Chapter 5 Chapter 4 Who Locked the Door

Lucky Court Inn has five wing rooms facing the alley, among which the windows of Jinzi No. 3 and No. 4 on the third floor, and Yuzi No. 2 and No. 3 on the second floor are opposite to the middle one on the west side of Luxiang Tower. The wings of the stage are facing each other, especially Jinzi No. 4 and Yuzi No. 3. The two windows on the left are directly opposite to the opposite wing, and there is only a difference in height, one is slightly above and the other is slightly below.The floors of Lucky Pavilion are relatively low, and the windows of the wing rooms of Wuxiang Building are just a little lower between the two floors of Lucky Pavilion.Now, Zhao Haoqi was standing in front of the window on the left of Jinzi No. 4, when a guy in charge of entertaining guests on the third floor was summoned by him for questioning.

The wing rooms on the second and third floors of Lucky Pavilion are the upper rooms, the outer corridors on the first floor are the lower rooms, and the wing rooms in the east, south, and west directions surrounding the small garden in the atrium are for the staff. The east is the kitchen, firewood room, latrine, servants' room, groom's wing and stables.The east wall of the stable is connected to the Luxiang Building. The stable has three doors, the innermost door faces the backyard, and another door faces the east corridor of the inn. A door facing the alley is opened in the protruding part as the back door of the inn.The back doors of Lucky Pavilion and Luxiang Building are side by side. The back door is facing a shared wide alley, about five meters wide, for carriages to pass through.The protruding part of the Lucky Pavilion stables and the protruding part of the back door of the Luxiang Building separated by a wall have only one floor, and the roof is covered with scale tiles that are higher in the north and lower in the south.

The guest rooms and lower rooms of Lucky Court Inn are all marked with wooden characters, sorted from the upper right to the lower, and then to the upper left.The wing rooms on the second floor are marked with jade characters vertically and silk characters horizontally. On the third floor, gold characters are used vertically and silver characters are horizontally arranged, arranged from top to bottom and from right to left.The first room in the row near the alley in the east is Yuzi No. 1, the second room is Yuzi No. 2, and so on.No. 2 and No. 3 Yuzi rooms have always been occupied by guests. No. 3 and No. 4 Jinzi rooms on the third floor originally lived in businessmen surnamed Pu and Tao, who checked out at 6:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. is empty.In addition, there are two rows of lower rooms on the far left of the first floor in the entire Lucky Court Inn, and a No. 2 room in Yinzi on the third floor because the guests checked out at noon and there is no one to stay, and the rest are full of guests.Although there was a murder, the guests chose to stay overnight because it was already night.

Zhao Haoqi specifically asked about the situation of the residents of Jinzi No. 4.The clerk replied that it was a Shanxi businessman surnamed Tao who had lived here for five days. He was a frequent visitor of Lucky Pavilion and stayed here five or six times a year. Originally, this time he came to Beijing to collect bills. The newly married wife suddenly fell ill and hurriedly checked out. "Did the pottery merchant bring a big box and a bamboo basket?" The man shook his head, "It was brought by the businessman surnamed Pu next door." "Oh." Zhao Haoqi responded lightly, not surprised, and then asked about the appearance and figure of the two businessmen.The clerk replied that they were all of medium build, neither fat nor thin, and they all spoke politely.Pu Shang is hard to tell his age, the hair exposed in the hat is a little gray, but there are no wrinkles on his face, and he has a rough beard.The businessman surnamed Tao is said to be under 30 years old, with a thin face and a sharp chin.

After the questioning, Zhao Haoqi asked the assistant to lead him around the building.Yuan Bao suddenly said loudly: "My lord, the night is getting dark, please go back to the house to rest as soon as possible." "I still want to take a stroll." Zhao Haoqi waited proudly and silently for his elder brother to pass by outside the wing. "You can go shopping another day, it's better to go back home now." Yuan Bao chased after him and said loudly. Turning a corner, Zhao Haoqi asked Yuan Bao who was catching up in a low voice: "Yuan Bao, do you think I can take a step out of the house tomorrow?"

"No." Yuan Bao replied without thinking. After giving him a blank look, Zhao Haoqi snorted coldly, "Isn't what you just said just for nothing?" "That's not true, I have already dissuaded you, and your two elder brothers have heard it." Yuan Bao replied in a low voice. "Don't worry, big brother won't do anything to you." "What I'm afraid of is that even the Prime Minister will beat me with a stick after I return home! I'm really pitiful. Since I was a child, whenever you get into trouble, my lord, I'm always the one who gets the stick. For more than ten years, I have suffered for you." There are more sticks and whips than there are stars in the sky! Have you seen how dark the face of the eldest son—our servant is? I hope I can get up after lying down for only ten days this time." Yuan Bao pitifully Moaned softly.

"That's not okay, I still have to rely on you to help me find out things, I can't let you be angered by the elder brother and the others." After wandering around the inner and outer corridors on the third floor, Zhao Haoqi stopped at the stairs, pointed to the corner where the carved wooden boards were erected on the railing facing the atrium, and asked, "Dude, why is this corner the only one among the four corners of this corridor?" Block it with wooden boards?" The man replied that it was because there was a well just below this corner, and the fence was not too high, and there were no trees to block it, so that a curious visitor might accidentally fall down when looking at it. A block of wood carved with a hollow flower pattern.

