Bao Maodian's body was found in his bedroom. It was completely burned beyond recognition. His clothes and everything were burned away. His identity could be identified only by a ring on his finger.
Dieshui County is only a small county, but Pingxin Embroidery Workshop is a big one. The silk produced every year is not only sent to the capital as a tribute to the emperor, but also provides food to many people in Dieshui County, such as those who raise silkworms. Those who weave cloth and provide food, clothing, housing and transportation to the traders.
Therefore, many people are very familiar with the people in the embroidery workshop. They often meet and have an impression of what they wear.
A restaurant owner who often delivered meals to Bao Maodian was called in to identify the body.
"This face... this face is really unrecognizable." The shopkeeper said awkwardly: "But this ring ring does belong to the shopkeeper. In my impression, he wears it all the time, so it is definitely not wrong."
An emerald finger ring with a very good water head and ice-like flowers has been burned in the fire for a night and a half, but it has not cracked.
The wrench finger was stuck to the finger whose flesh was already burnt. If he tried to take it off by force, he would probably get a thick layer on it.
"Cui Wuzuo." Bu Changbei said: "Although this is Bao Maodian's ring finger, can you confirm that this corpse is the owner of the ring finger?"
Personal belongings are not the same as the person.
Bu Changbei asked this question, thinking that he was suspicious of this person.
Cui Xiao tried his best to be careful, but he still took the ring off roughly. He dipped a handkerchief in water and wiped clean the charred muscle and skin tissue stuck to it.
Then he took the corpse's other hand.
Bao Maodian did not wear this ring on his thumb, but on his index finger.
Cui Xiao pinched the index finger of Bao Maodian's other hand and asked the restaurant owner who had just identified the finger.
"This Bao Maodian, is he fat?"
The restaurant owner shook his head.
"Are your hands thick or thin?"
The restaurant owner was immediately asked.
"How do you say this?" The restaurant owner frowned and said, "It's not particularly thick, nor is it particularly thin..."
He's just a normal person, he doesn't do manual labor all year round, but he doesn't have the slender fingers of a scholar either.
Cui Xiao simply called several guards and asked them to extend their hands.
"Look." Cui Xiao said, "Which one does Bao Maodian's hand look like?"
The hotel manager looked at it for a long time and felt like he didn't feel anything at all.
Fortunately, there were a lot of people at the moment, so Cui Xiao asked him to watch a few more.
Even Bu Changbei and his men standing aside also offered their hands.
Unexpectedly, the restaurant owner fell in love with Bu Changbei's hand at a glance.
"This...this lord's fingers are quite similar. However, lord's skin is white. Bao Maodian's hands are not as white as my lord's. They are about the same thickness and similar in appearance, but they are not as good-looking as my lord."
Bu Changbei just listened with a dark look on his face.
He had the feeling of being teased, but the teasing was not obvious.
But it was hard to say anything. Of course he knew that the hotel manager was just talking about the matter, so if he had the courage to do so, he would not dare to be disrespectful to him.
Magistrate Cao called a few people who were familiar with Bao Maodian and asked them to identify him.
Identifying fingers is not the same as identifying facial features. It is not that easy. After some hesitation and discussion, we finally determined that Bu Changbei's fingers were indeed the most similar to Bao Maodian's.
Bu Changbei is also very calm. You can say it looks like it. Just look at it. What else can you do? He is a grown man, how can he still be coy?
Cui Xiao then asked: "Sir, can I pinch your finger?"
Just pinch it, otherwise what else can you do?
Cui Xiao was immediately rude and wanted to take action immediately.
Bu Changbei couldn't help but block it.
Cui Xiao was stunned for a moment, then he immediately realized what he was doing. He even said sorry, took off the gloves he had been touching the body, and stretched out his hand respectfully.
Only then did Bu Changbei give her his hand reservedly.
Touch it, whatever you want.
Cui Xiao actually only pinched it twice, then took the cleaned ring finger and put it on Bu Changbei.
"This corpse is wrong." Cui Xiao said: "Bao Maodian has been wearing a finger ring for more than ten years, so the size must be very suitable. But although the skin and flesh of the fingers of this corpse have been burned, judging from the bones, the skin and flesh are bigger than Bao Maodian’s fingers are thick. When he puts this ring on, it should be very, very tight, and it will stretch out his fingers section by section.”
Bu Changbei's voice was cold: "How confident are you that this body is not Bao Maodian?"
Cui Xiao said "wait a minute", returned to Bao Maodian's body, and opened his mouth.
Cui Xiao said: "Bring a torch."
The sky is already getting dark, the autumn days have begun to get shorter, and it's still a bit chilly.
Someone quickly came over holding a torch. Cui Xiao took the torch and looked carefully into the mouth of the corpse.
No matter how badly burned the corpse is on the outside, the inside of the mouth is always intact, and the tongue and teeth are not damaged.
"It is indeed not Bao Maodian." Cui Xiao said: "Bao Maodian is the owner of the embroidery shop. He is wealthy, well-dressed and well-fed. He eats very fine food. But the teeth of this corpse are very worn, which shows that he usually eats , it’s very rough food.”
Bao Maodian's food preferences are no secret. The cooks who used to work in the embroidery workshop and the shopkeepers of the restaurants where he often visited can all confirm that he is a person who is well-dressed and well-fed in everything he eats, and he enjoys it very much.
No one had ever heard such a statement before, but Cui Xiao was very serious.
This corpse was the same as the previous one, with black ash in its eyes. It was reasonable to infer that it had been drugged, lost its mind, and burned alive.
A scapegoat.
It is unknown how many scapegoats there are among these thirty-two corpses.
There were even the bodies of two children. They were the same size as Bao Maodian's children, but they were not Bao Maodian's children. No one could tell.
Finally, County Magistrate Cao said: "Could it be that Bao Maodian committed a crime and fled, was afraid of being caught, found someone to take the blame, and tried to fake his death to escape?"
Bu Changbei came all the way from the capital to arrest someone, but when he arrived, he found that the person had been burned to death. No wonder his face was so dark then.
It seems that the commander of the Jinyi Guards can come and arrest people in person. This Bao Maodian crime seems to be quite serious.
Bu Changbei's face was a little dark now and he ordered his men.
"Leshan, Tonghe."
There are fifteen people in Bu Changbei's party, twelve of whom are his Jin Yiwei. The other two people were dressed slightly differently from the twelve people. Cui Xiao analyzed that they should be close confidants.
Bu Changbei said: "Bao Maodian is wanted, let our people in."
The two of them responded.
Just when everyone was confused, Xi Leshan took out a bamboo tube from his arms and lit it, and a green light rushed into the sky.
The night was deep, and green fireworks were roaring into the sky. Cui Xiao followed them with his eyes and murmured: "It's so beautiful."
It's so pitiful that for the past six months in this remote country, I haven't seen anyone setting off fireworks for a long time. The Chinese New Year will be here in a few months, and this year’s Chinese New Year will definitely be very sad.
Bu Changbei was so close that he heard Cui Xiao's small sound, glanced at her, and said nothing. I'm probably thinking that girls are girls, even girls who work as wives, they still look at new things with the eyes of whether they are beautiful or not.
Half an hour later, a neat team of hundreds of people entered the county seat.
Magistrate Cao looked at the row of tall horses and felt a heart attack, his legs were shaking, and he couldn't breathe.
