The first work of the imperial prison

Ye Baiting thought she had heard it wrong: "Mrs. Zhuang? That Mrs. Zhuang who hosted the flower banquet half a month ago, and the wife of Princess Yun'an went there?"

"Yes, it's her!"

The news was brought by Shen Jiang himself. He wiped his face, and he was shocked: "I just asked her yesterday, and she died today. She died in the same way as the county horse. It was also in a dark alley, with hands and feet. She was tied up, kneeling and drained of blood, and Hualiu, she also had this disease, the murderer must be the same person, she was fine before, Jin Yiwei died after questioning her, she must have exposed something..."

Ye Baiting: "Speak slowly, when did the murder happen, what was the situation at the scene, where is the body now, has it been brought back?"

Shen Jiang shook his head: "I stayed up all night yesterday. I just ran to the scene after receiving the letter. I haven't checked it yet. The commander arrived and kicked me back and told me to rest for a quarter of an hour. By the way, he prepared for the autopsy. After inspecting the scene, bring the body back."

Ye Baiting: ...

"Are you finished?"

"Where can I sleep?" Shen Jiang carried a small pot with strong tea, took a big sip, and spewed out a piece of tea leaves, "You said that this case came, didn't you torment me? I thought it was you, It doesn't matter what case comes, if you just make some merit, my hundred households can be regarded as stable, and the county horse is the county horse, which is what it sounds like. Look at the fun, I might be able to make a name for myself if it's done, who knows there will be another one, the county horse, the official's wife, both of them are bloody stained with flowers and willows, the whole capital is watching, what if it can't be broken! "

Ye Baiting: "Quiet."

Shen Jiang's eyes were bloodshot: "I can't be quiet!"

Ye Baiting: "The case will be solved."

Shen Jiang: "If you say it's broken, it will be broken?"

Ye Baiting flicked the corner of his clothes, slowly and calmly: "If I say it can be broken, it can be broken."

Shin Kang shut his mouth.

"The last case was simple? Where is I, Ye Baiting, and what does he look like? Where is your Shen Zongqi? Eyebrows, lips curved slightly, "Even if you don't trust my mouth, you should also trust my brain."

That's right, the last case was even more difficult to handle, the chances were all seized, and the connection with the murder case was not obvious, so you had to use tricks to get others to believe it, isn't it much better now?At least they can investigate whatever they want, they will cooperate with each other, and the cases are clearly related, such as the same way of death, the same disease...

Shen Jiang gradually calmed down. Young Master Jiao was not the type he would appreciate before and wanted to befriend. He was too thin and too weak, but after knowing him for a long time, you would not associate his thinness with weakness. Temperament is contained in the body, the edge is contained in the eyes, the still water flows deep, and he is extremely intelligent. As long as he thinks about it, there is nothing he cannot do.

His energy and brilliance are by no means superficial, anyone who wants to underestimate him is making a big mistake!

Subconsciously clenched his hands into fists, took two deep breaths, Shen Jiang's eyes were still bloodshot, but his whole body sank down, without any impetuousness.

Ye Baiting: "Now tell me about the story, and tell me everything about your meeting with Mrs. Zhuang and the confession, in detail."

Shen Jiang said slowly: "Didn't you talk about the poison at the autopsy that day? Wasn't Mrs. Zhuang's banquet half a month ago a bit subtle? I came to visit the next day and asked Mrs. Zhuang. At that time, her husband Xu Liang Xing was also present, and the maids and women hadn't finished, so the questioning process was not considered a secret. I asked Mrs. Zhuang if she knew that the county horse Shen Huarong had died. She said such a big thing, how could she not know? She also asked me about the case Is it difficult, has the murderer been caught? Is it impossible to disclose the details of the case? This is discipline, so I didn't say anything. I continued to ask her if she had any relationship with the county horse, and she laughed, saying that my question was strange. , she is a housewife, and the county horse is an outsider, what kind of relationship can she have? At most, someone is hosting a banquet. There are so many people. I saw it by the way. If I ask more details, she doesn't know anything, and she says yes Not familiar, let alone these two days, I haven't seen much recently."

"I can't ask more, so I just mentioned that she held a flower banquet half a month ago. She remembers very clearly that Princess Yun'an and his wife are both here, but she is the host and has to entertain guests. She is very busy. She really doesn't know what happened between the two of them, whether there was any accident, there are so many guests, it's normal for someone to accidentally knock over a wine cup, drop a chopstick, etc. I thought it was a big deal, and when I heard it, I ordered my servants to handle it properly, and I didn't pay too much attention to it..."

