When it comes to ancient strange cases, there are really many. For example, the case of Yang Naiwu and Xiao Cabbage during the Tongzhi period, or the unjust case of Yang Yuelou, a famous man in the late Qing Dynasty, and the four strange cases of the late Ming Dynasty, such as the "Demon Book Case", the "Attack Case", the "Red Pill Case" and the "Palace Transfer Case", and so on. These strange cases all reflect all aspects of China's ancient judicial system, and at the same time show the wisdom of the ancients to the fullest.
Today, the author will present you with a strange case from the Ming Dynasty scholar Feng Menglong's book "The Complete Collection of Wisdom Tanks", which can be described as a twist and turn, and it is interesting to look at today. What a story is specific, please continue to read on.
It is said that in the Yiwu area of Zhejiang Province in the Yuan Dynasty, there lived a large household surnamed Zhang. This man started his career in the cloth business and became a well-known local magnate within a few years. However, Zhang Yuanwai has a trouble, he and his wife Wang Shi have been married for many years, and there is no problem with their feelings, that is, they have no children.
No children was a big deal in ancient times, there was really no way, Zhang Yuanwai had to take a concubine. Of course, he knew Wang's jealous temper, and in order for the two to coexist peacefully, Zhang Yuanwai placed real estate in another place in the town and arranged for the concubines to live here alone.
Sure enough, the concubine became pregnant shortly after marrying into the door, and when she was about to be pregnant for 8 months, the news reached Wang's ears.
The Wang clan was naturally extremely jealous, in her opinion, after the child of the concubine was born, she would take away her favor, not to mention, and in the future, she would also divide up a large part of the property. In order to avoid this situation, wang clan actually came up with a poisonous plan.
After the concubine fell to the ground, the Wang clan invited the concubine to the house on the pretext of celebration. After the concubine came to the door, taking advantage of her weakness, the Wang clan took her child and threw it into the woods to burn. However, wang shi, who committed all these crimes, immediately regretted it after calming down. First of all, he could not diplomatically represent Zhang Yuan, and he was likely to be suspended.
There was no way, and she had to buy the newborn baby from the neighbor's family to raise it instead. Later, when Zhang Yuanwai returned home, Wang claimed that the concubine had run away from home and also took the child out. Zhang Yuanwai was very happy to see the child, and did not doubt the authenticity of the concubine's run away from home. It seems that this matter was fooled by the Wang family.
However, paper cannot contain fire. Not long after, the villagers found the baby body that Wang had thrown in the woods, and immediately reported it to the officials. By investigating the newborn situation in the village in recent months, the county commander Yu Wenbo quickly analyzed the suspicion of wang's major crimes. Subsequently, the Wang clan and the concubines were summoned to go to court for trial.
Seeing that the matter was about to be revealed, wang immediately ran to the concubine's home and bribed the concubine's parents to help perjury in court. Sadly, the concubine's parents finally agreed. So, was Wang finally exonerated?
Not really. The first case of Shengtang the next day was the Wang infanticide case, and the Wang family thought that he had bribed the concubine, plus he still had a baby in his hand, and the human and physical evidence was all there, and he would not be able to lose the case. However, the county order Yu Wenbo only used one trick to make wang clan obediently confess guilt, what kind of trick was it?
It turned out that he asked the concubine to breastfeed the child on the spot. As a result, the child does not suck when he sees breast milk, but howls at the empty, which is still in the case of hunger for half a day. Apparently, the child was not the concubine's biological son.
When Zhang Yuanwai was still wondering what was going on, Yu Xianling angrily shouted, "Your son has been killed long ago, and the baby in this hall is just a trick of your wife Wang Clan and concubines colluding to deceive you." Zhang Yuanwai suddenly realized that he was paralyzed on the ground.
The concubine could not hide it, so she confessed the cause and effect in 1510. At this time, the Wang clan still wanted to argue, and Yu Xianling then invited Wang's neighbor to breastfeed in the hall, and the child stopped crying for an instant, but also quietly snorted.
In the end, Wang was sentenced to death for infanticide, and the concubine was also fined 30 large boards for perjury. Poor Zhang Yuanwai, who had just eased up from the joy of having a son, not only was the child gone, but the good end of the family was also scattered. It is said that "a woman's heart, a needle under the sea", if this woman is jealous, the destructive power is really destroying the world. Guys, what do you say?