Murder

Chuntong was still wearing the clothes she wore the day she left, with her eyes half-opened, lying on the dirty mud.

There are three abandoned alleys in Zhaojia Alley, all three are sealed with bricks and stones, no one goes in and no one checks.The frontier patrols at night, and I can feel the noise of rats faintly in the abandoned alleys after passing by several times, and the sound is very different.He didn't know what was inside, he just wanted to see the situation of the rat infestation, but after careful inspection, he found that the rough brick wall had been pried loose, and after removing the bricks, he saw Chuntong's body immediately corpse.

Sima Feng and Gan Lele were already there when Chi Yebai arrived.Even Song Beiyan didn't complain, and obediently held up the lamp to illuminate the scene on the ground willingly.Chuntong's fingers and exposed thighs had wounds eaten by rats, and the blood on his abdomen had dried up. Looking in the candlelight, the several wounds on his abdomen seemed to be the deep paw prints left by the giant death.

"Seven knife wounds, five of which were fatal. Both hands and feet were broken with great force, and the neck bone was also dislocated." Gan Lexi whispered, "It's more severe than last time."

He looked at the wound on Chuntong's chin: "I haven't had time to finish the medicine I prescribed for her...the scar won't be left after taking it, and she can run beautifully for this year's mid-autumn oiran."

Chi Yebai stood behind Sima Feng, knowing that his depression was hard to get rid of, but there was nothing he could do, so he had to stand with him, silently waiting for him to speak.

"Ah Si!" Sima Feng shouted loudly.

Ah Si had been waiting outside, and immediately walked in when he heard the sound: "Master." He put away the smile on his face, and his expression was rarely serious.

"What happened to the investigation between you and Murong Hai?"

"A total of 160 seven people have been investigated, four of them are women, and the suspicion has been ruled out. Among the remaining 160 three..." Ah Si was talking when Chi Yebai interrupted him.

"Go out and talk about it. Sima, we will only disturb Gan Lingshi's work here." Chi Ye tugged at Sima Feng's sleeve, "Let's go."

Sima Feng was silent for a moment, then turned his head and followed Chi Yebai out.

Murong Hai was also waiting outside, and he and Ah Si reported the results of the investigation of the suspect to Sima Feng in detail.

160 Among the three suspects, more than half of them either had no time to commit the crime or had no ability to commit the crime.There are all kinds of guests in Jinyan Pond, among them there are many old, weak, sick and disabled, and these should be excluded; those who have no time to commit crimes should also be excluded, and among those who have time to commit crimes, those who do not meet the requirements of Sima Feng and Chi Yebai The so-called "not wealthy" should also be excluded.After exclusions and exclusions, there were only four people left.

"Among the four people, two are stewards of Prince Lu's residence, one is a businessman temporarily staying in Pengyang to do business, and the other is a gentleman from a private school." Murong Hai whispered, "We have arranged for people to monitor , and can be called at any time to inquire.”

"But we are not qualified to torture." Sima Feng was very irritable, "The government still refuses to file a case. The Sima family can't torture without authorization, so as not to fall into the wrong place."

Chi Yebai asked: "What about the frontier?"

"After the young master and Gan Lingshi arrived, Brother Bian rushed back to the government overnight, saying that he would request the case to be written again so that the investigation could begin. According to the rules, unless someone went to the government to appeal for grievances, otherwise the police were not allowed to come forward. Brother Bian has already violated the law." I don’t know if I can persuade that adult this time.”

Sima Feng pondered for a moment, then turned his head and said to Ah Si: "Ah Si, you go home immediately to find my father and report to him about the Jinyan Pond. Bian Jiang can't talk to that lord, but it would be a big deal for him to come forward. Same. If I remember correctly, this lord was the second place last year?"

"Yes, the surname is Shen and the name is Zhengyi." Ah Si said, "I only took office last month. The name sounds familiar, but I can't remember who it is."

Chi Yebai: "... Sima, can't you remember?"

Sima Feng: "I'm not as smart as you, so I can't remember."

Chi Yebai was taken aback by his irritability, feeling inexplicably displeased, so he shut up and didn't speak.Sima Feng was in a bad mood and didn't think of apologizing. Seeing that Ah Si turned around and left, he remembered another matter, and quickly stopped him: "Have you visited the person who is in charge of pouring Yexiang at the Golden Smoke Pond?"

