The first work of the imperial prison

Next, and of course the most important, is the room where the crossbow is found.

There were a lot of things on board, and Mrs. Yao was inconvenient. She was called away, but Ye Baiting and Qiu Xunqing did not stop them. Sometimes the departure behavior of relevant people on the scene itself may be a clue, or it may bring more clues. In place, not afraid of missing people.

This room is cleaner and tidier. It is what it used to be, and it is what it is now. There is no smell of alcohol or other strange smells. The window is wide open, and there is a crossbow by the window sill. Put it there.

Either the murderer didn't care, and he was sure that the matter would not be discovered, or there was a reason to get away if he was discovered, or he had other plans to deal with the murder weapon, or there was an accident at the time, and it was too late.

The two of them went to the window and looked out first. The building was tall and the scenery was wide. The vision was very clear and they could see very clearly. It was facing the direction of the stern. If there were people standing there, if they wanted to attack here, it would be very easy to succeed.

Look at the crossbow itself.

Ye Baiting can tell that this is not a particularly sophisticated heavy crossbow, it is much rougher and far from something that the army will use for combat preparations. It is said to be a crossbow, it looks more like a bow, the outside is still a bow body, and there is an extra bow in the middle. The crossbow arm is used to support the strings. The mechanism is installed at the back. The fingers are buckled upside down and it is beautiful and exquisite. It looks simple and compact, and it looks good when it is heavy.

"This is a crossbow."

Qiu Xunqing weighed it with his hands, and then turned it over to look at it: "The production process is relatively rough, and even better folk craftsmen can do it, but it is easy to break, and it won't last long. It's hard to be elegant, and it hurts people No problem, range and power can be guaranteed.”

There was no arrow at the scene, so Qiu Yiqing asked Jin Yiwei to find one. Beizhen Fusi's arrow was a little too long, which didn't match it, so Qiu Yiqing broke off the end with his hand, put it into the string, and raised his arm to look at it from a distance. , adjust the posture, aim at the distance, press the motivation to include——

"call out--"

The arrow made a sharp sound of piercing the air, and the silver light pierced through the night, piercing through the flag of the flower boat on the top of the tall mast at the stern, and it continued to fly without stopping...

With Ye Baiting's eyesight, he couldn't even see where it landed, it felt like a meteor flying directly out of his field of vision.

The range of this type of bow and crossbow depends on its own construction structure and the sensitivity of the mechanism, which has nothing to do with the arm strength of the crossbow bearer. The enemy is good at shooting, and only the direction can be controlled, not the strength. That is to say, the murderer is In this room, killing people with bows and crossbows is basically a fact.

"I remember before Shen Jiang said that there might be a similar shooting game in the flower boat?"

"Ms. Yao said just now," Qiu Yiqing said, "During your autopsy, she has admitted that in order to attract guests, the flower boat will regularly change and hold some 'special games', which may last for three to five days, or ten days Or half a month, the tricks are different. The 'bow and crossbow' is aimed at the head. It has just been rotated. It lasted for more than half a month. It was only replaced five days ago. These days are full of singing and dancing. There is no such link. Before All the crossbows and arrows used were well stored in the warehouse and have not been used."

Isn't it just a themed game, Ye Baiting understands, it's all the operator's tricks to play it differently, so that the guests will have a lot of freshness, so that they won't get tired of playing here, and won't come back next time.

He blinked: "Has the crossbow arrow been compared?"

Qiu Yiqing knew what he was asking: "This room was sealed by Jinyiwei at the first time. Mrs. Yao never came in, and she didn't see the shape of the crossbow. Shen Jiang asked sideways. She said she didn't know, so Jinyiwei went to the warehouse to check. , I think there will be results soon.”

Whether it is the same thing, whether the number of warehouses is correct, or whether there are any shortages, you can find out by checking.

"There don't seem to be many traces in this room... Hey, what is this?"

Ye Baiting looked at it, and found that the room was too clean. It was also good. If there was something a little unusual, it would be discovered quickly. There seemed to be a piece of handkerchief left behind by the door near the bed, wrapped in the bed curtain.

