Warm fragrance cloud around

Lin Junnuan frowned and asked, "How are they dressed?"

"The materials of the clothes are pretty good, and the clothes are generous," the shopkeeper smiled sheepishly, "the poor don't come to our place either."

"But there are other special places? Anything."

The shopkeeper wiped his sweat in distress, and suddenly thought of something: "By the way, before they left, the short boy asked the slave family that there was a younger brother in his family who couldn't go out because of his poor health. He wanted to invite us He came to tailor clothes, and the small shop only deals in ready-made clothes, so he was rejected."

"Which direction did they go when they left?"

"This... I didn't pay attention to it." The shopkeeper wiped his sweat again.

Lin Junnuan narrowed her eyes and asked, "Shopkeeper, are you sure you can't think of anything else?"

"It's...really gone," the female shopkeeper tucked her hands into her wide sleeves, her eyes flickering uncomfortably.

Lin Junnuan leaned closer to her ear with a half-smile, "If there is any concealment, you will be regarded as an accomplice!"

While the shopkeeper was absent-minded, Lin Junnuan nimbly reached into her sleeve pocket, which had been concealed all along, and took out a dark blue money bag.

The female shopkeeper let out an "ah", with a hint of annoyance and worry on her face, but she didn't feel the anger after being treated rudely.

Cheng Jiangyun asked in a deep voice: "What is this, is it related to those two people?"

The style of this purse is clearly the same as the one worn by the deceased.

At this time, Lin Junnuan had already opened the purse deftly, and there were several 500 taels of banknotes in it. Upon closer inspection, they were still numbered. When she put it in front of her nose and smelt it, the banknotes were stained with powder. odor.

The shopkeeper is not a treacherous person, he just likes to be greedy for small things|cheaps. Seeing that he couldn't keep it, he confessed honestly: "The short man lost the money bag, and I was fascinated by ghosts for a while..."

A huge sum of money dropped out of thin air, it is useless not to take it, the shopkeeper's mood is easy to understand, Cheng Jiangyun didn't pursue it too much, and asked flatly: "Now the shopkeeper really has nothing to hide, right?"

"Not anymore, absolutely not!" The female shopkeeper could only swear to the sky.

Cheng Jiangyun nodded, took a 50 tael silver ticket from his purse and handed it to her, pointed at the dark purple brocade robe with cloud pattern that Lin Junnuan had seen before: "Wrap that dress, don't worry about it." Find money."

"Okay!" The shopkeeper narrowed his eyes with a smile. That dress usually sells for four or five taels of silver at most, which is a huge profit!

"Didn't you say you don't like purple?" Lin Junnuan punched him from behind.

"Well... this one looks pretty good."

Hmph, duplicity guy, Lin Junnuan pursed his lips and snickered a few times, and said solemnly: "Trust me, you are right, purple matches you very well."

Cheng Jiangyun remained silent.

Lin Junnuan asked curiously again: "Seeing that you are so generous, the salary of the Shaoqing of Dali Temple is not low, right?"

Cheng Jiangyun glanced at her and said nothing.

"Okay, okay, I don't ask about money," Lin Junnuan said with a flattering smile, "Shaoqing's authority should not be small, and it shouldn't be a problem to insert someone in Dali Temple, right?"

"Who?"

"its me!"

She patted her chest and smiled innocently, "Master Shaoqing, we have been working together happily these days. Have you noticed that I have a quick mind and a talent for investigating cases?"

Cheng Jiangyun frowned slightly: "You...are short of money?" He had also heard the rumors in the capital that Chengyi's residence was not making ends meet, so it probably wasn't true.

"No, I just want to contribute a little to the stability of the Great Chu State." Lin Junnuan said seriously.

I have to say that this proposal moved Cheng Shaoqing a little bit, but he couldn't agree too simply, so he just said "we'll talk about it later", took the clothes wrapped by the shopkeeper, turned around and went out of the ready-to-wear shop shop.

The two left Qiansijin and went straight to Yongfeng Bank, which issued bank notes.

