Jiang Lingyao was a little surprised.
They had just asked the eunuch for the clue about the warehouse key and had not yet discussed it with the Imperial Guard. Unexpectedly, the Imperial Guard peacekeeper who had been hiding behind the scenes hit the nail on the head.
How did he know this? Jiang Lingyao couldn't help but feel puzzled.
As if he had heard Jiang Lingyao's doubts, the governor spoke calmly, "A country has its own laws, and a family has its own rules. All departments and offices in the country have their own rules, and the Jinyi Guards must fulfill their duties and be familiar with the affairs of the world."
After he said this, Jiang Lingyao didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Instead, Xu Baocai's face turned even paler, and he collapsed to the ground, almost fainting.
Pei Yu stepped forward at the right time and said sinisterly: "Xu Baocai, the master asks you a question, answer it immediately."
Xu Baocai took a breath and trembled, then stammered, "The key... I hid it under the fifth brick on the right side of the bed."
Having said this, he sighed and could no longer speak.
The interrogation room was silent for a while. After a while, Jiang Lingyao murmured casually: "Why?"
She asked the last question in her mind: "Since you want to kill him, why not do it after the pagoda is built? When the pagoda is presented to His Majesty, and he dies unexpectedly, then the credit will be given to you, right?"
This question was probably difficult to answer. Xu Baocai took a few deep breaths before slowly raising his head.
His eyes were filled with sorrow and determination, and he spoke slowly: "Sir, you are not a craftsman, so you don't know that we are born to make exquisite objects. I don't know about others, but I want to make a masterpiece that will be passed down from generation to generation, and that future generations will be amazed and love."
"The heart and virtue of a craftsman. Since I was born to be a craftsman, this virtue can never be erased. Even death cannot obliterate the kindness of my ancestors."
Xu Baocai spoke in a low voice, but everyone present was shocked by his words and actions, and no one spoke.
Xu Baocai raised his head and looked at the narrow high window on the roof with his gray eyes.
The only sunlight in the interrogation room shone from there.
"The pursuit of wealth and honor has brought disgrace upon the craftsman and violated the teachings of his ancestors. He is not worthy of building such a famous tower and is not worthy of the reputation of this master."
Xu Baocai said: "So I killed him."
"I was caught for murder, but the pagoda was not completed. All the blame lies with me alone. At the moment I committed the crime, I was ready to die as a token of my guilt."
After Xu Baocai finished speaking, he slowly closed his eyes and refused to speak again.
Jiang Lingyao sighed inwardly and turned to look at the peacemaker.
The young counselor remained very calm, as if all the cases and stories he had heard were just passing clouds that did not stir up any disturbance in his heart.
The counselor probably sensed Jiang Lingyao's gaze, and without hesitation, he said, "Master Xiao Qiao, this case can be closed here. If you have any doubts, you can investigate further."
"Shuntian Prefecture has made great contributions to the case of prison murder this time. I will state all of this when I submit a memorial to His Majesty. You can go back and tell Lord Yao to thank him for his great help."
In just a few words, he said that Shuntian Prefecture was assisting in the investigation. However, Jiang Lingyao was only the prosecutor of Shuntian Prefecture. She had little influence and did not know how Yao Yuan was going to respond. So she prepared to let Li Da go back and report to Lord Yao, while she stood up and bowed to the screen.
"Yes, I will take my leave now."
The envoy did not reply, so Jiang Lingyao took it as his consent and led the two people behind her to leave the interrogation room.
However, just as her black boots stepped in front of the door, a deep voice came from behind her: "Master Xiao Qiao, judging from your accent, you seem to be from the capital?"
Jiang Lingyao did not hesitate. She gently pushed open the door with one hand and replied with her head tilted: "Yes, judging from the adults' accents, we should be considered from the same hometown."
Jiang Lingyao said as she pushed the door open and finally said with a smile, "It's fate."
As she said this, she led the people of Shuntian Prefecture away without stopping for a moment.
