There are fifty-three permanent servants in Luo House. The "alibi investigation" of the owners of Luo House is a big project. Zhu Dachang transferred twenty-five more bad guys from the county government to assist, and fifteen people guarded the front and back doors. As miscellaneous people were waiting in and out, ten people were recruited into the five rooms of the Luo house as interrogation rooms. They were interrogated in teams of two. Unfortunately, most of the servants went to bed at night. In addition, it rained heavily last night and no one went out. There was no way to find out anything useful. information.
According to Lin Sui'an's plan, the first people to be interrogated were of course Su Chengxian and Meng Man, who were the most suspected, and even Luo Kou was not an exception. However, when Zhu Dachang heard that Su Chengxian was a member of the Su clan, he was so frightened that he hid far away. Lin Sui'an refused to be involved in this bad luck. Lin Sui'an had a grudge against Su Cheng and could only avoid suspicion. Mu Zhong was eager to try. Seeing the excitement on his face, Lin Sui'an had reason to doubt Mu Zhong and Su's family. There is a feud.
But before Mu Zhong went to look for Su Chengxian's bad luck, the Luo clan members who learned about Luo Shichuan's death first came to look for Zhu Dachang's bad luck. The main appeal focused on why Luo Shichuan's body was taken away and returned to the Luo clan without the consent of the Luo clan members. After an autopsy, Zhu Dachang threatened to chop Zhu Dachang into pieces alive if Luo Shichuan's body was not returned. Zhu Dachang forced Mu Zhong to help him calm down the situation.
Lin Sui'an estimated that he wouldn't be able to help much, so he stayed in the first interrogation room to listen. The person he was questioning now was the servant Luo Shichuan sent to Xuanyuan County to investigate, a honest man in his thirties named Luo Shichuan. On the 23rd, after hearing the news of Luo Shichuan's death, I cried so much that I couldn't even speak clearly. After questioning for a long time, there was no progress. The bad guy who was interrogated became more and more angry. He angrily pulled off the flower headscarf and threw it on several cases, revealing his hair. She has short curly hair and says, "Why are you crying? Girls don't pee as much as you!"
The bad guy's name is Li Nili. It is said that he is of Hu people's ancestry, and his voice is a bit tongue-tied. It is especially difficult to say his own name. I don't know what his parents thought of giving him such a weird pronunciation.
He was the leader of the first batch of six bad guys brought by Zhu Dachang. He was trusted by Zhu Dachang, so he was sent to interrogate Luo Ersan. According to the testimony of other servants, Luo Ersan may be the last one to see Luo Shichuan. Servants.
"I don't want to, but these tears just won't obey me," Luo Ersan wiped his nose, "How could the master of the house die when he is such a good master? The master of the house has the kindest heart, and he said that I did a good job on this errand. , just help me get rid of my humble status. You said that the head of the family is dead, can the Luo family still help me get rid of my humble status?"
Li Nili: "Don't tell me whether you have these things or not! Tell me when did you meet Luo Shichuan yesterday?"
Luo Ersan sniffed, "After dinner, the owner of the house came to see me and asked me what the results of the investigation in Xuanyuan County were."
"What's the investigation?"
"It's the uncle-to-be - ah no, it's the engagement between Mr. Su and Mrs. Lin -" Luo Ersan glanced at Lin Sui'an.
Lin Sui'an: "Tell it like it is."
"To say that Mr. Su is really unkind, he gave Mrs. Lin a love poem in front of the neighbors. When the old man of the Luo family left, he also vowed to take care of Mrs. Lin for the rest of his life. This is all testified by the neighbors and the official media. That love poem is exactly the same as the one given to my young lady." Luo Ersan wiped his tears again, "I told all this to the master of the house. The master of the house was very happy and invited me to drink a cup of tea. You said the master of the house is so kind. Why did my master die so mysteriously?"
"What happens next?" Linili asked.
"After that, I went back to wash up and go to sleep."
