"Mr. Lang, be careful where you go, Wang Shang is inside."
Sun Mao reminded Cui Yuanzao to avoid the debris scattered on the ground and invited him inside.
Cui Yuanzao looked up. The drizzle fell occasionally on his face. This was not even a room. An umbrella covered his head.
Cui Yuanzao turned sideways and looked back. Lan Yin, dressed in red, suddenly jumped out of the dim sad field square.
"Where have you been?" Cui Yuanzao asked.
"Just take a walk on the road."
Cui Yuanzao obviously felt that Lan Yin's tone was gloomy, and whispered: "You can't control it."
"Yeah." Lan Yin hummed.
"The fighting on the frontline is fierce, and there will only be more and more sick children and beggars here. If the war ceases, things will be better." Cui Yuanzao hesitated for a long time and finally consoled him.
Although Cui Yuanzao knew that these were just false words, it might be a comfort to the naive Lan Yin.
"Let's go in and take a look."
"Um."
This place is not so much a room as it is a corridor between two rooms. The roof corridors happen to be staggered together, creating a living space.
Rain drifted down from the cracks and wet the ground. Although the ground was covered with thatch, it was already wet and muddy.
Cui Yuanzao frowned. All traces must have been destroyed.
Walking into the curtain, Wu Zuo was doing a brief inspection.
"Cui Pingshi, look." Sun Mao handed over a cloth bag, "I found it from Wang Shang's chest."
Cui Yuanzao opened the cloth bag and found a concave-convex mirror and a letter.
"What did you write?" Lan Yin stood on tiptoes and looked into Cui Yuanzao's hands.
Cui Yuanzao handed the hemp paper to Lan Yin. Lan Yin read it and found that it was a self-incriminating letter.
"My surname is Wang and my name is Shang. I am from Yangzhou Prefecture, Huainan Road. I once studied painting with Mr. Huangpu. However, Mr. He was harmed by the traitor Lu Qian, and his injustice will never come to light. In order to make a living, I traveled to various places. I arrived here two years ago. In Chang'an, I got the job of repairing the murals at Zhao Jinggong Temple. However, the villain Lu Qian was causing trouble and hindered him. He lost his livelihood and felt resentful, so he used moonlight to create an illusion and intimidate Lu Qian. However, he never thought that the villain Lu Qian was guilty of being a thief. , to the point of being frightened to death. Now one life is worth another, just pay it to him. Wang Shang’s masterpiece."
"So it's suicide?" Lan Yin said.
Cui Yuanzao was noncommittal and did not respond.
"Cui Pingshi, the work has been inspected." After a while, Sun Mao came over with the work.
"Well, tell me, how did you die?" Cui Yuanzao picked up the autopsy sheet and looked at it.
"The deceased had no external injuries and must have died of poisoning." Wu Zuo bowed respectfully.
"Have you examined the deceased's stomach?" Cui Yuanzao asked, flipping through the autopsy sheet.
Wu Zuo was sweating on his head and hunched over his back as he said, "The deceased's lips were black, and his neck was pierced with a silver needle. The silver needle turned black, which is an obvious symptom of poisoning."
Cui Yuanzao closed the autopsy sheet and said calmly: "If the deceased died first and the murderer poisoned him later, wouldn't the autopsy results still be the same as today? Go and test the poisoning in the stomach."
"Yes." Wu Zuo retreated in panic.
"How do you know that Wang Shang was poisoned after he died?" Lan Yin asked curiously.
"I don't know. I just hate doing things half-heartedly. Now that I've done it, I have to do it well."
Lan Yin felt that Cui Yuanzao's expression couldn't be explained, and she always felt a little sad.
For some reason, Lan Yin wanted to break the melancholy and deliberately changed the topic, "Do you think Wang Shang committed suicide?"
Cui Yuanzao shook his head, "There are still many problems."
"What's the problem?"
"First, it's the timing. Wang Shang died at the right time. Second, it's the indictment, written on hemp paper. Wang Shang was so poor, where did he get the pen, ink, paper and inkstone? Did you see the scene? Third, it is this concave-convex mirror. Originally, Wang Shang died, but the concave-convex mirror is still there, which just shows that Wang Shang did not die at the hands of others, because if he knew the value of the concave-convex mirror, the murderer would definitely take it. But precisely because of this concave-convex mirror It's still there, so I have to think about it. Wang Shang is so poor. If he knew the value of the concave-convex mirror, he must have sold it. Therefore, it just proves that Wang Shang either doesn't know the value of this thing, or he doesn't dare to Dispose of this thing at will. Therefore, I still suspect that someone created a suicide scene to spread suspicion."
"So complicated?" Lan Yin tried hard to digest Cui Yuanzao's words. She just wondered why these murderers made it so complicated and lost so much money. Can't they just hire an assassin and get rid of it all at once?
Cui Yuanzao waved, and Sun Mao trotted over, "Cui Pingshi, what's the matter?"
"Give this self-incriminating letter to Zen Master Wuxin and ask him to identify the handwriting."
"Okay." Sun Mao took the hemp paper and quickly ran out of Beitianfang.
Following Sun Mao's direction, Lan Yin saw a few ragged children with bare feet poking their heads at the end of the corridor.
Lan Yin waved her hand and signaled them to leave, fearing that they would affect the conclusion of the case.
Unexpectedly, these children not only refused to leave, but ran over.
Lan Yin was startled and quickly said to Cui Yuanzao, "I just gave them food. I will send them away now."
Cui Yuanzao had a rare smile in his eyes and said, "I asked them to come here."