Yongfeng Bank is the largest bank in Dachu, with large and small branches all over the north and south of the river, and there is one here in the West City of the capital.

Every deposit and withdrawal transaction of silver in the bank will be recorded in the book, and it may be possible to find out the identity of the deceased by finding out who made the bank note.

Because the distance was not far away, the two walked relatively leisurely, Lin Junnuan had nothing to say, "If the short man is the deceased, could the tall man be the murderer?"

"It's hard to say right now."

"There are scars on the face, moles on the neck, and moles again... People nowadays, don't they have a few moles on their bodies, so they are too embarrassed to come out and do bad things?"

Cheng Jiangyun asked suspiciously, "Who else has moles?"

"Hey, didn't I tell you that day?" Lin Junnuan touched her nose subconsciously. She drank alcohol that day, so she couldn't remember whether she said it or not.

"When?"

"It was in the Hou Mansion... on the day I was drunk, I should have told you that the man who gave Hua Niang money had a big mole on his right cheek."

Cheng Jiangyun froze, turned sideways and grabbed her wrist: "Where did the news come from, is it reliable?"

"The gangsters around Hua Niang said it should be reliable, you... what's wrong?"

The expression on Cheng Jiangyun's face at this time became the same panic and sadness as that night, with a trace of unbelievable panic in it.

"Take me to find..." Cheng Jiangyun eagerly pulled her to turn around and walk back. When his eyes met Lin Junnuan, he saw the worry on her face clearly, and his expression slowly calmed down.

"Forget it, let's go to the bank first."

The two continued to walk forward in silence, Cheng Jiangyun didn't let go of his hand, and Lin Junnuan let him hold it until he finally recovered from his absent-mindedness.

"Sorry." He let go of his tight grip.

Lin Junnuan shook her head lightly, wanting to ask, but in the end she didn't make a sound.

"Up to now, I'm the one who made a fuss."

Cheng Jiangyun smiled bitterly, and his eyes suddenly darkened: "Lao Meng, the chief housekeeper of the Hou Mansion, also has a big mole on his right cheek."

Housekeeper of the Hou Mansion?Why did he approach Huaniang and give her a "huge sum" of 50 taels of silver? !

Lin Junnuan looked at Cheng Jiangyun with frowned eyebrows, but he shook his head slightly at her: "We'll talk about this later."

Yongfeng Bank is already in sight.

The manager of the bank is a middle-aged man with a pot belly. Hearing that the two wanted to check the information on the bank notes, he waved his hand and refused at first without saying a word. It was not until Cheng Jiangyun assumed the identity of the young minister of Dali Temple and threatened to hinder the handling of the case that his attitude changed. Calm down.

The steward looked at the serial number on the bank note, squinted his eyes and rummaged through the cabinet behind him for a long time before he took out a yellowed booklet.

"This bank note has been around for several years, and it's easy to find a small one."

He licked his fingers, and turned to the page corresponding to several bank notes, "Qikang 14th year, No. [-]th, that's right."

Lin Junnuan wanted to take it over and read it for herself, but the steward's chubby body pressed on it directly: "You can't take this away and flip through it, you can only read this page!" They want to talk about credibility when they run a bank!

In order to prevent the account books from being turned over randomly, the steward simply read to them in a low voice: "On March 14, 500, Qikang deposited [-] taels of silver, issued ten thousand taels of silver bills, and twenty [-] taels of silver bills, numbered It's all right, the depositor is... Lu Guogong Jiang Jianliang."

Duke Lu?This was another unexpected character, Cheng Jiangyun and Lin Junnuan exchanged a look, and wanted to ask the steward, but the steward hurriedly took back the booklet and began to urge them to leave.

"My lords, please keep it secret. Don't say that the news was obtained from our bank. We can't afford to mess with Lu Guogong!"

I don't know whether to say that the manager is bold or cowardly, in short, Lin Junnuan and the two were directly kicked out of the bank by him.