"So that's how it is." Zhao Haoqi left a simple sentence and went downstairs gracefully.The eldest son and third son of the Zhao family followed closely behind. After returning to the mansion, after settling down the younger brothers who had fallen asleep in the sedan chair, Yuan Bao entered Zhao Haoqi's bedroom on the second floor. Zhao Haoqi's residence is at the back of the Zhao Mansion, a small island in the middle of a lake covering an area of ​​several acres. There is a bridge in front and a embankment in the back. The island is surrounded by willows. There is a small garden in the front and a A tall four-storey attic, the ground floor is used as the living room, as well as the residence of the book boy, personal maid and servant.

Zhao Haoqi, who had just finished bathing, was only wearing the underwear he had just changed into, and was waiting for him with an excited expression, "Yuan Bao, let's climb over the wall from the backyard tomorrow morning." "No! I don't want both legs to be broken." Yuan Bao refused firmly. Zhao Haoqi's face darkened instantly.Soon, he regained his good mood, "Let's play a quiz game. I will ask three questions, and you only need to answer any one of them to be considered a winner. I will tell you how to beat the crickets in the kitchen." "Really?" Yuan Bao's eyes lit up, but he immediately had doubts again, "If I lose, don't you want me to climb over the wall behind your back?"

Zhao Haoqi smiled. Yuan Bao immediately shook his head heavily, "I still don't want it." Zhao Haoqi did not give up, "Think about it, a woman appeared in a brothel four hours after she drowned, isn't there a lot of strangeness in it? What an interesting thing this is!" "I don't think so, I just think that woman is so pitiful, even her head was cut off." "Since I feel that the woman is pitiful, I should find a way to help me out of the house so that I can find out the truth." Zhao Haoqi tried to persuade Yuan Bao. Yuan Bao just didn't want to be fooled, and resisted any excuses, "It's a matter for the government, let those officials check it out."

"Just relying on those stupid government officials?" "Actually, Xiang Dutou's mind isn't too bad, it's just a little bit worse than mine." Yuan Bao said with his head held high. Zhao Haoqi blinked and asked amusedly, "Yuan Bao, do you really think your brain is good?" "Isn't it? I completely see through Miss Qinyin's trick of disappearing from Luxiang Tower." "Don't you take it seriously when I fool you so easily?" When Yuan Bao heard this, he looked at Zhao Haoqi with a puzzled expression, "Isn't that all your nonsense?" "Not entirely." Zhao Haoqi burst out laughing, "It's nonsense to say that the person who locked the lock is a thief, and what I said earlier is the truth. As for what you said, it's all your own delusional imagination." Yuan Bao stared his eyes as big as a bull's eye in shock, and looked straight at Zhao Haoqi's bright smiling face, "Master, you just lied to me, but you're still teasing the tolerance?" Zhao Haoqi smiled and said, "It's him who wants to believe everything, I didn't ask him to do that." "If it's not a thief, who is it?" "Guess." Zhao Haoqi smiled wickedly, "Let me give you a hint, the people who locked it were among the fourteen people who were on the second floor before the yamen servants came. Also, didn't I ask you on the singing stage?" What are the two extra things? Have you figured it out? Those two things are related to the corpse. As for how the woman's corpse got on the stage, even if it is as simple as your chicken brain, you should be able to think of it. After all, even the thief climbed up You can think of such a difficult idea as locking the window and climbing back to the alley, there is no reason why you can't think of such an easy way." Yuan Bao scratched the back of his head, "Well... didn't I mention two more incense cases on the singing stage? The one who locked it... I don't know." "Be serious with me." Zhao Haoqi knocked Yuan Bao's head dissatisfied, "How could it be an incense case? The only thing that is useful is the incense burner, no, to be precise, it is the strong aroma emitted by the lit sandalwood to cover up the corpse taste. Use your pig head to think!" "Is it a cloak?" "That's right! I've already changed into the red auspicious clothes, how could I not put away the shawl and clothes?" Yuan Bao let out a "Huh" in surprise, but he didn't expect that he guessed it right. "What else?" "This..." Yuan Bao tilted his head and frowned, hesitating for a long time. Zhao Haoqi couldn't help but tap Yuan Bao's head again, "It's a chair, isn't there already a pier? Why do you need a chair? Of course it's superfluous, idiot!" "I said, my lord, you are the fool!" A voice as crisp as a yellow oriole's chirping broke in abruptly, and a young girl of sixteen or seventeen stood behind them with her hips crossed, "It's autumn, and the night is cool and dewy!" Heavy, actually