Chapter 38 Collusion between officials and bandits
Chapter 38: Collusion between officials and bandits

Seeing the old man crying heartbrokenly, Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but feel the same way. He remembered that when he was a child he watched his parents starve to death in front of him. At that time, he also cried heart-wrenchingly like the old man.

At that time, he sincerely hated the Mongol government. Why didn't they stand up for the people? Why did they force his parents to death!

At that time, if there were anyone with a stutter who could fill his stomach, Zhu Yuanzhang would never have rebelled!

However, many years have passed. The Yuan Dynasty had already been killed by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the new dynasty had been established for some time, but this familiar and desperate scene appeared before him again.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt as if there was some invisible ghost right in front of him, slapping him, the Hongwu Emperor, in the face with the sole of his shoe!

"Look! You, Han Ming, claim to have ruled the country with integrity, but aren't the common people also suffering injustice and leading a miserable life?"

Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his anger and tried to make his voice sound more gentle. "Don't be afraid, old man. Since this matter has come to my attention, I will never let you suffer any injustice. Tell me what's going on!"

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang's attitude, Yun Qi immediately persuaded him with a friendly face: "What kind of injustice have you suffered? Old man, why don't you tell us quickly and let the emperor make the decision for you."

The old man then suppressed his sorrow and explained the reasons why he had filed the complaint.

It turned out that the old man was from Lijiazhuang, Shangyuan County under the jurisdiction of Yingtian Prefecture.

His surname is Li and his given name is Gensheng. His wife died early in life, and he only has a daughter at home named Li Yanran.

She is pretty and well-behaved, and is extremely filial to her old man. People in the surrounding area praise Li Yanran and say that she is not only pretty but also virtuous. If anyone marries her, it would be a blessing from eight lifetimes.

The father and daughter relied on the few acres of thin land they were given when the Ming Dynasty was founded. Although they were not rich, they could barely make a living.

Originally, life was so peaceful. The old man saved up every penny for his daughter's dowry, hoping that when the day came for his daughter to get married, she would find an honest and decent husband, take care of her and raise children, and live a peaceful life. Then Old Man Li would be content.

But the accident happened suddenly.

In the middle of last month, Li Yanran suggested going to the market in town to buy some silk thread to do some needlework to supplement the family income.

Old man Li was originally very pleased that his daughter had grown up and understood the difficulties her father faced, so he readily agreed.

But who knew that Li Yanran went there early in the morning, and when it was getting dark there was still no sign of her. Old man Li was about to go out to look for her when it started to rain heavily.

The country roads were already rugged and difficult to travel on, and the heavy rain made the roads even more muddy. Add to that the sky was covered with dark clouds and it was pitch dark, so we had no choice but to give up.

I thought my daughter might have been trapped by the rainstorm and she might come back at any time.

Unexpectedly, Li Yanran did not return home that night!
Until daylight came up, there was no sign of Li Yanran.

This made Old Man Li very anxious, and he asked his neighbors to look for her everywhere. Finally, he found Li Yanran in a dry well.

But at this time, the father and daughter were separated forever!

When the neighbors saw that a murder had occurred, they hurried to the county government to file a lawsuit.

The complaint was filed in the morning, and the county constable arrived in the afternoon.

The county's chief constable brought a coroner to perform an autopsy on Li Yanran's body and concluded that she was raped and then killed!

Everyone looked at the body carefully and found that it was true. Li Yanran's clothes were in disarray, and there were traces of tearing and damage on the hem and collar of her skirt. The constable called the village midwife to verify.

As expected, Li Yanran's underwear was missing and there were signs of forced intercourse before her death.

Moreover, there were obvious bruises on the face and body of the deceased from being beaten, and the fatal wound was a deep mark on the neck.

The county police chief even discovered that a small amount of valuables on Li Yanran's body were still there and were not lost.

The neighbors all knew that Old Man Li's family was not wealthy, and they would definitely not intend to rob Li Yanran of her money.

If we must say that it was a robber, it could only be that he had fled here. Only someone who was not aware of the situation would have intended to rob such a not-so-rich woman.

However, all the valuables on Li Yanran were still there, so it was impossible that this was caused by a robbery.

So could it be a vendetta?
But it is impossible, because Old Man Li and his family have always been kind to others and have very good relations with their fellow villagers.

What's more, many young and strong men in the village secretly admire Li Yanran. Under such circumstances, how could such a vendetta occur?
Could it be that some village woman who was jealous of Li Yanran secretly killed her?

But how do we explain the signs of sexual intercourse shown by the deceased before his death?
From this, we can conclude that this was a case of simple lust and subsequent murder to silence the witness.

This greatly increases the possibility that it was done by locals.

After listening to the captain's analysis, the neighbors who were watching began to think about who usually coveted Li Yanran the most.

Soon a neighbor shouted that at dawn in the morning, he had seen the village scoundrel Niu Er, who seemed to have thrown something into the dry well.

It was just dawn and I could only see an outline.

The neighbor was not sure what Niu Er threw into the dry well, but there was no doubt that Niu Er did appear in front of the dry well.

First of all, Niu Er was a well-known scoundrel in the surrounding area, and there was no one in the neighborhood who had not been harmed by him;

Secondly, Niu Er has a very distinctive appearance. Although he is tall and strong, he has long legs and short legs. When he walks, one part of his leg is higher than the other. Moreover, his face is ugly and very recognizable.

When everyone heard this, they concluded that this tragedy was committed by Niu Er!
Normally, Niu Erbian often harassed Li Yanran. It was not surprising that when he saw Li Yanran alone, he suddenly decided to rape and kill her.

The chief constable immediately took several detectives to Niu Er's house and arrested the murderer and took him to the county jail that same day.

Although Old Man Li lost his beloved daughter, he felt somewhat comforted when he thought that the murderer had been caught and that it would not take long for the murderer to be brought to justice to comfort his daughter's soul in heaven.

But for several days in a row, there was no news from the county government.

Old man Li couldn't wait any longer, so he went to the county government office to inquire, but he was driven out by the bailiffs.

Old man Li was unwilling to give up, so he went there several more times, but was driven away by the yamen runners every time.

The last time, he was even beaten with a water and fire stick by an angry yamen runner. If the villagers from the same village who passed by could not bear to see it and sent him to the clinic for treatment, Li would have become a cripple!
During the period of recuperation, Old Man Li still did not give up. He asked people everywhere to inquire about the progress of the case, but was shocked to hear unbelievable bad news!
Just a few days after Old Man Li was beaten, Niu Er swaggered away from the county jail and continued to oppress the people and do all kinds of evil.

Old man Li had no way to seek justice, so he made up his mind to break into the Meridian Gate and file a complaint with the emperor!

(End of this chapter)