Although Yan Jun died last night, his body did not surface until this morning. It was Confucius' son Kong Hansong who found the body.

Old Master Kong's cough has not been cured, and he needs to take medicine several times a day. Kong Hansong is a dutiful son, and he gets up early in the morning to make medicine for his father.

Since Tianyi Pavilion has a collection of ten thousand volumes of books, fireworks are strictly prohibited on the island in the middle of the lake, and Kong and his sons are not allowed to cook on the island. They eat three meals a day in the kitchen of Yuewei House, and decoction is no exception.

Kong Hansong carried the medicine bag early in the morning and walked along the boardwalk to the kitchen of the cottage. When he passed the intersection of Xuexiang Garden, he looked back inadvertently and found that there seemed to be a person on the water full of water lilies next to the Shuixin Pavilion. floating.

Kong Hansong felt very strange. Although it was early summer, the stream in the morning was still icy cold. How could someone come to swim in the early morning?

So Kong Hansong turned a corner and went to Shuixin Pavilion to check. When he saw the scene in the water clearly, his legs and feet went limp in fright, and he fell to the ground. While running, he screamed in panic: "It's not good, come quickly! He's dead!"

The shrill screams were very penetrating in the silent morning, waking people up from their sleep, and the terrible news spread to every corner of the academy in an instant.

Wang Ziyu's death was deliberately downplayed by the academy management. The students all believed that it was just an accident, but Yan Jun was killed in the same place, so it can no longer be attributed to an accident. There is no doubt that someone deliberately murdered.

After the incident, Jinjiang Academy took urgent action to seal off the Xuexiang Garden, and listed this beautiful place as a forbidden area, prohibiting students from entering, so as to avoid further danger.

However, in order to investigate the case, Duan Mingchen asked the court supervisor Li Li to unlock the Xuexiangyuan. Kong Hansong led Duan Mingchen, Gu Huaiqing and others to the place where Yan Jun's body was found.

Kong Hansong pointed to a large piece of blooming water lilies in the pond, with a trace of fear still remaining on his fair face, he tremblingly said: "That's... I found it here..."

"How did you find out that the deceased was Yan Jun?" Duan Mingchen stared into Kong Hansong's eyes and asked.

Kong Hansong shook his head and said: "At that time, he was buried face down in the water, I didn't know it was Yan Jun. I saw him floating in the water motionless, his skin was white and swollen, obviously dead. "

Duan Mingchen asked again: "You and your father were at home last night, did you hear or see anything unusual here in Xuexiangyuan?"

Kong Hansong shook his head without hesitation and said, "I didn't find anything unusual. My father and I didn't go out last night. My father had not recovered from the cold. I served him to drink the medicine and helped him go to bed early. I stayed in the room and read a book. Turn off the lights around Haishi and sleep peacefully."

Seeing Kong Hansong's pale face and sunburned, Li Li asked him to go back to rest after Duan Mingchen finished questioning him, and stayed with Duan Mingchen and Gu Huaiqing himself.

Duan Mingchen and Gu Huaiqing cast their eyes on Qianlian Pond. It was already early summer, and it was the time when water lilies bloomed most luxuriantly. The pure white flowers bloomed quietly in the center of the blue waves.

It was an extremely beautiful scenery, but who would have expected that such a crime would be hidden deep in this beautiful and picturesque lotus pond.

Duan Mingchen approached the water's edge and found that the branches and leaves of the water lily on the shore had been broken a lot, which was probably caused when the corpse was picked up from the water, and there was also a trace of dragging on the mud embankment by the pool.

Duan Mingchen squatted down, carefully checked along the lake embankment, and walked to the rockery behind the pavilion. Duan Mingchen squatted down and looked at it for a while, showing a clear expression, and said to himself: "Well, so it is like this."

Gu Huaiqing followed Duan Mingchen curiously, and when he heard him talking to himself, he couldn't help but ask, "What did you find?"

"Shh, stop, don't step on it!" Duan Mingchen said suddenly.

"Ah?" Gu Huaiqing stopped in astonishment, with one foot still hanging in the air, in the independent posture of a golden rooster, which seemed a bit funny.

Gu Huaiqing's astonished expression and funny posture made Duan Mingchen laugh, Duan Mingchen went up and pulled him back two steps, pointed to the mud under his feet and said, "Come on, take a closer look."

Gu Huaiqing looked in the direction he pointed, along the direction of the sun, and could see a shallow trace on the mud floor, about the width of a person's shoulders, but it seemed to be trampled on purposely, and it was blurry.

Duan Mingchen pointed to the small rockery piled up on the other side of the Shuixin Pavilion, and asked, "Do you remember how many stones there were?"

Gu Huaiqing was stunned for a moment, he only came to Shuixin Pavilion once, and at that time he only cared about spending time with Duan Mingchen, how could he remember how many rocks there were in the rockery?

Li Li, who was following them, let out a snort: "I remember that this rockery is composed of four stones, and the top should be a pointed stone, but now there are only three left."

Duan Mingchen nodded and said: "Inspector Li Yuan remembers it well, and I have the same impression."

Li Li asked: "Why is there a stone missing, and where did that stone go?"

Duan Mingchen said: "If my predictions are correct, the stone has already sunk to the bottom of the water. The murderer moved the stone and hit Yan Jun in the back of the head from behind. Yan Jun was hit hard on the head and immediately fell into a coma. The murderer Then dragged him from the rockery to the Shuixin Pavilion, pushed him into the lake, caused him to drown and died, and then threw the stone that was used as the murder weapon into the lake."

