Lu Zongyi's head ached.
There are so many things going on in one province. Just the documents delivered by the government are enough to be suffocating, not to mention that there are complicated events behind each document.
Just like the people in Jianning Prefecture grabbing the bamboo forest, it is not just a matter of ownership of the bamboo forest, but an issue of papermaking and interests, in which the common people and big households are involved.
A good moso bamboo forest is a continuous supply of paper-making materials. For this long-term benefit, it is normal to have disputes, but it is difficult to solve the problem because no one wants to let go...
Lu Zongyi knew very well that Chen Tai mentioned this matter at this time because he wanted him to go to Jianning Mansion to deal with this difficult matter instead of going to Quanzhou Mansion.
The more this happened, the more unusual Lu Zongyi felt.
It seems that in the provincial government office, Quanzhou Prefecture is a restricted area for him, and it is difficult to even set foot in it. They are all under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province. I want to investigate, but why are there so many stumbling blocks?
There seems to be some reason behind this. Perhaps, we can build the plank road openly and visit Chen Cang secretly. .??m
Quanzhou Prefecture, Luoyang Town.
With the help of Tian Sikou, Gu Zhengchen reconstructed the scene at that time, which showed that a man wearing a white curtain hat did move his hands at that time.
But not long after, Tian Sikou was arrested by Gu Zhengchen.
The reason is very simple. The place where you were standing was blocked yesterday. Not even the man in the white curtain hat could be seen. The reason why the shielding here was removed was to carry out the body and make it easier to obtain local materials.
You swore that you were in this position, and I asked you three times, and you are still sure that whoever will arrest you will not be arrested.
It's too late to say I misremembered it now.
Qin Song went to Tian Sikou's home and found the white curtain hat.
Faced with the evidence presented to him, Tian Sikou denied it flatly and shouted that he was being wronged: "There are such curtain hats everywhere. If you find one, do you think it is the real murderer?"
Gu Zhengchen faced Tian Sikou and just said lightly: "The evidence is insufficient now, but the testimony you provided is quite unreasonable and seems to be false evidence. I will take you to the government office first and interrogate you slowly." . If it is proven that you have been wrongly accused, you will be released."
Simple physical evidence cannot confirm that Tian Sikou is the murderer, but it is enough to escape from Luoyang Town.
But this time, Gu Zhengchen still failed because Wang Chi committed suicide by jumping into the Luoyang River.
Wang Chi's death forced Gu Zhengchen to postpone his return to the government office.
When Wang Chi was fished out and examined, it was determined that he drowned. However, whether Wang Chi jumped by himself or was drowned by others requires careful investigation.
The boatmen came forward one after another. Although they all said they did not see how Wang Chi fell into the water, they all shared a common detail:
Wang Chi kept struggling but did not call for help.
Gu Zhengchen carefully examined Wang Chi's body and found that his throat was swollen and there were scratches on his neck. He ordered a doctor to be found and asked, "What kind of medicine can make people unable to speak?"
The doctor thought for a while and said: "There are many drugs that make people speechless, such as Pinellia ternata. The tuber of Pinellia ternata is highly toxic and can numb the mouth and tongue. There is also licorice. Once you stop using it for a long time, you may lose your voice. Word."
Gu Zhengchen looked at Qin Song: "Go check every drug store. I want to know who bought pinellia and licorice!"
Qin Song took the order and left.
Gu Zhengchen ordered people to put Wang Chi's body in the coffin, his face was very gloomy.
Case after case appears, always when I am about to leave.
Obviously, the other party knew his every move, so he took action in advance to force him to stay.
Luoyang Town is not big, with only two pharmacies in total, making it very convenient to investigate. Although the shopkeeper did not clearly record whom and what drugs he sold to in the account book, most of them were acquaintances in Luoyang Town, so he could remember them in retrospect.
Soon, Qin Song handed over the investigation results to Gu Zhengchen.
After Gu Zhengchen read it, he rubbed his brows and gave an order: "Combining the case of Wang Chi falling into the water and Lin Zhuo's murder, hand it over to the magistrate of Hui'an, Shi Ruji, for verification. Let's go back to the government office first."
Zhang Pei and Qin Song had no objections. Yan Sangsang knew that Gu Zhengchen had his own plans and said no more.
Gu Zhengchen mounted his horse and prepared to return to Jinjiang City from Wan'an Bridge, but before he had gone far, a cry came from behind him: "Prefect Gu, the real murderer of Lin Zhuo has been found."
Without turning around, Gu Zhengchen just stopped his horse and looked up at the sky, feeling very depressed.
Yan Sangsang looked back and saw that the person coming was Li Zongfeng's housekeeper Li Qi.
Gu Zhengchen took a deep breath, turned his horse's head, looked at Li Qi, and said coldly: "Lead the way."
Li Qi walked in front and arrived in front of a restaurant. The crowd was still there, and a man was tied to a pillar. He was still smelling of alcohol and saying: "So what if I kill him? When he was an official in the Yuan Dynasty, But you never thought of me as a human being!"
Gu Zhengchen looked deeply at the person tied to the pillar, and then looked at the sun to the west. This whole day was spent going back and forth.
"Catch him."
Gu Zhengchen didn't even ask his name, and then said to Li Qi: "Please tell Brother Li, I'm afraid I still need to disturb you tonight."
Li Qi said quickly: "No matter what the prefect said, don't be polite."
