The Langya prefect hanged himself, and the Jiaodong prefect's body was sunk to the bottom of the river.

Pei Linyan and Gu Yanzhou arrived at the post station. A man quickly came up to them and asked, "What can I do for you, sirs?"

"I am Pei Linyan, the Imperial Guard. I am here with Gu Yanzhou, the Imperial Court Judge, regarding the murder of the Governor of Zibo. I would like to ask you if the Governors of Langya and Jiaodong returned yesterday." Pei Linyan said.

"So it's Master Pei and Master Gu. No wonder I saw such a happy occasion today. Your presence here really makes this small post station shine. I am so lucky to have the opportunity to speak with you two." said the man.

"Stop your flattery and slick talk and tell us where they live right away." Pei Linyan said

"Oh, my goodness, I'm sorry to have caused trouble to you. When I saw you two, I forgot about the important business. Please follow me." said the man. After a while, the three of them came to the backyard.

"My lords, please look, to the left is the residence of the Langya prefect, and to the right is the residence of the Jiaodong prefect. They live next to each other." The man said

The three of them walked into the right room and saw that everything was normal inside. There were no traces of anything inside, except for a simple bag. Then they went to the left room and opened the door. They saw a puddle of water on the ground and a body hanging straight from the beam. The man saw this and screamed, "Ghost, ghost, help, help!" Then he collapsed to the ground, looking terrified. At the same time, Shen Shaobai and the other two heard the shouting and ran over.

"Be quiet, and don't disturb Lord Gu from investigating the case." Pei Linyan said to the man.

Gu Yanzhou walked around the corpse and said, "Lin Yan, please carry him down."

Pei Linyan and Balian carried the corpse to the bed, only to see that it was lying straight and had already set in rigor mortis.

"Does Yanzhou know when the Langya governor was killed?" Shen Shaobai asked.

Gu Yanzhou said, "Zhi Li usually sets in within a quarter of an hour, or three to four hours after death. Chunhua said the Langya governor left at 2:30 PM and returned to the post station around midnight. Since it's currently 9:00 PM, we know he died between the hours of Chou and Yin yesterday."

"Even if we know the time of death, we don't know who killed him. By the way, don't you feel a chill in the room? I'm shivering as if I've fallen into an ice cave." Shen Shaobai said

"I'm afraid you're cold because you're wearing too little this morning." Feng Liunian said

"It's okay. Take a closer look at the death of Langya Taishou. Is there anything strange?" Gu Yanzhou said.

"I just feel that his face is disgusting and his face is cyanotic, but there is nothing else unusual about him." Feng Liunian said

"In fact, he was strangled to death, and then pretended to hang himself." Gu Yanzhou said

"Oh, Brother Gu, do you have any evidence?" Feng Liunian said

"Of course. There are three pieces of evidence: First, there was a thin strangulation mark on the Langya prefect's neck, higher on the left and lower on the right. This mark is completely inconsistent with the hemp rope mark; second, the strangulation groove of a person who committed suicide is between the hyoid bone and the thyroid cartilage or around the neck, while the strangulation groove of a murderer is abnormally located, too low, close to the clavicle, and too high, close to the back of the ear. Do you think he is abnormal? Third, the Langya prefect was five feet tall, while the beam was nine feet high, and the stool was only one and a half feet high. So if he committed suicide, he would not be able to reach the beam even if he stepped on the stool, so it must have been a murder disguised as a suicide." Gu Yanzhou said

"Yan Zhou, you are amazing. The one or two pieces of evidence you mentioned all match the body. Even so, it is difficult for us to know who the murderer is." Shen Shaobai said

"Shaobai, Yan'er has actually already told us the characteristics of the murderer." Pei Linyan said

"Is there? Why don't I know what was said?" Shen Shaobai said

"Little fool, the murderer has two characteristics. First, the murderer is left-handed. Because the strangulation marks are higher on the left and lower on the right, the left hand is stronger and is dominant. Second, the murderer is about seven feet tall. Standing on a stool, he could easily hang the Langya prefect from the beam and then pretend to hang himself." Feng Liunian said

"So that's how it is. Then we only need to find a seven-foot-tall left-handed man to solve the case." Shen Shaobai said

"That being said, where can a man find it?"

While everyone was thinking about it, Liu Nanxing and Banjin walked in.

"Mother-in-law, why are you here?" Gu Yanzhou said

"It turns out that Banjin and I went to Huaichun Tower to perform an autopsy on the Linzi prefect and learned that he died of poison." Liu Nanxing said

"No, the four of them drank and ate together, so why did he die of poisoning while the other three were fine?" Gu Yanzhou asked.

