Since I met you, people are dying every day

Ye Sirui didn't need to conceal his identity during this trip. Under the coir raincoats, the yamen servants all wore light green shirts with cross-collared collars and red belts.Ma Lu inquired about the location of the Li Chang's family, and their identities had been spread along with several whispering and running children in the rain.

"There is good news among the families in Guishanli," Ye Sirui said.

A yamen servant happened to walk up to him and replied, "Don't you know how to sit together? If a villager commits a crime, the village chief will punish him."

Ye Sirui stopped, and Xia Shu also stopped to hold an umbrella for him. "If I remember correctly, during the reign of the first emperor, the law of consecutive sittings between Li and Jia was abolished? Except for deserters, strong men not serving corvee, and non-payment of taxes, etc., the lieutenant needs to be punished for dereliction of duty, why should the other sit together ?”

The yamen servant just laughed, "Your Excellency is indeed familiar with the criminal code, but it's all old calendars. If something happened under the management of Li Changjia, doesn't it mean that they educated the villagers and supervised the negligence of the corvee? How could they explain to you, Sir?" ?”

Ye Sirui recognized that this yamen servant was called Fan Zhi, who was said to be able to read and write, and was familiar with the legal code, so he didn't say anything else.The Malu over there had already knocked on the door of the head of the village, and the family of the head of the village in Guishan went out to welcome them in the rain.Ye Sirui helped them up and urged them to go back to the room to talk.

The head of the village was named Feng Hongguang.The head of the village is selected from the ten households with the most rations among the 110 households. Feng Hongguang has been on duty for many years, so his family background should not be underestimated.Feng Hongguang is less than half a hundred years old. He has four sons and two daughters. The daughters are all married. The eldest son is married and has children, and the youngest is still nursing.With so many people, his house looks quite small, with two rooms and three rooms.The land in the yard was deserted, except for a few stalks of dead bamboo and weeds, there were only a few wilting plants, which could not be seen, and the pink petals fell all over the ground.

Feng Hongguang welcomed the group into his home.

If there is no accident, Ye Sirui and his party will stay at his house during the investigation in Guishanli.As soon as Ye Sirui sat down, he mentioned it tactfully. Unexpectedly, Feng Hongguang showed masculinity: "The county magistrate is willing to condescend, and the little old man is terrified. Naturally, he should treat him well. However, the humble house is simple and there are many people in the family. Everyone who is accompanied by the magistrate~ There are so many, I’m afraid it’s hard to entertain them all.”

Ye Sirui and Ma Lu exchanged a look. "Feng Li's family has a great career. It's really not easy. It's hard to entertain a group of people. Is it enough to entertain the two of us?" He pulled Xia Shu, who had taken off the bamboo hat and sat beside him, and Feng Hongguang nodded, "This is My staff, Mr. Xia, Mr. Feng Li, the two of us have been bothering each other for a few days!"

Feng Hongguang and Xia Shu greeted each other, and smiled at Ma Lu, "Would this big brother be wronged and go to my son's house for a while?"

Naturally Ma Lu had no objection to Ye Sirui's decision.As a result, Ye Sirui, Xia Shu and Cha Ming lived in Feng Hongguang's house, and Ma Lu took four yamen servants to the house of Feng Hongguang's eldest son, Feng Anfu.After all, with Xia Shu by his side, Ye Sirui was very assured of safety.

After arranging food and lodging, everyone can talk with peace of mind.After a few words, Feng Hongguang turned the topic to Ye Sirui's origin.There is nothing to hide about this, Ye Sirui said bluntly: "I am here to investigate the case of Wu Xintian's murder."

Feng Hongguang looked surprised, because Ye Sirui knew the reason well.Wu Xintian's case has already been examined by a dead body, and the body has also been transported back to the county government. It stands to reason that Ye Sirui, as the county magistrate, should have been in charge of the county government. Litigation.But Feng Hongguang didn't know that the case was strange.Marquis Anshun personally asked him first, no matter whether he could find out anything, Ye Sirui had to go there himself to give him face.

Feng Hongguang was surprised for a moment, and asked respectfully: "My lord, the old man in Guishanli went to the Wu family with the office worker of the county government. Do you want to call them to come and ask?"

Ye Sirui nodded in response.Within the Lijia, the old people who are over 50 years old and have high morals are elected by each li. Three, five or ten are called Li old people, who are responsible for resolving local disputes, supervising the people's hard work in farming and mulberry, and can handle local affairs. small dispute.The elders in Li have a high status, because it takes up a long word, even Ye Sirui has to treat them respectfully. "Where are Wu Xintian's wife and children?"

"Still in the Wu residence." Feng Hongguang said, "Wu Xintian only has one daughter, and the family has been wiped out. It's a freak household. Can my lord want to see them?"

"I'll go to Wu's house again after meeting the old people." Ye Sirui said.

There were five elders in Guishanli. When Wu Zuo came to see the corpse together, one of them was also the one who discovered Wu Xintian's body for the first time.The old man had bad legs and feet, so Feng Hongguang sent his sons and grandchildren to help him.Ye Sirui saw that his family business was very big, but there were no servants in the family. He asked casually, and Feng Hongguang said: "Master Ye is joking, there are many old children, and he is a commoner, and there are many children in the family. Where can I get the money to hire servants?" ?” Ye Sirui also joked with him, but he was still surprised.

