Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

Mr. Di stacked the seven pieces of paper together, sipped his tea lightly, and said, "What we are facing is actually a case. The day before yesterday we were bewildered by three cases. Two of them happened almost a year ago. Previously, Zou Jingwen’s royal gold was stolen, and the white jade in the mysterious red sandalwood box left a note written in blood. The third is that Shen San and Yang Maode were killed in Ziguang Temple and exchanged with each other. decapitated." "As the facts of the case were uncovered layer by layer and deepened step by step, I discovered that these three seemingly unrelated cases originally run through the same thread and have their own origins. The theft of Zou Jingwen's royal gold was the initial wedge, and later The progress of the case is all due to the theme of this book, and it is deduced and branched."

Ma Rong said in surprise: "It turns out that these three cases have their own origins, and the fifty ingots of royal gold were circulated to stage this thrilling plot." Hong Liang poured another cup of tea for Di Gong, and Di Gong swallowed it with his neck raised. "Just now I said that the various dates in this case are very interesting and pregnant. Let's take a look at this date table first." As he spoke, Mr. Di took out a piece of letterhead from the desk drawer. "I wrote down the date carefully on this paper." Hong Liang and Ma Rong took a look at the letter paper, and there was indeed a series of dates listed on the letter paper:

Fifteen years ago (Qianfeng Dingmao) The Ziguang Temple was closed down by the government, and Qingfeng Nunnery was built in the same year. Last Year (Yonglong Xinsi) May 15th Wu Zongren married the surname Zhou. On the second day of August, Zou Jingwen's royal gold was stolen. On August 20, the silversmith Zhang died, and his wife, Shen, devoted herself to Buddhism and was the abbot of Qingfeng Nunnery. Renamed Baoyue. the sixth day of september The goldsmith Mi Dalang is missing (Zhou's ex-husband). tenth day of september Bai Yu disappeared (Talayun, Bai Yu died). Baiyu left a note on September 12th.

Ma Rong asked: "Master, what does this goldsmith Mi Dalang do? It's also listed in the list?" Mr. Di replied: "When Hong Liang looked carefully at the files of the government office, he happened to find that a blacksmith named Mi Sanlang had come to the Yamen to report the crime, saying that his brother Mi Dalang had gone out on the night of the sixth day of September last year and never returned. But this After Mi Sanlang reported the case, he didn't ask any more questions, so the matter was left alone and hung up. ——This Mi Dalang is a goldsmith with high-quality craftsmanship. I heard from Li Mei that Mrs. Wu Zhou was married to him. Hong Liang today Go to the Mi family's residence to inquire and confirm that Zhou Shiguo is Mi Dalang's wife."

"Mi Dalang has a narrow and evil temperament, with a vicious heart and a ruthless hand. He is also good at robbing dogs and stealing dogs. He has a lot of guts. Because he confiscated a lot of gold and silver in his craftsmanship, he blindly walked in the streets and willow lanes, and walked in three tiles and two houses. He gradually became at odds with the Zhou family, and there were many quarrels. , and finally turned against each other and separated. Mi Dalang signed the divorce letter, but regretted it. He wanted to reunite several times, but Zhou was ambiguous and procrastinated. Room." After Di Gong finished speaking, he moved the armchair forward, bringing his body closer to the desk, while arranging the seven pieces of paper, he opened the first piece of paper.

"Heh, Wu Zongren's name is written on this piece of paper." Di Gong smiled, and put aside his deduction. "Wu Zongren was impeached by officials for corruption and perverting the law. He lost his family property and lived in a miserable life. After retiring from Mao, he did not have a lot of money, and married Zhou as his successor.——The second piece of paper is written Zhou's Name, I will combine her piece of paper with Wu Zongren's piece of paper, and you will not have any objections." "It was easy for the couple to hear the news from Qiemo Town. Wu Zongren was a frequent customer of the De Da Jin, and Zhou's ex-husband was a goldsmith. After they got this information, they thought it was an opportunity, so Zhou went to Go to Mi Dalang for a discussion. Mi Dalang is obsessed with money, so he started to steal. ——Mi Dalang was good at stealing through walls and flying in the past, so the Zhou family knew it well, so they brought him out to lead the battle."

