Although Shao Xi seems to be a bit careless on weekdays, when it comes to investigating cases, he is more serious and careful than others, whether he was in Wan County before or later in Qingshan City.
He always felt that anything concerning human life should not be done carelessly or ignored. Since he was involved in the matter, he should do his best.
After arriving at Junxiao Building with Long Qitai, he called the shopkeeper and waiter over and went to the private room on the second floor where the crime occurred last night.
Although the private room has been cleaned, it is not used to receive guests.
The shopkeeper said that it was really unlucky that someone died in this elegant room last night, and he would have to wait until a Taoist priest performed rituals in the past two days before it could be used to receive guests again.
After Shao Xi inquired, he found out that what the shopkeeper and the waiter told him was consistent with what Bai Jinqing said, and there was nothing suspicious about the whole incident.
I also asked the waiter who was present at the time and found out that the chair that the envoy of Baiye Kingdom hit when he fell was the one near the door.
So Shao Xi walked to the chair and examined it carefully.
Long Chitai stood at the door with his arms folded, watching Shao Xi constantly looking around and around the chair. He didn't understand why he had to look at the things he had checked this morning again now. I haven’t found anything on that chair before!
After checking for a while, Shao Xi stood up and asked the shopkeeper and waiter: "When the man fell down last night, where did he hit the chair?"
The shopkeeper and the waiter looked at each other, then lowered their heads and thought seriously.
The waiter spoke first: "If the villain remembers correctly, he should have hit the back of the chair at that time, but before hitting him, another guest who came with the guest reached out to catch him, but he fell. The force was a bit strong, so he hit the back of the chair and fell to the ground."
The shopkeeper also nodded to confirm that what the waiter said was exactly what he saw at that time.
After hearing this, Shao Xi turned around and looked carefully at the back of the chair, as if confirming something, and then waved to Long Chitai.
"Brother Long, look what this is?"
Long Zhitai leaned closer to the back of the chair and looked carefully at the location pointed by Shao Xi. He did see a trace of being hit by something, and there were light patterns on the trace.
“This pattern doesn’t look like it’s from the Central Plains, it should be from the Western Regions.”
"Then what kind of pattern does Brother Long think this is?"
Long Qitai raised his head and glanced at Shao Xi, then lowered his head to think about it and said, "The pattern is very small, it should be left by some kind of small jewelry on the body."
"Like a ring, right?" Shao Xi asked as if he had expected it.
"Yes, it is true that small accessories like rings have such tiny patterns. Did you discover anything?"
Shao Xi smiled and said nothing. He turned around and asked the shopkeeper and waiter: "Did the guests in these two private rooms make reservations in advance or make temporary arrangements?"
The shopkeeper replied: "They were all booked in advance. Mr. Bai and the others came first. As soon as Mr. Bai left, the guests in this room came to make reservations and also designated this room."
"Who is the scheduled guest?"
The waiter rushed to answer: "It's the guest who reached out to help the person."
Shao Xi nodded and said nothing more.
After the questioning was over, Shao Xi said to Long Qitai: "I will ask you to move this chair back to Dali Temple for evidence. Now we have to go to the post house where the envoy stayed before."
Long Qitai asked the shopkeeper to keep the chair and Dali Temple would send someone to pick it up later. The shopkeeper quickly agreed.
When the two arrived at the post house, Xiao Liuzi, who had rushed over, had already followed Long Qitai's instructions to keep the minister's entourage and others inside the post house and were not allowed to go out at will. Everyone's belongings were also concentrated in one of the rooms, waiting for Long Qitai and Shao Xi to come and check them out.
Long Qitai arranged for someone to go to Junxiao Tower to get chairs, while Shao Xi first found the entourage who went to the restaurant with the envoy last night.
The entourage knew the purpose of Shao Xi, Long Chitai and others' coming, so he cooperated with them and answered all questions.
Shao Xi carefully looked at the envoy's entourage in front of him, and then asked about what happened last night. The entourage also gave the same answer as Bai Jinqing, the restaurant owner and others said.
"You just mentioned that the envoy was invited by a friend to have a drink at Junxiaolou last night, right?"
The attendant respectfully replied: "As you said, that's exactly what it is."
"Then what is the name of this friend of yours, Lord Envoy? Where does he come from?"
"Sir, I only know that this person's name is Wuriyeti, and he is a businessman. As for the other villains, I really don't know much about him."
"Do you know where this person is now?"
"He lives in this post house like us. It's just that after what happened last night, he left the post house this morning and never came back. I don't know where he is now."
Shao Xi frowned and changed the question again.
"Do you, the envoy, dislike the culture of the Central Plains very much?"
"That's not true. Our envoys still admire the culture of the Central Plains, but they often talk to us about things like the Central Plains people being too scheming and liking intrigues."
"Why did you speak so fiercely in the restaurant yesterday? Do you talk like this on weekdays?"