"I went to find him myself." Ah Si nodded. "He is very thin and dry, and he doesn't talk much. I reached out to his hands. Among them, the tendons in his left hand were injured and he couldn't lift heavy objects. He couldn't have the strength to break it." their hands and feet."

Sima Feng was a little frustrated: "Okay, go back quickly, don't delay."

Murong Hai asked him: "What should we do next?"

"Gan and I are willing to check the body again." Sima Feng turned around and walked a few steps, looking back at Chi Yebai, "You should go back too."

"I'll accompany you." Chi Yebai said.

Sima Feng shook his head: "You don't like looking at dead bodies, so you can't accompany me. You are also tired these days, so go rest first."

The figure of him walking back to Zhao's Lane was rather dejected.At the end of the deserted alley is the largest gold-selling cave in Pengyang, the Golden Smoke Pond. The lights are feasting, the singing and dancing are loud, and the women who were crying for the death of their sisters a few days ago have reapplied their makeup and are full of smiles.The light gauze rises in the night wind, billowing and swaying, like a ray of helpless soul.

The one who returns late at night is the other courtyard built by Ying Beishe in Pengyang.

At that time, his mother wanted to buy this other courtyard, firstly, it was convenient for him to go shopping and talk with Fu Guqing, and secondly, it was convenient for his son to go shopping and talk to Fu Guqing's son.The other courtyard is not big, but it is very clean and tidy. It is another home of Chi Yebai.

On the way back, Murong Hai asked him a question: "Why did the murderer choose a woman wearing green lotus-colored embroidered shoes and a crimson hairband?"

"It's not an ordinary girl, it's a girl from the Fireworks Land." Chi Yebai rode on a horse, walked slowly, and said slowly, "He chose the Fireworks girls because they are the most humble and humble, and they will not die. Some people are nervous, and they are the most suitable targets for torture. As for the blue lotus-colored embroidered shoes and the crimson headband, I don't know what's going on."

"It's very difficult to find out." Murong Hai sighed, "Could it be that the firework girl who once had blue lotus-colored embroidered shoes and a crimson hairband killed the murderer? Or did she have a grudge against the murderer?"

"I don't know." Chi Yebai was not very interested, "I'll think about it later."

Murong Hai rolled his eyes, probably guessing why he was upset because he was in charge of the family. "Master Sima usually has a playful smile on his face, but when it comes to important matters, he still has the demeanor of a child from a family. When he speaks, his tone is a bit aggressive. There are many adults in the family, so don't bother with him." Murong Hai smiled, "If it was a child in the past , you two had a fight and it was over, so now that you feel unhappy, do you want to fight again?"

Murong Hai didn't say anything, Chi Yebai almost forgot about his desire to beat up Sima Feng.He thought for a while, and finally a smile appeared on his face: "Yeah, that's right, we still have to fight."

Murong Hai: "...I didn't mean that."

Chi Yebai: "That's what I mean. Now that you're home, go and rest. I'll think about embroidered shoes and hairbands."

Finding Ning Shen incense in the study room and lighting it up, Chi Yebai sat in front of the desk and drew two pairs of shoes with a brush.One pair is on the feet of Xiaoyan, embroidered with two double-petaled green peaches, and the other is on the feet of Chuntong, embroidered with two green-billed orioles.

He closed his eyes and sank into the darkness.

Boundless rooms, countless tall bookshelves.He stood in the cold and darkness, and walked quickly in the half-light.

What will be related to embroidered shoes and headbands are the foreign object records, merchants' letters, and shop registers in Pengyang every year.In fact, he didn't know where to find it, so he could only grab a register book and flip through it hastily.

What if the murderer is not from Pengyang?

What if the murderer was older than me, and I had never read the information about the year he was in?

Chi Yebai put aside these two possibilities for the time being, and searched quickly.Countless small characters in italics popped up from the pages of the book and rushed to him, but none of them were what he was looking for.Last year, the year before last, the year before the year before... Every year, there are shops selling green lotus-colored embroidered shoes and crimson headbands in the store register, but there are no other clues to follow.

It was getting colder in the room.Chi Yebai felt as if he was shaking.At the source of the dim light stood shadowy figures, whom he could not tell whether they were friends or foes.

