ancient criminal minds

As soon as the two stepped into the dilapidated house, they smelled a strong smell of medicine. A sallow-faced and thin woman was sitting in the yard with two children making medicine, and when she saw them coming in, she showed a frightened expression.

After Bao Zheng revealed her identity, she quickly wiped her hands, hugged the child and shouted into the room: "Father, the catcher is looking for you." Then she looked at Bao Zheng and the others pleadingly, "Catcher, concubine Husband is sick, it is definitely not intentional not to go, when he is better, we will go to the yamen to plead guilty, please forgive him."

A violent cough came from inside, the woman's face changed, and she rushed into the room.

Lu Zheng and Bao Zheng also followed into the room, a musty smell mixed with stench hit instantly, Lu Zheng frowned and looked at the thin and out of shape person on the bed, sighed secretly, in fact When he came in and saw the woman and the two children, he already knew that he had guessed wrong.

Facing Bao Zheng's secret gaze, Lu Zheng shook his head, and Bao Zheng also sighed in disappointment.

With the help of his wife, Zheng Dahe sat up with difficulty, and kept begging to the two: "I beg the arrester to spare me this time, I still have a wife and children to support me at home, if I lose this job, I will The whole family can't survive."

Bao Zheng hurriedly said: "Brother Zheng, don't worry, we didn't come here for this matter. You were on watch in Nancheng. I don't know if you saw anyone or heard any strange sounds on the night of the ninth day of October?"

Zheng Dahe trembled when he heard the ninth day of October, and his wife immediately shed tears: "You don't know, he didn't get sick until he came back on the ninth day of October. The doctor said he was caught by evil spirits. I asked him what happened. What he saw, he refused to say."

Bao Zheng's eyes lit up: "But...in Shui Miao Temple?"

Zheng Dahe's body shook even more violently, if he hadn't been supported by someone, he might have collapsed on the bed like a puddle of mud.

Bao Zheng hurriedly poured a cup of tea from the teacup at the side, and the woman served him the tea, and then he gradually calmed down, but the deep fear was still in his eyes.

"That night... I went to watch as usual. It was very dark that night and the wind was quite strong. I walked faster than usual. When I arrived at Shuimiao Temple, it happened to be the third watch, so I hid I was preparing to eat some dry food and drink some water at a shelter from the wind..." Zheng Dahe swallowed, the fear in his eyes deepened, "Who knows... I just squatted in the corner when I heard the sound of the door opening, that sound startled me, You don't know, there are several dogs in Shuimiao Temple, but none of them barked that night, I thought it was a thief, so I took a sneak peek..."

Zheng Dahe held his wife's sleeve tightly, his sallow face was covered with sweat, and his eyes seemed to pop out: "I saw... the door was swaying left and right by the wind, but half a person was not even there. There was no shadow, and then...then I heard the sound of bells in the distance...one distance away, one closer, one sound after another, and then...then the door was slowly closed...Catcher! Wasn’t it the murderer? Man! That's a ghost! It's a ghost..."

He yelled, and the whole person fell backwards.

Bao Zheng hurriedly took a step forward and pressed several acupuncture points on his body, which made him wake up leisurely.

Zheng Dahe gasped violently for a few times, but his face looked better, and he said, "I didn't dare to stay there any longer, so I hurried home, and the next day I heard that a nun in Shuimiao Temple had been killed. .I was scared to death, and I was seriously ill after that day, so I didn't go to the doctor again."

Bao Zheng asked: "Why don't you tell the truth to Lord Fu Yin?"

"Where can a villain see Mr. Fu Yin..." Zheng Dahe shook his head in fear: "Besides, no one dares to say anything because he is afraid of blaspheming ghosts and gods."

Lu Zheng suddenly asked: "You mean bells? What kind of bells?"

It was only then that Zheng Dahe saw the young man following Bao Zheng. Although the clothes were stained here and there, they couldn't hide the high-quality fabrics and the low-key and luxurious embroidery on them.

Zheng Dahe instantly became terrified, Bao Zheng glanced at Lu Zheng with an inexplicable face, the young master didn't know what he did wrong, his face was full of innocence.However, no matter how Bao Zheng asked, Zheng Dahe refused to say any more, and kept saying that ghosts and gods harmed people.

"Don't be afraid." Bao Zheng could only point to Lu Zheng and said, "This is my natal brother. He has been curious about these things since he was a child. Follow me to learn more."

Seeing that Zheng Dahe was still shaking his head, Bao Zheng sighed, took out a small ingot of broken silver from his bosom and stuffed it into Zheng Dahe's hand.

"No, no, no...how can Lord Catcher do this!" Zheng Dahe refused fearfully.

"Hold it, it's a shock to you. If you find the murderer, you'll have to testify in court." Bao Zheng put the silver into his hand, "Go and ask the doctor to take a good look at it, catch a couple of doses, and then give it to your daughter-in-law. Children eat well."

The woman had already started to sob silently, Zheng Dahe was holding the silver tightly, trying to kowtow to them, but her body was too dilapidated, and Bao Zheng finally helped her up.

"Tell me, what is the sound of the bell?"

Zheng Dahe's expression was a little erratic: "The villain was too scared that night, and I couldn't hear it clearly...it felt like...the sound of an iron bell."

"Iron bell?"