After everyone from Shuntian Prefecture left, Zheng Feng dispatched all the officers in the interrogation room out. He and Pei Yu stepped forward and personally put Xu Baocai on the rack.
Xu Baocai was so disheartened at this moment that he didn't know what to do. He just let the two Jinyiwei captains do whatever they wanted. When he was tied to the rack, he woke up from his dream and asked in panic, "My lord, didn't I summon you?"
The one who answered him was not the two captains beside him, but the tall figure behind the table in front of him.
The Jinyiwei comforter who had been hiding for a long time has come out from behind the shadowy screen and appeared in front of Xu Baocai.
Xu Baocai looked at his young and handsome face, and his cold peach blossom eyes, and suddenly trembled like a sieve.
The soothsayer played with the teacup in his hands, rubbing the rim of the cup with his slender fingers, making a rustling sound.
"Xu Baocai, you haven't explained the matter of the "Yuyong Baojian Tu" clearly."
The soothing officer said calmly, "I want you to tell me everything clearly, word for word."
"Otherwise," the soothsayer's voice echoed in the dark interrogation room, "you will know what it feels like to live a life worse than death."
On the other side, Jiang Lingyao led a few people all the way to the back compartment.
The back room is where the craftsmen live. Most of the famous masters live in a room by themselves, and the rest of the apprentices live in a room with a few people. Since the room is relatively spacious, it doesn't feel crowded.
On the way, Jiang Lingyao said to Li Dadao: "Brother Li, you must send someone to report to the master immediately and tell him everything the envoy said just now without missing a word."
Li Da bowed and said, "Yes, I understand."
Jiang Lingyao walked forward with a slightly frown on her face, not looking relieved or happy about solving the case.
After Li Dagang gave his instructions to his yamen runners, he turned around and saw Jiang Lingyao like this. He couldn't help but feel a little confused. He glanced at Shen Suning, whose face was full of coldness, and asked Jiang Lingyao: "Sir, why are you not happy about solving the case?"
Jiang Lingyao sighed: "The case has indeed been solved, and the criminal has confessed, but I always feel that something is different at this time, but if you explain in detail why it is different, I can't tell."
"Maybe I'm just overthinking."
As they talked, the group walked through the shadows of the trees and arrived in front of the compartment at the back.
There are three rows of compartments in front and back of the back compartment. The first two rows are all open-plan, each of which can accommodate about five to ten people. The last row is single rooms, which are probably for more people. The single rooms are very narrow and cannot accommodate more household items except for beds, tables and boxes.
However, this place is also the temporary residence of the craftsmen. It is located in the Tile Lane behind Yuyongjian, and those who live there are the families of the craftsmen of Yuyongjian. The craftsmen will only live in Yuyongjian when the work is busy, and go back home when they have free time.
Jiang Lingyao did not look at the dormitory rooms in front. She went directly to the last row. There was a nameplate outside each room, and they easily found Rong Jingui's single room.
The apprentices in the front were sent back home after being questioned by the Royal Guards. However, there were a few people in the single room in the back.
One is Chen Shuangxi who is suspected of reselling prison materials, and the other is Feng Shuanzi who changed his household registration.
The amount of money involved in Chen Shuangxi's case was not too large, only three hundred taels of silver in total. He was timid and had only committed the crime a few days ago, so there was no need to give him a heavy sentence.
How Feng Shuanzi will judge this matter depends on how Wei Gou and Mr. Gu comment. After all, Rong Jingui is dead now, and Feng Shuanzi is the only one who knows the skill of dotting the eyes. Although he has not yet become a master, at least he still has some skills.
Changing the household registration can be a big deal, but it is also a small deal. If Wei Gou really wants to save Feng Shuanzi, he can ask Mr. Gu to discuss it with the Jinyiwei, and maybe the matter can be resolved easily.
Besides, Feng Shuanzi still has to hold a birthday ceremony.
For this reason, since there were Jinyiwei guarding every corner of the gate, they did not send more people and only sent a captain to guard outside Chen Shuangxi Gate.
When Jiang Lingyao and the others arrived, the captain bowed from afar and said, "Master Qiao."
