Taichu Yandao: Starting from the Villain

"A-choo... A-choo, A-choo" In the quiet lobby, Captain Chen sneezed three times in a row, looking as if he was sick and unable to take on the heavy responsibility.

Li Guangtou raised his eyebrows and looked at Wang Qinghu.

Wang Qinghu's eye muscles twitched, but it was too late to avoid the other person's gaze. He could only bite the bullet and said, "Sir, do you think I can do this? I've only been here for half a year. What if..."

"Nothing will happen. We are all in this together. From now on, you are the acting chief constable. You can command all the people in the county government." Bald Li looked at Constable Chen and added, "Including Constable Chen."

Wang Qinghu smiled bitterly, knowing that he could not escape this matter, so he stepped forward and said, "Sir, I don't know where this scripture was lost. I want to investigate the scene."

Bald Li sighed, stood up and said, "It's in my study, let's go together!"

After a while, in front of the study of the rear government office.

Bald Li walked to the door, took out a key, opened the study door, and was about to push the door open when Wang Qinghu said, "Sir, wait a moment, let me go up and check first!"

Wang Qinghu took two steps back, leaped up, used the pillar to gain a little leverage, and jumped onto the roof.

"Tsk tsk! People who have been to the battlefield are different!" Baldy Li praised repeatedly.

After a while, Wang Qinghu jumped down and said, "I have checked up there and there are no traces. I have ruled out the possibility of theft from above."

Baldy Li nodded and said, "I was in the study at the time. If someone was walking on the roof at night, I would not have been unaware!"

"Since you are in the room, how did the scriptures get lost?" Wang Qinghu asked.

"Oh! I was reviewing documents and dozed off. When I woke up, the scripture was gone."

"Incense?" Wang Qinghu frowned. This was the first possibility that came to his mind. He then picked up the lantern and looked closely at the window paper.

There was no hole in the window pane, which mercilessly mocked his guess.

Wang Qinghu frowned slightly and asked, "Sir, has anyone else entered this crime scene?"

"No, I've been solving cases for so many years, how could I not have this awareness?" Li Guangtou raised the key and said, "I locked the door directly and then went to find the master."

Wang Qinghu frowned even deeper and entered the study first.

At the innermost part of the study, there are two rows of bookshelves filled with various classics, and in the middle is a sandalwood desk with a pile of official documents on it.

Wang Qinghu searched the room and soon fixed his eyes on the desk.

Next to the table piled with documents, there was a porcelain bowl the size of a human face, with only a little soup base left, with sweet wine lees and oil particles floating on it.

"Brother Chen, come and take a look at this." Wang Qinghu said.

Captain Chen walked to the desk, stared at the bowl for a long time, and asked, "What's wrong?"

"This is the glutinous rice dumpling I ate before. Is there anything wrong with it?" Bald Li came forward and explained.

Wang Qinghu took it very seriously. He stretched out a finger, dipped a little from the bottom of the bowl and started to taste it.

He smacked his lips for a long time and said, "Brother Chen, try it!"

Captain Chen looked reluctant, but since the chief officer was present, he had no choice but to raise a finger.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wang Qinghu asked again: "Master Li, who sent this?"

Li Guangtou frowned and said, "It's my concubine, Qiqi sent it here. Is there any problem?"

Wang Qinghu nodded, turned to look at Captain Chen, and asked, "Brother Chen! Is there any problem?"

"a bit sweet!"

Baldy Li was originally full of expectations, but when he heard this, the Three Corpse Gods almost got angry and said angrily: "What are you two doing here? I tell you, if you can't solve the case within two days, I will kill you first." His saliva flew everywhere, like a heavy rain.

Wang Qinghu retreated repeatedly, and waited until the other party finished scolding him before he clasped his fists and said, "Sir, I have initially identified the suspect. All we need to do is set a trap tomorrow."

"Who is it? Tell us about it!" Baldy Li asked hurriedly.

Wang Qinghu bowed and said, "It won't work if I tell you. Tomorrow, just open the city gates and I will find a way to catch the thief."

"Open the city gates? We won't even have the chance to check every household. Are you sure?" Baldy Li frowned.

