During the Qing Dynasty, there was a willow tree village on the outskirts of Shaoxing, and a clear stream ran around the village, and the edge of the creek was full of weeping willows and lush greenery. On the left bank of the creek there is a family surnamed Liu, the owner Liu Gongfu, fifty years away, relying on the Xiushui of Yangliushu Village to do tofu business, Liu family tofu is fresh and tender, excellent taste, famous in the local area.
Liu Gongfu has three sons and a daughter under his knees, there are still a few acres of paddy fields in the family, the tofu shop business is very good, and the Liu family has become the richest person in the village. After the sons grew up, Liu Gongfu married three daughters-in-law to his sons, and the family's life was flourishing. Unfortunately, there was an unexpected storm in the sky, and a plague struck, taking the lives of Liu Gongfu's three sons. After his son's death, Liu Gongfu recruited a husband for his younger daughter to come to the door and take care of the family affairs for him.
Liu Gongfu was over fifty years old, but his body was still healthy, and the person who was worried was that he had no children under his knees. The three daughters-in-law saw the father-in-law's thoughts, and they planned to marry another concubine for him to continue the Liu family's incense. The old man's younger daughter had a strong opinion on this and did not agree to marry a concubine for her father. But the three sisters-in-law are in charge, and the younger daughter has no way. A year after the concubine passed through the door, she bore a son for Liu Gongfu. When he was old, Liu Gongfu was very happy in his heart, so he simply handed over the business to his son-in-law to take care of, and only single-mindedly guarded his son and enjoyed the happiness of heaven.
When his son was two years old, Liu Gongfu suddenly fell ill and died. The son-in-law was the only adult man in the family and had been in charge of the housework for two more years, so all funerals were arranged by the son-in-law. On the day of the funeral, the honor guard team walked out of the village in a big way, and when they were outside the village, they happened to meet the funeral procession of a family in a neighboring village. In order to compete for the road, the two families did not give in to each other, and finally they actually moved their hands. According to local customs, in this case, the funeral fight should be stopped, and then the funeral should continue after the fight.
Suddenly, the two sides mingled, and the funeral tools became weapons for fighting. The fight continued until noon, and the two sides were still in a state of stalemate. Since there is no difference between high and low, the two sides are in a state of stalemate. At this time, the county order patrol passed by this place, saw the two families mingled together, and immediately stopped drinking. When the two sides saw the county order to stop it, they did not dare to be reckless anymore, and each buried the deceased and ended it hastily.
Six months after Liu Gongfu's death, the younger daughter filed a complaint against the concubine to the county court. The younger daughter accused the concubine of holding the son who was not the old father, and demanded that the government sentence the concubine and her son away from the Liu family. Liu Gongfu's eldest daughter-in-law was very angry after hearing this, and went to the official palace to complain about the sister-in-law's false accusations. The county order received the report and decided to try the case.
The eldest daughter-in-law said that the son was born to Liu Gongfu, and in order to prove that the son was born, he could confess his relatives by opening the coffin and dripping blood. According to the experience and theory of the ancients, the blood of relatives is compatible, and if it is not biological, it is not compatible. The county ordered the daughter-in-law to write a letter of guarantee, and if it was proved afterwards that what the eldest daughter-in-law said was false, the eldest daughter-in-law would be willing to bear the guilt. The eldest daughter-in-law insisted that her son was born to her father-in-law, so she agreed.
The next day, the county commander led three classes of servants and coroners to Liu Gongfu's grave, and after opening the coffin, the coroner dripped the blood of Liu Gongfu's son. As a result, blood could not penetrate into the bones. The county order then arrested the eldest daughter-in-law, blamed her for 20 large boards, and put her in prison. The eldest daughter-in-law was arrested, and the second daughter-in-law was not satisfied, and complained to the prefect, who accepted the case. The prefect also carried out blood recognition as usual, and the result was the same as the last time. The prefect then blamed the second daughter-in-law for false accusations and imprisoned her.
The eldest daughter-in-law and the second daughter-in-law were both imprisoned by the staff, and the third daughter-in-law could not swallow this breath, so she rushed to the capital to file a complaint. After listening to the third daughter-in-law's statement, the chief of the Criminal Investigation Department believed that there was still a need to continue to strictly investigate the case, so he handed the case over to Inspector Liu, who was in Zhejiang province to investigate official affairs.
Inspector Liu pondered that the three daughters-in-law were not afraid of the staff and imprisonment, and insisted that the concubine's son was his own child, it did not look like collusion, they should be out of truth. However, if this child was really born to Liu Gongfu, why did he not admit his relatives so many times? Inspector Liu asked the coroner again, and the coroner said that it was indeed done in accordance with the procedure and that there was no mistake or omission. The case entered a dead end, and Inspector Liu was puzzled and had many questions in his heart.
