Chapter 32 Chapter Fourteen

Mr. Di turned back to the inner office, hurriedly took off his black gauze hat, took off his brocade official robe, and put on a cool fine-striped cotton robe. He ordered the servants to bring his lunch to the study and prepare a basin of clean well water and hand towels. for washing.It is said that the Yamen officer on duty will come to the study to report when he comes back. The yamen servant agreed to leave, and Di Gong walked back and forth in the study with his head down, thinking about the recent progress of the case.Xia Guang obviously hired the three gangsters at the behest of his master, no doubt his master was the real murderer.But would the old lady Meng who lives behind the Laojun Temple know this person?It seems that this is too easy, but it may not be.However, some complicated and difficult cases are often solved and the truth comes to light just by encountering a sudden opportunity.

The yamen servant brought the lunch into the study, and brought a basin of cold well water and a clean towel. Duke Di hastily ate his lunch, his mind was only obsessed with these three murders, he didn't even taste the food and wine.He feels the investigation has reached a turning point, as the criminal's motives are finally revealed.At first, he regarded greed as the main motive, and the purpose of the criminals was to steal the imperial beads and gold. Later, he overturned the assumption of greed for money, and believed that jealousy was the key to the imperial beads case.Now it seems that jealousy should also be relegated to a secondary position, because these three murders are all related to a greedy and brutal lecherous demon, whose crime is undoubtedly to torture women to satisfy his evil lust.Once a criminal harbors such evil impulses, when his plot is frustrated or his crime is exposed, he will easily arouse violent actions regardless of all serious consequences.

Suspects have been pinned down among the three, and Di Gong is now facing a bloodthirsty and crazy demon who will start killing people at any time.The case was entangled with that magical and mysterious Royal Pearl again. He didn't have time to conduct a systematic, extensive, and detailed background investigation. He had to take the most sensible and decisive action without delay to cut off the claws and clarify the case.But what is he going to do now?For which suspicion? ——Di Gong's mind is still full of doubts, and it is chaotic and ambiguous. Di Gong sat blankly on the teacher's chair, thinking hard.The study room was extremely hot and stuffy, and he was sweating all over, but he didn't notice it at all.

Suddenly the yamen official rushed into the study and knelt down in front of Di Gong. Di Gong was puzzled and hurriedly asked, "What happened?" "My lord, I led four servants to the south side street behind Laojun Temple, and soon found the house where the old lady surnamed Meng lived. It turned out to be an old garden, but it was dilapidated and dilapidated. People, only the house in the southeast corner of the backyard is very neatly repaired, and that is the home of Mrs. Meng. The old lady Meng is a widow and often closes her house. There is only one maid who goes to her every morning to help with some heavy work. Neighbors next door often see men and women coming in and out late at night at dawn. They all suspect that the house is a private kiln. Because the back of the house faces the river and there are rubble fields on both sides, it is very secluded. What the people in the house are doing, the neighbors also watch It's not true, and you can't listen carefully. Therefore... no one knows who killed Mrs. Meng."

Di Gong exclaimed: "What?! What did you say? Mrs. Meng was killed?" The Yaguan nodded timidly. "Why didn't you say it earlier? What's going on? Tell me in detail!" "Master, Mrs. Meng...she was strangled to death." The yamen official replied dejectedly. "Someone visited her just moments before we got to her house, because the two cups of tea on the table were still warm. Mrs. Meng was lying on the ground, an armchair overturned, and a silk scarf was tightly tied around her neck Time. I immediately stepped forward to untie the silk scarf, and I felt no pulse. Her body has been brought back to the yamen, and Wu Zuo is doing an autopsy right now."

Duke Di bit his lip tightly and remained silent.This is the fourth person to be killed!He tried his best to suppress the anger in his heart from erupting.Ban Zhang Nai said calmly: "It's not your fault, you still performed your duties well, you can go now." A big stone fell to the Yamen official's heart, he stood up and hurriedly withdrew, but he bumped into Hong Canjun. Hong Canjun had already heard about the murder of Mrs. Meng when he was on duty. As soon as he entered the study, he asked anxiously, "Master, what does this mean?" "This means that we are facing an extremely vicious and extremely cunning opponent."

