Chapter 20 Chapter Twenty

As it was getting dark, Di Gong, Hong Canjun, and Fang Xiaowei led a team of yamen servants to Ziguang Temple. The first four yamen servants held a red lantern of "Lanfang Zhengtang" in their hands, and Fang Xiaowei held a pair of ladders and a bundle of fine hemp rope in his hands.Di Gong arranged the government officials inside and outside the Daxiong Hall, and hurriedly closed the door of the hall. First, he did some work in the hall, and then opened the door and left the hall in half a day to go to Qingfeng Nunnery with Hong Canjun. Baoyue opened the door of the nunnery herself, and when she saw that it was Master Di and Hong Canjun who were visiting, she was startled, and hurriedly welcomed people to sit in the meditation hall, and ordered Chunyun to offer tea.

Di Gong saluted and said: "After the pawn in the yamen was injured, he disturbed Bao'an very much. I would like to express my thanks for coming here from this county." Baoyue Weiwei, return the gift with the body. Di Gong suddenly said to himself: "This monastery is a place of quietness and self-cultivation. The monks and nuns are all high-quality people outside the world. They shouldn't care about worldly affairs and personnel disputes. Who knows, they often drown in it. If you are willing to let yourself go, of course there are things you can’t help yourself, and you can’t do anything about it.”

Although Baoyue didn't quite understand Di Gong's nonsensical words, she also vaguely felt that the county magistrate came to the nunnery in person, which might be ominous.Could it be that there was nothing he could do about it, he was entangled in the mundane affairs that he couldn't help himself, and he couldn't help but feel uneasy, his face turned red and white. Di Gonggong said in disbelief: "Three days ago, a bloody murder case occurred in Ziguang Temple. Tonight, the county specially invited a few witnesses to investigate and discuss on the spot in the Daxiong Hall of the temple. Master Baoyue is also invited to stay in the temple for a while. Assist the government in cracking the case."

How dare Baoyue shirk?Nodding his head, he went to Yunfang to get a big black cloak to put on, ordered Chunyun to guard the gate, and followed Di Gong and Hong Canjun out of the nunnery. When the three of Di Gong returned to Ziguang Temple, Wu Zongren, Zhou Shi and Li Mei were already waiting in the courtyard of the mountain gate.After some courtesy to each other, they entered the Daxiong Hall. The Daxiong Hall has long been illuminated by lanterns and candles, and there are three Buddha statues in the middle of the altar, and the Tiangang Arhats in the two corridors are slender.A bell hangs in the east corner of the hall, a drum stands in the west corner, and there are two yamen servants in each station.From the main hall to the mountain gate, Fang Xiaowei set up guards early, orderly and unique.

Di Gong went to stand in front of the lotus seat of the Sakyamuni statue, and let Wu Zongren and Zhou Shi stand in the front of the confession, with Baoyue on the right and Li Mei on the left, just facing him.Hong Canjun stood behind Di Gong. Di Gong looked gloomy, glanced at the four people in front of him, and said: "The county invited you four today, just to analyze a case with a series of plots on the ground. —— Let me start with Miss Baiyu. Miss Baiyu She is no longer alive, she died in this Daxiong Hall last August." Wu Zongren, Li Mei, and Baoyue were dazed, looking at each other in blank dismay, their hearts fluttered like fifteen buckets fetching water.I don't know what Master Di's intentions are in setting up this suspicious situation in the deserted temple in the dark night.Hearing that it was Miss Baiyu who died in this hall, she couldn't help feeling a wave of horror, and everyone felt uncomfortable.

Di Gong and Hong Canjun exchanged glances, and Hong Canjun passed the four yamen servants who were on duty in the two corners in front of the main hall to the front of the confession. "Remove this confession case!" Duke Di ordered suddenly. The four yamen servants each held a corner of the fixed confession case, and turned it from east to west, only to hear the creaking of the four wooden legs of the confession case, halfway through the turn, Di Gong ordered to stop.Wu Zongren couldn't figure it out, his heart became more and more confused, like sitting on pins and needles, he didn't know what to do.

Di Gong saw it in his eyes, pretended it was all right, and said: "Mr. Wu, Miss Bai Yu couldn't resist Yang Maode's various temptations, and she had already engaged him for life. That night you were planning to choose an auspicious day for her Married to shopkeeper Li. She didn't go to her aunt's house after she escaped, but went straight up the mountain to this temple to seek advice from Yang Maode——Yang Maode often came to this temple to do business, and Bai Yu knew it. Coincidentally, he was not there that night. Bai Yu bumped into someone unexpectedly, and this person was her murderer."

