仵作daily [traveling]

I saw a middle-aged man in a blue cardigan sitting beside Cao Zhengming. Although he was dressed elegantly, his appearance was very rough. His thick beard almost covered his neck so he couldn't see it. Du Si took a closer look. He took a few glances, and saw that this man was born with a powerful face, and one could imagine what a strong body was wrapped under that layer of soft cloth. Compared with him, Cao Zhengming on the side looked much thinner.

"The fire was burning for no apparent reason. The villain almost died in the sea of ​​flames. Master Zhizhou, you must catch the evil thief as soon as possible, so that he will not harm others again!" The man's face was flushed, and his eyes were wide open It's still big, and he still has injuries on his face, which seem to have been added recently.

"You don't need to say, I will investigate this case thoroughly." Cao Zhengming raised his eyebrows, he took a sip of tea, and asked, "I heard that you are not the only one who happened when I was not in Yunzhou." case."

The man choked up, and immediately began to describe what happened that night.

Outside the door, Du Si had already guessed that this man was the core figure of the gossip that the two of the inn chatted that day——Pei Xingji. I heard that he was almost burned to death that night, and another person died at the door. Then his son disappeared for no reason, and Du Si really couldn't think of anyone who was more miserable than him.

On the night of the incident, Pei Xingji was checking the account books in a small room in the restaurant, when a fire suddenly ignited in the kitchen. Because he was far away, he only heard some movement. At first, Pei Xingji didn't care, but when the smell of smoke came, He hurriedly started and ran towards the exit, but at this time the fire had spread to the lobby of the restaurant, and the door was full of flames. Pei Xingji wanted to rush out in one go, but when he managed to jump over the threshold, the roof beams collapsed. Bringing down a raging fire, the door was tightly blocked. In the end, Pei Xingji kicked open the window damper with brute strength, and forced his way out through the small opening. After he came out, he rolled on the ground several times before finally Completely extinguish the small flames on the body.

A fire broke out at the city gate, which affected the fish in the pond, and a row of snack shops next to the restaurant also caught fire. Because Pei Xingji's family lived close by, he called his servants to put out the fire. After working for most of the night, the fire in Pei Xingji's restaurant was extinguished, but the nearby snack shop helped There were few people there, but they were all burned up. Pei Xingji was physically and mentally exhausted. After agreeing to compensate for the loss of the shop, he and his servants returned home. Stay outside quickly, there is a person lying on the street outside his house, Pei Xingji has good eyesight, and he can see the dark red liquid under the person at a glance.

He slapped his forehead, endured his anger and walked into his house. Zhang Zhi, the magistrate of Yongzhong County, was interrogating the maidservant. When he saw Pei Xingji, Zhang Zhi was full of sympathy. Before he opened his mouth, Pei Xingji said anxiously.

"I don't know where the bad luck has been in the past few days. Tonight, the restaurant suddenly caught fire. I almost died inside. Now there is another dead person lying at the door. Bad luck!" My lord, this dead man doesn't care about my business, I just came back from Yong'an Street, and I won't kill people!"

"It's not about this..." Zhang Zhi hesitated a few times, then said softly, "Master Pei, you have a four-year-old son."

"Everyone in Yong'an knows that I also invited the county magistrate to drink Xiaozhi's full moon wine, have you forgotten?" Pei Xingji was puzzled.

"It's not that I forgot, it's just..." Zhang Zhi looked up at Pei Xingji, and said with all his might, "Master Pei, someone came to the yamen to report tonight, saying that there was a dead body lying in front of your house, but when I arrived, I found Something more serious!"

Pei Xingji was very impatient, and when he heard Zhang Zhi's next words, he felt bad all of a sudden.

"Your son is missing!"

"What did you say?!"

Pei Xingji's face was full of shock, just like the current expression, Cao Zhengming said a few words of reassurance, and made some reassurances, then Pei Xingji left with a smile on his face.

Du Si looked at Pei Xingji's leaving back, still recalling the shopkeeper's words in his heart. He had just turned his head when he saw a face sizing him up wantonly.

"Master Zhi, Master Zhizhou..." Du Si took a few steps back and said with a smile, "What a coincidence."

"Hmph." Cao Zhengming glanced at him, and left straight away. Du Si watched him walk for a while, and then stopped suddenly. Cao Zhengming turned sideways slightly, and shouted at Du Si.

"What are you doing in a daze, don't hurry up and follow."

Du Si paused, and immediately ran towards Cao Zhengming after realizing it.

The two went to the Yong'an county government office, only to see Cao Zhengming approach the county magistrate Zhang Zhi and inquire about the situation that night in detail.

"Lord Zhizhou, not one person died that night." Zhang Zhi looked agitated, looked straight at Cao Zhengming and said, "There is also a man named Wu who was stabbed to death from behind, the man who died at the door of Pei Xingji's house His name is Xu Tiangao, he is a local."

Cao Zhengming frowned, seeing Zhang Zhi talking, his expression became very puzzled again.

"According to his inspection, Xu Tiangao was stabbed several times in the left chest and died from the fatal wounds. The wounds on his body... were identical to the wounds of the man surnamed Wu. The two were attacked by the same sharp weapon." Zhang Zhi mentioned here. , the expression was extremely intriguing, "But the bodies of these two people are separated by three streets."

