Nongmen Shenjue

Immediately without stopping, Mu Qingyan, led by Liu Tong, went to Fang's house first, and then to Tang's house.The Fang family did take in some half-disciples, their origins and whereabouts are very clear, and they don't know the people in the portraits.Only the Tang family was left, and Mu Qingyan planned to go all out.

When we arrived at Tang's house, it was dusk.

The Tang's family has a big shop that has been passed down from their ancestors on the East Street. Perhaps because of the large population, it is much more grand than the Zhang's family.

"The little fourth master is in the shop today, Lord catcher, I'll call the little fourth master." The clerk greeted politely, and hurriedly went to the backyard to inform the owner.

It can be seen from the titles that the Tang family has many brothers, plus uncles, generation after generation, it means that the population is prosperous.The Fang family is similar, only the Zhang family is difficult, and it is almost passed down from generation to generation, but correspondingly, the most ingenious one is the thin-populated Zhang family.

More people fight more, this is the same truth everywhere.

People put their minds on fighting for power and profit, so naturally their pure heart is less, and they also less study skills.

"It's Liu Tong, this is..." Tang Xiaosi came out from the backyard, asking strange questions. Of course, most of his eyes fell on Mu Qingyan.

Liu Tong briefly said a few words, then took out the portrait and gave it to him: "Little Fourth Master, help me take a look, do you recognize him?"

Tang Xiaosi looked at the portrait and frowned: "It looks familiar."

Both Mu Qingyan and Liu Tong's eyes lit up. After asking so many people, Tang Xiaosi was the first one to say "sight familiar".

Originally, the portrait was just an auxiliary means. The portrait was described by the population, and then the painter was drawn. The painter's painting skills are indeed good, but there must be deviations from the real person. Moreover, when the witnesses described it, they would unconsciously follow the subjective consciousness Modification and adjustment, but I don't realize it. For various reasons, the portrait is only used as an auxiliary.In many cases, even if a similar person is found based on the portrait, the other party is not the murderer.

Mu Qingyan thought for a while, then stretched out his hand to cover the portrait's chin: "What if there is no beard?"

The portrait is of a wandering doctor, with a bun on his head and a five-willow beard, making him look a bit more immortal.This is almost the case among doctors who walk around the streets.

In Mu Qingyan's recollection, he saw that the murderer had a beard, but his face shape was consistent with that of You Fang Langzhong. He had reason to suspect that the murderer had no beard at all, and the beard was just a means of disguise!

Tang Xiaosi hesitated: "There is no beard. Um, this is the murderer who killed several times in a row?"

Mu Qingyan stopped Liu Tong from speaking, and only said: "It's not sure yet, it's just that someone saw him near the deceased, and we need to investigate. If you know something, I hope you can tell it. If it wasn't him, he would have been innocent a long time ago. .”

"There's nothing I can't say, I remember who this portrait looks like, but that person can't possibly kill someone!" Tang Xiaosi shook his head and sighed, telling them: "I know a man named Meng Bin, who used to be in our Tang Dynasty. I used to be a buddy."

"Tell me more in detail." Mu Qingyan asked.

"That's right, about fifteen or sixteen years ago, he came to our house, working and learning crafts at the same time. At first, he didn't pay attention to it, thinking that he wanted to learn something to make ends meet like everyone else. Later, I found out , His hands are very nimble, he was born to eat this bowl of rice, my father liked him so much, he used him as an example all day long, my elder brother was still unconvinced back then, and wanted to beat him up."

Tang Xiaosi suddenly walked away, and hurriedly brought the topic back: "He has been in our house for five or six years, and my father planned to recruit him to be his son-in-law. His mother just died of illness that year, and he I went home for a funeral, and never came back. All these years, he would give gifts to my father on New Year’s Day, but he never showed up. I am engaged in this line of work, but my family has a house and land, so I can rest assured."

"He doesn't live in the city? Tell me more about his personal situation." Although Tang Xiaosi described Meng Bin as a taciturn, down-to-earth and grateful person, it does not mean that Meng Bin is not suspected.

People are multi-faceted, and the side you are familiar with is not the whole of a person.

"Tell me about the situation in Meng Bin's family..." Tang Xiaosi sighed again, unconsciously sympathetic: "He has been pitiful since he was a child, if it wasn't for someone to help him, maybe his mother would have died long ago."

Meng Bin's mother's surname is Huang. Huang's parents died when she was three or four years old, and her family property went to her uncle. She took turns eating at his uncle's house until she was seven or eight years old.That year, the uncles wanted to marry her off. They said they were married, but they actually sold her to another family as a child bride.Huang had long heard that the daughter-in-law was living a hard life. She didn't have enough to eat every day, had to do heavy work, and was often beaten. The child bride was even inferior. She thought she would die if she went there.

At that time, there was a shopkeeper couple who were very kind to her and often gave her food, so she went to ask for help.The other party really helped her.I don't know how the other party persuaded the uncle to take her to the shop, and she was supposed to be a maid. Of course, the monthly salary was given to Uncle Huang.

When Huang was 15 years old, the Huang family's uncles began to tease her again, urging her to marry someone, so that she could get a dowry.At this time, the shopkeeper and his wife helped her again. They told her about a marriage, and the bride price was given to Uncle Huang's family.

