Detective in the Red Chamber

"All right."

Sun Shaozong waved his hand, signaling to Master Qi to be calm and not to be impatient. Zhang Kai was obviously already at the tip of his horn, even if he was going to break the sky, he also believed that those human traffickers had colluded with the dignitaries of the dynasty.

but……

This accusation is not necessarily groundless.

Among the maids and servants bought by various families, who can guarantee that none of them have been abducted and sold by human traffickers?

Not to mention others, Xiangling is the best proof!

Therefore, Sun Shaozong had no intention of continuing to entangle this issue, but asked straight to the point, "Then let me ask again, how did you link up and lure these kidnappers here, and how did you take their lives?"

Several people looked at each other for a while, and then Zhang Kai was the first to pat his chest and said, "It was the villain who killed the person-bah~ It was the villain who killed these thieves who are not as good as animals!"

"No!"

Zhou Bajin immediately said, "I killed the people, Brother Zhang is just responsible for digging out their hearts!"

But Li Laodao and Wang Ergou didn't have such courage and responsibility, they knelt down on the ground and remained silent.

Seeing the two scrambling to plead guilty, Sun Shaozong called out by name again, "Zhou Bajin, tell me, tell me carefully from the beginning!"

Zhou Bajin came out with two steps on his knees, and said with emotion, "Half a month ago, the villain suddenly heard that these six villains were coming to our old Longsheng store to rest in the near future, so he called the big guys in advance, and got ready again." Sweat medicine..."

But it turned out that the six people were stunned by Zhou Bajin's perspiration medicine not long after they arrived in the shop.

Zhang Kai crossed the wall at night, tied them up with ropes, and together with his wife, Zhou Bajin, Li Laodao, Wang Ergou and others, transported their clothes and luggage overnight to prevent anyone from finding out about them afterwards. true identity.

After that, Zhang Kai and Zhou Bajin took turns to interrogate them again, trying to find out where the abducted family members were sold.

In the end, except for Wang Ergou's wife and daughter, the six of them still had some impressions, and the rest of the young children only remembered a general prefecture, even the buyer's surname, and there was no way to find it.

Zhou Bajin was furious for a moment, so according to the original plan, he stabbed them one by one in the heart with a dagger, and then Zhang Kai, who used to be a butcher, took out the six black hearts.

After that, Wang Ergou directed and acted out a scene of ordering food, delivered the food and wine to the courtyard, took out the six hearts in a food box, and fed them to the nearby wild dogs.

After that, Zhang Kai pretended to be disturbed by the noise next door, and sang an oboe with his wife, further creating the illusion that the six people were still alive.

In the end, Li Laodao came to play a trick again, turning this case into a "supernatural event"!

Hearing what Zhou Bajin said, Sun Shaozong sneered, "In this way, you are the mastermind of this case? Then let me ask you, how did you know that they were going to settle in the old Longsheng store? As a store Brother Li, how did he go out of Beijing to contact everyone without being discovered by the shopkeeper?"

"grown ups!"

Shopkeeper Zhao hurriedly echoed, "Our Bajin is definitely not the mastermind. He has never been out of the capital recently. This little old man dares to guarantee his life!"

"The shopkeeper! You...you..."

"He really wasn't the mastermind!

Zhou Bajin yelled anxiously, but Zhang Kai beside him said proudly, "I am the real mastermind. Everything was planned by me. You must not be able to imagine what it was like when I took out the hearts and livers of those beasts with my own hands." Happy! Ha... ha ha ha..."

"It's not my husband!"

Unexpectedly, Zhang Kai was laughing wildly, and that Zhang Zhou screamed again, "It's a masked man, a tall masked man, he found us, and he tried to lure those six villains to the inn Li! All this is his idea, he is the real mastermind!"

"You bitch, how dare you avenge your kindness?!"

When Zhang Kai heard that his mother-in-law had told the truth, he was furious, and was about to go up and fight while yelling and cursing, but was pinned to the ground by several yamen servants.

A tall masked man? !

Next to him, Sun Shaozong and Master Qi looked at each other in dismay, but at the same time they thought of the short-lived masked man in the "Outing Youth Case"!

Chapter 346 Provocation

April 27, Ningguo Mansion.

It was the time to take a nap every day, but Youshi was lying on the couch, but couldn't sleep because of tossing and turning.

After that beautiful night, she was quite flustered for a few days, and every time she thought of her impulsive behavior that night, she would feel regretful and apprehensive.

However, with the passage of time, the house was calm and calm, and there was no rumor at all, so the sense of panic gradually subsided, replaced by that unforgettable feeling.

Three points of apprehension, three points of taboo, and the bravery and smoothness that he had never experienced before, made You Shi feel a little uncontrollable every time he recalled it.

Today is no exception.

She tossed and turned on the couch for a while, then suddenly raised one of her slender and well-proportioned legs, and her crescent-like arches were hooked back, as if she wanted to hook that majestic and burly body onto her couch out of thin air.

After a long while, although You Shi had 'returned without success', his face as big as a palm had already turned red, and he buried it in the pillow to cool down for a long time before finally fading a little.

