| One day a pair of gold bracelets were found missing in Liu Nishan's
house. Under torture a young maid confessed to stealing and selling
them to a scrap collector. They went to hunt for the collector, but
failed to find any who matched her description. As the maid was being
given another beating they heard a light cough from the ceiling.
"I have lived in your house for over forty years without revealing myself,"
the voice said, "therefore you were not aware of my existence. But
today I can no longer remain silent. Didn't the madam put the gold
bracelets in a lacquer box when she was tidying up the house?" When
they opened the box hurriedly, the bracelets were found inside. But by
that time the little maid had been beaten black and blue. This incident
was a lifelong remorse for Liu Nishan, who often admonishes himself, "We
are liable to make such a mistake from time to time, but how can we expect
to have such a fox everywhere?" Afterward, in over twenty years he
served as an official, he never used torture in trial cases. |
