I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion

The scene of Zhu Daniu's death was very chaotic, the table was overturned, and there were overturned hot pepper soup, cold bean sprouts, scallion pancakes and steamed buns on the ground, as well as two oiled lotus leaves and two thin straw ropes.The knots of the straw rope are still there, one is a flat knot with two ends crossed, and the other is a double single knot with two ends tied together.

Zhu Daniu was sitting by the east wall. He had already lost his breath, his lips were purple, and his conjunctiva, nose, and oral mucosa all showed signs of congestion, which were typical symptoms of arsenic poisoning.The corpse was fresh, the muscles were loose, and there was no rigor or plaque, and the death was less than an hour old.

Cui Tao tried the hot pepper soup and scallion pancakes on the ground with the silver needle, but there was no reaction, but when the needle was inserted into the bun, a layer of black was obviously formed on the surface of the silver needle.Because the technology level of ancient poison making is not high, arsenic will be mixed with sulfur-containing substances, and sulfur will react with silver to form silver sulfide, which will cause the surface of silver needles to turn black.So strictly speaking, all sulfur-containing things will make silver needles black, such as egg yolk.

Cui Tao deliberately opened the buns, confirmed that the stuffing of the buns was pure beef, ruled out the possibility of other sulfur-containing substances, and then told Han Qi that the deceased Zhu Daniu should have been poisoned by arsenic.

The stuffing of this steamed stuffed bun is made of beef. As an important production tool in ancient times, farming cattle were almost completely forbidden to be slaughtered before the Song Dynasty.The "Song Xingtong" in the early Song Dynasty also clearly stipulated that innocent slaughter of cattle would be punished with one year's imprisonment.However, during the reign of Dazhong Xiangfu, the people of the two Zhejiang provinces lived affluent lives, and there were many people who killed cattle privately. In the end, because the law did not blame the public, Song Zhenzong slightly relaxed the regulations on eating cattle in the two Zhejiang provinces.

Up to now, due to the surplus of farming cattle, not only the Liangzhe area, but also the restrictions on cattle killing in other areas have been gradually relaxed.But beef is still not as common as mutton and pork after all, so in a ridiculous place like Changyuan County, if someone kills cattle to sell meat, it can still be traced back.

In addition, last night Wang Zhao had sent someone to continue to monitor the Zhu brothers. Although they could not personally monitor all the actions of the two brothers, as long as the two brothers went out, they would be recorded wherever they went.

"Early this morning, Zhu Erniu went to buy breakfast at a place called Guifenglou in Xinjie, and he came back after that. I haven't seen his brother go out again."

The yamen servant in charge of monitoring had just gone to the house with Wang Zhao's to fetch people, and he was shocked when Zhu Daniu died.They were also puzzled as to why Zhu Erniu was not in the house.

Obviously there were four yamen guards secretly guarding the front and back doors of Zhu's house, and they were very sure that no one came in or out of the front and back doors during this period of time.

"Then the only possibility is to climb over the wall and leave." Cui Tao said.

All beef buns are poisonous, Zhu Daniu should have eaten the buns at breakfast, and Zhu Erniu hadn't had time to use them yet.Zhu Daniu has a more cautious temperament. When he found out that he was poisoned, he probably told Zhu Erniu not to go through the front and back doors when he was running away before he died.

Looking around along the wall of Zhu's house, he found a pair of deep shoe prints at the base of the west wall. The size of the shoe prints matched the size of Zhu Erniu's feet.

"Miss Cui is so amazing, she even noticed the size of his feet." Wang Zhao couldn't help admiring him, and then he looked embarrassed, "This Zhu Erniu is the key witness. We must arrest him as soon as possible before the murderer finds him." I found it, but where he will escape is really confusing. Also, could this Zhu Erniu have already discovered our surveillance, so he deliberately climbed over the wall and left? Does Mrs. Cui have any good ideas? "

Wang Zhao looked at Cui Tao eagerly. No matter what problems he encountered now, if there was a solution, he felt that Mrs. Cui must know.

Cui Tao rolled her eyes and looked at Han Qi: "There is a way."

