Like most cities in the Tang Dynasty, the Eastern Capital followed the traditional layout of the northern part being rich and the southern part poor. Luobei City was adjacent to the Imperial City. Most nobles, nobles and officials lived here. The land price and terrain were generally much higher than those in Luonan City. It can be said that every inch of land is precious. Except for the maverick Hua family, ordinary merchants do not have the financial resources and status to purchase land and build houses here.
Dongdu, as the first of the five major capitals of the Tang Dynasty, brought together businessmen from all over the country and even the world. The number of wealthy people was particularly objective. Since you can't settle in Luobei City due to your status, you should choose the best location in Luonan City to build a house, just like Luobei City. Thirteen Square across the water is the best location. It faces Luoshui and has three water canals running through it. It has convenient transportation and excellent Feng Shui. It has gradually become a well-known wealthy area in Dongdu.
Thirteenth Square starts from Yanqing Square in the east and ends at Huihe Square in the west. It is bordered by Luoshui in the north and Nanshi in the south. The area of each square is about one-half of the ordinary square area. The population density in the square is low, and they are all large houses and compounds. , for example, it is roughly similar to the river view villa area in a modern metropolis. Children in Dongdu have been humming songs since they were young: "Thirteen squares, six squares of land, the center of the four rivers and nine canals, Yanqing in the east, the sun rises, Huihe in the west, fire burns in the clouds, wealth rolls in from the north water, and blessings shine in the south. Yao Lai."
Fuxiaofang is located in the central area of Thirteenth Square. It must be said that the location is very delicate. There are more than 800 households living in this house, and more than 70% of them are people with Tang nationality, especially Persian businessmen. When the door of the house is opened, the eyes are full of blond and blue-eyed people wearing felt hats and Tang clothes. They were all a mixture of jabbering Persian and modified Tang dialect. Lin Sui'an sat in the car and watched, feeling as if he had been on a trip.
Ling Zhiyan brought all the elites from the Dali Temple government officials. Fifty strong men, led by Mingfeng and Mingshu, changed into casual clothes and did not ride horses. Instead, they went out in batches by carriage in a low-key manner. Lingzhiyan also changed into regular clothes. , black shirt, black turban, white jade belt and short leather boots, a perfect look of a noble nobleman.
The person responsible for taking care of Ling Zhiyan was Li Zheng from Fuxiaofang. Each village in Dongdu has one lizong and two government officials. They are responsible for household registration, planting mulberry trees, inspecting illegal activities, urging tax collection, and coordinating neighbors. They are roughly equivalent to the director of the village neighborhood committee and the local tax officer. The combined version is usually held by a person with high moral character and high prestige elected by the residents of the district.
Much to Lin Sui'an's expectation, this person was a Persian named Tatargan, about thirty years old, with golden hair braided into gorgeous braids, tied with thin silver threads, and coiled on the top of his head. His mustache was greased with wax, and the upturned tail tip was buckled into two small circles. The shape was very stable, and it was estimated that it would not be blown away by a strong wind of magnitude 10. His Tang dialect sounded more upright than Lin Sui'an's.
Ling Zhiyan did not explicitly say that he wanted to investigate the serial murder case. He only said that he wanted to find someone to return to Dali Temple to assist in the investigation. After hearing the request for a tracer, Tatargan frowned and said, "Ling Sizhi, to tell you the truth, this Fu Jiao Fang There are 836 households here, at least more than half of them meet your requirements, where do you start to find them?"
"You only need to provide detailed household registration information and send someone to lead the way," Ling Zhiyan said, "Both those registered and those not registered are required."
Tatargan agreed and ordered the official behind him to go back and get it. He looked at the carriages behind Zhiyan twice, folded his hands and said nothing, and his eyes rolled around.
Jin Ruo looked through the crack of the car window and muttered, "Why do I feel like there is something sinister in this place?"
Hua Yitang: "Li is the person who is most familiar with the situation in Lifang. His words are all evasive. There must be something wrong."
Jin Ruo's eyes lit up, he held the little beggar in his arms and pushed open the car door, "I'll go out for a walk."
"Jin Ruo," Lin Sui'an stopped him, "there may be female relatives in the murderer's family, who may be accomplices."
Jin Ruo was startled for a moment, nodded, and jumped out of the car.
Hua Yitang and Fang Ke both looked at Lin Sui'an.
Lin Sui'an: "I have seen a serial rape and murder case before. The murderers were a couple. In order to keep her husband's heart, the pregnant wife abducted a young woman to go home for her husband to rape and then kill her. .”
Fang Ke's dry eyelids twitched, Hua Yitang took in a breath of cold air, and tapped his forehead with the tip of his fan, "A woman..."
