On a certain day in April of the 14th year of Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty, Beijing, the Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.
In this year, a major case in Pinghu County was jointly signed by the investigators of the Criminal Department and the Zhejiang Political Envoy Department through the Department of Ceremonies, and directly placed in the Longshu case of the Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youzhang, after the Hongzhi Emperor saw it, he was not only furious, but immediately sent the eunuch to announce the criminal department of the Shangshu He Qiaoxin, the Ministry of Rites Shangshu Zhang Sheng, and the Dali Temple Zhengqing Wang Shu into the palace to discuss matters.
In fact, the case itself is not complicated, and one day in January, in Pinghu County, the capital of Huzhou, a widow surnamed Jin hanged herself. Widow Jin's husband, Pan Yang, has been dead for more than a year, and the couple have a daughter, who was only five years old at this time. Fortunately, the husband of the golden widow is a small rich family, and when he was alive, he left a fairly rich property to the golden widow, not counting the current silver, and there is a thriving silk village under his name. It can be said that although the golden widow is an orphan and widow, her life can be very comfortable.
The problem was that under the circumstances at that time, the Golden Widow could not take care of the business herself, and the business of the Silk Village was handed over to a few guys to take care of, and she herself only collected the money on a monthly basis and became a hands-off shopkeeper. There is a saying that there are many rights and wrongs in front of the widow's door, and a woman like the golden widow who has a dead husband and lives alone has some money at home, so it is inevitable that there will be some gossip. But these golden widows have endured it, she is a woman who doesn't like to talk, and since the death of her husband, she has paid more attention to her words and deeds, but such a person with a good reputation in the outside world, why did she suddenly commit suicide, and besides, she has a daughter who is only five years old, it is really unreasonable.
According to the "Da Ming Law", all suicides must be reported to the official and confirmed by the yamen before they can be buried, so the Pinghu County Yamen after an autopsy, is indeed hanged, because things are a little strange, the county will be the golden widow's brother-in-law, that is, Pan Yang's younger brother Pan Huai called to investigate the situation, Pan Huai said to the county order: "The day my sister-in-law left, it happened to be the death day of the first anniversary of my eldest brother's death. I think it's very likely that my sister-in-law missed my eldest brother too much and hanged herself, Pan Huai said that she was a sister-in-law, she was very sad when his eldest brother died last year, and she was going to go with her husband at that time. Pan Huai said with emotion and tears.
Since he was ruled out, the idea put forward by Pan Huai is still very reasonable. In this case, Pan Huai struck while the iron was hot, and he brought the township chief and the well-known gentry in the county to jointly write to the county government, hoping that the yamen could commend his widow's chaste behavior and give the widow a watch. The table, to put it bluntly, is the arch of chastity. He Pan Huai can bear the cost of this without reimbursement from the yamen. But it must be pointed out here that if the golden widow remarries, it is completely okay, and the Ming Dynasty did not force widows to observe festivals.
And if the golden widow can observe the festival, then there is another table in the county, which means that the local people's livelihood and education work has been done well. This is very beneficial for the future promotion of the county order. However, the Lijing table needs to be reported to the county order step by step, and it has been reported to Zhang Sheng, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, who has signed and sealed it, and then sent the documents back, which is considered to be done. The Ministry of Rites will not delve into such trivial matters, just go through a process.
But after the matter was reported to the Ministry of Rites, I didn't expect it to be dismissed, and it was Luo Sheng, a member of the Ministry of Rites, who was responsible for approving the matter of the Golden Widow. Ordinary people don't read this kind of document when they get it, and they will finish it if they approve it directly, but this Luo Sheng has always been known for his serious work attitude, he took a look at the report of Pinghu County, and the causes and consequences were connected, and he soon found some suspicious points, that is, the golden widow may not have committed suicide.
First, since the golden widow has the intention of mortality, how can others persuade her? Second, if she really wants to die, why wait until a year later? Third, if the golden widow has a five-year-old child, how can she give up her five-year-old daughter. Fourth, Pan Huai is just the golden widow's brother-in-law, the uncle and sister-in-law must avoid suspicion, there is no contact between the two on weekdays, why is Pan Huai so enthusiastic and active to apply for the widow's chastity archway, but also his own silver.
Luo Sheng thought that there was a big problem with this matter, but he was not handling the case, so he forwarded the documents to the Criminal Department. It doesn't matter if the Criminal Department doesn't intervene, as soon as the Criminal Department intervenes, there is really a shocking case. In fact, it is also normal, this little brother-in-law Pan Huai has been coveting the silk village left by his brother after his brother's death, and wants to keep it for himself.