Han Qi suddenly felt like a fat sheep being coveted by Cui Tao, so he knew that Cui Tao's 'method' was plotting against him.Han Qi stared back at Cui Tao, and asked her to talk about it. Things that are not easy to do will definitely not work.

Wang Zhao, who had a serious face, couldn't help but suppress the corners of his mouth when he saw that Officer Han was so defensive towards Mrs. Cui.Cui Niang is really a 'devil' in their Kaifeng mansion.

Next, Han Qi changed into a vermilion official robe, and rode a group of white horses in a heroic manner.Han Qi didn't have any complaints about his wearing the official uniform, but he just didn't understand why Cui Tao insisted on him riding a white horse.

"White horses are more dignified, and white horses are more attractive. A handsome man riding a white horse attracts women's attention the most. As long as there are women's mouths, people in Changyuan County will not worry about the presence of Kaifeng Mansion."

Cui Tao scrubbed the white horse that Wang Zhao got, making it white on top of white, and then asked Han Qi to get on the horse.

Han Qi didn't like that others ignored his talent because they paid too much attention to his appearance.But when Cui Tao said that he was a handsome man, he couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth, and realized that it was not as annoying as it was said from other people's mouth.

The crimson luxurious official robe, the face like a crown jade, and a snow-white horse under him, coupled with the noble temperament, make people unable to take their eyes off it.Such a suit, coupled with Wang Zhao and others who were also riding a horse behind him, made the women on both sides of the street who were supposed to be shy couldn't help but exclaim.Afterwards, under the enthusiastic crowd of many people, Han Qi and others went all the way to the county government of Changyuan County.

This battle naturally aroused the curiosity of the common people. The official who rode the horse at the front was too handsome. Could he be a god who came down from the sky?The more I pay attention, the more I can't help but wonder, who is this official and what is he doing in Changyuan County?

Everyone didn't have doubts for a long time, because then they heard someone beating the gong, shouting that Kaifeng Mansion will handle the case, and the idlers wait to avoid it.The boy who beat the gong was not tall, and was dressed in gray robes, but his voice was really loud when he beat the gong, and there was actually a little bit of melodiousness.

It is impossible to avoid it, they have to look at the handsome man, but they all know that the one is actually the Han Tuiguan from Kaifeng Mansion, who used to be the second place in the imperial examination, really amazing.The more they look at this character, the luck will definitely increase.

Before entering Changyuan county government office, Han Qi had already ordered Changyuan county to be blocked.

In this way, it can prevent the real murderer from fleeing Changyuan County; it can also give Zhu Erniu a chance to surrender himself safely, without having to take the risk all the way to Bianjing to find Kaifeng Mansion.

Wei Chunlai, magistrate of Changyuan County, was very surprised by Han Qi's arrival, so he hurriedly greeted Han Qi and invited him to take a seat.

As soon as Han Qi sat down with a cold face, Cui Tao acted like a dog's leg, stepped forward, and asked Wei Chunlai aggressively: "What did Zhu Erniu come to the county government late last night?"

Wei Chunlai was stunned for a moment, "What Zhu Erniu?"

"Late at night yesterday, someone saw Zhu Erniu entering the county government office! Now that we have found out that these two brothers are related to the Jiao corpse case, why don't you recruit them quickly!" Cui Tao sternly said.

Wei Chunlai rolled his eyes and shook his head to express his innocence. There was no such thing as Zhu Erniu ever coming to the yamen.

"Although the rank of the lower official is low, he is an official of the imperial court and is also serving the country. Is it too much for Han to wrong the lower official as soon as he pushes the official?"

Logically speaking, Wei Chunlai didn't have the guts to refute his superiors, but after hearing what Cui Tao questioned him just now, he had the confidence.

Why did I see Zhu Erniu coming to the Yamen with my own eyes? Zhu Erniu never came to the Yamen last night, but Zhu Daniu did.In short, no matter who witnessed it, he couldn't even tell who it was, either because his eyes were dim or he couldn't see clearly.This kind of person's testimony is naturally not convincing enough, so there is nothing to be afraid of.