patronizing and muttering, only wearing an inner coat, blowing the cold wind from the lake in front of the window. The young master is a three-year-old child who doesn’t know how to keep warm, Yuan Bao, are you only ten years old? Why don’t you let him wear it? Put on your coat?" The girl opened and closed her mouth quickly, poking Yuan Bao's nose with her onion-like fingertips. Yuan Bao felt guilty after being scolded by the girl, shrank his neck and lowered his head. "I'm not a three-year-old child!" Zhao Haoqi protested loudly dissatisfied.The girl is his personal servant girl, who has always been in charge of his daily life and food, and is deeply trusted by his mother, and the little things in life are under her control. "Cuiqing, what does it matter all at once? I won't catch cold so easily..." Before finishing speaking, Zhao Haoqi sneezed twice. Cui Qing raised an eyebrow at Yuan Bao, "Why don't you hurry up and let the young master go to bed?" "But..." Yuan Bao didn't want to leave without hearing the answer, but he was a little afraid of Cui Qing. "No but!" No matter how reluctant the two were, Cui Qing drove Zhao Haoqi, who had been wanting to say something, into the bed, and then turned Yuan Bao out the door, who was eager to hear the answer with his ears pricked up. After closing the door outside, Cui Qing crossed her hands on her hips and glared at Yuan Bao, "Why are you still standing there? Go to sleep!" Yuan Bao had no choice but to leave Zhao Haoqi's dormitory with three steps and one turn. Early the next morning, Yuan Bao got up and ran to Zhao Haoqi's study on the third floor. Zhao Haoqi had long been sitting by the window, holding tea and waiting for his arrival. "Before I tell you the answer, you first promise me one thing." Zhao Haoqi didn't intend to satisfy Yuan Bao's curiosity right away, but made a request instead. "As long as I'm not asked to climb the wall behind your back, we can discuss everything." Yuan Bao is not stupid. "Of course not climbing the wall." Zhao Hao gave him a blank look, and said angrily. "What's that?" "You have to promise me that you won't be angry after listening to it." "Why?" Yuan Bao was surprised.Is it raining red?The son actually just asked him to promise such an easy thing to do. "No reason, just agree first." Zhao Haoqi just smiled, and Shi Shiran took a sip of the strong tea. Yuan Bao looked at him suspiciously, the small calculation in his heart was crackling, the young master loved to set up traps for him to jump in since he was a child, so what kind of medicine is sold in the gourd this time?After struggling between jumping and not jumping, suspicion and curiosity, Yuan Bao finally couldn't resist the curiosity, and Yuan Bao agreed. "First of all, I want to tell you how the corpse got on the singing stage, and how Miss Heqinyin left the singing stage." "My lord, tell me quickly!" Yuan Bao moved the pier and sat down facing Zhao Haoqi, urgently urging him. "The corpse arrived in the wing opposite the singing stage probably after 5:45 p.m. and before 6 p.m.." "My lord, how do you know it must be that time?" Yuan Bao questioned. "It's very simple, just think about it with your brain. On that day, at about 5:30 in the afternoon, the Qinyin girl just finished playing. When I was playing the piano, the Qinyin girl was still on the singing stage, restless. After I finished playing, it was the turn of Master Dou and the others to perform their talents. At this time, it was supposed to be her time to change clothes, but she didn't change her clothes. Did you hear what Tang Sanniang said? Not only did she not change her clothes, she also Inviting me to write a poem is clearly a way of delaying time. If it wasn’t for the accident that the corpse didn’t arrive or just arrived, and there wasn’t enough time to change the corpse, she wouldn’t have invited me to write a poem rashly, but would follow the established plan Dressing up the corpse, after all, there is enough time to change clothes between the completion of playing the piano and the start of bidding. Given the time required for changing clothes and arranging everything, it can be inferred that the corpse must be after 5:45 p.m. and before 6:00 p.m. shipped." "Why didn't the corpses be transported over early, wouldn't it be easier to do so earlier?" "Because it's risky. You have to wait until it's dark to hide." "I see." Yuan Bao kept nodding his head like pounding garlic. "No!" He suddenly raised his head as if remembering something, "There were people inside and outside the Luxiang Tower that day, and I had never seen any large cargo being carried in at that time. No matter what the weather was, this corpse would not Might be shipped in." Zhao Hao tapped the ingot with his fan, "How could it be possible to transport the corpse in under the eyes of everyone?" "Then how did the corpse get in? That day, the Luxiang Building was full of people all day long. Could