I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion

When Cui Tao came to look for Zhang Wenpo, she happened to see Prisoner Sun coming out of Zhang Wenpo's room with the guards escorting Qian Erniang.

Sun Baotou greeted Cui Tao with a smile when he saw Cui Tao. Seeing that Mrs. Cui was more radiant and heroic now, he couldn't help sighing again in his heart.It's 'three days away from Shibai'."Admiration", for Mrs. Cui, it's "three days of imprisonment, reborn", so that every time he, the cell leader, sees her, he feels as if he has been separated from the world.Who would have thought that such a sickly woman who was looked down upon by everyone in the women's prison would have the status she has today and be so respected in Kaifeng Mansion?

After Cui Tao smiled and greeted Prison Chief Sun, she took a look at Qian Erniang who was being escorted by the jailer.Originally, she was curious about what the murderer who suddenly went crazy and strangled someone to death in a sumo competition looked like, but when she saw Qian Erniang's appearance, she was stunned, and felt that his eyebrows and eyes were somewhat familiar. .

"Have we met before?" Cui Tao asked Qian Erniang.

Qian Erniang lowered her head, and after hearing Cui Tao's words, she slowly raised her head.After meeting Cui Tao's eyes, she immediately shook her head, then lowered her head further.

"Does Madam Cui know her?" Prisoner Sun hurriedly asked with a smile.

Cui Tao waved her hand, signaling to prison boss Sun that he could take the man away first.After she frowned and took two steps, she suddenly remembered something and turned to stop them.

Sun Laotou and the others were taken aback, and looked suspiciously at Cui Tao who was hurriedly approaching.

Cui Tao asked Qian Erniang to raise her head again, and after looking at her facial features, she called Han Zong and Li Yuan to come and see.

"Does it look familiar?" When Cui Tao asked them, before the two could react, Cui Tao asked Qian Erniang if she had a sister living in Zaozi Lane.

Only then did Han Zong and Li Yuan come to their senses, and looked at Qian Erniang again.

"No wonder I feel familiar, but I don't know him when I look closely. The reporter of the Zhang Susu case, Mrs. Qian, seems to be somewhat similar to her? And both of them have the surname Qian. Are you related?" Li Yuan asked Qian Er immediately. mother.

Qian Erniang was startled when she heard Li Yuan's question, and shook her head, "I don't know."

"I don't know?" Li Yuan sneered.

Seeing her expression, and listening to this answer, there must be something wrong.Li Yuan wants to go to Zaozi Lane immediately and bring back Qian Niangzi, the reporter of Zhang Susu's case.

Cui Tao took another look at Qian Erniang, feeling that the case was not good, and decided to go there with Li Yuan.

Han Zong stayed behind to interrogate Qian Erniang, and brought Judge Wang to identify him.According to Judge Wang's confession, it was a woman who kidnapped him and killed Zhang Susu, so let's see if this woman is Qian Erniang.

Judge Wang was still a little mentally weak, and his legs were still a little weak when he got out of bed and walked, so he asked someone to help him to the court.The moment he saw Qian Erniang, he immediately became excited.

"It was her, she was the one who hijacked the car and killed Susu!" Judge Wang shouted, pointing at Qian Erniang.

Han Zong asked Qian Erniang what she had to say.

Qian Erniang knelt on the ground and kowtowed, "I plead guilty."

The confession of the crime was straightforward, and Han Zong, who was planning to get ready to be interrogated, suddenly didn't know what to say.

The yamen servants on standby in the court also sighed endlessly when they saw this.I don't doubt it, after all, Erniang Qian is a ruthless person, she dared to goug her eyes and kill people in public last night, it doesn't seem unusual for her to kill one more now?It's something she can do.

When Cui Tao and Li Yuan arrived at Zaozi Lane, Mrs. Qian was sitting at the table, holding her son and feeding him.

Miss Qian suddenly saw Cui Tao and others coming, she hurriedly asked the child to sit on the stool by herself, while she got up and came to greet him.

Cui Tao saw that Mrs. Qian's son's eyes were red and swollen, and he seemed to be in a bad mood, so she asked Mrs. Qian, "What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know what happened. I suddenly lost my voice and couldn't speak. I asked the doctor to tell me that the child was frightened. Because he couldn't speak, he has been crying for the past two days. It was very difficult. Coax him better and be willing to eat a few bites." Mrs. Qian looked back at her son worriedly, and sighed.

Cui Tao took another look at the child.

The child's first name is Tao Xingchen, and she is eight years old. According to the neighbors, she is usually lively and playful, but now she looks like a wilted eggplant.

