Chapter 109 The Third Person (make up yesterday, end!) It seems a little bit...

——————

Everyone looked at her with burning eyes and in great silence.

Yan Siqing was used to it. When investigating a case or expressing opinions, others would always pay attention, afraid of missing out on any information. This was especially true for the younger disciples of the Dali Temple. Perhaps because they were affiliated with the court, and because of the Dali Temple's expertise, they were able to stay away from political calculations. There were also many young and energetic people, who seemed very motivated to Yan Siqing.

Therefore, during her investigation, whenever such people were present, she would not hesitate to explain in detail if the time was right.

Otherwise there is no need.

Xiaoyun recalled that when she first came out of Yancheng, Yan Siqing was still just the "Young Lady of the Shen Family". Because she was involved in a case and couldn't get away, she didn't like to waste time, so she just investigated the case. However, there were many details in the process that she didn't need to explain to her subordinates. She could always communicate with her own prince and his wife. Sometimes, before she explained, the prince would react and rush to ask questions.

On the contrary, after getting to know the people from the Dali Temple, Madam Yan became much gentler and more considerate. She had the patience of a teacher and seemed to have high expectations for these "younger generations".

In the final analysis, Xiaoyun felt that it was people like Madam who were talented and capable, who had expectations for "family, country, society, and people's livelihood and justice", and always hoped that there would be more and more people in this world serving the people.

After all, these young disciples of the Dali Temple will have more qualifications and abilities in the future, and will be assigned to various places to perform judicial supervision.

so.....

Xiaoyun was just beginning to lose focus when she heard Yan Siqing's usual gentle and patient voice.

"Manager Luo usually rides back and forth to save time, and because riding reduces contact with people and risks. But since it's to save time, and the court's policy has changed land distribution, and an official road has been built—about a mile north of Yedi is the new official road opened five years ago, leading directly to Chang'an. Many carriages and merchants travel back and forth, and the garrison troops stationed nearby at the Weicheng regularly patrol to protect local commerce. This way, it's safer and saves time. Why doesn't Manager Luo go?"

Indeed, this is a big question.

Jian Wuliang had actually thought of this. "Before, we carefully examined the traces in the wild forest to see if there were any signs of fighting or kidnapping. The result was just like what was recorded on this paper. There were none. It seemed that Manager Luo had entered the wild forest on his own. Later, except for Manager Luo's body, all the servants and horses disappeared. There were very few clues, which made the case seem strange."

So, why did Yan Siqing point out the existence of a small carriage?

Wouldn't it be even more impossible to take this wild forest path if we had a carriage?

Taking the official route is the right thing to do.

"Moreover, considering my husband's age, he and I were both adults back then, and knew what had happened over there..." Tang Miaoxin was not ordinary, she had some courage and ideas - since she had expectations that Yan Siqing would be responsible for investigating this case, she did not hesitate to show everything she knew, so she mentioned that although it had been ten years since the tragic death of the owner of the Xu's pastry workshop, most of the older local owners who were engaged in business and transportation to various counties cared about it. It was not that they suspected that the death was not an accident, but they were simply worried that there were some ferocious beasts in the forest that the government had failed to find out and capture.

Business people believe that harmony brings wealth, and are used to avoiding risks and reducing losses in advance. How could they risk going near that place?

They are not from outsiders and have no idea about the local location.

Tang Miaoxin was also very suspicious about this, so she strongly supported the Dali Temple's investigation into the case. She was convinced that something was fishy and that her husband had been murdered.

Yan Siqing asked Tang Miaoxin, "I've heard Master Shaoqing mention this before, but I want to verify it now—are the servants that Manager Luo brought with them just ordinary people and not very good at riding horses?"

Tang Miaoxin was stunned for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I just need to do some hard labor. My husband rarely drives the carriage himself, and there are already accustomed drivers in the wine shop and workshop. He doesn't need servants who are good at this. Mainly, he doesn't have any confidants that he can truly trust."

Servants are just servants, not close relatives. Luo Xuan is a suspicious and meticulous person. For the sake of his family business, he is extremely cautious even with his closest relatives. How could he entrust his safety to servants?

