"Sir, the fatal wounds on these people were all on their necks, which were sealed with a knife. The blade was narrow and deep, and the edge was very neat. It seems that in addition to the murderer's martial arts skills, the knife in his hand must also be made of fine steel. "Ma Chaogui, the punishment chief, said to Zhong Shaoqing while inspecting the corpse.
"There should be more than one murderer. Judging from the layout of the Chen Mansion and the situation of everyone lying down, there should be at least five murderers." Another criminal officer, Li Liang, took out the scene map he drew and pointed at the map for analysis. .
"Have you counted the stolen property?" Zhong Shaoqing asked.
"Magistrate He and Master Yang are counting. They haven't listed them all yet, but the amount should be huge. I heard from people that the Chen family has a box full of gold, a house full of silver, and a family with a lot of wealth. After the incident, Chen All the cellars in the house are empty, and all the gold and silver treasures have been looted." Li Liang replied.
Zhong Shaoqing didn't say anything when he heard this. He thought deeply, walked around the body twice, then stopped, stood still and said, "That's not right."
"Judging from the state of the corpses, everyone in the Chen family died suddenly without excessive struggle. This shows that the perpetrators acted very quickly and had a clear goal. They wanted human lives, not money."
"The robbery of property is just a cover-up, just an attempt to confuse the public."
"Chaogui, go check around Chen's house to see if there is any pool or pond. If there is one, ask Magistrate He to send someone to check it out and see if anything can be salvaged."
Ma Chaogui took the order and left.
After half a day, a large number of gold, silver and copper coins were salvaged from a lotus pond not far from Chen's residence. The boxes were all lying in a mess in the mud of the pond. They were not buried deeply, and it looked like they had been thrown away randomly.
Zhong Shaoqing had just arrived in Ping'an County, and within a day he had made a major discovery about the case. Everyone couldn't help but give him a thumbs up, he was indeed a member of the old Zhong family.
Although there has been progress in the case, this progress has plunged the case into a more complicated mystery. If it’s not about making money, then what is it about?
What secret did the Chen family discover?
Ping'an County is a small county with a simple population and simple life. Most people in Ping'an County have lived here since their ancestors. If someone becomes prosperous, he or she will go to the city to buy a house or land, study and do business. If someone becomes destitute, he or she will return to his hometown and continue farming to make a living.
Over generations, people here know each other more or less, and if the good things go up, they may all be related to each other, and they are relatives that cannot be beaten with eight poles. Therefore, it is difficult for people living here to have any big secrets.
Zhong Shaoqing stayed in Ping'an County for half a year and visited the entire Chenjia Village and most of the county, but did not find any useful clues. Like this human tragedy, it was all a random act of one person at a certain moment, without any reason.
But, how could there be no reason for all twenty-nine lives?
There was no good news from the state government sent to Yanling Mountain to suppress the bandits.
There have always been a few bandits on Yanling Mountain who have ruled the mountain as kings. They usually cultivate wasteland and farm, but from time to time they will go down to the mountain to rob businesses and goods, but they never harm anyone's life, nor are they enemies of the court.
It turns out that the state government has sent troops to clear out the gangs several times, but they always reappeared soon afterwards. Later, as long as a few families did not go too far, the state government turned a blind eye and stopped taking care of them.
As soon as the Chen family was massacred, the bandits in Yanling Mountain immediately dispersed after hearing that the imperial court had sent troops, leaving only a few empty villages.
Zhong Shaoqing seemed to have entered a dead end. Except for knowing that the perpetrator was extraordinary, all clues seemed to have been lost.
Zhong Shaoqing couldn't find a breakthrough and was extremely depressed. He returned home dejectedly. After returning home, he immediately went to his old house to meet the ancestor of the Zhong family, his grandfather Zhong Meisheng.
After hearing Zhong Shaoqing's confusion, Zhong Meisheng said calmly: "No one in this world can cover the sky with just one hand. As long as anything is done, it will definitely leave traces."
"The clue never ends, it's always there, you just don't see it yet."
"Whatever you can think of, naturally the murderer can also think of. If this road doesn't work, then find another way."
"If you can't find any clues in the living people, then go and look at the dead people."
Mr. Zhong's words awakened the dreamer, and Zhong Shaoqing found that he was blinded by the fog. He investigated in detail all the relationships between the twenty-nine members of the Chen family and dug into their past. But he forgot that there were supposed to be thirty people in the Chen family.
Chen Peng was ignored by him.