"Mi Dalang stole the gold, traded it for a lead bar, and buried the gold ingot somewhere in Ziguang Temple. When Wu and his wife found him, he refused to admit it and wanted to steal the gold for himself. The Wu and his wife got angry and joined forces. They killed Mi Dalang and moved his body to another place. The two of them went to Ziguang Temple to search secretly. They searched for several months, but there was no result. They thought it was Mi Dalang who deceived them, and the gold ingot may not be hidden in Ziguang Temple. .” "They can't hide their behavior from their servant Yang Maode. Yang Maode has already had an affair with the Zhou family. If he finds clues from it, or coerces the Zhou family to tell the truth, he joins forces with Shen San and is eager to try. How can Wu Zongren and his wife be willing? The gold is about to be revealed." Before revealing it, they finally plotted to assassinate Shen and Yang, and purposely hid Yang's head in order to hide the world's eyes and ears."

Ma Rong clapped his hands and said, "If the murderer is really that couple, then could the Zhou family be a ghost in the temple? However, how to explain Miss Baiyu's disappearance?" "When Wu Zongren and his wife killed Mi Dalang, they might have been caught by Bai Yu, so they didn't do anything, and kept getting rid of her. At this time, Wu Zongren was so cruel that he didn't care about her any more.——Miss Bai Yu's disappearance just happened to be Three or four days after Mi Dalang disappeared, after the notice of looking for Baiyu was posted in the yamen, the two of them were in a state of panic all day long. You can show your innocence, like a parent's gesture."

Ma Rong was about to nod, when Di Gong said again: "There is a big loophole in my theory. Wu Zongren might hit you with bricks and stones at the mouth of the ancient well, and Mrs. Zhou might also be wandering in the garden in birthday skirts, pretending to be ghosts. But both of them How can you strangle Yang Maode and assassinate Shen San when you are old? How can you fight with you in the hall at night and throw daggers." Ma Rong touched his head and smiled: "Yes, yes. But maybe the murderer was hired by them, and there must be a brave man under a heavy reward, so the murderer dared to have no scruples and almost ruined my life."

Di Gong smiled, did not answer, and turned over the third piece of paper. The word "Li Mei" was written on the piece of paper. Di Gongdao: "In this layer of deduction, I assume that Li Mei and the Zhou family were colluding. After the two of them got the news that Zou Jingwen and Jin had arrived in Lanfang, they planned to rob, and it was still Mi Dalang who did it. The same inference, After Mi Dalang got the gold, he cheated and changed his mind, reneged on the contract, and was removed by Li Mei and Zhou. Baiyu either discovered the murder conspiracy, or noticed the adultery between the two. Zhou was ruthless and proposed to silence Li Mei. He is eager to steal gold, and he is willing to give it up. ——He came to the yamen today to confess his loyalty to Bai Yu again and again, which proves that he has ghosts in his heart, and he is restless. As for the fight with you Ma Rong in the future, we will It's fully explained."