So... Tang Miaoxin vaguely understood Yan Siqing's intention and reiterated one thing: "My husband knows how to ride a horse. When he was young and an apprentice, he did these hard jobs, such as carrying things back and forth, delivering and selling wine, and doing whatever was hard."

Yan Siqing hummed, "There are bruises on the palms of the corpse. These aren't injuries, but rather the result of prolonged and frequent use of the whip and reins during those few days. Riding a horse is much more tiring than riding it. The servants didn't know how, and Shopkeeper Luo was cautious and wouldn't delegate. So he drove the carriage himself back. If he had rested, the marks on his palms would have healed quickly. But he had an accident in the wild forest on his way back, leaving marks on his palms. That's why we can see that he went to Naiku County, which is just a small place. He rented or bought a carriage temporarily, and the most he could have bought was a small one."

That was why she asked that question, asking whether buying the pony carriage was a long-standing plan and whether her wife was aware of it.

Now Tang Miaoxin didn't need to answer, everyone already knew that she was not aware of the situation.

So what had happened to Luo Xuan that necessitated a change of heart and a temporary carriage? Not only did he have to work hard to set up the carriage, but he also had to spend extra money. Judging from his house purchase and his daily habits, he was a very frugal, even stingy, and didn't spend money carelessly. Even a small carriage wasn't cheap; it would take a lot of wine sales to make up for it.

Tang Miaoxin: "I don't know. He never mentioned it before. He used to just collect debts from the wine merchants in Ku County and negotiate with the local grain merchants about the amount of grain for the autumn harvest. He signed the contracts early and did the same thing every year."

Jian Wuliang: "Could it be that the wine merchants in Ku County were short of money and used the abundant local grain to pay the price, so he rented a small carriage to send it back to Chang'an?"

This is also a possibility. There are many such things in the business world. Not only are there really top tycoons like Yan Dongjia, but there are very few of them.

Luo Xuancai is more like an ordinary businessman.

There are also times when debt collection fails.

Tang Miaoxin wasn't sure about this... Yan Siqing said calmly, "No, the wine business in Ku County has been very good in recent years. Because they have to support the dignitaries of the various cities radiating out from Chang'an, as well as others, those well-known wine shops are not short of money. If it hadn't developed well, Ku County, which was originally based on grain, wouldn't have spawned wine merchants who buy wine in bulk and then run their own wine shops."

Luo Xuan's own wine shop was located in Chang'an, but the money he made was far less than that from his wine-making workshop. The real big money came from the bulk supply to wine merchants from all over the country. The wine shop was just a living sign placed in the prosperous place of Chang'an, allowing people to taste the wine, build its reputation, and then sell the wine.

This kind of business model was used by Yan Siqing in Yancheng eight hundred years ago, and was later used by Chen Xu in Chang'an. It has greater profits and requires less capital investment.

"The account book Chen Xu gave me mentioned the situation in Ku County. Ku County wine merchants have a stable sales channel thanks to Manager Luo's wine, and the taste has stabilized. They are the demand side, and they are always very cautious about such long-term partners. They will not easily break their trust and offend people when they clearly have money. Even if they want to stop selling Luo's wine and switch to another one, because there are only so many big players in the winery business, if something happens to that one, everyone will know about it soon. He is short of Manager Luo's money, and Chen Xu and other big wine shop managers will not easily accept his orders in the future."

He can change, and others even hope that he will change, because it makes money and there is nothing shameful about it. But he cannot change after he breaks the contract and becomes in debt. Who would dare to take over next?

No one wants to be a sucker.

"Rivals are rivals, and we will team up when necessary. This is the business world."

Therefore, there is no possibility that Ku County will fail to collect debts and have to use grain to pay off the debts.

Moreover, considering the scale of the business that Luo Xuan went to collect the debt personally, the grain that could be pulled back by the small carriage was not worth much money and was not enough to cover the debt at all. It was a complete disgrace to him.

The question comes back again.

Why is Luo Xuan like this?

Jian Wuliang: "Yesterday, I arranged for someone to go to Ku County to conduct an on-site investigation, but the round trip may take two or three days."

This is necessary, after all, it requires actual investigation and verification.

However, that is the function of the Dali Temple, which requires everything to be taken care of, and Yan Siqing would rather take a shortcut.