Di Gong told Hong Liang about Miss Zilan's intrusion into the court in detail.Then he said: "The criminal must have seen Miss Zilan escorting the three rogues and Miss Mudan to the Yamen on the way. He didn't know the three rogues, because he didn't participate in the deal between Xia Guang and them. But he But he knew Miss Mudan. He saw her at a certain banquet and had evil thoughts, and included her as the object of his future torture. Seeing this situation, he immediately understood that it was Miss Zilan who came out to obstruct her injustice, and cured her. Three rogues. Those three rogues were undoubtedly hired by Xia Guang. Once they go to court, they will definitely recruit old lady Meng's house, because Xia Guang followed his order and robbed Mudan to old lady Meng's house. So , He acted decisively and rushed to Granny Meng’s house behind Laojun Temple, strangled Granny Meng to death with his own hands and silenced her. ——It seems that’s how it happened.”

Di Gong sighed, and then asked: "Hong Liang, will you reach Shen Ba?" "The meeting will be here. I talked to him for a long time, and he told me everything he knew, because he wanted to get the reward from the Yamen - which I deliberately lied to him. It seems that he didn't know anything about the Yuzhu case." He only knows that a few people who secretly influence the outcome of the dragon boat race are related to an antique business." Di Gong sighed: "Antique business again! My God, how come everyone who has something to do with the murder case is interested in antiques?"

"As for Guo Ming, my lord, the accountant at the Eight Immortals Hotel said that he is a very peaceful and stable person; Eight people lived in the Eight Immortals Hotel before and after. The accountant said that he often came to Puyang by surprise, but he never stayed for more than three days each time. He often went out early in the morning and did not return to the hotel until midnight. He never saw anyone Visited him at the inn." "When was the last time Guo Ming came to Puyang?" "About twenty days ago. Guo Ming occasionally asked the hotel manager to find a prostitute for him, but he pointed out that he didn't want expensive escorts, and he didn't need to be very beautiful, as long as he was clean and healthy, and the price was low. I'll go I went to a fireworks kiln near the Eight Immortals Hotel, and found several prostitutes who had accepted Guo Ming. They seemed to be unable to say anything. They thought Guo Ming was neither good nor bad. Guo Ming never treated them. They don't need to make any effort to please him. He never gives them extra rewards, whether he is stingy by nature. Master, that's all about Guo Ming, but I still don't understand why the master Such a detailed and detailed investigation should be conducted on Guo Ming."

Di Gong smiled and was about to answer when Wu Zuo came into the study, bowed and saluted, and respectfully handed over an autopsy report, and said: "Master, this old lady Meng seems to be in her early fifties, except for the deep strangle marks left on her neck. Besides, there were no signs of violence on the whole body. It is speculated that the murderer stood up and left the chair with an excuse when he was drinking tea with Boss Meng. When he walked around behind Granny Meng, he suddenly wrapped a silk scarf around her neck.—— The murderer strangled it so hard that the silk scarf almost got embedded in the flesh of the old lady Meng's neck, almost severing her throat on the spot."