Lin Sui'an: "About what time did you leave?"
"It was still daylight when we left."
"What was in the yard at that time?"
"What's there?" Luo Ersan was puzzled for a moment, then understood, "Ms. Lin is asking about the things used to enjoy the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Manager Meng does it personally every year, and humble servants like us can't get involved."
Lin Sui'an frowned: "Does it mean that Meng Man was the last person to see Luo Shichuan?"
"The last person to see the head of the family was Mr. Su Cheng." Meng Man stepped across the threshold and saluted Lin Sui'an. His face was frighteningly white and his eye sockets were red. He had been crying behind his back for who knows how long. "I will arrange it after nightfall." I wanted to invite Kou'er to enjoy the moon, but the head of the family sent me to invite Su Chengxian. After Su Chengxian arrived, the head of the family ordered me to leave, saying that I had something to talk with Su Chengxian, and that there was no need for him tonight. Serve so that I don’t have to go to the inner courtyard." At this point, Meng Man's voice trembled a little, he took a breath, stabilized his voice and said, "At that time, I should have stayed..."
No wonder everyone's first reaction after opening the door in the morning was that Lin Sui'an had killed Luo Shichuan. Only Meng Man was different. It was obvious that he had already suspected Su Chengxian. Lin Sui'an thought, of course there is another possibility, Meng Man is actually the murderer.
But if Meng Manyu is the murderer, why should she be locked in a secret room? Whether it was in the original owner's diary or based on Lin Sui'an's observations in the past few days, Meng Man had no ill intentions towards her. Instead, it was another person. If it were him, it would be more logical to frame Lin Sui'an.
"Where will Su Cheng live first?" Lin Sui'an asked.
"Follow me." Meng Man led the way.
Lin Nili and the bad guys looked at each other and could only follow them. Su Chengxian lived in the attic on the northernmost side of Luo's house. Downstairs was the small garden where Lin Sui'an came through, with small bridges, flowing water, rockeries and strange rocks. The scenery was good and the light was good. It was obvious that the Luo family treated Su Chengxian with courtesy. There is good.
When Lin Sui'an arrived, a bunch of people gathered at Wuyang Wuyang under the attic. Mu Zhong, Zhu Dachang, bad guys, and the Luo clan were all there. The Luo clan members were in a mess, shouting "Absolutely not allowed" and "It's not appropriate." , several bad guys put their arms around Mu Zhong's waist, and Zhu Da often pulled Mu Zhong's sleeves and screamed.
Mu Zhong's voice was like a loud bell, making the tiles in the attic rattle: "Master Su, if you don't open the door, I will break in!"
"Absolutely not!" Zhu Da often screamed at the top of his voice, "The Mu clan's caravan is not afraid of the Su clan, and Nanpu County cannot afford to offend them!"
People from the Luo clan: "Yes, yes, yes, no, no, no!"
Meng Man's face was frighteningly dark, and he shouted fiercely: "Are you going to protect the suspect who killed the head of the family?!"
The Luo clan members suddenly fell silent and all looked at Meng Man.
"Master Su is a suspect?"
"How can it be?!"
"The Su family is about to marry the Luo family. How could Mr. Su kill the head of the family?!"
"Meng Man, don't talk nonsense. If word spreads, it will definitely lead to disaster!"
"The head of the family is no longer here. Luo will still have to rely on Su to decide where to go in the future. Meng Man, you are just a steward, why are you dictating here?!"
"We are planning for Luo's future!"
"You, you guys!" Meng Man's lips turned blue with anger, "Absurd! Ridiculous!!"
In the chaos, Lin Sui'an walked up to Mu Zhong with his hands behind his back and pouted towards the attic, "What's going on?"
Mu Zhong sighed: "I shouted several times, but the guy in the building didn't move."
Zhu Dachang: "Ms. Lin, you came just in time. Please hurry up and persuade Mr. Mu not to mess around."
Lin Sui'an: "Are you sure someone is inside?"
