Tang riddles

Shen Sui and Shen Jin had lunch together, and briefly told her about the case. Before he could say a few words of his own, Shen Sui changed into his official uniform, took Hutuo out of the residence, and rode all the way to the place. Jingzhaofu.Yesterday, she made an appointment with Murong Fu and Qin Zhen to discuss the case at Jingzhao Mansion at the same time, so she couldn't be late.

Arriving at the gate of Jingzhao Mansion, Shen Sui and Hu Tuo handed over the horse to the stable boy of Jingzhao Mansion, and then quickly walked into the gate of the mansion.Murong Fu should have greeted the soldiers guarding the gate, so no one stopped them.

The meeting hall is located right behind the lobby of Jingzhao Mansion. When Shen Sui arrived with Kutuo, two majestic flying cavalry guards stood outside the meeting hall.Shen Sui frowned, a bad feeling welled up in his heart.

I'm afraid it's not true, some important person has come to Jingzhao Mansion.

As she expected, after they entered the gate of the meeting hall, they saw the head above, one person sitting on the bed, Murong Fu and Qin Zhen were both sitting on the bottom, with respectful expressions.This is a heroic woman, looking more than 20 years old, wearing a purple gown with large lapels and arrow sleeves, wearing buckskin riding boots, and holding a golden sheathed broadsword in her hand, appearing in military uniform.Her long jet-black hair was simply combed into a high bun and tied with a silver crown.On the forehead is a jade-inlaid mop forehead of the same color as the dress.A pair of apricot eyes are shining and flowing, full of charm, the brows are domineering, the high nose is in line with today's saints, the red lips are thin, and the sandalwood mouth is beautiful.The facial features are three-dimensional and full, with a heavenly atmosphere and a grand atmosphere.

Shen Sui stepped into the door, saw this woman, hurriedly stepped forward, raised the hem of his robe, half-kneeled down, clasped his fists in a marching salute, and said:

"Fa Cao of the Henan Province joins the army, Shen Sui, and pays homage to Your Excellency Princess Jin, the governor of the Han Navy." [Note]

"Please hurry up, Shen Yi is too polite, Jin Yue dare not be."

Shen Sui kept his head bowed, and did not look at Princess Jin, as if he was very humble.Princess Jin was curious about the appearance of this "Snow Dao Mingjue" who was on the cusp of the storm. She carefully looked at the person in front of her, but saw that she was not facing her directly, and she felt a little puzzled.But it's not easy to ask people to look up, and said:

"Shen Yihui, please sit down. Jinyue came here today because she heard that the case seems to have progressed, so she came to listen in. Shen Yihui must not be polite, and I hope I can tell you everything. Jinyue is very concerned about this case. Don't worry, these days are almost becoming a heart disease. I can't make a decision all day, I just think hard and can't solve it. I was distracted during the school training and almost got injured. No, I came to the school in a hurry after leaving the school at noon today. " She spoke sincerely, and Murong Fu and Qin Zhen also nodded in agreement frequently, and at the end, Murong Fu rushed ahead of Qin Zhen and said:

"The princess must take good care of her body."

Qin Zhen rolled his eyes in his heart, and also cupped his hands to persuade the princess to pay attention to her body.The princess of the state of Jin is more or less favored by the saint because of her birth mother, the queen.Because of his good physique since he was a child, he was very talented in martial arts. He entered the army at the age of fourteen or fifteen, and he was a child of the royal family who grew up in the army. He went to Anxi Dufu Mansion for the first time at the age of 17. He participated in various battles. She has tempered the blood of a soldier, coupled with her extremely high military talent, she quickly became a general. In her 20s, she was implicated by her mother's family, and was recalled to Chang'an and placed under house arrest for half a year, which actually washed away the evil spirit in her body and made her more calm.Half a year of retreat and study has raised her military vision to an extremely long-term strategic height. She has been promoted from a general to a generation of handsome talents. She is really young and promising, and she is a rare female hero in the world.This kind of heroine was not seen in the period of the Empress Dowager Zetian, and only Princess Pingyangzhao in the early Tang Dynasty can be compared.