Di Gongdao: "Mr. Excuse me. I am ashamed to say that I haven't found a single one so far, but the number of corpses has increased to four. You put this corpse in the house temporarily. In such a hot weather, the corpses will rot soon. It must be buried as soon as possible. Yes, Mr. Ke Yuanliang has claimed the body of Mrs. Hu Po? Xia Guang’s parents in the capital must be notified as soon as possible to collect the body in Puyang, regardless of whether they recognize their son. Ask again, those three gangsters How's your injury?" Wu replied: "From my point of view, those two can be cured within a few days, and only one who hurt his throat may take a few months before he can speak." Di Gong nodded, motioning for Wu Zuo to step back.Turning to Hong Canjun again, he said, "It seems that the three gangsters have been punished quite severely. Miss Zilan is really extraordinary. Oh, why is it so hot today? Hong Liang, look at your sweaty head and your clothes. The robe is soaked through, hurry up and open the window." Hong Canjun opened the window, stuck his head out of the window, and quickly shrank back to close the window. "My lord, it's hotter outside than inside, and there's no wind at all. I'm afraid there will be a heavy thunderstorm soon." Di Gong asked the yamen servant to change the well water in the copper basin, picked up a towel and wiped it himself, then twisted it and handed it to Hong Liang. "Just now I recalled the three murder cases from beginning to end. The death of Mrs. Meng did not change my basic inference. Now I will summarize the current progress of the case and tell you about it." "Master, you'd better tell me first why you doubt Guo Ming. I am most puzzled by this point." "I'm going to find Guo Ming soon. He plays a very important role in my deduction. Hong Liang, let me sort out these complicated and difficult clues one by one in an orderly manner. I firmly believe that these three cases, No, the four murders may all be the result of the same savage and cruel demon. As for who, we have no direct clue. This demon is extremely sensitive and cunning. — Get rid of those who may endanger his safety and cause him to be exposed without hesitation. Hu Po, Dong Mei, Xia Guang, and the old lady Meng are all dead. Right now, there is no witness, and there is no one that can directly lead him out Moreover, the recurring dubious theme of the antique business, plus the stolen Royal Pearl a hundred years ago, the strange shadow of the White Lady and her mysterious mandala grove ——All these can be intertwined into a colorful, magical and mysterious story, which can be recollected carefully with two confidantes after tea and wine, and guessed freely. However, I must solve these riddles as soon as possible, dispel the fog, and find the real culprit. If time delays for a long time , this cunning devil will undoubtedly cut off the limited number of indirect wires that we are holding in our hands at the moment. If conditions permit, or if he thinks it is necessary, he will also create even more appalling murders." Hong Canjun handed over a cup of new tea, and Di Gong took it and sucked it dry, moistened his throat and continued: "Who is the murderer? The three people are the biggest suspects at the same time - each of them has the possibility of committing the crime and conditions, and more importantly each has a plausible and convincing motive for the crime. "But in comparison, I still think Ke Yuanliang is the prime suspect. I have already told you the general outline. If he is indeed the culprit in this case, I will try to arrange his criminal procedure. "Ke Yuanliang hired Dong Mei to collect antiques for him, and at the same time hunted women for his pleasure. Dong Mei abducted the woman and smuggled it to the old lady Meng's house behind the Laojun Temple in the dark, while Ke Yuanliang himself masked or disguised Dress up and go there. He generously rewards those women with a lot of money, so he rarely takes risks. The only downside of this is that he has to rely on Dong Mei, and Dong Mei is a cunning, shrewd and ambitious woman. He asks for a lot of money, and sometimes blackmails Ke Yuanliang, and what annoys Ke Yuanliang the most is that he has an affair with Amber and makes Amber pregnant. Ke Yuanliang is determined to kill Dong Mei and Amber, and he waits for the right time. As the first step, he fired Dong Mei, of course he had to find a decent excuse and give Dong Mei a good salary to silence him. Then he hired Xia Guang instead, Xia Guang was not as cunning as Dong Mei And greedy, so it is not easy to cause trouble, let alone blackmail him. "When Hu Po told him that the imperial bead Dong Mei obtained was about to be released, Ke Yuanliang saw the opportunity for revenge. Ke Yuanliang was an expert in antique research, and he concluded that the imperial bead could not exist at all. This is just a scam carefully designed by Dong Mei and Hu Po, with the purpose of defrauding him of a large sum of money and flying away. Ke Yuanliang thought that this was the perfect opportunity for him to use his tricks to make the most of it. "Ke Yuanliang summoned Xia Guang, and he told Xia Guang to abduct Peony first. At this moment, he had already planned a sinister and vicious murder plan in his mind. Ke Yuanliang gave Xia Guang a map of the Emerald Villa in Dong's residence. A pavilion. Tell him that Dong Mei and Hu Po will meet in that pavilion after the dragon boat race tonight. Hu Po is carrying a pack of gold ingots that he stole from me. Ke Yuanliang wants Xia Guang to go to that pavilion and kill Dong Mei in the name of Dong Mei. Hu Po and took back the gold ingot. Of course, he promised to give Xia Guang a large reward. Ke Yuanliang didn’t care about money at all. It is very