Besides, anyone who wants to save face can't stand Cui Tao's arrogant posture.As the county magistrate, Wei Chunlai was naturally unconvinced that he was bullied by a dog beside Han Tuiguan, and he had the urge to refute her.

"Magistrate Wei, can you guarantee that no one has ever visited your county office? If you have, are you willing to take off this official robe because you deceived the superior?" Cui Tao continued to question him in a provocative tone.

Wei Chunlai sneered, "Why don't you dare?"

Cui Tao immediately drew up a document, put it in front of Wei Chunlai, and asked him to sign it.

Wei Chunlai was about to accuse Han Qi of his entourage's lack of discipline, when he glanced at the contents of the document Cui Tao held up in front of her, and found that Zhu Daniu was actually written on it.

"Why do you write Zhu Daniu here?"

"What's the difference between Zhu Daniu and Zhu Erniu? They're brothers anyway, and it's only a letter difference." Cui Taoman said nonchalantly, and urged Wei Chunlai to sign his name quickly.

Wei Chunlai was suspicious, so naturally he couldn't write.

"It's true that I haven't seen him, but I can't guarantee whether other people in the yamen have seen their brother." Wei Chunlai hesitated.

Cui Tao laughed, "Wei county magistrate is interesting. When I said Zhu Erniu, you should be straightforward, and you are absolutely sure that he has never been to the Yamen. But after Zhu Daniu is written in the document, you have thought it through before you come to the yamen." It occurred to me that other people in the yamen might have seen him."

Wei Chunlai blinked his eyes twice, and smiled apologetically, "Didn't you just see Official Han Tui just now, and was overwhelmed by Official Han Tui's demeanor, so I didn't remember it for a while."

"Please Han push the official to be clear, I really don't know anything!" Wei Chunlai hurriedly saluted, asking Han Qi to be the master for him.Before there is no clear evidence, an official like him who knows the law is unlikely to admit it voluntarily.

Cui Tao immediately suggested to Han Qi to search, "I think the Zhu brothers all have such a big house to live in, with hundreds of linings. If the magistrate of Wei really colluded with them, the family must be richer. If County Magistrate Wei can explain the calendar, it's nothing. If he can't explain it, isn't there a problem?"

"You—" Wei Chunlai panicked, and said to Han Qi excitedly and angrily, "This official is not guilty of any crime, and official Han Tui has no right to search the official's residence without authorization!"

"Although County Magistrate Wei was not charged with any crime, he is suspected. Zhu Daniu visited the county government at night last night, and today he died at home." When Cui Tao looked at Wei Chunlai, his eyes rolled, "I'm sorry , I was wrong, but I can’t say that magistrate Wei is suspected, maybe other people in the yamen saw him.”

Hearing Cui Tao's words, Wei Chunlai's face softened a little, and he nodded in response to Cui Tao, exactly like that.

"Because I don't know who it is, but the person must be in this county government, so the entire county government is suspect!" Cui Tao immediately saluted Han Qi again, asking him to allow him to search the Changyuan county government.

Han Qi looked at Wei Chunlai indifferently, "Is this reason feasible?"

"This——" Wei Chunlai's face changed drastically. He really didn't expect that the entourage brought by Han Qi would be such a rascal. First, he tried him with the Zhu brothers to let him relax his guard and show his flaws. nest fire.In the end, the reason for searching the yamen cannot be refuted after all.In fact, everyone knew very well that the Yamen search was targeting him.

Fortunately, he acted cautiously. After the scorched corpse was discovered, he was even more cautious to ensure that everything was safe.

Search, these people should not be searched, and then they will look good.

"Then ask Han Tuiguan to search, but if you can't find it, please ask Han Tuiguan to give an explanation to the lower official, and severely punish this young man who repeatedly offends the lower official." Wei Chunlai looked at Cui Tao who was dressed in men's clothes with hatred. His eyes wanted to tear her to the bone.

Cui Tao put her hands behind her back, shook her head covered with Qinglong's header, and smiled confidently at Wei Chun: "Magistrate Wei, please rest assured, I will not give you this chance. If I become rampant, no one will Afraid."

