Li Mobai, Li Hu and Su Moli, because of their verbal speculation, were like three freed birds, soaring wantonly in the drunken sky.
Su Moli seemed to have a lot on his mind. He, Li Mobai and Li Hu frequently clinked glasses to drink away their sorrows, trying to drink away the sorrow in their hearts.
Li Mobai and Li Hu were also tired these days. At this time, they also shed their usual fatigue and drank with Su Moli, feeling very drunk.
The three of them were finally carried back to the county government office by a few waiters from Tianxialou. They were drunk enough to fall asleep, and several of them fell into a deep dream.
It wasn't until the dawn of the next day that I slowly woke up from my dream.
What woke Li Mobai up was Li Feiyan's brisk and urgent voice.
"Sir, wake up! Someone reported a crime outside, waiting for you to come to court to solve the case!" Li Feiyan shook Li Mobai.
"Don't shake me, let me sleep a little longer, just for a while..."
Li Mobai muttered drowsily, but his eyelids were as heavy as lead balls.
"You've slept long enough, wake up!"
Li Feiyan simply lifted Li Mobai's quilt, and the cold wind blew, causing him to wake up from his dream in an instant.
Li Mobai had no choice but to shake his head helplessly and started to get up and get dressed.
"This county magistrate is really tired. He doesn't even have a holiday. How come there are cases every day!"
Li Mobai was neatly dressed, and after briefly washing up, he went to the court with Li Feiyan.
Everyone had been waiting for a long time. An old man and a young man were kneeling in the hall. Li Mobai took a closer look and felt that they looked familiar.
"You are that...yes, aren't you the groom yesterday? I saw you in a restaurant and we just got married yesterday. Why did you come to the county government to report the crime today?"
Li Mobai asked curiously.
Before the young man could reply, the butler beside him spoke first.
"Returning to the county magistrate, my young master came to report the case today precisely for this matter. Yesterday's wedding originally went smoothly, but at night, when my young master returned to the new house, he found that the bride was missing!"
Master Li Feiyan stood next to Li Mobai and spoke first: "The bride is missing, you should send people to find her quickly! Do you still want Master Li to help you find the bride?"
At this time, the young man in the hall spoke.
"Sir, if it was just a simple disappearance of the bride, the grassroots would send people to search for it. But now the bride was kidnapped by the flower picker, so we came to report the crime. I beg Mr. Qingtian to uphold justice for the grassroots!"
"What, the flower picker?"
Li Mobai was surprised when he heard this.
Yesterday, Su Moli was still chasing the flower-picking thief, and he had just arrived at the border of Dongping County. I never thought that the flower-picking thief would commit another crime today, which was really unexpected.
Originally, Li Mobai was still thinking about how to take precautions, but now it seems that it is too late.
"Yes, sir, this flower-picking thief is really too rampant."
Li Mobai leaned forward and asked, "Wait a minute, how did you know that it was the flower picker who kidnapped the bride?"
The groom replied: "Sir, this flower-picking thief is a habitual criminal. I heard that he escaped to Dongping just yesterday. It is said that every time the thief robs a woman, he will leave a plum blossom behind. Last night when the grassroots returned to the new house, the bride was gone. , but there happens to be a plum blossom on the bed."
The housekeeper added: "After the bride disappeared last night, we have sent people to search everywhere, but unfortunately there is still no trace. After learning about the situation this morning, we hurriedly came to report the case. Master Li is the parent of Qingtian, Dongping County. With your wisdom, The bride will definitely be rescued. It is said that every time the flower-picking thief commits a crime, he will brutally humiliate the woman to death! Such behavior is really heinous!"
Li Mobai looked at their anxious faces and felt some sympathy in his heart.
The bride's misfortune is a huge blow to the groom and the entire family.
Even if the bride can be rescued in the end, I am afraid that her innocence will be damaged and her future marriage will no longer be happy.
So Li Mobai said: "Then let's go to the scene to check!"
The groom and the steward hurriedly got up and led the way.