The bed is clean and tidy, and the creases look a little old, so it must have not been used, but the bed on the flower boat has more patterns than the outside, and the bed curtains and bed yarns, including the bed curtains hanging down from the bed, are all light yarns with complicated patterns and good patterns. There are many, and it hangs down to the ground. If you don't look carefully, you really can't find the veil rolled inside.

"It's Supa."

"Dark blue, no lettering, only trimmed, it's a style that men will wear."

Where did the murderer fall?

Ye Baiting didn't even need to get closer, he could smell the unpleasant smell of alcohol on the veil, and there was also some sticky stuff on the veil, which looked... like vomit.

The murderer drank too much and vomited here?

But looking around at other places, there is no trace, no vomit, and no trace of being cleaned. This room... doesn't look like someone vomited here.

This is a bit strange.

"Whose veil belongs to?"

Is the owner of the veil the murderer?

"I know, I know, it's Fang Zhizhu!"

What Ye Baiting was thinking in his heart, others may not know, but the question he just asked casually, people passing by the door happened to hear it and answered it aloud.

"Fang Zhizhu?" Who is this?

Ye Baiting turned around, and saw the man who was blocked by the Jinyi guard at the door and refused to let him in. The man should be in his thirties, a little fat, with a slightly fat belly, and a flattering smile on his face. His facial features were squeezed together, squeezing himself into one The steamed buns look very happy.

There is no need for him to ask, when the people in the room looked over, the man took two steps back, bowed his hands and bowed, very polite: "Pan Lu, the next official, will be promoted to the governor of Jingzhao soon, and I am honored to meet the commander here. , I am truly honored!"

Qiu Yiqing didn't talk nonsense with him: "You just said that you recognize this square handkerchief?"

"That's right! To be honest, the next official is also a guest of the Hanyu Pavilion this time. I have been in the official room just now, and I don't know what happened. I wanted to get off the boat, but was stopped by Jin Yiwei, only then did I know that there was a murder. I realized that something was wrong. Hurry up and report to the commander—"

Pan Lu smiled very tactfully: "If there is anything going on during the banquet, the commander can ask the subordinate officials! The subordinate officials also know about this handkerchief. Today is Wei Shili's promotion celebration, but he also has colleagues. There are also competitors, and Fang Zhizhu is one. Mr. Fang is young, only 24 years old, and he has become a doctor in the official department. Mr. Wei is too shallow, so he can't be promoted to be a servant, otherwise Mr. Wei may not be promoted in this wave of promotions... But his qualifications are not enough, he is capable enough, and his name is well-known in the official office. Mr. Wei has always been at odds with him. This time Inviting guests to dinner, I didn’t even invite him..."

Ye Baiting raised an eyebrow slightly: "Since he was not invited, why did he come?"

"It is said that it is to send something to Lord Shangshu," Pan Lu smiled. "We don't know about the fact that the officials have closed the door. Even if we were there, we listened to it. It seems that Lord Shangshu requested it. I had given a warning in advance, there is no other way, Mr. Xiao Fang had to send it over at this time, who would have thought that Mr. Shang Shu was drunk and vomited on him, and there is nothing wrong with it now, going out like this is indecent, this kind of place Since he didn't have any clothes for Lord Xiao Fang to change, he randomly found a room to tidy up... probably this room?"

"About? Didn't you see him enter this room with your own eyes?"

"That's not true." Pan Lu shook his head vigorously, looking inside, "I just...recognized the handkerchief, and when Mr. Fang came over, he took it out and used it."

"Then?"

"I haven't seen him since then, maybe he left? Mr. Xiao Fang is not an invited guest, and he is a bit noble himself, so he may not want to stay here any longer."

Ye Baiting and Qiu Yiqing exchanged glances.

Now that others have come to your door, don't ask by the way, when will you wait?

It's just that this room is not suitable, the room where the suspected murderer stayed, the clues cannot be covered, so they turned in a different direction——

"Master Pan is here with me."

"Yes!"

Pan Lule happily followed, and went to the room where the two of them talked with the two father-in-laws. He was very courteous and courteous. He wanted to let the two of them go first, but he had to go to the front to open the door and pick the curtain, and he was on the side. Stand still, but you have to wait for the two to sit down before sitting down properly.

