ancient criminal minds

Lu Enshan wiped the sweat off his brow, sat directly on the ground, and said slowly: "After my eldest brother married his sister-in-law, he treated her very well. I was worried that my elder brother would leave all his property to her, not to mention that if my sister-in-law gave birth A son, then I have nothing to do. So...so..."

"So you killed your elder brother?"

"No, no, no!" Lu Enshan shook his head hastily, "No matter how heartless I am, I will never kill my elder brother! I...I want to kill my sister-in-law. If she is gone, my elder brother will still leave the property to me. So I found a killer, but before I could do it, my elder brother..."

"Who is the killer? How did you contact him? How will he get paid after it's done?"

"His name is Huang Jiu. I also contacted him through a friend. I gave him a deposit of 500 taels earlier. After the matter is completed, he will come to me to get the rest of the reward."

Lu Zheng didn't speak.

Lu Enshan cried with snot and tears: "My lord, what I said is true, I really didn't kill my elder brother..."

Lu Zheng was noncommittal: "I'll check if it's true or not." He paused, then suddenly remembered the man Lu Enshan had hosted at the restaurant the day before the incident, and asked, "Two days ago, you hosted a man in gray at the restaurant, Is it that Huang Jiu?"

Lu Enshan's face was a little dazed, but he quickly recalled, shaking his head and saying: "No, his name is Xie Chaozong, and he is my elder brother's business partner."

"Business partner?" Lu Zheng frowned, "What did you see your brother's business partner do?"

"He has some quarrel with my elder brother, and he wants to ask me for help to make peace..."

Lu Zheng raised his voice slightly: "Tell the truth!"

"Lao Xie and my elder brother were young and did business together back then, but in recent years my elder brother's business has grown, and the relationship with Lao Xie has not been as good as before. The last time Lao Xie approached me, he said that he thought my elder brother I have some problems with my business, so I asked me to check it out. I... I thought that if I had something to do, I could use this to threaten my elder brother, so I agreed. But I don’t know much about my elder brother’s business. They were all locked tightly, and I was not allowed to meddle in business affairs, so I stole the ledger and handed it to Lao Xie, the day before my elder brother died..."

Lu Zheng nodded: "I see, let's go to Xie Chaozong now, you just stay here, think about it carefully and see if there is anything missing."

Lu Enshan nodded obediently.

Lu Zheng and Bao Zheng left the cell, he glanced at Bao Zheng and asked, "What do you think?"

Bao Zheng frowned and said, "This case seems to be getting more and more complicated. If this kid didn't lie, could it be that Xie Chaozong killed him?"

"I don't know." Lu Zheng shook his head, "Let You Xiaowu go to Zha Huangjiu, let's go and deal with Xie Chaozong."

The Xie family is also very powerful in Nanxia County. Xie Chaozong is a branch of the Xie family. He is quite capable in business and bought a big house in Qingxi County.

Xie Chaozong was thin and elegant, he didn't look like a businessman, but a scholar.He doesn't seem to be in good health, coughing constantly.

After Lu Zheng met him, he asked straight to the point: "Master Xie, did you ever hear about Lu Dashan being killed?"

Xie Chaozong nodded: "I heard something."

"I don't know what your opinion is?"

Xie Chaozong coughed twice: "My lord, come and ask me, what Lu Enshan presumably said?"

"Since shopkeeper Xie is a sensible person, let's explain the truth of the matter clearly!"

"I have known the brothers from the Lu family since childhood. I borrowed Lu Enguang's business capital from him. His business has flourished in recent years. To be honest, I do have jealousy, but this is not enough. I will buy a murderer and kill someone." Xie Chaozong said slowly.

"Then why did you instruct Lu Enshan to steal the ledger?"

Xie Chaozong smiled softly: "My lord, I have been in business for so many years, and I have never seen any business that can make three times a profit in a short period of time. I wonder if my lord has seen it before?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Lu Enguang's ability is very clear to me. He does have some brains, but it is impossible to make a steady profit in doing business. However, no matter what the market price is these years, he has always made a lot of money in his warehouse. I am curious. , That's why Lu Enshan was asked to steal the account book, just to see what kind of business this good man in Qingxi County is doing."

"Since you are curious, why did you not let Lu Enshan steal it at this time?"

"Earlier, Lu Enguang wanted to leave all his property to Lu Enshan. Lu Enshan didn't even bother to associate with me. He didn't worry until Lu Enguang married a wife." Xie Chaozong said slowly, "He was worried that his property would be stolen by his sister-in-law and the unborn child. The nephew snatched it away, and I added a fire at the right time to convince him, but I didn't expect that Lu Enguang died."