"The murderer planned to rob Zhanggu, the treasury of the capital, to go to Shatuo Kingdom to choose 50 ingots of gold—the one who started it was the goldsmith Mi Dalang." Zhou suddenly let out a groan, his face was as pale as a sheet of paper, he only squeezed two handfuls of sweat, lowered his brows, and did not dare to breathe out. "Mi Dalang stole the gold ingot and buried it in this temple. He wanted to take it all for himself. The murderer asked him several times, but he only said that he had forgotten where the gold was buried, and that he was dug up. It took more than a month. On the sixth night of September last year, the murderer finally killed Mi Dalang. But he didn’t kill him with a weapon, but tricked Mi Dalang into this hall with a trick.”

"The murderer knew that there was a deep cellar under the confession case in Daxiong Hall in the early years. As long as the confession case is turned from east to west, a hole will be cracked in the floor tiles under the case. ——Back then The monks in the temple are using this cellar to store rice, grains, fruits and vegetables for military preparations. At the same time, they can hide the valuable gold and silver artifacts in the temple in the cellar to avoid being robbed. ——The murderer tricked Mi Dalang into the Daxiong Hall, Turn the switch, and the entrance of a cellar is revealed at the place where you are standing at the moment. He told Mi Dalang that the gold is hidden in this cellar. Mi Dalang was terrified and agreed to go down to have a look. The murderer put down the rope ladder and let the Mi Dalang went down to the cellar. Mi Dalang groped for a long time below, turned around and said that he did not find gold in the cellar, and was about to climb up the rope ladder. Unexpectedly, the murderer laughed, pulled out the rope ladder, turned the mechanism, and opened the entrance. closure."

"It turned out that the gold was really hidden in a secret cupboard in the cellar. The murderer had searched the cellar before, but because he didn't know the mechanism of the secret cupboard, he missed it carelessly. This Mi Dalang is hiding gold, how can it be countless? But at that time He was lucky, and for a moment he couldn't figure out whether the murderer really saw through the gold hiding mechanism, so he wanted to procrastinate and confuse it. When he was locked in the dark cellar, he felt remorseful and touched the mechanism of the secret cabinet. , took out the fifty ingots of gold that he hid one by one, and stuck them to the bosom and long sleeves of his robe, and handed them all over when the murderer came to open the cellar again."

