"What...what is this?" the housekeeper asked with wide eyes.
"This is a kind of light red soil, slightly sticky, without sand, and contains a little smell of yuba. As far as I know, in the entire Fengyang County, only Qingzhu Forest has such soil."
"But why did it appear in the Cai Mansion and on your young lady's shoes?"
Qi Ying's words made the housekeeper unable to answer for a moment, and he became a little stuttered: "This, this, how do I know."
"This can only mean that your young lady had been to the Green Bamboo Forest before she died. Judging from the soil under her feet, the soil is still very moist and has not been more than three hours old!"
Qi Ying said: "In other words, after your young lady went to the Green Bamboo Forest, she died in her room when she came back!"
As he spoke, he looked at the housekeeper coldly and asked, "Didn't you say that she never went out!"
"This, this, maybe I remembered it wrong." The housekeeper was already a little panicked and started to be careless.
"Hmph!" Qi Ying ignored him because he knew that he couldn't ask anything from the housekeeper, and since the Cai family was a wealthy family, he couldn't take him back and torture him.
But the case had obviously made him suspicious. After observing the body for a while, he looked up at the beams, and then flew up with the ground under his feet.
He was very agile. He jumped down and was behind the beam. He also stretched out his right hand, gently lifted the hemp rope and looked at it. Then he touched the beam with his hand and narrowed his eyes slightly.
After he landed, an officer and soldier came up to him: "Brother Qi."
Qi Ying did not explain anything, but directly moved a stool, stepped on it, pulled the rope of the hanging, and put his head into it.
Seeing his actions, not only the housekeeper of the Cai Mansion widened his eyes, but also the other two officers and soldiers were startled. One of them hurriedly shouted: "Brother Qi!"
Qi Ying waved her hand to interrupt him and said: "Later, when I'm about to die, remember to save me."
As soon as he finished speaking, he kicked off the stool, and his body sank under the force. The rope on the beam immediately tightened around his neck, and others began to subconsciously struggle in mid-air.
The rope swayed, and dust fell from the beams.
Seeing this scene, everyone at the scene widened their eyes and looked in disbelief. It was not until a while later that the two officers and soldiers finally reacted when they saw Qi Ying waving his right hand with difficulty, and then hurriedly stepped forward. Put it down.
"Ahem! Ahem!" Qi Ying coughed violently, rubbed his neck and said, "You two really want me to hang myself!"
"Ah? Brother Qi, you..." The two officers and soldiers didn't know what to say.
After rubbing his neck again, Qi Ying jumped up to the beam again and observed carefully.
After a moment, he raised the corner of his mouth slightly, pointed at the rope and said, "Look, this hemp rope is very rough. Before, I carefully inspected the place where the young lady hung herself, and found that there were no traces of the rope being strangled on the beam."
"And I just tried it myself. After the rope strangled my neck, I started struggling violently and pulled the hemp rope, leaving obvious marks on the beams."
"No matter whether a person truly wants to die or not, just like a person who cannot swim, he will still struggle in the water if he is drowning!"
"This is a human instinctive reaction!"
"But judging from the traces just now, it is enough to prove that the young lady did not struggle before she died. She was hanged to the beam after she was killed!"
At that time, the conclusion of the case could not be judged based on the present, but Qi Ying observed the details and even regarded himself as the deceased to experience the feeling of hanging.
After he finished speaking, the two officers and soldiers also looked at each other, and one of them said: "Brother Qi, are you saying that the young lady was killed?"
"That's right."
"This, how is this possible!" The housekeeper began to shout in panic at this time.
"Huh, we'll find out soon if it's true. Send people to block this place." After Qi Ying finished speaking, he waved his hand directly: "Let's go! Let's go to the Green Bamboo Forest!"
He left as soon as he said so. When the housekeeper saw this, he was so panicked that he immediately said to a servant of the Cai Mansion: "Oh! Something bad is going to happen. Hurry! Go and inform the master!"
Qingzhu Forest is located in Fengyang County, but it is far away from Cai Mansion. Qi Ying drove for a long time before arriving here with two officers and soldiers.
This is a bamboo forest with a very elegant environment. There is a village not far away. After Qi Ying arrived here, he first picked up a piece of soil on the ground and rubbed it in his hands. Then he murmured to himself: "This place is not far from Cai Mansion." So far away, why did she come here before she died..."
While he was thinking about the problem, a woodcutter carrying two bundles of firewood happened to pass by. Seeing this, Qi Ying quickly stretched out his hand and called: "That woodcutter."
"The officer called me?" Hearing the call, the woodcutter came over carrying firewood.
Although the people of Qin are warlike and their folk customs are fierce, it does not mean that they are not simple.
Seeing that he was old, Qi Ying quickly took off his water bag from his waist, handed it to the woodcutter and said, "Old man, drink some water first."
"Thank you very much. What do you have to ask, sir?" the woodcutter said.
Qi Ying said: "I think the old man should be from this village. He often passes by this green bamboo forest?"
"Yes, I go up the mountain to cut firewood every day and pass through this green bamboo forest." the woodcutter replied.
"Have you seen a young woman recently?" Qi Ying finished and added: "She is not from this village, but she is very beautiful, especially yesterday. Have you been here before?"
"Yesterday?" The woodcutter thought for a moment and said, "I didn't pay much attention to it yesterday, but after the official reminded me, I remembered something."
"Oh? What's the matter?" Qi Ying suddenly became energetic.
The woodcutter said: "In the past, there was a poor scholar who studied in this bamboo forest almost every day, and there was a girl, as the official said, young and beautiful, dancing beside him..."
"Now, that's right there." The woodcutter said, pointing to the bamboo forest, then shaking his head slightly and sighing: "The two of them looked like a talented man and a beautiful woman. It's just a pity that something happened later."
"Oh? What happened?" Qi Ying had vaguely grasped something.
The woodcutter shook his head again and said, "I don't know the details, but I heard that the scholar died accidentally, and the girl was also taken by a bully in the city."
"Bully? But your surname is Cai?" Qi Ying asked.
"This old man doesn't know." The woodcutter shook his head again, and after finishing speaking, he was ready to leave.
Seeing this, Qi Ying quickly bowed her hands politely: "Ah, thank you very much, old man."
"Huh? No thanks."
