The first work of the imperial prison

Lu Xingming died in his study. It looked like he was accidentally blown to death in the process of making the 'small ball'.

At first glance at the scene, you will only feel that it is a pity. You are still so young, why do you want to do such a dangerous thing?

The power of the small ball was not too great, centered on the deceased, it exploded radially outwards, the combustion was obvious but not sufficient, only the body of the deceased and its surroundings had scorched marks, the area was not large, and there were objects and papers falling around it , or being pushed down by the explosive airflow, from the center of the circle to the outside, the influence diminishes, and some things even just fall down, and the position does not change.

Ye Baiting and Qiu Yiqing either have rich experience in solving cases and rich knowledge, or they have keen observation and insight, and they can find suspicious points based on the habits of the deceased, and then suspect the possibility of framing, which is perfectly normal.

What's more, Shen Jiang had been in this room before.

In terms of deduction theory, Shen Jiang may be immature and lacking a little bit, but he is very careful when working. He stares at the death scene of the investigation, and he can be accurate to the position of a small stone. The information of the visit is more comprehensive and detailed than anyone else. This work is entrusted to him, and there is nothing that cannot be missed. Only the direction given by the boss is lacking, and the real core has not yet been touched.

When he came to Lu Xingming's study, he probably had doubts in his heart, and came to conduct targeted questioning, but there was no evidence at the time, and he couldn't search the room for no reason, so he could only take the opportunity to take a rough look.

He said nothing and found nothing...that was the problem.

Everyone has different personalities and different habits. The room may be neat and tidy, or it may be messy and disorderly, with nowhere to go, but they all have a common characteristic, which is "harmony". A neat and clean room suddenly has a corner that is very messy. , or a very messy room, suddenly there is a corner that is very clean, but it is uncoordinated, and it is difficult not to attract attention.

With Shen Jiang's carefulness, he came with a purpose, but if there was something strange, it was impossible to ignore it. There is also something like gunpowder, which has a sensitive smell and is difficult to eliminate. As long as there is, Shen Jiang will not miss it.

He said that there was no abnormality and nothing was found, that is to say, there was indeed no abnormality at that time. If the murderer in this case was really Lu Xingming, then his raw material storage location may not be in this room. Discord.

Shen Jiang was still in great shock, and turned out to be framed: "Why? Who would do such a thing?"

Ye Baiting glanced across the room: "Enough of playing, bored, boring, don't want to play anymore, or have finished all the things I wanted to do, no more thoughts, or regretted, struggled, and want to end... what? The safest way to exit?"

Qiu Yiqing: "Naturally, it is pushed to others."

Ye Baiting: "What kind of person can I push it to so that I can get away with it?"

Now Shen Jiang didn't need to remind him, he would rush to answer: "Of course it is the person who is the most suspected and seems to be the easiest person to do this!"

Ye Baiting lowered his eyes: "So, don't you suspect Lu Xingming?"

Shen Jiang: ...

It's true, he can think that Lu Xingming is the most suspicious, will other people also have this direction?

Qiu Yiqing asked Shen Jiang: "Did you make any emotional omissions in your investigation these days?"

"No, it's impossible for others to see it." Shen Jiang thought about it carefully, then shook his head, "The subordinates of Jin Yiwei understand the code of conduct, and it's not like no one has suffered from this kind of thing before. , there is no evidence in hand, no official documents, it is absolutely impossible to reveal it, visits and investigations, he, like everyone else, must follow the normal process, not too much, not too little, besides, neither the commander nor the young master has made it clear The order did not expressly doubt Lu Xingming, right? It is impossible for someone with a heart not to know."

Ye Baiting pondered: "It may also be that others think that we will doubt Lu Xingming."

Then there's probably something else that they don't know about.

He walked up to the corpse, took out white gloves, put them on, and began the first rough autopsy on the scene.

"Most of the corpse spots are on the occipital, back shoulders, and buttocks. They expand into patches, the color of finger pressure fades, the cornea is slightly cloudy, the rigor is obvious, and the body has severe hypothermia..." Ye Baiting thoughtfully, "When the deceased died, At least two hours."

As soon as this conclusion came out, the room was suddenly quiet.

Shen Jiang reacted a little slower: "No, it's impossible. The explosion of this thing is no different than others. No matter the movement or momentum, it can't be small. When something happened in the study, the servants knew about it immediately, and I rushed away immediately. Come here, even if there is a delay in the middle, counting back and forth, at most half an hour, how can there be two hours?"

