Nongmen Shenjue

After all, it was ordered to investigate the case. As the imperial envoy, Pang Zhong naturally did not dare to neglect this mission. Therefore, even though he was delayed on the way, he called everyone to discuss the case after settling down.

Pang Zhongduan sat at the head, Wen Mingyu was on his right hand, followed by Lin Jia, Yuan Cheng, Chen Shiliu, Mu Qingyan, and on the opposite side were several officials from the Ministry of Punishment.They were not the only ones accompanying them this time, but other people were not responsible for the investigation, and now they were halfway, so Pang Zhong didn't invite those people.In short, the door is open, and the discussion is not hidden from the eyes and ears. It is not difficult for those people to know.

Mu Qingyan is very clear about his position, just like his position, just sitting with him.As long as the imperial envoy doesn't ask, he won't pretend to be smart, just like what Chen Shangshu said: read more, listen more, and talk less.It's not that he doesn't trust his ability, it's just that there are a lot of forces mixed up in this trip, trying to avoid causing trouble.

Everyone present here knows the basic facts of the case, and Pang Zhong just asked for their opinions and provided various ideas for handling the case.

Although no one was found in Tianning Mansion, at least the missing location and approximate time of disappearance were confirmed.

As the younger brother of the imperial concubine, the most important reason why Li Ziying was taken to the capital by the imperial concubine was because of the estrangement with the Li family.Today's Mrs. Li is a stepmother and has children of her own. In the early years, Concubine Li Gui hadn't been favored yet. Although Li Ziying was a legitimate son, life was not easy.Now that Concubine Li is favored, Li Ziying can naturally walk sideways in the Li family, but conflicts have already accumulated, and Li Ziying is also not affectionate to the brothers and sisters of the Li family.

Two years ago, Li Ziying went to Tianning Mansion mainly to find a place to be happy and happy. Tianning Mansion was chosen for convenience. With her father Li He as the magistrate to protect her head, and the noble concubine and sister in the palace to rely on, the whole day There is nothing in the Ning Mansion that he dare not break into.

Wanxia County is not far from Tianning Mansion. Although it is a small county, safflower is grown locally, and there are large and small safflower fields. When the safflower is in full bloom, it is a red carpet as far as the eye can see.The Li family also set up a safflower farm in Wanxia County and built a Zhuangzi. Li Ziying chose Wanxia County to stay, and it was still the residence organized by the Li family.Li Ziying didn't live in the city, and directly built a new villa near Li's Red Flower Farm, called Honghua Villa. A group of dudes wandered around the county town or hunted in the mountains every day, and the news spread far and near. The villagers waited. None of them went to Wanxia County.

In August of this year, Li Ziying went back to Tianning Mansion and stayed for more than a month, mainly because of the Mid-Autumn Festival, there were many things to do in the city.Li Ziying stayed in Hualou for almost a month, but returned to Wanxia County in early September.

When the Li family found out that the person was missing, they focused on Wanxia County.

Because the Red Flower Farm of the Li family is close, and people from the Red Flower Villa have to pass through this place, so I learned from the mouth of the head of the Red Flower Farm that the last time I saw Li Ziying and others was the day before the Double Ninth Festival, that is, The eighth day of September.

According to the time analysis, it was Li Ziying who came back from Tianning Mansion and stayed in the county for a few days.

When I returned to Honghua Villa on the eighth day of September, I didn't go out again until I was found missing.

The Li family has been questioning the people inside Honghua Villa again.

There are a total of 69 people living in Honghua Villa, including masters and servants.

Li Ziying was surrounded by two guards from Concubine Li, and ten servants.

There are three dandies surrounding Li Ziying, one is Yang Yongyan, the second son of the Marquis of Jing'an, one is Chang Hao, the eldest son of the third house of General Zhenwei's mansion, and the other is Qian Hua, the second son of the official doctor. The rich man in the palace lives with Concubine Li in the same palace.

Each of these three people has three or four escorts.

In Honghua Villa, there are servants arranged by the Li family in each courtyard, and there are four servant girls in total.There is also a team of ten people in the nursing home, and another 20 people in the back kitchen, etc. All aspects are properly arranged, and the Li family is afraid that this group of people will not be satisfied.

There are 26 missing persons including Li Ziying.Most of them are Li Ziying's confidantes. In addition, there are ten nurses, two cooks, and two handymen.

According to the people in the villa, Li Ziying and others left on the night of the eighth day of September. Because there was once a month, even though they didn't know what it was for, these people didn't care, and they didn't dare to ask. They only knew that it would be seven or eight days at least. , as long as 20 days, Li Ziying and others will come back.Who knew it was different this time, he left at night and never came back.Li Ziying and his party did not leave by car, but on horseback.The villa has specially built a stable and raised [-] good horses, almost all of them are dispatched every time, heading south.

Going south after leaving the county seat is an official road leading to Wuyi County.

The Li family went to Wuyi County to search, but there was no news that Li Ziying and others had been there.

It was as if Li Ziying and his party disappeared out of thin air on the official road.

Yuan Cheng, the county lieutenant, raised a question: "Since there are twenty horses traveling, and it is night, will the people in the red flower farm not be able to hear the movement?"

If you heard it, you should know that it is not normal to make such a big commotion at night, why didn't you say it?

A person on the opposite side said: "The Li family also questioned, but those people said they didn't hear any movement. They also asked other people. There is a village three or four miles away from Honghuachang. The village has not reported that there are horseshoes at night. It is unlikely that they will lie collectively. Those people have said that Honghua Mountain Villa is very public when traveling, and they are all riding horses. They are arrogant and trample on the fields from time to time, but that is all during the day. "

Several people frowned upon hearing this, or were thoughtful, but no one spoke again.