She pulled out the topographical map.

"It has been confirmed that he had a carriage with him. The carriage arrived near the Wild Wood, but later disappeared along with the horses and servants. There were no traces of this outside the Wild Wood, otherwise the scouts would have noticed it."

"The carriage must have been obtained in Ku County. The route from Ku County to Yelin is quite remote, passing through small villages, not a formal town. This case is contrived, and the carriage and horses were quickly moved afterwards. They were clearly prepared for this, and they knew he had the carriage. There are only two possibilities."

"First, the servant is the one who delivers the message, but he's illiterate, is that correct?"

Tang Miaoxin nodded, and even added that the servant was a little stupid and not very smart. Luo Xuan gave him a job out of kindness so that he would not starve to death, and also because this kind of person is trustworthy and not easy to bribe.

Jian Wuliang: "Then it's unlikely that he spread the news."

Was he being targeted in Ku County? Were bandits tracking him down and trying to kill him?

Yan Siqing: "Secondly, they have a companion, a third person. This third person is also the reason why Luo Xuan bought the carriage."

ah?

Everyone was stunned.

Yan Siqing flicked the paper with his finger. "The outline of one of the shoe prints is very clear. Is the scene trace obvious?"

Li Yu: "Ah, I was there, I was one of the first to go over there. I saw the outline at the time, it was indeed obvious, but..."

She noticed the "shoe prints of one of them" that Yan Siqing mentioned.

Yan Siqing: "The servant's shoe prints are more obvious, while Luo Xuan's are blurry."

"The servant is prominent."

"But between the two of them, Luo Xuan seems to be the stronger one?"

Tang Miaoxin: "Yes, Li Gao is young, only sixteen. He has been undernourished for years, so he is rather thin. Although he has some strength and can endure hardships, he is very frivolous. Unlike my husband, who is the oldest but very strong, at this age, he sometimes even carries heavy wine jars by himself."

Therefore, Li Gao's shoe prints are heavier, leaving clear marks in the mud in the forest. This is not normal, unless he is carrying something very heavy or... a person!

"The third person was carried by Li Gao?"

"Is this person physically disabled or ill?"

That's hard to say for sure.

It depends on the next step of investigation and reasoning - new people who can be investigated have arrived.

There was a noise outside. After a while, Yan Siqing finished his cup of tea and put it down. The doorman brought in the two timid woodcutters.

Tang Miaoxin observed them and felt that there was something fishy about these two people. They might be the thieves who killed her husband, so she glared at them.

But when I was leading people there, it became a bit noisy outside.

The three brothers of the Luo family pushed the old man over and asked if there were any flaws in the investigation, or if there was a murderer or something.

"My brother must have been murdered by someone, otherwise how could his whereabouts be known to them? They must have been trying to seize the Luo family's fortune."

"Father and mother, please speak quickly."

There is a hidden meaning.

"My Lord, you must..."

Bang!

The man was forced back by Ruozhao who drew his knife and told him to shut up and be quiet.

The door is closed.

Tang Miaoxin breathed a sigh of relief, endured it, and walked over to refill Yan Siqing's cup of tea.

Yan Siqing remained silent. After thanking him, Jian Wuliang asked the two men, "After your brave report of the crime, did anyone in Gutong Village cause you any trouble? After all, that's not a wild forest anymore. Now that the crime has happened, the surrounding villages should all know about it. If they do, be sure to tell me. I'll take care of it for you."

The two were stunned, their faces changed, and they stammered that human life was at stake and there was nothing they could do even if they were in trouble.

Jian Wuliang said, "That won't work. I have to give you some financial rewards to make up for the losses."

The two were surprised and puzzled, and then happy and uncertain, "Really? Uh, no need, sir, I dare not."

I am wavering, but also a little expectant.

Jian Wuliang: "Really? That's right, you've already received benefits from Tian Yu from Gutong Village, so naturally you wouldn't look down on these crooked people from our Dali Temple, right?"

This is so weird.

The two men were so frightened that they were trembling and completely unable to react, but it was obvious to the naked eye that they were in a panic after their deeds were exposed.

At this point, Li Yu and his disciples took the opportunity to show their blades and yelled, "If you don't tell Yunyun about this...

