The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

At dawn the next day, Heifu, who had fallen asleep on the table, woke up in a daze and found that it was still dark. What he heard was not the crowing of a rooster, but the screams that had not stopped all night...

"It has been a night of beating."

He couldn't help but feel a little sorry for the suspect, probably because Qin law did not advocate the use of torture during the trial. The punishment in Qin was still primitive, just simply beating the body with wooden sticks and bamboo sticks, but the pain caused was great enough. Moreover, if you don't beat him, it's fine. Once you use torture, you will be beaten until you open your mouth!

After a while, the intermittent screams gradually subsided. When Shi was brought up again, he was covered with wounds.

Wei Shi Anpu, who was hit so hard that he almost vomited blood last night, personally tortured Shi. He was merciless. There was almost no intact skin on Shi's back, which was covered with bloody whipping marks. He fainted from the pain. He woke up trembling after being poured with cold water.

"Speak or not?"

Ling Shi Le also secretly hated Shi for scaring him just now. This kind and smiling Qin Li had a cold face at this moment.

Shi, who was beaten to pieces, raised his head and looked at Hei Fu who tried to stop him from committing suicide. After a self-deprecating smile, he finally let go.

Even the strongest man could not stand the torture of torture, unless he died, the dead would not speak.

The story started a year ago. One day, Shi went up the mountain to chop wood, but accidentally stepped on the trap used by the hunter to catch animals. He couldn't open the thing by himself, and he called for help in vain, and even attracted a large and colorful leopard...

He was about to die in the leopard's mouth, but at this moment, a thin man passing by killed the leopard and saved his life.

Since then, Shi regarded that man as a benefactor, obeyed his words, and the two of them often communicated with each other and gradually became close friends.

"What is the name of the man who saved you? What is his hometown and identity?"

Shi was honest at this time and said everything: "His name is Ao, he is a farmer, living in the village, originally a scholar in Chu State, and fled from the south bank of the Yangtze River three years ago. They didn't get any land, so they could only work as farmers and servants to barely make a living."

It was indeed the group of farmers who had close contacts with Shi. Wei Shi Anpu whispered that everyone should rest assured, and he had sent someone to control this group of people.

Shi continued, "A few days ago, Ao found me again and wanted me to help him do something..."

"Murder?" Hei Fu frowned and asked.

"No." Shi, wearing shackles, shook his head with difficulty: "According to him, he was going to catch an adulterer..."

Seeing that Shi finally got to the point, everyone immediately perked up.

Ao told Shi that the prison guard in Liushuli had insulted the wife of one of his friends. He also heard that the prison guard there often hooked up with widows in the village and would commit adultery with the hunter's wife when the hunter was not at home...

In the Qin State, although improper relationships between men and women were cracked down, it was not okay to make groundless accusations that a man or a woman was committing adultery. It was only counted if they were caught in bed. Ao planned to let Shi go with him to catch the adulterer and take revenge on the prison guard.

Shi was stupid and believed it. That day, he took his knife as Ao instructed, but he didn't think about what it was for.

"I will first go to the place where the peasants in the village live and bring Ao out, because peasants cannot leave the village without being hired by soldiers."

"When Ao and I arrived at Liushuli, it was breakfast time. All the men and women in the village went to the fields. We arrived outside the hunter's house. I looked through the window and saw that the guard was indeed committing adultery with the hunter's wife..."

"Ao said that he could do it, and asked me to watch outside. He then used my shoulder, kicked the window open, and jumped in. Only then did I realize that the slapper hanging on my waist was in Ao's hand without knowing when!"

When mentioning this, Shi still couldn't believe it.

Hei Fu nodded slightly. His inference that there were two murderers, one standing outside the house and the other jumping in to kill, was completely correct!

Wei Shi Anpu could not wait any longer, and immediately stood up and said, "Yesterday I asked, those unemployed farmers went to a certain village in the township to help harvest rice, and that Ao must be among them. I have asked several pavilion chiefs to lead people to arrest him, and I will rush over immediately!" As he said that, he hurried out.

Le urged: "Then what happened!"

"You all know what happened next. Ao didn't look like he was catching an adulterer. He directly killed the prison guard, and then caught up with the hunter's wife and stabbed her to death. Then he took the prison guard's sword and a bag of copper coins... Oh, and two wooden animal traps."

"He also took animal traps?"

Hei Fu was slightly surprised. They didn't know this before. The hunter's house was packed with things in a mess, especially animal traps. There were many of them. I'm afraid that a few were missing. The hunter himself didn't know, so he didn't report it. He was really a confused and honest man. I just don't know what the murderer Ao did with the animal traps?

Le continued to ask: "Did Ao tell you afterwards why he wanted to kill Li Jianmen!"

Shi was silent again, as if he was hesitating. He had once been willing to die to protect this secret.

Hei Fu immediately said: "Shi, watch carefully. I have a pottery bowl in my left hand. There is water in the bowl, and there will be rice later. In my right hand is a bamboo stick for the execution. It's up to you to choose which one."

Shi looked at Hei Fu with some resentment. He had not had a drop of water since yesterday, and he had been whipped all night. At this moment, his lips were cracked, he was thirsty and hungry, and his spirit was at its weakest.

After a struggle between heaven and man, Shi seemed to give in. He chose water. After taking a few gulps, he said dejectedly, "I was also very confused at the time, but I didn't say anything. After Ao took me to a safe place, he bowed to me and apologized, and then I told the truth."