Shen Jiang became angry when she spoke: "This woman speaks politely, with a smile on her face, and answers everything she asks. There is nothing wrong with her attitude, but after asking for a while, I feel that something is wrong. She said so much, is there any use for one sentence?" , cooperating with me to go around in circles! I just want to search first, and when I find something, I will confront her face to face, and see if she dares to tell me! Who knew that she died so quickly, and I didn’t even give me a second chance! "

Ye Baiting's eyes were deep: "If it's as she said, she and the county horse are just acquaintances, not acquaintances, have no deep relationship, and have no enmity, why should I go around in circles with you?"

Shen Jiang was stunned: "That's right! If she really has nothing, why is she guilty? Even gossip should be talked about? Mrs. Zhuang is a famous person in the capital who loves to talk, laugh, and take care of things. This kind of mysterious Murder case, wouldn't she want to know more about it?"

This is the problem, how could he ignore it!

Ye Baiting: "Maybe it's because you think about it now, and you feel that something is wrong. At that time, you visited normally, and you only felt that the other party wanted to help, but because you didn't have deep contact, you couldn't give more clues."

"That's right, that's how it feels!"

"Where's her husband, Xu Liangxing?" Ye Baiting looked at Shen Jiang, "Both of them were present at the time of the questioning, and you said that the atmosphere between this couple is very subtle, different from others, and seems to be at odds? Why do you have such an idea? , but what did you see?"

Shen Jiang thought for a while, then nodded: "I don't know too well, Xu Liangxing is taciturn and dull, he always keeps a straight face, and he doesn't know much about it, but what the official does should be okay, otherwise Mrs. Zhuang will do something Madam's communication, year-end performance appraisal, etc., have to be agreed by the officials and colleagues. She can't help much. When I asked Xu Liangxing that day, Xu Liangxing kept his face down and didn't say much. He only answered a few words when I asked him. Looks impatient..."

Ye Baiting: "Impatient?"

"Yes, he often does this." Shen Jiang frowned fiercely, curled his mouth, and made a 'tsk' sound, "I've seen this expression several times."

Ye Baiting paused for a moment, as if he was very interested: "This expression... just think about it carefully, when did it happen?"

Shen Jiang was stunned for a moment, and after thinking about it carefully, he thought that Master Jiao was different, and this focus of attention was absolutely amazing!He understands!

"It's every time the county horse Shen Huarong is mentioned!" Shen Jiang's eyes light up, "Every time I mention this name, Xu Liangxing is upset. Whenever Mrs. Zhuang says something nice about Shen Huarong, Xu Liangxing is also virtuous. It's obvious that they have a problem with this person! Both of them have flair, and Xu Liangxing knows whether it's possible for them to have sex with women!"

As he spoke, he was a little skeptical: "It seems that the age is not suitable. Shen Huarong is a few years younger. Mrs. Zhuang has big hips, round waist, small eyes and thick lips. It is definitely not good-looking and tender. In terms of figure and appearance, she can't compare with Yun An Princess, what is Shen Huarong trying to do?"

If they didn't have the same disease, he would never think of these two people together.

But if you say that these two people are fine, how can you explain the illness?And why is Xu Liangxing unhappy every time the county horse is mentioned?

Just as Shen Jiang was about to have a detailed analysis with Young Master Jiao, he heard his name being called outside——

"Tsk." He also showed the same expression as Xu Liangxing, impatient.

Ye Baiting: "People who don't want to deal with?"

Shen Jiang: "I wanted to take you directly to Wu Zuofang, and wait for the commander to come back for an autopsy, but this is no good, this Feng Baihu and I are not in the same boat, I have to deal with it first, a stick of incense, you wait for me !"

After speaking, he ran away.

The sound of fan shaking came from the right, and Xiang Zi'an said slowly, "I don't know who it is, so it's Zhuang."

Ye Baiting: "You know?"

Xiang Zi'an covered his face with a fan, with a half-smile: "Do you know what my name is when I'm outside?"

Qin Gentiana: "You've got it, are you going to brag about your almighty master again?"

With a sound of 'swipe', Xiang Zi'an retracted his fan, sat up straight, elegant and dignified: "That's just a trivial name, and there is another advantage, that is, Jianghu Baixiaosheng - in this court, whoever you are I don’t know anyone whose name I can name, and in this back house, I don’t know the ins and outs of all the things I can count.”

Qin Gentian was speechless for a long while: "... No wonder the master would switch to a fortune teller if he couldn't keep working. It's a tradition in your profession."

Xiang Zian looked sideways: "You have long hair but short knowledge, can you understand things about smart people?"

Qin Gentiana: "Don't talk nonsense, you've already thrown the lead yourself, so what's the point? Say it!"

"Young man, it's not good to be in a hurry. You must know that there are some things in life that you can't be in a hurry. The more you are in a hurry, the worse you will perform." Xiang Zi'an casually slid on the opponent's lower body, and after making a subtle attack, he looked at Ye Baiting, "I haven't seen Xuanfeng today. It's rare that General Dog is willing to go to prison. I'm very honored. I miss him so much if I don't come for a day—why you open your mouth and call him?"

