"Who discovered the deceased first?"
As Yang Qingyuan asked, a maid stood up. She was only fifteen or sixteen years old. If placed in modern times, she would still be a student.
"Sir, it was this slave who discovered it first."
"May I have your name?"
"Slave Lianxiang!"
Perhaps because she had never met such a powerful official, the maid kept her head lowered, her posture humble, and her body even trembling slightly.
Yang Qingyuan could vaguely see the scars on his arms exposed between his sleeves.
"You raise your head and say, don't panic, talk about the process of your discovery carefully, don't miss any details!"
Yang Qingyuan's voice has always remained gentle. Modern people's thinking allows Yang Qingyuan to maintain basic respect for people. Whether she is a commoner or a slave, first of all, she is a human being.
Seemingly infected by Yang Qingyuan's voice, Lianxiang calmed down significantly.
"This morning, as usual, my servant came with water to wash the master, but the master's door has not been opened."
While listening, Yang Qingyuan observed the maid's expressions and movements.
"When did you come?"
"It should be the quarter of the hour. Master usually gets up at this time." The maid looked a little nervous.
"You go on."
"Because the master usually sleeps with the door locked, so I waited outside the door for a while, but I still didn't see the master open the door. I waited for about half an hour, and felt something was wrong, so I went to call the door, but There was no answer in the house. The servant felt that something was fishy, but did not dare to make any independent decision, so he immediately informed Butler Li."
"Have you ever tried to push the door open before notifying the housekeeper!"
"This... this slave just knocked on the door and never pushed it open!"
"Did the window open at that time?!"
Lianxiang was a little panicked. She couldn't remember the questions Yang Qingyuan asked.
"Slave... I really don't remember!" Unable to answer two questions in a row, Lianxiang was so nervous that she almost cried.
"Don't be anxious, it doesn't matter." Yang Qingyuan comforted Lianxiang, "If you remember any details, you can come to Dali Temple and tell me at any time!"
Then Yang Qingyuan turned his attention to a man with a goatee who looked like a housekeeper and asked, "Are you the housekeeper?"
"The younger one is Li Zhong, the housekeeper of Li Mansion!"
"Are you the second group of people to come here?"
When dealing with a middle-aged man with a beard, Yang Qingyuan no longer needed to be so gentle, and returned to his original coldness.
"Sir, that's right!"
"Tell me about the scene at that time."
Li Zhong is different from the little maid Lian Xiang just now. He is a person who has seen the world and speaks in a very organized manner.
"Returning to your Majesty, after listening to Lianxiang's words, I felt something was fishy, so I personally brought several people to the bedroom. The younger one arrived at the door and called several times, but there was no response from the door. All together, the younger one, in order to In case of an accident, I and a few servants opened the door of the master's room. Unexpectedly, as soon as we opened the door, we... saw the master, he was already lying on the couch without breathing... "
At the end of the sentence, Li Zhong even choked up and couldn't speak. Anyone who saw him couldn't help but praise him, "A loyal servant should be like this."
Yang Qingyuan frowned slightly, "You said you knocked open the door. Several of you hit it, several times."
Li Zhong seemed to be stunned by this question and thought about it carefully.
"At that time, Xiao Xiao was watching from the side. The person who knocked on the door must be Ah Fu from the house. He is prosperous and has roots. It seemed that he had to knock six or seven times before he opened the door. To be specific, Xiao Xiao was very worried at that time. , I can’t remember some clearly, but that’s probably the case.”
At some point, Di Zhiyuan had also finished checking the room and stood aside, listening to Li Zhong describe the situation at that time.
Yang Qingyuan thought for a while and said, "Did you bring the three people who knocked on the door?"
Upon hearing this, Li Zhong immediately wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes with his sleeves and identified: "Sir, the three of them are the three who knocked on the door at that time."
The three of them were all a little nervous when they were called.
"You don't need to panic. I'm just asking about the situation at that time. You can answer truthfully. But if someone lies to someone, the punishment in Dali Temple is not for show." Yang Qingyuan glanced at Li Zhong, who was standing aside, and then said calmly. , without any hint of anger.
"Yes! I understand, little one!"
"The villain must answer truthfully."
The three of them were frightened by Yang Qingyuan's words and replied one after another.
"When you hit the door, how many times did you hit it in total?"
"The little ones bumped into each other eight times!"
One of the servants, named Wangcai, stepped forward and answered, "The first time, the young one knocked on it alone, but the master's door was really strong, so the young man invited Gensheng and Ah Fu to knock on the door together. The three of us With the combined force, it took seven times to knock the door open."
"right!"
"That's it! Master!"
The remaining two people also echoed.
"After you opened the door, did you notice anything strange in this house?"
After listening to Yang Qingyuan's words, the three of them looked at each other and thought hard.
"Sir, the three of us were originally just servants in the outer courtyard. We have never entered the master's bedroom. I really can't think of anything strange."
After asking for a few more details, Yang Qingyuan stopped asking when he saw that he couldn't find any useful clues.
The toolman on the side, Tie Chengxuan, truthfully recorded the questioning process.
"lady!"
"I'm here!"
"How is your master's health these days? Does he have any hidden diseases?"
Li Qin was thinking about it when asked by Yang Qingyuan.
The butler Li Zhong on the side said: "Your Excellency, although my husband is nearly sixty years old, he is a martial arts practitioner and has a strong body. He was still in good spirits yesterday. It is absolutely impossible that he died of illness."
Yang Qingyuan glanced at Mrs. Li and Butler Li. He always felt that there was something awkward, but he couldn't tell where it was.
"Zhiyuan, do you have anything else to investigate or ask?" Yang Qingyuan secretly asked Di Zhiyuan using the Taoist Heavenly Escape sound transmission method.
Di Zhiyuan's martial arts attainments were far from that, so he could only shake his head, indicating that he had no such skills for the time being.
Yang Qingyuan thought for a while and wanted to take Li Bailiang's body back to the government office and hand it over to the widow for inspection to find out the cause of death.
"Madam, please forgive me. The cause of Mr. Li's death has not yet been ascertained. I need to bring this body back to the office. When the truth is found out, I will do justice to my husband and return the body."
Li Qin looked embarrassed when she heard this request. She didn't know whether she should agree or not.
"Madam, my master's body is still cold, how can we let the murderer go free? This is what Mr. Yang and the others need to solve the case. Madam, you must not refuse!"
Seeing his wife's hesitation, Li Zhong immediately stepped forward to persuade her.
Hearing what her housekeeper said, Li Qin, who was originally hesitant, seemed to have made up her mind.
"I beg you to protect your husband's remains. If you can find his murderer, I will set up a plaque to pray for you for the rest of my life."
After Yang Qingyuan nodded in agreement, he ordered to return to the Yamen.