This is a bit worse!

"The time of death will be artificially guided, and people's vision will be disturbed by messy things, but the dead will not lie."

Ye Baiting obviously already had the answer in his mind, and reminded Shen Jiang: "Come and see, what is the state of the deceased?"

"Lying on the chair, with the head leaning back on the back of the chair, half of the hands were blown off, hanging on the sides of the body, and there was a big hole in the chest..." No matter how Shen Jiang looked, he couldn't see anything unusual, "It looks like he did something bad. Accidentally, he was killed by the bomb."

Ye Baiting: "He didn't struggle, why?"

Shen Jiang: "Die, die."

Everyone is dead, how can you still struggle?

Ye Baiting shook his head: "That's not right. We all know that although this 'small ball' was manufactured with reference to the blueprint of the Thunderbolt, it lacks an important part of the 'partition', which makes its performance unstable and may happen at any time." Accidental explosion, if Lu Xingming was the one who made this, wouldn't he know about this shortcoming?"

Qiu Xunqing looked determined: "Impossible."

Shen Jiang also nodded, that's right!How can this kind of thing be played casually without experimenting?Maybe as soon as it is made, the murderer will know its performance!

Ye Baiting: "Since he knows it's unstable, why doesn't he wear protective gear? He just uses it as a pastime, as a toy, not as a suicide attempt."

"That's right," Shen Jiang nodded, "Where's the protective gear?"

There is no such thing in the room!

Ye Baiting said again: "If you are impatient, you have to do it right away, and you have to do it even if you don't have time to prepare the protective gear, then during the whole production process, as the producer who knows the performance of the 'small ball' well, will Lu Xingming concentrate on it, The whole body is tense, subconsciously beware of an accidental explosion that may happen at any time?"

Shen Jiang nodded: "Of course!"

"In this way, he is the first one to notice the operation error and the small ball is about to explode." Ye Baiting pointed at the dead man's death posture. The movement of "running away" is a subconscious reaction of the body, just like when someone attacks your face, you must stretch out your hand to block it, and there must be traces of resistance on your arm, the same is true for the deceased, he cannot lie on the chair so peacefully , when the small ball explodes, at least there will be movements like turning sideways, tilting the head, turning with both hands, or even hugging the head."

Yup……

Shen Jiang was very right after thinking about it: "Then why is there no dead person? Could it be...he was not killed by the bomb!"

Ye Baiting had already bent over to examine the details of the corpse carefully: "The surface of the corpse has extensive burns, and the scorching marks cover the wound marks of the blast... Wait, this one is very clear."

He lightly pressed the dead man's head, turned it around, pointed to the left side of the back of the neck, where there was no fire, a mark made by a glass shard, and made room for Qiu Yiqing and Shen Jiang to see more clearly—

"The wound was in the shape of a long strip, the opening was not obvious, there was no bleeding under the skin, no edema, basically no contraction, and no scab formed from the skin abrasion... This is a post-mortem wound."

"So he died first, and was blown up again by the little ball!" Shen Jiang understood instantly.

Ye Baiting nodded: "So in another sense, what you said is also correct."

where?

Shen Jiang scratched his head: "Everyone is dead, how do you react?"

"Ah."

Ye Baiting continued the autopsy and carefully observed the facial condition of the deceased. The fingers of both hands of the deceased were almost blown off, and he could not see what he wanted to see. He simply took off the deceased's shoes and socks to examine his toenails.

Shen Jiang: ...

"How about I come?"

"No need," Ye Baiting had already seen clearly, "the nails are slightly cyanotic, the deceased must have been poisoned."

Qiu Yiqing: "Do you have any other wounds on your body?"

Ye Baiting knew what he was talking about, and took a careful look at the deceased from head to toe, without missing a single point: "Except for broken glass, there are no other obvious wounds, and no signs of snake bites."

Then there is only the entrance thing...

Qiu Xunqing glanced over the desk and the ground: "There is something missing here."

As soon as he reminded him, Shen Jiang also noticed: "Yes, tea! Even if he is not thirsty, don't the servants have the eyesight to help prepare it? Whose servant is so lazy!"

He immediately called the servant in the yard over and asked, "Where's the tea? Teacup, teacup, saucer, why are there nothing? You don't make tea for the master?"