Mu Zhong: "The servant said no one came out from last night to this morning."
Lin Sui'an raised his eyes and observed the attic in front of him. The doors and windows were closed, the black tiles were flooded with light, and the silence became even more eerie amidst the noise.
"Mu's caravan really isn't afraid of the Su's?" Lin Sui'an asked.
Mu Zhong smiled proudly, "His family is not qualified."
Lin Sui'an nodded, walked to the door and knocked, "Su Cheng, please?" He pushed the door panel, but did not push it, and it was bolted inside.
Zhu Dachang: "Mrs. Lin, what are you going to do - my dear mother!"
The two door panels suddenly separated from the door frame and crashed into the room with a clang. They fell apart and stirred up a large cloud of dust. Lin Sui'an looked at her palms in surprise. The strength of this body was even more amazing than she had imagined. However, With a little effort, the entire door flew away.
There was deathly silence behind him, as if everyone in the yard had disappeared, not even a single person was breathing.
Lin Sui'an didn't have time to see their reactions and went straight into the house to check.
This is a high-standard guest room. The furniture is several grades higher than hers, and the mattress is much thicker. The quilt on the bed was messy, there were no shoes under the bed, and there were no clothes on the hangers. Lin Sui'an rummaged around and found no baggage or belongings belonging to Su Chengxian. He walked around the room again and found that the back window was open, so he opened the sash. , unexpectedly found key evidence in the weeds outside the window - a bloody leather rope and a bloody torch.
Lin Sui'an quickly left the house and asked Mu Zhong, Zhu Dachang and the bad guys to come in and check.
"A lot of the grass outside the back window was trampled down. Su Cheng probably -" Lin Sui'an looked at the stunned Luo family members, "ran away."
*
"The city gate of Chenchu was opened and Luo Shichuan's body was found at the second quarter of Chenzheng. The bad guys blocked the front and back doors of Luo's house at about the third quarter of Sizheng." Mu Zhong strode out of the gate of Luo's house with meteoric strides. "From Chenchu to Sizheng, Su Cheng was the first to arrive." You have two hours to escape."
"The square gate opens later than the second quarter of the city gate. Even if Su Cheng goes out immediately at the second quarter of the morning when the square gate opens, he will not be able to reach the city gate at this time." Zhu Dachang chased Mu Zhong, followed by two bad guys. , "Yanrenfang does not have an East Gate, but only a West Gate, which is also adjacent to the East Market. If you want to leave the city, you can only go out of the Gate to the north and enter Liren Street, then go west around Chun Road and Lihui Square. There is not enough time. "
Lin Sui'an: "..."
Good guy! This string of streets, squares, and doors was completely incomprehensible.
Lin Sui'an had previously crammed in some basic knowledge about municipal planning in this world. The district system is implemented here. All cities, whether they are small counties or large capitals, are laid out in districts, but the scales are different.
The so-called square district layout simply means that the city is divided into chess-like residential quarters by large and small streets. Each quarter is surrounded by square walls and square gates. During the day, the city gates and square gates are open, and at night, the city gates and square gates are closed. During the night ban, everyone could only move inside the workshop and were not allowed to leave the workshop. The main streets were patrolled by Marquis Wu. If you were caught running out at night, you could not help but be slapped with a stick and you had to pay for ransom. It was said that the market price was one thousand cents a piece.
Nanpu County is a lower-middle-class Qin County in the prefecture-county hierarchy (Note). The size of the county seat is not as large as that of the capital city. It has only sixteen lanes, two city gates, and two main streets, namely the east-west Liren Street and the east-west Liren Street. Chunman Street runs north-south. Yanrenfang, where Luo Zhai is located, is located on the south side of Liren Street. It is adjacent to Dongqiaomen to the east, Dongshi to the west, and diagonally across from Qingpingfang, where the county government is located. It can be said to be a prime location. Logically speaking, the traffic should be Very convenient.
"It takes so long to get out of the city from here?" Lin Sui'an expressed shock.