After living a stable life for a few years, Huang's husband died in corvee service, leaving orphans, widows, and aging parents-in-law.Meng Bin was dexterous since he was a child, and he knew how to figure it out by himself, weaving various cages, mats, baskets, and baskets with bamboo strips, and selling them in the city for money.The shopkeeper and his wife found out about this, and they made a connection and introduced him to the Tang family to learn the craft.

"The husband and wife who are shopkeepers are the Huang family who opened the oil shop?" Mu Qingyan was almost sure.

"That's right! When I helped Meng Bin's mother back then, it was fate because of the same surname. The old shopkeeper of the Huang family was really a good man, and he had a very good relationship with my father. It's a pity that such a good man passed away." Tang Xiaosi Thinking of what happened to the Huang family later, she not only sighed.

"Where is Meng Bin's house?"

"In Shipo Village outside the city."

Now Meng Bin's suspected murderer has basically been locked, and without further delay, Liu Tong immediately went back to inform Yan Lang.

Mu Qingyan looked at the sky, it was already dark, and the lights in the street market were already on.

He didn't leave right away, instead he asked Tang Xiaosi to find a restaurant and talked about Meng Bin.Since Tang's father is familiar with the Huang family of the oil shop, he also knows a lot of old news about the Huang family.

Tang Xiaosi was already a little drunk: "Mr. Mu, Meng Bin can't kill people. He is really stupid and can't speak, but he is grateful. He always remembers the kindness others treat him. How could he kill people? Besides, Uncle Huang and the others helped many people, not just Meng Bin."

Meng Bin left a good impression on Tang Xiaosi, so even though he hadn't seen him for many years, Tang Xiaosi still wanted to say something nice to him.This feeling is like that of an acquaintance who has committed a crime, which is unbelievable anyway.

Mu Qingyan remembered something and asked him: "Xu Hu killed his wife seven years ago, do you still remember?"

Tang Xiaosi was stunned, then nodded: "I remember, how could I not remember, that little whore! Brother Xu Hu was killed by her!"

"Why do you say that?"

"Who doesn't know in Guanglin Mansion? Who really believes that Xu Hu killed his wife?" Tang Xiaosi lowered his voice and looked mysterious: "How do you think the female corpse found later came from? That's not Yang Sanniang, It was a prostitute who died of illness. Someone paid for the corpse and pretended to be Yang Sanniang! Someone sewed a dress and put it on the corpse; In the first place, Xu Hu could not seek death if he wanted to live. When the servants took him to find the corpse, he tried to commit suicide several times, and everyone at the time saw it, so..."

Mu Qingyan covered his face with frost: "The county magistrate is so unscrupulous?"

It is true that punishments can be used in the trial of the court, but there are also rules for the use of punishments, and they cannot be abused.What the county magistrate did was already blatantly extorting a confession, and torture was a trick. Unfortunately, since the other party dared to do it, I am afraid that he has something to rely on.In many cases, laws and regulations are just a piece of paper, and they are completely different in practice.

Tang Xiaosi sneered: "That county magistrate... oh, now he is going to be called the magistrate. That magistrate married a good wife, and the Yue family is capable, otherwise he could have been the magistrate in just six or seven years." To the prefect?"

Now there are two levels of magistrates, one is the fourth rank, and the other is the fourth rank.

The magistrate of Guanglin Prefecture is from the fourth grade.

Official promotions are generally half-level and half-level promotions, and a one-level jump is a big deal.There are many officials who have only held one position for many years, or have been promoted, or even moved to the left. There are also many demoted or even dismissed.

Wanpeng, the prefect of Guanglin, was the local county magistrate seven years ago, and the county magistrate was only seventh rank.In seven years, jumping from the seventh rank to the fourth rank, this is no longer a smooth career, but a smooth progress!No matter how talented and capable a person is, if he has no one to take care of him, he will not be able to do this.This shows that Wanpeng's backing is very strong, and he may even have voted for a certain dignitary in the dynasty.

After all, the magistrate has already entered the eyes of the powerful, and he is not a trusted or useful person, so it is impossible to give him this position.

When Mu Qingyan investigates the case, he is afraid of dealing with the dignitaries of the current dynasty. They are privileged. No matter what you investigate, they can stop it at any time.Even if you check the truth out, if someone says a word, everything will not be counted.If you want to compete with it, it is foolish to rely on your own strength, and you can only join the hostile camp.

But that wasn't the life he wanted.

When Mu Qingyan returned to the inn, Feng Wu and Bao Dayou had been waiting for a long time.

"Mr. Mu!" The two breathed a sigh of relief when they saw him.

They still came at dusk, but they never saw Mu Qingyan. Even if they asked the inn, they knew that the room was not checked out, but they were still worried that Mu Qingyan would leave without saying goodbye.For them, it is too difficult to find the current lucrative and comfortable business. If possible, they really hope to keep doing it.

"Finished?" Mu Qingyan restrained his thoughts, opened the door and entered the guest room.

"Yes." With yesterday's experience, the two began to report one by one.

Mu Qingyan learned a lot of inside information from Yan Lang, and now looking at these lists, the screening is easier.After listening to the report, he singled out one person, and it was almost certain that this was the fifth person who had been hidden!