Chapter 27 Chapter nine

After breakfast the next day, Hong Canjun walked into the inner office and saw Di Gonggong standing in front of the big book table feeding the turtle with young leaves. When Duke Di saw Hong Canjun, he smiled and said, "This elf's sense is very sensitive, it's amazing. What kind of smell can we smell these young leaves? But just look at it—" Mr. Di put a few tender leaves on the chair. The tortoise had just climbed over the thick volume of books on the desk, and quickly raised its head, looked around, and crawled towards the chair again.Di Gong hurriedly put the tender leaf in front of its mouth, and the tortoise chewed it with relish.Duke Di smiled and went to push open the rear window, and still put it back among the rockery and rocks in the back garden.

He turned around and asked, "Hong Liang, what happened last night?" Hong Liang reported the details of his meeting with Shen Ba, and finally said seriously: "Shen Ba has obviously heard about Dong Mei's death, and he knows that Dr. Bian's boat has placed a huge bet. Losing the boat race and winning back a large sum of bets. Shen Ba said that Dr. Bian was extremely tight." "Really? Everyone said that Bian Jia was a noble and respectable doctor. But yesterday, he diagnosed Dong Mei's death as a sudden heart attack, which made people suspicious. Because his medical skills are superb, there will be no This is a misjudgment.—Have you heard any rumors about Bian Jia?"

"No. Dr. Bian is a well-known doctor in Puyang City, and his reputation is upright. Master, I bet that Shen Ba knows Dong Mei and Xia Guang very well, but he just refuses to speak out. It seems that there is something hard to say." Mr. Di nodded and said: "He obviously wants us to ask Miss Zilan for advice. Didn't he say that Dong Mei and Xia Guang often go to Miss Zilan's place? Oh, I don't know if Xia Guang has returned to his apartment. I want to see her first." Xia Guang will go to Miss Zilan again to hear her opinion on Xia Guang and Dong Mei." Hong Canjun replied: "Shicai Yaguan told me that the soldiers who monitored Xia Guang's residence came to report that Xia Guang still hasn't shown up yet, and I don't know where he hung out all night."

Hong Liang paused for a moment, then said hesitantly: "When Shen Ba talked about Miss Zilan, he deliberately said that she had been selected into the harem back then. Master, is it possible that Miss Zilan really knows about Yuzhu? Of course, it seems that now The legend of the Royal Pearl is just a hoax." Duke Di shrugged his shoulders and replied: "Hundreds of women are employed in the harem. Those who wash dishes in the imperial dining room and repair flowers and trees in the imperial garden all say that they are 'selected into the harem'. Hong Liang, you'd better take the imperial beads Forget it, I can assert that the legend of this royal bead is a set of deceitful nonsense from the beginning to the end. I didn’t fall asleep all night, and I played with the story of this royal bead for a long time, thinking over and over again about the history of this royal bead. How did Dong Mei disappear, and how did Dong Mei get it? In the end, I came to the conclusion: this imperial bead does not exist at all! And Ke Yuanliang used the lie of this imperial bead to cover up his conspiracy. Last night I As I said, Dong Mei and Hu Po may have been having an affair for a long time. A month ago, Hu Po told Dong Mei that she was pregnant. They realized that it seemed difficult to hide this matter, so they decided to escape together. But how did they get it? What about the necessary money? After discussing with each other, the two men made up the story of Chezhu. Hu Po went back to the house and told Ke Yuanliang that Dong Mei had obtained the imperial bead that was stolen from the palace a hundred years ago and had hidden it in a very secret place. place. She asked her to bring a large sum of money alone to buy the imperial bead from Dong Mei. The ten gold ingots flew away together.

"This is really a wonderful trick, but they don't know that even if Ke Yuanliang sees through this trick, he will use his tricks and secretly draw up his revenge plot. Ke Yuanliang has guessed that the place where the two of them will meet must be in the remote Emerald Villa. He pretended After listening to Amber's lies, he gave her another ten gold ingots. He had poisoned Dong Mei to death in the hotel in Baiyuqiao Town beforehand, and paid for a desperado to go to Emerald Villa to kill Amber and get back the gold ingots. — Hong Liang, what do you think of my deduction?"

