Chapter 10 chapter Ten

In the side hall of the back yamen, Shen San's body was parked on another long table, and Mr. Di looked at it silently.Ma Rong waited on him with candles, and the two were speechless for a long time. The hourglass was showing the midnight hour, Mrs. Di's birthday banquet had left half a day early, everyone inside and outside the mansion went to bed, and the whole government office was quiet.Di Gong was secretly awakened by Ma Rong, and came here to examine the body of Shen San who had just been carried into the county government. Duke Di finally spoke: "It is now clear that Shen San was killed by a knife wound on his back shoulder, while the other victim was strangled to death by a rope. Ma Rong, in your opinion, who is the villain who threw the stone into the well?"

Ma Rong shook his head. "Did you find someone secretly following you before and after you jumped out of the western wall?" "My lord, I didn't see anyone following me when I jumped into the garden. I was very vigilant at the time. Every step I took, I always looked around. It was only when I saw the dry well that I forgot my signs. I went down rashly, and was almost killed by ignorance.—— At this moment, I think that the villain must have come along the path outside the wall. Seeing a lantern hanging from the mouth of the well, and there was a sound from the well, he had the intention of killing someone. It was only when he heard me scream and groan slightly that he left by chance, thinking that I You must die at the bottom of the well."

"But didn't you say you saw a woman in a long white dress?" Duke Di was surprised. Ma Rong slapped his head, stamped his feet and shouted: "I forgot about that ghost! My lord, the woman in the white dress must be the ghost that people have been rumoring about. After a flicker, the shadow disappeared. How could it be a stranger? I I followed her for half a day." "You can see the face of that ghost!" Duke Di asked. Ma Rong sighed and said: "Where did I see the face of the ghost? At that time, I only suspected that it was a woman who entered the temple at night, so I had the courage to follow him out of the wall. Who knew it was a group of ghosts. Now that I think about it, I still have a lot of fear. I haven't seen it for a long time. Seeing her face, if I saw her, I would be scared to death, maybe my own holy son came out of my body to visit the master."

Digong bent down to look carefully at the tattoos on the back of the corpse. The tattoos are indigo and dark green in color. Due to the crushed boulder, the flesh and blood are indistinguishable, making it impossible to distinguish. "Come closer to the candlelight, Ma Rong, the lower half of the image is a bit eye-catching." Ma Rong shifted the candle to lower the light, and Di Gong said in surprise: "There is a Buddha embroidered on this Ojiri Uehara. The skin of the embroidered Buddha is almost torn, so it can't be seen clearly. But the writing on both sides of the Buddha is clear and recognizable, and on the other side is 'Purple Light High Shining' , on one side is 'golden loincloth'. Ma Rong, these two sentences clearly say that there is indeed hidden gold in Ziguang Temple. Shen San was the one who found out the secret letter and went to the temple to dig gold, and the murderer must also be looking for hidden gold."

Ma Rong said: "I heard from the wine shopkeeper on the opposite side of the General Temple that Shen Sanxiang was blackmailing someone. Could it be that he was blackmailing the gold digger. The gold digger is unbearable, and he is full of murderous intentions." Di Gongdao: "Then, who was the one who was strangled to death by the rope? Could it be that he was also a gold digger? Shen San was trying to blackmail him, or this person was also Shen San's accomplice, and the two of them blackmailed the gold diggers together. As a result, both of them were killed and died unexpectedly.—However, after killing both of them, the murderer took the trouble to exchange them, which is beyond reason. Oh, didn’t you say that there was also a blue cloth bag found in the well .”

"Master, the bundle is in this corner." He bent down and lifted the blue cloth bag. "Ma Rong, let's go back to the study now and check carefully. You will lock this door tightly." The two left the side hall and hurried to the study.Ma Rong held the candle in one hand and the blue cloth bundle in the other. Di Gong suddenly asked: "Ma Rong, how many people knew about the discovery of the body?" "It's just that the two yamen servants who were guarding the mountain gate of the Ziguang Temple knew that the corpse was wrapped tightly in a blanket and carried back to the county office. They didn't tell the guards at the east gate that they saw a refugee who died of illness while patrolling. Transport them to a chemical plant for incineration."

"Well, take Shen San's whole body to the incineration factory early tomorrow morning and burn it. Don't let idlers find out the inside story. The longer the concealment, the better. There is no need to change the guards guarding Ziguang Temple." Ma Rong nodded, and said again: "When I entered the Daxiong Hall of Ziguang Temple tonight, I still smelled a musty smell. I always suspected that the head was buried in the Daxiong Hall, but I couldn't find it. Why didn't the murderer also throw the head away?" At the bottom of the well, it's really a mischief."