Han Qi originally had a stern face, watching the show calmly, but suddenly he couldn't help chuckling when he heard Cui Tao's words.No one is afraid?I really don't know who she is relying on, dare to act like this?

Immediately, with Han Qi's permission, Cui Tao led Li Cai and others to search the Changyuan county government.Wang Zhao took people to search Guifeng Building where Zhu Erniu bought breakfast.

After Cui Tao took the people away, Wei Chunlai stood in front of Han Qi and waited. Although he believed that the things he put would not be found by Cui Tao, he still felt anxious. face.

At this time, there was already a yamen servant serving tea for Han Qi again.

Han Qi picked up the new tea bowl, smelled the tea, and seemed to remember that Wei Chunlai was still standing in front of him, so he invited Wei Chunlai to take a seat, and asked someone to serve Wei Chunlai a cup of tea as well.

After Wei Chunlai thanked him politely, he took a couple of sips of tea, suppressing his shock, trying to keep his composure from showing any flaws.

After two long sticks of incense, Wei Chunlai's expression became more and more relaxed.Obviously, after such a long search, those people found nothing. If they found anything again, they would have brought their things here to show off just because of the impatient and crazy look of that dog leg.

Wei Chunlai gradually gained confidence in his heart, he was not afraid anymore, and even a calm smile appeared on his face.He was thinking about how to settle accounts with Han Qi for a while, and then how to torture that smug servant.He won't stop until he takes off his pants and smashes his ass!

After a while, Cui Tao turned back to the county government hall, shaking her green head.

When Wei Chunlai saw that her hands were empty, and no one was following behind to take anything, Wei Chunlai sneered secretly and sneered.

"I also ask Han Tuiguan to give an explanation to the subordinate!" Wei Chunlai stood up and immediately bowed to Han Qi, his face full of displeasure.

Cui Tao turned her head to look at Wei Chunlai, and nodded in agreement: "It's time to give an explanation!"

"The matter has come to this, and you are still so rampant. Do you think that Han Tuiguan even ignored the court's etiquette to protect your dog?" Wei Chunlai didn't think Han Qi would be that stupid. If he was really that stupid, it's okay, he Then he can file a complaint and make a big fuss, not only can he severely punish this rampant dog leg, but also deal with his master Han Qi.

"If you don't protect me, could it be possible to protect you, a corrupt moth?" Cui Tao was not at all annoyed at being called a dog by Wei Chunlai, a dog who stays up late, a dog who eats gluttons, a single dog... She is often a dog of different breeds.

Han Qi was originally dissatisfied with Wei Chunlai's difficult and insulting Cui Tao, but seeing that Cui Tao didn't care at all, he forgot that she couldn't be judged by ordinary people.She is indeed a strange woman.

"How dare you talk nonsense and slander me!" Wei Chunlai blew out his beard angrily, pointing at the tip of Cui Tao's nose and scolding.Seeing that Han Qi didn't respond, he simply called the yamen servant in the yamen to help him beat Cui Tao out.

Hearing the words, the servants outside the door shrank their necks and dared not move.

Wei Chunlai was so angry that he rushed to the door in quick steps, trying to reprimand them for being useless, but just as he opened his mouth, he saw three familiar sandalwood boxes on the east side of the door.Li Cai and the others stood behind the box, staring at him meaningfully, as if they were watching a monkey being tricked.

When Wei Chunlai was in a daze, Li Cai opened the box, and the gold, silver and jewels inside were dazzling.

Wei Chunlai shook his body, only then did he realize that he was finished.Then I squatted down on the ground, my legs were so weak that I couldn't get up.

Seeing this, Li Cai and others wanted to carry Wei Chunlai back to the lobby.

Cui Tao came over at this moment, casually leaning against the door frame, looking at Wei Chunlai who was paralyzed on the ground.

"Moths are supposed to crawl."

As soon as Li Cai heard this, he stopped immediately, and stopped the yamen servants behind him.Her master wants to see Wei Chunlai crawling, so he must let Wei Chunlai crawl.

Wei Chunlai had already fallen into unbelievable panic, he shook his head, feeling like he was dreaming.

