I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion

After Wang Siniang and Ping'er heard this, they turned their heads together, and looked at Cui Tao in astonishment as if they were admiring a god.It is expected to die like a god, absolutely!

Han Qi asked Cui Tao if she was referring to the situation where two couples die every three years.

Cui Tao nodded.

"Officer Han Tui sent his subordinates and others to inspect Xinghua Lane yesterday. They were safe and sound all night. This morning, Zhu Erlang and his wife brought their children to find Zhu Dazhuang and Miao Shi, but they found them dead in the room. Inside." Li Yuan explained to Cui Tao.

It turned out that Han Qi had already noticed this and arranged patrols in advance, but unfortunately he still couldn't stop the murderer from killing.

"The dead are Miao and Zhu Dazhuang?"

Cui Tao remembered that the couple had been interrogated as witnesses at the death scene of Qian Tongshun's wife Yang.The Miao family also said that the alley was haunted by hanged ghosts and asked Zhu Dazhuang to move quickly, but Zhu Dazhuang didn't really believe it.Unexpectedly, not long after that, the couple died in Huangquan.

Cui Tao asked Ping'er and Wang Siniang to quickly put their luggage in their respective rooms, and let her go to the scene.

"Ah? Are we going too?" Ping'er felt terrified when she thought of the man hanged on the beam, sticking out his tongue unsteadily.

Wang Siniang glared at her with a sneer: "Aren't the sons and daughters of the world afraid of death?"

"I'm not afraid of the dead, but I'm afraid of the hanged." After Ping'er hurriedly threw her luggage back to the room, she followed Cui Tao and said to Wang Siniang in a low, terrified tone, "I know why I am only afraid of being hanged." Is it?"

Wang Siniang asked her why without knowing why.

"Because only the hanged people are killed by ghosts, that's why people are afraid. If you meet them when you are walking at night, you must remember that you must never look at them, or you will not turn your head." I will hang myself like them!"

Wang Siniang trembled in fright, swallowed, and leaned behind Cui Tao to ask her if it was true.

"I haven't tried it, or if you hang one and turn into a ghost, I will look at you?" Cui Tao casually glanced at Wang Siniang, intending to ridicule her for being stupid, even believing such words.

Wang Siniang then went to stare at Ping'er, imitating Cui Tao's tone and telling her to die for himself.

Ping'er sighed melancholy, tears welled up in her eyes in an instant, and she said to Wang Siniang: "When Master died, I thought about dying and letting her go. And when I was bullied by you in prison, I I really wanted to hang myself, and then become a hanged ghost to take you down! But the beams in the cell are too high, and I can’t reach them no matter what, so I can survive to this day.”

As she spoke, she lowered her head sullenly, and shed two tears.

Seeing that she was ill again, Wang Siniang scratched her head and wanted to say something to Ping'er, but she finally held back and quickly walked two steps to follow Cui Tao.

"Oh." Wang Siniang sighed.

Cui Tao looked sideways at Wang Siniang, "What?"

"I've really become kinder now, and I can resist hitting her." Wang Siniang finished her sighs, and glanced at Ping'er who was still weeping sadly.

"Your temper has never been very good. This is indeed an improvement." Cui Tao praised Wang Siniang's performance and told her that she would be rewarded with a bowl of fish balls in the future.

"Really? That's a good thing. I've been living in Futian Yard for the past few days, and I haven't even smelled the smell of meat." Wang Siniang's face immediately lit up.

Han Qi, who had been walking in the front, shook his head helplessly when he heard the noise behind him.

Li Yuan turned around to join in the fun, Wang Siniang, who had always been fierce and fierce, was obediently like a cat in front of Cui Tao, and Ping'er was tearful like a little flower suffering from wind and rain, and her whole body was on the verge of collapse. But he still chose to follow Cui Tao "strongly".

……

When they arrived at the Xinghua Lane crime scene, Cui Tao took Wang Siniang's wooden box for autopsy from her.

At this moment, I have to say that Han Qi's decision is really wise, and it feels really good to have a helper waiting by his side.

