The next day, Su Lin came to the Yamen early. The officials from the Criminal Department straightened their backs automatically when they saw him. They had all heard about the case the night before, and they were proud of Su Lin.
Su Lin greeted people as usual and came to his squad room. Li Chen and Zhu Guangtian came forward and said, "Mr. Lin, the case the night before yesterday has been spread. Now you are a celebrity in the capital. People are talking about you wherever you go."
Su Lin waved his hand, "These are all trivial matters. Now the emperor has asked me to investigate this case, and I have boasted about it in front of my father. So we must win this case. You two have to work hard during this period to follow me." Run away."
Li Chen and the others looked at each other and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, we will fully cooperate with you!"
In fact, Li Chen and the others also have their own little thoughts. Although they are the queens of the generals, the world is still peaceful now, and they have no place to make contributions. Now I can only work as a monk in the yamen of the Ministry of Justice for a day and clock the clock. The chance of climbing up the ladder to be successful is very slim. Now there is a chance to investigate a major case with Su Lin. If this case can be solved, then the two of them will benefit from it, and maybe they can also become officials, so the two of them are working hard.
Su Lin asked Li Chen, "Are the two women from the brothel still in the Yamen?"
"Yes, because Mr. Hua was killed, we are leaving them here for the time being."
"Okay, go and bring them over. I have something else to ask them."
After hearing this, Li Chen turned around and went out. After a while, the two women were brought over. They saluted Su Lin and said, "I have met Mr. Su, and I wish you all the best."
"This is in a yamen, not a brothel. I don't want to call you Mr. Su, Mr. Su. Please call me Mr. Su." Su Lin said, "Don't be nervous, you two. I just want to ask you something more. The scene was so chaotic that night that I forgot about it." Asking what your names are."
"My name is Tianxiang, and this is my maid Cui'er."
"Okay, Tianxiang, let me ask you, when did you arrive at Wanhua Building? Where is your ancestral home? Who else is in your family now?"
"The Nu family's ancestral home is Qizhou. Because the family was poor, they were sold by their parents to a local wealthy family as a maid since they were young. Later, when the master's family declined, they were sold to others and moved to Wanhua Tower. The Nu family was less than twelve when they came here. , now twenty years old, have stayed in Wanhua Building for more than eight years. As for my family, I originally have my parents and two older brothers, but I am far away from them and have not been in contact all year round. I don’t know if they are still alive. ." Tian Xiang returned.
Su Lin secretly thought about it. Qizhou was originally the territory of Qi State, thousands of miles away from the capital of Daqing. She didn't know whether the situation at home was true. Then he asked
"Then every time Hua Shaoqing goes to Wanhua Tower, is he looking for you or someone else? What does he say to you every time he comes?"
"Every time Mr. Hua comes, he spends the night at the slave's house. It's just that Mr. Hua only comes to drink and exchange poems with the slave. He never talks about his own affairs. The slave's family really doesn't know."
Su Lin asked the two of them some other things, and then said, "Okay, that's it for today. You two can go back. I will come to you anytime if anything happens."
"Thank you, sir." Tian Xiang and the other two bowed to Su Lin again, and Zhu Guangtian sent them out.
Su Lin Chong waved his hand in the dark, and Di Wu appeared in front of him like a ghost.
"Diwu, go and keep an eye on these two women. See who they come in contact with and what they do when they go back. Report anything to me in a timely manner."
"Yes!" Diwu accepted the order and disappeared into the darkness.
"Li Chen, let's go to Old Man Hua's house." Su Lin greeted, and took Li Chen and Zhu Guangtian to Washington.
When they arrived at Hua Mansion, there was a call at the door. Hua Tianfeng, the eldest son of Hua Chief Assistant, came to the door of the mansion and ushered Su Lin and others into the mansion.
When they arrived at the hall, the guests and hosts were seated. Hua Tianfeng ordered the servants to watch the tea, and then asked, "Mr. Su, you are here today because of the murder of my third brother."
"It was at this time that Mr. Hua also knew that I was appointed by the emperor to investigate the case. The emperor's order cannot be violated, so he had no choice but to come to disturb the home of the chief minister."
Hua Tianfeng seemed to have heard something ridiculous. "As my third brother, I don't do anything serious all day long. I only know about looking for flowers and asking for help. I didn't expect that my death would attract the attention of the emperor, and it would be unfair to let the son of Prince Su investigate the case personally." This life is wasted."
Are these still brothers? Su Lin complained in his heart, but with a smile on his face he said, "Master Hua seems to be very dissatisfied with his brother. Logically speaking, Master Hua, as the eldest brother, is still the legitimate son, so your younger brother should There is no threat to you, why do you say that? Knowing that your brother is dead, Mr. Hua is not sad at all, and he is a bit gloating. Could it be that Mr. Hua hired someone to kill your brother? "
Hua Tianfeng's face turned gloomy for a moment, then immediately changed to a smiley face, "Mr. Su, you are joking, this kind of thing is not allowed to happen. My relationship with my second and third brothers is still very good, but I don't think how could anyone treat someone who spends all day doing nothing?" It was unbelievable that someone would do such a cruel thing, so I acted out of emotion, which made Mr. Su misunderstood, and I feel ashamed."