Mrs. Qian's husband is Tao Fu, who works in a fur shop. He often goes with the shopkeeper to the border market to buy furs, and then transports them back to Bianjing for sale. During this time, her husband is away from home.Basically, for about half a year in a year, the two of them lived alone.

"Do you have any sisters who do sumo?" Li Yuan asked Mrs. Qian.

Lady Qian was startled, and lowered her eyes, "My second younger sister works at Wazi."

"She killed someone during the sumo match yesterday, did you know that?"

"I heard." Madam Qian's throat moved slightly, she frowned, and swallowed nervously.

At this time, Cui Tao coaxed Tao Xingchen with the chickpea cake that he carried with him, so that he would stretch out his hand so that she could feel his pulse.

Seeing this, Mrs. Qian hurriedly called Tao Xingchen over, the little boy immediately retracted the arm that was going to be stretched out, and ran to hide behind Mrs. Qian.

"How can you just want something from a nobleman?" Mrs. Qian pressed Tao Xingchen's shoulders, protecting the child behind her.

Li Yuan looked at Mrs. Qian's actions in puzzlement, "Our Mrs. Cui is good at medicine. If your child is aphasic and unable to speak, don't you worry? Let Mrs. Cui take a look, and it may be cured. How can you avoid it? But what's so tricky about it?"

"Is there anything tricky about it? I'm afraid that this child will suddenly start a fuss and scare all the nobles." Lady Qian explained, "Don't look at him being quiet and obedient now, it's frightening to be mad. Look at my neck. It was just scratched by him."

Lady Qian tilted her head slightly, revealing the fresh scratches on the bottom of her neck.

Cui Tao: "You just said that you knew that your sister killed someone in Wazi. As the eldest sister, is your reaction too flat?"

"She has been eccentric since she was a child, and when she gets sick, she will play hard, and none of us brothers and sisters dare to provoke her."

Lady Qian sighed for a long time, her expression seemed calm, but her eyes gradually turned red.

"Actually, after the case broke out at our house, I suspected that she did it. The case happened not long after the second sister came to me that day. But I dare not think that when the officials came to investigate, I didn't Dare to tell about the fact that she has been here, after all, she is my own sister, I don't want to think of her so badly. After hearing that she killed someone in Wazi, I became nervous and worried all the time. On the contrary, when Li Yamen asked about it just now, I hung up My heart is more at ease.”

Li Yuan asked Mrs. Qian to take the child to the Yamen to cooperate with the investigation.

When she came out, Cui Tao saw the clothes that Mrs. Qian wore on the day the crime happened hanging on the clothesline in the yard.

"I remember that day when I asked you for a statement, you were wearing this dress." Cui Tao pointed to the clothes.

Mrs. Qian was stunned for a moment, and agreed: "Ms. Cui has a good memory."

"New one that day?" Cui Tao asked again.

Lady Qian's eyeballs moved, and she hesitated to agree.

When they arrived at Kaifeng Mansion, Mrs. Qian wanted to confront Qian Erniang in court.Cui Tao kept Tao Xingchen to check his pulse.The pulse condition showed that the physical condition was normal and there was nothing serious.

Cui Tao asked Tao Xingchen if he felt uncomfortable there, and asked him when he found that he could not speak out.

Tao Xingchen gestured twice, and seeing Cui Tao looking at him calmly, as if he didn't understand what he meant at all, he became a little anxious, tears fell down, and he patted the table with his hands so anxious that he was going crazy.

Seeing this, Li Yuan remembered that Mrs. Qian said that the child would scratch and hurt people when he went crazy, so he hurriedly wanted to protect Cui Tao.

Cui Tao raised her hand to signal Li Yuan not to use it, and said to Tao Xingchen, "You mean you woke up from sleep three days ago and found that you couldn't make a sound?"

Tao Xingchen nodded hurriedly.

"You just had a nightmare, how could you lose your voice because of fear?" Cui Tao asked again.

Tao Xingchen looked at Cui Tao with a puzzled face.

"Why, your mother didn't tell you, you just had a nightmare?"

Tao Xingchen shook his head slightly, then nodded suddenly, several times in a row.

"This is?" Li Yuan was a little puzzled.

"On the day of the incident, I heard that the child was the first witness, so I wanted to comfort him, but Madam Qian stopped me. She told me that the child was afraid of being born and had already fallen asleep. I looked at him through the window, She did indeed sleep in the house. Mrs. Qian told me that when the child woke up, she comforted him by saying that what he had seen before was just a nightmare. I thought that this method might comfort the child, so I didn't ask any more questions. " Cui Tao explained to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan: "That's not right, if you use this trick to comfort the child, how can it make the child lose his voice in fright?"

