Placid Chang'an

In the midst of mist, Uncle Tian's sugar shop was closed, he put the stools on the table, put the pots and pans on the wheelbarrow, took a last look at the gate of the Gongyuan, and pushed the cart away.

As soon as he turned around, he was facing the yamen servant in Dali Temple.

Slightly taken aback, Old Man Tian put down the handlebar, wiped his hands on the clothes in front of him, and said calmly, "Let's go."

The night had completely shrouded, but the yamen of Dali Temple was brightly lit, and a crowd of yamen servants stood on both sides with killing sticks, from Dali Shaoqing Zhang Jun, down to clerks, judges, and prison officials, all waiting to see who the new champion was. How did the Gongyuan goblin murder case be tried?

The prisoner was brought up, it was Tian Ji Tangshui's old man, who was nearly sixty years old, knelt down in the main hall with a calm face, his back was bent, but there were several lives on his hands.

This year's newly admitted No. [-] Scholar sat in the hall with a jade-like complexion and a youthful look in his eyes. He calmly stared at the people in the hall and asked, "Can you plead guilty?"

Old man Tian didn't struggle or defend, and calmly admitted: "I killed the man."

Su Cen frowned, and then asked: "Be careful, who are they?"

Old Uncle Tian thought for a while, and counted them one by one: "At first it was Luliang. I followed him into Dongshi, and saw him pinning Xiuniang to the ground and trying to strangle her. I stabbed him from behind. Then Yuan Shaochun , I told him that he had to come back to fulfill his vows after high school, and he came to the Gongyuan in the middle of the night to burn paper. I strangled him unconscious from behind with the rope I prepared in advance. Unexpectedly, when he was hanging from the tree, he woke up and broke the rope Fortunately, he had no strength at that time, so I hung him on the crooked neck tree at the back of the Gongyuan. Finally, Wu Qing, I put medicine in his sugar water, and when he was unconscious, he was transported by car to the same place where he was I drugged Gao Miao’s house, hanged him from the beam of the house and killed him.”

These are basically in line with Su Cen's previous deduction. Su Cen checked the known clues, nodded and asked, "What about Wu Deshui?"

A trace of doubt flashed across Old Man Tian's face: "Who is Wu Deshui?"

"Then how did you get into Dongshi?"

Old Man Tian pondered for a while, "When I went, the gate of Dongshi was open a crack."

He recognized the other three people, and there was no need to lie about Wu Deshui again.Su Cen frowned, so there really was the third person.

"Why did you blame Gao Miao?"

"Because you doubted him," Old Man Tian glanced at Su Cen, "you asked him what happened to his arm in the sugar shop that day, and you knew that I was injured when I killed Yuan Shaochun, so you began to suspect that there was an injury on his arm. People, so I pushed the boat along the way and pushed him on the way home. In addition, he himself believed that there were ghosts in the Gongyuan, and he dragged many people to pay homage. You can find him if you check it. When Wu Qing was sent to his home, it was confirmed that he was the murderer."

"They all said that Gao Miao was spreading rumors, but you are actually the No. When people listen to it, they will naturally spread it for you.”

"They all prefer to believe it. As long as it is related to scientific research, they will naturally take it seriously."

Su Cenyao remembered that the first time he went to Tianji Tangshui, he walked around the Gongyuan under the intentional or unintentional hint of Old Man Tian, ​​and bumped into Gao Miao who was burning paper at the back of the Gongyuan.

No longer pretending to be a snake, Su Cen asked directly: "Why did you kill them?"

"Why?" Old Man Tian smiled miserably, and repeated again, "Why? I also want to know why?"

"Because of Tian Pingzhi."

Old Man Tian was taken aback.

Su Cen picked up the list sent by the Ministry of Rites from the table, "We've checked, and the one who died in the Gongyuan and never came out is called Tian Pingzhi, and it's your son."

"In the 21st year of Yonglong, he passed the provincial examination in Liuzhou. In 22nd, Yonglong entered Beijing to take the scientific examination. I remember you said that he entered the examination room after drinking your sugar water, but Tian Pingzhi took the scientific examination in the 22nd year of Yonglong. Your sugar water The shop was only set up at the gate of the Gongyuan in the first year of Tianshou. He could not have drunk your sugar water to enter the examination room at that time, let alone gave you more money. So there is only one theory, that is, you sent him to the gate of the Gongyuan Outside, watching him enter the Tribute Court."

The old man finally showed a trace of defeat, and sat down on the ground slumped, a glimmer of light flashed in his cloudy eyes.