They are all smart people, so they naturally know that there is something strange here, and no one will speak rashly without investigation.

At the beginning of the gathering, they only talked about the general situation of the case, but this time, they listed some details of the case one by one.Pang Zhong didn't ask for anything, he just let everyone know more about the inside story, and then arranged different tasks according to their different situations.After all, it is a waste of manpower for all these people to search in one direction.

After dinner that day, Mu Qingyan and the others sat in the small hall drinking tea, and Lin Jia and Yuan Cheng came over one after another.

The small hall is connected with the main room. When dividing the rooms, Chen Shiliu gave the most spacious and best main room.Although Chen Shiliu was not considered an official member of the imperial envoy, he was the son of Shangshu, and Pang Zhong was Chen Shangshu's subordinate, accompanied by Wen Mingyu, who would dare to neglect Chen Shiliu?There is only a county magistrate and a county lieutenant in this yard, and they are dissatisfied and dare not say anything.

In fact, Lin Jia and Yuan Cheng didn't care about where they lived.

It was expected that the two of them would come together tonight.

"Mr. Chen, Mr. Mu." Lin Jia greeted the two with a smile, and her puzzled eyes fell on Wen Jixue who was sitting with Mu Qingyan and Chen Shiliu: "I don't know what to call this one?"

"This is my friend, Wen Jixue. There was an accident when I went out to investigate the case. With him here, I feel more at ease." Mu Qingyan introduced the person and explained Wen Jixue's ability.

"It turned out to be Mr. Wen, nice to meet you." Lin Jia still had a gentle tone, and she didn't have any airs of being an official, and she didn't ask Wen Jixue too much.

Yuan Cheng is a cold-faced person. If someone speaks for him, he will not say a word.

"Magistrate Lin, County Captain Yuan, please sit down." Chen Shiliu ordered hot tea to be served.

The thick door curtain blocked the cold wind outside the house, and a charcoal basin was lit under the table, and several people sat around, holding hot tea, feeling warm.

Lin Jia didn't gossip anymore, and explained why he came here: "I don't know what you two think about the facts of the case that Mr. Da Da said today?"

Chen Shiliu and Mu Qingyan looked at each other and said with a smile: "We are young and have little experience, not as experienced as County Magistrate Lin. Although we heard something strange, we haven't surveyed the scene yet, so we can't say anything for a while. Lin Did the county magistrate find out?"

Lin Jia shook his head: "As Mr. Chen said, he didn't go to the scene, so he didn't find out about it. He did know some details of the case, but he had a lot of doubts. I had a small talk with Captain Yuan. The reason why this case was clueless is that It is nothing more than the word 'concealment'. The missing person deliberately conceals what he did at night, it must be because the itinerary does not want to be known; the insider conceals clues, either because he is afraid of being involved, or..."

Lin Jia smiled, she didn't finish her sentence, but everyone knew what she didn't say.

Li Ziying and the others must have done a lot of disgusting things in Wanxia County because of their dude behavior, so it is reasonable for some people to know about it but not report it.

It is precisely because of various concealments that the whereabouts of the missing group are completely unknown.

Chen Shiliu snorted coldly: "These people are sneaky at night, I don't know what they are doing. It must be a bad thing, or they can't sneak around."

This is what he dared to say. The two county magistrates had a lot of concerns about being officials in the court, but they didn't just shrink back. After hearing this, they smiled, showing that they had the same opinion.

After the two sides exchanged for a while, Lin Jia and Yuan Cheng left.

After Chen Shiliu waited for the people to leave, he thought about it: "Didn't they come to discuss the case?"

Wen Jixue chuckled: "Discussing the case is just one of them."

Mu Qingyan also understood the meaning: "The others are all directly subordinate officials of Pang Zhong, and they have their own system for handling cases, but we are the only ones with foreign aid. When we arrive in Wanxia County, we will definitely investigate the case separately. It is very likely that several of us The meeting will be divided into one place. Regardless of how friendly the adults in the Ministry of Punishment are, they must not like us."

"Why?" Chen Shiliu didn't understand.

Mu Qingyan smiled and said: "Isn't this hard to understand? The emperor appointed Pang Zhong, the servant of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, as an imperial envoy. The imperial envoy was in charge of this case, but he also transferred the magistrate of Lin County, Yuan Xianwei, and me, a grassroots person, to assist. Doesn't it mean that the Ministry of Criminal Justice Insufficient ability? How can the members of the Ministry of Criminal Justice see us pleasing to the eye? Compared with me, County Magistrate Yuan Xianwei is more vigilant. I have Chen Shangshu to take care of me, but County Magistrate Yuan Xianwei... the case was found out, and the credit is due to the imperial envoy. If they can't be found out, or if something goes wrong, they are ready-made scapegoats. Not to mention, there are so many people with ulterior motives in this trip, and there is not enough support to be at ease?"

Chen Shiliuyi didn't think it was that complicated at first, but now he came to his senses: "So, are they here to make friends?"

"After all, you are Lord Shangshu, and I am also a non-staff member. It is always beneficial to form an alliance."

"Brother Mu means..."

"It depends on you. Your identity will work. However, they are not the kind of mediocre people who only know how to do things. They have no merit under their reputation. The reason why they are a little timid is only caused by external forces."

"Indeed." Chen Shiliu smiled and had an idea in his mind.