Because she is the only bloodline of the saint, and also a famous princess in charge of soldiers, she has a high prestige in Chang'an, and the ministers all want to give her some face.There are still many people who want to curry favor with her, not to support her, that is impossible.The main reason is that she has a very good relationship with the current prince, so to curry favor with her is tantamount to becoming a prince/party, so why worry about the future?This Murong Fu was one of them, and everyone knew Sima Zhaozhi's attitude, so Qin Zhen looked down on him very much.Qin Zhen respected the princess from the bottom of his heart, rather than trying to curry favor with others, which was fundamentally different from Murong Fu's thoughts.

But Shen Sui rolled her eyes more than Qin Zhen. Her object was not Murong Fu, but Li Jinyue, Princess of Jin.Secretly: My lord princess, when did you hear that this case has progressed?Who spread the news?What a mouthful!Last night, she thought hard all night, but she didn't come up with any big tricks, so she had no choice but to bite the bullet.

So he straightened his head and said:

"A certain person believes that there are two deceased in this case, who died in different places. Although they died together in the same night, they cannot escape their relationship with each other. However, the facts of each case are quite different, and each has its own doubts. Let me talk about the doubts first, and then talk about the judgment so far." After a pause, she cleared her throat, and then she said in that hoarse and unique voice:

"First of all, the most suspicious point about the abbot's death is the brazier found in the Zen room where the abbot died. The brazier was placed properly when all the surrounding objects were overturned, which aroused the suspicion of a certain person. Afterwards, a certain person observed A thin layer of ashes was sprinkled on the banquet around the brazier, and the charcoal in the basin was inexplicably less. After questioning, it can be concluded that the brazier was touched that night when the crime happened, and the charcoal in it was much less. Then, whether it was the abbot who moved it himself or the murderer, it is unknown. Why it was moved is also unknown. The only thing that can be speculated is that there may be something burned in the brazier. Something that should not be known to outsiders, so that the murderer or the abbot took away the ashes after burning it and hid it or destroyed it.

In addition, a golden powder with a strange fragrance was found in the brazier. Someone consulted a famous medical expert, and she said that this substance might be an aphrodisiac that was once popular among orchids in Pingkangfang, called Jinzuifang.And this kind of medicinal powder was also found on the index finger and thumb of the abbot's right hand when he was examining the abbot's body.However, this does not completely mean that the state of the brazier after the incident was directly caused by the abbot himself, and there is too little evidence to prove it.However, why this kind of aphrodisiac medicine appears in Buddhist monasteries with strict disciplines and no desires is unknown, and it must be investigated.

The second most doubtful point about the death of the abbot is the mystery of the cause of the abbot's death.This is actually related to the first major doubt to a certain extent.It is hard to say that the abbot died by accident or suicide, but if it was a homicide, the method used by the murderer, that is, the method of poisoning the abbot to death, was too cumbersome, sloppy and not thorough.

If it is said that someone really intends to kill the abbot, then it is meaningless not to ensure that they can really kill people.It is very puzzling why the murderer wants to give up the simple and the complicated, and seek the far.As a person who solves the case, I can only use inferences that conform to the general laws to explain the problem, rather than using speculative subjective reasons such as 'the murderer is too weak' or 'repented at the end'.Why on earth did the murderer use charcoal to kill people?What was the process of the abbot's death from charcoal poisoning?Without explaining the above two problems, it cannot be said that the case has been solved.

The third major doubt about the death of the abbot is the fact that the confession in the Zen room and the Buddha statue were overturned.The reason why this is the third most doubtful point is that there is a certain distance between the confession case and the Buddha statue and the place where the abbot died. They are all in the north of the Zen room, and the abbot died behind the book case in the south.It is easy for us to guess that it was the abbot who overturned it when he was fighting with the murderer.But I think this conjecture is unlikely.A certain inspected the body of the abbot carefully, and there was no trace of trauma on his body. It is hard to say that he had experienced a life-and-death struggle with someone before his death.If the murderer wants to kill the abbot with charcoal poison, he must first make the abbot lose his autonomy. Since there are no traces of fighting or binding on the abbot, it means that the abbot must have been stunned by drugs.Since the abbot was stunned, there is no such thing as overturning the altar while fighting with the abbot.The only reasonable explanation that could be come up with was that maybe the murderer was looking for something and overturned the confession in a fit of impatience.This is a conclusion based on the extremely messy items around the abbot.So this leads to another question, what is the murderer looking for?This thing is very important, and it should be directly related to the second point, which is the reason for the death of the abbot.