In fact, Tian Yu had already been exposed. The Dali Temple's spies saw Tian Yu visiting the two woodcutters and giving them money. However, because the transaction was done inside the house, the spies did not know the inside story and did not dare to alert the enemy. After reporting, Jian Wuliang planned to use this trick to launch a surprise attack. If he arrested them first and then tried them, the three might have made up a lie in the process and refused to plead guilty.

So Jian Wuliang brought the person in front of Yan Siqing and continued to lie. After all, if he couldn't do it, he still had Yan Siqing to interrogate for clues.

As for Tian Yu, he is still in Gutong Village, and there are other people responsible for keeping an eye on him.

Who knew...these two woodcutters were no match for him at all. They were scared to death in one round and fell to their knees begging for mercy.

"It was Tian Yu. Tian Yu wanted us to report this to the police. I was not happy about it at first and had no intention of getting involved because I would be scolded by the people in Gutong Village. He said he would give me one or two taels of silver, so I... Lao Zhang, you are the one who caused this. Who told you to call Tian Yu?"

Chaifu Lao Zhang's face turned pale, and he complained that his brother smiled when he took the money, but now he blamed him.

"My cousin happened to be at my house... What can I do? He just asked us to report it to the police. We didn't do it, so why are you so anxious? Sir, we didn't commit any crime!!"

He was a smart man and had already realized that no matter why they reported the case to the police, they had not violated the law. So what if they took the money?

They didn't kill people.

"You say it's not, so it's not? Who knows if it's a conspiracy between the three of you." Li Yu deliberately continued to put pressure.

The two denied it repeatedly, and Lao Zhang talked about Tian Yu's intention in doing this.

"Actually, my cousin just wants to bring bad luck to Chen Gai. The wild forest actually belongs to Chen Gai now. He contracted it and wants to plant some fruit trees, saying it will be very profitable. My cousin and he had a big conflict in the past, and the hatred between the two families is very deep. When I heard that someone died in the wild forest again, he wanted us to report it to the police and tarnish his family's reputation..."

"It's really nothing else. My cousin is not a bad person who can kill people. He is just angry."

Is it really that simple?

So, the three people have no crime, they just have some personal motives, which are not very upright, and they cannot even be charged with a crime.

Everyone was skeptical.

Yan Siqing looked at the two woodcutters' pants and shoes.

Paused.

Said, "Is it hard to feed the horses?"

The two of them looked up suddenly.

——————

There were grass clippings on my pants.

He was forcibly knocked down by the Dali Temple officials to check his shoes, and oh, there was some horse manure underneath.

But it's not just now, it's been a few days.

But these two people were poor, had no new clothes or shoes to change into, and lived a rough life. They didn't think about these details, and they were seen.

Yan Siqing checked the palms of the two men and found no trace of a carriage.

"You didn't get the carriage?"

"Carriage, what carriage?"

“.....”

The two men only admitted that when they arrived at the scene, they only saw a horse tied under a tree. Because there was no one around, they became suspicious and greedy, but when they got closer and smelled a foul odor, they discovered the corpse... As for the carriage or something, they didn't see it at all.

Jian Wuliang and Yan Siqing looked at each other.

The murderer left the horse behind so that the body would be discovered, so that the case would be exposed and fall into the hands of the Dali Temple.

But get rid of the carriage...

This was because the murderer came to the wild forest in a carriage. He was worried that his traces would be discovered and his identity would be exposed, so he took away the carriage and left the horses.

This was a carefully planned murder from the beginning, and the goal was now - to let the Dali Temple investigate.

"Perhaps, it is also to lure you, Your Highness, to investigate."

"No, Your Highness, you should return to the palace now. What if someone deliberately set this up..."

Jian Wuliang felt something was wrong and worried that it was a conspiracy against Yan Siqing.

Yan Siqing frowned slightly, flicked his sleeves and dropped the cup.

"Master Shaoqing."

Jian Wuliang was stunned, looking at Yan Siqing's calm but smiling eyes.

"It's been a long time since I was forced to fight a defensive battle."

"I don't have that much time and energy."

"Listen to me, okay."

Everyone fell silent.

Suddenly she realized that the other party's identity was no longer the same as before, and she also suddenly realized that from the time she left Yancheng, to Chang'an, to now.

