Dreaming back to the Tang Dynasty, I was working as a detective in Chang'an

Fatty and I came to Liang's Mansion and saw Liang's mother doing some work in front of the window. When she saw us coming, she hurriedly gave up her seat and ordered the little girl to pour tea. After we sat down, I asked Mother Liang: "Are you still doing work by yourself at such an age?"

Mother Liang smiled bitterly and said: "Yesterday, I asked the maid Xiaocui to go to the prison to deliver food to my son. She came back and said that Qier was suffering in the prison, and her wrists and legs were bleeding from the cuffs. I gave him some care overnight. Wrist, let him suffer less." After saying that, he silently wiped his tears with his hands.

Would such a kind mother drug her son in her food? I wouldn't believe it even to death. So I said:

"Did you ask Xiao Cui to deliver the meals?"

"Yes, I have some inconvenience in my legs and feet, so I asked my personal maid Xiaocui to deliver it. I also gave the prison bosses wine, food and ten taels of silver to make their trip more convenient."

I then asked: "You said that day that your son had a Longyang habit in the early years. What's the matter?"

Mother Liang stopped what she was doing, frowned, and said, "That is something that is unspeakable for our family. He is the only son of our family. His sister has already married someone else. He has been pampered since he was a child. Since his father passed away, I have pampered him even more." He died. When he was 16 years old, he made a good friend named Gu Chunsheng. He was a famous wanderer in Chang'an City with a prominent family background. He and Qier studied together at Lantian Yingzhou Academy. Who knew they didn't learn well? , they actually learned some of the good things about Longyang that are popular among the princes. They ate and lived together, and they were as good as one person. I didn’t know it at first, but later I heard the gentleman in the academy tell me about these things between them. I was so angry that I asked Qier to go home and cut off contact with them. Unexpectedly, a few years later, I heard that Gu Chunsheng died in Happy Forest, and not even his body was found."

As soon as I heard the word Happy Forest, I immediately became energetic and asked, "Happy Forest? Where is it? What does it do?"

Liang Qi thought for a while and said, "I just heard that this place is an inn specially opened for some dandy boys. It's the kind of shady place that only accepts men. I don't know where it is specifically."

"Then why did your son get involved with Miss Dong again?"

Liang's mother said bitterly: "This is all bad luck. After Gu Chunsheng died, my son was completely dejected. I was afraid that something would happen to him, so I asked a matchmaker to arrange a marriage for him. But he made trouble with me, saying that in this life No longer married. But who would have thought that after he met Miss Dong, he actually fell in love with her at first sight and insisted on marrying her. I thought this was a good thing in advance, so I sent a matchmaker to come to propose marriage, but the other members of the Board of Directors did not agree with the marriage. , logically speaking, we are a good match for their family, but for some reason, he just didn’t agree. Moreover, one day he came to my house in person, made rude remarks to me, and threatened to report it to the police if he harassed his lady again. I saw no other way, so I had to give up. Who would have thought that this unsatisfactory son would actually do something like run away with someone." After saying that, he lowered his head and cried again.

After crying for a while, she continued: "That day in court, I was afraid that Liang Er would suffer, so I concealed the fact that I met the Dong family and proposed marriage. I only said that my son liked men, hoping to prevaricate and distance myself from Dong. Regarding the relationship at home, alas, I was just confused for a moment. Sir, everything I said is true. Although my son wrote a private letter, he was indeed alone when he came home that day. Sir, you must save me. My son." After saying that, I was about to kneel down tremblingly, and I quickly helped Liang's mother up.

Alas, poor mother in heaven, if she knew that something bad had happened to her child, would she still be able to survive? I really couldn't bear to tell her the truth, so I thought about taking the girl back for interrogation first, and then finding a time to slowly tell her that my son was gone. If I told her the bad news suddenly, something might happen to her. So I had no choice but to ask: "What about that girl of yours? We need to take her back for questioning."

She called the maid Xiaocui, a girl of eighteen or nineteen years old, who was very smart, so we took her back to the county government office.

The county magistrate struck a blow and began to raise the case to the court, "Bold slave, you dared to poison the food of your young master and the county magistrate, and also ordered someone to strangle your young master to death. What are your intentions?" "

Xiaocui was frightened when she heard this: "What, my young master is dead? I was fine when I came to deliver the meal yesterday. The meal was cooked by the lady herself and she asked me to deliver it. I didn't dare to rest along the way because I was afraid that the meal would be cold. , arrived in front of the prison, handed it to the prison leader, and also gave him food and wine, as well as the ten taels of silver that the lady asked for. I did not poison my young master, sir, please don’t wrongly accuse a good person!" After saying this, he collapsed on the ground. land.

"You're a cunning man. It seems like you won't tell the truth unless I'm tortured. Come here, hit twenty big boards first!" After he gave the order, the officer picked up the board and hit twenty big boards hard. He beat the little girl's legs and butt until the skin was raw, but the little girl bit her lips and kept complaining every time she was wronged. In the end, she fainted from the pain and was dragged off by the yamen and locked up in the women's prison.

Everyone found it strange that this girl was really tough-talking. She didn't change her words even after such a severe punishment. Was there something else she was hiding?

The next day, Xiaocui was interrogated. Xiaocui was dying, but he still insisted that no poison was poisoned. I asked: "Since you did not poison, but we did find the Mongolian sweat medicine in the meals you sent, think again, who else has touched these meals besides you."

Xiaocui thought for a while and said, "By the way, I met Mr. Dong on the road. He asked me what I was going to do. I said I was going to deliver food to the young master. He once opened the lunch box."

It seems that the biggest suspect now is Dong Yuanwai. He hates Liang Qi for abducting her daughter. Now that his daughter is neither alive nor dead, he feels that it is all Liang Qi's fault, so he wants to put him to death.

When I mentioned Miss Dong, I thought of the mummies under the haunted house, so I asked the fat man: "Miss Dong has been missing for so many days. Maybe she has been killed. Could it be the naked corpse we found under the haunted house?" ?”

The fat man shook his head: "No, Liang Qi said that Miss Dong was pregnant, but the corpse showed no signs of pregnancy, and judging from the bone age, the female corpse was already 30 or 17 years old, while Miss Dong was only [-] years old."

"Since she's not Miss Dong, and I heard Liang Qi say that he didn't abduct her, then where has this Miss Dong gone? It's strange. Why do I feel that Mr. Dong only wants to take Liang Qi, and is threatening his daughter's life and death?" I don’t care, it’s been two days, and he hasn’t come to inquire about Miss Dong’s whereabouts, something is a little unusual, I think it’s necessary for us to pay a visit to this member of the board of directors.”

The county magistrate asked us to arrest Director Wei. I said it was a little early because the girl Xiaocui’s words have not yet been verified to be true or false, and there is no evidence to prove that he was the one who administered the medicine. Rushing to arrest Director Wei will make us appear very passive. I wanted to explore Dong Yuan's wife's truth first. The county magistrate thought it made sense, so he asked us to go to Dong Yuan's wife's house and get a feel for the situation in the Dong family.