"Impossible, no, how could... I hid in such a hidden place, how did you find it?"

"You mean the situation where you hid the three boxes of treasures on the roof of the west wing of the east-span courtyard? It's so easy to find. When I looked up, I found that the height of the beams inside the house did not match the height of the outside. Isn't it obvious that there is a mezzanine inside?" ?” Cui Tao asked nonchalantly, obviously this matter did not bother her at all.

What is obvious? ? ?It was specially built by him to find a craftsman! ! !

Considering the placement of such a secret mezzanine in the direction of the top of the head that is most easily overlooked by people, and the fake beams to confuse people's eyes, sometimes even he himself almost forgets that there is a treasure hidden on the roof. It's obvious?

Wei Chunlai thought desperately.

Under Li Cai's urging, the weak-legged Wei Chunlai could only crawl back to the lobby obediently, begging Han Qi for mercy, explaining that he didn't intend to embezzle the money.

"I swear! Zhu Daniu's death has nothing to do with me! He was a kidnapper who committed crimes, and I caught him, so he bribed me with money, and I took it for money! Zhu Daniu came to me last night, but nothing happened. Big deal. He said he was going to take his second brother away from Falling in Love with the Bookstore. I’m happy for him to stop doing those things. I don’t want to get involved in these things anymore. Anyway, the money I saved is enough to spend !"

At this time, Wang Zhao sent someone back to report the situation, and Cui Tao, under Han Qi's instruction, immediately set off and arrived at Guifeng Tower.

Cui Tao suddenly remembered something, and asked Wang Zhao to send someone to tell the yamen servant who was in charge of investigating the beef sales, "If the vendor can't remember who he sold the beef to, he will take him directly to the yamen."

At this time, Guifeng Building has closed its shop.

Cui Tao entered through the back door in a low-key manner. Wang Zhao took the shopkeeper Zhou Fu to meet Cui Tao. Zhou Fu briefly introduced the other five people in the store to Cui Tao. There is a middle-aged woman named Qi and her son Qi Dalang working in the kitchen.

"I heard you don't sell beef buns here?" Cui Tao asked Zhou Fu straight to the point.

Zhou Fu nodded.

"Zhu Erniu should be a regular customer of your house, right? What did he buy at your house this morning?" Cui Tao asked.

Zhou Fu: "Mutton buns and scallion pancakes, their brothers buy these regularly every morning."

Qi Shi: "As soon as the mutton buns and scallion pancakes come out of the pan, I will wrap them up first every day and send Da Lang to deliver them to the cabinet."

Among them, Si Bo, surnamed Zhang, said: "When I saw him coming, I handed him the things wrapped on the cabinet."

But before that, the bag had been on the cabinet for a while, and everyone was busy in the morning, but no one kept staring at the wrapped buns and sesame seeds on the cabinet.

Afterwards, when Zhou Fu learned that Zhu Daniu had been poisoned to death after eating beef buns, he was so frightened that he quickly brought everyone to kneel down together and explained their innocence to Cui Tao: "But we don't make beef buns here!"

Cui Tao didn't say much, and asked Zhou Fu to take her to the kitchen to have a look.

"Since the store doesn't make beef buns, and the poisoning is so obvious, when the buns are placed on the cabinet, they might be dropped by someone." Cui Tao sighed loudly to Wang Zhao while walking.

"The murderer is naturally unlikely to be poisoned, and he will stay here and not run away." Wang Zhao agreed.

Cui Tao then smiled and told Zhou Fu and others not to be nervous, "I just came to the kitchen to see, but there are still buns, snacks and so on? We are all hungry after a busy day's work, please help us pack A few catties of food to take away."

Zhou Fu heaved a sigh of relief when he heard it, and quickly smiled and said that there were a lot, and he didn't charge money, so he regarded it as a reward for the officials to investigate the case.Afterwards, Zhou Fu took Qi Shi and others to pack the steamed stuffed buns and biscuits in the kitchen separately.

Cui Tao collected these things and looked at their packed knots one by one. Qi's and the three Sibo's packed knots were all flat knots, Qi's son's were bow knots, and only Zhou Fu tied a double single knot.