However, Hong Canjun's face showed embarrassment, and doubts floated in his heart: "This Li Mei has an affair with the Zhou family, and also ganged up on stealing money and killing people. Why did he deliberately slander the Zhou family in front of the master yesterday?" Di Gong also explained: "This can be regarded as a desire to hide the truth. The false revelation is true, the false is true, and the false is true, spreading doubts, so that it is difficult for us to detect their activities. Besides, Li Mei has never revealed anything. This is the inside story of the theft of gold. The villains of the Zhou family filed a complaint first, falsely claiming that Wu Zongren was the first to sue her, complaining about grievances, and blindly cleaning up. Her deeds are really suspicious. But there is another woman who is suspicious." Di Gong also Turning over a piece of paper, the name written on the piece of paper is actually "Baoyue". Hong Liang and Ma Rong's eyes suddenly flashed surprise. "Although this Baoyue is a monk, he is also a very suspicious person. Don't forget that her former husband, Zhang Yinjiang, died of a sudden heart attack. Let's not go into the details of his sudden death. What is suspicious is her abbot, Qingfeng Temple. It was exactly 18 days after Zou Jingwen's imperial gold was stolen. At this time, it is the most convenient to choose Qingfeng Temple to stay and monitor and search Ziguang Temple. This coincidence is very important, and we can't easily miss it. Besides, Ma Rong, you On the night that Gujing was in danger, she was at my wife's birthday banquet. I casually mentioned that you were going to Ziguang Temple for investigation. I remember that she left the banquet and went back to the nunnery very early. .” Ma Rong realized: "So that's the case. If the white-clothed ghost is really her, she designed to kill me last night. ——My lord, I can't stop right now. The ghost is really involved in the robbery and murder conspiracy. It must have killed me. It won't be helping me. Qingfeng Temple is very close to Ziguang Temple, and it is most convenient for Baoyue to dress up as a ghost." Di Gong said again: "Baoyue is suspicious. After all, she was just an accomplice to help. The murderer should be her adulterer. I even suspect that Zhang Yinjiang was killed by her and the adulterer." He flipped over the fifth slip of paper. "I wrote Li Ke's name on the fifth piece of paper." He turned over the sixth piece of paper, and the word "Yang Maode" was written respectfully on the piece of paper. "Yang Maode!" Ma Rong couldn't help shouting. "Hasn't he already been killed?" Di Gong smiled, and put the "Zhou Shi" piece of paper between "Li Ke" and "Yang Maode". "Let's now take a look at the relationship between these three people. As I said before, there are various signs that Zhou and Yang Maode may have an affair. One is an adulteress who can't bear loneliness in the street, and the other is a scum from the school. He is a fallacious kind of literacy. It is more reasonable for the two of them to hook up. Yang Maode has a broad waist and a round back. I searched many times, but unfortunately found nothing. As time went on, he and the Zhou family inevitably became discouraged and became suspicious of each other." Di Gong moved "Zhou Shi" closer to "Li Ke". "The Zhou family was originally a watery flower, used to attract bees and butterflies, flirt, and soon hit it off with Li Ke. ——Li Ke lived with his brother Li Mei at that time. The Li brothers once went to Wu Mansion to pay homage to each other, and the two had many contacts. Li Ke originally He is a person who is unrestrained and disregards etiquette. He was born with Zhou at the first time, and became acquainted with him at the second time. They exchanged eyebrows and soon bonded together. Zhou's heart is hot and cold, so I put it aside Yang Maode stopped asking, and instigated Li Ke to go to Ziguang Temple to look for gold." "Yang Maode is not a kind person. How can he be willing to give up when he is humiliated like this? He asked Li Ke for a face-to-face showdown and threatened to sue Mr. Wu. Li Ke pretended to submit and allowed him to blackmail him, but secretly used tricks to get rid of Yang Maode. Yang Maode had a rough heart, and he was afraid that Li Ke would dig out the hidden gold. On the other hand, he searched the two temples with Shen San, but was finally attacked by Li Ke secretly. The Zhou family is in the middle, and the relationship between Li Ke and Yang Maode can be reversed again, so it was Yang Maode's design to strangle Li Ke." Di Gong folded the papers on the table into a pile, and was about to put them into the drawer when Hong Liang suddenly said: "Master, there is the last one, why did you forget?" Di Gong suddenly realized: "That's right, that's right, there's a seventh one." He opened the seventh one, but it was covered with black ink. "I once wrote a name on this, it seems to be the name of the ghost in the Purple Light Temple, and then I ink it out.--Or maybe it's the name of another dead man--We leave these seven The piece of paper ignores it. Tonight I will make a final verdict, and this final verdict requires a little trial." Ma Rong asked: "I don't know what new gadget the master is going to play with, but he started to experiment." Di Gong stroked his beard and smiled: "Before you came here, I sent someone to send two letters. One was to Wu Zongren and his wife, and the other was to Li Mei. I invited them to the Daxiong Hall of Ziguang Temple tonight and listen to my details. Describe the results of the Yali's investigation on Miss Baiyu." "So, would you like to invite Li Ke and Bao Yue?" Ma Rong asked again. "I want to go to Qingfeng Nunnery to clear Baoyue, and take a look at Fang Jingxing's illness. As for Li Ke, I want you to invite him. You go to see him now, and say that I invited him to watch the murals in Ziguang Temple; listen His opinion. But you can’t let Li Ke find out that other people are invited in the temple, so you have to lead him up the mountain, jump the back wall into the temple, and wait in the back hall. Only lead him into the Daxiong Hall when you hear my invitation.— —You must not make any mistakes in this process, you should remember clearly.” Ma Rong had doubts in his chest, and he agreed very frankly.