"Didn't you just say that? There was no sound after waking up. Maybe the child was overly frightened before going to bed and lost his voice." Cui Tao just looked for all possible explanations and made a hypothetical explanation first.

"It's so frightening, but you can still fall asleep? If you say that you fainted from fright, and then wake up and lose your voice, it makes sense." Li Yuan felt strange no matter how he thought about it.

Cui Tao agreed and felt the same way.

It is very rare for people to lose their voice due to fright.If he is frightened to this extent, the child will be very sensitive, and there is no need to mention the case in detail, as long as it is related to that day, which constitutes his association with what he saw that day, it should all arouse his panic and fear.But just now when she asked Tao Xingchen about the situation that day, Tao Xingchen was afraid, but his fear reaction was not so severe.

Also, when she mentioned nightmares, the child didn't understand at first, but later when Cui Tao said, "Your mother didn't tell you", he immediately corrected it from shaking his head in denial to nodding deeply.

This move looks like it was instigated in advance.

Cui Tao summed up the weirdness of this case:

On the day of Zhang Susu's death, Mrs. Qian changed into new clothes, and her child Tao Xingchen suddenly lost his voice.Qian Erniang, Qian Niangzi's younger sister, killed Zhang Susu in public in a sumo competition, and now she readily admits to killing Zhang Susu.

She killed Zhang Susu in front of Judge Wang, spattered Judge Wang's face with blood, then hijacked Judge Wang out of the city, cleaned and changed Judge Wang, and threw him in a grass ditch beside the official road.The grass ditch was very conspicuous beside the official road, and he was afraid that he was intentionally let passers-by find him.However, Judge Wang's carriage and two servants were missing.

Later, Han Zong heard about the new situation of the court trial. Judge Wang identified Qian Niangzi as the murderer, but he was not sure whether it was Qian Niangzi or Qian Erniang who killed Zhang Susu.

It seemed that Judge Wang was really frightened out of his mind, and he couldn't tell who the Qian sisters who looked somewhat similar were who.

Afterwards, Han Zong's interrogation made no further progress.Cui Tao went to Han Qi and asked him to analyze it first.

Han Qi was engrossed in many official documents, but he was able to focus on two things. After listening to Cui Tao's explanation, he put down his pen.Han Qi got up and poured Cui Tao a cup of tea, then sat down opposite Cui Tao.

"The reason why this case looks weird and weird now is because there is one important thing missing."

Han Qi's words immediately caught Cui Tao's attention.

"motivation."

Cui Tao nodded in agreement, "Yes, there is a lack of reasonable motives to explain all of this. Robbery is not enough to kill someone, but he feels that the other party is crowded and threatening, and he shouldn't choose to kill the weaker woman first. And, a little A murderer with a little brain would not commit murder at the door of the house or the door of relatives."

Without a reasonable motive for the murder, it seems that all the actions in this case are so fragmented that it is difficult to connect them logically.The missing carriage and two servants are still missing. The victims, perpetrators, and witnesses in the case are all very strange, each has reservations, and it seems that none of them are telling the truth.

After a while, Han Zong reported the results of his interrogation to Han Qi.Qian Erniang only pleaded guilty and didn't say much.After Qian Niangzi shed a few tears, she remained silent.Judge Wang did not provide any new testimony except that Erniang Qian or Niangzi Qian was the murderer of Zhang Susu.

"Now that I have pleaded guilty, this kind of refusal to reveal the details of the murder is contempt of the court. Can I go now?" Cui Tao took out her silver needle bag and looked at Han Qi.

Han Qi blinked his eyes and considered Cui Tao's request to be accepted.

After Han Zong's eyes lingered on the two of them, he lowered his eyes.

Cui Tao immediately went quickly with the silver needle bag.

Han Zong wanted to turn around and follow, but was suddenly stopped by Han Qi.

"I have something to ask you."

Han Qi poured a cup of tea and placed it opposite.

Seeing this, Han Zong turned back and sat down at the table where the teacups were placed.

Han Qi tapped the table twice with his index finger, and after attracting Han Zong's attention, he suddenly raised that index finger, and the black mole on the side of the finger became conspicuous.

"Why did you get the mole in the first place?" Han Qi asked Han Zong.