Jiang Lingyao nodded and said, "Chen Shuangxi has not made any move?"
The lieutenant replied, "He asked for water several times and said he was hungry and had wounds. I have already sent him some dry food and medicine."
"He can still eat."
Jiang Lingyao didn't find it strange, so the captain smiled. He was not as cold as the other Jinyiwei soldiers.
"Your Excellency, you may not know that we have a lot of suspects under our care. There are really all kinds of people. Some people can be cheerful and talkative in the morning even if they are going to be beheaded at noon. Some people can scare themselves to death even if they are not guilty of capital murder, and they wish to hang themselves in the middle of the night."
"Until something big happens, you really can't tell what a person is like."
This captain was young, but spoke in a mature manner. Jiang Lingyao couldn't help but look at him more. He was only about seventeen or eighteen years old, and looked only one or two years younger than herself. He seemed to be very worldly-wise.
Those who are so young and serve as captains usually inherit the positions from their fathers or brothers, and their families are all military officers, so it is not surprising that they have such views.
Jiang Lingyao was also very humble: "I am grateful for your advice, young commander."
The young captain blushed immediately: "I am just talking nonsense, sir, please forgive me."
After a few simple words, Jiang Lingyao pushed open the door and entered Xu Baocai's single room.
He had another family in Tile Lane, and this place was just a temporary resting place, so the house was clean and tidy. Apart from a thin quilt on the bed and a set of coarse porcelain tea bowls on the table, there were no other personal belongings.
Jiang Lingyao asked Li Da to search on the bed according to Xu Baocai's instructions. After a while, Li Da actually picked up a brick from the ground and took out a bunch of keys from underneath.
As soon as the key was taken out, Jiang Lingyao was a little surprised.
The reason was simple. This was not just the key to the warehouse. There were three copper keys tied with coarse hemp rope, scattered in Li Da's palm.
Jiang Lingyao picked up the key and looked at it carefully under the light. After looking at it for a while, Jiang Lingyao said, "Only one of them is the warehouse key. What are the other two?"
No one knew him, so Jiang Lingyao narrowed her eyes and said, "Go ask Feng Shuanzi."
Feng Shuanzi lived in the westernmost single room. When Jiang Lingyao knocked on the door, the voice inside was very calm: "Who is it?"
Jiang Lingyao said: "Investigating the case in Shuntian Prefecture."
Feng Shuanzi obviously thought that the case had not been solved yet, so he immediately said, "Sir, the door is not closed, please come in quickly."
Jiang Lingyao pushed the door open and walked in. To her surprise, Feng Shuanzi did not look depressed. He did not know what Chen Shuangxi and Xu Baocai had said outside. He was carving the wooden Buddha statue in his hand with a small carving knife.
Seeing that the person who came was a female prosecutor whom he had met before, he was not afraid and asked, "Sir, do you know how my master died?"
Obviously, after yesterday's questioning by the Jinyiwei, he already knew that his master was not killed by some kind of heavenly punishment from his ancestors, but now he is still concerned about the cause of his master's death.
Jiang Lingyao did not answer him, but just pushed the key in her hand forward: "I want to ask, where are these three keys from?"
Feng Shuanzi was slightly stunned, then he looked down. At just one glance, he recognized all the keys.
"The smallest one is the study key, which contains the drawings of the instruments we drew ourselves. The middle one is the storeroom key, which was specially given to Master by Eunuch Wei. The other one..."
He narrowed his eyes, looked at it carefully, and said, "It's the key to the warehouse."
Jiang Lingyao asked: "What's in the material library?"
Feng Shuanzi knew everything and said, "There is coal and kerosene in the material storehouse, which is used to ignite the kiln."
Jiang Lingyao made note of these two things: coal and kerosene.
These four words swirled in her mind, stirring up the uneasiness and doubts in her heart all over again, and causing new waves in her heart.
What's wrong with that?
Jiang Lingyao lowered her eyes and looked at the key in her hand: "Let's go to the warehouse and take a look."
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