"We only have two days. There are tens of thousands of households in the city, and we can't search them all."

"Hmm..." Baldy Li frowned, put his hands behind his back, and paced around the room.

After a long while, he stopped and said, "Okay, I believe you this time. I hope you won't disgrace the title of the Tiger and Leopard Army Scout Captain."

At one side, Captain Chen had a look of surprise on his face. He stared at Wang Qinghu with disbelief in his eyes - this brothel lover was actually from the Tiger and Leopard Army!

The next day, at the city gate.

There was a constant stream of people coming and going, and it seemed no different from any other day.

However, all the yamen runners looked fierce and stared at everyone who left the city.

Nothing happened for the entire morning until a carved wooden sedan appeared at the city gate.

"Who's in the sedan? Come out and let us see!" asked a constable.

The curtain of the sedan chair opened slightly, revealing a white hand, and a soft voice said, "Are you new here? How dare you stop my sedan chair!"

"I'm sorry, it's just routine business. Please cooperate."

"How dare you! Do you know who my husband is? Be careful with your skin!"

The two men gradually started arguing, but strangely, no constable came forward to help.

After a while, Wang Qinghu came hurriedly with a knife in hand and asked, "Who is in there?"

"She is Lord Li's concubine, Liu Qiqi." said the young detective.

Wang Qinghu's eyes lit up, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, he quickened his pace and ran straight towards the sedan.

From a distance, he heard Liu Qiqi's angry voice: "Call your chief constable to see if he recognizes me!"

Wang Qinghu frowned, walked to the side of the sedan chair, and said, "I am the chief constable, but I don't know you. Please come down and cooperate with me."

A white hand pulled the curtain of the sedan chair as wide as possible, revealing an angry face, and said, "Are you the chief constable? Where is Lao Chen? Let him come to see me."

Wang Qinghu swallowed his saliva and praised secretly: "This little girl is so charming!"

"You scoundrel!" Liu Qiqi glared at him fiercely and quickly lowered the curtain.

Wang Qinghu touched his nose, turned around and said, "Go, ask Captain Chen to come over, and tell him that this is the suspect. Have him take him to the county government office. Lord Li and I will be waiting for him there."

Two quarters of an hour later, in the government office's study.

Bald Li sat on the chair, his face full of anger, and said, "What evidence do you have? I tell you, if you wrongly accuse Qiqi, I will never let you go."

Wang Qinghu stood in front of the desk, his back straight, and said, "Sir, do you still remember that bowl of lard dumplings?"

"Haven't you tasted it? Isn't it poisonous?"

Master Su stood aside and added: "I later asked the doctor to check it, and there was indeed no problem."

"Sugar is poison!" said Wang Qinghu.

Bald Li and Master Su looked at each other, their eyes full of confusion.

“The glutinous rice balls are extremely sweet. If people eat something too sweet when they are hungry and tired, they will immediately feel sleepy. Although they cannot make people fall into a deep sleep like the knockout drug, they can achieve a similar effect.” Wang Qinghu said.

Bald Li thought back to what happened last night. It was just as Wang Qinghu said. He started to feel sleepy not long after eating six large dumplings. So he said, "That doesn't prove that she stole it. He has been married for so many years, why would he do such a thing?"

Wang Qinghu clasped his fists and said, "I can't guess the motive for the crime!"

"But when we inspected the scene last night, there were no traces on the roof or windows. So there is only one possibility: the thief walked in through the front door."

"To be able to enter the study quietly and take away the scriptures without alerting the adults, one must be very familiar with the back hall and will not encounter any obstruction."

"The only people who can meet the above conditions are those in the back yamen. That's why I asked you not to seal the city last night. Since the thief stole the scriptures, he must want to escape out of guilt. Anyone in the government office who wants to leave the city is a suspect."

Every time Wang Qinghu said this, Li Guangtou's brows furrowed. He didn't want to believe it, but the truth was there.

"What if the thief doesn't go out and finds a place to hide?" asked Master Su.

"We only have two days, what else can we do if we don't gamble?"

Master Su was silent, and the study room fell into deathly silence for a moment.

At this moment, Captain Chen came running in breathlessly, shouting:

"Sir, it's bad, the young lady has been kidnapped."