After going around in a circle, we returned to Li's house.
After dinner, Gu Zhengchen returned to his room.
Yan Sangsang followed in and asked in a low voice: "There are a lot of things today, and I can't understand everything. Why did Tian Sikou lie, why did Wang Chi die, and why did Huang Haoming admit to murder. You You must know something, right?”
Gu Zhengchen looked deeply at Yan Sangsang and shook his head: "It's not clear yet."
Yan Sangsang stared at Gu Zhengchen: "You lied."
Gu Zhengchen put down the hand on the tip of his nose and sighed: "I want to tell a story, but before that I have one less listener. Miss Yan, can you invite Brother Li?"
Yan Sangsang frowned, and seeing that Gu Zhengchen was not joking, he turned around and walked out.
Zhang Pei and Qin Song looked at Yan Sangsang leaving and looked at each other. Zhang Pei winked at Qin Song, Qin Song entered the room, while Zhang Pei stood at the door.
Li Zongfeng followed Yan Sangsang into the room.
Gu Zhengchen stared at the dancing candlelight and said softly: "Miss Yan, it's cold at night, please close the door."
Yan Sangsang was very obedient and closed the door.
Gu Zhengchen looked at Li Zongfeng and moved his lips slightly: "Brother Li, please sit down."
Li Zongfeng sat down and put one arm on the table: "Listen to Miss Yan, Prefect Gu wants to tell a story?"
Gu Zhengchen nodded slightly and said: "Brother Li, when we first met, you once said that you taught Li Chengyi many years of knowledge about observing people and seeing thousands of people. I think you could tell by that time. Am I from the Yamen?"
Li Zongfeng said calmly: "I only knew Bufan at that time, but who could have guessed that you were Magistrate Gu. In the final analysis, I am still blind."
Gu Zhengchen picked up the scissors and cut off a piece of candle wick: "Are you blind? Not necessarily. At least you know that I value love and justice. I treat the people around me, the people I have interacted with, and the local people. You don’t want to let down and feel sorry for yourself, right?”
Li Zongfeng looked at Gu Zhengchen doubtfully and replied seriously: "That's not true."
Gu Zhengchen chuckled: "If not, how could you let Li Chengyi follow me?"
"This matter is the result of Quanzi's own decision..."
Li Zongfeng said quickly.
Gu Zhengchen waved his hand: "I have always been curious about why Zhou Yuan, Wu Kang, Shi Ruji and others thought that the pirates causing trouble in the place was a way to deal with me. The pirates really came and disrupted Quanzhou Prefecture. That's also Quanzhou Guard's business. It's Quanzhou Guard's trouble. I'm a prefect and I don't have any soldiers. This is no trouble for me. The pirates are causing trouble and it's not the common people's rebellion."
"Looking back now, one of the reasons why they did this is that they knew that I couldn't bear the pirates to cause trouble to the place and harm the people. They knew that I would not be indifferent to this and could only be tired of dealing with it, and then unable to further rectify the officials in the government. They kidnapped the people. They came to threaten me just because they are sure that I care about the people!"
Li Zongfeng looked at Gu Zhengchen calmly and sighed: "These officials really deserve to die!"
Gu Zhengchen smiled bitterly, stood up and said: "Let's talk about Lin Zhuo, he is an old man, he is about to die, and his life is not long. Why did that man with a good life push him, just because of old things many years ago? The founding of the Ming Dynasty It has been seven years, and during these seven years, he wants to take revenge, and there are many opportunities. Lin Zhuo is in the stone carving business, and he goes out once or twice a month, and he comes to Luoyang Town quite a few times."
"I don't believe that people like Huang Haoming still have murderous intentions after enduring it for so many years. If he really had such hatred, he wouldn't have to wait for so many years. Therefore, I am more inclined to think that Huang Haoming's life is not that good. . Maybe he is terminally ill, or maybe his family members, as long as they check it out, the truth will come out."
Li Zongfeng stood up and said, "What does Magistrate Gu mean, is someone paying to kill someone?"
Gu Zhengchen walked up to Li Zongfeng, looked at the calm man in front of him, and said slowly: "You don't necessarily need to pay someone to kill someone. If Huang Haoming owes a person a lot of favors, or even the grace of survival, he only needs that person Say a word and he will go through fire and water and die!"
Li Zongfeng did not avoid Gu Zhengchen's gaze and said calmly: "This is possible, but is there any evidence?"
Gu Zhengchen shook his head: "There is no evidence at present, and such a person will not speak easily. It's just that Brother Li, Wang Chi died in a strange way. Although there was no suicide, the doctor's examination showed that Wang Chi must have been poisoned by some kind of poison before he died. So that I can't speak or call for help. This kind of poison should be Pinellia ternata. I wonder if Brother Li is familiar with it?"
Li Zongfeng frowned slightly: "Pinellia? The weather turned cold some time ago. Many people in the hospital coughed, and some people had uncomfortable throats. I asked Li Qi to buy some pinellia to treat coughs with excessive phlegm. No one wants this thing If you know how to eat more, then Wang Chi is not an idiot, so he probably won’t be poisoned, right?”
Gu Zhengchen lowered his head and moved his mouth slightly: "Wang Chi will not be poisoned by this kind of poison unless someone forces him to eat it and pushes him into the water. Brother Li, do you think this method is cruel?"