He also wanted to pour tea for the two of them, but seeing the commander's refusal, he stood still, pretending not to see that the commander first poured tea for the young master, and then poured his own Fill your glass.

As for himself... Speaking of which, his official rank is not small, but this is in the capital, at the foot of the emperor, how can he compare to a powerful official like a commander?Of course, it's better to stop for a while, he's not thirsty, so the commander doesn't have to think about him at all for what kind of tea to drink!

Qiu Xunqing poured tea for Xiao Wuzuo, watched him drink, then turned his eyes and asked Pan Lu: "You are also at the banquet tonight, but are you familiar with the people at the same banquet?"

"That's not true," Pan Lu shook his head quickly, "Acquaintances can't be said. Everyone in the bureaucracy wants to make good friends with the government office, but the lower officials can't please. Come here today...in fact, I just want to work hard. "

This reason is rare, Ye Baiting said: "You came here by yourself, not by invitation?"

Pan Lu was not embarrassed either, and smiled even wider: "This opportunity waits for no one. I saw it myself. How can I not touch it? I have just been promoted not long ago, and I should walk around. I heard outside Master Wei wants to invite you to a promotion banquet, and the guest of honor is Master Shang Shujiang, so he boarded the boat tonight, just to make a coincidence, he came uninvited, to see if there is a chance, if not, luck is really good!"

"So you saw what happened during the banquet?"

Pan Lu said solemnly: "Yes. The lower official wanted to take a chance, so he was the first one to come. Indeed, he saw everything. Mr. Wei got on the boat early because he was going to be the host, and waited for Mr. Jiang, Mr. Jiang. The latest among the guests, the one who died in the stern, Fan Moyu, was also a little later than Mr. Wei, but he was a bit self-reliant and didn't like to move much... The lower official also understood that he was really poor, fat and poor, As for the Gyeonggi Transit Envoy, he has a lot of connections, even the father-in-law in the palace can talk, the lower the official rank, the lower, there is nothing he can’t do, it’s normal not to like to serve others, and this gives him a chance to be demoted!"

He slapped his thigh, his face blushing: "He doesn't like to do this kind of work of running errands and serving others. It's okay for me to be an official! Fortunately, he doesn't like to do it. Thank you for not doing it. I'm an official. Came in? Mr. Wei is busy today, so he doesn't have much time to take care of everyone. The next official went over to help, and let's talk about who the next official is. Isn't this just a matter of socializing? If you can communicate with Mr. Wei, you can go to Jiangguan in a while When the adults are here, can't you also socialize by the way and make a good impression on others?"

Ye Baiting: "So you are here and have helped a lot?"

Speaking of this, Pan Lu was a bit reserved: "That's not to mention, it's just socializing, running in and out, with a little work in his eyes, knowing what to say, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do, what to do. , it’s not hard at all.”

"When the two factory owners came over, did you see it?"

"I must have seen it!" Pan Lu seemed to be unable to get rid of the excitement until now, "The two factory bosses, whoever we want to make friends with, have no chance to meet anyone. Tonight, I called Xiaguan to bump into each other. What kind of luck, my ancestors bless me tonight, God bless me!"

"When did they all come? Why did they come?"

"About half an hour ago, Eunuch Fu of the East Factory just arrived at the front foot, and Eunuch Ban of the West Factory arrived at the door on the back foot. It shouldn't be too long to sit there. Lord Wei and Lord Jiang were drunk one after another. When the next official went to the official room, The two of you seem to be leaving, as for why you came here..."

Pan Lu rolled his eyes, looked outside, and lowered his voice: "I don't dare to say anything, I just talk casually, it may not be true, and it needs to be checked and verified by Jin Yiwei. For the sake of face, Mr. Wei will come to congratulate him with a glass of wine at the promotion banquet, but it seems that this is not the case. The servant of the official department needs to be respected by the lower officials. Who are the two father-in-laws, there is no need to pay them. They come, It seems that they are coming for each other, it seems that they want to stop each other, stare at each other, or hurt each other..."