"If we go from Yanrenfang to Dongqiaomen on weekdays, it only takes half an hour if we walk fast, but today is August 15th." Zhu Dachang pointed forward.
This is the first time Lin Sui'an has seen the square gate since he came to this world. To be honest, he is a little disappointed. There is a piece of bare rammed earth wall in the middle, and a blackened two-story wooden building is inserted. The first floor is made of copper nails. There was a black wooden door, with only pillars and no walls on the second floor. The two Wuhous were lying on the wooden railing on the second floor, sticking out their buttocks to watch the excitement.
Outside the gate of Yanrenfang, there is a sea of people, crowded with people, baskets, vegetables, firewood, and various livestock - chickens, ducks, sheep, pigs, plus the occasional stray dog. There were quite a few chatter and shouts of people, and they were all slowly moving in one direction, and their destination was the East Market across the street.
Mu Zhong swept the chicken feathers on his head and said, "The fifteenth day of every month is the big market day in Nanpu County. The Dongqiao Gate can only be entered before the Dongshi market is closed."
Zhu Da often waved his hand, and the bad guys shouted and pushed forward, and he could barely open a path, but even so, it was difficult to move forward.
Lin Sui'an gritted his teeth and followed Mu Zhong, wishing he didn't have a gas mask. The hot and humid odor seemed to penetrate his nostrils, and the slimy yellow mud was mixed with duck feathers and sheep dung eggs. Stepping on it, it squeaked until it stuck to the sole of the shoe, and the calf was suddenly kicked. It turned out to be an old sow covered in mud. She glanced at Lin Sui'an with disdain, and walked away with her fat buttocks dangling.
Lin Sui'an: "..."
No wonder the bad guys came back so slowly before. It turned out to be the traffic jam.
After squeezing for a full quarter of an hour, Lin Sui'an finally saw Liren Street. The south side was crowded with people, and a row of Wuhou stood in the middle to maintain order, leaving half of the road on the north side empty.
Zhu Dachang: "This is a rule left by the previous county magistrate. On big market days, half of the road must be left in front of Qingpingfang where the county government is located. It is only used by the government to deal with emergencies. I originally thought this rule was useless. , I didn’t expect that I would actually use it today.”
Dust was flying in the distance. Lin Nili came galloping from the north side on horseback. He dismounted and reported urgently, "Xizhongmen did not see Su Chengxian in the registration of people who left the city today. All the bad people have dispersed. All the bad people have dispersed. Take Su Chengxian’s portrait.”
Lin Sui'an breathed a sigh of relief. First of all, Su Cheng is a foreigner. He has no foundation here, no martial arts, he is timid, and he cannot endure hardships. It is expected that he will not be able to hide for a few days. As long as he pinches the city gate and square gate to catch turtles in the jar, it is only a matter of time before he is caught.
Lin Sui'an: "If I were Su Chengxian, instead of wasting time and effort to leave the city, it would be safer to find a place to hide and wait until the Dongshi market disperses before following the crowd out of the city."
Mu Zhong nodded: "Is there any place in the city where I can hide?"
Zhu Dachang: "There are several empty houses in Tinghufang in Nancheng."
Mu Zhong: "Go and check."
Zhu Dachang winked, and four bad guys ran out.
"Actually, there is another place," Zhu Dachang added, "Nanpu County is located on the road that Yangdu must pass through, so large caravans passing by are often stationed in Dongshi. Behind these large caravans are a mixture of dragons and snakes. Our county government is here. I'm afraid it will be——" Zhu Dachang glanced at Mu Zhong.
Mu Zhong smiled: "Ms. Lin, do you want to go shopping in Dongshi?"
Lin Sui'an: "Eh?"
Zhu Dachang: "Thank you very much, Duke Mu! Thank you, Duke Mu!"
Mu Zhong waved his hand, "I just show my new friends around, other than that, there is nothing else."