But the problem is that although they are compatriots of the same mother, his brother has already separated from Pan Huai when he was not married, and the two have nothing to do with property, and the only heir to this silk village according to the "Da Ming Law" will only be the golden widow and her daughter. Pan Huai wants to seize this silk village, then there is only one possibility, that is, within three years, the golden widow remarries someone else, then the widow is equivalent to "leaving the house", then the silk village left by the elder brother does not belong to the golden widow, then it will inevitably be inherited by the closest blood relationship with the elder brother.
But for the sake of her husband's only bloodline, the golden widow took her daughter to grow up day by day, and the golden widow recruited a son-in-law to marry her daughter, so her brother's silk village became the property of her son-in-law. This is unacceptable to Pan Huai no matter what, and Pan Huai does not have the courage to force the widow to remarry at the risk of the world's disapproval.
Pan Huai was distressed, so he told his friend Feng Ren about this matter, and this person was morally corrupt, so he took the initiative to say to Pan Huaiyan, as long as you give me 20 taels of silver, I promise to do it for you. After some conspiracy, the two came up with an idea that lost their conscience.
This day happened to be the day of her husband's death, and Pan Huai suddenly ran to the widow's house and asked the widow to take her children to the Pan ancestral hall to worship the spiritual seat of the Pan ancestors. This kind of etiquette interaction, the golden widow will not refuse, and she can't refuse, the golden widow didn't think much about it, took her daughter, closed the door and followed Pan Huai. But as soon as the Golden Widow left on the front foot, Feng Ren sneaked into the Golden Widow's house and hid under the Golden Widow's bed.
The golden widow knew no idea and did not return home until dark. Pan Huai took the initiative to say that he was afraid that it would be too dark and the road would not be safe, so he would personally send the widow back. Pan Huai was not the only one who sent Widow Pan, he also received a large number of votes from the Pan family, and he had the tendency to stir up the crowd, so he sent the Golden Widow back to the house on the front foot of Pan Huai, pretending to leave after sending it, but Feng Ren, who had hidden it in advance, actually crawled out from under the Golden Widow's bed. The golden widow thought that there was a thief in the house, and she was about to shout to catch the thief, but Feng Ren bit back, saying that she was the golden widow's empty room and difficult to keep, and the new love she was looking for outside, hearing was false, seeing was believing, and she saw a man under the golden widow's bed, this time it was really impossible for the golden widow to justify.
You must know that when this incident happened, the golden widow had been widowed for only a year, and it happened that today was the death day of the golden widow's husband, and the Pan family was cold, and the younger brother-in-law Pan Huai's face changed, and he threatened to drive this woman out of the Pan family, which is to deprive the golden widow of her status. At this point, Pan Huai can be regarded as a success.
Pan Huai used Feng Ren to pour dirty water on the widowed sister-in-law and ruin the widow's reputation, so that the silk village would not be his own sooner or later? But he never expected that his sister-in-law's temperament would be so strong that she could not defend herself when she was slandered, so she turned around and went out of the house, found a rope and hanged herself on the beam. When a widow is so slandered, when her innocence is destroyed by intrigue, when the explanation becomes the pale of the crowd, the golden widow chooses death as the last struggle.
It happened so suddenly, Pan Huai also panicked, he just wanted to embezzle property, but he didn't expect to cause a human life, so he could only complain about Feng Ren, but Feng Ren seemed to think that the death of the golden widow was really good, the golden widow died, this dead man couldn't speak, and he wouldn't fight anymore, so how the golden widow died, but it all depends on your Pan Huai's mouth. Feng Ren and Pan Huai thought that they had deceived the county order, and deceived the various departments of the imperial court, but they had made a mistake in the Ministry of Rites.
The Ministry of Rites sent the case to the Criminal Department, and the Criminal Department sent several officials to investigate and visit the local area, and it was studied and understood in a few days. We would like to thank Luo Sheng, who is this official of the Ministry of Rites who conscientiously performs his duties and is meticulous, so that the truth can be revealed to the world. Finally, it turned to the Hongzhi Emperor Zhu Youjiao, and this was the beginning of the scene. Zhu Youzhu was so angry that he called the Shangshu of several relevant departments, so the case was finally tried by the emperor himself and approved by the emperor in person.
In the eyes of Emperor Hongzhi, although the golden widow committed suicide, she completely fell into the trap designed by Feng Ren and Pan Huai for her, so Emperor Hongzhi believed that the golden widow was essentially forced to death by Feng Ren and Pan Huai, and according to the "Da Ming Law", those who forced the elders of the same clan to die were hanged, so Pan Huai of the Criminal Department was hanged and sentenced to death after the autumn. But Hongji didn't do it, the two of them were really hateful, and they ruined the widow's honor, and there was no need to wait until the autumn to be executed immediately. The golden widow knows underground, which can be regarded as revenge.
I am the clear water and the watchman of history. Looking forward to your attention and comments.