it be that people were tricked into hiding in that place... No, the woman drowned..." Yuan Bao kept scratching his head in annoyance. . "Don't torture your pig's brain anymore, let me tell you." Zhao Haoqi took a sip of strong tea calmly, met Yuan Bao's pleading gaze, and showed a confident smile, "The corpse flew over from mid-air." "What? Fly over?" Yuan Bao yelled in disbelief, "How could a corpse fly, son, you are fooling me!" "I'm telling the truth. I deliberately chose to act after dusk and sunset to prevent passers-by on the street from noticing that the corpse flew across the alley from the window of No. 3 Jinzi Room of the Lucky Court Inn." "Isn't it? Young master, you didn't lie to me?" "I didn't lie to you." After giving Yuan Bao a blank look, Zhao Haoqi continued, "Although there is a carriage in front of the alley blocking the sight of passers-by on the street, but transporting the corpse at such a height in the air, there is no guarantee that it will not be just right in the building across the street. Someone looks out the window and sees it. So it must wait until after sunset when the light is dim." "How is it possible, the two buildings are so far apart! Didn't they mean they could fly over? No, let alone a corpse that can't walk, even a human can't jump over that distance!" Zhao Haoqi played with the white jade lion paperweight on the table, and said calmly: "It's very simple. It's not difficult at all to make the corpse fly from the Lucky Pavilion to the Yunxiang Tower. All you need is a thick hemp rope, a long thin rope, a bamboo tube, A big bamboo basket and a certain height difference. As long as there is a height difference, even if it is not directly facing the window, the corpse can easily fly over at a slightly deviated place." "To put it lightly, you wouldn't put wings on the corpse, would you?" Yuan Bao expressed disbelief. Zhao Haoqi laughed out loud, "Wings, thank you for wanting to get them! Of course not." Yuan Bao puffed up his cheeks, "Say it quickly!" "It is to put the corpse in a bamboo basket and transport it with a rope." After speaking, Zhao Haoqi took out a length of silk thread, handed one end to Yuan Bao, and motioned him to hold it.Yuan Bao took the end of the thread suspiciously, while Zhao Haoqi stood up, picked up the white jade lion paperweight, passed the other end of the silk thread through the hole formed between the lion's two propped up front legs and the squatting back leg, held the end of thread in his left hand, and let the thread stretch straight. "Look, this is the big bamboo basket filled with corpses." As he spoke, he let go of the white jade lion paperweight in his right hand.With a swish, the white jade lion paperweight slid along the silk thread to Yuan Bao's hand, whose eyes widened in surprise. Zhao Haoqi said: "The person who rented Jinzi No. 3 and called himself Merchant Pu..." "Wait, why must it be Jinzi No. 3?" Yuan Bao cut off Zhao Haoqi's explanation loudly, "Why can't it be the Yuzi No. 2 room on the second floor, or the Jinzi No. 4 room directly opposite, wouldn't that be more convenient?" "Why? Isn't it obvious? Although the Yuzi house on the second floor has a window facing the window of the opposite wing, it is too short. After all, the person who picked up the corpse is a weak woman, and it is impossible to pick up a heavy corpse from a high place. Yes, it can only be received relatively easily at low places." "Yes." Yuan Bao nodded in agreement. "As for why it is Jinzi No. 3 and not No. 4, have you forgotten? Didn't the buddy say that the businessman surnamed Tao had already checked out at 4:30 p.m., and he didn't bring a big box and bamboo Luo. The surname Pu in the third room arrived at Lucky Court at 5:00 p.m., and the box was sent into the room earlier than him. Only the surname Pu was eligible. Probably the house was rented early, and the surname Pu had to rent it. Go to the side room next to it. That guy probably isn't really surnamed Pu, nor is he a businessman." "But it's also possible that the guy at the inn is an accomplice who used Room No. 4 after the Tao merchant checked out." "impossible." "why?" "I don't have time to prepare the corpse. The potter didn't check out until 4:30 in the afternoon. At that time, almost all the spectators in the store should have gone back. How can you move a corpse to three In the wing room of the first floor? Besides, only room No. 3 of Jinzi had large boxes and other large goods transported into the inn at that time." "That's right. So how did the businessman in Room 3 get the corpse to the Luxiang Building?" "The person who called himself Merchant Pu first hired someone to transport the large box containing the corpse to the inn, and then at the appointed sunset, he disguised himself and arrived at Room No. , the other end of the hemp rope is passed through the bamboo tube that has been polished smooth in advance, and then a little oil is