14 Jiahe Suspense Case (3)
The old man called himself Uncle Xu and was the gatekeeper of the Jiahe Ancestral Hall.
The person standing next to him who just tried to attack Yun Zhi was a young man named Xu Youli. The young man's expression and behavior looked a bit strange, and his face was strangely pale. Uncle Xu said that he was ill when he was young and his brain was burned out. He was diagnosed with a strange disease a few days ago and he didn't have a few days to live.
Yun Zhi took a piece of candy to him, and the boy immediately grinned happily and said something to Uncle Xu. Uncle Xu waited patiently for him to finish, and then told Yun Zhi that the young man said that she was very nice and liked her very much.
Although he is wary of strangers, he can be easily bribed with candy, which is indeed in line with the nature of a child. Yun Zhi boldly reached out and touched the young man's head. The young man turned around and smiled silly at her, then happily ran to the door to pick up a stone and paint on it.
Looking at the young man's lively figure, Uncle Xu sighed slowly, and then told Yun Zhi about the young man's life experience.
It turns out that this young man Xu Youli is actually the only son of the mayor Xu Hu.
Xu Hu was engaged in business in his early years and did not get married until he was nearly thirty years old. Unfortunately, it was difficult to find an heir, so he did not have Xu Youli until he was forty years old. Not long after Xu Youli was born, Xu Hu's wife passed away. Xu Youli was extremely intelligent when he was young. However, he could recite poems and poems at the age of three or four, and he could even speak more eloquently at the age of six. He was an out-and-out child prodigy. Everyone in the town said that this child would definitely be the number one scholar in the future.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long. When Xu Youli was seven years old, he suffered from a strange illness. He had a high fever that would not go away for five days, and his life was in danger. Xu Hu spent a lot of money to hire many doctors, but they were unable to do anything. In the end, Zhao Qi, then the commander of the Gyeonggi Division, heard about the incident when passing through the town and sent military doctors to save Xu Youli's life.
But since then, the Xu family's prodigy has lost his luster, and Xu Youli has turned into a fool whose intelligence is only at the level of a three- or four-year-old child. At first, he often ran out and shouted in the middle of the night. Because he disturbed the townspeople and foreign merchants, the mayor Xu Hu locked him in the ancestral hall and asked the gatekeeper Uncle Xu to take care of him.
Xu Youli has been living in the ancestral hall with Uncle Xu, and the mayor Xu Hu also came to visit three times a day. They lived in peace for eight years. A month ago, Xu Youli suddenly fainted while eating. The doctor saw it It is said that there is no cure for cerebral tuberculosis, and the patient probably only has two months left to live.
After hearing this, when Yun Zhi went to see the young man at the door, he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. From the decline of the favored man of heaven to this, who can say that it is not fate?
Uncle Xu sighed in his ear again: "He doesn't know about the mayor yet, and I don't know how to mention it to him."
Speaking of the mayor, Yun Zhi remembered the doubts that the boy in the candy shop mentioned in the morning, and asked: "By the way, Uncle Xu, I heard that there is always a jade cong in our ancestral hall?"
"Yes." Uncle Xu nodded. Seeing that she seemed interested in this, he started talking about the origin of the jade cong. "It is said that this jade cong belonged to Princess Jiahe of the former dynasty. At that time, the former dynasty of Dayun Kingdom Before it was completely destroyed, when the princess fled north and passed through this place, news of Dayun's subjugation came. The princess was overly sad and suffered from depression and passed away not long after. The people who accompanied her settled here and built a village in memory of the princess. So we named this place Jiahe. And this jade cong has been offered here since the day the ancestral hall was built, which is probably more than a hundred years ago."
"I wonder if you are lucky enough to have a look?" Yunzhi didn't care about the origin of this jade cong, she wanted to know the reason why it was replaced.
When Uncle Xu heard this, he looked troubled, "Young lady, I don't know. This jade cong disappeared a few days ago, so when we worshiped our ancestors yesterday, the mayor temporarily found someone to replace it with a copper one. Unexpectedly... That's what happened..."
Yunzhi frowned slightly and asked: "How many days ago? Uncle Xu, do you still remember the specific day?"
Uncle Xu clasped his hands together and recalled for a while, then his fingers suddenly loosened, "I remember, it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and everyone came to worship during the day. At night, when I added incense and offered sacrifices, the jade cong was still there. I woke up at night and heard some noise, and thought it was due to politeness, but when I came to the hall I saw no one, and the jade cong enshrined in front of the tablet was missing!"
First year of junior high school? Yunzhi's eyelids twitched, "Isn't that the day the first murder occurred?"
Uncle Xu was startled, and his face gradually became serious, "Don't tell me yet, this...couldn't it be related?"
"Have you discussed this matter with the Criminal Investigation Department?" Yunzhi thought secretly, feeling that there seemed to be something in it that could connect all these cases together.
Uncle Xu shook his head, "When the Criminal Investigation Department came, I was worried about how to tell Youli about his father, and I didn't think of it for a moment. What should I do?"
Yun Zhi hurriedly comforted him, "It doesn't matter. I have to go to the government office soon anyway. I'll just talk to them then." After a pause, she thought of what A Yu had said again, and asked again: "Uncle Xu, I heard that there are some runes engraved on the jade cong?"