Hong Canjun looked at Di Gong suspiciously, and slowly replied: "Last night, I restrained myself from expressing a clear opinion on the master's conjecture, because we were speculating on various possibilities at that time. But now, master, you have already killed me." Conclusively concluding that Ke Yuanliang committed this cruel crime of murder, I candidly say that I really don't agree with the master's opinion. Ke Yuanliang is a gentleman with knowledge and courtesy, with gentle manners and elegant interests. How could he commit such a filthy crime? What's more, his family is rich, so how could he easily defy the law and kill? Master, there are so many possibilities in this case to consider. Just now I mentioned Bian Jia's bet. I don't know why the master only focused on it. Ke Yuanliang?"

Di Gongdao: "As his concubine, Hu Po has been unfaithful to him. This alone is enough to make this gentle and gentle gentleman commit a terrible murder. This is the most likely possibility at the moment. Hong Liang, we will go to the Emerald Villa to search right now. I I firmly believe that the Royal Pearl will not exist, we don’t need to look for it, I just want to go to the scene of last night’s crime carefully during the day. And going for a walk in the wild in the morning is good for our bodies. If we go back to the city from the Emerald Villa When we came, Xia Guang still hadn't been found, so we went directly to Miss Zilan to see if she could give us some clues about Xia Guang. I will try to get Xia Guang, anyway, before I am promoted to hall in the morning, I will Meet him and have a word with him."

Duke Dee stood up, his eyes fell on the book that the turtle had just crawled over. "By the way, Hong Liang, I forgot to tell you that I didn't sleep well all night, and got up very early. I picked up this book and read a few paragraphs, which was quite interesting. This is what I read from the county school library a few days ago. Borrowed from here." Di Gong picked up the book, opened it to the page marked with an ivory pick, and said: "This is a book that records local customs and customs. The author is also the governor of Puyang here. He paid for the engraving about fifty years ago. My predecessor was very interested in Puyang's history, places, customs and customs. One day, he went for a walk in the Temple of the Goddess of the River in the Mandala Grove. There is also a path leading to it, and he writes in the book:

’ The gate and walls of the mountain collapsed due to the earthquake, and the ground was covered with rubble.Only the main hall and statues are intact.The statue is about ten feet high and stands upright on the pedestal.The pedestal, the statue and the altar in front of the statue are integrated and carved from a huge white jade.Crystal clear, flawless.Si Zhen is a rare craftsman, Shi Qiyi - uncanny workmanship, but it is also known. '" Di Gong moved the book close to his eyes, and said, "Here is an eyebrow criticizing the way:" Gengchen Mengchun visited Si Temple and saw that the altar and the pedestal were separated, and suspected that the two were originally one. It is hollow, where the temple wished to store gold and silver artifacts in the old days, but there is no trace of it now. Has it been moved to the treasury of the household department? I ordered craftsmen to fill the space between the altar pedestal with earth and stone, and cast it to condense it to make it one. Maybe it will be returned Its old cloud. Wang Shixin knows it.'”

Ye Gongdao: "Wang Shixin is exactly my predecessor. He is honest and upright. The subordinates are in awe of him, and the people admire him. What this eyebrow commentary says is the truth. Come on, let's read what this book says: 'The left finger of the statue wears a ring of crimson precious jade, the color of which is as rich and vivid as dazzling fire.Its name is "the eye of heaven's vision", and those who wear it falsely will bring disasters and disasters to their children and grandchildren, and no one dares to steal it.There are holes in each of the four corners of the altar to tie ropes.Every year on the fifth day of May, a handsome man is selected for sacrifice.His four bodies were naked, tied with ropes, and made to lie on his back on the altar.On auspicious occasions, the corpse wished to cut off his blood with a sharp sword, and sprayed the statue of the goddess with blood, which is called "blood sacrifice" to pray for a prosperous year and a prosperous life.Then carry his corpse, hang green and wear red, and swim around the city.The final sacrifice sacrificed the corpse in the surging waves.To feed the white lady and so on.On this day, the audience is like a cloud, and all the people are jubilant, cheering and dancing, and all night long-there are people who will rest for three dynasties.Its appearance is shocking and appalling, and the foolish man