Is this to negotiate terms?

Ye Baiting's complexion remained unchanged, his right hand slid down to his lower abdomen: "I don't have much appetite today, I think it's because I've had a good few days, I need to clear my stomach, I want a bowl of porridge for dinner."

Before Xiang Zi'an could speak, the 'hidden weapon' made of clay balls on the left shot over, straight to the door!

Qin Gentiana was in a hurry: "Why are you doing well? Why do you need to cleanse your stomach? It's already dinner, so you're hungry at noon!"

"Brother Qin's words are wrong," Ye Baiting corrected slowly, "The jailers are not lazy, and the two meals a day are delivered on time, and there is never any omission."

Gentiana Qin choked, the question is if there is no food to eat, there is no good food to eat!The food brought by the prison guards is delicious, there is no oil, no seasoning, and sometimes it is simply rotten, and the dogs don’t even eat it!

He rubbed another clay pill, held it between his fingers, and threatened Xiang Zi'an: "You pick up the matter, you solve it quickly, it will delay my meal, and I will kill you!"

"Don't, don't." If it wasn't for the fan in his hand to block it, Xiang Zi'an was afraid that he would lose his face on the spot, so he hurriedly said to Ye Baiting, "Master, why is this so? We have something to talk about, there is no need to be angry with the food, right? "

Ye Baiting: "Oh."

Xiang Zi'an rubbed his way here, smiling like a flower: "I just want to see how much that dog likes you, isn't that greedy? If you talk about this Zhuang family, he is not an ordinary person. He was a famous meeting before he came out of the court The one who talks really has a lot of eyes. Before he got married, he helped his father and brother save a few things, and won a lot of praise. It is even more remarkable in the female circle. She is polite, so hello, hello, hello everyone, if you don't follow her way and behave a little too aggressively, then you won't be able to get along. Princess Yun'an is a few years younger than her, and when he was young, he had a straightforward heart. And being favored by the nobles in the palace, how can he be a master who can coax others? Just a small quarrel, and the two ended up in trouble. After all, the princess is a few years younger, and his heart has not grown so much for a while, so he has suffered a disadvantage, Mrs. Zhuang Older than her, married earlier than her, every step is ahead, often acting like a senior to support and comment, teaching the princess to do things, such as how to attract men, how to have a happy husband and wife, how to Give birth to a son... once or twice is enough, who can bear it for a long time?"

"As for her doctor Xu Liangxing, where is he reticent and dull, he just doesn't take responsibility. It's not that he doesn't know how to be an official, it's not that he doesn't know how to do things, but he just doesn't want to take responsibility, and he happens to marry a woman like Zhuang who loves to take care of things. He is like a fish in water, the official career is smoothed by Zhuang's help, but he walks the official road by himself. With credit, he is the one who gets promoted and makes a fortune. If he does something wrong, he should be unlucky. I don’t want to take on an errand that is too risky without him, so I just sighed casually by the bedside, and Mrs. Zhuang asked me to find out, and tried my best to help him push it..."

"Same as the county horse Shen Huarong, they are irresponsible people. The difference is that the county horse is a lazy, idiot. Xu Liangxing pretends to be stupid, but in fact he has brains. For example, the famous river in the capital eight years ago In the corruption case, both Xu Liangxing and Shen Huarong were involved. The other people involved were either beheaded or imprisoned. Only these two were fine. Shen Huarong was married to a princess and had the backing of the Empress Dowager, but he was still beaten. After half a year of confinement, all the dowry of the Zhuang family has been paid, but Xu Liangxing has all his hair and tail, nothing happened..."

When Shen Jiang came back, they had been talking for a long time, and those personnel matters had nothing to do with the case.

"Let's go?" He looked at Young Master Jiao who was listening seriously.

Ye Baiting stood up: "Let's go."

Anyway, Xiang Zi'an lives next door, so he can listen to it anytime he wants.

Changed clothes in the small room, walked to Wuzuo room, not long after, Qiu Xunqing came back with the body.

Ye Baiting was stunned when he saw it. Shen Jiang said that the two died in the same way, which is not an exaggeration at all.

The deceased Zhuang, like Shen Huarong, was also in a kneeling position, with his forehead on the ground, his hands tied behind his back, his wrists and ankles were tied with extremely thin and tough cowhide ropes, which were tied tightly, and blurred lines of blood were drawn out. The knots are all the same.

The fatal wound was also on the side of the neck. The wound was deep and bloody. Paper money was wrapped in the clothes on the back, round and square, with different shapes. It should be caused by the murderer.

Ye Baiting took a rough look and found that the degree of rigor was similar, only a little better than last time.

"Is the death scene related?"

"It's different, it's a little farther away, and the direction of kneeling is also different." Qiu Xunqing took out a piece of paper, on which the scene of the corpse was drawn, which looked more neat and delicate than Shen Jiang's drawing.