Uncle Xu nodded: "Yes, the cong is originally used for sacrifices. Each jade cong will be engraved with different runes. It is said that through these runes, one can speak to the gods in the sky and pray for their protection."
"Then do you know what the runes on the jade cong in Jiahe Town mean?" Yun Zhi vaguely felt that if the mystery of the runes was solved, everything would be solved.
Unfortunately, Uncle Xu didn't know the meaning. Yun Zhi chatted with him for a few more words and then left.
After leaving the gate of the ancestral hall, the young man Xu Youli was squatting in the open space between the door and the screen wall, painting. Yun Zhi thought for a while and slowly stepped forward to say goodbye to him. The young man was completely immersed in his own world and could not listen at all. Understanding what she was talking about, Yun Zhi shook his head helplessly without even raising his head. However, he accidentally caught a glimpse of what the young man had drawn on the ground, and immediately felt his hair stand on end.
There are several people drawn crookedly on the ground. One of them is standing and seems to be holding something in his hand. The others are lying on the ground, looking like they have been knocked down. Next to these people, the boy also drew a strange symbol.
And this symbol is exactly the same as what appears on the bodies of the deceased at these murder scenes!
Just as Yun Zhi was about to take a closer look, a few people suddenly walked out from behind the screen wall. They were A Yu and Pei Shun, and behind them were Xiao Yi and Lu Shenjun.
"Zhizhi, you are actually here!" Ayu walked briskly and stood beside Yunzhi in the blink of an eye, "I can't tell you why you came here secretly!"
"Shh-" Yun Zhi was afraid that they would scare the boy who was painting, so he quickly winked at everyone.
Seeing that Yunzhi had been staring at the ground, several people stepped lightly and stopped beside her. Seeing the paintings on the ground, everyone had a look of surprise on their faces.
It was obvious that everyone recognized the content of the painting.
Yun Zhi knelt down and asked the young man who was painting softly, "You are polite, what are you painting?"
The boy said nothing and continued to paint. Yun Zhi thought for a moment, took out a piece of candy from his pocket and shook it in front of his eyes. The boy's eyes lit up, and he immediately dropped the stone and reached out to grab the candy. Yun Zhi Zhi changed the candy to his other hand and looked at the boy with a smile, "If you want to eat candy, you have to tell your sister what you drew, okay?"
The young man stared at the candy, couldn't help but swallowed his saliva, nodded, and said with unclear words, "Oh, daddy, draw daddy..."
Yun Zhi frowned and asked quickly: "You mean, you are drawing your father, right? Which one is your father?"
The young man nodded, responded with a heavy voice, pointed his finger to the ground, and couldn't help it anymore, reached out and grabbed the candy from Yun Zhi's hand, and fled into the ancestral hall.
Yunzhi and the others looked in the direction of the young man's finger with serious expressions on their faces.
After being silent for a long time, Ayu sighed as if he suddenly realized something: "No wonder Zhao Gaoshan said it was retribution, but that's what he meant? The mayor is..."
"Let's go back and talk later." Lu Shenjun spoke in time to cut off her words.
.
Several people followed Lu Shenjun back to Jiahe Mansion Office, where the young man named Zhao Gaoshan was still detained.
Previously, Lu Shenjun felt that since this man insisted that the mayor's death was retribution, even if he was not a suspect, he must know something. To prevent something unexpected from happening, he never let him go.
When interrogated again, Zhao Gaoshan still kept saying "it's retribution" over and over again. Lu Shenjun coaxed and deceived him, and finally got a sentence out of him: "It's retribution! On the night when Yu Er died, I saw with my own eyes that he took the money from Yu Er. From home!"
But when Lu Shenjun asked again, he refused to admit it. In the end, he simply remained silent and said nothing.
But with his words and Xu Youli's paintings, everyone probably guessed the truth.
But the mayor has always been a humble man and has great prestige among the townspeople. Why did he commit the crime?
What is his motive? For a person with a good image in the eyes of others to commit so many horrific murders, there must be a motive behind it that is so strong that he loses himself.
Yunzhi thought for a long time and suddenly made a bold guess——
"Do you think it has something to do with Xu Youli?"
Several people looked at her, and Xiao Yi asked: "Xu Youli, is that the kid just now?"
Yun Zhi nodded and told everyone the story about the Xu family and his son that he heard from Uncle Xu at the ancestral hall. Finally, he guessed: "There are many businessmen traveling around Jiahe Town. Maybe Xu Hu heard it from somewhere." There was a way to cure his son, so he took the risk and made a big mistake."
"When you said that, I actually remembered it!" A Yu took over what she said, "There is a legend in our country of Yan..."
"Wait! Are you from Yan country?" Yunzhi subconsciously grabbed her arm.
She looked obviously excited, and Ayu misunderstood her, and whispered: "Yes... Although, although the relationship between our two countries is not very good now, don't blame it on me. I have left Yan country since I was a child. If you come from Yuan Kingdom, you should be considered half a Yuan Kingdom person..."
Yun Zhi quickly let go of her, "Sorry, that's not what I meant."
After a pause, she brought the topic back, "Did you just say that there is a legend in Yanguo?"
As he spoke, he quietly raised his eyes to look at Lu Shenjun. Seeing that he didn't seem to notice the gaffe he just made, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
