conspiracy crime 2

Chapter 21
Wu Guo stayed in the temple and searched carefully, but he didn't see any trace left by the murderer.Just as he was secretly wondering, he suddenly heard the noise of people at the gate of the temple. Dozens of policemen from the mountain had already rushed in. When they saw the magistrate stabbed a dagger in his back and died suddenly on the spot, they couldn't help being stunned, and everyone's expression changed terribly.

Wu Guo asked: "You guard the foot of the mountain, have you ever found any suspicious person going up the mountain?"

The arresters shook their heads one after another, saying: "We have been guarding the only way to go up the mountain, not to mention people, not even a mouse came up the mountain, let alone anyone going down the mountain."

Wu Guo couldn't help frowning and said: "This is strange. Just after the third watch, the chief catcher and I were attacked almost at the same time, and we were unconscious for nearly a second. After waking up, my lord has already encountered an accident. Since no one went up the mountain, Where did the murderer come from?"

A police officer said: "Could it be that the murderer hid in the mountains during the day and sneaked out at night to commit the crime?"

Wu Guo shook his head and said, "It's absolutely impossible. We have already searched the mountains during the day, and even chased away a rabbit, so there is no one hiding."

The catcher rubbed the back of his head quickly and said: "This is strange. No one goes up the mountain, nor goes down the mountain. Could it be that the murderer is just a mouse that crawls around from the ground?"

Wu Guo thought for a while and said, "Don't talk so much nonsense, let's search around again, maybe the murderer hasn't gone far."

Everyone responded, and searched separately inside and outside the temple. They even searched the belly of the Bodhisattva in the main hall and Mr. Mei's coffin carefully. No trace of the murderer was seen anywhere.

A while later, Sima Hen rushed back to the temple panting, his face and body were covered with water droplets, and he couldn't tell whether it was rain or sweat.Wu Guo quickly went up to meet him and asked, "How is it? Have you ever seen the murderer?"

Sima Hen glanced at him, wiped the drops of water off his face, frowned and shook his head, and said, "I chased ten miles to the east, south, and west, but there was no one at all. I also looked at the cliff facing the river in the north, and there was nothing unusual The murderer came in a strange way, and went in a strange way." After speaking, he looked at him again, and his eyes were a little strange.

Wu Guo sighed and asked, "Then what should we do now?"

Sima Hen looked at his father-in-law who had died on the ground, his face twitched, he was extremely sad, he turned around and said: "This is the end, let's take you back to the county office first."

At some point, the rain outside the house had stopped, but the wind was still blowing. After the rain, the wind was even colder, until it reached people's hearts.The policemen tore down a temple door, placed the magistrate's body sideways on the door panel, and carried it out.

Sima Hen quickly issued three orders to the arresters: "First, take your lord back to the county government office, and ask him to do an autopsy; second, notify Mrs. Mei Hua's family, as well as the clumsy Jingmei Nuxue; Wrote the accident into a document and sent it overnight to the prefect of Jingnan Prefecture, Han Qingshan, Mr. Han, asking him to come forward and deal with everything."

All the arresters took notes seriously, nodded together, and one of them looked at him curiously: "Chief arrester, what about you, won't you go back to the county government office with us?"

Sima Hen's eyes were red, he sighed, and said: "I'm not going back for now, I want to search the mountain with Wu Butou, maybe we can find some clues to find the murderer." After speaking, he glanced at Wu Guo.

Wu Guo knew that he didn't want to see the sad scene of his young and beautiful mother-in-law Hua Xiangrong suddenly becoming a widow and his wife Mei Nuxue crying after learning the news of his father's death, so he didn't want to go back for the time being.It's inconvenient to point it out face to face, so I just nodded and said: "Exactly, the head catcher and I want to stay and watch the scene, everyone go back first."

The arresters quickly carried Mei Ruofeng's body and walked down the mountain slowly.

4
When Sima Hen and Wu Guo returned to the county government office, it was dawn and the wind had died down, but the sky was still gloomy, as if the whole sky would collapse at any moment.

The noisy yamen has gradually quieted down.

The two walked straight to the morgue.

In the morgue, there is always a lingering strange smell. Mei Ruofeng's body is parked in the middle of the room. The autopsy has been completed, and the dagger on his back has been pulled out. The body is lying flat on the wooden board, with a pale face. , but his expression was peaceful, as if he had fallen asleep.

There is a woman kneeling on the left side of the corpse, in her twenties, she has already cried like a tearful person, she is Mei Ruofeng's daughter and Sima Hen's wife Mei Nuxue.

Kneeling on the right is a middle-aged beautiful woman, her body is slightly fatter, she is about 30 years old, but she is not crying, she just holds Mei Ruofeng's hand tightly, watching his face in a daze, her eyes are empty and mournful , as if the whole heart has been hollowed out.No tears on the face, but tears in the heart, maybe this is the deepest and most miserable pain in the world.She is Mei Ruofeng's wife, Sima Hen's young mother-in-law Hua Xiangrong.