likely that Ke Yuanliang had drawn up a comprehensive plan to get rid of Xia Guang at that time, and he did it seamlessly. "Last night, when he and Bian Jia were entertaining the oarsmen of the dragon boat race at the Baiyuqiao Hotel, he first poisoned Dong Mei to death. Just getting rid of Dong Mei can be said to kill three birds with one stone: first of all, he got his shame back. Second, he eliminated the hidden dangers that might lead to the exposure of his crimes—Dong Mei knew all about him; third, if Dong Mei died, the Bian Jia No. 9 ship would lose. He bet a huge sum of money A bet on can be netted. "Xia Guang touched Emerald Villa as agreed and killed Amber in the pavilion. He brought back the bag of gold ingots that Amber was carrying and handed it to Ke Yuanliang. Then Ke Yuanliang told Xia Guang that Dong Mei was in the pavilion. They found out a hidden royal bead, and Amber took so much money with her. They just wanted to take the gold and the royal bead and escape to a distant place to have fun. Xia Guang didn't know what it was, so he promised to come back the next morning. Go to the pavilion of the Emerald Villa to search for the imperial beads. Early this morning, as soon as the city gate opened, Ke Yuanliang and Xia Guang went to the Emerald Villa separately—Ke Yuanliang went there on horseback. Xia Guang pretended to be a carpenter rushing to work early. So when Xia Guang was seriously searching for the imperial beads, Ke Yuanliang accidentally smashed Xia Guang's head with a big brick and threw his dead body outside the low wall. ditch, and then rode back to the city. "At noon, Ke Yuanliang came to the court to watch the trial, wanting to test the truth of the government. He was relieved when he saw that there was no movement in the government. He followed the three rogues and Mudan to the yamen, looking at the scene to sue for the abduction of Mudan. Although he didn't know the three rogues, he recognized Mudan at a glance. He immediately understood that this matter might be revealed and finally Involving him—Once Mrs. Meng is arrested, she will definitely confess to him. Ke Yuanliang hurriedly went to Mrs. Meng's house and strangled her to death with his own hands. Then everything will be fine, and all troubles that may have caused him to be exposed have been eliminated." Di Gong stroked his beard, and Hong Canjun poured him a new cup of tea.Di Gong took a sip, wiped his face with a cold towel, and continued: "If Ke Yuanliang is not guilty, then his wife Jinlian's illness really started from a terrible attack of encephalopathy, and the welt marks on Hu Po's back can only She was whipped out by Dong Yiguan when she was working as a maid in the Dong Mansion. Again, Ke Yuanliang really believed in the story of the Royal Pearl.——It’s not surprising, I believed it easily after hearing it, the legend of the Royal Pearl It's so confusing that you have to believe it. Well, now you have to forget everything I just said, put Ke Yuanliang aside, and then carefully consider the criminal motive and criminal history of the second important suspect, Bian Jia. "First of all, what might be the motive of Bian Jia's crime? I think it is a kind of frustration and depression that made him become immoral and dissolute. He used this attitude towards life as a rebellion against his fierce wife , his jealous wife forbade him to take concubines, and he was in great torment because he had no children. Moreover, his occupation forced him to pretend to be prudish, and he dared not openly meet prostitutes. Fooling around. Maybe he was born with a cruel and insidious temperament, but he concealed it tightly and vented it cleverly. At first, Bian Jia just secretly found some low-born, ordinary-looking women to hang out with. The pimp among them was Dong Mei, and later Xia Guang. They were successively employed by Bian Jia for the same reason as explained to Ke Yuanliang just now. "However, this evil person gradually began to pursue the intelligent, elegant, literate lady, the boudoir Shuyuan. Those vulgar and lowly women can no longer satisfy his perverted desires that are constantly sublimating. At this time, he Hu Po's eyes fixed on Mrs. Hu Po, who is not only young, beautiful and personable, but also knowledgeable in poetry and calligraphy, proficient in writing and ink, graceful and elegant, with superb rhyme, which is very different from ordinary women. Bian Jia often goes to Ke's mansion, and he sees Jinlian on time. He secretly watched the movement of amber. Of course, it is not easy to snatch amber from Ke Yuanliang's hands. Ke Yuanliang regards it as a jewel in the palm of his hand, more than any antique treasure. Therefore, Bian Jia can only wait patiently for the opportunity. He ordered Xia Guang to closely monitor the Ke mansion In terms of internal and external circumstances, if Xia Guang can deceive Amber for him, he promises to pay Xia Guang a very high reward. "Xia Guang found out from Dong Mei that after the dragon boat race, he would meet with Hu Po in the Emerald Villa to trade a royal bead. Of course, Dong Mei would not reveal that the deal of the royal bead was a carefully planned trick. Seeing the opportunity, Xia Guang quickly reported. Bian Jia wanted to get that high reward from Bian Jia. He sketched a map of Emerald Villa in Dong's residence. He must have been there several times with Dong Mei earlier, so the terrain is very familiar. He told Bian Jia that as long as he tried to get Dong Mei away first, he could go to Emerald Villa to meet Hu Po in the name of Dong Mei and lock Amber in the pavilion, and then Bian Jia took the map to find the pavilion to deal with him. The "chicken locked in the chicken coop" - once the incident happened, everyone thought it was the