Chapter 13 Chapter Thirteen

Pan Youde chose a small restaurant located on a hill in the center of the city.The upstairs of this restaurant overlooks the entire county. Now that the summer heat has just subsided and the moon is shining in the sky, it is the best time to enjoy the night view. Pan Youde ordered several dishes: fresh squid in ginger sauce, grilled young snipe, roasted shark's fin, smoked ham, fried lamb with scallions, quail egg soup, and the table was full with wine and rice.These few dishes are so delicious and delicious, Di Gong appreciates them very much.While eating, eating, he thought of Qiao Tai who was still drinking bean porridge and light rice in the Phoenix Hotel, and couldn't help but feel a little ashamed.

At the dinner table, Master Pan gave a clear overview of the Ke Xingyuan case.Then, Di Gong told Master Pan about Leng Qian's fraud, Kun Shan's stolen account book to blackmail Leng Qian, and the two hundred taels of gold that He Xingyuan hid in his silver cabinet.He also hinted that Kunshan who blackmailed Lengqian was a very suspicious person.Di Gong also told Master Pan that he had tried to get Kun Shan to hand over the two batches blackmailed from Leng Qian—each batch was three hundred and fifty taels of gold.He then asked Master Pan: "Is there any criminal record of Kunshan in the county?"

"No. Master Di, I have never heard of this name. You know more about this city in these two days than I have been here for decades, which is really amazing!" "It's probably because of good luck that they all hit each other. Let me ask you, Mrs. Ke is much younger than Ke Xingyuan. When did they get married? Has Lao Ke ever hired a side room?" Mr. Pan replied: "Old Ke used to have three wives and concubines, but two of them died not long after he got married, and the wife of the last one also died a year ago. Old Ke is already in his early sixties, and his children have all grown up. As an adult, married and married, there is no one in the family to take care of him. Everyone thought that he would reunite soon, but it was just a guess, and Lao Ke did not see any action. One day, Lao Ke went to a silk shop of a guild, That shop has business dealings with Lao Ke's own shop. The shopkeeper's surname is Xie, who is dead long ago. His wife is incompetent and has a lot of debts, which can't be dealt with. Who knows that when Lao Ke saw her, he fell in love with her at first sight. They got married soon. At first, people just talked about it as a joke, but Mrs. Ke was really a good wife. She arranged all the housework in order. For a while, Old Ke had a stomachache, and she didn't leave He took a step at the bedside and served soup and medicine every day. Later, people said that Lao Ke had married his last wife."

"Have you ever heard rumors about Mrs. Ke's infidelity?" Duke Di asked. Never heard of it! "Master Pan replied immediately. "She has a very good reputation. That's why I didn't dare to call her to testify in court.After what happened to Lao Ke, I personally went to her home and questioned her about the situation in the living room.Of course, according to custom, she sat behind a curtain to answer, accompanied by one of her maids. " Di Gong wanted to meet Mrs. Ke himself, because Pan Youde's evaluation of her was seriously inconsistent with Qiao Tai's adventure.He said: "I want to see the scene of the incident. Why don't we visit Mrs. Ke now. Just say that I'm an official from the state, and I was temporarily assigned to handle the case at Mu Ping."

Master Pan nodded and said, "I also want to take a look there. It's not inconvenient for us to go now. Mrs. Ke has already sealed the room, and she has moved to live in the outer room on the left." Di Gonghui paid for the meal, and proposed to have two sedan chairs, but Pan Youde was determined not to use it.He said that although his legs and feet were inconvenient, he could make do with walking down the mountain, which was not far from Mrs. Ke's mansion.They walked slowly and arrived in a short while. The front of Ke Xingyuan's mansion is a tall gate building with carved bricks in water blue, with heavy cornices, which is truly spectacular.The vermilion lacquer gate is decorated with double lion copper rings, and the masonry outside the gate is slow, flat and neat.