Then she locked the door behind her back, changed the small clothes underneath, and sat in front of the bronze mirror for a while, but she didn't feel sleepy anymore.

So Youshi pushed the door and went out, ready to call the servant girl, and go to the West Mansion to find Wang Xifeng or Li Wan to relieve boredom, but who knew that a shout came to his lips, but suddenly he heard some intermittent words coming from outside the gate.

"Then Master Sun...stolen..."

Youshi's tender body trembled violently, the heat left on her body instantly turned into ice cold, and she only had one thought in her mind: the fact that she and Sun Shaozong had an affair has been revealed!

For a moment, she just felt dizzy, stretched out her hand to support the wall, but still couldn't stabilize her figure, staggered forward and fell a few steps, and suddenly heard another maid outside the door startled, "Really? Who is so bold, Gouging out other people's heart and soul, and deliberately hanging it on the Shuntian Mansion's grievance drum!"

"You don't know about that, do you? I heard that five strangers were involved in this case under the instigation of a masked man..."

"So the six dead are all conscientious human traffickers? That's really what they deserve!"

After hearing this, Youshi finally crawled out from the gate of hell.

But while she was rejoicing, Sun Shaozong was not in a very good mood.

Yesterday at the Longsheng Old Store, after learning that the mysterious man had appeared again, Sun Shaozong didn't dare to neglect, and quickly brought the other criminals back to the Criminal Division for strict interrogation.

As a result, after half a day of interrogation, there were very few results, and no one had any useful information.

The only clue that seemed to be of some use was that the six dug out human hearts were not actually fed to the wild dogs.

According to the masked man's instructions, Wang Ergou prepared two food boxes in advance, and put one of them near the inn. , and exchanged it with the food box prepared in advance.

Afterwards, when Wang Ergou secretly went back to check, the food box containing the heart had disappeared, and there was no rumor that anyone had found the heart and liver afterwards, so Wang Ergou speculated privately that it was probably taken by the masked man. Take it away.

Although this clue was a bit weird, and it was difficult to trace after more than half a month, Sun Shaozong and Master Qi still analyzed it repeatedly for a long time.

then……

Before dawn this morning, someone found a cloth bag on the Mingyuan Drum. After opening it, there were six dried human hearts inside!

When Sun Shaozong arrived, rumors were already spreading everywhere.

Han Anbang and Jia Yucun called him over to explain, and the officials below also made insinuations.

Seeing that if things go on like this, it is still uncertain how things will be spread, so Sun Shaozong simply summoned the officials in the Criminal Department to explain the whole incident carefully.

So before the afternoon passed, the story of "Sun Shen Duan broke the strange case, and the masked man cleverly planned to kill the villain" spread throughout the capital.

Although in the story, Sun Shaozong's image of being wise and martial is once again consolidated, but how can he be happy?

The behavior of the masked man hanging six taxidermy hearts on the drum of grievances is a naked provocation no matter how you think about it!

Sun Shaozong investigated carefully for a long time, but still failed to send any useful information.

Right now, all he knows about the masked man is that he is tall, likes to instigate others to attack the wicked, and has a considerable understanding of the evil forces around the capital - the six human traffickers in the heart-stealing case are not Ma Yingjue Such a scholar who doesn't hear anything outside the window.

Wanting to grasp the whereabouts of human traffickers and lure them to take the bait unsuspecting is definitely not something ordinary people can do!

In addition...

This masked man may still be a 'perfectionist', so after Sun Shaozong solved the case, the heart that was originally made into a specimen and preserved for more than half a month was used as a demonstration prop by him without hesitation!

"uncle."

Just as he was writing these clues on paper, he saw Sun Chengye come in and said, "It's almost time to go back home, look..."

Only then did Sun Shaozong realize that it was evening again before he knew it.

He threw away the ghost-like rice paper, got up and stretched his waist, and then said to himself, "If there is one, there will be two, and if there is two, there will be three. As long as this guy keeps committing crimes, he will be caught sooner or later— -gone!"

Sun Chengye hesitated for a while, but still couldn't hold back, "The people outside are all hoping that you won't catch him."

tsk~

This kind of thinking is not incomprehensible.

The two uncles and nephews went out of the government office together, and discussed in the car how Sun Chengye's son should exercise his muscles so that he can make great achievements in the army in the future.

This was a suggestion made by Sun Shaozong when he gave the meeting gift a few days ago. After discussing it with his wife, Sun Chengye was really tempted - even if he can't make achievements in the army, it is always good to keep fit.

But he said that when he returned to the mansion, the two uncles and nephews would say goodbye.

Sun Shaozong was about to go back to the backyard to tease his son to relieve his boredom, so Zhao Zhongji came up to report that at noon, the second grandma of Rongguo Mansion made a special trip to invite the eldest wife Jia Yingchun to go to Qingxu Temple for a funeral ceremony on the first day of next month.

It is said that in order to get rid of the bad luck of going home, even Jia's mother has to come out in person this time, and all the young and old in the Rongning Second Mansion have to come out in full force.

Since Jia's mother was going, and Wang Xifeng made a special trip to invite her, Jia Yingchun naturally couldn't refuse.