The foolish woman believed in it without doubt and kept doing it.The origin of this custom is more than a hundred years old.Sad!This kind of obscenity, using human life as a play, is so-called tolerable or unbearable.Fortunately, the country was reformed, the old evils were eliminated, customs were changed, and prostitution and sacrifices were forbidden.Yu Nian hasn't heard of this trend for a long time.In other words, the body of the god statue is wet all the year round, and the rain of nectar nourishes the clouds.Yu looked up and saw that the surface of the white jade god statue had the color of water, but he didn't know whether it was a fake sprinkling of human beings or a gift of God's will.Remember it in doubt, so that those who can learn more about it later.Not long after, the sun and the moon dimmed, the wind howled miserably, the humming of foxes faintly, and the leaves fell suddenly.I was terrified and dared not stay for long, so I hurried out of the temple.But among the ruins of the cave, I leaned over and picked up an ancient brick as a memorial.There is a word on the brick, Yun Jiaping Renzi. '" Di Gong closed the book, sighed and said, "Hong Liang, this temple is really weird. Oh, the Yamen officials have brought the horses here." They left the city on flying horses from the south gate. On both sides of the official road, there were graceful willows and birds chirping.It was the beginning of summer, durians were in full bloom, and they were in the shade of green poplars, which was really pleasing to the eye.A layer of veil-like morning mist hangs on the canal, the mast sails are far away outside the morning mist, and the sound of water is mighty. As soon as he arrived at Baiyuqiao Town, Mr. Di found Li Jia of the town office.Li Jia told Di Gongdao that the regiment had guarded the Emerald Villa all night, and did not leave until dawn.Some said that they heard a chirping ghost crying in the mandala forest, and some said that there was a white-feathered monster bird flapping its wings and singing almost all night in the woods.It was all said that Lady Bai had appeared, she was so frightened that she huddled together, and finally survived the whole night.Lijia also said that after Tuan Ding moved the female corpse, he closed the door of the pavilion and pasted the cover with the big red seal. Mr. Di nodded appreciatively, and signaled Hong Liang to ride his horse and head towards Emerald Villa of Dong Mansion.All the way to see the early morning market, business is booming.Turning into the path among the woods, I suddenly felt the breeze coming, and the fragrance was blowing, but there were no traces of people. They dismounted from the towering old pine tree not far from Dong's residence, fastened the reins to the gnarled tree, and walked forward. Di Gong found out that there was not much distance from Baiyuqiao Town to Dong's Mansion. Last night, he was restless and the road was unfamiliar, and he seemed to have walked for a long time.Soon they saw the weather-worn gatehouse and the wall covered with wild vines. They walked into the gate of Dong's mansion, walked through the front courtyard, turned a few turns, passed through the round gate, and just about to step into the small garden enclosed by the whitewashed wall, Duke Di suddenly stopped in his tracks. ——A tall, broad-shouldered man was standing in front of the pavilion with his back to them. The door of the pavilion was ajar, the cover on the door was torn, and the shreds were fluttering in the morning wind. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Duke Di shouted loudly. The big man turned around and looked up and down at Di Gong arrogantly.Di Gong saw that the man's round face was tender and white, with a small beard under his collar, and his top and bottom robes were very neat. The man stepped forward to salute Di Gong, and said gently: "The sage said, those who respect others should always respect them, but your minister's words are rough. If you follow suit, what is the meaning of the minister? According to the law, I will Xianggong asked you a question just now, because you broke into my property without any reason." Di Gong was so impatient, he said sharply: "I am the governor of this state. I came here to investigate a bloody case. Who dares to break in without a reason? You first answer me, who are you and what are you doing here?" The man hurriedly bowed and apologized, and with an embarrassed smile on his face, he said humbly: "My name is Guo Ming, and I am a medicine merchant in Chang'an. I bought this villa from Mr. Dong Yiguan four years ago. .Here is the deed signed by both parties, please have a look at it, sir." As he spoke, he took out two rolls of paper from his sleeve and handed them to Duke Di. After reading the deed, Mr. Di saw that attached to the deed was a detailed