They tapped the brass ring on the door, and a butler came out after a while.Pan Youde handed over the famous thorn, and the housekeeper knew that it was Director Pan of the yamen. He knew that the government was coming, so he hurriedly led them to a hall decorated with antique flavors.He brought the teapot and fruit to the guests, and hurried to inform the hostess. After a while, the butler returned to the hall with a bunch of keys in his hand, saying that Mrs. Ke welcomed their visit.She is changing clothes, please go to Ke Xingyuan's room to wait for the two guests. Holding an oil lamp in his hand, the butler led them through a labyrinth of corridors, courtyards, towers, pavilions, ponds, and rockery, to a small bamboo garden surrounded by four-faced walls.There is a secluded house behind the small bamboo garden. The balcony of the house overlooks the large garden and the river. This is where Ke Xingyuan lived in his daily life.

The butler took out the key and opened the tightly closed door, and then used the key to open a small carved door—there was Ke Xingyuan's room inside. The butler lit the candles on the table in the room and said, "If it's not bright enough, I'll light a big oil lamp." Duke Di looked around the empty room.The doors and windows of the room had been closed for two days, so it was very stuffy.There is also a small door at the other end of the room. After going out of that small door and going down a few steps, you come to a short corridor.There is another door at the end of the aisle. When you open that door, you will see a wide platform of blue and white fine stones. Outside the platform is a large garden repaired along the river bank.The pavilion where the banquet was held on the day of Lao Ke's death was on the left side of the garden, and the green glazed tiles shone in the moonlight.

Mr. Dee stood on the platform for a while, admiring the night view of the garden, and then went back to the house.He noticed that although the door in the aisle was lower, only tall people could touch the upper door frame with their heads. When Di Gong returned to the room, Mrs. Ke was already standing there waiting.When Di Gong saw her slender body, wearing a white dress, elegant appearance, and reserved demeanor, he couldn't help believing in Master Pan's evaluation, and also convinced Qiaotai's eyesight. Mrs. Di bowed to salute her, and Madam Ke smiled slightly in return.Master Pan respectfully introduced Di Gong to her, saying that he was Officer Shen who was appointed by the state to handle the case.Mrs. Ke raised a pair of big shining eyes to look at Mr. Di, then turned around and asked the butler to leave, and signaled the guests to sit down.She herself stood upright, and a young maidservant followed behind her.

Mrs. Ke fiddled with the sandalwood round fan in her hand, and said unnaturally: You have worked so hard to come here to investigate, and I don't know what to do for you in my situation? " Pan Youde was about to explain, but Di Gong interrupted him: "Mrs. Ke, we thank you for your cooperation. I know you don't want to recall that painful event, but human life is at stake, Wang Fa Zhaozhao, we dare not be negligent in the slightest, and ask Madam Ke for forgiveness." Mrs. Ke didn't respond, she just lowered her head, looking sad. Duke Dee began to inspect the room.The most eye-catching thing in the empty room was a large bed placed in the corner, covered with a blue gauze curtain.Across the room were stacks of red-lacquered suitcases.In addition, there are recently painted white walls and clean slate floors.

Di Gong said: "Mrs. Ke, why is there no furniture in this room? I think Mr. Ke must have more than these things when he was alive. At least there should be a dressing table. There are some vases and antiques on the table. There are a few paintings hanging." Mrs. Ke replied coldly: "Mr. Ke is a very frugal person. Although he has tens of millions of wealth, he lives a poor life and is not willing to spend any money." Digong nodded.Said: "This is because of Mr. Ke's noble character." Duke Di's eyes fell on those suitcases for the second time, and he couldn't help asking curiously: "Mrs. Ke, there are only three suitcases marked with autumn, winter and spring, where is the suitcase marked with summer?" Where are you going?"

