Zichan looked senile, which made Li Ran feel sad.
When Zichan saw Li Nan, he was also filled with sadness. Seeing the young man who was so high-spirited back then, his face was now covered with vicissitudes of life.
At this time, the Ji clan members and the people and businessmen of Zhengyi also came one after another, expressing their most sincere and warm welcome to Li Ran.
Li Ran also saluted everyone one after another. When Zichan saw this scene and saw these people who had not paraded in the streets to celebrate for a long time, he couldn't help but smile:
"Hey... Ever since Zipi passed away suddenly, it seems that the people of Zhengyi haven't been so happy for a long time..."
Zipi, also known as Hanhu, was the head of the Seven Mu Mu of the Zheng Kingdom during his lifetime, and was actually Zichan's most capable assistant. In order to unite the various Mu clans and support Zichan's reform cause, he worked hard. The checks and balances it plays are also extremely important.
Therefore, after Hanhu died, Zichan burst into tears. And he said, "I have done nothing good, only Master knows me." (Explanation: I am finished, no one can do anything for me anymore, only Zipi understands me!)
In fact, it was exactly as Zichan feared. Since then, Zichan's control over the government has become increasingly tense.
In addition, when the new king came to the throne, he was extremely wary of Zichan's power and prestige, so that in the end, Feng Duan, who was the actual second-in-command, found an opportunity and was overthrown by him.
The New Deal also came to a standstill. Even the merchant power, which the Zheng people were most proud of, was liquidated due to their involvement in the family property.
Li Ran couldn't help but sigh when he heard this:
"However, I have not cared about Zheng Guo all these years, and I have never thought that Dr. Zichan suffered such injustice because of his subordinates. It is really a crime!"
When Zichan heard this, he smiled bitterly, but still waved his hand and said:
"You first arrived in Chu State and made suggestions for Chu State. Qiao did blame you before. But now that I think about it, you didn't have a bitter conscience at that time? And the current form seems to prove that only existence A strong Chu might be more beneficial to the world today."
"Hey, I think the Zhou people and the Chu people have been fighting for hundreds of years, but in the end, they ended up in such an interdependent relationship. It's ironic... it's really ironic!"
"What's more, this time shows that you have solved such a crisis for Qiao. Qiao is also sincerely grateful... However, Qiao is already old now, and he may soon follow Zipi away... Zipi I'm afraid I won't be able to repay Ming's kindness..."
Suddenly hearing Zichan's remarks, Li Ran felt that it was not convenient to say it in public. He immediately said goodbye to everyone who gathered around him, and went to his mansion with Zichan.
The two sat across from each other on the floor again, and Li Ran spoke first:
"Doctor, now that the Zheng Kingdom has prospered with all its wastes, it is still up to the doctor to take charge of the overall situation. What the doctor just said is really inappropriate. The doctor must not be discouraged just because of a small setback!"
Zichan shook his head slightly.
"Hey... How come Qiao doesn't know the current situation of the Zheng Kingdom? However, Qiao's energy is limited after all. Qiao is now over sixty years old, and the sun is declining. What he can hold on to is just for a while! ... It's a pity that you are not for the Zheng Kingdom, Zi Ming. Sir, I don’t have the identity of this clan. Otherwise, there is no need to worry so much..."
As Zichan spoke, he couldn't help but shed tears. Li Ran comforted him:
"There is no need to worry, doctor. There are many capable people in the Zheng Kingdom, but they are not useless. For example, Uncle Zi Taishu, he has always been on good terms with the doctor and is a generous man, so he thought he would be of great use!"
Zichan also thought of Youji, but seemed quite worried.
"Uncle Zi Taishu has always been kind to others, and he shows mercy to others when he is in politics. He is a good man known to everyone in the Zheng Kingdom. But... how can a person in politics be too tolerant? If Uncle Zi Taishu can't harden his heart, there will be nothing. How can some thunderous means be able to shock all the young people in the government and the public?"
"Hey... let's not mention these for now. Regarding the deaths of Feng Duan and Si Dai, I wonder, Ziming, what do you think?"
The conversation changed, and Li Ran actually had some thoughts about this.
"I think that this matter needs to be prepared with both hands. On the one hand, the officials need to give an explanation in time so that the major clans of the Mu clan in Zhengyi can stabilize. If the ghost theory is allowed to continue, what will happen to Zhengyi? It’s all harmful but useless!”
"On the other hand, we should investigate who is behind this. Although the people behind this seem to have no grudges against us, we should also investigate this matter clearly to calm everyone's anger. In addition, it can also prevent recurrence. Someone is taking advantage of this to cause trouble!"
"After all, this matter is related to people's confidence in the government, so I think it must be handled properly!"
