"My lord, please wake up!"
Early the next morning, Li Mobai was woken up by his master Zhuge Lei.
Last night, Li Mobai sorted out all the clues and thought about it, and fell asleep without knowing it.
"Don't disturb me, it's still early, let me sleep a little longer!"
Li Mobai struggled to continue sleeping.
When Zhuge Lei saw this, he shouted: "Sir, something happened, wake up quickly, there is a major progress in the case!"
When Li Mobai heard this, he suddenly lost all sleepiness. He hurriedly sat up and asked: "What major progress? Tell me about it!"
Zhuge Lei said: "After Mr. Sun's interrogation, the murderer has been caught, and it is an official named Dong!"
Li Mobai frowned tightly when he heard this. He hurriedly put on his clothes and went to find Sun Juzheng.
He felt something was very wrong. Yesterday, he clearly knew through reasoning and analysis that the blood letter with the word "Dong" was deliberately framed by the murderer. Why did he say that he had caught the murderer named "Dong" today?
Li Mobai called Shang Yanqi, and Zhuge Lei followed them. The three of them soon arrived at the government office where Sun Juzheng was.
The guarding soldiers saw Magistrate Li yesterday and let him in.
"Master Sun, I heard that the murderer was caught?"
Li Mobai asked immediately after entering the door.
Sun Juzheng did have some appreciation for Li Mobai, and he also valued Li Mobai's family relationship. So he smiled and said: "Yes, Mr. Li, we have made this case complicated! Yesterday I asked my men to investigate and found the murderer of this case. He is Dong Huairen, who was in charge of this provincial examination together with me. The night of the incident , he happened to find Mei Lan."
Li Mobai puzzled: "But this does not prove that the murderer is Dong Huairen! Didn't we infer that the word "Dong" was not written by the deceased?"
Sun Juzheng stopped Li Mobai: "Originally, I thought so too, but I didn't expect Dong Huairen to actually plead guilty. He has already admitted that he is the murderer. It seems that we have overthought it. The word "Dong" was written by Mei Lan."
"This is impossible..."
Li Mobai wanted to say something more, but Sun Juzheng no longer wanted to listen to him anymore.
Now that the murderers have confessed, there is no need to continue investigating the case.
Li Mobai also glanced at Yan Qi at this time. He thought that others might believe the answer, but Yan Qi would definitely be able to see the problem.
Li Mobai pulled Yan Qi into the courtyard and said, "What do you think of this case? How could the murderer be Dong Huairen? The blood letter was clearly forged by the murderer!"
Yan Qidao: "This matter is indeed strange! However, since Dong Huairen has confessed, he may have written the word "Dong" himself. I wanted to do the opposite and rule out the possibility of him being the murderer! But after interrogation, , it’s better to show off your flaws!”
"Write your own surname to exclude yourself from suspicion. Isn't that smart?"
Li Mobai felt that what Yan Qi said was still far-fetched.
He suddenly felt very lonely, and now everyone thought Dong Huairen was the murderer.
Even Mr. Seven, whom he has always valued, thinks so!
Everyone was in the joy of closing the case, but only he felt that the case was becoming more complicated and confusing.
No matter what others do, he must find out the real murderer.
The truth is what matters!
The truth must come out!
Li Mobai thought to himself that the reason why Sun Juzheng did not continue the thorough investigation was precisely because he belonged to the second prince!
And Dong Huairen, a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, happened to be the confidant of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!
We can use this case to bring down the important figures under the prince! Naturally, Sun Juzheng would not miss such a rare opportunity!
Could it be that Dong Huairen was beaten into a crime?
Thinking of this, Li Mobai wanted to visit Dong Huairen in person and question him carefully.
He then asked Sun Juzheng: "Master Sun, can you allow me to go to the state prison to visit Dong Huairen? I want to ask him a few words!"
Local prisons in the Song Dynasty refer to prisons established at the state and county levels. Local administrative agencies are at state and county levels.
The size of prisons varies greatly from state to state, but each state generally has two prisons, namely the state prison and the governor's prison.
General county-level prisons, such as Dongping County, only have six cells and are much smaller.
Because Dong Huairen was an official of the imperial court, and he was also the deputy examiner appointed by the Holy Emperor this time. The case was personally tried by Sun Juzheng of the Ministry of Punishment, so Dong Huairen was imprisoned in the nearby state prison in Dongping County.
Sun Juzheng looked at Li Mobai and couldn't guess what he wanted to do, so he said: "This case is over, don't add any more complications!"
Li Mobai contradicted: "Master Sun, there are still doubts in this case! This case also involves a court official, how can it be easily closed? If the investigation is not clear and the case is overturned in the future, Master Sun may also be implicated!"
"you!"
Sun Ju was so angry that his beard almost stood up, but he still had some appreciation for Li Mobai, and he also felt that the case was very strange.
He thought for a while and then said: "Okay, go ahead! But if you gain anything, you must report it to me in time!"
"Let's go together!"
Li Mobai took Yan Qi with him, and Zhuge Lei followed behind them. The three men each rode a fast horse and headed towards the state prison.
Sun Juzheng sent one of his men to lead them.
Dongping County is not far from the prefectural prison, and a few people arrived at the prison in a short time.
The place is damp, dark, and smells sour. The cells are filled with disheveled prisoners. When they see someone coming in, they all shout randomly.
Li Mobai and others ignored him and walked all the way in. They finally arrived at the cell where Dong Huairen was being held.
Dong Huairen was wearing prison uniform and his hands were handcuffed with iron chains. He was lying on a bed made of hay.
"Dong Huairen!" Li Mobai shouted.
Dong Huairen looked over after hearing the sound: "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
Li Mobai originally guessed that Dong Huairen had been beaten into submission, but when he arrived here, he found that Dong Huairen's clothes were neat and his body was intact.
This is obviously not a surrender!
Li Mobai had no choice but to get straight to the point: "Master Dong, I know that the murderer of Mei Lan was definitely not you! Why do you have to plead guilty?"