Fang Ke was silent for a moment. He took out nine small porcelain bottles sealed with red wax from the big wooden box and lined them up on the seats. Lin Sui'an was so frightened that he turned around and squeezed in next to Hua Yitang. Hua Yitang went to The driver shrank back and stared with a pair of big eyes, "Brother Fang, are these porcelain bottles from the Baochuan Mausoleum and Mass Graves?"
"I cut off a small piece of facial skin from each of the nine corpses and soaked it in it overnight. It should be almost time now." Fang Chi unplugged the bottle cork, looked at it, and smelled it again, "Yes. It has a faint floral fragrance and a sweet taste, do you want to smell it?"
Hua Yitang's head shook like a rattle. Lin Sui'an was originally quite curious about what the liquid in the small porcelain bottle was, but she swallowed it when the words reached her lips. Her sixth sense told her that it was better not to know.
Fang Ke's expression was a little regretful, he closed the bottle and said: "When I was studying erotic books popular in the Eastern Capital, several books mentioned a kind of balsamic paste. When applied on a woman's lips, it becomes as pink as petals and has a sweet and fragrant smell. It is greasy, soft to the touch, lasts for a long time, and has the miraculous effect of maintaining youth forever with long-term use. It is said to be a tribute from overseas. Because of its popularity, similar powders and cheeks were launched. But later, for some unknown reason, this magical product The balsam ointment suddenly disappeared, about five years ago." Fang Ke raised his eyebrows, "Does it sound familiar?"
Hua Yitang: "It's very similar to the spices I found in the files that can keep fruits, vegetables, fish and shrimp fresh."
Lin Sui'an: "Are they made from the same raw material?"
"This kind of balsam is expensive, and ordinary women can't afford it or use it." Fang Ke put the porcelain bottles back into the big wooden box one by one, "I want to go to Hongqiaofang."
It is indeed a good direction of investigation. Lin Sui Anxin said that if this balsamic paste is as magical as the legend, the oirans and prostitutes of Hongqiaofang will definitely spend a lot of money to purchase it. If they are lucky enough to find some inventory, it will be a major clue.
"Brother Fang, please stay." Hua Yitang got his head out of the car window, took out a purse of gold leaves and threw it over, then paused, "Take care!"
Fang Ke glared at Hua Yitang inexplicably, and Hong Yi walked away like the wind.
Lin Sui'an glanced sideways at Hua Yitang. Hua Yitang patted his chest with a fan and sighed in an old manner, "Brother Fang is not very experienced in the world and is not good at words. I am going to go into danger alone. I am afraid that a sheep will fall into a tiger's mouth. Hua is very I am worried, very worried!"
Lin Sui'an: "..."
I believed your evil deeds! Don't think I didn't see you snickering. If he hadn't been so busy at the moment, this guy would have wanted to follow Dr. Fang to see his joke. But then again, Lin Sui'an imagined the scene of the sullen Fang Ke being surrounded by a group of enchanting prostitutes - hehe, she also wanted to watch the fun.
The officials sent by Tatargan came back and brought back two boxes of household registration scrolls. One box contained suspects who needed to be investigated according to Ling Zhiyan's request. There were men of suitable age at home, doing business, owning boats and cars, and a large house. There were three in total. More than a hundred households, such a huge number, I don’t know how long it will take to investigate. The other box is for the time being ruled out of suspicion. The men in the family are away all year round, only the women and children are there, the owner is away on business, leaving only old servants, and there are about ten families with empty houses. As the New Year is approaching, they all return to their hometowns to visit relatives. .
Ling Zhiyan got in the car and briefly discussed it with Hua Yitang. They made a simple search direction and route, and then led the troops to set off in a hurry. Lin Sui'an wanted to follow, but Hua Yitang grabbed her and headed towards the car outside the car. Li Zheng pursed his lips.
On the surface, Tatargan was very cooperative with Dali Temple and sent his only two government officials and four delinquents to Ling Zhiyan. However, he shied away from the fact that he had important matters and did not accompany him. As soon as the people from Dali Temple left, he quickly avoided the crowd and got into the alley next to the square gate.
Lin Sui'an winked at Hua Yitang, got out of the carriage and followed quietly. Tatargan trotted all the way, looking back from time to time, very cautious, turning left and right in the narrow alley, Lin Sui'an did not dare He was following too close, but not too far away. It was quite a hard pursuit. After going around in twists and turns in the alley for several times, he finally got out. He saw Tatargan entering a house. It was inconvenient. If you chase him again, you can only stay outside the door.