After Cui Tao put on the gloves, she stepped into the hall, and when she looked up, she saw Zhu Dazhuang and Miao Shi hanging from the beam.Ping'er and Wang Siniang came in afterward, and they covered their mouths as soon as they entered the door, sighing how could there be such a foul smell.

"Hanging usually happens like this, and because the rope strangles the base of the tongue, the flesh here becomes loose, and the lower jaw will be forced open, and the long tongue will be thrown out. This is the suicide hanging you wanted to choose. How about it?" Cui Tao finished observing the corpse. state, so that the officials can put the body down, and remind them to remember to keep the part of the rope buckle.

"It's too disgraceful. I didn't know it before. Then I will never think about hanging myself in the future. I'll choose to drink poison. It's more decent." Ping'er muttered softly.

"Poison wears through the intestines and stomach, usually causing vomiting, diarrhea, salivation in the mouth, and finally paralysis and exhaustion of the whole body, gasping and suffocation for about one stick of incense to two or three hours. , nosebleed, and death, how decent can it be?" Cui Tao asked back.

Ping'er's eyes widened in shock.

"Jump off a cliff, fall to your death with a slap, very fast. But it's not decent, it's meaty." After Wang Siniang proposed, she denied it.

"It's okay if the meat is muddy. If the fall happens to be inappropriate, the half-dead will suffer even more." Cui Tao said, and took out two silver needles from the ear canals of the two deceased.

"Then which suicide method is more decent?" Ping'er asked Cui Tao.

"It's dishonorable to die by suicide. Isn't it good to live? What are you thinking about? You can't lose to yourself when you lose to anyone." Cui Tao glanced at Ping'er coldly.

Ping'er was taken aback, she had never seen Cui Tao look at people like this before, it showed that she really didn't like what she said before.Ping'er lowered her head awkwardly, and said nothing more.In fact, she didn't really want to die, she just felt sad, and hoped that someone would see her suffering and care about her.Just now she said that she wanted to die, and she was very sad to see that no one paid attention to her.

Although Cui Tao gave her such a reprimanding glance, Ping'er realized that she had done something wrong, but her heart was warm, which meant that after all, there were still people who cared about her.

"In the future, if you feel sad about Chunqiu and want to seek death, then pack up and leave." Cui Tao said coldly.

Ping'er: "..." She was thinking too much!

Cui Tao preliminarily checked the condition of the corpse. The plaques on the corpse were fixed, and the color did not fade with finger pressure.

She told Han Qi: "I have been dead for at least two days. Both of them were still alive when they were hung from the beams of the house. From this point of view, only Qian Tongshun's wife, Yang Shi, was in a special situation. She died before she was hanged by the murderer." is dead."

"That is to say, when I brought people to inspect Xinghua Lane last night, the husband and wife were already dead, and their bodies were already hanging in the room?"

Seeing Cui Tao nodding, Li Yuan couldn't help being extremely angry, hating the murderer for being too vicious, killing people one after another at the feet of the emperor, ignoring their government for nothing.

"There was a trace of dragging on the floor of the kitchen, and there were meals that hadn't been served on the table. Miao was supposed to be in the kitchen at that time. After being attacked by the murderer, he was dragged to the main hall."

Wang Zhao came over at this time and relayed some information he had collected to Han Qi.

"According to Zhu Erlang, Zhu Dazhuang and the Miao family took over the work of helpers the day before yesterday. There was a royal official outside the city who was celebrating his [-]th birthday. The family was short of staff and had to hire workers. The Wang family held a birthday banquet for auspiciousness, and the money was generous. They only help for two days, and each helper is no less than [-] Wen.

Zhu Dazhuang hurriedly went with the Miao family, and the two of them could earn more money.The child was entrusted to Zhu Erlang and his wife to take care of it temporarily.Today was supposed to be the time when the couple came back, Zhu Erlang and his wife brought the child over after having breakfast, but they didn't expect to see the two hanged in the room.

The child is still frightened and crying non-stop.It's so pitiful that such an older child saw the death of his parents with his own eyes. "

"Where is the child?" Cui Tao asked.

Wang Zhao hurriedly informed that he was next door.