"Yes! It's the iron bell!" Zheng Dahe blushed, "The sound of the bell fluctuates from far to near, and every sound is scary!"

Bao Zheng asked a few more questions, and he and Lu Zheng left Zheng Dahe's house only after he was sure that nothing was missed.

After leaving Anlefang, the two of them took a deep breath after seeing the sun again, and Bao Zheng asked, "Do you have any new ideas?"

Lu Zheng shook his head helplessly. Zheng Dahe was probably the person who was closest to the murderer, but his testimony made the case cloudy. unsolved puzzle.

Seeing Lu Zheng frowning and thinking, Bao Zheng couldn't bear it and said, "Don't think too much, since Zheng Dahe is so timid, and it's night, his testimony might not be of much use."

Only then did Lu Zheng remember that Zheng Dahe noticed his sudden change in expression, and he couldn't help asking his question.

"It's not a big deal. Most of the people in Shuimiao Temple are the victims of the secrets in the backyard. The most fearful thing for these ordinary people is to get mixed up in these things. When he sees you dressed gorgeously, he probably regards you as someone else. Someone from a big family is here." Bao Zheng shook his head helplessly, "It's also my fault, I didn't remind you earlier."

Lu Zheng also regretted his talkativeness. They might have been able to get more clues from Zheng Dahe's mouth, but now they are cut off here. We just want to see if Zheng Dahe will say anything more when he is brought back to the Yamen. up.

Thinking of this, Lu Zheng couldn't help asking: "What do you think about the iron bell he mentioned?"

"You Fang doctor? Taoist priest?" Bao Zheng scratched his head, "It's very difficult to find out, their whereabouts are unpredictable, and Yanjing City is so big, it's impossible to find them."

"Anyway, it's a clue." Lu Zheng was a little depressed, and then suddenly remembered, "Didn't you arrest someone...how is it?" He admitted that he was a little curious about this person, but absolutely only A little bit.

"That Mr. Jian is a tough one. He refuses to admit it. There are only witnesses but no physical evidence. There is nothing the Yamen can do about him."

Lu Zheng had a bad feeling: "Have you used punishment?"

Bao Zheng said as a matter of course: "How can there be no torture after entering the prison, that's all right, but I heard that he is not the only son of the Marquis of Decheng? He has been imprisoned for the past few days, let alone the Marquis of Decheng. No one saw it...it's so cold."

There was a slight pain in Lu Zheng's heart, but the pain was stubbornly stationed there, reminding him all the time, Lu Zheng sighed and decided to give up struggling. He himself was just curious about Jian Yu, but this body was obviously not .

"Brother Bao, can you take me to see him?"

Walking in the long aisle, there are blue-black bricks and stones on both sides, and torches are lit even in the daytime in the dark prison. The smell of putrefaction and smoke is mixed together, which is definitely not a good memory.

Lu Zheng silently followed behind Bao Zheng and a jailer, and came to the innermost cell door, and smelled a strong smell of blood as soon as he approached.

"The door cannot be opened, so you can just say a few words, hurry up." The jailer said.

Bao Zheng stuffed a purse into the jailer's arms, put his arms around his neck and walked out: "I know, I know, when did my brother get you into trouble..."

"Oh, it's you, Brother Bao, how dare I let other people in..."

The voices of the two gradually faded away, Lu Zheng grabbed a railing and called softly: "Jian Yu?"

There was the sound of chains being pulled from inside, and then Jian Yu, who was wearing a white jacket, slowly came out of the darkness. His face was pale, but his eyes were brighter. His body was messy with welts, and some even The white flesh was turned out.

Lu Zheng was a little embarrassed, he actually didn't know Jian Yu very well, even though he ran over to see him in a rush, he didn't know what to say to him when he saw him.

Jian Yu dragged the heavy chain and looked at him through the cell door.

"Heh, didn't I tell you not to follow me?"

Lu Zheng suddenly became angry: "Be reasonable! Did I follow you! You are the one who threatened me in Fengguo Temple, okay?"

Jian Yu raised her eyebrows: "I threatened you to give me medicine? And change my clothes by the way?"

Lu Zheng choked for a moment, he dared to think that he did something wrong even if he did something good, isn't it, what kind of robber logic is this!At the beginning, he should have ignored his life and death, and watched him bleed to death.

Jian Yu looked at the furious Lu Zheng, but there was a little tenderness in his eyes: "What about today? It can't be that I threatened you to come and see me!"

"You think too much, I just came to inspect the cell environment, and I came back to write a research report for my brother. Don't bother me, goodbye!" Lu Zheng said this with a blank expression and was about to turn around and leave, but was caught One hand tugged at the sleeve.

Jian Yu looked at the back of his head helplessly. Although she didn't understand what he said just now, she could still understand the little guy's angry look. It was because he couldn't hold back the jealousy in his heart that day and broke the line, so what? How about scolding him?

"I was wrong, I apologize to you." Jian Yu's slightly hoarse voice sounded softly behind Lu Zheng.

Lu Zheng's whole body was full of excitement, it didn't matter if he had a good face and a good figure, and his voice was so dull, at least let ordinary people like them survive.

He turned his head reluctantly, and saw the apologetic man with a smile on his lips, looking at him intently and tenderly.

Damn, the dog is blind.