Ye Baiting leaned over and looked at it seriously.

It is still a dark alley next to the street, the walls are high and the alley is deep, and the environment is dark. The location of the deceased has been marked, and there are paper money scattered beside him. The kneeling posture... The direction is very straight, facing the true north. Last time, Shen Huarong, The direction of kowtowing is southeast, which is indeed a little different.

Ye Baiting put on his gloves, walked to the mortuary table, and just took a look, then paused: "Did the deceased take off his clothes?"

"No." Qiu Jiqing said, "The murder case is a big one, and the servants dare not refuse to recruit. The matter of Hualiu was mentioned by his close servant girl, and no body search was carried out at the scene."

Shen Jiang nodded: "Yes, when I went, that maid was talking, I just heard it!"

Hatred and suspicion were stirred up by Mo's eyeliner: "Is there something wrong with the corpse's clothes?"

"Come and see—"

Ye Baiting pointed to the silk thread on the skirt of the deceased: "The deceased's hands were cut behind his back, and he would never be able to show such marks through his own struggles. If it was scratched by the stones on the ground, it would not be a single, tiny strip."

Hatred squinted his eyes: "The murderer touched the clothes of the deceased."

Ye Baiting: "Maybe they took something away."

Shen Jiang didn't understand: "But what can there be here? Who would put things in such a place? They can't put them down."

Qiu Xunqing: "What if the murderer accidentally falls?"

Ye Baiting: "For example, when the murderer approaches and is about to kill someone, or just after killing someone, he stands up and finds that something has been dropped. It's very important. You have to get it back, right?"

"The seal is very important!" Shen Jiang looked at Qiu Yiqing, "Did you find out?"

Qiu Yiqing shook his head: "The pool of blood at the scene is very thick, soaking the ground, and the shape of things cannot be seen."

Shen Jiang was even more convinced. If Young Master Jiao hadn't seen this suspicious point, they wouldn't even know that the murderer had dropped something!The blood-stained objects are not so easy to wash, this is the first key evidence in this case!

Ye Baiting continued to carry out the autopsy: "The spots on the corpse accumulated in patches, the color deepened, and the rigors spread all over the body - about three hours after death, the wrists and ankles were deeply strangled, and the blood stasis was obvious. Just like the last deceased Shen Huarong, Zhuang also experienced a period of torture before his death, and the pain was unbearable."

"...the death process is also similar. It should be the first to go to the dark alley. After being knocked out, it is tied up, the mouth is stuffed, and when it wakes up, it kneels down at the murderer's request. In the end, the head is held down by the deceased, and the dagger cuts the neck and dies. But This time, it was a little different. The scar on the side of Zhuang's neck was only a little bit on the outer edge of the fatal wound, which was almost invisible. The incision was still deep, but it did not reach the neck bone. It was not like last time when Shen Huarong's head was almost cut off Come down, the dagger is sent forward from the back of the neck, the landing point at the back of the neck is no longer so high, and the front of the neck is not so low, there is only one reason for this change—to save effort.”

"The murderer has become skilled."

Ye Baiting remembered something, and looked at Qiu Yiqing: "Did the murderer stand far away to admire this time?"

Qiu Yiqing's head: "Yes." He took out the scene map, and his slender knuckles landed on a point, "It's not very clear, but here, there are obviously footprints that stayed here."

So when Mrs. Zhuang was asked to kneel on the ground and kowtow, the murderer still stood a little far away and watched for a long time, or in other words, waited for a long time.Judging from the binding marks on Zhuang's wrists and ankles, at least one stick of incense was needed in this process.

Still no more torture, just watching from a distance, waiting for this time to pass...why?What the hell was the murderer doing while he was standing there?

He didn't believe that the murderer just watched silently, unable to guess the reason for doing so.

Shen Jiang was even more confused: "What is the relationship between the Zhuang family and Shen Huarong? Why did the murderer kill them? Could it be because they committed adultery? The murderer hates adulterers and prostitutes?" He compared the two scene pictures. There seemed to be a ball of paste stuffed inside, "And these two people kneel in different directions, Shen Huarong's side, I have to look for it, it looks like Miaoyinfang, Zhuang's, what's the matter with facing the street in the north ?”

Qiu Yiqing: "There is not enough evidence. It has not been found out that the two of them have intersected in their lives. The word "female intercourse" is open to question."

When Jin Yiwei wanted to investigate a person, he searched everywhere, and he couldn't find it like this, it seemed a bit...

Ye Baiting had already untied Zhuang Shi's clothes, and saw more: "No, Zhuang Shi and Shen Huarong probably didn't have sex with women."

Shen Jiang was stunned: "Huh?"

Isn't it the same death as promised, the same murderer?It's a certainty that these two people have something to do, why not!