"Did the families of the two come to identify the corpse?"

"They're all here, my lord." Zhang Zhi said briskly, "Are you going to see them, my lord?"

Cao Zhengming nodded, Zhang Zhi saw Du Si behind him, then looked at Cao Zhengming who was a little anxious, and walked to the front to lead the way.

The three of them walked out of the mansion, passing through an incomparably bustling road, which should be the widest road Du Si has ever seen, with two or three storeys of wine shops and teahouses on both sides, the red color is very pleasing, it is a pity that , a restaurant was burnt to only half of it, and looking at the buildings next to it, it was so burned that it couldn't be seen.

Du Si couldn't help slowing down his pace. According to what Pei Xingji and Zhang Zhi said just now, this street is Yong'an Street, and Pei Xingji's home is nearby. The restaurant has four floors, and the remaining half of the houses have become It was burnt black, and judging from the general structure, it must have been resplendent and high-end as it was. There was a golden plaque on the outside, with the three characters 'Zuixiaolou' written on it, and some people were cleaning outside, preparing to build a restaurant.

Zhang Zhi walked forward and came to the door of an ordinary family. He knocked on the door, and there was the sound of footsteps. A woman in sackcloth and mourning opened the door. She was shocked when she saw the three people. Welcoming Cao Zhengming and others into the room, sat on a small bench and waited for Cao Zhengming to ask questions.

"My lord, she is the daughter-in-law of the man surnamed Wu, Jiang Yan. As far as I know, the neighbors in the street call the man surnamed Wu Old Man Wu." Zhang Zhi reminded from the side.

Cao Zhengming nodded and said to Jiang Yan, "On the night of August [-]th, old man Wu was killed. Where were you at that time?"

"Return to your lord, the girl is the cook of Zuixiaolou. She helped shopkeeper Pei put out the fire that night, and she didn't go back until two o'clock." Jiang Yan was at a loss, not knowing where to look, "The next morning, As soon as the girl got up, she heard that her father-in-law...has been gone for a long time."

Cao Zhengming looked at the furnishings in Jiang Yan's home. Except for some basic furniture, there were no other items. There was a scent of incense in the air, but he didn't know where it came from. "Where's your husband?"

"He died early, the girl fell to her death from the mountain just two years after her marriage." Jiang Yan looked confused, with a layer of sadness on his face.

Du Si looked carefully, and found a black tablet on a table in the corner, with three sticks of incense burning, and the smell of incense came from there.

Cao Zhengming was a little embarrassed, but at this moment, he saw a stack of wine jars in the yard, and asked aloud, "Are you in the wine shop business?"

"How can a folk girl know how to do wine shop business, she just cooks a few dishes and works as a cook in Zuixiaolou." Jiang Yan shook his head, and looked at the stack of wine jars, "That's what my father-in-law finished drinking, It's all empty wine jars."

"Empty?" Cao Zhengming looked at the furniture with a serious expression, and suddenly understood something, but Du Si stared at Jiang Yan. Extremely deep.

Cao Zhengming asked some more questions, and Jiang Yan answered fluently without any doubts. The three of them left Jiang Yan's house, and Zhang Zhi immediately went to Xu Tiangao's residence. He sent out, thinking about Jiang Yan's explanation all the time, that face with a bit of hatred kept replaying in front of his eyes, and he refused to let go for a long time.

Zhang Zhi suddenly turned left at the next intersection, and the three of them walked along the road, and they were almost at the residence behind Zuixiao Tower.

"Then Xu Tiangao's home is not far from Zuixiao Tower." Cao Zhengming said.

"It's only one street away from Pei Xingji's house, it's closer." Zhang Zhi continued.

Cao Zhengming's expression was the same, but Du Si thought it was amused, it seems that this lord doesn't pay much attention to rank, Zhang Zhi and Cao Zhengming get along like a pair of old friends, not like upper and lower officials.

After a while, the three came to the door of Xu Tiangao's house, Zhang Zhi knocked on the door, Cao Zhengming leaned against the wall, and waited carelessly for someone to open the door, but after a long time, no one answered, Zhang Zhi knocked on the door again, Still no footsteps.

"Is there no one inside?" Cao Zhengming asked suspiciously. Just as the three of them were about to turn around and leave, they heard a moderate sound coming from the room, as if something had collided with the ground. Du Si was still thinking, Cao Zhengming pushed Zhang Zhi away and rushed to the door, but the door was so strong that half of Cao Zhengming's body was numb and there was no sign of it loosening. Seeing this, Zhang Zhi immediately leaned against the wall, Cao Zhengming Stepping on Zhang Zhi's body, he jumped over the wall and jumped into the courtyard of Xu Tiangao's house. He opened the door and ran to the back room immediately.

The door of the back room was also locked without any accident. As soon as Du Si entered the yard, he saw Cao Zhengming kick open the door of the back room. Zha, under her feet was a wooden chair that had been kicked down.

This scene was so familiar, Du thought of Li Yi, Li's... and Xiao Cui, he hurried in and helped Cao Zhengming to carry him down.

The author has something to say: If you want to give Cao Zhengming a nickname, call him Tuhao Cao (pick your nose)

Thank you very much for your support. We must build a big project during the Chinese New Year!