"Have they all left?"

"Yes, it should be the Shangguanfang. I didn't leave for a long time, and I will be back soon."

"What's the order? When they left, was the deceased still in the Hanyu Hall?"

"That's not true," Pan Lu shook his head, "Of all the people, the one who left the table first was the one who died, Mr. Fan, he seemed to have drunk too much, and he yawned after talking with the two father-in-laws. While retching, he seemed extremely unwell, said annoyed, and said that he wanted to go out for a walk, and most of the people in the hall were there at this time."

"Oh, I mean most of them are here," he hastened to add, "Master Wei invited a banquet tonight, there must be a lot of people coming, but not everyone is qualified to stay in Hanyu Pavilion, most of them come After a toast, they left. Some may stay on the third floor for a short time, and more people go to the second floor or the first floor. They either want a private room or an open-air table to drink. They are always there in Hanyu Pavilion. , not many people..."

Ye Baiting: "The deceased is the first to leave the banquet, and who will leave after that?"

"That's the two factory owners. I don't know if they drank too much tea or too much wine. They left the banquet and went out respectively, but they came back soon. They are different from Mr. Fan who hasn't been back all this time."

"And after that?"

"Afterwards, there will be Lord Wei and Lord Jiang. Lord Wei has been promoted to be a minister. Of course, I would like to thank Shangguan for his appreciation. Today, Lord Jiang is the main guest. He has been toasting, and then these two people drank too much. It was almost the same time. , were helped out one after another, and never came back after that, whoever was one step earlier...it should be Mr. Jiang?"

Ye Baiting pondered for a moment, then curled his lips: "It's kind of interesting. Mr. Wei, who hosted the banquet, was drunk and left the table. The highest-ranking Shang Shujiang, Mr. Jiang, also left the table. The organizers of the game are gone. You can still be there. Here to have fun..."

"Well," Pan Lu said with a deeper smile on his face, "Xiaguan Guan is young master, probably not very familiar with officialdom entertainment? The superiors are not here now, who knows if they will come back in a while? Jiujin is something that is fun with the girls. Let’s play, let’s go, let’s go, what if we come back to play later, there is no one in the hall, isn’t it impolite?”

"Besides, the officials are not here, and there are two factory owners. As long as they don't say to leave, even if the subordinate officials are crucified on the spot, they can't leave casually."

Ye Baiting asked again: "In your opinion, why didn't the two factory owners leave?"

"Is this..."

The smile on Pan Lu's face was meaningful: "What other plans do you have? Or what kind of bets are you making with each other, what kind of games are you playing, and you can't just lose the chain? If one of them doesn't leave, the other will never mention the matter of leaving. He also said a few words in a low voice, but what exactly did he say, because it was too noisy outside, the lower officials didn't hear..."

"What's going on with Fang Zhizhu, when did you arrive at the Hanyu Pavilion?"

Pan Lu shook his head slightly: "Strictly speaking, this Mr. Fang didn't go to the Hall of Han. He just came to deliver something to Mr. Shang Shujiang. He didn't enter the door at all. When he got to the door, Mr. Jiang saw him. Mr. Jiang happened to be drunk at the time, and he said he was going to the official room, and was helped out. I don't know if he was shocked by the cold wind brought by Mr. Xiaofang, or for some other reason, so he vomited, and it just happened to Mr. Xiaofang."

"So you said Pazi..."

"That's when I saw you, Xiaguan!"

Ye Baiting pondered: "Didn't enter the Han's Hall..."

"Well, the lower official guesses that he doesn't really want to come in. He and Mr. Wei are competitors. Mr. Wei was also a doctor before. This time he was promoted, and he wanted to trample the people next to him to death, so he didn't invite him at all. As for the next thing, he would not want to come in to give a congratulatory speech as long as he wanted to save face. When the official said that he was coming, it happened that Mr. Jiang was about to go out and saw him. Maybe he was standing at the door without moving, just waiting for Mr. Jiang See, talk to him..."

