In the fourth year of Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty (1211), there was continuous plum rain in the south of the Yangtze River, and the sky was as dim as lead. In Nanfeng County, a shrill cry suddenly came from a remote mountain village. That was the voice of a village woman, breaking the tranquility of the mountain village.
Song Ci, who had just been relieved of the intense duties of the Criminal Division of Xinzhou Prefecture in Jiangxi Province, was assigned to inspect the area and happened to be passing through this place. He originally planned to take a short break in Nanfeng, but he heard about this strange case at the county government office.
An old farmer named Liu San was found dead suddenly in the field when he went up the mountain in the early morning. The condition of his death was extremely horrifying: there was mud in his mouth, his eyes were wide open, and his right hand was tightly holding a blood-stained rag. Several crooked red writings were faintly visible on the rag. However, after the local examination, the cause of death could not be clearly determined, so they had to report it to the county government.
Song Ci frowned slightly after hearing this. Although he did not take over the case, he could not resist his professional instinct and followed the county magistrate to the scene of the crime to investigate.
The field where the crime occurred was muddy and slippery, and the body had been covered with straw mats. When he opened the straw mat, the old farmer's expression still seemed to be accusing, and the slight tension of his fingertips exposed a corner of the rag.