Through her hands and with her participation, three princes have been defeated.

She fights defensively, but she also has no shortage of offense, always killing with one strike.

If you don't fight, the speed will be even faster.

Now, she obviously had no intention of letting the other side take advantage of the main attack.

Especially in this case.

Prod her at something she's good at.

She gets angry too.

——————

Afternoon, Gutong Village.

This village is larger than Lijia Village, with abundant farmland and a large population. It is also considered a relatively wealthy village around Chang'an. It is also relatively aggressive towards the outside world, and it is common for it to form groups to gain profits.

Tian Yu was a somewhat prestigious figure among them, with some financial capital and property. It was said that his ancestors were officials, which meant they were small landlords.

But Chen Gai was a more powerful landlord than him.

Both of them were considered the bullies of Gutong Village. They were very powerful and had been at odds with each other for many years. During festivals, the two families would quarrel and clash, and bloodshed was common.

But this was the first time someone died.

They stopped outside the village but didn't get close. There was a wild forest not far away. Jian Wuliang and Yan Siqing personally checked the nearby official roads and knives, and even saw the place where the bodies were found.

There are no clues or traces left at the moment, as many days have passed.

Yan Siqing was not in the carriage, but was standing between the open woods and fields, facing the bright sun, the green wind and the blue stream, with a distant and open gaze. For a moment, one could not tell whether she was thinking about the case or the grand power struggle in the empire in which she was already involved.

She was so quiet, so quiet that her gorgeous and precious existence almost merged into this rural and natural place.

Until she turned around and spoke.

"I looked on the way here. The carriages leaving this area and taking the official road are actually less noticeable because there are so many carriages passing by. If they blend in with the traffic, no one will notice them. But if they take the side roads, the view here is wide, there are many acres of land, and people working the land appear from time to time. If they are seen, it is easy to remember and identify where they are going. If I were the murderer, I planned ahead and knew this place well, so I would only leave the carriage here for disposal."

Instead of leaving a loophole on the way to deal with it.

Jian Wuliang agreed with this view, and the servants who had gone to question the farmers also returned.

Everyone said they had never seen it.

Li Yu: "Could the carriage have been driven into the woods? But the woods are very narrow and the carriage can't pass through."

"A horse fell into the hands of Lao Zhang and his men, and there was another horse pulling a carriage... Did the murderer drive the carriage into Gutong Village after killing someone? But other people in Gutong Village would have discovered it, or maybe he's hiding in some other nearby mountain forest. Should we conduct a large-scale search?"

In fact, it was also very difficult, because the mountains and forests here were either extremely steep with no path to go up, or the trees were crisscrossed and the aisles were blocked, so no carriage could drive in to find a suitable place to hide.

Is it just demolished?

Yan Siqing: "It's not that complicated."

"Isn't there a lake?"

"If I were that person, I could easily destroy the carriage with this method without any further trouble."

ah? !

ah!

Everyone suddenly followed the place Yan Siqing had been looking at for some time. Not far away - at the end of the crisscrossing forests and fields, there was indeed a lake of medium size on the northern outskirts of the village. There were also some old houses near the lake. Those old houses were not where ordinary people lived. They were the copper smelting workshops of the official charity gold bureau of Gutong Village. They were also the government seat. Almost all the industries of the entire village were related to it, so people lived a good life there.

But that was the affairs of the previous dynasty. After the establishment of the new dynasty, this place was abandoned. It took more than ten years of settlement and agricultural development to achieve the current achievements.

However, the village had a good foundation from the beginning.

Today, the old workshop sits in silence, lacking the bustling atmosphere of the past. However, you can see the ruins of the copper mine and the red mud walls in the back mountain, as well as a lake not far away, which makes it clear why bronze can be smelted here.

The copper mine had long been mined out, leaving only a few ruins. The clay walls used to make pottery molds were not of much value, so they were just left there.

The lake seemed very dirty in the past, but now it is clean and dark blue.

"Ah, found it!"

"Your Highness, my Lord! Found it!"

"The weeds are so compressed, they must have passed this point."

The tire tracks were found, and at the end was a lake swaying gently in the wind.

The carriage was driven into the lake.