Seeing Sima Hen, the two women suddenly rushed towards him at the same time, and one of them pulled his skirt and asked loudly: "How did you become a chief arrester? My father is under your nose, and he was murdered, murdered!" ..." Before he could finish the following words, the gazes of reproach and questioning shot over like sharp arrows.

The other said nothing, but burst into tears of grief and grief.Silent questioning may be the most severe accusation in the world.

One is the wife whose father died, and the other is the mother-in-law whose husband died. Sima Henwuyan faced the sharp sword-like eyes of the two women, his head was lowered, and his face turned green and white, as if he had killed them with his own hands. Just like the murderer of his own father-in-law.

Wu Tai couldn't bear it, he hurriedly winked at a little girl in blue clothes behind Hua Xiangrong, the little girl was Qingmei, Hua Xiangrong's personal maid.

Qingmei understood what he meant, and hurried up to help Hua Xiangrong and Mei Nuxue aside.

Wu Guo took the opportunity to intervene and persuade: "Mrs. Mei, Mrs. Sima, in fact, it is no wonder that the chief arrester is the reason for this incident. The murderer was too cunning, he knocked us both unconscious beforehand, and when we woke up, it was too late. "

The two women wanted to say something more, but Sima Hen suddenly raised his head, his eyes were like lightning, and he glanced coldly.

Sima Hen cleared his throat, looking businesslike, and said to Hua Xiangrong: "Mrs. Mei, Mrs. Mei died strangely. We have already sent a letter to Mr. Han, the magistrate of Jingnan, asking him to come forward to uphold justice. Lord Japan and Han will be there soon. But before Lord Han arrives, I want to go to Lord Mei’s residence and see if I can find some clues.”

Hua Xiangrong sighed, choked up and said: "Everyone is already dead, so what's the use of finding the murderer, can the master still come back to life?... If you want to see it, go and see, the doors of the rooms are all open, Only his study room is never allowed to enter, and he is the only one who holds the key, as you know."

Sima Hen nodded and said: "I see, Madam, please mourn, I believe we will find the murderer." He raised his head and told Qingmei, "Take good care of Madam."

Suddenly remembered something, turned around and shouted: "Where is the fifth watch?"

A thin and wizened yamen servant came out behind him and said, "Here is my humble position."

The name of this lean man was Wu Geng, and he was an office worker in the county government office, who also served as the steward of the mortuary.

Sima Hen confessed: "You should seal Lord Mei's body with ice first, so that the mourning will not be held for now, and everything will be decided after the magistrate comes."

Wu Geng bowed to accept the order and said, "I understand the humble job."

Sima Hen looked at Wu Guo, and said: "Take a few people, and come with me to the adult's residence."

Wu nodded in agreement.

Mei Ruofeng's mansion is on the cross street in the south of the city, three streets away from the county government.

Sima Hen and Wu Guo led five police officers and went all the way.

The sad news of Mei Ruofeng's tragic death had already been spread back home, and there was a sad atmosphere in Mei's residence.

The old butler, Mayfow, received the uncle who was on business.

Sima Hen explained the purpose of his visit, and the old housekeeper led everyone into the house.

Mei Ruofeng was not a ostentatious person before his death, so the Mei Mansion was not too big, but there were dozens of rooms, large and small.

The old butler bent his back and bent his waist, leading the officials from the lobby to the living room to the bedroom to the wing, looking over one by one.

The wing room is very delicately furnished, and there is a faint fragrance of powder inside.

The old housekeeper said: "This is the boudoir of the lady before she left the pavilion. The things inside are the same as when the lady was at home. The lady said that she wanted to tear it down, but the master forbade it. He said that the lady can still live in it when she returns to her mother's house."

Sima Hen nodded and said, "I know this."

When they got to the kitchen, they found two big shad on the stove.

Mei Fu said: "When the master and his wife had dinner last night, they ate this shad from the Yangtze River. The master said that this shad soup was very fragrant and fresh, so he ordered the kitchen to make two more for lunch the next day. Who knows The shad was bought back, but the master..." At this point, the circles of his eyes turned red, and there were tears in his old eyes.

Sima Hen sighed and asked, "Do you usually like to eat shad?"

The old housekeeper shook his head and said, "Master usually eats it too, but he doesn't like it very much. Madam likes it, saying that this shad soup can nourish yin and beautify the skin."

Sima Hen asked the cook again: "Is there any special seasoning added to the shad soup that the master ate last night?"

The cook shook his head and said, "No, it's the same as before. It's all stewed shad soup."

Sima Hen frowned, turned to a fast catcher and said, "Take these two shad back to the yamen, and have them inspect them carefully."