Cui Tao said to Zhou Fu with a smile all over her face, "I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, it's okay, I said that the villain voluntarily rewarded the officials!" Zhou Fu thought that Cui Tao said that he would bring food, so he hurriedly apologized with a smile.

"You still have to go to the government office with us." After Cui Tao finished speaking, Qing Yu swung the ball with a header, turned around and left neatly.

Zhou Fu's smile continued to remain on his face for a moment, and then his face collapsed, wondering what Wang Zhao and others meant.Wang Zhao didn't give them a chance to distinguish, directly tied and gagged him, stuffed him into the car, and took him to the county government office.

A yamen servant had already brought three beef vendors to wait in the yamen.

Cui Tao immediately asked these vendors to identify who among them had bought beef.One of the vendors identified Zhou Fu.

Zhou Fu hurriedly explained in panic: "I bought beef yesterday, but I bought it for myself, but I didn't poison the buns!"

"Don't worry, there will be an answer to whether you have been wronged or not." Cui Tao saw Zhou Fu's defense, and he knew that he was the kind of person who would not give up without seeing the Yellow River.

Later, in the process of interrogating Qi and others, I learned that although Zhou Fu was the shopkeeper of Guifenglou, he did not go to Guifenglou often, and occasionally went to Guifenglou seven or eight times a month, or to check the operation of the store, or to greet him. Let's talk about old customers.

Wei Chunlai only claimed to have had contacts with Zhu Daniu, but did not know Zhou Fu's existence.Zhou Fu didn't even mention what happened to Wei Chunlai.

The suspects in the two parties were all arrested and brought to justice, but they did not recognize each other. Zhu Daniu, an important contact of both parties, died, and the case was somewhat stuck.

But in Bianjing, Lin Sanlang made a move.

Today coincided with Li Dalang's holiday, so Lin Sanlang invited Ding Wulang and Li Dalang to a mansion outside Beijing.Li Yuan led people to follow and monitor them.

Not long after, a female voice screamed in that house, and Li Yuan led his troops to break into the house under the pretext of searching for thieves, and arrested these people.After watching that scene, Li Yuan couldn't help his stomach churning, and almost threw up the only breakfast he had today.There were eleven women in the courtyard, all of whom were wearing prison uniforms. Five of them were being tortured, and six were kneeling on the ground with handcuffs and ankles. Their clothes were torn and smeared with blood.

Li Yuan wanted to rescue these women, but was stopped by Lin Sanlang.

"What are you, come here to meddle in our affairs? These young ladies are willing to dress up and serve us like this. A vulgar person like you naturally doesn't understand the fun of it. If you catch a thief, go catch the thief, but Don't disturb our elegance here. If you want to punish us, you have to trouble Han Tuiguan or Baofu Yin to go out in person and bring full evidence."

Lin Sanlang then asked the women to tell them whether they were voluntary or forced.

These women's eyes were dull, and they shook their heads timidly. None of them dared to complain and said the word 'no', and they all agreed that it was voluntary.

Li Yuan was so angry that he clenched his fists and clenched his teeth, but he had no choice but to back down.But after his disturbance, Li Dalang and Ding Wulang naturally didn't dare to stay here any longer and left immediately.Lin Sanlang also left afterwards, but left someone guarding the gate of the house.If people from Kaifeng Mansion trespass again, they need specific evidence, and use the reason of arresting thieves, they will never make it easier for Kaifeng Mansion.

Li Yuan was so angry that he punched the tree with his fist, and the back of his hand bled, but he looked at the courtyard with high walls, helpless.

"Brother Li, it's better to quickly tell Guan Tuiguan and Mrs. Cui about this matter. I think our rash intrusion will cause trouble. Report it in time. Mrs. Cui may have a solution." The other yamen servants told Li Way out of mind.

Li Yuan agreed, and while sending someone to send news to Baofu Yin, he rode a fast horse to Changyuan County in person, and reported the situation here to Han Qi and Cui Tao.