Cui Tao took off her gloves, washed her hands, and looked around carefully, finally her eyes fixed on the jade pendant on Han Qi's waist.Round white jade with a hole in the middle, engraved with flying tiger cloud patterns.

Han Qi glanced back at Cui Tao.

"Borrow it." Cui Tao looked at Han Qi eagerly.

Han Qi immediately pulled off the jade pendant and handed it to Cui Tao.

"Thank you." After Cui Tao took the jade pendant, she immediately went to the next door.

Zhu Dazhuang and Miao have two children, the eldest daughter is seven years old and the youngest son is five years old.The two children were startled, and they kept crying in the arms of Zhu Erlang and his wife, their bodies trembling.Neighbors brought tea and snacks to help coax her, but it didn't work at all.

Seeing that Wang Zhao brought a young and beautiful woman over, Zhu Erlang hurriedly asked Wang Zhao about his elder brother's case and whether he knew who the murderer was.

"It's not that fast, we still need to investigate." Wang Zhao introduced Cui Tao to Zhu Erlang, but he was not sure when he said it, "The child is crying too much, she can help coax her."

After Cui Tao asked the youngest son's name, she called him: "Zhu Xiaode, look what is in my hand."

Cui Tao squatted down, clenched her right hand and sent it in front of Zhu Xiaode.

When Zhu Xiaode heard someone calling his name directly, he was surprised, his crying gradually subsided, he turned his head curiously, and looked at Cui Tao with red and swollen eyes.

"The one in my hand is a treasure, but I can only show it to you. Follow me to the corner over there and take a peek, okay? You won't be so scared after seeing it." After Cui Tao finished speaking, she was still nervous when she saw the child. Holding Zhu Erlang's thigh and not letting go, he continued, "Your uncle and aunt are here. I am from the yamen, and these are also from the yamen. They specialize in protecting the safety of the people, so they will also protect you. If not If you feel that I am bullying you for a while, you should immediately yell."

Cui Tao pointed to the corner of the wall and told Zhu Xiaode that it was only that far away.

Zhu Xiaode finally shook his head and nodded, and followed Cui Tao to pull him over.

Cui Tao squatted down in the corner, with her back facing Wang Zhao, Zhu Erlang and others, put down the jade pendant in her hand, and while shaking the jade pendant, she asked Zhu Xiaode to have a good look at the patterns on the jade pendant.

Because the jade pendant was swaying, the patterns on it could not be seen clearly at first glance, so Zhu Xiaode kept staring at the jade pendant...

After two sticks of incense, Cui Tao comforted Zhu Dazhuang's eldest daughter, and took their siblings back to Zhu Erlang and his wife.

Zhu Erlang was surprised to find that the two children were much better, so he quickly thanked Cui Tao.

When Wang Zhao was free, he asked Cui Tao curiously what method he used to deal with the two children.

"It's nothing, it's easier to listen to persuasion when the two children are crying in a trance." Cui Tao then wanted to return the jade pendant to Han Qi, but seeing Han Qi was busy explaining something to Li Yuan, Cui Tao gave the jade pendant to Zhang Chang, she has to rush back to the mortuary for further autopsy.

Zhang Chang waited for Han Qi to finish his work, and presented the jade pendant.

When Han Qi took away the jade pendant, Zhang Chang suddenly said, "This is Liu Lang's personal belonging."

Han Qi is the youngest son of the Han family, and he happens to be the sixth in the family, so Zhang Chang would also call Han Qi Liulang in private.

When Lu Gongbi warned Yan Juhou last night, Zhang Chang was also present. Although he was waiting in the corner to serve, he had already seen everything in his eyes.So what he said just now meant a kind of exhortation or reminder to his master.

After Zhang Chang said this, he was actually a little nervous.He knew that he was talking too much, but as the most useful person around the master, he felt that it was necessary for him to speak up in time to remind the master.

"I know." Han Qi didn't even look at Zhang Chang, casually hung the jade pendant on his waist, and went on with his business.His demeanor was calm, his expression was as usual, there was nothing unusual, and he didn't blame Zhang Chang.

