Criminal investigation in ancient times

The hall instantly became deserted, only Zhang Rui and Lin Xiaoqing were left.

Zhang Ruidao: "I heard from Cousin Xiao Ze today that the eldest cousin is pregnant, and I haven't congratulated her yet."

Zhang covered her mouth and said with a smile: "You don't need to be polite, you just saw the pulse." ugly.

Lin Xiaoqing looked at his wife with gentle eyes: "I think you are tired after standing for so long, go and let Du Juan help you back." He said and called the maid to send him back.

"Cousin Rui, come with me, I have something to say to you alone."

Zhang Rui was a little strange, nodded and followed Lin Xiaoqing to his study.

Lin Xiaoqing sat opposite Zhang Rui, looked at him with complicated eyes, and said after a while, "Cousin Rui, I won't say anything else. What do you think about Sima Zhaoliang's death?"

Zhang Rui was taken aback and said, "Cousin...this case..."

Lin Xiaoqing sighed: "The case has reached a stalemate now, and all the clues have been cut off, so Mrs. Zhang asked me to ask you, but the prince confessed that you will not be allowed to participate in this case, and now it is very embarrassing."

Zhang Ruidao: "Actually, it's not without doubts. That day, I was having dinner with the prince in Wenxianglou. I happened to encounter this incident. The situation was urgent. I rushed downstairs and found that Mr. Sima had passed away. Later, the prince sent someone to take him away." I'll send it back, and I don't know what happened after that."

Lin Xiaoqing briefly explained the case to him.

After hearing this, Zhang Rui thought for a while and said: "So the upright official committed suicide by taking poison. It is true that she deliberately killed Mr. Sima, and the luthier in that piano shop is also missing."

Lin Xiaoqing nodded and said: "The owner behind the piano shop is the Third Prince, people from the royal family are involved in the case, I don't know if we should continue to investigate."

"Third Prince? That's right...Cousin, if you go to Dali Temple today, can you take me with you? I have something to ask Mr. Zhang."

Lin Xiaoqing: "Okay, if it wasn't for worrying about the Twelfth Prince, Lord Zhang would have called you for questioning a long time ago. Although this case is deeply involved, don't worry, Lord Zhang will definitely send someone to protect you."

"Young Master...Eldest Young Master, someone from Dali Temple reported an urgent case and asked you to go immediately." The porter came running over, yelling tiredly and panting.

Lin Xiaoqing's expression froze and he said, "Cousin Rui, do you want to go with me?"

Zhang Rui nodded, and the two hurriedly got into the carriage and went to Dali Temple.

***

In Dali Temple, a group of people from the Marquis of Ping'an's Mansion blocked the door, crying and howling, making Dali Temple look like a funeral parlor.Zhang Rui glanced away from the distance, and saw that the corpse on the ground was covered with a white cloth, with only one hand exposed... Zhang Rui rubbed his eyes, and followed Lin Xiaoqing into the yamen.

Zhang Yaozhi hid in the study and didn't come out. Seeing the two come in and rubbed his head, he said, "I really have to trouble Zhang Xiaoyou again."

Zhang Rui cupped his hands and said: "Your Excellency, you are polite, Xiaosheng has no other strengths, but he likes this."

Zhang Yaozhi got up and patted him on the shoulder and said, "Good boy, if this case is solved, don't go to school to study anything, just follow me. The old man also has no other abilities, except that he has accumulated some experience over the years."

Lin Xiaoqing looked happy and said: "Rui'er, thank you soon, sir."

Zhang Rui was in a daze, and it took him a long time to realize that he had been made an exception!Hastily knelt down and said, "Xiaosheng...will do his best."

Zhang Yaozhi helped Renxu up with a smile and said, "It's a good time for you to come today. There is a case. The eldest son of the Marquis of Pingan died."

"Dead?!" Lin Xiaoqing and Zhang Rui were surprised at the same time.To put it bluntly, since a concubine is dead, there is no need to come to Dali Temple to make such a fuss. The reason is that the concubine's son in the Ping'an Marquis Mansion is a cripple and cannot inherit the Marquis position due to physical disabilities, so the eldest son of the concubine has always been the heir of the Marquis Mansion. to cultivate.