Standing at the gate of the bank and watched by passers-by for a while, Lin Junnuan gently tugged at Cheng Jiangyun's sleeve: "Is there a teenage son in Duke Lu's mansion?"

"No."

It is a big joke in the capital that it is not easy for Duke Lu to seek a son.In addition to his main wife, he has taken in a bunch of concubines over the years, and he has had five or six children, but unfortunately they are all daughters, and there is no one with a handle.

"Then...the case has nothing to do with him?"

No, probably related.Cheng Jiangyun's eyes darkened.

In addition to the difficulty of seeking a child, there is another rumor about Duke Lu.

Raising child prostitutes, both men and women eat all.

But such filthy things don't need to be known to her.

Seeing that Cheng Jiangyun didn't answer and seemed to have no idea, Lin Junnuan took the money bag and looked it over and over several times.

"Hey, there seems to be words in it!"

This money bag has two layers, inner and outer, and the inner lining is a layer of translucent gauze, while the words are written on the inner side of the outer layer, so it is impossible to see it unless you look carefully.

Lin Junnuan tore apart the stitches between the inner and outer layers, and turned the outer layer over, only to see two large red characters written in cinnabar on it.

Help.

"This is... the deceased's request for help? He already knew that someone was going to kill him?!" Lin Junnuan handed the money bag to Cheng Jiangyun with trembling hands.

The two red characters on the purse are so similar in color to the blood that stained the cabin that day.

His cry for help was never heard by anyone.

Cheng Jiangyun pinched the purse and looked at it twice, then held it tightly in his hand, sighed and closed his eyes.

No, not right.

He suddenly thought of what the deceased had told Qiansijin's shopkeeper, that there was a brother in his family who couldn't leave the house.

There is no son in the Duke of Lu's mansion. If his speculation is correct, the deceased and his younger brother are likely to be prostitutes raised by the Duke of Lu. What happened to the deceased would cause him to be attracted to a stranger who only met once. People issued a "help" call for help?Now that one of the two brothers has died, what is the situation of the living one? !

Seeing that he was lost in thought, Lin Junnuan couldn't help asking, but Cheng Jiangyun didn't answer her doubts, and gestured behind her, calling out the guards who followed behind: "Quickly inform the others, go to Duke Lu's mansion." !"

"What's going on, Duke Lu is really related to the case?"

"The situation is urgent, I will explain to you later!"

Cheng Jiangyun stopped an empty carriage on the side of the road, threw a silver ticket to the driver, and then pulled Lin Junnuan into the carriage, and rushed to Duke Lu's mansion at full speed.

The two came in a menacing way, and of course the guards of the Duke's Mansion wouldn't let them in. Without saying a word, Cheng Jiangyun dragged the bewildered Lin Junnuan in, "I'm Cheng Jiangyun, the young minister of Dali Temple, where is Duke Lu? Take me to see him!"

Soon after, the guards from Dali Temple also rushed over.The two of Cheng Jiangyun rushed straight to the main courtyard of Duke Lu's mansion.

The Duke of Lu, Jiang Jianliang, who got the news, was already waiting outside the door.

"Cheng Shaoqing barged in so arbitrarily, but he didn't care about my Duke Lu's mansion!" The anger on Duke Lu's face was undisguised.

Lin Junnuan frowned, and whispered in Cheng Jiangyun's ear: "No, he smells of blood!"

Cheng Jiangyun's face darkened, he pushed Duke Lu away, kicked open the door and broke into the main room.

"On the bed, the smell of blood on the bed is the biggest!"

The two rushed to the bed and pulled away the quilt. What appeared in front of them was the tender body of a young man covered in scars and blood.

The author has something to say:

Regarding the case of the male protagonist's sister, the information that has been made public is as follows:

She was killed on a full moon night ten years ago.

Hua Niang (the deceased in the first case) had seen the scene of her murder.

The housekeeper of the Hou Mansion gave Hua Niang 50 taels of silver to cover her mouth.

Mo Shubai (her fiancé) knew the clue of the murderer, but kept avoiding it.