Chapter 357 Plum Blossom Cake (4)

The two hurriedly sorted out the clues and left the Dali Temple Yamen. While walking on the road, they were still talking about the case. They waited until they reached the Jingyun Marquis Mansion. When they saw the closed gate of the Marquis Mansion, they remembered that they had forgotten to tell Zhao You in advance.

"It's broad daylight, but the door of the Hou Mansion is closed..." Liu Yuan looked at the Duke's Mansion opposite, which was also closed, and said "Huh" and asked curiously, "People from the two houses are not at home?"

Bai Zhu looked at the carriages coming and going on the street, frowned and thought: "It's the end of the year, and many yamen have canceled their unused annual leave in advance. Could it be that the whole family is traveling to visit relatives?"

Liu Yuan opened his mouth and was about to speak when a faint voice came from the side door. The two looked at each other and hurriedly turned to the side door.

But the side door was opened, and the steward of the Hou Mansion was talking to a mother and son. The two people were dressed very simply and carried packages on their backs. They seemed to be newly recruited servants and servants.

The two of them walked closer and listened to the steward talking to the mother and son: "If you are safe, please go into our second son's courtyard, and Sister Xiang will go to the outer courtyard. Is that okay?"

The mother and son nodded repeatedly and thanked them. Judging from their accents, they seemed to be from the villages and counties near Chang'an. The mother and son looked like farmers, but they seemed to know how to work.

This is a family matter of the Hou family and has nothing to do with them. But just after listening to the steward's arrangements, the newly recruited servant was placed in Lin Shaoqing's yard, and the two of them were a little surprised.

Lin Shaoqing's temperament is different from that of the ordinary high-ranking old clan children. He has no more than two servants around him, and they wait outside the hospital all year round and rarely go inside. This has been even more true since entering the Yamen of Dali Temple. Lin Shaoqing himself once said that there is no need to make faces, for fear of something unexpected happening.

It is always better to take precautions before they happen than to make amends after they happen.

Now that he heard the arrangements of the steward of the Hou Mansion, Liu Yuan couldn't help but call him. The steward knew the two of them, and when he saw them approaching, he bent down and saluted.

Before he could speak, Liu Yuan asked: "Did you know that if you arrange someone to go to Lin Shaoqing's courtyard, you will meet us, Lin Shaoqing?"

When the steward heard this, he hurriedly said: "It was arranged by the Second Young Master." He paused and then said, "The Second Young Master is a man of his own opinion. If not, how could I dare to go beyond him and arrange these things randomly?"

Hearing this, Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu were even more surprised. They glanced at the new boy named "Ping An" on the side again: he was dark and thin. Seeing the two people looking at him, he quickly grinned and showed a mouthful. White Teeth has a clean and honest smile, but he is not dull. He imitates the appearance of taking care of things, hurriedly salutes, and shouts "I have met you, sir."

The two of them nodded at him. Although they were confused, they did not ask any more questions about the matter. Instead, they explained their purpose to the steward: "The two of us have something to see Lin Shaoqing. Seeing that the door of the Hou Mansion is closed, is Lin Shaoqing there?" In the mansion?"

Hearing this, the steward hurriedly smiled and said, "Today, both families went to the temple outside the city to offer incense. The second young master was not feeling well, so he did not follow him out of the city." Without waiting for the two of them to speak, he called for someone to take Ping An's mother and son down. , then led the way for the two of them.

The two people who didn't want to ask "Why is Shangfeng feeling unwell" could only swallow their words for the time being and followed the steward to see Lin Fei.

The steward brought the two of them and left. Lin Fei, who was sitting there flipping through an unknown book, raised his head and looked at the two of them.

Liu Yuan looked at Lin Fei, who had a normal expression and was playing with a silver ingot in his hand, and couldn't help but ask: "Lin Shaoqing, the steward said you are not feeling well..."

Before Liu Yuan could finish speaking, Lin Fei interrupted Liu Yuan's words and said calmly: "In recent days, all the temples and Taoist temples outside the city have become Yuelao Temple. The few handkerchiefs my mother has made have all brought their daughters of the right age. My nieces and nephews are going to burn incense, so why should I join in the fun?"

Liu Yuan looked at the indifferent Lin Fei and said to himself that this excitement was probably just for you, but then he thought about it, Shang Feng said it so clearly, how could he not know the true intention of offering incense, so he stopped talking. .

She lamented that fortunately she had a childhood sweetheart in her family, and they had already made a marriage arrangement early. Otherwise, it would be like Lin Shaoqing, who was constantly being urged in the first three days. His family meant well, but they didn't want to wrong him for the rest of his life. It would be a headache to randomly find someone to spend the rest of his life with.

I came here not to meddle in Shangfeng's personal affairs, but to deal with the case.

The two of them calmed down, sat down and took the tea from Shangfeng. After drinking it in one gulp and moistening their throats, they summarized what they had gained from running around in the past few days and the clues they had sorted out. This case was weird and it seemed like someone was involved. I talked about the arrangements.

Lin Fei listened calmly, and did not frown even when the two men mentioned that there seemed to be an invisible hand secretly manipulating them.

After the two of them had finished speaking, he spoke and said, "The reason why the case is so messy is because several cases were intertwined into this one case at the same time."

Is this... They also guessed it. Liu Yuandong and Bai Zhu listened and did not ask Lin Fei, but listened to Lin Fei continue talking.

"Although Sun and Lu, like Manager Mao, have a large amount of unexplained money, they are not considered 'steward Mao'. At most, they can only be regarded as two 'Feng Tong'." Lin Fei's voice was calm, but There is no doubt that the case involving these two people is completely clear.