"Four days later, the murderer opened the entrance of the cellar again, and illuminated it with a lantern. Unexpectedly, Mi Dalang had died, and he didn't feel insulted. He only hated himself for being reckless. Just as he was hesitating, it happened that Miss Baiyu broke into the hall and smashed the murderer. Organ. The murderer suddenly became murderous, grabbed Bai Yu's arm, and pushed it, poor Miss Bai Yu, who is a weak boudoir, immediately fell to her death in the cellar." "Who is the murderer? Who is it?" Wu Zongren was trembling all over, shouting at the top of his voice. Di Gong glanced at Li Mei: "The murderer is Li Ke, Li's younger brother." Li Mei exclaimed: "The murderer is Li Ke?! It is true that Li Ke has bad character and misbehavior, but he may not dare to commit murder. After all, Li Ke..." Di Gong stopped Li Mei's babbling with a wave of his hand: "Open the cellar! Mr. Wu, step back quickly." Four yamen servants stepped forward, each took a corner of the fixed confession case, and turned the confession case gently.Half a week after the confession, the green brick floor in front of the confession really opened a small entrance, the inside was dark and faint, and a foul smell rose.Wu Zongren was stunned and did not dare to step forward.Di Gong stretched out his hand and led them for a week along the entrance of the cellar. The cellar was about two feet deep. Under the lantern torch, I saw a female corpse lying on the left corner of the cellar. Her dress was rotten, but her body was intact.Looking closely, his face was covered with blood, and his eyes were not closed.Sitting against the wall in the right corner was a male corpse, with his head bowed, and a pile of shining gold ingots scattered under his chest and trousers. "Ah! Baiyu! My Baiyu!" Wu Zongren howled like crazy.Li Mei couldn't make a sound, her tears hung down like broken beads. "Where is the murderer?" Wu Zongren couldn't help but tugged on Li Mei's skirt. "Where is your dog brother?!" Di Gong clapped his hands and said loudly: "Li Ke, come into the hall!" The door at the back of the hall opened, and a man walked in, followed closely by Ding Marong. The man saw that the cellar hole in the main hall was open, the lights were shining brightly, Mr. Di was solemnly dressed, standing in the center with a mighty expression, and a group of panic-stricken people around him, he immediately understood. "Yang..." Shocked, Zhou uttered aloud, and hastily raised his hands to cover his face with his long sleeves. Minister Di glanced at him, and the four yamen servants stepped forward and immediately put the man's head and neck, and quickly closed the shackles. When everyone looked up, it was Yang Maode who came.Can't help but be very surprised. Yang Maode lowered his head, his face haggard. "Where's my brother?" Li Mei suddenly thought of Li Ke. Di Gong said softly: "Shopkeeper Li, your brother is dead. He killed two people, but in the end he was killed by this man." "So you killed my brother?" Li Mei shouted out of brotherhood. Di Gong signaled the yamen servant to close the cellar, and the yamen servant turned the confession, and the entrance was closed.Everything returns to the old look. "Treasurer Li, you just listen to the county's narration.—Since Mi Dalang is dead, Li Ke has no choice but to search for gold by himself. I intend to find Mi Dalang's hidden gold." "Li Ke knew that Ziguang Temple was a place where thieves, beggars, idlers, and rascals gathered in Lanfang, and there were Ruoda's palace gardens. He alone could not search it all. So he found He hired Yang Maode and promised to hire gold to help him search. However, he did not reveal the inside story of Yujin, he only said that he was looking for a valuable box left by a monk." "Li Ke and Yang Maode have tossed and turned all the halls and pavilions of the Ziguang Temple upside down, but they still haven't seen the gold. After a long time, the two of them gradually became discouraged, and they took this treasure digger to make a fortune. The sweet dream was left behind. ——Later, Yang Maode was kicked out by Mr. Wu because of the incident of cheating on Baiyu, so he was able to defect to Li Ke with confidence, and Li Ke naturally did not dare to push him." "Three nights ago, Li Ke suddenly went to Ziguang Temple alone without telling Yang Maode. How did he know that Yang Maode had been watching in secret all the time? At the same time, Yang Maode and Shen San also went to Ziguang Temple. The two of them rode Li Ke was unprepared and strangled him to death. Taking advantage of Shen San's intention, Yang Maode stabbed Shen San to death with one knife, and exchanged the two heads, so as not to make Li Ke cannibal recognize him. ——Yang Maode, this county Is this speculation justified? You can refute it according to the facts.” Yang Maode was awed in his heart, besides, he had been caught by swindlers and was at the mercy of others, how would he dare to resist again, just to make himself miserable.So he beckoned: "Master Di's deduction is good, Li Ke and Shen San were killed by me. ——Ever since I learned that there is a huge amount of hidden gold in Ziguang Temple, I have long coveted it. Not only did I follow Li Ke to dig it many times, I have also secretly searched for it several times, but unfortunately I have not been able to succeed. Shen San lives in Ziguang Temple all the year round, and I made a private appointment with him to search for it, and promised to share it, but there is still no shadow of gold." "Although Li Ke pretended to be desperate, in fact, he went to the library and bookshelf to look up the dictionary from time to time. On that day, I saw Li Ke came back from the library in high spirits, and I was very unhappy. I also saw him find a rope ladder and a lantern from under the bed. After drawing a sketch, he dug out a cowhide bag, dressed in a hurry, and lied to me that he was going to paint in the Qianfo Cave in Xishan Mountain. I realized the mystery early on, but I didn’t say anything. At night, I made an appointment with Shen San I made the charter and manipulated him. Shen San spoke quickly and said that Ah Niu was with me, and I suddenly thought about it, embedding flowers and trees, and trapping Ah Niu." "That night I killed two people in a row, and I couldn't help but feel scared. How could I dare to look for gold? The next day I found out the sketches drawn by Li Ke and