After Han Zong stared at Han Qi's finger, he suddenly laughed, "I was naughty when I was young, and I just envied you. Why, brother Zhigui is now my superior, so he wants to take this opportunity to take responsibility? I admire you and imitate you." Pricking a mole on your finger isn’t a crime, right?”

"Really admire? I don't know." Han Qi also laughed, but stared at Han Zong with a somewhat alienated look, full of scrutiny.

"Otherwise?" Han Zong sighed with emotion, "You were already a talented young man praised by everyone at that time, so you couldn't see our children who are not as good as you."

Visible.

Han Qi glanced back at Han Zong, and only answered Han Zong's words in his heart.He still kept a faint smile at the corner of his mouth, indicating that Han Zong could continue the trial.

After Han Zong got up, he thought of something, turned to Han Qi and said, "I heard that you are engaged, I haven't congratulated you yet, congratulations!"

"Thank you." Han Qi agreed gently.

Han Zong then left quickly with big strides.

After a long while, Han Qi stacked up the processed documents before asking about the progress of Zhang Chang's investigation in Suizhou.

Zhang Chang immediately said: "The Santai rouge shop is owned by Yuanwai Su. This Yuanwai Su is a native of Suizhou and is well-known in Suizhou. Three of his daughters were married to the magistrate of Suizhou. Fangzhou commanded the military and the wealthy businessman Yang Pengcheng. There is no son, and it was found that this Su Yuanwai had close contacts with Lin Shangshu of the Ministry of Punishment."

"The last name is Su."

Han Qi frowned slightly, and ordered Zhang Chang to inform Wang Zhao, and then select a few skilled people to go to Suizhou to support, it is best not to select people from Kaifeng Mansion, but to find experts from various military patrol shops, and send them there under other pretexts.

……

When Han Zong arrived at the criminal interrogation room, Cui Tao had already received the silver needle, and Qian Erniang obediently confessed her murder with sweat on her head.

Three days ago, after Qian Erniang went to visit her elder sister's house, she saw a carriage driving by when she went out. It happened that the curtain in front of the carriage was blown open by the wind, and inside the carriage was a young woman holding a flower hairpin inlaid with silver pearls. Guan smiled brilliantly, and she felt jealous and went to stop the car.Now Tao Xingchen came out to see her off, but she thought the child was in the way, so she pushed Tao Xingchen aside, causing the child to cry.

Then she kicked Zhitian and Zhidi down, and forced Zhang Susu and Wang Judge to get out of the car with a knife.The knife was on Zhang Susu's neck, threatening Judge Wang to hand over his property, but at this time Zhang Susu provoked her with words, telling her that they were from the Yamen, and the man in front of her was Judge Wang from Kaifeng Mansion.

"I hate people threatening me the most in my life. Anyone who threatens me will die. Wan Sanniang is the same. She won't die at first. If she calls me weak and useless, then I will show her the use of it once." Look." When Qian Erniang said this, a weird smile rose from the corner of her mouth, and then with red eyes, she cried to Cui Tao, they all deserve to die.

"That makes sense." Han Zong sighed.

Cui Tao ordered Qian Erniang to tell the story of her killing Wan Sanniang again.

Qian Erniang repeated as she said, during which time Cui Tao asked her in which direction she was close to the ring to pounce on Wan Sanniang, and what posture she took when picking her eyes, and Qian Erniang answered them one by one.

Han Zong is also an eyewitness and knows that Qian Erniang's confession is true.At that time, there were so many spectators as witnesses, and everyone's testimony can also testify that Qian Erniang's statement is true.

"I'll tell you the story of killing Zhang Susu and hijacking Judge Wang's carriage to leave the capital," Cui Tao said again.

"Because I was jealous of her holding the flower hairpin crown, I forced people out of the car and killed her in front of Judge Wang—"

Cui Tao interrupted: "Which direction were you in the carriage, where were you in front, back, left, and right? How far is it? Where did you stand to cut Zhang Susu's throat?"

"At her side, she was facing Judge Wang, and I was on the side. It was at least a zhang to the east of the carriage."

"Then after you killed someone, did you have blood on your body?"

"It's stained, there's blood all over the sleeves."

Cui Tao nodded and asked Qian Erniang to continue explaining.

"After I knocked Judge Wang unconscious, I dragged him and the two attendants who had been stunned by me into the car, and drove out of the city. Later, I parked the carriage beside the official road and was thinking about what to do with the carriage. , I saw Judge Wang climbed out of the car to call for help, so I gave him another shot. Seeing that he was covered in blood, I washed him, changed the clothes I had left on, and left him in the grass ditch by the roadside. After all, he is the judge of Kaifeng Mansion, if you kill him, the government will definitely pursue the case, so I spared his life."