The stone-cutting tools dug out from the Qian family's garden have been brought back to Dali Temple, and compared with the cross-section of Feng Tong's body, they were found to be consistent.

In this way, it is confirmed that Liu Sanqing provided the dismemberment equipment. In addition, Qian Chengyi and Zhang Wulin ran away, and Feng Tong "ran away from home" in the days after Feng Tong's accident. It is very likely that Qian Chengyi was the one who killed Feng Tong. Liu Sanqing, who provided the equipment, and Zhang Wulin, who ran away, should be the ones who instigated Qian Chengyi to kill.

"Sun and Lu were not directly involved in Feng Tong's death, but they were aware of it." Lin Fei said, handed over the opened book in his hand, and said, "Look at this."

Since just now, they have been curious about the book Lin Shaoqing was reading being pushed over. Looking at the open book on the table, the two of them were startled and said, "This is..."

"A book borrowed from Qintian Prison to record celestial phenomena." Lin Fei said, pointing to one of the records and tapping lightly, "More than twenty years ago, there was a blood moon phenomenon."

Folk rumors say that when the blood moon appears and the energy is exhausted, it is like falling into purgatory.

Naturally, people are not allowed to spread such visions, which are regarded as ominous by the people. During the reign of the late emperor, no one was allowed to speak about this vision. All books containing records of this image among the people were regarded as forbidden books and were destroyed.

After the Blood Moon, the late emperor, who was already obsessed with the affairs of gods and Buddhas, became even more obsessed with this way and was out of control. Most of them still had the intention of seeking immortality and asking for immortality. Although rumors among the people were not allowed, records were still left in the Qin Tian Prison, which obviously attracted the late emperor's attention.

Lin Fei pointed out that this record was certainly not about discussing the vision. Dali Temple did not care whether it was a vision or not. He pointed at the vision and said to the two of them, "Do you still remember the inkstone that Zhang Wulin took away?"

Red moon and clear mud inkstone!

Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu both felt a thump in their hearts, and they immediately realized: Could it be that the inkstone refers to the Blood Moon?

Thinking about this, he quickly lowered his head and looked at the record book in Qin Tian Prison: He wanted to see when the blood moon occurred, but was shocked to find that the record book did not mark the specific year, but only recorded the day. Which year is the Mid-Autumn Festival?

Qin Tianjian has been established for a long time, and it is a common practice to mark the year. This book has been marked before and after. However, in the ten years ago from 20 to 30 years ago, the records in this book did not record the year.

Could it be an oversight? It was an oversight, and it must have been the late emperor's instruction.

Lin Fei turned the silver ingot he was playing with upside down and placed it in front of the two of them: "Although rumors are not allowed, there are no records. But everyone can see this kind of vision hanging in the sky. It is very impressive when you think about it. If you ask, you will know that it is Chengping four years."

The bottom of the upside-down silver ingot is engraved with the four-year mark of the finished product. It is obviously an official silver from that year. It is not known where Lin Shaoqing found it.

Of course, although an official silver coin dating more than 20 years ago is rare, it is not impossible to obtain.

The two looked at each other, then looked away, and then asked Lin Fei: "What did Lin Shaoqing, Zhang Wulin and others do in the fourth year of Chengping?"

"After you return to Dali Temple, go to the warehouse and look for a case in the fourth year of Chengping. I remember that there was a robbery case in the fourth year of Chengping." Lin Fei closed his eyes and recalled, "It happened in official circles, and a wealthy businessman The whole family, including the young and old, and the servants who followed were all killed. When the government arrived, only one coachman was left alive, and he died after giving a testimony."

"According to what the coachman said before he died, there were five robbers. Since it was just an ordinary robbery case at first, the Jingzhao Mansion took over it first. After some investigation, we learned from the passers-by who passed through the official road that day, After these five people left, they disguised themselves as wealthy businessmen and left with several cars of the wealthy businessmen's belongings." Lin Fei said, "The actions of those five people can not be called bold, and they have also encountered them on official roads. The officers and soldiers on patrol. Because these cars of belongings were really eye-catching, the officers and soldiers conducted an investigation. The men claimed to be five sworn brothers of the opposite sex. They had made some money doing business outside and were rushing back to their hometown. Because I disguised myself with several people, but I couldn't find anyone. However, during the cross-examination, from the names of those people called "eldest brother and second brother", we can know that there is one named Su, one named Lu, and one named Liu... "

Hearing this, Liu Yuan and Bai Zhu suddenly became excited: "Is it possible..."

Lin Fei said "hmm", took out a few letters from under the book borrowed from Qintian Prison, and said: "These are letters exchanged between Liu Sanqing, Su Fuhai and Lu Yuanlin. The handwriting can be read." , can’t be fake.”

"So, these were the people who robbed and killed the wealthy businessman back then?" Bai Zhu thought for a moment and nodded, "If that's the case, it would be right based on the ages of these people: Su Fuhai is the oldest, followed by Lu Yuanlin. , next is Liu Sanqing, and next...it should be Hu Siming and Zhang Wulin. Qian Chengyi is just a thug, he is younger than Zhang Wulin, so he can't match up."

So... everything seems to make sense.

Can……

"Lin Shaoqing, where did this letter come from?" Liu Yuan looked at this crucial letter in confusion, and the feeling of being arranged for this case in advance swept over him again: the murderer, the suspect, and the evidence themselves were all like this. It was delivered to your door.