Zhong Ziqing spent more than a year, visiting many parties to investigate, and following Chen Peng's line of investigation, the case finally became a little looser, and the truth was slowly emerging.
Chen Peng is Chen Tieniu's eldest son. He has been spoiled by Chen's mother since he was a child. He has developed an indolent and indolent personality. He is not involved in childbirth, but he is also brave and fierce. He is also a well-known bastard in the ten miles and eight villages. Later, Pingan County recruited new soldiers. Chen Peng wanted to stand out and earn wealth with his skills, so he signed up to join the army. Later, by daring to fight and work hard, he did well in the army and was promoted to a senior rank in less than a year. For this reason, Chen Tieniu also showed off everywhere.
Who knows, the good times will not last long. Two years later, the Chen family suddenly received news that Chen Peng was infected with the epidemic and was dead. It was also at that time that the Chen family received a windfall. This windfall was given to the Chen family by centurion Zhang Yuan.
The current epidemic that Chen Peng suffered from was smallpox, which was infected by Zhang Yuan on the battlefield. After the two returned to the camp, they both fell ill and were isolated in the same place. Later, Zhang Yuan survived, but Chen Peng died. Zhang Yuan felt guilty, so he gave a large sum of money to the Chen family as a token of his gratitude.
On the battlefield, there are no weapons and no eyesight. Today, we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. Everyone is just trying to make military exploits and earn a future. Soldiers took life and death very lightly. Today we are still drinking together at the same table, but tomorrow we may be buried in horse leather. Will you feel guilty because of an unexpected death? ...Zhong Shaoqing always felt that something was abnormal, so he wanted to meet this Zhang Yuan.
After many investigations, Zhong Ziqing learned that Zhang Yuan was now at Mobei Camp and had become a personal soldier of Huben General Wei Ziyuan. However, two years ago, he died accidentally while participating in autumn hunting. At that time, it was less than half a month before the Chen family was exterminated.
How come there are so many coincidences in this world. So Zhong Ziqing set out for Kyoto to see Wei Ziyuan.
Wei Ziyuan was also surprised after hearing Zhong Ziqing's intention. He had no idea that Zhang Mazi would be involved in a massacre in Yanzhou. Wei Ziyuan intuitively felt that this matter was closely related to his assassination of Qiu Lie.
Wei Ziyuan's personal soldiers totaled 300 people, including 50 who followed him closely. The captain was Jiang Yan. These fifty people are divided into groups of ten, and each group has a leader. Zhang Yuan was the leader of the third group. He was nicknamed "Pockmarked Zhang" because he had suffered from smallpox and his face was pockmarked after he recovered.
During the autumn hunting, those who followed Wei Ziyuan to the Liyuan Paddock were Group One and Group Three. Zhang Yuan, Niu Er, and Zhao Fu are all members of the third group. Zhang Yuan was shot dead on the spot by Wei Ziyuan. Niu Er and Zhao Fu finally came back with their lives, but were imprisoned in a dungeon by Wei Ziyuan and tortured to extract confessions every day. However, after months of torture, nothing was found. In the end, Wei Ziyuan killed both of them with his own sword.
Maybe the case in Zhong Shaoqing's hands can bring him what he wants to know, Wei Ziyuan thought to himself.
Wei Ziyuan had some guesses about the person behind the plot who wanted to assassinate him, but he was unable to confirm it and there was no evidence. Speculations do not represent facts, so he has not acted rashly in the past two years.
There are many capable people in the East Palace, and this assassination was planned by Zhan Shi and Deng Hua. Deng Hua has always been scheming, cautious and impeccable in his actions. His connection with Zhang Yuan was a one-way connection, and it was never artificial or involving others. Even Zhang Yuan himself didn't know that the real man behind the scenes was Prince Xiao Tao.
In his previous life, Wei Ziyuan would have known whether it was Xiao Tao who had done something to him or because he fell off a cliff. Zhang Yuan and Niu Er came to check on him. Seeing that he was on the verge of death and unable to save himself, Zhang Yuan relaxed his vigilance and mentioned it during the conversation. to Deng Hua’s name.
But in this life, Zhang Yuan was shot dead by him with an arrow, and the only half-informed person was gone. Therefore, no matter how he tried to force Niu Er and Zhao Fu to confess, it was all in vain.
The arrival of Zhong Shaoqing gave Wei Ziyuan some hope in his already desperate heart.
I don’t know what shocking secrets are hidden under these twenty-nine lives.