map of the Emerald Villa.Mr. Di returned the deed and the map to Guo Ming, and said, "Why did Mr. Guo take off the cover on the pavilion door? Don't you know that is an illegal act?" Guo Ming replied angrily: "How can the master accuse the common people without a detailed visit? I didn't tear up the cover. When I came here, I saw the door of the pavilion was half open." "Let me ask you again, Mr. Guo, why didn't you break in here at this unusual time?" Duke Di was surprised and asked again. "Either sooner or later? Master's question is strange, and Xiaomin is very puzzled. As for why Xiaomin came here, this is a long story, and Master may not be willing to listen carefully." "Just give a brief outline!" Di Gong said coldly. "Yes. The thing is like this: four years ago, my friend Bian Jia wrote to me and told me that Mr. Dong Yiguan was going to mortgage the villa at a low price, and advised me to buy it. Because I am in the business of medicinal materials. The subsidiary of the Emerald Villa The large mandala forest is the most profitable source of medicine. The master may know that the rhizome of the mandala tree is an expensive crude medicine, so I happily bought this villa. There are plenty of sources of this kind of medicine, so I have never thought of coming here to survey and harvest. Two years later, I decided to send people to come here to have a look and plan the logging. But Bian Jia wrote to me and told me that there was a drought here at that time, warning If I come to cut down that piece of forest at an untimely time, I will attract strong opposition from the local people, and maybe cause a big mess. Because it is said that the piece of forest has been dedicated to the Goddess of the River, she is..." "Don't talk about the Goddess of the River! Tell me why you came here at this moment!" "In the next two years, due to the busy business and entanglement in general affairs, I couldn't get away to come here to have a look. It was just yesterday morning when the passenger ship I took was moored under the Baiyu Bridge, I suddenly remembered that there is still one of mine here. Property—a mansion and a forest. So I..." "What did you come to Baiyu Bridge yesterday? Could it be to visit the mountains and rivers and buy local products?" Di Gongyu asked nervously. Guo Ming groaned in his heart, felt embarrassed, and answered with a frown: "How can I have the leisure to go sightseeing and buy real estate? It's just because there is a branch of mine in front of the canal; there is trouble there, so I have to go there myself. So I rented a boat with my buddy Sun Wei, and hurried on the road. I didn’t want to delay the journey, but when the boat arrived in Puyang yesterday morning, the boatmen heard that there was a dragon boat race in the canal that night. The Baiyu Bridge dropped anchor and prepared to spend the night. I had no choice but to go to Puyang to do some errands. At this time, I thought of the Emerald Villa and the mandala forest. "I sent a message to Bian Jia, asking him to come to Baiyuqiao Town at noon, and lead me to see the Emerald Villa. He sent a message saying that he is busy preparing for the dragon boat race, and he will not be able to see me until the afternoon at the earliest. Sunset A few days ago, he really came to my boat and had a cup of tea in a hurry. We agreed to meet here at dawn today. I just want to take a look here and urge the boatman to set off—I am waiting here for Bian Jia at the moment, and I am lucky enough to meet the master . "Yesterday at dusk, Bian Jia took me to the hotel in Baiyuqiao, where he was entertaining the paddlers of the dragon boat race. After the dinner and dinner, he led me to the colorful stage by the canal. He went to work on his own. In the dragon boat race, I had to walk around the colorful stage alone to catch up with the excitement. A passer-by pointed me to the official boat of the master, and I boldly boarded the boat. The governor of Puyang expressed my respect. There was no one on the bow to inform me, so I walked up the palm ladder and saw the master standing by the railing with his wives to enjoy the scenery. I didn’t want to disappoint the master Then I stepped back and ran into the butler of the master's house. He wanted to report for me, and I said I didn't want to disturb the master. " Di Gong realizes that Guo Ming is the strange intruder that the old housekeeper mentioned last night. Di Gong asked: "Then, Mr. Guo, your buddy Sun Wei is not with you?" "No, sir. He was a little unwell, so he had already rested in the cabin. After watching the dragon boat race, I rented a horse and went back to Baiyu Bridge. None of the boatmen returned to the boat. Take a cup of tea, drink it slowly by yourself, and then enter the cabin to sleep." "Mr. Guo, let me ask you again, why did you repair this pavilion?" Guo