The catcher quickly said: "Yes." Put the two shad in a bag and hold it in his hand.

When the cook saw that Sima Hen suspected that there was something wrong with the shad soup he made, he couldn't help but turn pale with fright, but then he thought, the master was killed in a ruined temple on a barren mountain, no matter what, the shad soup he made would be the same as mine Soup has nothing to do with it.This is a little reassuring.

Then the old housekeeper showed Sima Hen another two houses, and then came to Mei Ruofeng's study.

The environment of the study is quiet, and there are several plum blossoms planted on the porch in front of the door, but it is a pity that it is not yet the blooming season.

The door was locked, and Mayfow said: "The key is always with the master."

Sima Hen said, "It's okay."

Taking a look at Wu Guo, Wu Guo understood, immediately stepped forward, grabbed the copper lock on the door with one hand, twisted it hard, the lock immediately changed shape, and opened in response.

Mei Fu didn't know martial arts, seeing him showing this skill, he couldn't help but turned pale in shock, thinking that fortunately this young man is a servant and not a thief, otherwise there would still be locks he couldn't break to steal. Is there something out of hand?

Sima Hen led the crowd into the study and said, "Everyone search carefully, but don't mess up the books inside."

The study room is very large, but the three large bookcases standing around the wall have taken up more than half of the space.

The crowd dispersed and looked around.

Sima Hen walked to the bookcase and flipped through the books inside one by one.

When I looked through the second bookcase, I found a sandalwood box inside, with a label on the outside, which read the title of "Zi Zhi Tong Jian", which turned out to be a set of boxed books.

He casually took it off the bookshelf, but found that the wooden box was extremely light, and it didn't look like it was full of books. Curious, he opened it and found that there were no books inside, but two pieces of red cloth. I took it out and saw that it turned out to be two red bellybands, trimmed with lace, embroidered with a few snowfalls and a plum blossom in full bloom, very vivid and beautiful.

Sima Hen's face changed slightly, he glanced left and right from the corner of his eyes, quietly put the two red bellybands into his arms, put the boxes back, turned around and said, "Have you ever found anything suspicious?"

Everyone shook their heads and said no.Sima Hen said, "Then let's look elsewhere."

Walking out of the study room, turning around and twisting the brass lock, the lock returned to its original state and locked the door of the study room.

Everyone went to the last two remaining houses to have a look, but found nothing, so they had to go back to the county government office.

In the afternoon, Wu Zuo inspected the two shad inside and out, and reported that there was nothing abnormal.

After a noisy investigation for a long time, there was no clue at all, and the arresters couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

Sima Hen also had no idea at the moment, so he ordered people to guard the four gates and strictly interrogated people who came in and out.

5
At noon the next day, someone suddenly came to report that Mr. Han, the magistrate of Jingnan, had arrived.

In Qingyang County Yamen, since the county magistrate Mei Ruofeng was accidentally assassinated and died, all judicial matters such as the investigation, arrest, prison and imprisonment in the county were handled by the chief arrester, Sima Hen. Represented by the county magistrate.

Sima Hen's official rank is the ninth rank, while Lu Wenchao, the county magistrate, is the eighth rank. Although the two have no affiliation, but in terms of rank, Sima Hen is one level lower than the county magistrate Lu, so when they met, they had to say "" grown ups".

At present, Lu Wenchao, the magistrate of the county, heard the news, took the master book, Sima Hen, Wu Guo and others, and rushed out to greet him.

As soon as he arrived at the gate of the county government office, Mr. Han Qingshan, the magistrate of Jingnan, got off his sedan chair and walked in.Lu Xiancheng and others hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects.

That Han Qingshan is over half a hundred years old, with a purple face, three long beards that move without wind, and a pair of tiger eyes that are not angry and majestic, extremely majestic.

Mr. Han came in a hurry, with a light car and a simple car, except for the four bearers, he only brought two guards and a subordinate who looked like a teacher in a long gown with a sparse beard.

Most of the people in the county yamen know this subordinate, he is a famous doctor in Jingnan Prefecture, everyone calls him Doctor Yi, but no one knows what his real name is.

Doctor Yi and Mr. Han even made friends. When they are busy, they hang pots to help the world, cure diseases and save people.

Zhifu Han nodded slightly at the crowd, walked inside without saying a word.

Lu Xiancheng hurriedly followed him, led him to the guest house that had already been cleaned up, and assigned people to arrange for Mr. Han and his entourage to stay.

He originally thought that Mr. Han would have to rest for a night when he came this afternoon, and he would ask about the case tomorrow, and he was about to order the kitchen to serve the dishes and greet him, but the magistrate just sat down, took a sip of tea, and said: "President Lu , Qingyang county government has such a big case, the government has to come here in person. Please tell me the whole story of Mr. Mei's accident in detail, there must be no mistakes."