crime committed by those rascals and idlers, and did not suspect Bian Jia and Xia Guang. "Bian Jia was overjoyed. He planned not only to grab the amber, but also to grab the ten gold ingots - the money was just used to solve his lack of money. Whether he believed in the story of Yuzhu or not, he knew in his heart Dong Mei planned to fly away with Hu Po that night, and this was his last chance. "When Bian Jia was entertaining the oarsmen at the Baiyuqiao Hotel, he secretly poisoned Dong Mei's wine and food, and he killed Dong Mei with two birds with one stone: first, he got rid of this witness who knew the details of his crimes; second, he killed Dong Mei. Win big bets by deliberately losing your own ship. "That night, Hu Po recognized that Dong Mei was not the person in the pavilion, so she knew something was wrong, but Xia Guang didn't let her out of the pavilion at this time, trying to tie her to the bamboo couch and lock the door. Hu Po resisted vigorously. He drew a sharp knife and stabbed Xia Guang's arm. Xia Guang became angry and killed Hu Po. In fact, Xia Guang didn't intend to kill her. It's just that Hu Po resisted so fiercely that he lost his hand in a hurry. At this moment, I unexpectedly appeared, forcing Xia Guang not to search for the imperial beads, and only took the bag of gold ingots on Hu Po's body and hurriedly escaped from the Emerald Villa. "He went back to the city and reported back to Bian Jia in detail. Although Amber was not locked, he snatched a bag of gold, and he still wanted Bian Jia to pay him the reward. However, Xia Guang didn't know that Bian Jia was more cunning and cruel than him. , Bian Jia has made up his mind to do nothing but kill Xia Guang to avoid future troubles. Bian Jia falsely agreed to his request, knowing that Xia Guang is greedy, so he tricked Xia Guang to search for the imperial pearl. Of course Xia Guang agreed. So the two went to Emerald Villa the next day, that is, early this morning. ——Similarly, Bian Jia took advantage of Xia Guang’s unpreparedness and killed him. Come, Hong Liang, give me another cup of tea. Very dry." Hong Liang asked: "Why didn't Bian Jia run away immediately after killing Xia Guang, and stayed in the Emerald Villa to meet Guo Ming?" Di Gongdao: "Bian Jia is cunning and tricky. I guess he must have hid in the woods outside the Emerald Villa first, and let Guo Ming first come into the garden to see the mess inside and outside the pavilion before showing up to meet him. But when he came out of the forest, he saw you and me outside the pavilion. Although he was very suspicious in his heart, he was even more at ease, because you, me and Guo Ming had become his witnesses—he was younger than the three of us. Arrive at Emerald Villa. The rest of the situation is the same as Ke Yuanliang's speculation. At noon, the yamen inspector also left the court earlier. He also met Miss Zilan, Mudan and the three rascals on the street. He rushed to the back of the Laojun Temple Mrs. Meng’s family strangled Mrs. Meng to death first. ——In short, although Hu Po died, he had gotten rid of the relationship between Dong Mei, Xia Guang and Mrs. Meng, and he could still sit back and relax. Most importantly, Those ten gold ingots saved him from financial difficulties, and he won a considerable amount of betting money in the black transaction of the dragon boat race." At this time, there was a faint sound of thunder in the distance, and the study seemed to be much cooler. Hong Canjun pondered for a while, then said: "Master, this second idea is quite reasonable. In my humble opinion, Bian Jia is the most likely to kill someone. Not only what the master said just now, but I can still give you two points to supplement the master. One, Bian Jia Jia deliberately diagnosed that Dong Mei died of a sudden heart attack, intending to deceive the master to get rid of the relationship. Second, he falsely claimed that after the dragon boat race, he saw Xia Guang return to the city with his own eyes." Mr. Di nodded frequently: "Well, these two points are more meaningful. But we still can't rashly conclude that Bian Jia is the culprit of the devil. Hypotheses and inferences can't be used as the basis for conviction after all. Besides, Dong Mei's symptoms are also 70% like a heart attack. Last night in the bustling crowd, Bian Jia inevitably misjudged someone, mistaking another person with a scar on his face as Xia Guang." "Then, my lord, who repaired that dilapidated pavilion?" "Mostly it was repaired by Dong Mei. It used to be his family's old house. Although he rented a house in the city, he still often went to the Emerald Villa to rest. He probably still had a tryst with Hu Po there. But he did not repair the pavilion. Putting his antiques, I had mistakenly assumed in my head. The windows with iron bars, the reinforced doors, and the iron locks as big as arms, all these are not to prevent outsiders from breaking in, but to prevent outsiders from entering. Those who were locked in the pavilion escaped! For those who do dirty things, this pavilion is far more suitable than the old lady Meng's house behind the Laojun Temple. As Xia Guang told Miss Zilan, no one will You can hear the 'chicks clucking'." Hong Canjun couldn't help nodding. He slowly twisted his chin and lowered his goatee, and suddenly frowned and asked again: "Master, I just said that there are three biggest suspects. Needless to say, the remaining one must be Guo Ming. I did. I meant to say..." Suddenly there was the sound of leather boots hurriedly walking outside the study, Hong Liang hurriedly stopped talking. ——The yamen official rushed in, panting and reported: "Master Qi, Dr. Bian...he...he was plotted against by gangsters in the front street of Confucius Temple, and almost died!"