Compared with the bustle of Daxiangguo Temple, Puji Temple, thirty miles outside the capital city, is what people think of as a place to become a monk.
Surrounded by lush trees, the environment is quiet and beautiful. The rhythmic sound of Zen chanting and chanting comes from the Zen room, accompanied by wooden fish and blue rocks.
Because it is quite far from the official road, people who make wishes and pray for blessings often do not come here, and the incense is naturally not strong. If Wang Boyang hadn't searched all the temples inside and outside the capital, he really wouldn't have noticed this place.
Precisely because this place is not eye-catching, when he found that the time and the number were roughly correct, and asked the yamen servant to weigh the jar containing the ashes himself, and found that there was obvious weight, Wang Boyang firmly believed that the ashes inside It was definitely a case of murder, and he insisted on opening it.
Then he was blocked by the monks in the temple and could not open the altar for worship by others.
Wang Boyang was anxious and angry, but in the end he was still concerned about the influence of Buddhism and did not dare to act rashly. After all, this move did not harm the worship of a temple. Daxiangguo Temple would come out to protest, so he could only endure it forcibly, and ordered his men to hurry up and go back to report to Chen Yao. He himself was guarding the urn in the temple even though it was dark.
So, when the sound of horse hoofbeats came, Wang Boyang was overjoyed and hurried out to greet him. Then he saw not only Chen Yaozi, but also Di Jin and Lu Andao rushing there. He swallowed again and couldn't help but become nervous.
If the missing head was really found, it would be a great achievement. If not, it would be embarrassing for him to cause such a big fuss.
Just when he was feeling anxious, Chen Yaozi had already arrived and asked directly: "Where is the jar?"
"there!"
Wang Boyang led the way to a Buddhist hall guarded by government officials. When he walked in, he saw that it was very simple and there was no solemn Buddha statue inside. It was just a huge table with several rows of urns placed on it.
A few sandalwood sticks were lit in front of the altar, the smoke was smoldering lightly, and not much fragrance spilled out. It was obviously a cheap item.
However, there was a skinny old monk sitting upright. He looked like he was in his seventies or eighty, with gray eyebrows and wrinkles on his face. His eyes were looking at his nose and his nose was looking at his heart. He was holding Buddhist beads and chanting words, as if he was trying to save these dead souls.
Chen Yaozi strode in and said coldly: "I, Chen Yaozi, have the power to know the Kaifeng Mansion. I now suspect that these urns are related to a murder case three years ago. Open them!"
Scholars in the Song Dynasty tended to have extreme attitudes toward Buddhism, either believing in it or hating it. There were only a few who were neutral. Chen Yaozi was obviously the type who hated Buddhism. He was extremely rude when he spoke. If it weren't for his age, It's really too big, so the government officials might just carry it out.
At this time, the monk who tried to stop him had indeed been driven outside. The old monk stood up slowly without saying anything and staggered to one side.
"Wait!"
Seeing that the yamen servant was about to rush over to move the jar, Di Jin stopped him and looked at the old monk: "Master, do these enshrined ashes have their own records during their lifetime?"
Chen Yaozi immediately realized that if the heads of the thirty-five deceased were hidden inside, they really could not be moved rashly.
In three years, the heads must have turned into white bones. They cannot be distinguished by their appearance, so they cannot be mixed together. Then it will no longer be possible to distinguish whose head belongs to whose.
"Almsgiver has mercy...please allow me to go get it...!"
The old monk spoke in a leaky manner, clasped his hands together, bowed, and slowly walked into the back hall. After a while, he actually took out a roster and turned to one of the pages.
Di Jin, Chen Yaozi, Wang Boyang and Lu Andao all came over and looked at each other: "Li A'zhu, Li A'bai, Li A'wu, Li Aqi... Li Cheng, Li Song, Li Yu, Li Xuan, Li En ...Aunt Li, Erniang Li..."
Wang Boyang was overjoyed: "It's them! It's them!"
According to the naming convention of Song people, Sun Hong's wife Zhu should be called Sun A'zhu, and his concubines Bai, Wu, and Qi are Sun Abai, Sun Awu, and Sun Aqi.
But now these surnames have been replaced by the surname Li, and the descendants Sun Cheng, Sun Song, Sun Yu, Sun Xuan, and Sun En have also become Li Cheng, Li Song, Li Yu, Li Xuan, and Li En...
"Li's surname... Prince Consort Commandery..."
Chen Yaozi narrowed his eyes slightly and looked at Di Jin: "Shi Lin, I already know the truth of your previous analysis, and I am quite shocked. In your opinion, does the change of Sun's surname to Li's surname confirm Li Zunxu's death? Are they the ones raising these outhouses and children?”
Di Jin knew very well that no matter how good Li Zunxu's health was, he would not be able to raise four outhouses and give birth to more than a dozen children at once. What's more, what Guo Chengqing said was very obvious. More than one person was involved, but he answered without hesitation: " Most likely!"
Grasp the big ones and abandon the small ones. Since the roster is coordinated and there is only one surname, it is logical to focus on one person!
Chen Yaozi nodded and said in a deep voice: "Mark it on the roster and then open the forum!"
The scribe quickly wrote down each person's name according to their location and posted it outside the urn.
Then everyone discovered that the location was weird.
Those placed at the front are not the wife and legitimate sons and daughters, but a few servants, the fifth son, and the sixth wife. The older children are placed further back, and the wives and concubines are placed at the back.