Less than half a quarter of an hour later, the courtyard door opened, and five or six men in Hufu came out, each wearing a big felt hat, hunched over, dispersed with a sigh, and ran away in different directions. , caught Lin Sui'an off guard. Just when he was wondering which one to chase, several figures suddenly appeared in the corner and followed him instantly. There was a figure from the back who looked very familiar. Lin Sui'an recognized it as the one in the sky among the seven stars. pivot.
He is a person who has a clean door. Lin Sui'an felt relieved, thought about it, stayed where he was, and continued to guard.
Another quarter of an hour later, another person came out of the courtyard, wearing a Tang Dynasty robe, a bamboo hat, and a pair of thick-soled sheepskin boots. Lin Sui'an recognized them as Tatar boots, and was immediately overjoyed. The weirder this person's behavior was, the more it showed. The bigger his problem becomes,
Probably because he felt that he was already safe, Tatargan walked much slower, making him inconspicuous among the crowd. The four main streets of Fugaofang intersect in a tic-shaped shape, with a number of small alleys interspersed in between. Tatargan seems to have a well-thought-out plan, frequently changing roads and directions, now south, now north, east and west, along the way, there are Dali temples scattered throughout the square. He didn't meet any of the government officials. It must have been the bad guy he sent to lead the way who specially left a gap for him.
After walking for about a quarter of an hour, Tatar arrived at the door of a house in the east area of Fuxiaofang. This house was a rare small facade in Fuxiaofang. It had a single black-painted wooden door, no stone beasts guarding the gate, tall walls, and green interior. The vegetation is lush, with tall poplar crowns stretching out from the wall, covering half of the street, with a few small white flowers mixed among the leaves.
Tatar knocked on the door four times, three short times and one long time. Then he came to the door and whispered something. The wooden door creaked open a crack, and he squeezed in. The door closed quietly.
Lin Sui'an looked around. He saw that this place was in a remote location with almost no pedestrians. He didn't miss the opportunity and climbed up the wall, jumped to the poplar tree in the courtyard, and squatted on the branch to observe the house.
This is a three-entry garden. At a glance, there are at least more than 20 large and small rooms. Tatar just entered through the back side door. There should be a main entrance facing the main street in front. The owner of the garden is probably an arty person. An elegant back garden was also built, complete with trees, flowers, grass, lakes, rocks and pools. The garden was quiet and strange. Lin Sui'an looked at the trees for a long time, but he didn't see anyone. Tatargan didn't know where he went. Maybe he went to the front yard along the corridor in the garden, or maybe he entered the garden. Which wing.
You've come here, but it seems a bit of a loss if you don't go around for a while.
Lin Sui'an jumped down from the tree, turned over and jumped onto the lake stone, and used his strength to climb up to the roof of the corridor. The corridor in this garden was built very carefully, with a double-layered back shape, which could reach almost every place in the courtyard. Lin Sui'an lowered his waist and dismounted his horse. , walking lightly, like a leaf blown by the wind, rushing against the roof of the cloister, first walked around the back garden, then went to the middle garden, and then to the front garden, sweeping all the wings and making a full circle. Coming down, not to mention people, I didn't even see a ghost. I couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. It's just that I didn't see anyone else. Tatargan seemed to have disappeared from the world.
At this time, Lin Sui'an missed his mobile phone a little. If he could call Jin Ruo at this time and ask him to come and take care of him - suddenly, Lin Sui'an had an idea in his mind and remembered the serial murder case in Yangdu. At that time, the murder scene was found through two connected secret passages. Could it be that this garden was also built to hide the secret passages leading to other places?
The more Lin Sui'an thought about it, the more likely it was that he thought it was possible. He immediately jumped down from the corridor and wandered around. Sure enough, he found some footprints outside the wing room in the central garden, pointing directly to the front hall. He followed the footprints to the front of the main hall in the front yard. The stone floor changed. It became a wooden floor. Without Jin Ruo's eyesight, the footprints were naturally lost. Lin Sui'an scratched his forehead and felt a little discouraged.
Sure enough, professional things still need to be done by professionals. She really can't comprehend such a difficult technology as tracking.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, there was a "click" behind him, and the closed door of the main hall suddenly opened. Tatar rushed out in a hurry, screaming something unknown, followed by a group of people carrying boxes and pickers. Those carrying burdens, those resisting sacks... there was such a large group of people, including barbarians, Tang people, and even more Persians.
Lin Sui'an blinked and couldn't believe his eyes. Tatargan and the others were completely dumbfounded.
The wind blew and the large wooden door of the main hall creaked. Tatargan suddenly raised his voice and screamed: "She is from the government, catch her!"
Lin Sui'an grinned, and Qian Jing held a sword in his hand.
Oops, after being unlucky for so long, she finally got lucky. :,,
