to Xu Zhubu, these two people should be Wang Guangjin's stepmother and stepsister.

"Wang Guangjin, you killed your biological father. Come forward and turn yourself in. Is that right or not?"

Shen Zheng asked.

Wang Guangjin lowered his head and answered in a muffled voice, "Yes."

Shen Zheng recalled the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty from her memory. Anyone who intentionally caused death would be sentenced to death by beheading, and the execution would be carried out three days after the conviction.

But conviction does not mean that whoever takes the blame is the murderer.

Shen Zheng said to the three kneeling people: "Although you have confessed your guilt, we cannot convict you based on your words alone."

"The county government will have to send a coroner to perform an autopsy. I will make a final decision after the examination."

Wang Guangjin still did not raise any objection and nodded his head to answer yes.

Shen Zheng ordered the constable to take Wang Guangjin to the cell for trial.

At this time, Wang Guangjin's stepsister Wang Wanying suddenly knelt down and walked forward, her eyes were red and swollen, and her face was covered with tears.

"Sir! Would you listen to what I have to say?"

The woman next to her suddenly stiffened, covered her face and cried even harder, but she did not stop her daughter.

Shen Zheng nodded: "You go ahead."

I don’t know whether this stepsister is here to beg for mercy or to ask for severe punishment.

"My brother killed his father today because of me."

Wang Guangjin, who had been wishing for death, suddenly began to struggle violently, trying to step forward to stop Wang Wanying from saying the rest of the words.

His eyes were red, and he yelled at Wang Wanying: "Wanying, shut up!"

The two constables who were escorting him hit him on the knee with a stick and said, "Do you have the right to speak?"

At this time, the Queen Mother also knelt forward and looked at Shen Zheng with a pleading look.

"Mr. County Magistrate, could you please ask the Constable to close the gate?"

This means that county residents are not allowed to attend the trial.

When hearing a case, the county court may choose to hold an open or closed trial at its discretion, and the opinions of the victim's family may also be taken into account.

Shen Zheng had no reason to hesitate and signaled the constable at the door to close the door.

Some of the county residents outside the door were cursing.

"There is nothing that the Wang family cannot bear to hear!"

"Well! They are considered a wealthy family, so they must have some dirty deeds."

After the door was closed, Shen Zheng looked at Wang Wanying and said, "Miss Wang, you can speak now."

Wang Wanying sobbed, as if she had made some kind of decision.

Even though Wang Guangjin shouted to stop her, she told him the whole story of the case.

"You beast! Worse than pigs and dogs!"

After hearing the whole process of the incident, Shen Zheng was furious and slapped the desk.

Xu Zhubu, who was standing by, also slammed the case file he was recording on the table.

"I am unworthy of being a father for such a thing to happen!"

According to Wang Wanying, Wang Guangjin's biological mother abandoned him after giving birth to him.

The current Wang is the second wife that landlord Wang married when Wang Guangjin was two years old, and Wang Wanying is the biological daughter born to Wang and landlord Wang in the second year after their marriage.

Landlord Wang was a cruel man. He would beat his wife and children whenever he was not satisfied. Wang Guangjin's biological mother could not stand it and cruelly abandoned her own son and ran away.

Wang was an extremely gentle woman. She treated Wang Guangjin like her own son in terms of food, clothing, housing, transportation and education.

Wang Guangjin also gradually began to regard Wang as his biological mother.

After marrying the current Wang, the landlord Wang restrained himself a little and did not beat Wang Wanying and her daughter when they were young.

He just often called Wang Guangjin to the study, and when he came out, Wang Guangjin always had a bruised face.

After Wang found out something was wrong, she urged that Wang Guangjin be sent to the next county to study.

Wang Guangjin became afraid of the beatings from the landlord Wang day after day, so he followed Wang's wishes and went to the next county.

But this time, Wang Guangjin escaped from the fire pit, but Wang jumped into it.

Without Wang Guangjin as his punching bag, Wang became the person on whom landlord Wang vented his anger.

Her day darkened.

Despite this, Wang did not tell Wang Guangjin about the current situation. Every time she wrote to him, she only said that everything was fine at home and asked him not to go home.

Wang Guangjin, who had been away for many years, really missed his mother and sister, so he thought of secretly going home to visit them.

But he saw on the courtyard wall that the landlord Wang was pulling Wang's hair and knocking her head to the ground.

The servants around turned a blind eye.

Wang Guangjin was so angry that he wanted to climb over the wall.

But Wang saw it. Tears fell down her face and she shook her head quietly at Wang Guangjin.

Son, don’t come back. If you come back, all your efforts over the years will be in vain.

Wang Guangjin was very strong at first, but his strength declined with the second, and finally he was exhausted with the third.

In the end, he lost the courage to climb over the wall.

He lived under the shadow of landlord Wang for many years.

He was too scared.

After returning to the inn, Wang Guangjin couldn't sleep all night. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw Wang's tearful eyes.

Yes, he is eighteen now, not eight!

He is already a grown man and has the strength to fight against his father!

Wang Guangjin immediately decided to return to the Wang family to protect his mother and sister.

His original intention was just to protect them, and he didn't want to kill Landlord Wang.