Di Jin looked at the middle of the first row and saw a name as expected.
Han Youniang.
"open it!"
After pasting the names, a group of government officials stepped forward, carefully opened the urn, pulled it open, and then shouted: "There are skulls! There are really skulls inside!"
Chen Yaozi stroked his beard and looked somewhat relieved: "No matter what, this will give an explanation to the people of the capital!"
Wang Boyang felt like he was being pardoned, and he couldn't hide his joy: "Okay! That's great!"
On the contrary, Lu Andao frowned secretly, puzzled, and thought to himself: "Is Shilin's analysis wrong? But Chen Dafu also mentioned the Prince Consort just now, which proves that he also knows what he knows, so why would the skull be destroyed? Did you stay and enshrine it?"
Di Jin looked at the heads that had turned into white bones and had empty eye sockets. After being taken out and confirmed, they were put back into the urn with the names on them. He smiled silently and said: "I also misjudged the person!"
Not to mention everyone's thoughts, the government officials have already neatly arranged all the skulls.
Of the forty urns, five are empty, or they are real ashes. I don’t know if they are human ashes. After all, no one has tasted them, right...
Among the thirty-five heads, the names of thirty-four people can match those of the Sun family who were responsible for the massacre. The names of the servants have not changed, and the elder of the house has changed from Mr. Sun to Mr. Li.
The surname of the house elder may not be Li, but this basically means that this person was sent by Li Zunxu to supervise the superiors. He is responsible for hiring servants and maids, and he is also in charge of all affairs in the mansion, just like Superintendent Liang Du of the princess residence. Same.
The key is that the name Sun Hong did not appear, and was replaced by a strange name, Niu Yidao.
Chen Yaozi also paid attention to this detail: "Who is this person?"
Lu Andao guessed: "Could it be the Jiang Huzi who had many bruises during the bone examination?"
"Is this head even enshrined here?" Chen Yaozi couldn't help but be surprised. He turned to the old monk who had been standing quietly beside him and recited the Buddha's name: "Who was the person who enshrined these urns three years ago?"
After asking twice, the old monk seemed to hear it and shook his head slowly.
Wang Boyang said angrily: "Old monk, do you know what the crime of harboring a criminal is? If you know the whereabouts of that person but conceal it, the whole temple will be guilty!"
Faced with this question, the old monk still shook his head.
"This old monk is too old. I'm afraid he really can't remember..."
Wang Boyang frowned and stopped asking, while Chen Yaozi said to the left and right: "Bring Sun Hong's portrait over here!"
Since it was determined that Sun Hong might not be dead, the government asked someone to inquire in Yulin Alley, and based on the descriptions provided by the neighbors, they roughly drew a portrait of Sun Hong.
Compared with the wanted posters of later generations, the accuracy will not be very high, but there are certain characteristics. In ancient times, wanted criminals were mainly based on age, height, accent and certain specific characteristics. The facial portraits cannot be too similar.
However, when Sun Hong's portrait was brought over, Wang Boyang and Lu Andao looked at it and found that it was a relatively wealthy man with a square face. According to his age, he should be in his fifties, but according to neighbors, he looked like he was in his early forties. , there are no wrinkles on his face, and he always has a kind smile.
Chen Yaozi took the portrait and walked out of the temple, looking at the monks in the temple who had blocked him before.
There were only about thirty people, and one-third were little novices under the age of ten. The older monks were afraid, so they stared at the government officials with sullen faces.
Chen Yaozi pointed to the oldest monks and handed the portraits to Lu Andao. Lu Andao stepped forward and showed the portrait of Sun Hong: "Look carefully. Three years ago, there was such a person who enshrined a batch of urns. here?"
Wang Boyang added: "The temple is deserted. There must not be many pilgrims enshrining so many urns. Move the torch over and let them see clearly!"
Under the light of the fire, several older monks came over to take a closer look and replied: "There is a pilgrim, but it doesn't look like this..."
The yamen officer showed the portrait to the other monks again, but some said they had never seen it before, some said it didn't look like it, and no one agreed to recognize it.
Wang Boyang couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but Chen Yaozi looked calm: "Let's go!"
The government officials took the wooden frame, carried the skull altars up one by one, carried them two by two, and went out, beaming with joy.
The headless corpses in the returned graves now have skulls and whole corpses. This has a great pacifying effect on calming the panic of the people in the capital. Compared with the past, the government officials were even more embarrassed this time!
Lu Andao slowed down and wanted to discuss it with Di Jin. He looked around but couldn't find anyone.
It wasn't until I turned my head that I realized that Di Jin was in front of the group of young novice monks. He asked a few questions in a low voice, touched their heads, and then followed them.
When he arrived, Lu Andao immediately whispered: "Shi Lin, since Sun Hong faked his death and escaped, why did he enshrine his enemy's head before leaving?"
Di Jin understood his confusion. In fact, not to mention his sister Di Xiangling, even if it were him, if he really put himself in his shoes, I am afraid that except for Han Youniang, the other heads would be thrown into the Wuyou Cave without hesitation. Let it stink.
So to explain this behavior, there is actually only one answer: "Sun Hong is kinder than we thought. Even if he got angry and killed his enemy, he couldn't bear the death of his enemy without his body, so he left these Head, he’s a good guy.”
Lu Andao was stunned, and then fell silent. On the way back to the government office, he never said a word again.