Because the case did not involve human life and no autopsy was needed, Li Mobai asked Yan Qi to stay at the county government office. He took Li Feiyan, Wang Erhu, and Little Goat to the scene of the crime.
Li Hu didn't wake up because he was hungover, so Li Mobai didn't wake him up. Yan Qi was left to take care of him at the county government office in case of any emergencies.
At this time, Su Moli happened to be waiting at the door. He witnessed everything that just happened and decided to participate in the investigation of the case.
Li Mobai knew that Su Moli was very skilled in martial arts, and with his help in catching the flower-picking thief, he would get twice the result with half the effort.
So, he nodded slightly and said, "Then there is Young Master Lao Su."
Not long after, everyone arrived at the groom's mansion.
The groom's name is Chen Moyun, and he is also a son of a wealthy family in Dongping County. After they arrived, the master of the Chen family also heard the news and accompanied Li Mobai to investigate.
After entering the new house, Li Mobai carefully observed everything on the scene with burning eyes. He asked cautiously: "Has anyone touched the items in the room?"
The groom Chen Moyun immediately replied: "My lord, everything in this room is as before. The common people have long heard that Mr. Li is very perceptive and good at finding clues from the smallest details, so he has specially preserved the integrity of the scene to ensure that nothing has been moved."
Li Mobai nodded and glanced around with burning eyes. The branch of plum blossom on the bed lay there quietly, untouched in the slightest.
Li Feiyan gently picked up the plum blossom and looked at it carefully.
She found that the plum blossoms seemed to have some signs of damage, with a touch of being ravaged. She couldn't help but ask: "Have you ever touched this plum blossom?"
Everyone shook their heads and replied eagerly: "I have never touched it, and I don't even dare to touch it."
Li Feiyan thought in her mind that the plum blossom looked like it was caught in the lapel and taken away. However, after thinking about it, it is not impossible for the flower picker to carry a plum blossom with him. After all, walking with a plum blossom is quite inconvenient.
Li Mobai leaned over and looked at the footprints on the ground. However, the footprints were messy. After all, there were many people coming in and out of the room, making it difficult to identify them.
He sighed, this was not enough clues to solve the case.
So, he turned to everyone and asked in a deep voice: "Can you tell me in detail what happened last night?"
Chen Moyun said slowly: "On our wedding night last night, after I paid homage to the bride, I sent her into the bridal chamber. After a brief conversation, I went out to rejoice with the guests. In the dead of night, when the guests had dispersed, I opened the door and entered with joy. , but only a plum blossom was left on the bed, and the bride was nowhere to be seen."
Li Mobai frowned: "Among the people, are there any witnesses? Did no one notice the process of the bride being kidnapped? A living person disappeared, and no one saw it?"
All the maids and women looked at each other and shook their heads: "We didn't notice it."
"This is really strange. How can the flower-picking thief make no movement?" Li Mobai thought, his eyes wandering around the room again.
He approached the window and saw that the window was closed tightly, but the word "happy" was still bright. He murmured to himself: "Did the flower picker come in and out through this?"
At this time, a woman came forward to report: "If I tell Mr. Li, this is absolutely impossible. There were many guests last night. If the flower-picking thief came in through the window, there would be a lot of noise. How could everyone not notice it?"
Li Mobai frowned when he heard this. This case is very strange. It is a fantasy that the bride can be kidnapped without leaving any trace while everyone is watching. In the new house, the doors and windows are closed, and there is nowhere else to escape. How did the flower picker kidnap the bride?
Li Feiyan thought for a moment and suggested: "Everyone, search carefully in this room to see if there is any tunnel!"
As a result, Wang Erhu, Xiao Yang and other government officials took action one after another and searched carefully.
However, how can there be a tunnel in a new house? Everyone searched for a long time but found nothing.
Li Mobai had a splitting headache at the moment. The case was extremely difficult, and the drunkenness from yesterday had not completely disappeared, making him feel even more uncomfortable.