"Do you know the people living there?" Cui Yuanzao asked the children.
"I know you, Painter Wang."
"Has he always lived here?"
"I lived there before, but then I stopped, and then I came here again." The children talked all over the place.
"Does he have any friends?"
"He is so poor, what kind of friends does he have?"
"Then has anyone come looking for him? Think about it carefully, the child you come up with will have something to eat." Cui Yuanzao stretched out his hand to Lan Yin.
Lan Yin stared at him, and finally reluctantly took out a few snacks from the small cloth bag at her waist.
This hateful man just stole some pastries from the snack cabinet in his carriage, and he actually wanted to go back. Didn't he have some pastries with him?
The children looked at each other and shook their heads. One of the older children said: "Who can come to him? They are just novice monks in the temple."
"Think about it again, is there someone special? Or a novice who often comes to see him?" Cui Yuanzao induced.
"It's really not true. Everyone hates him. He keeps saying that he is different from us and will become rich sooner or later. Why doesn't he come back in despair?" the eldest child said sarcastically.
Seeing that the children couldn't figure out why they were here, Cui Yuanzao distributed the fruits to them and let them go.
Lan Yin shook her head and said, "I found nothing."
Cui Yuanzao looked at her gloating about her misfortune. He felt quite happy for some reason. It was better than the cold and indifferent look of the previous two days. "It's not like I gained nothing. At least I know that no one has ever looked for Wang Shang except the novice monk."
"Humph." Lan Yin laughed secretly in her heart, not that she had gained nothing.
"Langjun, Langjun..." Suddenly, a child turned around.
"What's wrong?" Lan Yin knelt down, looked at the little boy with a droopy nose, and took out a handkerchief to wipe him.
"Can I have another fruit? My brother is at home and hasn't eaten it yet. I have news that I can exchange for." The boy said urgently, as if to not seem so unearned.
"what news?"
"Last night, my brother was not feeling well. I was a little scared. I came out very early to see if any novices would come to apply medicine. It was still dark at that time and there was no one on the road. I saw a monk coming from Wang Shang's place. Come out. I originally wanted to ask him if he had any medicine, but I looked a little scared when I saw him, so I didn't dare to go up. Later, Wang Shang died." The boy shrank to the side and said.
Cui Yuanzao frowned and signaled to Lingcong. Lingcong understood and brought out several face pictures.
"Do you think it's this Master?" Cui Yuanzao pointed at the portrait of Zen Master Wu Xin and said.
"No, this is Zen Master Wu Xin. I know him. He often comes to give medicine."
Cui Yuanzao took out the picture of the abbot's face again, and the little boy shook his head, "It's not like that. He's younger than him and about the same age as Zen Master Wu Xin."
"Can you tell me what he looks like? I'll draw it." Cui Yuanzao is also good at painting.
The little boy shook his head, "I can't explain clearly. It was still dark at the time. I always felt that he was so scary and I didn't dare to get close!"
The boy couldn't explain clearly. Cui Yuanzao put down his brush helplessly and dived into meditation. The boy still stood there, motionless.
Lan Yin glanced at Cui Yuanzao and could only admit that she was unlucky. She pulled out a few more fruits from the cloth bag. You know, these were originally her breakfast.
The boy took the fruit and jumped away with joy. The sound finally woke up Cui Yuanzao. He looked at Lan Yin who was licking the corner of her mouth and couldn't help but laugh. This lady probably didn't eat in the morning because she came to see the scene.
"Cui Pingshi, please come here." Wuzuo shouted from inside the curtain.
Cui Yuanzao stepped in, suddenly remembered something, stopped there, turned to Lan Yin and said: "Stand outside, don't come in."
Lan Yin was startled and froze on the spot. She was pulled aside by Ling Cong. She was so angry that she kicked the thatch on the ground and secretly cursed, Cui Xiaoren, crossing the river and destroying the bridge, not letting her participate.
"Ms. Yang, eat some." Ling Cong handed over a Hu pancake, "Don't blame Lang Jun. Lang Jun is doing it for your own good. He went in and couldn't even eat the morning food."
Lan Yin glanced at Ling Cong, took the cake, and took a big bite. How could Mr. Cui have such kindness?
Cui Yuanzao saw the opened belly in the curtain and the undigested biscuits inside. He couldn't help but felt his stomach churn, and silently pressed it back, thinking that it was a good thing that Lan Yin didn't come in.
"Cui Pingshi, please see, this cake is poisonous."
"Can you tell the time of death?"
"Judging from the degree of digestion of the Hu Cake, it should be between Haishi and Zishi last night."
Cui Yuanzao remembered what the child had just said. According to time calculation, if the scene was arranged again, it should be the time when the child saw the monk.
"Lang Jun," Ling Cong suddenly rushed in and said, "Ms. Yang said she wanted to find the child and find out more about the specific situation."
"Already gone?" Cui Yuanzao frowned.
"I didn't stop her." Lingcong lowered his head in shame, but he couldn't stop Mrs. Yang's speed.
"Let's go take a look." Cui Yuanzao didn't blame Ling Cong, but just walked forward quickly.
But before they could walk out of the aisle, the child suddenly ran over and said to Cui Yuanzao: "The sister just asked me to tell you that she has something to do. She will come back as soon as she goes."
Cui Yuanzao pursed his lips and looked at the misty Beitianfang in drizzle in silence, then suddenly turned around and walked back into the curtain.
For some reason, Ling Cong felt particularly lonely when he looked at his husband's back in the dark corridor, so he hurriedly followed him.
