After Mrs. Cheng calmed down, An Ying gave a brief salute and said: "The case of Qi Guogong and the case of Cheng Shilang are actually similar. From the cause of death alone, it is difficult to judge that it was murder, but combined with the rummaging in the study, it is difficult to judge that it was murder. It will be associated with murder. If there was no rummaging in the study, Mrs. Qi Guogong would not report the crime at all, right?"
Mrs. Qi Guogong nodded, "My old man's pulse record is all there. The imperial doctor and the doctor in the house have tested it, and there is nothing unusual. It was not until I found that the study was rummaged through that I felt something was wrong."
An Ying nodded and asked, "But did your eldest son find out?"
Yan Kuan stood up and said, "That's right."
An Ying said: "Mr. Yan told me that day that many relatives and friends came to express their condolences. Several of Qi Guogong's former friends came over and asked for some paintings by Qi Guogong. They wanted to take them back to memorize them, right?"
Yan Kuan nodded, and An Ying asked, "Who are they?"
"Several adults from the Ministry of Rites, Mr. Cai, Mr. Liu, and a few relatives, my brother-in-law Ma Tong, oh, and Mr. Li from the Military and Horse Department."
An Ying nodded and said, "Then how did you find out that the study was being rummaged through?"
Yan Kuan said impatiently: "I found it as soon as I entered the house. The whole house was turned over and turned into a mess."
An Ying said to Yang Kuan: "But this is not the case when Mrs. Cheng found out that the study had been rummaged through. If Master Cheng hadn't sorted things into categories and arranged them well, and the personal servant Xiao Tao had carefully managed them, most people wouldn't have noticed that the study had been rummaged through."
Mrs. Qi Guogong suddenly realized it and said: "That's it."
Seeing that her eldest son still didn't understand, she said to An Ying: "My old man's study is not as tightly guarded as the Cheng Mansion. It has always been lax, but there are only some of his worthless rags in it."
"If someone really wants to look for secrets and looks for them secretly, none of us can detect it. Right?"
Yan Kuan then slapped his thigh and said, "The emotional chaos is just for us to see."
An Ying said: "When Yun Pingshi came back, he said that there was a layer of dust in Qi Guogong's study. It can be seen that no one cleans or tidies it up on weekdays. In this year, it is not too difficult to go in and search. matter."
An Ying said: "So I ask you, among the people who asked you for Qi Guogong's calligraphy and painting that day, who was the first to propose it?"
Yan Kuan was a little surprised and replied: "It's Mr. Li Li from the Bingma Division in the capital."
An Ying said: "The most important thing about this matter is the time to ask for the calligraphy and paintings in Duke Qi's study. If you hadn't asked for calligraphy and paintings, you wouldn't have gone to the study for a while, let alone found that the study had been rummaged through. Right?"
Mrs. Qi Guogong nodded, and Yan Kuan also nodded and said, "That's right. We estimate that we won't clean up the house until all the funeral arrangements are over. At least it will take a few months before we can deal with the house."
"So the person who suggested going to the study at that time was the only one capable of connecting the two cases? Otherwise, it would have been discovered a few months later that Mr. Cheng's case would have been settled. Isn't that right, Mr. Li?"
Mr. Li, the deputy commander of the Beijing Army and Horses Division, was tied up and brought to the lobby.
Everyone looked at it in amazement. Mrs. Qi Guogong frowned and said: "Master Su, Master Li is the deputy commander of the Beijing Army and Horses Department. He has an official rank of fourth rank and is at the same level as you. You..."
Su Huangzhe said with a smile: "Madam, please rest assured. Mr. Li was arrested at the scene of the crime, and the arrest document was signed by Huang Shangshu himself."
Li Li was pinned to the ground and said, "I just suddenly remembered that I wanted to keep a painting of the Duke. I did this unintentionally, which made you suspicious. What do I want to do to connect two cases together? I am so confused by you Even if I were arrested, it was just Zhuang Kan who attacked Cheng Bitang. According to Daqi law, I should be tried by the capital government. Your punishment department’s hands are too long, right?"
Dai Chang looked around, what should we do? It doesn't matter if the governor of the capital doesn't do it, his life will be shortened.
Lin Shaoyin saw this and said quickly: "An Sizhi. An Sizhi, you continue, hey, you continue."
An Ying nodded and said: "During the first case, the only ones who knew that Mr. Cheng's study was being rummaged were you, Mr. Cai from the Ministry of Rites, and Dai Chang, the governor of the capital. In the second case, it was you who suggested taking the calligraphy and paintings of Duke Qi to lure everyone in. When I went to the study, I discovered that the study had been rummaged through, and then the matter about Shilang Cheng was naturally mentioned, and the two originally unrelated cases were connected together."
"Only you have the ability to do it."
Li Li sneered, "As the commander of the Military and Horse Department of the capital, it is my duty to protect the safety of the people of the capital. An important official of the Ministry of Rites died suddenly and his study was ransacked, so I naturally have to pay more attention. As for asking for calligraphy and paintings, I didn't mean to do it at all. Yes. The connection of the two cases was decided by Mr. Dai of the Capital Prefecture. With your Ministry of Punishment suspecting people at will, is it really impossible to solve the case? Yes, Mr. Dai is also from the Ministry of Punishment. "
Dai Chang's head was covered with sweat. Su Huangzhe in the hall said, "It's not your turn to talk about our criminal department. An Sizhi, you continue."
An Ying had no intention of arguing with Li Li. The evidence was conclusive, so there was no need to waste words.
She said: "The first two unrelated cases were connected because of the study. Mr. Li went through all this trouble just for the third case."
An Ying drank some tea to moisten his throat and continued: "The third case is the murder of Wang Qingyan, a court doctor."
"This case is different from the previous two. Wang Qingyan was indeed stabbed to death. It was undoubtedly murder."
An Ying continued: "Wang Qingyan is different from the Duke and Cheng Shilang. He is neither a senior official in power nor an important relative. Theoretically, there are no particularly important official documents in his study."
"But once it is connected with the affairs of Cheng Shilang and Qi Guogong, people will inevitably think of Wang Qingyan's previous official position in the Ministry of Household Affairs. In this way, the entire case will move in the direction where the three are connected."
"But if we really investigate in this direction, there will be endless materials and evidence. We will never be able to solve the case. This is why we have to connect the first two cases together."
Everyone suddenly realized.
"Wang Qingyan, thirty-eight years old. He once served as a magistrate of the Ministry of Household Affairs. After he was found to be corrupt and dismissed in the fifth year of Qinghe, he got the position of a casual official in the imperial court."
"The Criminal Department has been investigating this matter for a long time. I thought there would be a lot of articles in the middle." An Ying smiled, "That's how it is to solve a case. The direction is wrong, and the exhaustion will only make you farther away from the truth."
Everyone had never heard such a wonderful proposal before, and everyone listened with rapt attention.
Liang Su on the side took out the dried fragrant sticks in his arms and ate and listened. He was amazed in his heart. This case was too complicated, but it was much more exciting than the previous rice dumpling poisoning in the academy.