The servant looked confused, carefully looked into the room, and pointed to the table: "I dare not be lazy, the tea is brewed, and it is placed there when I get up early in the morning. Is it gone?"

Qiu Yiqing narrowed his eyes: "What's so special about the things Lu Xingming uses?"

"This...nothing," the little servant's legs trembled a little, and he replied very cautiously, "Sir, although the young master likes to play and spend money, the things he likes are not cheap, but not everything has to be expensive. It doesn't matter what he doesn't care about, he can use anything, such as the dishes for eating, the tea set for drinking, and even the tea for drinking. White porcelain, very common, nothing special..."

Shen Jiang quickly searched in the yard and the side rooms on both sides, and quickly shouted: "Is this the tea set! The commander asked you to come and see it!"

Qiu Yiqing went there with the boy. This room was completely different from the wing room. It was a water room with a stove, running water, and a table. The tea set that Shen Jiang pointed to was placed on the table. It was all porcelain white. The tea cup is buckled in the saucer, and the spout of the teapot is facing inward. If you look carefully, there are still water stains.

"It's been washed." Shen Jiang touched it, "It's very clean."

The boy walked over and looked at it carefully: "Did you really wash it? No, our young master doesn't touch Yangchun water with his ten fingers. It is absolutely impossible to do it by yourself. The villain remembers it clearly. This morning The young master said there was something to do and told us not to disturb, the villain hurriedly made a big pot of tea and went in, for fear that the tea would not be enough to be punished later, did he forget to do it?"

Qiu Xunqing: "I said I have something to do, so you don't want to disturb me?"

The boy felt that this was too strange, and panicked: "Yes, the young master often does this. He likes to play with those small toys. He likes to make materials and put together by himself, because the parts are very small, and he is afraid that we will lose them when we come in. , Many times when he wants to play, he closes the door and doesn’t let us in.”

"When did he go in?"

"It's the end of time."

"In there all the time?"

"I haven't seen it coming out."

"Has anyone ever been here?"

"This..." The servant hesitated a little, "Because the young master doesn't let us approach, all of us are a little far away. If someone really wants to come, we may not be able to see it, but the porter looks at the gate. If there are any visitors , there must be a record!"

Shen Jiang: ...

What to say is a little far away, maybe you can’t see it, so just say that you are lazy?

He looked at the surroundings of the yard, and found that the location of the study was a bit off, and the walls were not too high. If someone chooses to step on the wall to get in and out, it is very convenient, and it is useless to find a porter, but just in case, he still hooked his hand to let The people below went to verify...

The boy couldn't ask too many things, the two of them looked outside carefully, walked around, and then returned to the study.

Ye Baiting was still wrestling with the corpse: "Have you found anything?"

Shen Jiang: "The tea set was found in the water room next door. It is said that there are no outsiders. The walls of the courtyard are very low. Carefully identify the traces of someone stepping on it."

Ye Baiting immediately understood: "Someone has been here, but I don't know who it is."

Shen Jiang: "That's right, it must be the murderer!"

Qiu Yiqing looked at Ye Baiting: "How about you, can you gain more?"

"It really is." Ye Baiting spread out his palm, and there was a green silk thread on the white glove, "I found this before when I was examining the old man's body in the workshop. I had doubts at the time, but nothing else. The evidence supports it, so it is temporarily sealed, and now there is another one, which is obviously not an exception, and there is a high probability that it is something on the murderer's body."

"What is this?" Shen Jiang leaned over to look, "It doesn't look like silk hanging on clothes, but like a silk ribbon? The kind of tassels tied on accessories?"

Ye Baiting nodded: "Not bad."

Qiu Yiqing turned to the boy and asked, "Lv Xingming likes green?"

The boy shook his head repeatedly, very decisively: "No, no, my young master has been green before, and I hate green the most."

Shen Jiang: ...

"What about the people around him? Our commander is asking, among your young master's friends and frequent hangouts, is there anyone who likes green very much? Or wears it often?"

"This... I don't know, I don't remember who often wears green clothes, accessories, etc., and they are too small. If you ask me this, I really can't remember."

Shen Jiang is about to get angry, he doesn't know what to ask, what's the use of you!

"My son... why did he suddenly have an accident..."