But after a few days, these ruts will disappear.

This is because the fallen grass will stand up, and new grass will cover it.

Even a light rain can make everything look brand new.

"Time is like this, only day and night are constantly changing but remain unchanged, while people are constantly disappearing."

She whispered softly with a complicated expression. Xiaoyun heard it and felt a little confused. He always felt that his wife seemed to have changed a little recently, but when he looked carefully, she didn't.

At least she could feel that the relationship between the prince and his wife was much better than before. It seemed that Yan Siqing accepted her identity and His Highness the Prince, and welcomed the power and wealth that should have been hers.

But, I always feel like something is still weird.

But this did not prevent Xiaoyun and the others from being on high alert, because Yan Siqing said that even if this case was a conspiracy by someone, she was unwilling to sit and wait for death.

Will the other party take action?

"I'll go down and see if I can get the carriage out."

Jian Wuliang was certain that the carriage was destroyed here, and he thought that the other party must be a local and was very familiar with this place. In fact, this might even be the place where the Xu family case ten years ago was destroyed.

There may be a lot of clues below.

Yan Siqing agreed and waited patiently, occasionally looking at the old smelting yard.

After waiting for a while, Jian Wuliang came out of the water excitedly.

"Found it, hook the iron lock and pull it up!"

In fact, including Yan Siqing, they have never understood what kind of evidence of the murderer could be left in a small carriage.

Unless it is loaded with some cumbersome things that there is no time to unload and deal with, these things will prove his identity, or at least provide some direction. The murderer is targeting Yan Siqing and knows Yan Siqing, so he thinks that she can recognize his identity based on these things, so they have to be destroyed in advance.

With so many people working together, the heavy carriage was finally pulled up.

The water drops are splashing.

The somewhat shabby carriage was not a big deal no matter where it was placed, but at this moment, Jian Wuliang, who was soaked all over, was in high spirits. He asked Yan Siqing to move aside and took the initiative to use his scabbard to lift the hanging wet cloth curtain.

"When we were down there, we could probably see something inside. It looked like some boxes, and there was space for one person, but the contents of those boxes might not be ordinary items."

What is that object?

At first glance, Yan Siqing's expression was subtle.

"A medicine box? This person might be pretending to be a patient, and Luo Xuan specially arranged a carriage to escort him back to Chang'an in order to accommodate him and recuperate."

"But if he was a patient, then according to the traces in the woods, he seemed to have gone to the wild forest of his own accord. Why did he enter the woods with the servant carrying him on his back?"

Yan Siqing was silent for a while, then suddenly raised his eyebrows and smiled.

"Perhaps this patient is seriously ill and dying or has already died. This person is of high status. If he dies here, it would be a disaster that will affect the entire family. Luo Xuan was terrified and didn't dare to provoke this outcome. As a last resort, he wanted to hide the body. The wild forest was actually Luo Xuan's own choice!"

ah! !

Everyone was shocked!

This was a possibility they had never imagined, but upon closer thought, it was the most incredible and the most logical - otherwise why would Luo Xuan walk into the wild forest and let the servant carry the patient in.

It was a desolate wilderness, and Luo Xuan knew that people had died there.

In the silence, someone noticed something else.

"There's also a box. What's that? Will it point to the murderer's identity?"

There is also a rectangular box on the side, which makes it look more valuable.

Yan Siqing took a look and frowned slightly.

"A violin case."

It seems a little familiar. I've seen it somewhere.

She pursed her lips slightly.

"Open it."

With a click, the box was opened.

Everyone thought they saw Changqin at a glance, but...

With a click, the expansion spring inside opened, and the glass bottle originally placed in it shattered, directly releasing a group of flying insects.

Buzzing and flying...

Everyone was shocked!

But these horrible insects were densely packed and soon surrounded everyone.

Once bitten, you will feel numb and dizzy immediately.

poisonous.

————

Dark, damp, and smelling of blood.

Yan Siqing woke up slightly from fatigue, but felt a little cold on her jaw. She opened her eyes, but her chin was lifted up.

The other person gently hooked her chin.

"Your Highness, it is very difficult to be so close to you, even so presumptuous, without being stopped by certain men."

Yan Siqing opened his eyes and saw the other person's face.

"It's you."