Zhang Chang bowed his head silently, but he had already repeatedly reviewed his talkative behavior in his heart.He thought that the master was confused, but he didn't want the master to be sober.A "know" is enough to warn him to talk too much, if he doesn't realize it anymore, he won't be the one standing next to his master tomorrow.

When Cui Tao checked the bodies of Zhu Dazhuang and Miao Shi for the second time, he filtered out the details that were easily overlooked, but still found no other suspicious clues on the two of them.Neither of them had resistance injuries during their lifetime, but there were abrasions, which should be caused by the friction and collision when the murderer moved Miao's body and hung the husband and wife.

There was a very strong smell of burnt skin in the morgue, which was emitted by the ten new charred corpses that entered today.As soon as Ping'er entered the room, she couldn't stand the smell, so she ran out and vomited.

Wang Siniang was also not very good at it, so she ran out to take a few breaths and came back, held back for a while, then poked her head out the window to catch her breath.

"So what's the use of keeping you? It's just that it can help."

Cui Tao calmly opened the straw mat covered by one of the burnt corpses. There was no smoke in the mouth and nose. It was burned after death. The clothes were burned, and the skin surface was completely carbonized. It was impossible to distinguish the real face of the deceased.

Cui Tao then checked the remaining nine and found that the conditions were similar, but fortunately two or three were not burned so deeply, and more things could be checked.

Wang Siniang and Ping'er huddled together, standing by the window, watching Cui Tao silently.At this moment, even Wang Siniang, who always loves to talk nonsense, was too honest to speak, all because the charred corpse beside Cui Tao was too intimidating.

"What are you doing in a daze, come and help me turn this corpse over." Cui Tao ordered.

Wang Siniang and Ping'er glanced at each other, moved hesitantly, and walked slowly towards Cui Tao.

"The corpse is here, the door is there, which one do you choose?" Cui Tao raised the bamboo tweezers in his hand and looked at the two of them dissatisfied.

The two immediately understood what Cui Tao meant, and if they didn't work, they would have to leave.Quickly quickened his pace, put on gloves according to Cui Tao's instructions, and moved the charred corpse that Cui Tao had designated.

Cui Tao used bamboo tweezers to grab a piece of ochre-colored cloth that was not completely burnt out from the dead man's armpit.The skin on the back of this corpse was slightly intact. Although the surface of the skin was also a little dark, after scrubbing, the carbonized part of the epidermis was gently peeled off with a knife, and there were traces of hematoma in the subcutaneous tissue.

The deceased had suffered back injuries during his lifetime, and the scars were long and strip-shaped, similar to being whipped with a whip or rattan.

Afterwards, Cui Tao found a piece of leftover clothing material from the back of another deceased. The surface of this piece of clothing material seemed to be completely black.Cui Tao soaked it in the water first, and waited a while to see if he could distinguish anything.

The ten charred corpses were all female, and the cause of death of two of them could be clearly identified, one with a broken neck and one with a skull injury.The rest were too badly burned to be discerned.Since the victims are all women and there are so many objects, people can't help but think of Li San's case. It is necessary to check whether the deceased was violated before his death.

After Cui Tao checked the two corpses that had been burnt lightly, she paused silently for a long time before taking off her gloves, washing her hands with pomelo leaf water, and lighting the wormwood to dispel the smell.

Ping'er and Wang Siniang didn't even dare to look at Cui Tao's autopsy, most of the time they turned their heads away or closed their eyes.

Seeing that Cui Tao was depressed at this moment, they all leaned over to ask her what's wrong.

Cui Tao didn't speak, and filled out the corpse list seriously.

Wang Siniang thought that Cui Tao was angry with them, so she hesitated and apologized: "The two of us have never done autopsy work before, we will definitely get better next time, don't drive us away."

"Yes, yes, yes, it is inevitable that you will be a little uncomfortable the first time. Let us do it twice, and it will definitely be fine." Ping'er echoed softly.

After Cui Tao put down her pen, she glanced at them, picked up the bamboo tweezers and fiddled with the piece of fabric that had just been soaked in water.

"Don't be angry, don't be angry, we will apologize to you!" Wang Siniang hurriedly brought Ping'er to bow to Cui Tao.