When Qian Erniang said this, her expression was different from that of ordinary people, showing a somewhat abnormal state of mind.Next, she explained the whereabouts of the carriage and two servants. She drove the carriage to a place where no one was around, and burned them all.

"Did you drive away from Nanxun Gate?" Cui Tao asked.

Qian Erniang agreed.

"Your eldest sister doesn't even know about the circumstances of your murder?" Cui Tao asked again.

Qian Erniang nodded.

"What about the clothes you were wearing that day?"

"It burned the next day."

"But the color of the coat?"

"gray."

The clothing of the sumo wrestlers is mainly for the convenience of movement. There is only a simple scarf around the head. At first glance, it seems to be wearing men's clothing, but it is not conspicuous.Assuming that Qian Erniang was dressed like this and lowered her head when driving past the city gate, it would not be easy to attract the special attention of the soldiers guarding the city.

But if she was wearing light-colored clothes with obvious blood stains on her sleeves, she would definitely attract the attention of officers and soldiers.Even if the officers and soldiers guarding the city were careless, on the road from Zaozi Lane to Nanxun Gate, it is impossible for the vendors on both sides of the street to not notice.After the incident, Li Yuan questioned him all the way from Zaozi Alley to Nanxunmen, but no street vendor had a special impression.

Cui Tao felt that there was probably no blood on Qian Erniang's sleeve, and she was taking the blame for Zhang Susu's case.The details of the murder she said were consistent with the scene. It is very likely that she witnessed the whole murder at that time.

Just now when she was asked where she was standing when she killed and whether her sleeve was stained with blood, she could only answer that it was blood stained.Because she knew very well that if she said she didn't touch it, it would arouse even more suspicion.

Lady Qian had just changed her clothes that day, so she was very suspicious.

Not long after Zhang Susu's death, Qian Niangzi reported the case and cooperated with the Kaifeng government's investigation.So the person who drove out of the city at that time was definitely not her, but Qian Erniang.The two sisters collaborated to commit the crime, but Judge Wang said that there was only one murderer.Either when the crime was committed, it was indeed a person, and Judge Wang was so frightened that he couldn't tell who the two sisters were.Either Judge Wang also lied and concealed this point.

Cui Tao felt that Qian Erniang was a bit paranoid, but she was not crazy enough, because it is impossible for a really crazy person to be so orderly when confessing.

Cui Tao had someone re-examine Qian Niangzi's household registration file, and asked her neighbors. Tao Xingchen was indeed born of Qian Niangzi.

"Do you suspect that she used some tricks to make her son unable to speak?" Han Zong asked Cui Tao.

Cui Tao nodded, "Tao Xingchen has no injuries on the outside. I checked his body and found that he was not poisoned. Then there is another way, using silver needles to pierce his throat. The wound is so small that he won't be able to see it in three days."

"Why do you want to do this? The two sisters risked killing people at the door of the house, and sacrificed their own children to be dumb, just for the little money?"

Cui Tao shook her head, "If I only look at the two sisters committing the crime, I don't think it makes sense. But if I think about it, someone threatened the sisters to commit the crime like this? Everything seems to make sense."

"According to Qian Erniang, after killing Zhang Susu, she already got money and a hairpin crown. She should hide to avoid the limelight or enjoy the money, but she ran to continue sumo wrestling, was beaten and suffered, and even killed people in public. Why? It doesn't make sense.

Two sisters, one murdered at the door of the house, and the other killed in public.The killing methods all have one characteristic in common: they are very ostentatious.

Qian Erniang wanted to bear everything and protect her eldest sister, probably because her eldest sister got married and had a child, and she was just a widow, and she died when she died.Mrs. Qian hoarse her son's voice, it must be for self-protection, because the child is easy to slip up when speaking. "

Han Zong frowned, "Your deliberation can indeed explain the irrationality, but who would do such a thing? How did he threaten the two sisters to kill like this?"

"This kind of tormenting method reminds me of Di Zang Pavilion. Threats and mind control are their usual tricks. Wasn't it their handwriting that I obediently pleaded guilty?" Cui Tao sighed.

Han Zong twitched when he heard Cui Tao mention her confession past, "So, there are still remnants in Dizang Pavilion—"

"But not necessarily. Isn't there still a Tianji Pavilion? I thought about it. For so many years, the Dizang Pavilion has always existed, and it has not been suppressed by the Tianji Pavilion. It just looks like a fight on the surface. Maybe the relationship between the two families , not as bad as rumors in Jianghu."