Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 120 The Taoist Priest
The eldest sister of the Huang family had been ill for a long time, so she asked her personal maid to speak out in the inner courtyard. All Huang Yongning's funeral was entrusted to Uncle Yan. If Uncle Yan was undecided, he asked the Seventh Young Master Wang to help.

It seems that although the eldest sister of the Huang family is trapped in the inner courtyard, she is not ignorant of the outside world. She has at least heard of who the seventh young master Wang is.

Wang Heng was impatient with their red tape and left the carved flower hall alone to collect his thoughts.

Huang Yongning had no scars on his body, so what was the cause of his death?
Death from poison?Not as peaceful as his face.

Frozen to death?If he was still conscious, he would not have been able to wait on the bridge motionless in the heavy snow.

Therefore, Sanying Bridge should not be the first scene. Huang Yongning was probably thrown to Sanying Bridge after being unconscious elsewhere, and finally froze to death.

The reason is to confirm the rumor that Miss Yaoguang cursed her to death.

The villagers died suddenly when they saw Wuji, and the handwriting of the deceased Huang Liangfeng was on his body. It must be attributed to the injustice in the previous life. No one suspected it, and the murderer's plan was perfectly realized.

No, they cannot be allowed to succeed.

So, where was the first scene of the murder?

When I entered the Huang family ancestral hall at midnight the day before, it was the fourth watch. Afterwards, I returned to the east building with Huang Yongning. It would not have been more than the fifth watch.

Wang Heng watched Huang Yongning enter the inner courtyard of the east building. Could it be that the first scene was in the inner courtyard?
Impossible, there are so many maids and women in the inner courtyard, and people talk too much, so it's not a good choice.

If it’s not the inner courtyard, then where else can it be?
The concierges at the main entrance and the south gate of the village said they did not see Huang Yongning go out. They were not lying. They could only show that Huang Yongning did not go out in a big way.

It seems necessary to interrogate the concierge as to who has been out. If someone is driving an ox-cart or a horse-drawn carriage with salutes when going out, the suspicion will be even greater.

Wang Heng went to the south gate first. People in Zhuangzi always use the south gate when leaving the village and going up the mountain to Sanying Bridge.

Lin Aniu, the disciple of Nanmen Gate, claimed that he had not left all day yesterday. Because the snow kept falling and it was inconvenient to walk on the road, he was too lazy to move and spent the whole day warming himself in the concierge.

There were only a few people going out of the south gate yesterday. He still remembered that there were only three people, Zhang Er's mother, Liu Daddy, and Tian San's sister-in-law. They were all small households in the village. When entering and leaving the south gate, Tian San's sister-in-law was holding a vegetable basket. The rest are empty bodies.

Of course Huang Yongning cannot be hidden in the vegetable basket, so these three people are basically not suspicious.

It is quite far from the main entrance to Sanying Bridge, but by going half way up the mountain, you can also climb to Piaomiao Peak from Sanying Bridge.

There were many people coming in and out at the main entrance, and the four gatekeepers said they couldn't remember how many there were.

Wang Heng reminded them that the focus was on the people in the east building. Who had been in and out?

The disciples thought for a long time, and one disciple said that Uncle Yan had left the main entrance early in the morning and came back in the afternoon.

Lao Yan, if he was the one who committed the crime, his status as the East Tower housekeeper would indeed be more convenient than others.

However, Lao Yan is old and senile and is no match for Huang Yongning.

Another disciple recalled that Uncle Yan drove an ox cart alone at that time. There was no lid on the ox cart, and there seemed to be piles of pig's trotters, glutinous rice cakes and other colored paper packages.The bullock cart had no cover, so it shouldn't be able to hide people. Lao Yan said that he went to Yinfeng's house in East Village. Judging from the items brought on the bullock cart, it was probably true. Lao Yan's suspicion was basically eliminated.

Wang Heng asked his disciples to think carefully and not to miss any information. One of the disciples suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said: "Seventh Young Master Wang, the Taoist priests of Zhengqingguan, just after lunch yesterday, they brought their magic weapons with them. He left Zhuangzi in a carriage."

During this day and night, I had so many thoughts that I forgot about the Taoist priest at Zhengqingguan. Yesterday afternoon, when Wang Heng went to the Diaohua Hall again, he was suspicious. Huang Yongning had said that he would do the Taoist temple for three days and three nights, so why did the ceremony end safely and early? .

"Ping'an Jiao is not a three-day and three-night dojo. Why did the Taoist priests from Zhengqingguan leave early?" Wang Heng asked.

The doorman was stunned for a moment, then replied: "This little guy doesn't know that the group of Taoist priests were riding in the company's big carriage, and the maids from the inner house of the east building were sent to the door. Master, how can I dare to ask more questions?"

"Did the four Taoist priests from Zhengqing Temple leave in a carriage? Who was driving the carriage?" Wang Heng asked.

Menzi tried hard to recall and said hesitantly: "There was a Taoist named Lingxu who seemed to have opened the curtain and revealed himself. The others didn't see clearly. The driver was a young boy with an ugly face. He was small and called "Little Man". I won’t name you, but there are a lot of people from outside Zhuangzi who come to work at the shop, and many of them I don’t know.”

Wang Heng asked: "Who is the maid in the east building who escorted the Taoist priest Zhengqingguan to the door?"

Menzi quickly replied: "It's Miss Feng."

"Miss Feng?" Wang Heng already roughly knew the names of the maids in the inner hall, but he had never heard of Miss Feng.

Menzi smiled and said, "It's Miss Feng, the eldest maid beside the uncle."

"Yinfeng?" Wang Heng asked half-convinced and half-questioned.

"That's her." Menzi nodded repeatedly, then remembered something and said, "Miss Feng left Zhuangzi not long ago with a parcel, saying she was going home to visit relatives."

This is consistent with what Uncle Yan said.

After asking again, Menzi really couldn't provide any other clues, so Wang Heng had no choice but to let them know and let him know again.

It's a long way from the main entrance of Wanhu Village to the Carved Flower Hall. Wang Heng secretly thought that if the first scene of the murder was not in the inner courtyard of the east building, then the Carved Flower Hall was also possible.

In the morning and even before lunch, there was almost no one in the Carved Flower Hall.

The Taoist priests of Zhengqing Temple killed Huang Yongning or controlled Yaofan, and then put them and their magical weapons on the carriage to leave the village, then went to Sanying Bridge and placed them under the ancient pine trees to arrange the second scene.

This inference is somewhat possible, but there is a flaw, and that is the boy driving the carriage.

How did the Taoist priests coax the servants to drive the carriage to Sanying Bridge?Even if they were deceived at the time, their crimes would still be exposed when the young man recalled the crime after the incident.

Wang Heng was thinking intently. Several servants in the village saluted him on the way, but he ignored them. As a result, there was a rumor in the village that the seventh young master Wang was so frightened by Miss Yaoguang's death curse that he had lost his mind.

(End of this chapter)