Now the Ping An Hou is almost fifty people, and the throne is about to pass, and the heir is dead!In the absence of an heir, the candidate may be withdrawn.That's why Ping An Hou was so anxious and angry.

Zhang Rui hurriedly said: "Then how did the concubine of Ping'an Hou die?"

Zhang Yaozhi said: "I found it in the guest room of the Rouge Building at noon today." He stretched out his hand and touched his neck, "The neck is broken."

The two of them gasped. If they didn't suspect that it was the Sima family's revenge, they wouldn't believe it!

People outside the door were still clamoring for Dali Temple to seek justice.But there is no evidence that Sima Yun ordered someone to do it.And is Prime Minister Zuo easy to offend?If you wear small shoes in front of the emperor, it will be enough for Dali Temple to drink a pot.

Lin Xiaoqing: "Now, what should I do?"

Zhang Yaozhi said: "Jiang Shuo has already dealt with it. Wait for now. Xiaoqing, go outside and drag them as much as possible. Although the Marquis of Ping'an has no real power, his son-in-law King Zhenbei is a tough guy. It’s too late to offend.”

After Lin Xiaoqing retreated, Zhang Yaozhi said, "Do you have any doubts that you want to tell me alone?"

Zhang Rui thought to himself, it really was the old fox, and he could tell at a glance that he had something to tell him.

He arched his hands and said: "My lord, I have heard about this case from my cousin, and there is a doubtful point in it that I have been thinking about for the past few days. That man, when the prince and I ran downstairs, we touched the corpse by the way. The vertebrae were broken and he died, and the bleeding from the nose and mouth after death was due to internal organ damage during the fall. But according to their description, Mr. Sima fell down the stairs on his back at that time, and his neck was not the point of stress."

Zhang Yaozhi frowned and listened to him finish speaking: "What's the explanation for this stress point?"

Zhang Rui was stunned before he remembered that the ancients might not understand the modern saying, so he simply tore off a piece of paper from the desk case, folded a small figure hastily, and used the table as a building to simulate Sima Zhaoliang's scene at that time.

When the villain landed on the ground, it was the back as the point of strength, spreading to the limbs... Zhang Yaozhi instantly understood and said, "I don't know this singing girl in that inner room, there should be someone with high martial arts skills!"

Zhang Rui picked up the paper man on the ground and nodded. "There is another thing that Xiaosheng doesn't understand. It is said that Sima Yun has three sons, but the second son is not drunk. If the murderer went to Sima's house, why didn't he attack the boss and the third son, but chose Sima Zhaoliang."

Zhang Yaozhi said: "You may not understand the matter. The eldest son of the Sima family, Sima Zhao Yanping, is an official, and he rarely goes out in the palace on weekdays. I have never seen the third child, but it is said that he is The smartest of these three sons, Sima Yun has always been very concerned about this son. Only Sima Zhaoliang goes out to spend time and drink every day, and he only brings two ordinary boys with him, so he had better do it."

Zhang Rui nodded and said: "Xiaosheng understands, now that he has killed Sima Zhaoliang, he has another trick, right? Otherwise, there is no need to go to such lengths."

Zhang Yaozhi stroked his beard and said, "Xiao Bai, look at the people I asked you to follow."

Zhang Rui was taken aback, there was actually another person in the room? !

"Sure enough, as the adults said, he is extremely intelligent." A man walked out from the dark place of the study. This man was wearing a dark cloud brocade robe, and his hair was loosely tied behind him with a headband.A look of cynicism.

"Zhang Rui, this person will stay by your side to protect you for the time being. This person's name is Duan Xiao. You may not know him, but he has a nickname in Jianghu and you may know him as Pied Pirate."

Zhang Rui expressed surprise: "It turns out that he is a famous thief. He has admired his name for a long time." In fact, what is the piercing thief... He has never heard of it at all. Master Zhang introduced it so enthusiastically. If he said he didn't know him, it would be a bit inappropriate.

Duan Xiao said: "Don't dare to do it, don't dare to do it, since my lord asked me to protect you, I will naturally protect you."