After Pan Lu finished speaking, he looked around again, and continued to lower his voice, with a hint of conspiracy theory: "No one in this officialdom is really naive. I am thinking about it, Mr. Fang's trip is also interesting. Say yes. Sending something to the lord is really as simple as giving something. I didn't show my face in front of the Shangguan. I came here on purpose to embarrass the lord Wei? It seems to be unlucky to be spit out by the Shangguan, but it may not be. The Shangguan is now I was drunk, I don't know what I did, when I wake up, even if I don't apologize, I still have to think about it in my heart, and when I turn around, I will give Mrs. Xiao Fang a face, a little support?"

On the contrary, he has a brilliant tongue and a clear and logical analysis, which looks a lot like that.

Ye Baiting, however, was holding the teacup, eyes slightly narrowed, and his voice was calm: "In this way, most of the people in this banquet hall know each other, whether it's the host or the guest, even if they bump into each other suddenly, it doesn't matter, so to speak. In other words, Mr. Pan is wandering outside..."

Pan Lu froze.

Ye Baiting glanced over quietly: "So many people were drunk during the banquet, the deceased was drunk, Master Wei and Master Jiang were both drunk, Master Pan, who 'sacrificed his life to accompany his official career', is in high spirits, it is really huge .”

How could Pan Lu not know what the other party was talking about, so he immediately waved his hands, and stood up boldly, as if he was about to bump into his ambition in the next moment: "This official is really here to help, you two must not doubt this official, Xiaguan just wanted to try his luck tonight and make some contacts, so he was a little eager just now. Xiaguan didn't know who would come to this banquet. Such a place is so precious, even if there are enemies of Xiaguan, it is not necessary Let's start here, what a waste!"

"Look at the servants serving almost everyone at the banquet. I really don't dare to have bad intentions. After finally being promoted, I want to do a lot of work. How can I not think about it and do such a thing that ruins my future! "

The expression on Ye Baiting's face didn't change, I don't know if he listened or didn't believe it: "So you just saw what happened tonight, you don't know the reason, why the deceased died, and who the murderer is?"

Pan Lu was about to swear to the sky: "I really don't know!"

"You should know the deceased. He was shot to death by a crossbow arrow. Do you know who is good at shooting among the people present today?"

"That's it..." Pan Lu sighed slightly, "The lower officials did not rank high in the imperial examinations back then, and they themselves did not have much promise. In order to smooth their official career, they naturally put more thought into it. I have inquired about it before, such as everyone What are your hobbies, what do you like to play, what do you enjoy, and when you are ready, you can only talk when you meet, right? Even if you don’t have a chance to chat, you can’t say the wrong thing. It’s a taboo... But I really don’t know who is good at this. A few days ago Didn't the flower boat play archery for half a month, several adults have come to play, is it just winning or losing, there is no certainty, it seems that no one is very good at it..."

After asking a few more questions, they let Pan Lu go when he couldn't get anything more out of his mouth.

Ye Baiting looked at this person's back, thoughtfully: "The commander thinks, is this person credible?"

It seems that it has nothing to do with anyone, it happened suddenly, I ran into it by myself, and I was unlucky to get involved in the murder case, but is it really like this?

Qiu Xunqing didn't express his opinion immediately, but thoughtfully: "Let's look at other things."

When the two came out of the room, Shen Jiang already had some general information, such as Mrs. Yao's confession. When questioning other people at the scene, she also asked Yan Rouman, which was open to the public, the same as everyone else's.

Like the others in the crowd, Yan Rouman spoke openly, why and when she came, what happened in the middle, who she talked to... Her timeline is clear, Clearly, because this is not her boat, her place, she boarded the boat, all her actions were accompanied and supervised, and she didn't even take a few breaths alone, very innocent.

But the purpose of her coming here must be more than that. Shen Jiang could see that she and Mrs. Yao on the flower boat seemed to have some very delicate confrontational relationship. Mrs. Yao seemed to hate her, but she had to say some beautiful things, so The guests here are very fond of Yan Rouman's field.

In addition, the bows and crossbows in the warehouse have been inspected, and the style is exactly the same as that of the room with windows on the third floor. quantity--

One is missing.

Who knows that there is a bow and crossbow here, and who can get it easily?