Duan Mingchen said to Li Li: "In order to verify my words, you can invite people with good water skills to dive into the bottom of the lake to see if you can find that stone." Among the Jin Yiwei who accompanied him, there was someone who was proficient in water skills, so he immediately took off his coat and went into the water to salvage it. A large pointed cone-shaped stone.

"Master Duan is really meticulous and observant, I really admire it!" Li Li looked admiring and admiring.

Li Li has been in the academy for more than ten years, so it goes without saying that he knows everything here, but if Duan Mingchen hadn't reminded him, he wouldn't have noticed that there was a missing stone on the rockery.Duan Mingchen has only been here once, and he remembers it so clearly. This memory and observation skills are really amazing.

Gu Huaiqing looked at Duan Mingchen with admiration, and a little pride.Unknowingly, he has changed from Duan Mingchen's competitor to Duan Mingchen's companion.Gu Huaiqing was equally proud of others' admiration for Duan Mingchen, and his face was radiant. This was an essential change from the initial tit-for-tat confrontation.

Although the murder weapon was found and the cause of death was ascertained, who the murderer was and what the motive for the crime remained a mystery.

Duan Mingchen stood by the lake, the breeze blowing his sleeves, the light golden flying fish suit on his body glistened in the sun, his tall and straight figure was as calm as a mountain.

Duan Mingchen silently looked at the lake as calm as a mirror, but he was thinking about the case in his mind.

The two deceased, Wang Ziyu and Yan Jun, were both young and handsome scholars. Coincidentally, both of them had an affair with Prince An's son Xiao Jue.Duan Mingchen recalled Fang Jia's letter to him, mentioning the entanglement between these three people. Could these emotional disputes be related to the case?

"Where is Prince An's son Xiao Jue? I want to talk to him." Duan Mingchen suddenly said to Li Li, the supervisor.

Li Li was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Master Duan doubts Xiao Shizi? It can't be him. Xiao Shizi left the academy yesterday evening and hasn't returned yet..."

"Oh? Where did Prince Xiao go?" Duan Mingchen asked.

Li Li had a troubled expression on his face, he hesitated and said, "This..."

Duan Mingchen frowned in displeasure, Li Li still faltered and hid the matter of life and death.

Seeing that Duan Mingchen was displeased, Gu Huaiqing quickly grabbed his sleeve and whispered in Duan Mingchen's ear: "King An came to Beijing with a secret decree. His Majesty summoned him in the palace yesterday. Afterwards, King An went to pay a visit to the Queen Mother. Yizhi let Xiao Jue enter the palace to reunite with Prince An and his son, and left him and his son to rest in the palace for one night."

King An's status is special, and he entered Beijing with a secret decree, so naturally he can't make it public. Therefore, it is understandable that Li Li dared not disclose the whereabouts of Prince An's son.

Duan Mingchen's face paled slightly. Since Gu Huaiqing said so, Xiao Jue, Prince An's son, entered the palace and was not in Jinjiang Academy last night. There is sufficient evidence of his alibi, so the possibility of killing Yan Jun is ruled out.

Duan Mingchen asked Li Li again: "Apart from Xiao Shizi, who else was not in the academy last night?"

Li Li said: "It's a coincidence that Mrs. Liu hosted the full moon wine yesterday. Mrs. Zhang is almost thirty this year, and finally got a son. Naturally, I am very happy. The full moon wine was held with great ostentation. The head of the mountain, me and the six masters I was given a congratulatory gift and was invited to drink at his home. Shan Zhang was inconvenient to go out because he was a woman, and old Confucius stayed in the academy because of his unhealed cough. I and five other masters went to Master Zhang's house to celebrate.

Mrs. Zhang’s house is in the capital, and the house is very spacious. We were drinking late, so Mrs. Zhang prepared a room for us. We stayed at his house for one night and only returned to the academy this morning. Who knew that such a thing would happen, alas ..."

Duan Mingchen asked: "You mean, the five masters of the academy and you were not in the academy last night?"

"Yes, we drank together until very late, and then stayed at Zhang's house for the night. The capital is more than fifty miles away from here, and we can't make it back. We can testify to each other. If you are not at ease, you can talk to Zhang Confirmed by the housekeeper."

Gu Huaiqing asked: "Then who stayed in the academy last night?"

Li Li thought for a while and said, "There are the head of the mountain, the maid Jian Jia, the old master Confucius, the dormitory supervisor Lin Qiu, the students of the academy, the nurses, and the servants. There were originally 52 students in the academy, except for the dead Wang Ziyu and Yan Jun. After Xiao Jue left, there were 49 people left. There were eight servants, all of whom were villagers nearby, responsible for cleaning, cooking and taking care of flowers and plants. Since Wang Ziyu's accident, the head of the mountain has strengthened the protection of the academy and added ten martial arts An outstanding nursing home. The academy is surrounded by mountains on three sides, and there is only one way to enter and exit, and the guards take turns standing guard at twelve o'clock every day, so it stands to reason that no one will be able to break in."

Just to be on the safe side, Duan Mingchen called the ten nursing homes again, questioned them one by one, and went to the passageway of the academy to check in person to confirm what Li Li said was true. s eyes.

Duan Mingchen and Gu Huaiqing looked at each other, so the murderer should be someone from the academy.Wang Ziyu's death, the county government closed the case and believed that the criminals broke into the college, but now it seems that such a conclusion is too hasty, and it is suspected of whitewashing the peace.

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