One night, Inspector Liu was meditating on the case, when an aide suggested to him: "Lord, I heard that there is a strange person in this area who is famous for judging cases, so it is better to ask him to come up with ideas, maybe it can help." However, this person is arrogant and arrogant, usually the shelf is very large, and adults may have to go to it in person. Inspector Liu listened and immediately prepared a good gift to go.
This strange man is a foreign commissioner, who recently returned to his hometown after his mother died of illness, and this person is famous in other places for helping people to solve cases. When the Tuiguan saw the local inspector personally visiting the house, he naturally did not dare to be sloppy and immediately came to the case file to check. After the Tuiguan got the case file and read it, he also felt that this matter was quite strange, if the son was really born of a concubine, the blood would inevitably seep into the bones. The three daughters-in-law have insisted on appealing despite the heavy punishment, which shows that this case is indeed strange. However, the Tuiguan immediately thought of an idea, since the blood of the concubine's son could not penetrate into Liu Gongfu's bones, could the blood of Liu Gongfu's younger daughter penetrate?
In order to verify this doubt, Inspector Liu immediately found Liu Gongfu's younger daughter and said to her: "The county government and the state capital have verified that your brother was not born to Liu Gongfu, and this inspector is very curious about whether you were born to Liu Gongfu, and also asked you to drop your blood and recognize your relatives." When the younger daughter heard inspector Liu fu test her own blood, she was suddenly frightened and pale, and she refused to drip blood. Inspector Liu caressed her and immediately asked ya gong to forcibly drop blood to recognize her relatives, and as a result, the blood of her younger daughter could not penetrate into the bones.
Inspector Liu was furious when he saw the situation, and immediately drank the order to wait for the big punishment, and the younger daughter could not bear the torture after being heavily reprimanded for 20 large boards, crying and admitting that all this was arranged by her husband, and she was not the mastermind. When Inspector Liu arrested the son-in-law of the Liu family, Inspector Liu saw the son-in-law and saw that this person was shrewd and capable, and his bones were full of treachery and scheming. This man was clever, and went around in a big circle above the lobby, Inspector Liu fu drank orders to break his leg without actually recruiting, and the son-in-law saw that his wife had been tortured, and knew that the paper wrapped could not hold the fire, so he slowly said the truth:
At the beginning, after Liu Gongfu's death, the son-in-law calculated in his heart that the three sisters-in-law were outsiders, and the concubines were also outsiders. The only one who could rob himself of the family property was Liu Gongfu's son. Therefore, as long as the three sisters-in-law are driven home, and the sons born to the concubines are said to be non-biological, so as to drive the concubines and sons out of the house. In this way, you can monopolize the family property and enjoy its success.
In order to realize this plan, the son-in-law conspired with his wife and directed a good play, he deliberately arranged a funeral with the family in the neighboring village, and designed a fight with the family in the village on the side of the road, and in the chaos, he secretly asked someone to secretly change the coffin. In order to exchange the coffin so that no one would find it, the son-in-law secretly sent someone to the neighboring village to peek at the coffin of the family in the neighboring village, and after returning home, he made a identical coffin to collect Liu Gongfu.
Therefore, why have we repeatedly and repeatedly dripped blood to recognize relatives without success? Because the person in the coffin was not Liu Gongfu at all, but a young man newly bereaved in a neighboring village. Inspector Liu also asked people to dig up the cemetery of the neighboring village, and the blood of the concubine's son was dripped into the coffin, and the blood could indeed penetrate into the bones, and then the blood test of the younger daughter could also work. It can be seen from this that the son-in-law's replacement of the coffin is unmistakable, such a deep heart, such a clever means, it is really incredible.
Inspector Liu immediately pronounced a verdict, and Liu Gongfu's daughter and son-in-law exchanged coffins to marry the concubines, causing the two sisters-in-law to be wrongfully condemned to prison, and the younger daughter and son-in-law had a vicious heart and a bad heart. Each was sentenced to 30 cane sentences and three years' imprisonment. After the end of the sentence, the Liu family gave a certain amount of living compensation to settle elsewhere, the son born to Liu Gongfu's concubine was the heir of Liu Gongfu's family property, and the three daughters-in-law took over the affairs of the Liu family and raised the children of the concubines to grow up.
The case has caused a sensation in the local area, from the county order, the prefect to the inspector, and even alarmed the Criminal Investigation Department, when people will call this case a "complaint of the third daughter-in-law", usually called "blood confession case". The facts of this case are not complicated, but people's hearts are complex enough, and the trick used by the daughter and son-in-law to seize the family property, if it is not a strange person who comes forward to try, I am afraid that the inspector will also be deceived. The thoughts of the daughter and son-in-law can be described as vicious.
Jiaqing confessed his relatives in blood and has since closed the case.