The attendant smiled and said: "Actually, he wouldn't do it on weekdays. It's just that yesterday, when my lord and his friend had different opinions when they talked about people from the Central Plains, they got into an argument, and that's why my lord spoke so loudly."
"Well, do you remember who brought up this topic first?"
The envoy's entourage was silent for a long time after hearing Shao Xi's question, as if they were recalling the details of the conversation between several people the night before.
"I remember correctly, it was your friend who first started talking about this topic. It was nothing at first, but for some reason the two of them got into an argument while chatting, so your Excellency became more and more excited and spoke louder. Get up and provoke the guests next door to come over."
"Do you know how long this friend of your envoy has been in the Central Plains?"
"I don't know how old the villain is exactly, but he must be quite a few years ago. I heard two days ago that he was planning to return to the Western Regions, but he went back again for some unknown reason. He just stayed in this inn yesterday, and invited him in the evening. We adults went out drinking together."
Shao Xi still put his thumb on his chin as usual, and asked thoughtfully: "You mean he left Daliang two days ago, but came back again for some unknown reason, is that true?"
"That's right. The night before he left, we adults even drank with him to see him off. But only two days after he left, he suddenly checked into this inn yesterday. He said he had some unfinished business. I won’t leave for now.”
Having said this, Shao Xi took out the ghost-faced black iron plaque from his arms, handed it to the envoy's entourage and asked, "Do you know this thing? Is this your family's belongings?"
The attendant took the sign and looked at it carefully, shook his head and handed the sign back.
"I don't know this thing, and I have never seen it on any of my adults before."
Shao Xi curled his lips, feeling a little disappointed. However, he still said to his entourage: "You will stay in the post house for the next two days and do not go out. I may ask you for questions later."
The envoy's entourage bowed and saluted: "I understand, I will definitely cooperate with you to find out the case, so that I can have an explanation after I return."
Shao Xi nodded, turned around, and went with Long Qitai to check out the relics left by the Baiye Kingdom envoy.
After some inspection, it was found that the things left by the envoy were all ordinary things. Even some jade treasures were of little help to the investigation.
Just when the two were about to give up and continue checking, Shao Xi was attracted by a box.
Speaking of which, this box is nothing special, just an ordinary small box covered with brocade. What interested Shao Xi was that the box was empty, and no objects matching the box were found in the room.
What would a person who likes jade treasures do with a small box he doesn’t need?
Thinking of this, Shao Xi took the box and went to find the envoy and his entourage.
"Do you know the purpose of keeping such an empty box around your family?"
To Shao Xi's surprise, the attendant looked surprised and panicked when he saw the box in his hand, and even couldn't help but snatch the box from his hand, as if he was very anxious.
"Why did it become an empty box? Why are the things in the box missing? I checked yesterday and the things were still there! Why are they missing now? Has it been stolen?"
Shao Xi immediately understood why the box was empty. It seemed that the contents in the box had been taken away. No wonder there was nothing that could match the box.
"You said there was something in this box? What was it? When was the last time you saw it? Don't be anxious and tell it slowly."
The attendant said anxiously: "This box originally contained a pair of rare glazed beads. There are colorful cloud patterns in the beads. Your Excellency once said that this is a very precious treasure. You don't trust us to let it go on weekdays." I keep them all by myself. Yesterday I checked them and they were still there, but today they are empty boxes!"
Shao Xi was shocked! Glazed beads, Yunxia glazed beads again! Of the ten glass beads that were originally sold on consignment at Taihe Trading Company, the man in black robe bought two, and the wealthy businessman from the Western Region bought two. Why did two more appear here? This is wrong!
"You mean this box originally contained a pair of Yunxia glazed beads? Where did your family get this pair of beads? And when did you get them?"
"This box did originally contain a pair of Yunxia glazed beads. The first time I saw them was on the day when I moved into the post house with you. I originally thought that the master brought them from the Central Plains to offer to His Majesty Jingyuan, but the treasure was presented to the emperor. At that time, what my adults presented was not this pair of beads. At that time, I thought it was because the envoy from Dongmu Kingdom presented the same beads, so my adults temporarily changed their mind. As for where these beads came from, what When the time comes, the villain really doesn’t know.”
Shao Xi quickly asked: "On what day did you and your family move into the post house?"
"It's the day before New Year's Eve."
The day before New Year's Eve, that is to say, the pair of Yunxia glazed beads in the hands of the envoy from the Baiye Kingdom should be the pair bought by the man in black robe, but where did the pair in the hands of the envoy from the Dongmu Kingdom come from?
The only explanation is that the pair of beads in the hands of the envoy from the Eastern Mu Kingdom were obtained from the wealthy businessman from the Western Regions, but the wealthy businessman from the Western Regions had already left Daliang two days ago!
etc!
This friend of the envoy of Baiye Kingdom is also a businessman from the Western Regions. He also left Daliang two days ago, but he left and returned yesterday.
Are they the same person?