applied, and then the other end of the hemp rope is thrown into the window of the side room diagonally opposite. The place is fixed. He tied the bamboo tube with a small hemp rope, and hung the rope that tied the bamboo basket on the bamboo tube. Of course, a recess was cut on the bamboo tube to catch the rope. He put the bamboo basket out of the window and pushed hard. The bamboo tube slides to the opposite side with the bamboo basket. The little maid puts the red clothes into the bamboo basket. He pulls the bamboo basket back, puts the clothes on the corpse, and puts the corpse in the bamboo basket. This time it only needs to be pushed lightly, The bamboo basket containing the corpse would slide down and quickly reach the opposite window. After moving the corpse to the Fuxiang Tower, he would pull the string and drag it back to the bamboo basket. The little maid untied the knot, and he could take the hemp rope back . "Then he slipped away from the inn, took the pre-hired boat by the river, rowed to the window of the wing room where Miss Qinyin was staying, and waited to pick up Miss Qinyin. "The man said that he left the room at six o'clock, and the time coincided exactly. It took two people to work together to pull the corpse out of the basket. Therefore, at five forty-five when the girl Qin Yin stopped playing the piano, and at six o'clock when the maid went downstairs The two of them worked together for a while. That's why I think the body was delivered at 5:45." "So, that little maid is definitely an accomplice?" "certainly." "The one who locked the door must be her!" "Stupid! If it was her, would I have made a fuss to test you?" Zhao Haoqi tapped Yuanbao with a fan as he spoke. "My lord, can you stop hitting me, I'm stupid because you hit me too much." Yuan Bao protested strongly, shaking his head. "After the incident, that maid has been hiding in the wing room, and she never took a step out of the wing room facing the singing stage before Dou Wei came to her. After that, she has been stared at by Tang Sanniang, where is the chance to lock the door?" "Who else is she?" Zhao Haoqi once again showed a mysterious smile with a different meaning. "Don't worry, I'll tell you how Miss Qinyin avoided everyone's sight and used Li Daitao's stiff technique to replace the corpse." Taking a sip of cool tea to moisten his throat, Zhao Haoqi continued, "The people in front It is impossible to see the situation behind the singing stage, even Tang Sanniang and Gui Nu standing on the guest stage can only see the parts above the shoulders, and the Gui Nu standing on both sides of the stairs can't see the parts below the shoulders either Therefore, as long as you bend down or squat, no one will notice what you are doing behind the singing stage. The two put the chair down, lean the back of the chair to the ground, put the dead body on the chair and put it in a sitting posture, and wrap it in a drape Straighten the corpse on the back of the chair, push it to the edge of the opera stage, lift it up, stand up the chair, and the corpse sits on the chair. But the corpse has no head—as for why it is headless, it is the same as replacing it with a corpse The purpose of the living is the same, to be unexpected. If the corpse has no head, people will think it is Qin Yin himself for a while, and everyone's attention will naturally be on the corpse. When it is discovered that it is not her, she has already hidden in front of everyone. Or left. But the arrangement of the headless corpse is a bit troublesome. Although there is a white gauze to block the view, the person standing on the guest table can easily see the head, chest and shoulders that are not covered by the piano case. This is why the corpse can only be put on the singing stage after changing into the red clothes. The first point is that the sound of the piano cannot be stopped to help the little maid. The second point is that because the corpse has no head, it is necessary to use The pendant and the phoenix crown that the bride wears to cover up. The thing that was placed on the neck of the corpse to fill the phoenix crown and replace the head was the hydrangea. The hydrangea is made of cloth. Just take two long needles Pinned together with the collar, the fake head and phoenix crown can be firmly fixed above the neck. After the arrangement is complete, the little maid goes downstairs, and everyone bids downstairs, preparing to throw hydrangea balls. At that time, people's attention is focused on When the winner of the bid, Qin Yin let go of the shawl, pulled out the needle on the collar, and kicked the chair down. When the hydrangea ball rolled down, the little maid went back upstairs and called everyone to go upstairs. This was the beginning of the good show .” "Wait! As you said, the corpse should be pushed down by Miss Qinyin, and the little maid didn't have time to do it. But when the little maid shouted, didn't several good-for-nothings