Zhang Rui cupped his fists and said, "It's time to work."

Zhang Yaozhi said: "In this case, I will entrust you to investigate this case. I will go to the prince's side to say hello. If there is anything you need, just ask." Finally, a big problem has been solved, and two more days of relaxation can be made, the old man Turn your back and smile.

Zhang Rui's eyes darkened: Old man, don't think I didn't see you laughing.

***

The two left the Dali Temple and went straight to the Wenxiang Tower, only to find that there were no guests when they arrived at the Wenxiang Tower.

In the lobby, there were only two guys shaking their hands on the table. When they saw the two of them entering, one of them said, "Guest officer, our store is closed for a few days. Please go back, both masters."

Zhang Ruidao: "Why don't you do business? Just give you silver."

The little girl said with a wry smile: "I'm sorry, my lord, this is what the shopkeeper told me, and I don't dare to make decisions on my own."

Zhang Rui nodded and said: "The two of us are from Dali Temple to investigate the case, follow me upstairs and open the door of the compartment."

Xiao Er was a little unconvinced, seeing that this man looked like a half-grown child, he dared to call himself a member of Dali Temple, but seeing that the people behind him were very handsome and did not dare to provoke him, he was hesitant.

Seeing this, Duan Xiao took out a badge from his waist and said, "This is the badge of Dali Temple. We have serious cases to investigate, so go and open the door immediately."

Xiaoer was so frightened that he plopped down on his knees: "The little one has eyes but doesn't know Mount Tai, two officials, please go upstairs with the young one."

The usually bustling restaurant is deserted today, obviously very empty.The three of them went up to the second floor, turned a few turns and walked to the cubicle where Sima Zhaoliang fell down the same day.

Xiao Er opened the door and said, "The house was not cleaned up according to Dali Temple's order, and it is still the same as that day."

When the two went in, they saw that the house was full of mess, there were leftovers on the table, and the wine was spilled all over the floor.

Zhang Rui covered his nose and went to the window, opened the window of the cubicle, and the cold wind blew in, and the smell became slightly weaker.

There was a small inner room inside the compartment. When the door of the inner room was opened, the window was wide open. Zhang Rui walked in, looked up, and saw that the beams of the inner room were wide enough to hide a person.

Zhang Rui: "Mr. Duan, can you go up?"

Duan Xiao looked up and said: "It's easy." He jumped up on the beam while stepping on the bucket next to him.Zhang Rui thought to himself: Sure enough, it's the sky-piercing bandit, the gentleman on the beam.

Zhang Rui: "What's on it?!"

Duan Xiao said: "It's too dark, I can't see anything."

"I'm going to find you a fire zip" as he said, he asked for a fire zip from the boy outside.He reached out and threw it up.

Duan Xiao reached out to catch it, blew on it, and then looked at the flame. "This...there is no sign that someone has been there, the dust here is gone."

Zhang Rui thought for a while: "If my guess is correct, there must have been a man with high martial arts skills hidden on the beam that day. After Sima Zhaoliang dragged the upright official into the inner room, the upright official made a sound on purpose to affect the hearing of outsiders. And this At that moment, the master on the beam suddenly jumped down, twisted Young Master Sima's neck, and then the two joined forces and threw him down from the second floor."

Duan Xiao nodded and said: "Well, it makes sense, Mr. Zhang sent me to sneak into Sima's mansion the day before yesterday to check the corpse. After opening the coffin, I found a bruise on the neck of the corpse. This bruise is left before death. It's not obvious when you just die, you can only see it when the body is stiff."

Zhang Rui was surprised: "Master Zhang already knew that Mr. Sima died unexpectedly?"

"Indeed, but I have never dared to verify it. Now, with Young Master Zhang's deduction, it can be confirmed that there was indeed a third person in the room that day."

Zhang Rui: "That's true...but I really can't think of any reason to kill Sima Zhaoliang if the murderer was sent by the Third Prince. Nasty."

Duan Xiao: "Master Zhang is also worried about this matter, perhaps only from the female master who makes the pipa, can he solve it."