Mrs. Ke was slightly taken aback, and replied impatiently, "Send it to the workshop for repairs!" Di Mo hurriedly said: "Understood, I understand. It's just that I'm used to seeing suitcases, screens and the like all in sets of four, and there is one missing in front of me. Just ask. Mrs. Ke, at last, I would like to ask you to take care of the accident." I will tell you in detail what happened here that night. Of course, I have read all the relevant records in the court, but..." Suddenly, Madam Ke beat something with her round fan, and heard her sternly say to the maid: "I don't want to see these nasty flies in this room, I've told you several times! Hurry... Hurry up! It Where did you fly to?" Duke Dee was very surprised by her sudden behavior and didn't understand why she was so excited when she saw the fly. Pan Youde comforted her and said, "Madam, just one or two, I can..." Mrs. Ke ignored what he said at all, and only urged the maid to swat the fly that was still flying. "Why didn't you fight!" Mrs. Ke shouted again. "Over there... go and fight!" Duke Dee watched her with great interest.Suddenly, he thought of something, stood up, picked up the candle and wanted to light the big oil lamp next to him. "Don't light that oil lamp!" Mrs. Ke ordered hastily. "Why?" Di Gong asked gently, "I want to help you see if there are any flies." He held up the candle and looked up at the ceiling. "It is disrespectful to the dead to light too bright a lamp in the dead's room!" Mrs. Ke said the truth. Duke Dee said nothing, his eyes were fixed on the ceiling.Suddenly said: "Look: Mrs. Ke, don't you find it strange that there are so many flies in this room? The room has not been opened in the past two days! Look, those flies are dozing there, the light may be will make them come alive." Regardless of Mrs. Ke's objection, he quickly lit all four lamps of the oil lamp.He raised the oil lamp high and carefully observed the ceiling.Mrs. Ke hurried over, her eyes following his gaze.At this moment, her face turned pale, and her breathing became short of breath. "Ma'am, are you feeling well?" the maid asked anxiously. Mrs. Ke ignored the servant girl's question at all, a large group of flies flew down from the ceiling, buzzing around the oil lamp, she couldn't help taking a few steps back. Duke Dee exclaimed, "Look, the flies have continued to fly down, and the light has lost their attraction to them!" Master Pan looked at Di Gong, and was so surprised that he was stunned. Looking at this scene, is Master Di stupid? Duke Dee walked towards the big bed and bent down to check the floor.Suddenly he shouted again: "Strange! Strange! They are all concentrated on the bed curtain." He hurriedly lifted the bed curtain and looked under the bed. "Ah! I see! It turns out that they are interested in the underground stone slabs, oh, no, they are interested in something under here..." There was a terrifying scream from behind, and Mrs. Ke fell to the ground and passed out.The servant girl immediately stepped forward and knelt beside her, looking down at her pale face dripping with sweat. Pan Youde said in a panic: "She has a sudden heart attack, we have to hurry to invite..." "Nonsense!" Duke Di yelled sharply.He turned back to the maid and said, "Leave her alone! Come here and help me move this bed to the other side. Mr. Pan, can you help me too? This bed is too heavy, and the two of us might move it Do not move." Fortunately, the ground was smooth, and the three of them moved the big bed to the side by the window without much effort.Duke Dee knelt down to carefully examine the stone slabs on the ground.He took out a silver toothpick from the handkerchief, and used it to pick at the cracks in the slate.Then, he stood up and said to Pan Youde, "A few stone slabs have been taken out recently!" Then he ordered the servant: "Go to the kitchen and bring me a knife and a shovel, and don't tell the other servants about this." If you take it, you will come back immediately, do you hear me?" The servant girl was scared out of her wits, took her order and hurried away. Di Gong looked at Pan Youde with a serious expression, and said, "It's a vicious conspiracy!" Pan Youde stood halfway blankly, as if he hadn't understood what Di Gong meant.Duke Dee ignored him, just stared at the floor, and stroked his beard slowly. The maid brought a knife and a shovel.Di Gong knelt on the ground and pried up two stone slabs with a knife.The soil under the slabs was soft and damp.He removed several other stone slabs with a shovel, and stacked them together on one side. There were six pieces in total, and the six stone slabs happened to be a rectangle five feet long and three feet wide.Duke Di rolled up his sleeves and started digging the loose soil out with a shovel. "Master Di, you can't do this!" Pan Youde cried out in fright. "I'm going to call some people!" "Wait a minute!" Duke Di shouted.His shovel touched something soft, and as he dug down again, he felt a strong, sickening smell coming out of the cracks in the soil.A dark red thing emerged from the soil. "Boss Pan, the missing suitcase is here!" Duke Di ordered the servant girl. "Go to the