rush up the stairs? Then Miss Qinyin must not have She can stay on the singing stage, otherwise she will definitely be discovered. In this way, she can only hide in the wing room facing the singing stage. This is a problem, how did she escape from everyone's eyes and ears and walk through the long distance? The long corridor, reaching the wing room at the end of the corridor? After all, Master Dou went up the stairs very quickly, and Sanniang and the turtle slaves also went up. In such a short time, she still had to stick to the corridor Only by climbing over the wall can she not be seen. In terms of time, isn't she completely too late?" "You seem to have made a mistake." "Mistake?" "Qin Yin didn't hide in the wing room, but was there." "How is it possible? Could it be that Master Dou and those turtle slaves are blind and cannot see her?" "They can't see her." "Master, are you fooling me? Could it be that Miss Qinyin is wearing an invisibility cloak so that no one can see her?" "She didn't wear an invisibility cloak, she just wore a servant girl's clothes and stayed in the corridor next to the singing stage instead of the little servant girl." "Then what about the little maid? Don't forget that the little maid is still upstairs. According to what you said, there are two maids?" Yuan Bao suddenly shouted, "I see! Qin Yin is not hidden in the wing room, It's the real little maid hiding in the wing room! Isn't it?" "Finally you got the answer right. Qin Yin took off her red clothes, put on maid's clothes, loosened her hair, and huddled at the foot of the corridor wall, pretending to be frightened. After the little maid went upstairs, she threw down the copper basin, overturned the porcelain vase, and hid in the wing room The little girl is stuttering, if the piano sound imitates her stammering, even though there is a huge difference in the voice line, people will think that the little girl is hoarse because she was frightened, after all, stuttering is the biggest feature of the little girl." "Miss Qinyin is so cunning." "It's smart." Zhao Haoqi corrected Yuan Bao dissatisfied, "Then when everyone was focusing on the corpse that fell from the sky, Qin Yin slowly moved back and hid in the wing room at the end of the corridor without anyone noticing. The servant girl smashed the bottle after she squatted on the ground, so there were a lot of broken porcelain pieces on her dress, as evidenced by the broken pieces scattered in the corridor. The door of the wing room was originally It was open, and then after the sound of the piano entered, at some point it was closed by someone who had nothing to do with it." "Hey, someone who has nothing to do with it?" Ignoring Yuan Bao's astonished cry, Zhao Haoqi continued: "People's attention has long been attracted by the corpse, and they never noticed a servant girl receding from the corner of sight. When Dou Wei thought of asking the little girl for questioning, the little girl came out of the wing room Come out, but Qin Yin has already hid and closed the door." Yuan Bao yelled impatiently, "My lord, you haven't said who locked the door yet." "Don't worry, that's just my conjecture, it hasn't been confirmed yet! In fact, if the plan is tight, the time without locking the door is completely enough, probably because I didn't expect the official mission to arrive so soon, and maybe some other accident happened, causing The pick-up boat was late, so Qin Yin had to find someone to lock the door temporarily to delay the time of discovery. "When the fake Pu merchant's boat came under the window, he tied one end of the thick hemp rope above the bamboo basket, and threw the other end to Qin Yin who was waiting by the window. Qin Yin threw the rope over the nearest beam by the window, and then threw the end of the rope Throw it back to him. He pulls the rope, and the bamboo basket rises to the window, and Qin Yin climbs over the window and squats into the bamboo basket. He slowly loosens the rope, and the piano sound is connected to the boat. The end of the rope, he took the rope back." "So that's how it is." Yuan Bao clapped his hands and sighed, "This method is really simple!" Suddenly remembered something, Yuan Bao asked: "My lord, you haven't said who closed the door! Since it's not a little maid, are there other maids to help? By the way, didn't Sanniang say that apart from Qinyin's wing, other maids Are all the doors closed? Could it be that she stole the key early in the morning? No, I borrowed Sanniang's key to open that door, and Qin Yin can only steal the key from the owner of the wing." "wrong." "wrong?" "The owner of that wing room didn't lock the lock at all, and she gave Qin Yin the key." "Then she is also an accomplice?" "Probably." "My lord, we are here." Following the clear and bright child's voice, Yuan Shou and Yuan He followed Cui Qing into the study. Zhao Haoqi beckoned the two children over, took another sip of tea before