Chapter 43 Chapter Seventeen

After leaving the hall and returning to the yamen, Di Gong said to Ma Rong and Qiao Tai with a smile: "This matter has been hidden from the two of you for half a day, it's not because of him, but I just don't want to alarm Zhu Dayuan and ask you two to lure him out first. Then Tao Gan and I brought some servants to his mansion to conduct a thorough search. Zhu Dayuan is not only greedy by nature, but also very cunning, so it must be calculated like this. Besides, if I have revealed the truth to you last night, you two You must not be able to hide your feelings, show your signs, and miss a big deal."

Ma Rong gritted his teeth and shouted: "If I had known that Zhu Dayuan was the murderer of Uncle Hong, I would have strangled him to death with my own hands! But, sir, when did you find out that the headless corpse was not Pan Yeshi?" Di Gong replied: "Zhu Dayuan himself left two big loopholes. The first one is that he also took away the deceased's shoes and socks." "The shoes and socks are taken away? Didn't he take away all the dresses, shoes and socks of the deceased? Why is it a big flaw just to say that taking the shoes and socks away?" Ma Rong was puzzled.

Di Gongdao: "You don't know. If the murderer only took away the shoes and socks and left Pan Ye's dress, the government would definitely suspect the meaning of the disappearance of the shoes and socks. Because we know whether the woman's dress fits well and whether it is tied or not. It’s hard to tell what I wore during my lifetime, and whether the shoes and socks fit my feet is an important test to determine whether the corpse is Pan Ye’s. The murderer only took the shoes and socks and left the dress behind, and we have no way of identifying it. Pan Yeh. And it would be even worse if the murderer took away the dress and left the shoes and socks - we only need to match the shoes and socks with the feet of the corpse to know that the corpse is not Pan Yeh. The murderer is cunning and puts the clothes We took all the skirts, shoes and socks, and we didn’t know what to do. Sure enough, we were fooled for a while, thinking it was Pan Ye’s corpse.”

"The second flaw is that Zhu Dayuan slipped to Pan's house the next day, broke in through the window, and took the pair of gold bracelets from the interlayer of the suitcase. What's even more stupid is that he actually took Pan Ye's most cherished A shirt and a leather robe were also taken away. This fact clearly tells us that Mrs. Pan Yeh is not dead, but has been hidden by the murderer. If the murderer knew where the gold bracelet was hidden when he killed him, it must be the day I just took it away. I didn’t pick it up that day, but came back the next day, which means that someone later told the murderer where the gold bracelet was hidden and asked him to come back and take it away. And the one who told the murderer can only be Pan Ye himself.”

Qiao Tai asked: "Then, when did the master suspect Zhu Dayuan?" Di Gong smiled slightly and replied: "At first, I just suspected that Ye Tai was the murderer. I thought about the inside story of this case over and over again. The woman who was killed was not Pan Yeshi but Liao Lianfang—she has been missing since she disappeared. Said that the deceased was not a virgin. I learned from Yu Kang’s confession that Liao Lianfang had an affair with him. Later Ye Tai abducted Liao Lianfang. Tai covered up the murder, took the opportunity to hide himself, and blamed Pan Feng. But soon I changed my mind."

Tao Gan asked: "Why?——Why did the master quickly rule out the possibility of Ye Tai committing the crime?" Di Gongdao: "A newly painted square coffee table in the bedroom of Pan Feng's house changed my whole opinion. Before Pan Feng left home for Goat Town, he put the square coffee table in the bedroom to dry in the shade, but someone accidentally touched it. The coffee table, the wet paint on the coffee table left traces of hands touching, so Pan Feng had to paint a new layer of paint after he was released and returned home. I believe that the murderer must have touched the coffee table, because Pan Ye knew the new The lacquer is poisonous, she would never touch it, but the murderer didn't know the benefits of it. ——Ye Tai's hands were not poisoned and swollen, so the possibility of him killing can be ruled out."

"At this time, I suddenly thought of Zhu Dayuan. The reason was only because of two little things that people didn't notice. Zhu Dayuan's hands were swollen and painful because they touched wet paint. In order to cover up, he deliberately placed his family banquet in the open air in the backyard. on the terrace, so that he would go unnoticed with his white gloves on. Because, you know, it was really cold that night. Secondly, also because of the poison in his hand, which was swollen and painful, he missed three arrows when he was hunting with you. That wild wolf made you, Qiaotai, shoot. Zhu Dayuan is skilled at riding and shooting, and his hand must have been poisoned and swollen to make such a mistake. He was also wearing white gloves that day."

"There is another reason that cannot be ignored: the murderer's home or the place where Pan Ye is hiding will never be far from Pan's house. ——The murderer must have walked out of Pan's house with two big burdens on his back and a woman dressed as a nun that night. Be very cautious, and you have to take a lot of risks. Because of the remoteness of the South Gate area, the patrols are very strict. Where to escape?" Tao Gan nodded and said, "From Pan's house to Zhu's house, we have to go through the south gate, where there are the most soldiers and guards."