At this moment, Lu Yisheng finally came back. His shoes were dusty, his face was sad, and the corners of his eyes were reddish. He seemed unable to withstand a huge blow, and even needed someone to help him when he walked: "The sky won't let me, the sky won't let me, why are you talking one by one?" , If you want to leave me like this, what's the use of being promoted, what kind of official career do you want to pursue, without you, how will I live in the future..."

First losing his wife and then his beloved son, this middle-aged man obviously couldn't bear it anymore. Those who heard it were really sad, and those who saw it wept. Shen Jiang sighed, took out a handkerchief from his arms, and wanted to pass it over: "Lu My lord's condolences—"

Ye Baiting glanced at Lu Yisheng, and while taking off his gloves slowly, he suddenly raised his voice: "I haven't congratulated you yet, the family is going to have a baby."

What the hell?baby?

Shen Jiang's hand holding the handkerchief froze in the air.

Qiu Xunqing also saw it, with a cold expression in his eyes: "No wife, no adopted son, just to welcome a newcomer in, even the child together, Mr. Lu is very lucky."

Shen Jiang narrowed his eyes, and took back the handkerchief: "Did you raise wild ones outside?"

"This..." Lu Yisheng's eyes twitched quickly, obviously not wanting to admit it, "How do you say that? The officials don't understand what you said."

Ye Baiting raised his eyes: "It's not that Mr. Lu doesn't understand, but he doesn't want others to understand, right? It's a pity that he hides it tightly on weekdays, and he's a little careless today."

Lu Yisheng: "This..."

Ye Baiting: "The material of the clothes you are wearing today is cotton with frayed edges. It is soft and comfortable, and it also likes to be stained with dust. The left elbow is covered with soft lanugo hair that only a child can have - Mr. Lu will not say that this is because you don't like it. Watch out for the fallen ones, or other cats and dogs?"

Lu Yisheng looked down, and sure enough there was hair on the left elbow, and subconsciously wanted to pick it off, Shen Jiang stretched out his big hand, and held him like iron tongs: "Don't move."

Ye Baiting said again: "There is a wet and dry mark on your left chest, which made the fabric harden, it is very obvious in the sun, and it has a slight milky smell-Master Lu, did you hold the child? Child Spit up?"

Lu Yisheng: ...

Ye Baiting glanced at his chin: "There are wet marks on the collar, slightly fishy, ​​and it doesn't smell too bad. When you were holding the child, did the child urinate? Will it urinate here, it should be a son?"

Lu Yisheng looked shocked: "Why..."

Is this really all guesswork!Why is it as if I have seen it with my own eyes!

"Well, there is also the smell of powder." Ye Baiting took a step forward, moved his nose lightly, and smelled the scent that he had smelled when he passed by a powder shop before. The proprietress of the shop at that time said that this is the favorite smell of young girls recently. The woman raised outside is very young?"

Lu Yisheng: ...

Knowing that he probably couldn't hide it, he simply admitted: "This...this man is outside, who doesn't care, who doesn't play? I didn't intend to have children. I have always respected my wife and never raised small children. She was annoyed, and occasionally panicked, playing outside, my wife knew it too, never stopped, we gave each other enough face, never blushed because of this kind of thing, this time it was really an accident, I just did it casually I rescued a little girl who sold her body to bury her father. Seeing that the little girl was pitiful and refused to leave, I had to raise her for a while, so I wanted to help her. Who knew...she was pregnant. I never thought of taking her in. I have a wife in my family and adopted a nephew, and my official career will be stable in the future. There is no need to make troubles. The little girl on the left and right is not a person who wants to be strong. She has never asked for anything. It is just a poor mother and son. I still raise her It's okay, it's not a big deal..."

Shen Jiang snorted: "To be honest, you never thought of taking them in?"

Lu Yisheng sighed: "I really didn't have it before, but my wife had an accident and my nephew was a rich man who couldn't support the family, so I started thinking about it, but it was just thinking about it, and I didn't do anything yet."

Others rushed back to see their nephew for the last time. Out of reason, they could not block the door and keep asking questions to prevent others from seeing them. After asking a few more questions, Qiu Xunqing beckoned Jin Yiwei to come over and accompanied Lu Yisheng into the room. Within the allowed range, look at Lu Xingming a few times.

Outside the quiet verandah, Ye Baiting said: "So now we have it."

Shen Jiang: "What?"