Lu Xiancheng was slightly startled, and looked up to see the magistrate's eyes were shining on him like lightning, he couldn't help but trembled, and hurriedly bowed and stood in front of Mr. Han, from Qingyang County's chief arrester Sima Hen and arrester Wu Speaking of receiving a life-threatening letter from the murderer flying a knife in the criminal room, he recounted in detail what he had learned from Sima Hen from the beginning to the end.

Master Han frowned when he heard this, he didn't say a word, thought for a while, then raised his eyes suddenly, looked at him and asked: "It has been two days since the crime happened, has the murderer been caught?"

When Lu Xiancheng heard the magistrate asking about this matter, cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The imperial court ordered the official of the county to die in the middle of the night. The murderer is still unknown. If he tells the truth, the magistrate will definitely blame him. But he was afraid that he would not be able to escape the magistrate's breathtaking eyes, so he froze on the spot for a moment, his heart was pounding and he didn't know how to respond.

At this moment, a person behind him stepped forward, cupped his hands and said: "Master Zhifu, I have something to say about my humble position."

Han Qingshan was slightly startled, looked at him and asked: "Are you..."

The man replied: "The humble Sima Hen is the head arrester of the Qingyang County Government's Water and Land Division. Mr. Mei is not only a humble boss, but also a humble father-in-law."

Han Qingshan smiled slightly, looked him up and down and said, "Oh, so you are Sima Hen, the arresting head of the Qingyang County Yamen. I have heard of your name a long time ago. I heard that there is no one in Qingyang County that you, a god, can't catch. In this case, Mrs. Mei also married her only daughter to you because she admired your abilities, isn't that true?"

Sima Hen's face was reddish, but there was a hint of color in his heart, and he hurriedly said: "My lord, thank you."

Han Qingshan asked: "What do you have to say?"

Sima Hen said: "After these two days of open and unannounced visits, I have already figured out who is the murderer who assassinated Lord Mei."

As soon as this remark came out, everyone was shocked, and everyone looked at him with suspicious eyes.Mr. Han asked: "Oh, according to your investigation, who is the murderer?"

Sima Hen glanced out of the corner of his eyes, hesitated for a moment, showed embarrassment, and said: "Please forgive me for being rude, my lord, there are too many people here, so as not to leak the news and alarm the murderer, I dare not come here Make it clear. However, the humble official has already written the name of the murderer and his criminal evidence in a document, and submitted it together, please read it." After speaking, he took out a confidential letter from his sleeve and presented it with both hands.

Han Qingshan nodded slightly, and reached out to take it.Sima Hen said again: "My lord, please read it carefully, I don't want to disturb you, please leave first, if you want to order me to do anything, I will be there for you."

As he spoke, he waved his hand, led Wu Guo and other subordinates, and retreated together.

Lu Xiancheng was shocked and suspicious, but he didn't dare to explode in front of the magistrate, and hurriedly led the chief secretary and others to bow and retreat.After leaving the room, he immediately trotted all the way, wanting to catch up with Sima Hen and asked him who the murderer of Master Mei was, how he found out, and why he didn't tell him earlier.But Sima Hen of the county magistrate didn't wait for him at all, he strode like flying, he had already gone far.

Besides, Prefect Han, after everyone had left, opened the secret letter presented by Sima Hen and read it carefully.I saw it said:

Jingnan Prefecture Governor Han Master’s Taijian:
The humble Sima hates it, and it is inconvenient for others to speak out when something happens, so I boldly submit a letter, please forgive me.

According to the meticulous investigation and scouting of the past few days, the murderer who killed Mrs. Mei has been found.

On the night of the ninth day of March, Master Mei paid homage to his deceased father at the Minghuang Temple on Jiangjun Mountain in the north of the city. ghost.

But that night, the police guarding the intersection at the foot of the mountain and the archers ambushing on the side of the road were all in groups of three or five, not only taking care of each other, but also monitoring each other. If any one of them wants to act alone, the others must know.Therefore, it is unlikely that any of these two groups of people committed the crime.

Besides the catcher and the archer, there were only three people on the mountain at that time: Mrs. Mei, Xieqian and his assistant, and the head catcher Wu Guo.Mrs. Mei was the victim, and Beizhi was also knocked out when the crime happened. There is only one person left, only Wu Guo.

It was about the third watch when the humble position was attacked, and it was the fourth watch when he woke up.One time is more than enough for a person with martial arts skills to kill a powerless court official.

After Baizhi woke up, Wu Guo said that he was also stunned after being attacked, but he woke up a moment earlier than Beizhi.

I feel that this statement is very suspicious.

At that time, we both hid in two big pine trees to protect Mrs. Mei. The pine tree I lived in was in front, and he hid in a pine tree behind. The principle that the person in front strikes first and the person behind is alert.What he said didn't make sense.This is one.

(End of this chapter)