Hearing this, Zichan couldn't help but nodded and said:
"Well, in that case, let me leave this matter to you, Ziming. As for the clan, Qiao had already made a decision, so Uncle Zi Taishu came forward to ask the monarch for instructions to grant Gongsun Xie, the son of Gongzi Jia, and Liang, the son of Boyou. Stop, the two of them will be re-titled as high officials of the State of Zheng! And their status as princes will be restored. This will appease everyone’s hearts!”
Re-conferring Boyou's descendant Liangzhi as a doctor of Zheng Guo, this move is understandable to everyone. This is nothing more than an attempt to "pacify" Boyou's ghost. (In the Spring and Autumn Period, the descendants of sinners were usually deprived of their nobility status.)
The reason why Zichan wanted to confer the title of Gongsun Xie, a descendant of Gongzi Jia, at the same time (Gongzi Jia was also a rebel before this) actually showed the attitude of the official family:
That is to say, the official family did not grant the title of descendant to the uncle because of fear of ghosts. This was entirely because the officials thought that the former princes Jia and Liangxiao were from the same clan, and their ancestors had all contributed to the country, so they wanted to restore the reputation of their descendants.
To put it simply, we need to give an explanation to the people behind the scenes, but we cannot give in!
Li Ran only thought about it briefly and understood the significance of Zichan's move. He also knew that Zichan was in control of the overall situation, so he just clasped his fists and bowed in reply:
"Now that the doctor has made a decision, let's go investigate the matter of Uncle You's ghost! I hope the truth will come to light soon to help the doctor succeed!"
After talking to each other, Li Ran left the residence of Dr. Zichan and returned to the Jifu.
The Ji clan suffered such a sudden change, Ji Xun, Ji Xun and his son were killed in the fire, and Shu Niu came back to mix things up. Today's Ji clan is no longer what it used to be.
Li Ran couldn't help but feel sad when he saw the desolate look in front of him.
He ordered Chu Dang to take people to Yeyi to pick up Ji Le and his daughter, while Li Ran took Sun Wu and Fan Li to continue investigating "Boyou's ghost".
Si Dai died first and was buried now, but Feng Duan had not had time to be buried. Li Ran immediately led people directly to Feng Mansion to check the cause of Feng Duan's death.
Li Ran looked over Feng Duan's body. Because it was the middle of winter, only a few ice cubes were placed around the body to preserve it.
Li Ran found that Feng Duan's face was purplish-blue, his eyes were slightly protruding, and there seemed to be signs of bleeding, and there were tiny flakes of skin on his fingernails.
There was a circle of black congestion around the throat of Fengduan's corpse. When he touched his throat, he even noticed that the bones of his Adam's apple had been broken.
Li Ran had already determined that Feng Duan was pinched by someone's throat with a soft object and strangled to death!
Moreover, when Toyodan was about to die, he obviously went through a fierce struggle and even dug out some skin flakes from the back of the murderer's hands or elsewhere.
Then, at least the theory that ghosts kill people is self-defeating. If it was really a ghost that killed someone, how could it leave such a big hole?
Li Ran also knew that on the night of the incident, Shu Niu had taken people to the west of the city to hunt down the "ghost", and that Feng Duan died at home. According to the alert at the time, the murderer was most likely hiding directly in Feng Mansion.
So, Li Ran first asked the family manager for questioning.
The butler answered fluently, and couldn't help but get excited when talking about ghosts, as if he had experienced it himself.
Naturally, Li Ran couldn't find any valuable clues, so he decided to go to Si Mansion to investigate again.
Before leaving, Li Ran keenly noticed that the back of his butler's hand was wrapped with a layer of white cloth.
Li Ran raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. Then he took Sun Wu and Fan Li out of Feng Mansion and went directly to Si Mansion.
When Si Zhuan saw Li Ran's arrival, he went directly to the door. Li Ran and the other three came to the hall to worship Si Dai's spiritual tablet. Then, under Si Zhuan's arrangement, the four of them talked in the living room.
After Li Ran explained his purpose, Si Zhuan ordered someone to get the dagger that killed his father, and carefully handed it to Li Ran, adding:
"This dagger was carried by my father. Sometimes he would even use it when eating meat."
Li Ran took the dagger in his hand, looked at it carefully, and then handed the dagger back.
"Doctor Ziran, do you have the habit of getting up early? According to your previous investigation, is it the place where the eucalyptus occurred at the gate? Or... was it placed at the gate after being stabbed?"
Si Zhuan said calmly:
"My late father did have the habit of getting up early, but he rarely went out so early. He usually stretched out his muscles in the courtyard first. As for whether there was a eucalyptus at the gate. According to what the servants reported, it was indeed my late father. The place where the sword was unfortunately struck! It seems that it was not placed at the gate of the house after the injury!"
Li Ran asked again:
"Then... was it a fatal blow?"
"Yes, this sword went straight to the heart, and it was indeed a fatal blow. My father looked horrified, showing that he did not expect such a sudden change..."
Si Zhuan's reply made Li Ran fall into deep thought.