"This subordinate is guilty. I couldn't hold back for a moment. Hearing the screams of those women, he led people into the house. I thought that if they caught them, they would panic and confess..." Li Yuan knelt and kowtowed, Make amends to Han Qi.

"Get up, it's okay." Han Qi said calmly.

Cui Tao comforted Li Yuan by the side: "You broke in, but it was of some use, at least those three beasts stopped."

Li Yuan learned that the investigation here did not get much evidence to punish Lin Sanlang, and he didn't even know who Meng Po was, so he frowned anxiously, "Then what should we do now? Let those people go out with ease. ?”

His red eyes were almost breathing fire.

"You haven't seen that scene, those little ladies followed each other, followed each other..." Li Yuan didn't know how to describe it.

"Even if they were stabbed in the stomach by Lin Sanlang, they would not dare to say no." Cui Tao continued.

Li Yuan was surprised: "It seems to be like this, but why is it like this?"

"It's the devastation here." Cui Tao pointed to his head, "Besides, those who dare to resist, I'm afraid they all died, otherwise how could there be ten scorched corpses. I guess it should be that after a group of people go in, they will eventually die. Qualified ones were gathered together for disposal, and even regarded it as a kind of carnival ceremony.”

"Even if they are slaves or handmaidens, they must be registered in the register, and any death must be reported to the government. These women are not even worthy of the status of house slaves. I don't know where this dream woman got so many women. Silently surrendering people to the capital?" Wang Zhao sighed, puzzled.

The domestic slaves that Wang Zhao just mentioned are the domestic servants who serve others in a decent family like Zhang Chang.

Except for the case of being reduced to servants due to crimes, the vast majority of slaves and their masters are in an employment relationship, that is, the agreement is based on a contract.The slaves and maidservants are no longer the same as in the previous dynasty. They are the private property of the master's family, and the treatment is not even as good as that of farming cattle.In the former dynasty, the master killed the slaves without reason, but was sentenced to one year in prison.However, in this dynasty, if such a situation occurs, the punishment is "less than an ordinary person", that is to say, even if the master will not be executed by beheading with his life, he will be sentenced to exile for three thousand miles. It has changed a lot since the previous dynasty, and it is a very serious punishment.

"Except for orphans, which child is not raised by parents. If parents don't report to the government, the government naturally doesn't know. Since there have been cases of changing children to eat, is it so rare to sell a daughter for money?" Cui Tao said in a sarcasm , obviously also very unhappy about this situation.

"If you want to use the evidence of those people's murder, you have to rely on Zhu Erniu's testimony. Now Bianjing is panicking. If no evidence can be found, it will be very difficult for Han Tuiguan to go back this time. "Wang Zhao said worriedly.

For a moment, everyone looked at Han Qi.

Han Qi had been silently listening to everyone talking, and seeing everyone like this, his fingers that had been tapping the table lightly stopped.

"No problem." The voice was still calm.

These words did not comfort Wang Zhao, Li Yuan and the others, they only felt that Han Qi was really comforting them.Especially Li Yuan felt very guilty that his impulsiveness would bring trouble to Han Qi.But if he had to experience it once, he might make the same choice again.

Only Cui Tao held a cup of tea and drank it slowly.

Li Cai looked at Cui Tao curiously: "Miss Cui, aren't you worried?"

"What are you worried about? It's just to startle the snake. What Li Sanlang and others have done is not a glorious thing. I believe that with Han's ability to push officials, it will be easy for Shen Yi to scold them speechless. The trouble is Zhu Er Niu, where did he go, no one has come out now. Now this Changyuan County has been controlled by the people of Kaifeng Mansion, if he doesn't cherish such a good opportunity, he may really die when he turns back."

Wang Zhao and Li Yuan said in unison: "Then what if he died too?"

"There are also Zhou Fu and County Magistrate Wei. I wonder if we can torture them to extract a confession?" Cui Tao suddenly looked at Han Qi with bright eyes, "I promise that there will be no injuries."

Wang Zhao: "..."

Li Yuan: "..."

Why do they inexplicably feel the chills on the back of the spine?

