If the revolving lanterns were only hung on the top of the pavilion, visitors would not notice any difference between the four lanterns when they looked up.
The colored glaze shades are all identical, as are the bamboo wicks, tassels and even the iron axles inside. Only the silhouettes of the paper figures depicting the galloping horses are different.
One is the commonly used paper-cutting, and the other is this slippery human skin.
The reason why Jiang Lingyao thought of human skin directly was, firstly, because of the color, and secondly, because there happened to be a piece of skin missing from the body of the deceased.
When Duan Nanqi heard that it was human skin, he grabbed Jiang Lingyao's wrist without thinking and pulled her back half a step.
"Don't touch it," Duan Nanqi said, "I don't know if it's poisonous."
Jiang Lingyao still felt a lingering fear. She couldn't help but pat her chest and said, "I feel cold all over."
Duan Nanqi frowned, pulled her back two steps, and then said, "This thing is strange, it must be very evil."
After he finished speaking, he paused, called Ti Qi over, and asked Ti Qi to bring some hot water.
Jiang Lingyao shook her head.
She did not notice Duan Nanqi holding her wrist, her whole attention was on the glass lamp.
Jiang Lingyao said: "Master Duan, this glass lamp is within the dead person's line of sight, which means that the glass lamp is very important to the murderer or the murderer thinks the dead person is."
She said: "I was actually a little suspicious at first. I didn't understand why the murderer had to go to the trouble of removing the skin from the back of the deceased. Even if he wanted to cover the deceased with an embroidered piece of clothing, he could just sew it directly. Why did he go through the trouble?"
"At the time, I thought that the murderer wanted to make it perfect. He had to replace the clothes with the skin of the deceased in order to achieve his purpose of display."
"Now it seems that I was wrong."
Duan Nanzhi saw that her expression gradually calmed down, and there was no fear between her brows anymore, but instead there was a kind of firmness and determination. He then let go of her hand and cast his gaze on the glass lamp.
Wanping produces a wide variety of lamps, including glass lamps, revolving lanterns, cardboard lanterns, candles, street lamps and so on. It is for this reason that Wanping has the Wanping Lantern Market in May every year.
Not only can they showcase the superb craftsmanship of Wanping lamp makers, but they can also show their unique products to tourists and merchants from all over the Ming Dynasty, thereby selling Wanping lamps.
Therefore, even the four lanterns under the pavilion in the suburban garden are exquisite and of superb craftsmanship, especially the three traditional colored glaze revolving lanterns. Each figure on them is lifelike. If the candles are lit inside, the figures will move slowly with the air flow, performing a wonderful drama.
These four lamps are definitely not something that an ordinary apprentice can make; they can only be made by an experienced master.
Duan Nanqi said: "Let's go forward and take a look."
The two of them then walked a few steps closer, stood in the pavilion and looked down at the four glass lamps on the table. Jiang Lingyao looked very carefully, and when she saw the end, she said, "Sir, in my opinion, the craftsmanship of these four lamps is the same. Even the special human skin lamp, the painting of each figure silhouette is the same as the other three. Can we assume that these four lamps were made by the same person?"
Duan Nanqi lowered his eyes and said, "I think Master Qiao has a clear insight and your judgment is correct."
Jiang Lingyao let out a long sigh and then said, "So can we assume that the murderer is the lamp maker who made these four lamps? Or are the two people very familiar with each other, otherwise how could the lamp maker not see that this is human skin?"
They can tell the peculiarities of those silhouettes just by their eyesight. How could the lighting maker, who has to draw, cut the shapes, and touch repeatedly, be ignorant of this?
Duan Nanqi said, "The murderer's purpose was clear and his actions were consistent. He was doing the same thing from beginning to end. Combined with Aunt Xinghua's testimony, I don't think he could have an accomplice. So the murderer must be Wanping's lamplighter."
Jiang Lingyao nodded thoughtfully: "If the murderer is a lamp maker, then it makes sense. Fourteen years ago, someone in Tongzhou must have ordered a lamp, and the murderer took the opportunity to deliver the lamp to transport the body into Tongzhou and place it in Tongzhou city."
Duan Nanqi took over the conversation: "That's right, Chu Xiu Nian, order someone to immediately send someone to Tongzhou to investigate the tax file yellow rolls from fourteen years ago."
The two of them discussed the case with each other, and after arranging the tasks, Duan Nanqi said, "This case is very clear. The revolving lantern and the embroidered coat are both the murderer's possessions, but there was no record of it in the old case. We don't know if there was a special lantern at the scene."
After all, it was a long time ago, and even Zheng Sanji and Chen Zhen probably couldn't remember whether there were lanterns everywhere at the scene. They could only go back and ask the experienced Mr. Zhao to see if he still remembered some clues.
Jiang Lingyao stared in deep thought. Suddenly, something moved in her heart and she raised her eyes to look at Duan Nanqi.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the faces of the two people. One of them was handsome, the other was delicate, but at this moment, there was the same seriousness and concentration in their eyes.
That is respect for the case and the deceased.
There was a faint light in Jiang Lingyao's eyes, like a firefly, faint but bright.
"Master Duan, can we assume that the murderer's goal is actually this skin?"
Duan Nanqi's eyes darkened, and he said thoughtfully: "His original purpose was to get the human skin, and he happened to have a mask, so he took the skin from the back. The mask and the deceased were perfectly integrated, so..."
"So the skin of each victim was removed from their backs, because the murderer only had a face covering, or the murderer thought that a face covering was the most suitable way to cover up the victim."