"The uncle had already agreed to go with him, but when he was going to be on duty in the camp outside the city in the afternoon, he suddenly remembered that he had some important business to do on the first day, so I asked the younger brother to tell the second master, and then you Escort the eldest wife to Qingxu Temple for a funeral ceremony."

Sun Shaozong didn't have much interest in making offerings, but Wang Xifeng made a special trip here just to invite Yingchun to burn incense at the Taoist temple?

It seems that I have to go to the cloth planting again at night...

Chapter 347

The first day of May.

At dawn, the front yard of the Sun Mansion became noisy.

Needless to say, Jia Yingchun, Ruan Rong heard that she was going to Qingxu Temple to have a wedding ceremony, so she also clamored to join in the fun. In addition to the maids and women beside the two of them, five carriages were packed to the brim.

In addition, there were a few young actors in the troupe, who somehow got through to Sun Shaozu's network, and chattered to occupy a place in the troupe.

So when going out, there were seven carriages lined up in a row. Sun Shaozong led the way on a tall horse, and Zhao Zhongji led a few healthy servants behind him, driving donkeys, mules and horses to echo back and forth. The bustling scene was really lively .

The Qingxu Temple is located in the inner city, and there is not much distance.

About half an hour later, the Sun family's team arrived near the Qingxu temple, and saw the open space in front of the mountain gate, which had already been surrounded by colorful coarse cloth, and a dozen or so middle-aged Taoist priests with high-sounding appearance were posing at the only entrance. Dress in style, waiting for you.

Sun Shaozong raised his horsewhip, and someone next to him came forward to reveal his identity. Hearing that it was the second young lady who had just married from Rongguo Mansion, the Taoist priests immediately dispersed, and some special intellectuals stepped forward, leading the convoy to the in.

At this time, no one from Rongning Second Mansion has arrived, only a few young men standing in the front are checking for gaps inside and out.

This was already expected by everyone in the Sun's residence - if Jia Yingchun came late after Jia's mother arrived, she would lose the etiquette of being a junior.

It is also because Jiamu has not arrived, and the Qingxu temple has not been cleared yet, so after the seven cars parked in the corner, all the female relatives waited obediently in the car, only a few elderly women got out of the car , together with the male servants, commented on the Taoist priests of Qingxu Temple.

Sun Shaozong got off his horse and took out a pocket watch with a Nian beast carved from his sleeve pocket. He saw that the time was just past [-] o'clock in the morning. He guessed that it would take some time for the motorcade from Rongning Second Mansion to arrive.

He asked Zhao Zhongji to set up his horse, and took the mansion newspaper that was distributed only yesterday evening to study.

To be honest, the content of this issue of the mansion newspaper is quite beyond Sun Shaozong's expectations - the "Shenxian San project" personally ordered and supervised by Emperor Guangde only occupied the tofu block in the second page; The heart-stealing case was grandiose and appeared in the fourth article on the front page.

However, compared to the complicated and confusing case, the contents of the mansion newspaper were obviously more focused on criticizing the practice of slavery among rich and noble families, which indirectly condoned the rampage of human traffickers.

Could it be...

Did Emperor Guangde intend to curb the tide of slavery?

This is nothing new. There are many kings in history who have promulgated similar decrees.

However, this kind of thing has always been subject to policy and countermeasures. Judging from the current customs and customs, the most is to reduce the number of young slaves who are bought and sold. It is simply unrealistic to completely ban them.

"Second Master."

He was working overtime here trying to figure out the Holy Will, when Zhao Zhongji reminded him in a low voice, "A few Taoist priests are here."

Sun Shaozong raised his head and glanced at him, and saw an old Taoist with white beard and hair, kind eyebrows and kind eyes, rushing towards him at a brisk pace, and the two middle-aged Taoist priests behind him couldn't catch up.

This old way is naturally the Taoist priest who advocates the concept of emptiness and emptiness.

Because he replaced Jia Daishan, the former head of the Rongguo Mansion, he has a very close relationship with the Rongguo Mansion. Zhang Laodao also participated in the treatment when Jia Baoyu was poisoned and went mad, so he also recognized Sun Shaozong.

In addition to being related to the Rongguo Mansion, this old Taoist is also the leader of the Taoist sect in the capital conferred by the imperial court. Since he personally entertained him, Sun Shaozong naturally did not dare to neglect. Is the fairy always good?"

"Blessed Immeasurable Heavenly Venerate."

Daoist Zhang also returned the salute, laughed and said, "Compared to other people, I am a poor man, but compared to Mr. Sun's body, I am really old."

As he said that, the old Taoist smiled and asked again, "It's been more than half a month since we left. We discussed it at the beginning, but I don't know if Mr. Sun has considered it?"

"This one……"

Sun Shaozong smiled wryly and said, "The old god should spare me. You don't care about your high morals. How can I survive the siege of those big monks in my little Shuntian Prefecture?"

The so-called "what happened at the beginning" was actually when Taoist Zhang approached Sun Shaozong when he was exorcising Baoyu from evil spirits and treating illnesses, expressing that Qingxuguan was willing to adopt the baby boy who was about to be born by the two prostitute nuns.