Cui Tao poked the cloth twice with bamboo tweezers, rinsed it in the water, then picked it up, dried it with a cloth, and held it up in the sun to distinguish carefully.There is a little spot in the center of the cloth, which can be distinguished as ocher.

Cui Tao wrapped the two pieces of cloth in paper, and then went to Han Qi with the body list.

Wang Siniang and Ping'er quickly followed.

"You stay here, after cleaning the mortuary room, lock the door." Cui Tao ordered.

The two of them dared not complain, so they quickly agreed to do it.

When Han Qi looked at the corpse list of Zhu Dazhuang and his wife, he was naturally not surprised by the expected result.But when he saw the list of ten charred corpses, he couldn't help frowning and looked at Cui Tao.

"Where were these ten charred corpses found? What's the specific situation?" Cui Tao asked.

"Last night there was a fire five miles east of Changyuan. The magistrate of Changyuan immediately took the people to fight the fire. In a ravine beside the official road, these ten charred bodies were found. The case was serious and he couldn't handle it, so he handed over Gave it to the Kaifeng government."

"Where did the fire start?" Cui Tao asked.

Han Qi shook his head, but the magistrate of Changyuan County did not explain this.

"Han Tuiguan, please look at this." Cui Tao put the two pieces of fabric on the table.

"This is?" Han Qi glanced back at Cui Tao.

"The two pieces of cloth from the two deceased are both ocher." Cui Tao explained.

At first, Han Qi was still a little puzzled why Cui Tao emphasized that the two pieces of fabric were ocher. Maybe it was just that the two deceased happened to wear the same color of clothes.Han Qi later understood what Cui Tao was referring to, combined with the cruelty written on his corpse list, it is not impossible to think about it.

Prison uniforms are ocher.

"You think they are all female prisoners?"

"Ten people, that's not a small number. It's not difficult to check, and you can find out once you check." Cui Tao looked at Han Qi solemnly.

Because she is also a female prisoner, Xu empathizes with her and is very angry at the inhuman treatment these female prisoners have suffered.Female prisoners are also human beings, and if they make mistakes, they should be dealt with according to the law, and nothing else should be done.

Han Qi complied and ordered to go down immediately.

"If it's true, we will punish you severely, so as to serve as an example to others." Han Qi's usually mild voice became cold and severe.

Cui Tao asked Han Qi again, among the four family members of the deceased who committed suicide in Xinghua Lane before, would any of them agree to the Kaifeng Mansion's grave digging and re-examination.

"It's been a long time, and now only one family has been found. Wang Zhao has already gone to lobby, and he should be able to go in the afternoon."

"That's right, I'll take a trip to Changyuan County to see where the fire started."

After Cui Tao came out from Han Qi's place, she saw Wang Siniang running towards her and told her that a Lu Erlang was looking for her.

"No." Cui Tao walked back without blinking.

"That Lu Erlang said, if you say you don't see it, he wants me to tell you that he will burn Jiuniang's letter." Wang Siniang continued.

Cui Tao stopped immediately and asked Si Niang to lead the way.

When Cui Tao arrived at the side hall of Kaifeng Mansion, he saw Lu Gongbi standing in the middle of the room with his hands behind his back, holding a letter in his hands.

Without further ado, Cui Tao stepped forward and pulled the letter out of Lu Gongbi's hand.

By the time Lu Gongbi felt something, it was already too late, and his hands were empty.

He frowned and stared at Cui Tao: "You—"

"It's so rude, I don't know how to behave, so rude." Cui Tao opened the letter and finished what he hadn't finished for Lu Gongbi.

Lu Gongbi took a deep breath, then lifted his robe and sat down, "You don't like to be restrained, so that's fine. But you dare to follow anyone you know on the street? Last time you were lucky, you met... Huang Liulang, what will you do if you meet a bad person?"

Cui Tao quickly read the contents of Cui Zhi's letter, it was nothing more than nagging about the daily life at home.