"That's because the murderer was cunning and put the poison on the lips of the Zibo prefect. Or maybe it was just his lips that came into contact with the poison, and it entered his body along with the wine he drank and the food he ate. Since the amount was small, he didn't vomit blood, so he died directly from his intestines and stomach rupture. His death looked like a sudden death." Liu Nanxing said

"On the lips, it's like this, so cunning." Gu Yanzhou laughed

"So that's how it is. The murderer is used to using delicate and clever methods to kill people. His mind is so subtle that it's hard to guard against him." Pei Linyan said

"If it is poison, why didn't anyone notice it when it took effect?" Shen Shaobai said

"Lin Yan, do you remember what Jiang Huai said? Chunhua played the zither, and after the four of them drank, they smelled a strange fragrance and fell into a coma. When they opened their eyes, they had no memory of what happened." Gu Yanzhou said

"Do you think they used Chinese medicine to cause his amnesia?" Pei Linyan said.

"Yes, it seems that the reason has to start with Chunhua." Gu Yanzhou said

"Now the governor of Zibo has died of poisoning, the governor of Langya has been strangled, but the governor of Jiaodong has not been found. What should we do?" Shen Shaobai asked.

"We just have to wait patiently. The murderer will eventually reveal himself." Feng Liunian said

At this time, a soldier entered and said, "My lords, a body has been found floating in the moat. It is suspected to be that of the Governor of Jiaodong. Lieutenant Lan, please go ahead."

"In that case, Baliang, you go to Huaichun Tower and guard it. Don't let anyone escape. Banjin, come over and tell me this." Gu Yanzhou said

"Don't worry, sir. We two will do our utmost to not let a single person go," Banjin Baliang and the other two said in unison, then headed towards Huaichun Tower. Meanwhile, the other five headed towards the moat.

When they arrived at the river, the place was already surrounded by people, and the soldiers said, "Weiwei Pei and Tingwei Gu are here, you all should get out of the way immediately."

Seeing this, the people made way for the corpse. They saw a man floating in the water, about thirty years old, obese, about five feet tall, with a broad forehead and jawline, long eyes, and thick eyebrows. Liu Nanxing examined him carefully and said, "This man may have drowned, but he was definitely murdered. First, there's a handprint on his neck. Second, there's dirt and some blood under the fingernails of his right hand."

Gu Yanzhou repeatedly observed the two places and was about to place his right hand seal on his neck. Pei Linyan saw this and grabbed him, saying, "What are you doing?"

Gu Yanzhou said, "Don't worry. I just wanted to see how big this handprint is and whether it matches my guess." After that, he tried it in the air, but found his hand too big. He turned around and called Chen Shaobai, who also found it slightly larger. Finally, Liu Nanxing compared the handprints and found that they were almost the same size. After looking at them, Pei Linyan said, "In other words, the murderer in this case is a woman."

"That is to say, there are at least two murderers in the three cases. The hanging case is a man, the drowning case is a woman, and what about the poisoning case?" Shen Shaobai said

"Mother-in-law, when did these three people die?" Gu Yanzhou asked

"The poisoning case is at the hour of Hai, the hanging case is at the hour of Chou, and the drowning case is at the hour of Zi." Liu Nanxing said

"In other words, the two murderers had plenty of time to kill all three. First, the Zibo prefect was poisoned at 11:00 PM. Then, the murderers sent Jiang Shaofu, Langya prefect, and Jiaodong prefect away separately. They then drowned Jiaodong prefect at 12:00 PM. They then rushed back to the post station and teamed up to kill Langya prefect, who died at 12:00 PM," Pei Linyan said.

"No, first of all, if they wanted to kill three people, why did they do it in different places instead of just one person? Secondly, if the two murderers knew each other, why did the woman do the drowning? Women are weaker than men. And judging by the fingernails of the Jiaodong governor, he must have struggled before his death. The woman's arms must have had scars. To be safe, it must have been a man who did it. But why did only the woman do it? Did the man just stand by and watch?" Gu Yanzhou said

"You suspect that the hanging case was committed by a man, and the drowning case must be committed by a woman. This means that the two of them must not have known each other, and it just happened that the murderer committed the crime on the same day." Pei Linyan said

"Or rather, the timing on that day was perfect for action. Everyone was drunk and powerless to resist," Gu Yanzhou said.

"Then where do we start investigating this case? Do we need to hold a ritual?" Shen Shaobai asked

"Of course not. We just need to go back to Huaichun Tower and we will definitely gain something." Gu Yanzhou said, and the group of five returned to Huaichun Tower.