Chi Yebai gave up the store register and merchants' records, and began to read the history of foreign objects.The words that recorded countless messages screamed and begged him to touch him, but Chi Yebai turned over very quickly.Not this year...not this year...

Suddenly, some clear voices came from the solemn and cold darkness.Someone walked into this room, his footsteps were deliberately light, as if he didn't want to disturb him.

The little boy appeared again.He stood at the end of the bookshelf with a lotus lantern in his hand and a smile on his face.

"noob……"

Chi Yebai shook his hands: he found it.

19 years ago, when the envoys from the Western Regions came to court, they presented an extremely precious god-given brocade to the emperor.The green lotus-colored brocade was spread under the dragon seat, shining brightly.The news spread from the capital city and quickly spread throughout the country. It was said that the brocade was tough and thick, and the concubines in the harem used it to make shoes, and lotuses could grow at every step.Blue lotus-colored embroidered shoes suddenly became popular, and the streets were full of women wearing these shoes.In Pengyang City, the first to pick up this trend was Jinyan Pond.

"... Xiaobai." Seven or eight-year-old Sima Feng called him again.Chi Yebai didn't dare to look up, his face was almost stuck to the non-existent book in his hand, greedily absorbing the words on it - he remembered, there was such a thing.But he was too young at that time, and he couldn't remember many things for no reason. All he knew was that his mother and Aunt Qing were wearing green lotus-colored embroidered shoes, and that he was the one who served him personally before he was blindfolded and brought to Sima Liang. The maids also wore green lotus-colored embroidered shoes.

His head began to swell, and the tall bookshelves rustled, and the words and messages that were artificially imprisoned here, desperately hit the books and bookshelves, trying to escape.Chi Yebai let go of his hand and backed away again and again.In front of him, at the end of the two bookshelves, stood a tall figure he did not recognize.He vaguely remembered that the man was laughing, while stroking his head with a cold hand...

"noob."

Chi Yebai was trembling all over, and turned his head suddenly to look.At some point, the child had come to his side and firmly grabbed his hand.It was the temperature of an ordinary person, and his beating heart began to slow down.

In the warm light of the lotus lantern, Sima Feng looked up at him, held his hand and kissed him, with a soft voice: "Don't be afraid, follow me. I'll take you out."

Chi Yebai opened his eyes, sweating profusely, his eyes were a little vacant for a while, unable to focus on the real point.

Sima Feng squatted on the desk, stepped on the two pairs of shoes he had just drawn, and was holding his hand against her face.

"I remembered..." Chi Yebai said quickly, "19 years ago..."

Sima Feng shook his head, reached out to wipe off the sweat on his forehead, and touched Chi Yebai's cold fingers with his lips: "Don't talk about this, you are panting."

Chi Yebai: "..."

He conveniently pinched Sima Feng's face, Sima Feng screamed in pain, and immediately let go of his hand.

"How many times have I said, don't jump in and think about the past when I'm not around." Sima Feng rubbed his face, "What are you pinching me for?...Are you still angry?"

"It's easy, so I'll pinch it." Chi Yebai thought to himself, if we don't fight anymore, pinch it and it will cancel it out.He secretly rubbed his fingers, feeling that Sima Feng really kissed the back of his hand just now.

After calming down, Chi Yebai told Sima Feng what he recalled.

"Blue lotus embroidered shoes became popular in Jinyanchi 19 years ago, but three months later, other women in Pengyang were still wearing green lotus embroidered shoes, but all the girls in Jinyanchi changed their colors." Chi Yebai Na He wrote quickly, "Because a woman hanged herself wearing such shoes, with a crimson hair band around her neck when she died."

He handed the paper to Sima Feng: "The woman's name is Peipei, a girl from Furong Courtyard, and her son found the body."

"Son?" Sima Feng frowned, "How old was he then? 19 years ago..."

"She has two sons." Chi Yebai said, "The biological father is unknown, and their whereabouts are unknown."

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A little theater happening elsewhere.

Chi Yebai: To be honest, did you kiss me?

Sima Feng: No.

Chi Yebai: ... (suspicious eyes)

Sima Feng: You don't believe me. (kiss quickly) If you really want to kiss, this is the right feeling.

Chi Yebai: …………………………

(the next day)

Gan Lele: I heard that a murder happened in your other courtyard yesterday?

Murong Hai: ...I won't tell you anything!Master Sima won't let me speak!

Gan Le: Oh~