紅菱巧破無頭案

蘇州寡婦楊柳嬌與小姑蘇玉桂住在蘇家相依為命。楊柳嬌不甘寂寞，與縣衙文書秦三峰通姦，更欲成為夫妻。二人把三峰之妻殺死後，把她人頭割下，埋在衙門內白楊樹下。秦把楊氏的衣服、鞋及襪換在妻子身上，並把妻子屍體葬在橋旁，又把兇刀擲到草叢中，佈局成小姑殺嫂。新任知府孟松卻把楊柳嬌之小姑蘇玉桂及其情人柳子卿誤認為兇手處斬。常州知府左維明途經蘇州，聽聞自己門生柳子卿涉案，未敢盡信案情，更發覺事有蹺蹊。他用烏紗作保，阻斬重審，且以繡花紅鞋為線索。楊柳嬌見左維明年青英俊，便向他屢拋媚眼。維明會意，對柳嬌亦份外殷勤。根據楊柳嬌的疑點，追蹤溯源，尋得死者之頭顱，並查出真兇，玉桂、子卿終沉冤得雪。

Red Silk Shoes and The Murder

Yang Liujiao is a widow from Suzhou who lives with her sister-in-law, Su Yugui, in the Su’s house. Tired of being alone, Yang has an affair with Qin Sanfeng, a secretary in the county government, and yearns to marry him. The two kill Sanfeng’s wife. They cut off her head and bury it under an aspen in the yard of the government office. Sanfeng dresses his dead wife’s body in Yang’s clothes and buries her headless corpse by a bridge. They throw a dagger into the grass to make it look as if Yugui murdered Yang.

The new District Magistrate, Meng, is fooled by the ruse and orders the execution of Su Yugui and her boyfriend, Liu. Zuo, the magistrate of Changzhou, learns about the arrest of his student Liu when he passes through Suzhou, and finds the case suspicious. Giving his official rank as a pledge, Zuo stops the execution and reopens the case, using the pair of embroidered red shoes found on the body as a clue. Yang flirts with the young and handsome Zuo, but he understands her true motives. Having established Yang as the real suspect, Zuo tracks down the skull and reveals the murderers. The sister-in-law and her boyfriend are freed then.