Lu Zheng paused for a moment, then asked again: "You looked at the ledger, what's wrong with it?"

"There is nothing wrong with this account book." Xie Chaozong changed the topic, "But it is the lack of problems that is the biggest problem. According to the account book, Lu Enguang's business is almost lost every year, but his pharmacy has been opened more and more these years. How is it possible that the bigger the family is, the poorer it is to help the poor from time to time?"

Lu Zheng didn't speak.

Xie Chaozong seemed to be remembering something, and suddenly said: "Not only that, it also makes me feel strange that he suddenly married a wife."

"What's so strange about that?"

"I'm afraid my lord doesn't know that when he was young, he had a girl he liked, but the two were not in the right family. The girl had a deep affection for him and refused to marry another person, so she died of a hunger strike. Lu Enguang vowed at that time that he must He was a prominent man and never married a wife, so for so many years, he has no one beside him except a concubine who has been with him all the time. Who would have thought that when he was old, he would break this vow himself." Xie Chaozong shook his head, "He There are no other advantages in people, but promises are not bad, so on the day of his marriage, I asked him this question, his face was very bad, and our relationship has deteriorated from this."

"I see." Lu Zheng cupped his hands, "Thank you so much, shopkeeper, but I don't know where the account book is, can we take it back as evidence."

"Naturally." Xie Chaozong nodded, "Housekeeper, go to my desk and get the ledger."

After the ledger was brought, Xie Chaozong handed it to Lu Zheng, cupped his hands again and said, "If your lord needs my help, I will accept it."

After collecting the account books, Lu Zheng said to Xie Chaozong, "Thank you, shopkeeper." After saying that, he left Xie's mansion with Bao Zheng.

After leaving Xie's mansion, the two walked on the street, Bao Zheng said: "I saw that shopkeeper Xie's expression did not seem to be fake, and his answer was also very frank. I don't think he has anything to do with Lu Enguang's death."

Lu Zheng was noncommittal, but said: "We still have to wait for You Xiaowu to find out the news, and I think we'd better go see Mrs. Lu."

Bao Zheng asked suspiciously, "Could it be that Mrs. Na Lu killed the person?"

Lu Zheng said: "Whether it's her or not, there are doubts about her. Lu Enguang is not a greedy and lustful person. He still wants to marry a wife at the age of knowing his destiny. That attitude is like facing an enemy. And if what Xie Chaozong said is correct, there is still a big secret hidden in Lu Enguang, if this secret is solved, I think the whole case will be solved easily."

"That's what the lord said."

The two of them were walking to the main street of Qingxi County when a person suddenly rolled over in front of them.Lu Zheng was taken aback, and after a closer look, he realized that it was An Zicheng who wrote the yellow book.

An Zicheng didn't see them, so he quickly got up and said to the waiter in the tavern, "If you don't give credit, then don't give credit, what are you pushing!"

Xiao Er rolled her big eyes: "You are still reasonable, you haven't paid back the drink money you owed last time!"

An Zicheng touched his nose: "Zi said..."

"I'm too lazy to listen to you. If you have money, you can buy wine. If you don't have money, go away."

Bao Zheng couldn't stand it anymore, he walked over and said, "I'll pay the bill for him."

Only then did An Zicheng see the two of them, and he showed a surprised smile: "The two adults are also here to buy wine?"

Lu Zheng shook his head: "We happened to pass by here." Then he said to the little boy, "How much does he owe for the wine, I'll pay for him, you buy the bar."

Xiao Er suddenly said, "Three... three two."

An Zicheng hurriedly said from the side: "Nonsense, it's clearly two or eight dollars."

Seeing that the two of them were about to quarrel again, Bao Zheng quickly took three taels of silver and said, "It's alright, alright, you should hurry up and sell wine."

After Xiaoer left, Lu Zhengcai said: "Since we are fine, let's take our leave first."

An Zicheng said embarrassedly: "This... hey, thank you so much. In fact, if I am addicted to alcohol, I won't drink it if I don't drink it. But I bought this wine for Li Si. Today is his first seven days. , I want to take wine to pay homage to him. He has no relatives and no reason, if I don't go, his death will be too desolate."

When he said that, Lu Zheng remembered that Li Si's case had not been solved yet, and he felt a little guilty, so he said, "I'll go to worship with you."

"If you bend down to pay respects, it will be a great blessing for him."

Lu Zheng shook his head: "It's my incompetence that I didn't allow the murderer to be punished. I should go to worship both emotionally and rationally."

An Zicheng didn't say any more, and took the two of them out of the city after getting the wine.