"Motive." Ye Baiting was thoughtful, "Why does the murderer think that we will suspect Lu Xingming? Besides he is the most stubborn, impulsive, and irritable, and seems to be the most likely to do these things, there is also the matter of the Lu family." , this series of accidents."

Qiu Xunqing: "The adoptive mother died, and the adoptive father has a concubine and a son. His existence seems meaningless."

Heart disease is hard to say.

Shen Jiang: "Then the murderer in this case can be determined, it is Lu Yisheng? Killing the original spouse and the adopted nephew just makes room for the newcomer?"

Ye Baiting then asked: "What about King Mu? Why did he kill King Mu?"

"It's not without doubts," Qiu Yiqing said, "Lu Yisheng owes his success to Duke Mu, who is very strict with himself and others, and he will support him because he appreciates his uprightness, hard work and responsibility. If he finds out that he has raised an outside room and given birth to a child...but that may not be the case."

There will be no chance of promotion this time, and it will be difficult to gain fame in the future. He will even be scolded by King Mu. King Mu is a very straight person. If he doesn't like it, anyone dares to scold him, like Lu Yisheng. This kind of friend who was originally a friend will only scold him more fiercely. No matter what his personality is, his words are very important outside the officialdom. It will be very difficult for Lu Yisheng's official career in the future.

"It's not right," Shen Jiang said again, "Didn't an old man die before?"

Ye Baiting nodded: "So I have to trouble Shen Baihu to check carefully. What is the identity of Lu Yisheng's concubine and son, and where do they usually live?"

"No problem, I'll go as soon as I'm done here!"

Shen Jiang counted several suspects with his fingers: "Now it seems that Zeng Sanniang occupies Liulifang, so there may not be no suspicions, but Sun Zhixing seems to be clean and there is no doubt at all?"

"No, he has." Qiu Yiqing said, "Sun Zhixing and Tang Jingfu are very familiar."

Ye Baiting: "Tang Jingfu... Tang Feihan's biological father?"

Qiu Yiqing raised his head: "Yes, Sun Zhixing once discussed marriage with Tang Jingfu's wife and sister, and the two almost became brothers-in-law."

This wife and sister, of course, refers to the examiner's daughter.

Ye Baiting: "The two have quarrels because of this?"

Qiu Xunqing: "Lang is affectionate, concubine is interested, Sun Zhixing and this girl are considered a good match, but at that time Tang Jingfu's official position was already very good, and what he said was very important. The Yue family only had these two daughters, and they often relied on him and valued him very much. his opinion."

"Tang Jingfu disagrees?"

"He looked down on Sun Zhixing, thinking that he was a small official and worthless, and suggested that his father-in-law marry his wife and sister in exchange for certain benefits-but this benefit was not kept in the end. The Yue family got involved and broke up. One of the two sisters was confined in the backyard, and the other died."

So this sweetheart that Sun Zhixing fell in love with and couldn't get, was first exchanged for benefits and married to another family, and his life was not very good. In the end, he was implicated in his natal family's affairs and died.

Ye Baiting quickly had a new idea: "So we still need to determine whether Sun Zhixing and Tang Feihan have a deeper relationship."

An enemy of an enemy is a friend, have they connected and done something?

Sun Zhixing had an affair with Zeng Sanniang, and Liulisha...

Shen Jiang immediately understood: "I'll check!"

When all these things are found out, the case will be solved!

Ye Baiting looked at Qiu Yiqing: "There are still a few details that need to be confirmed by Commander Xiang—"

Qiu Yiqing: "You say it."

Ye Baiting looked left and right, hooked his fingers together: "Commander, please come over with your ears."

"it is good."

The two talked close together, and the sunlight passed through them, leaving intimate shadows on the ground.

Jin Yiwei was busy at the scene, recording records, questioning questions, surveying surveys, carrying corpses out, everything was fast and orderly.

The sun shines, falls on the verandah, falls on the speaker's hair, the side face is bright and brilliant, as if it can illuminate everything, and nothing can be troubled.

Qiu Yiqing noticed Ye Baiting's gaze looking into the distance, and followed him: "What are you looking at?"

"It seems that apricot blossoms are blooming." Ye Baiting's eyes were bright, like spring water, with expectations that others didn't understand, "We have to finish this case quickly."

The apricot blossoms are blooming, it's time for my sister to come back.