The above are the three major doubts about the death of the abbot. "

When Shen Sui spoke, Li Jinyue, Princess of Jin, listened very carefully.Shen Sui sat on Qin Zhen's lower seat, with his head down, he could only see her side face clearly.At the beginning, Li Jinyue was a little distracted, because she felt that Shen Sui had a very familiar feeling, as if she had known each other before.This feeling caught Li Jinyue's attention, so she always wanted to see her face clearly.But Shen Sui kept her head down, she still couldn't see clearly.However, as Shen Sui's analysis unfolded in an orderly manner, Li Jinyue was so attracted that he began to think, and put this idea behind him.Shen Sui's words made her nod her head frequently, and her eyes began to light up.It's been a long time since she's seen someone explain things so coherently.It's not that there is no clear-headed person like Shen Sui in the imperial court, but that Your Excellency the princess has been in contact with generals who are straightforward and not good at speech all day long. Few military generals have such a clear language ability.

Seeing that Shen Sui's words came to an end, Li Jinyue took this opportunity to ask her own question:

"I heard what Shen Yihui just said. It seems that many unknown points are related to his family background. The abbot and the murderer must have some kind of intersection in an unknown place, which will lead to the murder. Did you find out? If you know your wealth and background, can you make a breakthrough?"

Shen Sui nodded and continued:

"The princess summed it up exactly, but the difficulty lies in the fact that the case has no suspense, and there is no trace of his family background. The abbot was orphaned at the age of four because of the war, but fortunately he was adopted by his neighbors. The family of his adoptive parents was also displaced. , In the early years of Gaozu, he was already impoverished and could not survive. Therefore, Abbot Miaopu became a monk at the age of 12. Now, his relatives are no longer alive. He became a monk at the age of 12 until he is now 70 For many years, I spent all my time in the temple, and the people who came and went were the monks and some pilgrims in the temple. I have accumulated good deeds all my life, sweeping the floor for fear of hurting the lives of ants, cherishing the moths and covering the lanterns, and my reputation is first-class Good. Where exactly did he provoke the vicious people who wanted people's lives? We asked the monks in the temple, but no one knew. In addition, the abbot is getting older and his social circle is narrower. For many years, only the monks in the temple of Ci’en Temple and some old friends who have been friends for more than ten years. After thinking about it, I still feel that it is more reliable to narrow the scope to the monks of the main temple of Ci’en Temple.”

Li Jinyue nodded, expressing her approval of Shen Sui's speculation.Then she said:

"Please Shen Yihui to continue."

Shen Sui continued the previous words:

"There are two major doubts about Shanyin's death.

First of all, the first big doubt is why he hanged himself on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.This is a very important doubt, and it is also the most critical point to solve the mystery of Shan Yin's death.

First of all, hanging on the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, this can never be an accident, either suicide or homicide.So is it suicide or homicide?Someone is undecided about this.But from the perspective of feasibility, a certain person is still inclined to commit suicide.Because according to the results of the on-site inspection, the main south gate on the first floor of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda is the only open door for entry and exit. The key is in the hands of Master Miaoyin. No exception.Master Miaoyin testified: the lock was indeed dropped that night, and it was not opened until Shanyin's body was found on the pagoda in the early morning of the next day.On the night of the incident and a few days before the incident, the gates on the rest of the towers were all locked, with dust and rust on them, and there was no sign of being damaged or opened.This means that even if the murderer has the ability to pry open the south gate on the first floor without damage and climb all the way to the highest level with Shanyin, he still has no way to suspend Shanyin outside the tower.And since this is the case, the murderer can only find a way to hang Shan Yin from outside the tower.