"Ping'er...I, Ping'er, have been smart since I was a child...I read well, and I am filial. I like to drink the sugar water I boiled most... That year I accompanied him to Beijing for the exam, and watched him drink the sugar water and enter the university. Gongyuan, I waited for him outside for three days, but he...but he..."

Su Cen said calmly, "He died in the Gong Yuan."

Old Man Tian choked up for a while, and then continued after a while: "When Ping'er went in, I was alone, and joked with me with a smile that if I didn't pass the exam, I would set up a stall at the gate of the Gongyuan to sell sugar water in the future. Later, I heard that , someone died in it, I thought it must not be me, Ping'er, he was always calm when he was in trouble, how could he die of a sudden heart attack because he couldn't answer the exam questions... I waited for him at the gate of the Gongyuan for three days. People came out from the inside, and waited until the gates of the Gongyuan were closed, but I, Ping'er, didn't wait..."

Su Cen frowned: "Where's the corpse?"

"The people from the Ministry of Rites said that it was buried on the spot at the back of the tribute courtyard. They didn't let me in. I have pity on the white-haired man to send the black-haired man. I didn't even see Ping'er for the last time."

"Didn't you report to the official?"

"Why didn't you report to the officials?" Old Uncle Tian stared blankly ahead, "I have traveled all over Jingzhao Mansion, Dali Temple, and the Ministry of Rites of the Ministry of Punishment. My Ping'er died of a sudden heart attack, and no one accepted it. Later, Mr. Chen Guanglu, who was the Shaoqing of Dali at the time, said to help me investigate. After more than a month of investigation, the case was closed in a hurry. He only told me that Ping'er died normally, so that I don't have to do it again. I persevered. At that time, Emperor Taizong was going to be buried, and then nothing happened."

Su Cen breathed a sigh of relief, Chen Guanglu was the No. 1 criminal law of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and he never had a single unjust, false or wrongly decided case in his life, and he will be regarded as a model for future generations.He said the case was fine, so it should be fine.

"After so many years, why are you committing crimes in Tian Pingzhi's name?"

Old Man Tian slowly straightened up: "Because I, Ping'er, was killed by someone."

Everyone in the hall was taken aback.

Su Cen collected himself, "Who told you that he was killed by someone?"

The old man was furious, his mottled hands trembling uncontrollably, "I, Ping'er, was killed because I offended someone, just because Ping'er saw something he shouldn't see, so he put me on the same level in the tribute courtyard." son killed!"

Su Cen frowned, and repeated every word: "Who told you?"

He didn't believe that everything was going well all this time, but after more than ten years, Old Man Tian suddenly found out that Tian Pingzhi had died unexpectedly. Someone must have told him something and instructed him to do something.

"It's the person who led you to Dongshi and opened the gate of Dongshi for you, right?" Su Cen stared at the people in the hall, "What else did he tell you? Who killed Tian Pingzhi?"

Old Man Tian shook his head, "He only said that Ping'er was killed by people in the court."

"A person in the court?" Su Cen repeated, "So you committed the crime in the name of Tian Pingzhi's ghost, in order to scare that person and draw him out."

Su Cen thought for a while about those people in the court who urged to close the case as soon as possible. Most of the people who spoke fiercely were from the Queen Mother Party headed by Liu Zhen. It's just that some of these people have ghosts in their hearts, and some of them are for suppressing King Ning party?

Liu Ping... It's Liu Ping again.

Suddenly someone coughed lightly in the hall, and Zhang Jun, the Dali Shaoqing who had been watching the trial, suddenly said: "The case is clear. He killed people in the name of a ghost. Master Su can close the case."

Su Cen frowned.

As soon as he heard that Zhang Jun, a person in the court, was involved, he urged to close the case. Presumably he also knew that this case involved a wide range of things, and if the investigation continued, it might not be within the scope of control.

"But there is still one life," Su Cen ignored the obstruction, and then asked Old Man Tian: "Who is the person who told you this?"

Su Cen stood up and went to the hall, squatting beside Old Man Tian, ​​"Tell me who killed Wu Deshui, and I will help you investigate Tian Pingzhi's case."

"Su Cen..." Zhang Jun frowned.

Su Cen made a downward gesture and stared at Old Man Tian intently, "I caught you within a day and cleared Gao Miao of his grievances. Have you passed your test? Since I said I would help you investigate, It will definitely be investigated.”

There was a rare tremor in those dry eyes, and Old Man Tian finally pursed his lips, lowered his head and said, "I want to take a last look at the Gongyuan."