In the letter, Cui Zhi said that Cui Liuniang was jealous of her, and used words behind her back several times to run on her.He also said that Mrs. Ma, that is, Cui Tao's mother, had approached her privately to ask about Cui Tao's situation, but Cui Zhi didn't dare to disclose it, so he had to keep it a secret.He also said that because Cui Zhi was very popular with the prime minister's wife, the grandmother in the family valued Cui Zhi more and more, and intended to ask Ma Shi to help match Cui Zhi and Lu Gongbi's marriage.At the end of the letter, Cui Zhi did not forget to tell Cui Tao that many people in her family are either enthusiastic or rejecting her, which makes her feel scared and does not know who to trust. Fortunately, Shi Niang is with her as always.

"Who is Ten Niang?" Cui Tao saw too many corpses today, and she couldn't turn her mind for a while.

"The only daughter of your fifth uncle and fifth sister-in-law," Lu Gongbi explained, "is also a hard-fated one. Her parents died not long after she was born."

"The life experience is quite miserable. How is your temperament? How is your personality?" Cui Tao continued to ask.

Lu Gongbi recalled it carefully, and after a while, he said: "I don't have much impression, he is shy, always likes to hide behind your grandmother, he should be quite quiet and obedient."

"Quiet and well-behaved, this temperament suits you." Cui Tao changed the topic smoothly.

Lu Gongbi immediately glared at Cui Tao and asked her what she meant.

"You are such a domineering person, you always like to impose your own ideas on others, so you have to find someone who is quiet and obedient, who is obedient to you. Finding someone with such a temperament is more suitable for you, and the life after marriage will be easy and beautiful , there will be no major problems." Cui Tao explained.

Lu Gongbi stood up abruptly, squinted his eyes and questioned Cui Tao: "Because of what happened last night, or because of Tianxianglou, did you deliberately say this to anger me?"

"Neither, it's because the second son of the prime minister's family has 'wishful fantasies' about a female prisoner." Cui Tao corrected.

Lu Gongbi's eyes were full of anger, he stared at Cui Tao coldly for a while, and then walked away.

Cui Tao put Cui Zhi's letter away, and walked briskly back to her small courtyard, suddenly remembered that the pig's trotters were still stuffy in the pot, so she hurried to the kitchen and lifted the lid to check the situation.

Fortunately, it didn't get mushy, and the soup was harvested just right. The shiny brown-red pig's trotters lay in the golden-yellow beans, exuding a burst of meaty fragrance.

Cui Tao put the lid back on the pot, and put the noodles she made before on the chopping board.This noodle is not quite the same. A certain proportion of bean noodles and chestnut noodles are specially blended in it. When it is cooked and finely cooked, you can taste a different sweetness from ordinary noodles.

Cui Tao kneaded the dough into evenly sized balls, and then rolled the pastry into the same number of small balls.Press the pastry dough on the large noodle dough, roll it into a long strip, roll it up, let it stand for a while, then roll it into a long strip, roll it up again, repeat this several times, and then roll the dough into a round cake shape, Stick sesame seeds and chopped almonds on the top and bottom, and fry them in the pan.

The ghee cake produced in this way is golden in color and crispy in layers.The sesame seeds and chopped almonds on the surface will also add a nutty fragrance to the crisp but not crumbled shortbread.Use this ghee cake that is crispy in the mouth, and eat it with stewed pig's trotters with soybeans. The trotters are fragrant, the soybeans are fragrant, and the cake is also fragrant.If you dip the shortbread in the soup of stewed pig's trotters before eating, it will have a crispy and fragrant taste, which makes people want to stop.

Regardless of what to eat for breakfast, this must be eaten now.

Pinger and Wang Siniang also borrowed from Cui Tao.

The two came smelling the fragrance, and their eyes lit up when they saw the flesh.They had tasted Cui Tao's skill of making rabbit meat earlier, it was still in the wild, and the seasoning was limited, but at that time it was already delicious.Now in this small kitchen, there are all kinds of condiments, and the dishes made are more fragrant than last time.For two people who have eaten 'grass' for several days, how can they not be greedy?cannot!

Both of them couldn't help swallowing, and their eyes were getting straighter and straighter looking at the soybeans and pig's trotters.

Cui Tao put the two of them's pig's feet into a bowl, and also prepared pancakes and chopsticks, but didn't let them move their chopsticks.