Ming raised his two thin eyebrows, was slightly startled, and shook his head vigorously. Di Gong knew it in his heart, so he didn't ask any more questions, so he went up the steps and pushed open the door of the pavilion, and walked in.Hong Liang and Guo Ming followed behind. Di Gong saw that the pavilion was badly damaged, large chunks of red wall mud peeled off, revealing the dark blue bricks inside.Half of the window sash had fallen off, many of the tiles on the floor were incomplete, and the four legs of the bamboo couch in the corner of the wall were also broken—it was obvious that someone had come here to toss about after he left last night. Suddenly someone from behind asked, "What are you doing in this pavilion?" Di Gong looked back in surprise and saw that it was Bian Jia, he frowned and said: "Ah, it is Dr. Bian. We are here to check Mr. Guo's real estate. This emerald villa has been seriously damaged due to neglect." Guo Ming understood, took advantage of the situation and said coldly: "Mr. Bian, didn't you promise to take good care of this villa and forest for me?" Bian Jia was anxious, and quickly argued: "Mr. Guo, I sent someone to visit this place a month ago. He came back and told me that everything is in order here. That person is very familiar with this villa inside and out. , he is the son of Dong Yiguan, the former owner of the house here. I really don’t understand how it would become such a ruin in a month.” Di Gong said: "You guys take your time to tidy up here. I'll go first. There are still official matters in the yamen waiting to be asked." He winked and signaled Hong Canjun to follow. Di Gong walked out of the small garden, and whispered to Hong Liang: "The murderer came here again early this morning, just after the regiments had dispersed. He must have believed in the legend of the Royal Pearl, and came here to search for the Royal Pearl, the one on the door. The cover was torn off by the murderer." A few bluebottles came and buzzed around Duke Dee's head.Duke Dee slapped him hard. Hong Liang said: "The pavilion has been tossed all over, it seems that the murderer has never found that imperial bead!" Digong nodded.Swarms of bluebottles were buzzing, Duke Dee frowned, and killed a few more.He suddenly thought of something and said, "Hong Liang, I caught that turtle on this low wall last night." He put his hands on the gap of the low wall: "At that time, it was slowly crawling from here, and it almost scared me half to death, I thought..." Di Gong stopped talking suddenly, his whole body was involuntarily shuddered, and his eyes showed a look of panic.There was a male corpse lying among the weeds in the small ditch outside the low wall, and countless bluebottles were crawling over the top of his head—there was a large puddle of wet blood sticking there. Di Gong thought for a moment, turned around and ran into the pavilion, and asked Guo Ming, "How long did you stay here before I came?" Guo Ming replied: "Your master followed me as soon as I walked into this garden. I haven't seen the hall yet! Oh, but before I entered this garden, I looked at the mandala grove for a while." Duke Di said loudly, "Come with me!" Di Gong led Guo Ming and Bian Jia to the low wall, pointed to the outside of the wall and said, "Who do you think that is?" As soon as Guo Ming looked at the wall, his face turned pale and he vomited. Bian Jia exclaimed: "This is Xia Guang!—Look at the scar on his left cheek!" Di Gong lifted up his robe and turned over the wall, Hong Liang, Bian Jia also climbed over the wall, and jumped down carefully. Di Gong knelt down beside the dead man to inspect his blood-stained hair, and then carefully observed the weeds and shrubs in the shallow ditch.He picked up a big brick, handed it to Hong Liang and said, "Xia Guang's head was smashed by this brick, and you can still see the clear blood on the corner of this brick." Duke Di stood up and ordered: "Follow me to search the edge of the forest, maybe there are other clues to be found." Suddenly Hong Canjun shouted: "Master, here is a wooden box!" He bent down and lifted the leather strap of the wooden box.It turned out to be a carpenter's toolbox, which contained two bow saws, a hammer and several chisels. Di Gong ordered Hong Liang to take the wooden box away.On the one hand, he said to Bian Jia: "Come and help me take off the shirt of the deceased." Di Gong unbuttoned Xia Guang's clothes, exposing the dead man's muscular torso, and a rag was tightly wrapped around his left upper arm.Bian Jiasong released the cloth and checked the wound on his arm. "The wound was recently stabbed with a sharp knife. My lord, the body is still warm and not stiff." Duke Di nodded, and searched carefully Xia Guang's sleeves, belt, and trouser pockets, but found nothing there; not even a square handkerchief.