"It turns out that they, a group of Chu people, a total of ten people, had heard that Qin was better than Chu, so they fled here to escape famine. Unexpectedly, they had no place to stay and could only serve as laborers. Whenever there were engineering laborers, the government would give priority to recruiting them. Two of them died in the city. So the remaining eight people began to regret coming to Qin and wanted to return to their hometown in Chu. It was Ao who brought them out in the first place, and now, he also wants to take everyone back without leaving a single one..."

Le slapped his case and said, "So he wants to be a traitor! Hey, does he think that my Qin is the same as Chu, where you can enter and leave as you please? Second and third sons, immediately send someone to chase the captain Shi and tell him about this, saying that those laborers must not be spared! Catch them all!"

The destruction of a state was synonymous with treason in the Qin State, which had a strict household registration system. The leader would be executed directly, and the rest would be tattooed and sentenced to imprisonment!

Shi Dao: "Ao also knew that this was not easy, so he and the others pooled money together and bribed the Li Jianmen, asking the Li Jianmen to help them forge the verification and the pass, so that they could lie about doing corvée labor, arrive near the border, and then escape from the mountains, swamps and woods."

"That's how the Li Jianmen got the more than 2,000 yuan!" Le quickly asked someone to record it, and another doubt was solved.

Heifu could roughly guess the plot at this time: "But the prison guard took the money but didn't do anything, or was he afraid, so he decided to report them to the government?"

Shi said: "Yes, Ao also noticed the prison guard's intention, so he decided to kill him before he reported it!"

Heifu asked in surprise: "Ao clearly deceived you and got you involved in a murder case, but you didn't hate him or report him. Yesterday you even tried to commit suicide to keep Ao's secret. Why is that?"

Shi raised his head and said: "Ao fought with the leopard that day and was injured. He saved my life. I owe him this life. He can take it whenever he needs it! What's the matter with whether it's a burden or not!"

"Don't you know that harboring a murderer is against the laws of Qin?"

Shi said righteously, "I am a lowly person who doesn't know the law, but only the principles of being a human being. I should die if I don't keep my promise as a gatekeeper, and I should die if I commit adultery. I would rather violate the law than violate my husband's loyalty and loyalty!"

"This damn chivalrous righteousness again."

Le cursed, and Heifu knew that the Qin officials hated these chivalrous people the most.

But breaking the law is breaking the law, and Shi will pay the price for it. As an accomplice, he did not report it afterwards, and even had violent resistance to the law after being arrested. He should be guilty of the same crime as the murderer and could not escape death!

"As for Ao, and those who tried to flee to Chu, they will soon be caught by the Wei Shi. I heard that if you catch a person who fled to Chu, you will be rewarded with seven gold coins!"

Le looked at Heifu and smiled, "Heifu Pavilion Chief, I finally got a share of the reward this time!"

Le was teasing the previous two cases where Heifu was rewarded, and he was always late.

Unexpectedly, Shi burst into laughter again at this time.

"Hahahaha, two superiors, if you think that you can catch Ao and others in this way, you are wrong!"

"What else do you have to hide!"

"Nothing else, it's just that Ao killed the prisoner that day, and immediately came up with a new method, and invited me to leave Qin with him. I was deeply grateful for his kindness. Although I didn't want to escape to Chu with him, I was willing to lend him a hand. Seeing that the officials were tracking down the person who lost the knife, I continued to hang the scabbard with the sword inserted in it, pretending that nothing happened. But I didn't expect that I would be caught by you so quickly. The name of Heifu Pavilion Chief An Lu Tiangou and the name of destroying the family is really true! I am in awe and admiration, and I have nothing to say."

Heifu didn't know whether to laugh or cry about these two nicknames.

Shi continued to sneer and said, "But since I have been arrested, Ao Ding has learned the news and took people away yesterday! It's too late for you to arrest him now!"

"Tell me quickly, how Ao plans to escape!" Le's face suddenly changed, and he raised the bamboo stick and beat Shi violently!

Shi gritted his teeth at this time, no matter how hard he was beaten, he would not say anything.

"Could it be that his confession just now was deliberately delaying time for Ao and others?" Hei Fu suddenly realized that if he thought about it this way, it made sense that Shi was so fierce when he wanted to commit suicide last night, and so suddenly confessed weakly today. This is a smart and righteous light chivalrous warrior, what a pity.

At this moment, the door was pushed open! Wei Shi Anpu, sweating profusely, rushed in with a frown.

"I met a guard on the way and he reported that those peasants didn't go to the place where they were hired! Some people said that they disappeared halfway!"

"Could this group of people plan to escape back to Chu on foot?"

Everyone felt a little incredible. Although Anlu County was adjacent to Chu, it took dozens of miles to go south or east, passing through several pavilions along the way. Once the Qin government issued a warrant, sent light cavalry and sharp chariots to chase, and ordered the pavilions to search the mountains and forests, there would be no way for the eight people to escape safely!

At this time, someone else ran to report in a panic: "Gentlemen, something bad has happened! There was a fire in the direction of the garden in the village!"

"The garden in the village..." Hei Fu's face changed. Wasn't that the place where he wanted to race horses on the day of the crime? In this way, everything became transparent.

"Not good! They want to rob horses and escape!"