The two hurriedly begged Cui Tao, praised Cui Tao with good words, and promised her that they would be her good helpers in the future and would never hold her back.

"One request: When doing serious business, don't talk nonsense. Do what I ask you to do, and don't say a word. Otherwise, go out and turn left. There is still room in Rhubarb."

The rhubarb that Cui Tao was talking about was a dog that lived next to the prison in Kaifeng Mansion, and it was also the dog that survived the poison test last time.

The two nodded repeatedly, promising Cui Tao.

Cui Tao then withdrew her hand and allowed them to eat.

The two people who hadn't touched the meat for several days immediately started to eat with chopsticks like crazy.

Wang Siniang has a quick temper and eats fast, but she is very careful when gnawing on the pig's trotters, leaving no muscle on the bones.It was also fortunate that Cui Tao's pig's trotters had been bored long enough for her to gnaw them all out.

Compared with Wang Siniang, Ping'er eats more politely, but her speed is not slow, and sometimes one side of her cheek will bulge very high when she eats, which is a bit out of line with her usual ladylike image.

"By the way," Wang Siniang wiped her mouth after eating, and asked why Cui Tao's attitude suddenly changed when she was examining the charred female body, "Did you find any important evidence?"

"Ahem——" Ping'er frowned, trying to swallow what was in her mouth, and stared at Wang Siniang with resentful eyes, "Can you stop talking about corpses while eating?"

"I didn't say that during the meal, I'm done!" Wang Siniang said innocently.

Ping'er coughed even more from the anger, she glared at Wang Siniang resentfully, complaining that she only thought about herself and didn't care about others.

"Oh, don't say that. When you were crying, you were just thinking about yourself, didn't you think that others would be so disgusted by seeing you like that?" Wang Siniang retorted meanly.

"You—" Ping'er blushed angrily, but Wang Siniang just kept smiling.

In desperation, Ping'er could only puff her cheeks, hold her vegetable bowl, and hide at the other end of the kitchen to eat.

At this time, Wang Siniang heard what Cui Tao said about the female corpses she inspected, all the ones that were not burnt had severe erosion in their lower body.Wang Siniang immediately understood what was going on, she was so angry that she slapped the table and stared, yelling at those beasts for daring to harm women like this, they will die badly.

"Now I suspect that they may all be female prisoners. Of course, further investigation is needed to confirm." Cui Tao continued.

Ping'er leaned over and stared wide-eyed: "Female prisoner? Who is that to—"

Although Ping'er hid at the other end of the kitchen just now, it didn't prevent her from hearing the whole thing clearly, because Wang Siniang just scolded too loudly.

"Is it from the government?" Wang Siniang asked.

"It's hard to tell at the moment, because the evidence is not complete enough." Cui Tao stated objectively, but she personally thinks that it is very likely that she is an official or an official.

"Fortunately, we were imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion. If it were changed to another place, we don't know what it would be like."

Wang Siniang sighed and sneered twice.

"Actually, this kind of thing happens in prisons in many places. The Kaifeng Mansion is located at the root of the imperial city, so things should be more regulated. In prisons in other places, many female prisoners are not treated as human beings, and they are bullied by the jailers. It's trivial to say, "I'm in prison, and I'm still a chaste woman", and it's light to strip clothes and tease me. But there are many people who were imprisoned for petty crimes and were released later, but they have no face to live, or Hang or jump into the river."

Pinger asked Wang Siniang in surprise how she knew this.

"Don't forget what I used to do. There are a few women in the village who committed crimes and went to the prison, and have seen the situation inside. They also survived, but they didn't have the face to stay where they used to live, so they ran here Go to the cottage." Wang Siniang frowned in hatred, and slapped the table angrily, "But they didn't die like that in the morgue! Don't let me meet these devastated dogs, or I'll pick them up. Their skins, their eyes gouged out!"

Ping'er repeatedly agreed, and followed Wang Siniang to scold those people.

"I hope the official Han Tui can find out the truth of this matter as soon as possible, and arrest those beasts who harmed people!" Ping'er continued.

"Will officials Han protect those people just because they are officials?" Wang Siniang asked Cui Tao worriedly.