Di Gongdao: "Yes, there are two things I need to tell you. Captain Fang came to report at dinner that Tara had gone into hiding and had never been arrested. According to reports, Tara and her neighbors had a deep feud, and the barbarians there I hate her even more, but I am afraid that she has witchcraft, so I dare not do anything wrong. Today I heard that the official government ordered her to announce that she had broken the law. I was so happy that I came to help search, but there was no trace. Another thing, At the birthday banquet tonight, Baoyue from Qingfeng Temple told me that her servant Chunyun is a frivolous woman who often flirts with the rascals in Ziguang Temple. You might as well go and talk to her in private to get some real feelings out Come. But Baoyue must not know about it, so as not to cause trouble."

As he was talking, he had arrived at the study of Neiya.Di Gong lit the candle, and Ma Rong immediately untied the blue cloth bag. The cloth bag is a foreskin made of a blue gown, inside only a pair of black trousers and a pair of worn-out felt shoes.Ma Rong searched carefully and shook his head in disappointment. "My lord, there is nothing. The murderer took precautions and left no trace of crime." Di Gong twisted his beard for a while, then suddenly said: "You just said that you met Li Ke on the road, and he was looking for his servant Yang Maode. Didn't the seamstress say that Yang Maode often associates with idlers and rascals, and behaves badly. Ah Niu also mentioned that Shen San once had a sneaky affair with a man in a blue gown. Could it be that the other victim was that Yang Maode? -Li Ke didn't say that Yang hadn't come home for two days, I'm afraid it would have been a long time ago A headless ghost."

Ma Rong said: "Tomorrow I will call Li Ke to identify the corpse. Huahua has sharp eyes, and even though he has no head, he will definitely recognize Yang Maode." Di Gong shook his head: "Ma Rong, go and bring a basin of clean water." Ma Rong didn't understand Di Gong's meaning, so he had to go to the wooden stand to get a copper basin, scooped up a full basin of clear water, and brought it to the desk. Di Gong grabbed the blue gown and trousers and rubbed them vigorously, only to see dust and fine particles falling into the copper basin.After slowly clarifying, dust floated on the surface of the water, but there were a few dark fine particles on the bottom of the basin.Di Gong stretched out his hand into the water and crushed it vigorously. Immediately, the red and purple variegated colors turned into water halos and scattered ripples.

Di Gong was overjoyed: "This powder is exactly the Heshi fines that stuck to Li Ke's house when he was a servant. You can see that there are still a few spots of ink stains on the front of the shirt. There is no doubt that the person wearing this outfit must be Yang Maode. Ma Rong, I really didn't expect us to make such progress, God help me." Ma Rong was fascinated by the sound, and then lowered his head to look carefully at the variegated colors and patterns floating in the copper basin, and he couldn't help being enlightened. Di Gong said again: "Hong Liang has carefully read all the written records of Ziguang Temple, and he has never seen any record of hiding gold. After the government closed down the temple, he did not hear that there were any monks who stole back to the temple to secretly excavate it. It can be seen that the temple There are no such rumors among the monks either. —— Ma Rong, if my judgment is correct, if there is gold hidden in the temple, it must be the fifty ingots of imperial gold that were robbed by Zou Jingwen, the treasurer of the household department of the capital last year!" Ma Rong said in shock: "Zou Jingwen's funds were stolen last year. How could it happen now and cause two lives?" "Yujin was robbed last year, but the thieves have to lurk for half a year and a year before they dare to reveal the stolen goods. The perpetrator may only tell the master or his accomplices to hide the gold in Ziguang Temple, without specifying the exact location. If he himself dies suddenly Or abscond, and the rest of the insiders will surround the gold reserve like hungry tigers and flies to blood, and perform horrifying tragedies.——Shen San and Yang Maode are the ghosts of this tragedy. Although there are many entanglements, there are probably two reasons for this. The whereabouts of the gold diggers were discovered by Shen and Yang, and the murder was carried out immediately; Ma Rong nodded incessantly: "It turned out that the floor tiles and wall panels of the side hall and meditation room were all excavated, just to search for the fifty ingots of imperial gold!" Di Gong smiled and said: "I think about it, the murderer, Shen and Yang have not found the gold, and the fifty ingots of imperial gold are still hidden in a corner of the temple safe and sound." "How did the master come from the sentence? Could it be that Shen and Yang were the ones who unearthed gold and were murdered by the murderer?" Di Gong waved his hand and said: "If the murderer got the gold, he might have escaped long ago. He will never embezzle flowers and trees or replace the corpse, and he will not stay and wait for the government to capture him. Your danger in the well shows that the murderer is still stirring in the temple. Stop. We should be the first to find the gold, and if we get the gold, we don’t have to worry about the murderer not showing his true colors. ——At dawn, we will go to Ziguang Temple!"