Chapter 39 Chapter Thirteen

Di Gong reined in the horse in front of Ye Bin's pen and ink shop, and ordered the shop assistants to call the shopkeeper Ye to come out. Ye Bin was in the workshop at the back of the store, watching the assistant paint gold on Hui ink, and when he heard that Mr. Di had arrived at the door of the store, he walked out of the store in two steps, opened the door wide, and asked Mr. . Di Gong waved his hand on the horse and said, "Don't make tea, I won't go into the shop to sit, I just want to ask, is your brother Ye Tai back home?" Ye Bin replied anxiously: "Master, Ye Tai has not returned home yet. I have sent people to search all the restaurants, teahouses, casinos, and brothels in the city, but there is no trace of him." ——Master , will there be any accidents?"

Di Gongdao: "If you don't see him coming back tonight, you can come to the yamen to report to me, and I will immediately issue an urgent delivery document from the sea, with a picture of his year, address, and appearance, and hang it everywhere, so that all parties can investigate and arrest him. " Ye Bin could only nod his head in agreement, secretly complaining in his heart.Di Gong turned his horse and galloped towards the south gate, and arrived at Pan Feng's house in the root of the city in a short while.The place is still desolate and cold, and there are few pedestrians on the street.Mr. Di tied his horse to a stone pillar by the wall outside Pan Feng's house, and knocked on the gate several times with the whip handle.Pan Feng responded and opened the door.Seeing that Mr. Di was visiting alone, Pan Feng panicked.

"Master Di, please sit in the shop. There is a brazier there. However, the shop is piled up in disarray, so don't you laugh at me." Di Gong followed Pan Feng into the shop, and sure enough, he saw the things in the shop were piled up in a mess, it seems that Pan Feng didn't clean them up on purpose. Pan Feng asked Mr. Di to sit, and stood up to make tea. Mr. Di saw a square tea table in the middle of the shop covered with a piece of wet flannelette.On the side of the coffee table stood a sharp knife with a cold blade.Duke Di looked at the sharp knife curiously, and then wanted to lift the wet flannel off the coffee table.

"Master Di, don't touch the tea table with your hands. The tea table has just been painted with red lacquer. The lacquer is very poisonous. If the master's hand touches the wet paint, it will swell and hurt for several days." Di Gong asked: "Master Pan, your sharp knife is very simple in shape, isn't it also an antique?" "The master has good eyesight. This precious sword was worn by a great general in the Eastern Han Dynasty five hundred years ago. Before he died, he dedicated it to a temple, and the temple used it to slaughter cattle and sacrifice to gods. Look at the cold light of the blade, as if It’s new in Yu, and anyone who sees it will be envious.”

Di Gong suddenly said: "Pan shopkeeper, I have a question for you, you must not hide it. I think the person who killed your wife knew in advance that you were going to go to Goat Town. It can only be told by your wife. Undoubtedly. You usually observe signs and know if your wife is having an affair? — If so, there is no need to avoid this officer. This man is the real murderer of your wife!" Pan Feng's face suddenly turned pale, and he looked at Di Gong uneasily, with a painful light in his eyes.After a long while, I heard him say: "Master, for more than a month, I saw that my wife's expression and attitude were a little strange, especially the subtle changes in her eyes surprised me. This made me feel a big stone hanging in my heart. I was confused and painful because of this, but But there is no real evidence.”

"Who is that person?" Di Gong asked quickly. "It's Zhang or Li. I can't guess it out of thin air, but Ye Tai has a lot to do with it anyway. I saw Ye Tai coming to my house and whispering to my cheap wife. He came more often when I went out, as if he was in a business. What big things are planned. I knew in my heart that Ye Tai must be persuading my lowly wife to climb another branch, divorce me, and live a happy life with others. The lowly wife is greedy for wealth and honor, and she is most jealous of other people's clothing. She often complains that I never give She buys a piece or two of expensive jewelry..."

"Her pair of gold bracelets weighs four taels, isn't it expensive?" "Gold bracelet?" Pan Feng called out in surprise. "My lord thought she was mistaken. She never had any gold bracelets. She only had a silver ring, which was given to her by her aunt when she was married." Di Gong said sternly: "Pan Feng, don't hide it from me. Besides the pair of gold bracelets inlaid with rubies, your wife also has six gold hair clips!" "It's impossible! Master." Pan Feng said excitedly. "I never gave her these things. When she got married, she only had the silver ring on her finger, and nothing else!"