Di Gongdao: "The soldiers guarding the city gate only pay attention to suspicious people entering and leaving the city gate, they just pass through, and don't pay much attention." Tao Gan asked again: "Then why did Zhu Dayuan want to kill Liao Lianfang?" "I think it must be that when Ye Tai came to Zhu's house to blackmail Yu Kang, Zhu Dayuan heard about it, especially when Zhu Dayuan heard that Yu Kang and Liao Lianfang had a tryst in Zhu's house, he was even more annoyed, which prompted him to snatch Liao Lianfang. Liao Lianfang was arrested After he was abducted, he must have resisted fiercely and refused to obey, so Zhu Dayuan had the idea of ​​killing Liao Lianfang. After Zhu Dayuan killed Liao Lianfang, he was worried that Ye Tai was troublesome, so he confided, and also suspected that Pan Ye had told about Liao Lianfang Ye Tai. The rascal Ye Tai might come to blackmail him at some point, so he thought of getting rid of Ye Tai."

"The last thing I have to say is that on the night we went to Zhu's house for a banquet, I got lost alone and came to the back garden of Zhu's house, where a big snowman was piled up. At that time, I had an ominous premonition. There was a smell of blood. Now I know that Zhu Dayuan buried Liao Lianfang's head in the snowman's head and used it to practice archery every day, just to vent his remaining hatred." Di Gong's face was pale and haggard, with tears in his eyes. "I originally planned to go to Zhu's house with you to conduct a sudden search last night, but because Zhu's house has a mess of doors, and the house is deep, and Zhu Dayuan is very cunning, I am afraid of mistakes. So I want to lure Zhu Dayuan away the next day, and then do it. If If we can find Mrs. Pan Ye, then all my doubts will be cleared up. But... But this cruel and crazy murderer was the first to kill Hong Liang. If he had known earlier... Alas, although it is life and death, it is true I made a mistake in my calculation and lost Hong Liang’s life. Hong Liang’s spirit in the sky helped us to solve the case and capture the real culprit, and now I still feel pain when I think about it.”

There was mournful silence in the Yashe. Di Gong silently picked up the Hongliang robe under the desk, opened the cupboard door, and put it in gently. "I have already written to Taiyuan to Hong Liang's eldest son, Hong Jiao, to discuss with him about the burial of Hong Liang. After I settle the case, I will invite famous monks to do extravagant rituals, and do ninety-nine and eighty-one-day water and land meritorious virtues with him. Save his soul, and then choose an auspicious day to take his bones back to his hometown of Taiyuan and bury him in the ground." Di Gong felt distracted and tired.He closed his eyes and meditated for a while, then suddenly said: "Let's discuss Lan Dakui's case again! I think it must be a woman who poisoned him, but the only clue that can be traced is Lan Dakui's apprentice Mei Cheng." What I saw. This alone seems not enough to deduce the identity of the woman. Oh, did Mei Cheng hear a word when he saw Lan Dakui talking with a woman that night?" Ma Rong replied: "Mei Cheng said; the woman was very angry at the time, and she seemed to be blaming Brother Lan for something, but Brother Lan was just trying to comfort her." Mei Cheng didn't hear what they were talking about, but Mei Cheng He also said that when he turned around and was about to go back, he seemed to hear his master call 'cat'." "Cat?!" Di Gong was taken aback, and couldn't believe his ears. He suddenly thought of the cat mentioned by Chen Baozhen's daughter Lu Meilan—Chen Baozhen mentioned a cat when she was talking to her adulterer.Is that strange cat related to Lan Dakui's death?Could it be that Chen Baozhen's cat and Lan Dakui's cat are the same cat? He ordered Ma Rong: "Ride to Pan Feng's house immediately, and ask Pan Feng if Chen Baozhen ever raised a hunting dog. Otherwise, a cat is just a nickname for a person. Ask Pan Feng again, did Chen Baozhen ever raise a cat when she was not married?" Had an association with a man nicknamed 'The Cat'." Ma Rong was surprised: "How did Pan Feng know what happened to Chen Baozhen when she was not married?" "Pan Feng and Chen Baozhen's family used to be close neighbors, and they watched Chen Baozhen grow up." Ma Rong withdrew from the yamen, went to the courtyard and took the horse from the stables and galloped out of the yamen. Ma Rong went for half an hour, then turned back to the Yamen and went straight into the Yamen.I saw that he was sweating and panting. "Pan Feng, he... he was alone at home with his head downcast, with a dejected look on his face. The news of his wife's behavior had already spread throughout a state, and everyone called him an adulteress. Pan Feng was hit harder than he was when he heard his wife was killed. What's more. When I saw him, his face was full of tears, and he was in pain. I had to comfort him with good words, and then enlightened him: "What's the pity to die such an adulteress? It's a pity to see someone with a good family in the future." Continue.'——I finally asked him about Chen Baozhen's cat. He replied that Chen Baozhen was nicknamed 'Cat' when she was a girl at home." Di Gong suddenly came to his senses and struck the desk with his fist. "Sure enough!"