asking Yuanshou softly, "Shouer, were those snacks delicious yesterday?" "Delicious!" Yuan Shou replied, then lowered his head, and continued hesitatingly, "But... I wanted to save some for you to taste, but... I ate it all." Yuan Shou said His voice lowered, he kept rubbing the corners of his clothes with his hands, and secretly glanced at Zhao Haoqi out of the corners of his eyes in embarrassment. "It's okay, it doesn't matter if I don't taste it." "Really?" Yuan Shou tilted his head, looking at Zhao Haoqi with round eyes. "Yeah." Zhao Haoqi nodded, and then he asked again, "Shou'er, did a pretty big sister give you that dim sum?" "Yes!" Yuan Shou replied loudly, and immediately covered his mouth and shook his head desperately, "No." Zhao Haoqi raised the corners of his lips and smiled, "Did that sister make you swear not to speak out?" Yuan Shou hesitated and said nothing, his eyes rolling. "You can't speak with your mouth, and you can't write with a pen, right?" Yuan Shou bit his lip and said after a long while: "Yan Shou is a man, you can't keep your word." "Yes, Shou'er is right. Then just nodding or shaking your head should not violate the oath?" "Yeah." Yuan Shou nodded. "That elder sister is wearing maid's clothes, she looks very similar to the good-looking elder sister upstairs, isn't she?" Yuan Shou nodded vigorously. "You sneaked behind us to play on the second floor, and that sister waved her hand in the crack of the door to let you pass, didn't she?" Yuan Shou shook his head and then nodded. "You didn't come after us, but when we were upstairs, you went up the stairs on the other side, didn't you?" Yuanshou nodded. "She gave you two keys, and made an agreement with you that as long as you lock the door of the wing where she is staying, you can take as many snacks as you like in the other wing, and then lock that wing, Just throw away the key, right?" Yuanshou nodded again. "Stinky boy, it was you who locked the lock!" Yuan Bao roared and jumped up.Yuan Shou was taken aback by him, and when he looked up, he saw his unkind expression and frowning, almost crying out of fear. Zhao Haoqi grabbed Yuan Bao's sleeve with one hand, "Why are you so angry?" Yuan Bao said angrily, "But... it's this little guy who caused the young master's beauty to run away." "Don't be stupid, Yuan Bao." Cui Qing stood up and stood in front of the frightened Yuan Shou, "That girl planned to escape, it has nothing to do with Shou'er!" Yuan Bao pushed Cui Qing away with one hand, glared at Yuan Shou fiercely and said, "Shou'er is not allowed to play outside today, but stay in the study to copy books for three hours!" Yuan Shou pouted, "Why?" Cui Qing glared at Yuan Bao, "Yuan Bao, don't get me wrong, the person who locked it was not Shou'er at all." Yuan Bao was stunned, "Didn't he do all the tricks just now?" "He just agreed to lock the door for Miss Qinyin." Zhao Haoqi picked up a book and said calmly. "Stupid Yuan Bao, think about it, Shou'er is so short, how could it be him who locked the lock?" Cui Qing grabbed Yuan He by the back of the collar who was about to sneak out of the room, and pulled him back. Pointing to him, he said, "It's this silent cunning fellow!" Yuan Bao was completely dumbfounded, "Are you fooling me?" Zhao Hao opened the book, covered his mouth half-opened and laughed, "Cuiqing didn't lie to you, it was Shou'er who used the secret of sharing dim sum to buy He'er's lock." When Yuan Bao heard this, he roared angrily, "Copy the books for me both!" "My lord, save us!" The two boys rushed to Zhao Haoqi for shelter. Zhao Haoqi blinked at Yuanbao, and said with a smile: "Don't worry, I will let Yuanbao copy twice as long as you do." When Yuan Bao heard this, he immediately yelled, "How can you team up to bully me?" The two children burst into laughter.Yuan Shou said cheerfully: "I'll copy for two hours." Yuan He immediately objected, "No, brother only copied for four hours, the time is too short, let him copy for at least eight hours!" "Hey, you two brats!" "Wow! Run!" "Don't run!" "Come here quickly and hide behind Cuiqing and me." "You guys are too much!" Yuan Bao's cry resounded through the courtyard covered by the morning sun, and a few early birds fluttered their wings and flew across the sparkling lake and sank into the bushes on the opposite bank. A gust of wind blows, and the leaves, which are dyed from emerald green to golden yellow by the autumn wind, flutter one by one with the wind, slowly falling, and land beside the blooming autumn chrysanthemums, covering the mud floor with a layer of gold.A pair of soft boots embroidered with gold patterns stepped on the golden "carpet", making a rustling sound.Holding a volume of books in his hand, Zhao Haoqi paced back and forth among the flowers by the lake, while looking towards the other side of the lake.On the other side of the lake, the servants were guarding ten paces behind the trees and flowers. "Yuan