Mr. Di stood up and said, "Come with me!" Then he took Pan Feng's sleeve and walked into the bedroom, pointing to the pile of suitcases, he said, "Open the second suitcase! Gold bracelet Just hide it in the mezzanine!" Pan Feng was dubious, so he hurriedly used a stool to climb up and remove the top suitcase, handed it to Di Gong, and then opened the second suitcase. Di Gong saw that many women's dresses were piled up in a mess in the suitcase. He remembered that the dresses in the suitcase were neatly folded when he came last time. Tao Gan searched the suitcase and stacked them as they were.

Pan Feng shook the box of underwear and skirts one by one and threw them on the ground. When the box was empty, Pan Feng exhaled and said, "Master saw it with his own eyes! Where are the gold bracelets and hair clips?" Di Gong was puzzled, and said, "I'm here to look for you!" He pushed Pan Feng off the stool and stood up on himself, quickly uncovering the interlayer at the bottom of the box. —but there was nothing in it. He turned his head and said coldly: "Pan Feng, you have to tell the truth, why did you hide those gold jewelry secretly?" Pan Feng became anxious and swore: "If I, Pan Feng, deceive the master even a little bit, I will be hit by five thunderbolts, and I will die a terrible death, fall into the hell of Abi, and never be reborn! I never knew that there is a sandwich in this suitcase!"

Mr. Di realized something, and hurriedly checked the windows of the bedroom, and sure enough, several wooden bars were broken. "A thief must have been here! He crawled through the window into the bedroom." "But, master, there is a lot of money in my account cabinet!" Pan Feng didn't believe it. "You have looked at these dresses carefully, and think about whether there is anything missing. I remember that the dresses in this suitcase were full and neat when I came last time, but now they are in a mess. It's even more strange What's more, the gold jewels are gone."

Pan Feng looked down one by one on the ground. "My lord, you are right! As expected, two items are missing. A red-coloured gold double-breasted tunic with sleeves and a fox-fur tight-fitting jacket inlaid with gold branches, jade leaves - these two items are the most cherished by the wife, and the price is the most expensive." .” Di Gong nodded slowly, as if he had realized something, and suddenly said: "Pan Feng, why is the small crimson red square tea table in the corner missing?" "Oh, that little coffee table—didn't Master see that I was painting it just now?" Di Gong said with a smile: "Look at my memory! Pan Feng, now I really believe that what you said is the truth. Let's go back to the shop and warm up and talk slowly." At this time, Duke Di had a draft in his mind, and he hated himself for not seeing this earlier—the criminal showed his flaws from the very beginning! Di Gong sipped his tea slowly, and saw that Pan Feng put on his gloves and gently lifted the wet flannel off the small tea table. "This is the crimson red square coffee table that the master said. In fact, I had freshly painted the red paint before I went to Goat Town that day, and I was putting it in the corner of the bedroom to dry in the shade. There are traces of touching it with my hands. So I can only paint it again. ——The new paint is decent and can be sold for ten taels of silver. This tea table was originally a display in the Southern Dynasty palace. Yes, if someone who knows the goods sees it, he will be willing to pay a big price, so I will hurry up..." "Is it possible for your wife to touch it?" Duke Dee couldn't help asking. "Master," Pan Feng smiled coldly, "the poor wife will never touch it, she knows that the freshly painted paint is poisonous, if it is stained with skin and flesh, swelling and festering are trivial things, and if it is not handled properly, it will cause a high fever. Vomiting and diarrhea, tenesmus, convulsions all over the body, tossing half to death. Yes, last month, the shopkeeper Chen of the Cotton Cloth Zhuang accidentally stained his hands with new paint, and his hands were swollen like big radishes. I told her the antidote..." "You know Mrs. Lu Chen?" Duke Di was surprised. "Shopkeeper Chen's natal family was close to ours, so we saw her growing up, and we called her Miss Baozhen. She was very sharp and aggressive, and she was very competitive. After she got married, I didn't see her again. Later, I After moving here, she actually knew the address of my house, and occasionally came to play once or twice. Her father is an honest and well-behaved businessman, but her mother is a witch, who is good at doing deceptive spells. Shopkeeper Chen also Speaking of her husband Lu Ming's death, his life as a widow and orphan is very difficult." Mr. Di nodded frequently, stood up to say goodbye, and said: "Master Pan, I can tell you in advance that the criminal who killed your wife has some clues. He is a very dangerous desperado. You must be careful at all times. Tonight , you must stay at home, close the doors and windows, blow out the lights, and lock the gate outside the courtyard, and you must not be careless. If there is something wrong, report to the yamen early tomorrow morning."