gate as soon as possible and tell the butler that Director Pan ordered him to report to the yamen as soon as possible, and asked the yamen to send four special servants to come here immediately. When you come back, pull me out of the incense burner in the Buddhist hall." Light the incense and come, hurry up!" Di Gong wiped the sweat from his forehead.Pan Youde looked worriedly at Mrs. Ke, who was lying unconscious on the ground, and asked hesitantly, "Master Di, are you going to ask a doctor to give her a pulse, she has been unconscious..." "No!" Duke Dee replied simply. "Lie on the cold floor, she will wake up soon, don't worry. Her husband's body is buried under the floor. She is an accomplice to the murderer!" "Didn't Mr. Ke jump into the river to die? I witnessed this with my own eyes!" Pan Youde was still confused. "But his body was never found. I can conclude that Ke Xingyuan was killed by the murderer when he returned to this room to take medicine." "Then who ran out of the room?" "It's the murderer!" Duke Di replied.He put his arm on the shovel handle and continued: "This is a rather cunning scheme. After the murderer packed Ke Xingyuan into the box and buried it under the floor, he put on Ke Xingyuan's robe and hat, You smeared blood on your face, walked out of the room, and really ran to the garden. All of you were waiting for He Xingyuan to come out of the room, and you saw the same robe and hat again, and you were overwhelmed by his screams and the expression on his face. Blood was petrified, no wonder none of you saw the man's true face. He started running towards the pavilion, but was careful not to get too close, so halfway he suddenly changed direction, ran to the river bank, jumped into the I guess he dived down the river and climbed up when he found no one on the bank. He threw his hat in the river to confuse you careless people." Pan Youde suddenly realized, nodded and said, "So that's what happened! Then, who is the murderer? Could it be that Kunshan?" "Kun Shan is indeed the biggest suspect," said Di Gongdao. "It seems that after he killed Ke Xingyuan, he also stole the ledger that Leng Qian mistakenly handed to Ke Xingyuan. Although Kun Shan is thin and small, he is watery Maybe not bad." "The blood on his face may have flowed out from a cut of his own head." Pan Youde guessed. "Or he just smeared Ke Xingyuan's blood on his face. Heh, the servant girl is here. Now let's confirm how Ke Xingyuan was murdered. You take that incense and bring it close to my face." Pan Youde took the incense stick from the servant girl as instructed, and held it in front of Di Gong.Mr. Di covered his nose with a square scarf, then shoveled off the top of the dark red box lid, and dug out part of the top around the suitcase.He knelt down and tore off the greased cloth pasted around the lid, and began to lift the lid off with the point of the spade. A stench rushed up, and Pan Youde immediately covered his nose with his sleeve, and at the same time vigorously waved the incense in his hand, so that the cigarette could wash away some of the stench.The corpse of an emaciated man was curled up in a box.He was only wearing underwear, his gray head was bare, and a knife handle was exposed under his left shoulder blade.Di Gong turned the dead man's head with the tip of the shovel.The dead man's wrinkled face was facing them. "Ah! Ke Xingyuan!" Pan Youde yelled.Fear and excitement caused Pan Youde's face to change drastically, and he was panting heavily. Duke Di closed the suitcase, threw the shovel on the ground, went to open the window, put on his hat, pulled off the square scarf covering his nose, and slowly wiped the sweat off his face.Then, he said to Pan Youde: "When the Yali Fan servants come, let them pull out the suitcase and carry the body to the Yamen. In addition, call a sedan chair to escort Mrs. Ke back to the Yamen and imprison her. Please Report everything that happened here to County Magistrate Teng in detail. Tell him that I am trying to capture Kunshan. Even if he is not the murderer, at least he can provide us with important clues to this case. County Magistrate Teng is thinking about going to the state early tomorrow morning See you, Lord Inspector. Now that this case has made a new breakthrough, I think it's best for him to go to court tomorrow morning to try Mrs. Ke first. If I mention Kunshan, we will be able to conclude the case in court tomorrow morning, and then we will be together. It’s not too late to go to Dengzhou. I’m leaving right away. After you return to the Yamen, draft a report on the fact that we found Ke Xingyuan’s body, and you and I will draw it up and pledge it in court tomorrow as a formal testimony.” Di Gongbao bid farewell to Pan Youde and returned to the street.It was still hot in the street, but he just felt cool all over.It was only when I walked to the entrance of Phoenix Hotel that I felt a little hot and tired. Laughter, noise, and curse words came from the windows of the Phoenix Hotel.None of the gang of idlers, beggars, gamblers, quarrelmakers, and scumbags gambled.Di Gong was very happy, and his next plan was to find out about Kun Shan and arrest him.