By the time it was dark, Cui Tao had already pricked a little grass man out of boredom, and used silver needles to pierce the vital parts of the grass man several times back and forth, so that Wang Zhao and Li Yuan felt as if they had been pierced too.

"People are coming!" Li Cai shouted excitedly outside, and then he dragged the embarrassed Zhu Erniu into the lobby of the yamen.

There were still a few straws hanging on Zhu Erniu's head. He was a little scared, shrank his neck, and shivered a little. Then he saw Cui Tao, and his tense emotions finally broke out at this moment, and he burst into tears.

"I don't know what's going on. My elder brother will die after eating buns. He told me that someone is going to kill us, and told me to run, run over the wall, don't stay in Changyuan County, and go to Kaifeng Mansion to report to the officials as soon as possible. I was hiding in the haystack of Liu Er's house, and I planned to leave at night, but when I heard that people from Kaifeng Mansion came here to investigate the case, I waited for dark to come here."

Zhu Erniu then cried to Cui Tao about his elder brother's tragic death.

"Revenge for him! Let the murderer die worse than your elder brother! How about letting the murderer lose face and die under the dog's head of Kaifeng Mansion under the scolding of the people all over the world?" Cui Tao slapped the table angrily, and asked Can Zhu Erniu do this?

Zhu Erniu froze for a moment, then nodded his head to say yes.

"Then confess all the people and circumstances you mentioned!" Cui Tao said.

Zhu Erniu wiped his tears with his sleeve, and confessed honestly to Han Qi.

The brothers lived a poor life at first, Zhu Daniu was in poor health and needed precious medicinal materials to support his health, and Zhu Erniu was young and needed to be taken care of.Under Zhou Fu's instigation, Zhu Daniu followed Zhou Fu in the act of "abducting people".It is said to be abducted, but the parents of those girls know that they will give them money three times higher than the market price.

Most of the people in those poor places have never seen the world and are in urgent need of money, and many of them are counting on selling their daughters for money so that they can marry their sons.It was a good opportunity for them to sell one for three, so they gave up their daughter without asking too much.

According to Zhou Fu's words, he sent the daughter of a poor family to a rich family to enjoy the blessings, even as a maidservant, her life was comparable to that of a daughter of a middle-class family.Zhu Daniu also believed it at first, and everything cooperated with Zhou Fu's arrangement, and was responsible for temporarily relocating these women, and according to Zhou Fu's instructions, sent these women to the designated place in Bianjing.

The several houses of Zhu Daniu's house were indeed used to accommodate these women, and the dishes, chopsticks and bedding were also prepared for them.Usually it was Zhou Fu who brought these women back to Changyuan County, and sometimes it was too late to set off immediately and send them to Bianjing.Zhu Daniu was in charge of arranging them at his home for one night, and sent them there the next day.

These women were also obedient, as if they had listened to Zhou Fu's enthusiastic explanation along the way, thinking that they were here to serve as maids for rich and noble people to "enjoy blessings".It's just a job of serving people with tea and water, and they don't have to go to the fields to do rough work or raise silkworms and weave cloth. This situation is a blessing for them.

"Zhou Fu is the dream woman?" Han Qi asked.

Zhu Erniu looked at Han Qi blankly: "What dream woman? I've never heard of this, I only know that elder brother and Zhou Fu do this job together, and sometimes I also help elder brother send these women to the spring flowers in Bianjing building."

"Where's the charred corpse? Do you know?" Cui Tao felt that Zhu Daniu should have kept many things from Zhu Erniu.

"Are those charred corpses found in Changyuan County?" Zhu Erniu was even more at a loss.

Cui Tao changed the way of asking, she asked Zhu Erniu if Zhu Daniu was at home on the night of the cremation.

Zhu Erniu shook his head, "I wasn't there at the time, I followed everyone to help put out the fire and came back, only to see my elder brother come home."

Although Zhu Erniu didn't know many things, he knew that Zhou Fu and Zhu Daniu abducted people and sent them to Bianjing. With his testimony, it was enough to prove Zhou Fu's motive of poisoning and killing people.

"Then who is this dream woman?" Wang Zhao asked doubtfully.