Jiang Lingyao said: "In that case, the murderer must be a person who seeks perfection in everything. Even if he kills someone or takes their skin, he wants to do it so 'beautifully' and so 'pleasing to the eye'."
“This lantern is the key.”
"The murderer was very cunning. He arranged a beautiful scene to attract everyone's attention to the deceased. Because the deceased's name could not be found for a while, the government spent a lot of manpower to search for him. As a result, they would ignore other places in the garden, especially the lanterns that can be seen everywhere. They would not pay attention to them."
"And the human skin lantern that he cares about the most and is the most important to him is still hanging high in the place he wants, waiting for the day when it can be lit."
Duan Nanqi nodded, quite agreeing with Jiang Lingyao's inference, and then asked: "But why is it a lantern? Why is it placed here?"
Jiang Lingyao's heart moved. She bent down and carefully examined the silhouette of the human skin on the human skin lamp from a distance of two feet. After carefully looking at each figure, she asked in confusion, "Is it Zhuge Liang who borrowed arrows from a straw boat?"
Duan Nanqi was also stunned. He looked over and saw that those figures were indeed in this scene.
Why do we need to make such a picture?
Zhuge Liang's borrowing arrows from a straw boat is naturally an allusion. This allusion is often used in the lantern market when making large scenery or lantern mountains. However, such small and exquisite lighting lamps are mostly landscape scenery, birds, beasts, fish and insects, which are simple and not labor-intensive.
Jiang Lingyao noticed that the other three lanterns were also related to Zhuge Liang, and all told stories from the Three Kingdoms period.
She was very puzzled.
Duan Nanqi couldn't think of the reason for a moment, so he said, "Why not let Tiqi search other places in the garden to see if there are similar lanterns in other places, and then make plans."
The two came out of the pavilion, Duan Nanzhuo stood with his hands behind his back, Jiang Lingyao stood beside him, and they looked into the distance at the sunset together.
The afterglow of the setting sun shines on the colorful garden, and star-like rays of light fall on every flower and leaf, making the whole garden colorful and brilliant.
Jiang Lingyao looked up at the sky and sighed, "I hope this case will have a result as soon as possible."
Duan Nanzhi stood with his hands behind his back and turned his head to look at her, but he could only see the determination in her eyes.
To him, Jiang Lingyao was very strange.
She could have been a rich and leisurely person at home, but she chose to work so hard and be a magistrate who had to work day and night. The Jiang family has been prosperous for generations and has stood firm since the founding of the country. Every head of the family has been extremely intelligent. When it came to Jiang Lingyao's grandfather, the old man had an even sharper vision and never made a mistake in seeing the future from beginning to end.
It is for this reason that Duan Nanqi is quite puzzled.
The Jiang family had no grievances to redress, nor wounds to heal. As the daughter of the Jiang family, why did Jiang Lingyao go to so much trouble? She even had a deep relationship with the Imperial Concubine. The Imperial Concubine had no children, and loved her like her own children and nephews. Whatever she wanted, it was just a matter of asking.
Duan Nanqi turned around and looked lazily at the sky.
Putting aside the attitude of the imperial concubine, the fact that the emperor suddenly granted her the marriage was already very strange, and after the marriage he only spoke a few vague words of advice to him, which made Duan Nanqi even more suspicious.
But no matter how doubtful he was, now that the marriage was finalized, the two could now handle cases together. Regardless of whether Jiang Lingyao was Miss Jiang Liu or Magistrate Xiao Qiao, she had finally become his wife and a good pair who could support each other in handling cases. Duan Nanqi thought that this might be the result that the emperor wanted.
He may have been impressed by Jiang Lingyao's talent, which is why he did this.
There's nothing wrong with it.
He himself has countless secrets, so how can he get Jiang Lingyao to speak? Putting himself in her shoes, Duan Nanqi doesn't think this is a good time to have a heart-to-heart talk when there is not enough trust between them.
Maybe, we have to wait a little longer.
At this moment, Jiang Lingyao was also thinking about Duan Nanqi's assignment.
It was impossible for Duan Nanqi to tell her everything about the assignment. He only said that he had something to do in Wanping. But after arriving in Wanping, Duan Nanqi did not go to do the assignment immediately. Instead, because of this case, he kept dispatching the Jinyiwei to inquire about old files.
Although he had only been in Wanping for one day, Duan Nanqi did not seem like a person with a bad temper. But no matter what, he came to Wanping by the order of His Majesty. As the head of the Northern Town Fusi of the Jinyiwei, the cases he could handle must be major cases. This also meant that he could not pretend to obey His Majesty and only handle the cases he wanted to handle without taking His Majesty seriously.
Jiang Lingyao lowered her eyes and pinched the badge on her waist, her eyes deep and gloomy.
Duan Nanqi was able to take the position of leader at a young age. He must have some extraordinary qualities. Not only must he be talented, but he must also have the trust of His Majesty. This trust is not only because of his background, but also because of his past behavior.
Therefore, there is no way he would ignore His Majesty's order and handle this case first.
Duan Nanzhi has dispatched over a hundred Jinyiwei cavalrymen, and there are still several teams on the way. They are not only going to check Wanping's files, but also the clues that Duan Nanzhi is looking for.
Jiang Lingyao nodded thoughtfully.
It seems that Duan Nanqi is the same as her?
When checking one file, I found out that there were two cases.
Could it be such a coincidence?
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