Bao, why do you think those servants are so shrewd, there is no way to take advantage of them. I really want to go outside to investigate, what do you think I should do?" Yuan Bao was sitting in a small pavilion not far from him, leisurely nibbling melon seeds and supervising the copying of books by two children.Hearing his question, Yuan Bao lazily raised his head and glanced at him, "Give up, Eldest Young Master ordered his servants to guard the bridge and the lake this morning, as soon as Young Master steps out of this Nuanqing Pavilion, the servants will always be there." Follow behind; as soon as the son is in the water, the servant will prepare the fishing net; let alone climbing the wall, it is impossible to get close to the wall." "Hey, how did they become so clever?" Zhao Haoqi put his head in his hands and looked up to the sky with a long sigh. Yuan Bao shook his head and said, "Master, your memory is really bad! You trained them to be extremely clever ten years ago. If you escape once, you will be punished with ten sticks and a month's salary, no matter how stupid they are." Dumb people are now being beaten into smart people." "It seems that I can't get out." Zhao Haoqi lowered his head in frustration.After a long while, he raised his head again and said to Yuan Bao hopefully, "Yuan Bao, you play me and lead them away." "Do you think this trick is still useful?" Yuan Bao squinted at Zhao Haoqi, who had glowing eyes, cracked open a melon seed, spit out the shell, and continued calmly, "Your memory is really bad. It has been used more than ten times, and it has long been useless." "Really?" Zhao Haoqi lowered his head and stared at the tip of his shoe again dejectedly.After a while, he managed to pull himself together, "Yuan Bao, go find two capable servants, and ask them to dress up as ordinary people and watch the back door of the Luxiang Building in turn, and then go to the Lucky Pavilion Inn and ask me something. " Yuan Bao stopped his movements and turned his head to look at him puzzled. Zhao Haoqi stared blankly at the calm lake, "The whereabouts of that fake businessman is unknown. The little maid is Qinyin's accomplice. If she can escape, she will definitely go to Qinyin." "Yes." Yuan Bao nodded vigorously, "Then what should I inquire about when I go to the inn?" "First of all, you should go and see if there is any abnormality on the floor in Boss Shao's counting room, and then go to find out if there are any hatchets or kitchen knives lost in the inn. Also, what was in the inn from noon to seven in the evening that day Everyone, when and where everyone is, give me a detailed record." 元宝站了起来，“我去拿上笔墨。” “大哥，你要去哪里？”两名小童晶亮的双眼紧盯着元宝，眼里写着“我也好想去”。 赵昊启轻叹一口气，“带上寿儿吧。让他给我画张客栈布局图。本来我想亲自去瞧瞧的，大哥他们不让我出门，你这家伙又不肯带我翻墙……”说到最后，成了絮絮叨叨的抱怨。 元宝打断他的抱怨，“公子，盯住潆香楼后门已经可以找到琴音姑娘，为什么还要我去打听客栈的事情呢？您不是对那个老板被流寇所杀不感兴趣了吗？” 赵昊启惯性地拿起折扇敲了敲元宝的脑袋，“元宝，你何时才肯动动你这猪脑袋想想事情呢？这两件案子有着千丝万缕的联系。为什么琴音姑娘要拖延时间？因为尸体没有遵照原定时间送过去。为什么会迟了呢？因为出了状况。出了什么状况？因为尸体有头！假商人慌了神，要去找刀具把头砍下。为什么尸体会有头？因为那具尸体不是原定的那具！凭什么判定不是原定的？因为那具尸体太新鲜了，是在被放上歌舞台的两个多小时前，也就是在下午二时至四时之间身亡的。你认为一个早策划好的计划，会临时找具意外溺水身亡的尸体吗？” 看到赵昊启终于打起精神，双眼里的颓气亦有所消减，元宝放下心来，继续追问道：“公子，您的意思是假商人谋害了那妇人的性命？” 赵昊启不赞同地摇头，“我不认为有人会为了让一名女子私奔而去犯下杀人的滔天大罪。” “那么还是偶然得到的尸体啦？” “不是，尸体是早就很有把握地准备好了的。” “那他们是怎么弄来尸体的？” “这就要靠你去打听了。” “那溺水妇人的尸体呢？难道是偶然发现了，觉得比原来准备的更合用就换成了那具？” "how is this possible?" "How is it impossible?" “你认为一户人家少夫人的尸身会被这样糟蹋后抛弃在青楼里吗？所以，楼里的那具尸体一定不是原来准备的那具，而且还是在假商人不知情的情况下被调换了。最大的可能是，那妇人是被谋害的，凶手为了掩饰，借机换了尸体，假商人以为那是预先准备好的，说不定还埋怨弄来尸体的人没按吩咐去处理好呢。”赵昊启双眸闪动着熠熠神采，“所以呢，这是件颇有趣的事。” “公子，这种事情您不该高兴的。”元宝用带有责怪意味的眼神瞪了赵昊启一眼。 赵昊启不赞同地嘟了嘟嘴，“元宝你真是迂腐。那妇人意外身亡固然让人叹息，但人既已死，又跟我们无亲无故的，我们与其在此毫无意义地表示哀叹同情，还不如尽快查出真凶，以告慰其亡魂。我不是因为这妇人离奇死亡而兴奋，是为那个狡诈的凶手而兴奋，知道吗？这让我有种找到无须让子就可对弈的对手的感觉。我的直觉告诉我，这个凶手跟设局谋害客栈老板的凶手是同一人。” “不是吧？”元宝目瞪口呆地直望着他，完全被这爆炸性的言论震住了。这妇人不是自溺身亡，客栈老板不是被入屋流匪所杀，而是被同一人设计谋害的？这不是全推翻公差们的推断了吗？ “还有一条线索咱们不能忽略。” "What is it?" “元宝，昨晚一进账房，你闻到了什么味道吗？” “闻到了。”似乎被唤起了什么不好的回忆，元宝苦着脸说道。 “你应该还记得那股味道吧？” “绝对忘不了。”元宝说道，“那是麻沸散的味道！” “我记得那是你八岁的时候的事吧？” “是的，那时的我脖子上不知怎的长了个巨大的瘤子。”元宝回想当年的情景，左手抚着颈项左侧，眼里溢出浓烈的恐惧，“那个余老头竟然说服我爹给我动刀子。” “哈哈，我还记得你躲在床底下死活不肯出来呢！” “要被人用明晃晃的利刀抹脖子，谁听了不逃啊？”元宝的脸红了。 “被元叔和胡大夫硬拖出床底之时，你哭喊得活像只被捏了脖子的公鸡。”赵昊启边说边笑。 “我还记得自己一边被他们灌下那难喝得要命的麻沸散，一边听到您号啕大哭着哀求我爹别杀了我，哭得可凄惨了。”元宝反唇相讥。 “有吗？我倒是不记得有这回事。”赵昊启别开脸小声回道。 元宝贼兮兮地咧嘴邪笑，“我可是一直记着，以后每次我为您挨揍，我都回想起这事来让自己不怨您。” “我也没连累你挨了多少打……”心虚地低声嘟囔了一句，赵昊启提高了音量说道，“总之，那个东西的滋味你还记得吧？” “当然，完全睡死过去，一点儿知觉都没有。即使醒过来，也好像在做梦一般，过了两个小时才完全清醒。” “当时你前后睡了四个多小时呢。就是说，分量足够的话，肥胖如邵老板的人也有可能睡上四个小时。” “可是谁会没事去喝那东西？” “要是现在你脖子上的瘤子还在，胡大夫对你说，不割掉的话只能活一年，你会喝下那东西让胡大夫替你割掉瘤子吗？” 元宝仔细想了想，“我可能会。” “这就是了，这就证明邵老板是被一个老谋深算的熟人设局给杀了！” “就是那天曾在幸运阁待过的人吗？” 赵昊启眉梢一扬，轻声反问：“你说呢？” “那人为什么要杀邵老板，不是熟人吗？”元宝的脑袋还没开窍呢。 白眼一翻，赵昊启摆出一副“受不了你”的表情，“废话，当然是有隐因。” “什么隐因？”元宝追问。 “现在完全无迹可寻，我怎么可能推断出原因？所以才要靠你去替我找出蛛丝马迹。你还愣着干什么，快去！晚了，凶手就有更多的时间抹掉痕迹了！”赵昊启心急地跺脚催促元宝，“我一定会揪出他的狐狸尾巴，赢得这盘棋！” 瞧着踌躇满志的赵昊启，元宝心里暗忖道：人家可没邀请您下这盘棋。何况，是不是真有这么个凶手也说不定呢！“公子，我看您还是别太高兴了，搞不好真的是流寇杀的人，小妇人也只是意外落水而已。” “你要跟我打赌吗？”赵昊启眨巴着明亮的眸子，嘴角隐隐露出笑意。 “不要。”元宝可不傻，才不会上这个当呢！ “你这人真没趣！”意图被识破，赵昊启悻悻然地噘了噘嘴。 “我只是不想再次受骗，被迫背着您去爬墙！” “小气！” “东窗事发后受苦的可是我，才不是我小气！”