Su Lin laughed loudly, "I made a mistake. I was also joking with Mr. Hua. Mr. Hua is a minister of the imperial court. How could he do such a thing as fratricide? In fact, I just came here. The main thing I want to ask Mr. Hua is whether Mr. Hua knows who your brother has enmity with in daily life and who is most likely to kill your brother. I hope Mr. Hua will not hesitate to give you some advice."
Hua Tianfeng pondered for a moment, "Actually, I haven't paid that much attention to my third brother's life. After all, I am now serving in the imperial court and I don't have time to communicate with him too much. This is really my fault as an elder brother."
Hua Tianfeng said to the slaves beside him, "Go and call all the slaves in the third young master's courtyard here, and let Mr. Su ask questions." The slaves beside him turned around and walked out.
After a while, there were six people, two men and four women, standing in the room. Hua Tianfeng said, "Mr. Su, these are all domestic slaves in my third brother's courtyard. They have the most contact with my third brother on weekdays. If you have anything, you can ask them. ." Then he said to the standing slaves, "You must answer Mr. Su's questions truthfully. If you have anything to hide, I will take care of you." These slaves were so frightened that they trembled and promised again and again, "I will answer truthfully."
Su Lin said to Hua Tianfeng, "Thank you, Mr. Hua." He turned around and asked, "Don't be nervous. I'm just asking you some questions. Just tell me what you know. Where do you young masters like to go on weekdays? Who is it? Do you have any enmity with anyone, especially the situation in recent times? Please think carefully and answer me."
These people thought for a long time, and one of the servants said in a low voice, "The place where the Third Young Master goes most often, besides the Second Madam, is the brothel. I usually go there with the Third Young Master in my car. As for who he contacts and makes enemies with, The villain doesn’t know, and we don’t dare to ask if the young master doesn’t tell us.”
"Then what is your young master's temperament like on weekdays?"
"The third young master treats our servants very well and is a kind man." The servant replied.
After hearing these answers, Su Lin thought for a while and said to Hua Tianfeng, "Master Hua, I want to go to your brother's room and see if it's convenient."
Hua Tianfeng smiled and replied, "What's the inconvenience? After the third brother died, my father ordered that no one should touch anything in the third brother's courtyard. I guess it was to make it easier for Mr. Su to investigate the case. Take Mr. Su to see the third brother's room. Look, Master Su’s requirements must be met as much as possible. Master Su, if I have something else to do, I won’t accompany you.”
"Thank you, Mr. Hua. Mr. Hua, please excuse me."
Su Lin followed the people from Washington to Hua Shaoqing's courtyard. It was a small courtyard with only five rooms. Hua Shaoqing lived in the main room, the slaves lived in another room, and the remaining three rooms were guest rooms and study rooms. and the place where Hua Shaoqing keeps his valuables.
Su Lin came to Hua Shaoqing's main room, which was quite elegantly decorated. He said to Li Chen and others, "Go to other houses and search them carefully, especially the letters Hua Shaoqing has with others. Take them away."
Li Chen and the others took the order and went to search other houses. Su Lin was looking back and forth in the main room. When he reached Su Lin's wardrobe, a brocade box caught his attention. He opened it and saw that inside was a Chronicle of Central Continent and nothing else. .
Su Lin opened it and looked at it, but found nothing special. Su Lin wondered, this book is sold everywhere, why does it need to be stored in such a good box? He called Hua Shaoqing's personal maid in and asked, "Do you know why your young master puts such a book here?"
The maid replied, "We asked the young master. The young master just said that this book has a special meaning and asked us not to touch it. He didn't tell us anything else."
Su Lin was even more surprised. What special meaning could there be in a book that could be seen everywhere? At this moment, I suddenly saw a maid who hesitated to speak, so she said to the others, "You all go out, and she stays."
After the others had finished leaving, Su Lin asked the maid, "I see you have something to tell me. There are only two of us now, so just tell me what you have to say."
The maid spoke carefully and whispered, "My lord, last month the second young master came to see the third young master. The two talked for a long time in the study room. Later, I vaguely heard a fierce quarrel between the two young masters. Sir, do you think it was the second young master who killed the third young master?"
Su Lin thought for a moment, "Then why didn't you say anything just now?"
"I was afraid just now that we servants should not eavesdrop on the master's conversation, not to mention discussing the master's affairs is disrespectful. But I have served the third young master for so many years, and the third young master has treated me well, so I decided to put this matter aside Tell Mr. Su."
Su Lin nodded, "Don't worry, I won't tell others about this."
"Thank you, sir."
At this time, Zhu Guangtian walked in, "Mr. Lin, we have finished counting Mr. Hua's things, and packed away all the letters and other things."
"Okay." Su Lin put the book back into the brocade box and handed it to Zhu Guangtian, "Take this with you too."
"Tell your eldest son that we're leaving." Su Lin told his servants and took Zhu Guangtian out of Washington and back to the Yamen of the Ministry of Justice.