"No." Cui Tao believed that Han Qi would not do that.

But taking a step back, if he really did that, Cui Tao would have his own way to deal with it.In short, an explanation must be given to the ten deceased in the morgue who were humiliated both during their lifetime and after their death.

Now Wang Siniang believes what Cui Tao said.She immediately breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that Kaifeng Mansion is better.It was really a wise decision for her and Ping'er to choose to stay in Kaifeng Mansion.

In the afternoon, Cui Tao first went to Changyuan County to check the fire in the mountains.

Judging from the extent of the burning at the scene, the ravine where the ten female corpses were burned was exactly where the fire started.There are no trees near this ravine, just some low shrubs and grass.So the fire was extinguished without much spread.

Apart from the dark vegetation and carbon ash, there were no valuable clues at the scene.Even if there were, they were destroyed during the firefighting process.

Cui Tao then rushed to the cemetery of Zhang and his wife who committed suicide in Xinghua Lane three years ago.

After the coffin was opened, the condition of the bones in the joint burial coffin was clear at a glance. A silver needle was inserted into the skulls of the two bones.In this way, it can be made clear that all the suicide cases of couples in Xinghua Lane may be related, and all couples who "suicide" may die by the same method.To be completely sure, it is necessary to find the burial places of the other three suicide couples and open the coffins for confirmation.

Wang Zhao is responsible for the investigation and handling of this matter, and Cui Tao only needs to wait for the news.

"Now it seems that the case in Xinghua Lane is likely to be related to a sorcerer's sacrificial ceremony. The murderous house in the whole alley must be a couple who hanged themselves, once every three years, two couples at a time." Cui Tao said. Han Qi concluded.

"What kind of magic ceremony is that?" Han Qi asked.

Cui Tao rested her chin in her hands, and pondered: "It's hard to say. Many sorceries are secret, and outsiders may not know about them. But this ceremony should not be done for the living, as if it is a sacrifice for the dead. Of course, the living Those who want to have something to ask for, otherwise they wouldn’t have spent so much trouble.”

Han Qi nodded, feeling that what Cui Tao said made sense.

"Did you find the daughter of the old carpenter who built the house in Xinghua Lane?" Cui Tao suddenly remembered.

"Probably tomorrow."

"That's good. This case can't be delayed any longer. If the murderer wants to sacrifice two couples every three years, this year's number has already been completed. The murderer will probably not do it again in a short time. If he is allowed to hide in the vast In the sea of ​​people, it will be hard to find, unless you wait until the next three years."

Cui Tao continued to analyze the characteristics of the murderer in the Xinghua Lane case with Han Qi in detail.

"Based on the circumstances of the death of Qian Tongshun's wife, Yang Shi, at night, Yang Shi met the murderer in the courtyard before she had time to put on her coat, which shows that she was defenseless against the murderer.

The insertion of the silver needle must be close and precise. Judging from the fact that none of the four victims resisted the injury, the deceased were all pierced by the silver needle at close range when they were unsuspecting.

Two families, two couples, that is, two men and two women, who would be negligent to guard against at the same time?Suppose the murderer is also a resident of Xinghua Lane and is very familiar with them.The murderer is weak, it may be a woman, of course it may be a weak man, but no matter if it is a man or a woman, the same sex can be closer, but the opposite sex, even if they are familiar with each other, it seems that it is not easy to get too close.How did he break through each of them separately, and put the silver needles into the ears of the male and female victims? "

Han Qi agreed: "The murderer must be a person who is easy to be ignored. Could the murderer be two people, a man and a woman?"

"I don't rule out this possibility, but if there are two people, their methods of using silver needles should be very similar.

In the two recent cases, too many people died, and the killing methods were too brutal. "

Cui Tao proposes to Han Qi to do a ritual in Kaifeng Mansion to save the dead.It can not only comfort the dead, but also comfort the living.

Han Qi didn't think this was the real reason for Cui Tao's request to do something, "Why don't you just say it frankly?"

"Let's be honest, I'm afraid Han Tuiguan won't believe me." Cui Tao glanced at Han Qi.