A certain man dared to climb the Wild Goose Pagoda once with his bare hands, and Lord Murong Mansion and Duke Qin already knew how difficult it was.A certain person believed that it would be impossible for the murderer to bring such a tall and strong Shanyin to the top of the ten-storey tower with his bare hands, unless the person had three heads and six arms and the ability to fly into the sky.So is some kind of tool or mechanism used?This is not known, at least someone climbed a circle of the Wild Goose Pagoda, and did not see any other traces except for the vertical wear marks of the ropes on the northeast eaves corner of the tenth floor where Shanyin was hanged.

When inspecting Shanyin's body, a certain person noticed that the shape of his arms and hands was unusual.Shanyin's arms are thick, long and strong, with well-knit muscles.The ratio of its arm length to its height is an inch to an inch and a half longer than my average adult male standard in Tang Dynasty, reaching the knee-length arm length, which is comparable to the arm length of Uncle Liu Huang of the Shu Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms.The palms are unusually long and thick, the fingers are stubby and powerful, and the thumb is lower than that of ordinary people. This kind of hand shape is very similar to the palms and claws of apes.A certain reason has reason to speculate that Shanyin may be good at certain climbing skills, or practice imitating apes since he was a child, so that his appearance has changed over time.

In addition, refer to the confessions of the two monks Yuantong and Yuanqing, that is, when they got up at night, they saw white-haired apes climbing the wild goose pagoda quickly.Someone boldly deduced that what they saw should be the good cause of climbing the wild goose pagoda covered with snow.And the ape palm print left on the white snow of the Wild Goose Pagoda that Xiaowei Du saw should also be the palm print left by Shan Yin when he climbed the Wild Goose Pagoda. "

As soon as these words came out, not only Li Jinyue, but Murong Fu and Qin Zhen were all taken aback.However, the three of them did not interrupt Shen Sui, so her words continued:

"If my conjecture is true, then it leads to the second biggest doubt about Shanyin's death. Why did Shanyin commit suicide? Could it be that he was not popular in the monastery? I don't think so. His experience is related to his identity. So the second big doubt is: What kind of experience did he have before he became a monk? It is still unknown. This second big doubt is also related to the first big doubt: why he hanged himself on the Wild Goose Pagoda. association.

The death of the abbot and the death of Shanyin were a coincidence, the possibility of this is too small, the two must be related.There is direct evidence for this.That was the monk's trousers that Shanyin was wearing on the night of the crime, with dried salt stains on the knees and calves.We all know that it snowed heavily in Chang'an in the days before and after the incident, and the Ci'en Temple sprinkled salt to melt the snow, mainly some key courtyards and important roads.Then, this shows that Shanyin probably knelt down in the salted snow to leave such traces.What's even more strange is that this salt stain is also mixed with a kind of unique soil in the abbot's courtyard.So I deduced that Shanyin must have gone to the abbot that night and knelt down on the snow in the abbot's courtyard.Then it was deduced that the abbot was probably implicated and killed because he was involved in some incidents committed by Shan Yin in his early years, and even Shan Yin was the murderer who killed the abbot himself.This is the most appropriate and reasonable guess.

But speculation is speculation after all, not solid fact.Combining the reasoning and judgment of the death of the abbot and the death of Shan Yin, a certain person believes that the key to solving the case lies in the investigation of his background. case is very difficult. "

After Shen Sui finished speaking, the meeting hall fell into silence.

The author has something to say: There are still some doubts in Shen Sui's inference that have not been explained clearly, so don't worry, the article will be supplemented later.

[Note] 1. Hanhai Mansion is the old name of Anbei Dadu Protectorate, and the defenders there are called "Han Haijun".

2. In the Tang Dynasty, only princes, empresses, and empress dowagers could be called "His Royal Highness". Regardless of princes or princesses, those who went out of the palace to build a mansion were called out of the pavilion.Therefore, it is more appropriate to call the princess "Your Excellency".