realized that the gold was hidden in the cellar of His Majesty Daxiong. Is it because of this? Have you prepared the rope ladder and wind lantern? It just so happened that the master came to visit Li Ke at this time, and I was quick to get wise, so I pretended to be Li Ke and deceived the master." Di Gong asked: "You killed Li Ke and Shen San, and you also know that the gold is hidden in the cellar in the temple. You could have waited patiently for the murder case to calm down and the government's momentum to pass, and then you can safely go to get the gold. How can you be so impatient?" , breaking into the temple every night, plotting to kill the yamen officials?" Yang Maode shook his head and smiled wryly: "On the second day after the murder, the government set up secret sentries inside and outside the Ziguang Temple, stationed in the Yamen, how dare I take money rashly? Besides, I pretend to be Li Ke, how long can I last? Wouldn't it be a bad thing to be discovered by others? I was also worried that the government would look down on the overall situation, figure out the gold storage mechanism, and take the gold first. Wouldn't all this hard work be in vain? So I didn't care about the danger, I just hoped to get the gold in my hand as soon as possible, Sneaking away. Two nights, officials from the yamen visited the temple to investigate, and it was inconvenient to start. Last night, they were almost captured by those officers. In such a situation, I couldn't help but feel so enraged that I took the risk." Di Gong groaned silently, after listening to Yang Maode's words, if they fit the bill, it was not fabricated by Xiangbi.The main details of the case have been clearly laid out, and the rest of the details are entangled, which can be clarified when you go to the Yamen for interrogation.So they waved their hands, and four soldiers stepped forward to escort Yang Maode out of the Daxiong Hall. The four of Wu Zongren were just waking up from a big dream, and they were all dumbfounded, unable to speak. Di Gong said to Wu Zongren: "Mr. Wu asked me yesterday if I had any information about Miss Baiyu, so I might as well tell you now. I occasionally get a note signed by Miss Baiyu, which says that she is detained here, calling for help." Wu Zongren panted, and stretched his black beads: "Master, it is true that the little girl called for help when she was killed. Poor, who knows that she died tragically in this living tomb! Alas, how did the master get that note." Di Gong replied: "The note is attached to the back of the lid of a red sandalwood box. There is also a piece of round white jade inlaid on the lid, which is a revelation. The white jade is carved into a character 'Shou', and the character 'Shou' is inscribed on it. One side was cut out with a knife, and the other side was marked with a "down". Later, I saw the floor plan of this hall, and realized that the plane of the Daxiong Hall was exactly the same as the word "Shou" in white jade. . . . It was because of this that I figured out the mechanism to open the cell.” "Could it be that the little girl threw that wooden box in the cellar?" Wu Zongren murmured. "Mr. Wu, according to the county, although the note inside the box was signed by Bai Yu, it was not written by her. In fact, when she fell off the cellar, she broke her head and died immediately.— ——It happened on the night of the tenth day of September last year. The note was signed on the twelfth day, so it was a proof of fraud. The wooden box should be a hoax that was carelessly conceived by someone for a certain purpose, but it has nothing to do with Qianqin ——Mr. Wu, the four of you can go back to the city right now. There is no business for you here. After witnessing this scene tonight, you must feel a little bit emotional. I will listen to it when I have free time in the county. your arguments." Trembling, Mrs. Zhou walked to the gate of the main hall, and hurriedly turned her head to greet Di Gong, her expression confused and her steps chaotic. Di Gongdao: "I hope Mrs. Wu listened to the county's words of advice, and from now on, she will be in harmony with Mr. Wu and entertain the evening scene. One mistake will cause eternal hatred, and one mistake will ruin one's reputation and hold grudges all day long. ——Li Ke and Yang Maode Is the ending not enough to think about?" Mrs. Zhou knelt down again, kowtowed several times like pounding garlic, and followed Wu Zongren out of the Daxiong Hall anxiously. Lieutenant Fang led the yamen servants to turn the confession case, open the cellar, and put down the hemp rope ladder. They were very busy for a while.But Duke Di stood alone on the jade platform outside the main hall, looking at the half-wheeled jade rabbit with emotion, speechless for a long time. Ma Rongren stood at the corner of the hall, silently watching the yamen servants collect Baiyu's body, sighing frequently. After Hong Canjun supervised Fenghe Yujin, he slowly walked behind Di Gong. "Master, when explaining the pieces of paper, could it be possible that the master already guessed that Li Ke is Yang Maode's impersonation." Di Gong glanced back at Hong Canjun: "Yes. Yang Maode couldn't paint Li Ke's landscape. Even though I offered a high price, he still couldn't produce a new painting, so he had to use Li Ke's old three-axis original to make up for it. He also covered it up with sweet words, which exposed his identity even more.——Yang Maode seemed to have sensed my suspicion, so he couldn't wait to get the gold and escape. The night of this barren temple can match Ma Rong's skills evenly. It's Yang Maode." "Besides, when I suddenly ordered the officer to turn the confession to open the cellar, the four old Mr. Wu didn't notice, and there was no sign of dodging in panic. It can be seen that the four of them had nothing to do with the robbery and murder. These four had nothing to do , the only one left is Yang Maode who pretended to be Li Ke." Convinced, Hong Canjun kept nodding his head: "But it turns out that this is the master's experiment." Suspicion arose suddenly, and he asked: "Then, what happened to that mysterious ghost in Ziguang Temple? What's the matter?" Duke Di hesitated for a moment, and replied: "Ghosts will no longer haunt Ziguang Temple; with the conclusion of this case, ghosts have disappeared far away." The cloud of suspicion in Hong Canjun's heart, not only did not dissipate, but intensified.