Five old people came one by one. The older ones were approaching seventy years of age, leaning on crutches and being supported to walk tremblingly. There were also younger ones, in their early fifties, with brisk steps. Ye Sirui saluted them and gave up their seats. , Xia Shu followed him and moved to sit below.After everyone sat down, Feng Hongguang asked the children to serve tea and introduce each other to each other.

"It's a pity, it's a pity, the kid in the Wu family is a good reader, the school has just been opened, and the boys have just started..." The oldest old man couldn't help shaking his head with emotion.After careful questioning, Ye Sirui found out that Wu Xin was a good reader of Tianshu, and Guishanli had just set up an elementary school, so he was asked to enlighten the children and grandchildren of each family.And he was not at home when he died, but in the Mongolian pavilion.

"...It was about to enter the watch at night, and the sister of the Wu family came to me and said that her father hadn't returned yet, and her family lived in front of me, so she came to look for me, and I went with her..."

Ye Sirui picked up the tea bowl and took a sip, almost spit it out.The tea was rough and bitter, with a very strange taste.Before he said anything, he felt a pain in his waist. Looking sideways, Xia Shu listened to the old man's description seriously, and couldn't tell that he was distracted and pinched himself, "What are you doing?" He muttered .Xia Shu was still very focused, so he just gave him a blank stare.Ye Sirui had no choice but to obediently put down the tea bowl, sat upright, and listened attentively.

"...Hey, it's amazing. When I arrived, he was lying in the room, bleeding almost dry! That sister of the Wu family almost lost her mind!"

Ye Sirui interrupted him, "That is to say, the corpse that Wu Xintian's daughter discovered together with you?"

The younger old man nodded.

"Is the house where the body was found locked?"

"No, how can we get in if it's locked?"

"What is that room usually used for? Where is Wu Xintian lying down? Is the door closed? Is the room lit?" Ye Sirui asked many questions in one breath.The old man frowned and thought for a long time before he said slowly: "The room should be a place for the teacher to study and rest on weekdays. The Wu family boy fell by the table. The door is half-closed, and you can go in as soon as you push it." The lamp...the lamp should be on, I can't remember clearly...the Wu family boy should be reading a book, and the lamp was lit, yes, it was lit.

Seeing his hesitation in answering, Ye Sirui asked them to continue talking, and he spread his hands back.Unexpectedly, no one responded for a long time, and finally he heard Xia Shu whisper: "Dossier." His hand sank, and he withdrew his hand. It was indeed the dossier of the case that Ye Fu gave him.Cha Ming is a fool, Ma Lu is not as smart as Xia Tian.He murmured in his heart, and turned the dossier to the page where Wu did the autopsy, and compared them one by one.Wu Xintian died in the Mongolian mansion with nothing on his body, so it is not impossible to say that he was asking for money.The door is ajar and anyone can enter.The left side of the neck of the corpse was injured. When he was reading a book, the murderer unexpectedly stabbed him to death from behind.The left side... the murderer is left-handed?Or was Wu Xintian not stabbed in the back?In order to draw the symbol, the murderer dragged the body to lie flat, so that the posture before birth could no longer be seen.pity.He sighed inwardly.

"My lord?" Ye Sirui came back to his senses, and said with a gentle smile: "I have one more thing to ask, what book is Wu Xintian reading in the room? Why didn't he come back?"

The old man who was the first to find the body replied: "Meng school is late after school, and the men from all families are busy working in the fields. The Wu family boy usually likes to stay in the Meng hall for a while, otherwise his sister wouldn't be there." I was looking for him later. As for what books to read... this little old man really didn't pay attention."

This is true.That little girl is considered smart, and she also knew to call an old man nearby, if her only son went to find her father, he might run into the murderer, and more than one person would die.He closed the file. "I read the records of the work, what kind of symbol is there on the chest of the deceased?"

The old man looked puzzled, "What symbol? It's so dark that the old man didn't dare to look at it carefully."

All right.Ye Sirui didn't have any hope, so he cast his eyes on the other elderly people who accompanied him for the autopsy. "There seems to be blood, it's a black mass, if it's a symbol, I really look down on what it is."

"Little old man is getting old, and his eyesight is also bad, why does Yue look like a pair of scissors?" said the oldest one.

"And do you know what that means?"

"This……"

The elders in the village and Feng Hongguang, the village chief, were exchanging glances. Ye Sirui knew that they must have something to hide from him, so he asked sharply, "Why are you hesitating? Just say what you know!"

Several people looked at each other, and after a stalemate for a long time, Feng Hongguang said: "To tell the truth, my lord, I really dare not say it. After all, it is a rural rumor, and I am afraid that my ears will be dirty."

"It doesn't matter, but it's okay to say." Ye Sirui was holding the tea bowl and was about to take a sip, the tea soup moistened his lips and awakened the bitter memory, so he had to pretend to taste the tea and put down the tea bowl.

Feng Hongguang hesitated to speak, he hesitated, Ye Sirui deliberately showed a look of impatience, Feng Hongguang really paid attention, and made up his mind to speak: "My lord, do you know that there is an organization called the Golden Scissors Association?"