"Yes, yes, yes!" Zhu Dachang followed behind, "I will also go shopping with Mrs. Lin."
Lin Sui'an: "..."
You two are so good at singing together, why don't you go to Deyun Society?
*
When he saw the chaotic scene outside Dongshi just now, Lin Sui'an thought that the inside of Dongshi was also in chaos, but he was greatly surprised when he entered the shop. The first thing that caught his eye were two cross streets, about half as wide as Liren Street, tall and short. Short shops are built on the street, and there are many paths leading to the depths of the market. As soon as the merchants enter the market, they are like fishes entering the sea. They turn around and disappear into the paths, as if they have been swallowed by something. Occasionally, they can hear I heard a few pigs bleating and sheep bleating.
Zhu Dachang and the bad guy were obviously a little nervous, and followed Mu Zhong every step of the way. They called it protecting Duke Mu, but according to what Lin Sui'an saw, Mu Zhong was just enough to protect them. Mu Zhongxian took Su Chengxian's portrait and walked around a mat shop on the east side of Fangmen. Not long after, he saw seven or eight young men from the shop quickly dispersed into Dongshi with the portrait.
Mu Zhong was walking around, and everyone in Dongshi seemed to know him. The shop owners came out to say hello one after another. The most amazing thing was that Mu Zhong could call all the shop owners by their names and chat happily.
That's awesome, Lin Sui'an thought. She, who is afraid of modern society who can say less and never say more than half a word, has nothing but admiration for Mu Zhong. After observing him for a while, she silently slipped away to go shopping.
The East Market is naturally not as tall as the modern commercial streets, but its scale is also far beyond Lin Sui'an's expectation. In front of each store, there is a large business sign as tall as a person, with the grade and price of the product written on it. Lin Sui'an glanced at it casually and found that almost every product was divided into upper, middle and lower grades, such as:
Pepper and Bamboo Shoots: One or two fresh bamboo shoots, seven in the top, six in the middle, and five in the bottom.
Fruit shop: One liter of dried grapes costs twenty-three cents for the top, twenty-two cents for the middle, and twenty cents for the bottom.
New goods shop: Portuguese pattern bronze mirror, upper part 550 inscriptions, middle part 520 inscriptions, bottom part 500 inscriptions.
A bronze mirror actually costs 500 coins! Lin Sui'an was shocked. She thought she was dazzled, so she stepped forward and took a closer look. Unexpectedly, when she saw it, the owner of the store rushed out. His expression was so frightened that his voice trembled.
"I've met the leader of the Sixth Team! It's really great that you came to the store. Whatever you want, just pick it! I'll treat you like a little kid!"
Lin Sui'an was a little embarrassed. He lowered his head and pretended to study the brand. He listened carefully to Mu Zhong chatting with the boss, such as how business was doing recently, the supply of goods, prices, etc. The topic was too boring, so he just left after listening. Confused, he was scratching here and there. Suddenly, he found a strange symbol on the top of the business card. It looked like a character and a symbol, and it looked like a flower. Lin Sui'an thought about it for a long time and finally remembered it. It is the hieroglyph for "flower". She turned around and looked around, only to find that the business cards of the pepper and bamboo shoots store, the fruit store, the grocery store, the mat store, the gold bank, and the nearby tomb store all had the same mark.
Is Grave Dianxing—a person who does nothing? Lin Sui'an was speechless, so this is the same brand? Fruits, vegetables, gold, silver, copperware, clothing, and even the underworld are involved in business. This brand is too wild.
The portraits that had been dispersed in Dongshi came back intermittently, and the news came back that they had never met Mr. Su Cheng. The boss of the new goods shop looked at the portraits, shook his head, thought about it, and lowered his voice and said, "The southeast corner I've been a little restless lately, I've seen a lot of new faces, I can't tell."
Mu Zhong: "Which shop should I choose?"
"Orchid Wine Shop."
Oh haha!
Lin Sui'an's eyes lit up, I won't feel sleepy if I say this!
*
