Daily life of farming and supporting a family on the ancient Loess Plateau

“Send word to the old lady of the dog and ox—” a yamen runner shouted loudly outside.

Soon, a slightly plump old woman with a mean face was brought into the main hall.

"Are you Zhu Gou Niu's mother?" the magistrate asked.

Dog and Cow Girl knelt down with a thud, nervously saying, "Reporting to...Reporting to Your Excellency, this humble woman is indeed you."

"Is Li your daughter-in-law? Have you ever beaten Li?"

Old Lady Dog and Cow slapped her thighs and began to wail: "My lord, this slut coveted our family's wealth and seduced my son by all means to marry into our family. But she couldn't bear a single child and often talked back to me. This is one of the 'seven grounds for divorce'! My son is kind-hearted and didn't divorce her, but now she has jumped into a well and committed suicide. She is truly heartless!"

"Bang!" The gavel struck.

"Speak properly!"

The old woman, Zhu Gou Niu, shuddered and trembled like a leaf. She quickly lowered her head, knelt properly, and said cautiously, "This wretched woman must have committed suicide. She couldn't have a child for many years and was too ashamed to face anyone. Today, she even stole steamed buns from home and was caught by my son in the street. She is so ashamed that she wants to die. Please, sir, release my son."

"Old man, loose cleavage, farts are loud! Your own son killed someone, and you old rascal still want to pretend to be a good person!" Ji Manqing shouted into the hall from the crowd, then immediately squatted down to hide, drawing everyone's attention.

The magistrate glanced at the crowd and continued expressionlessly, "Whether Li committed suicide by jumping into the well is still unknown. The neighbors in the village say that you and your son often beat and bullied Li. Is this true?"

Zhu Gou Niu's mother hurriedly kowtowed twice and said, "This shameless woman disrespects her elders and does not uphold the virtues of womanhood. As her mother-in-law, I naturally have to teach her a lesson."

The magistrate, without a smile, asked, "Does Li have any evidence that she has violated the virtues of a wife?"

Zhu Gou Niu's mother blinked twice, looked at her son, and instantly wilted.

"Without evidence, do not speak recklessly and ruin the woman's reputation! Although Li is dead, the dead should be respected. I hope you, mother-in-law, will be careful with your words. In addition, your son Zhu Gou Niu has taken Li's money. I have already sent people to your house to search for him."

"My goodness, when has my dog ​​ever seen this old hag's money? Besides, how could that old hag Li have any money?" Dog Niu's mother began to wail loudly.

"Mother, hurry back and check your kang cabinet..." Zhu Gou Niu said, winking at his mother. Actually, he wanted her to quickly bribe the yamen runners who were searching for them, but he didn't know if his mother understood.

Soon, another constable entered the hall and reported, "Sir, the examination of the body is complete."

"Report it."

Ji Yongling entered the hall from outside, bowed, and said, "Reporting to Your Excellency, I and several seniors just examined Li and found multiple bruises on her body and a dent in her head, consistent with a comminuted skull fracture, which is a fatal injury. According to the person who went down the well, Li was head down and feet up at the bottom of the well. However, the well is not very deep, and the bottom is soft yellow soil, not stone. Therefore, the fatal injury to Li's head should have been caused by being struck by a heavy object."

If someone commits suicide by jumping into a well, they usually land feet down, not head down. Therefore, several of my predecessors and I agree that Li was thrown into the well after her death, not that she jumped in herself. These are the results of our investigation; please take a look, Your Honor.” After saying this, she respectfully handed over several sheets of paper, which one of the yamen runners took and placed on the official desk.

Huo Zhenglian picked up the corpse tablet and recognized it as his advisor's handwriting. The content was indeed as the girl below had described, and even more detailed, specifying the location of the injury, its size, and the estimated duration of the injury. He nodded in satisfaction.

Ji Manchuan and the others anxiously looked into the hall from outside the door, but their tall and strong figures prevented them from getting close enough to see. They only felt relieved when they heard their own child's voice.

However, Ji Yonghua and Ji Yongbo, relying on their small stature and thick skin, were not afraid of being scolded and had already nimbly squeezed to the threshold of the lobby. The two of them were squatting outside the threshold, staring at their cousin with bright eyes.

"Bang—" Huo Zhenglian struck the gavel again.

"Pass on the blessing to the dog and ox, and to the other neighbors."

Before long, the hall was filled with kneeling people. Ji Yongling stood behind the yamen runner to the side.

"I ask you all, did you see or hear anything unusual at Zhu Tieniu's house this afternoon? Tell me the truth, and do not conceal anything!"

One of the old women, with completely white hair and a hunched back, replied: "Your Excellency, I live opposite Zhu Gou Niu's house. This afternoon I did hear Zhu Gou Niu beating his wife again. Because he beats his wife so many times, I didn't take it seriously."

Today, after only a few blows, Dog Ox's wife let out a loud scream and then fell silent, which was unusual. Usually, Dog Ox would beat his wife until she begged for mercy or he got tired of hitting her; this time the beating was much shorter than expected.

Another middle-aged man continued, "Yes, I live diagonally across from Zhu Gou Niu. This time, Zhu Gou Niu really beat his wife for too short a time. And later I even peeked out and saw Zhu Gou Niu peeking around at the gate, but I didn't pay much attention at the time."

Just half an hour later, as I was getting ready to go to work in the fields, I discovered that the stone slab over the well in front of Zhu Gou Niu's house had been moved. I cursed, "Which son of a bitch has such long arms to move this slab? What if the child falls in!"

"Yes, yes, I saw the stone slab being moved, but I'm old and weak. I tried to move it back to cover it, but I couldn't move it twice, so I gave up. When the merchants were looking for someone to go down the well, I found the stone slab had been put back on. I don't know when it was put back on," an elderly man sighed.

At this moment, the constable dressed as a head constable walked into the hall again, cupped his hands and reported: "Sir, the people who went to Zhu Gou Niu's house to investigate have returned. They said that the traces by the dry well have all been destroyed and no valuable clues were found. They only found a bloodstained hammer in Zhu Gou Niu's pigsty."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Gou Niu, who was standing below the hall, instantly collapsed to the ground.

With a thud, the gavel struck, and Huo Zhenglian shouted, "Zhu Gou Niu, now that things have come to this, won't you confess the truth?"

"My lord, my lord, I really just made a mistake, a mistake. It was all that vile woman's fault. She had money on her at the time, and I thought she had stolen my belongings. I was furious and wanted to teach her a lesson, that's why—" Zhu Gou Niu said repeatedly, tears and snot streaming down his face.

Huo Zhenglian glared at Zhu Gou Niu and said sternly, "Continue speaking!"

"In a fit of anger, I intended to scare her with a hammer, but she not only refused to admit her mistake, but also stubbornly said, 'Go ahead and hit me! You've got the guts to kill me!' That's how I accidentally killed her. I was filled with remorse afterward; I'm usually too afraid to even kill a chicken, so in my panic, I threw her into the well. My lord, this wretched woman committed all seven grounds for divorce, yet I never abandoned her. It was truly an accident! My lord—"

"Bang—" The gavel rang out.

"Majesty!" shouted the constables holding fire and water sticks on both sides of the main hall.