Chapter 62: There is another hidden story, Liu's dream is far away
Song Pingsheng pushed Xiao Qingxu to Shang Yuwan's side, thinking about that matter intently, and did not notice the strange atmosphere between the two.
Shang Yuwan ignored Xiao Qingxu, and Xiao Qingxu remained silent.
Song Pingsheng pushed a coroner's autopsy report towards Shang Yuwan and Xiao Qingxu, saying, "You are all aware of the situation in Luzhou City. I won't go into other details. I called you two here because I have something important to discuss."
"Yesterday, the situation in Luzhou City was urgent. We wanted to quickly find the people and the official who oversaw the flood. He was closest to the site of the flood, so while we weren't rushing to punish him, we also wanted to find his body. After all, at that time... his soul could rest in peace when he returned to his homeland, and his family wouldn't be too heartbroken.
Shang Yuwan glanced at Xiao Qingxu, and seeing that he didn't move, he picked it up and examined it carefully.
"But we were short-handed, and the flood came so suddenly that we had to wait until reinforcements arrived from the nearby cities before we dared to send the deputy building owner with another group to search for the official who oversaw the water regulations." Xiao Qinggu continued, following Song Pingsheng's words. "The body was found at 11 a.m. It belonged to a man named Liu Ziqi. His body was found, but the murder weapon was not."
"The murder weapon?" Shang Yuwan's eyes turned.
Xiao Qinggu nodded. Now was not the time for jokes. His expression was very serious. "According to the coroner, it was a short hairpin, half the size of an ordinary hairpin. It looked like someone had deliberately broken it in two and removed the end. It was also deliberately polished, like a sharp thorn. Even if it was hidden in the palm of a seven or eight-year-old child, it might not be noticed."
The autopsy report also stated that the murderer was short of strength and killed the victim by attacking him on the neck from behind.
Shang Yuwan's eyes turned slightly colder, "You Kouguo's tactics."
Song Ping was born and raised in Luzhou City. When he grew up, he served as a water supervisor in the city. He did not dare to claim that he was familiar with You Kouguo's methods, but he still knew a thing or two.
He said, "Based on previous examples, this is indeed a common tactic used by the Youkou Kingdom in Luzhou City, but this time, there is a difference."
"What is the city lord's opinion?" Shang Yuwan's understanding of You Kouguo ultimately came from the information he obtained in his home library in his previous life, which was not as reliable as Song Pingsheng's personal experience.
"Master Shang, why don't you take a closer look? Does it say [The deceased had been stabbed multiple times in the face]?"
Shang Yuwan took a closer look and said, "Something is wrong..."
It's no secret that the conditions in Youkou and Luzhou differed greatly during spring and summer, with both experiencing frequent torrential rain and flooding. Youkou had been eyeing Dayu's lucrative territory for years, and logically speaking, it shouldn't have...
At this moment, Xiao Qingxu suddenly spoke up: "The children sent by Youkou Kingdom in the past only made trouble and disturbed Luzhou City, making it impossible to continue the water conservancy repairs. However, they would not directly kill the officials who supervised the water regulations and let Dayu and Zengguo catch such a big mistake."
After he said this, Song Pingsheng nodded repeatedly, and Xiao Qinggu naturally thought of this - Shang Yuwan ignored him at all.
The information he had gained from his previous life kept flashing through Shang Yuwan’s mind.
The Youkou Kingdom resided on an island, and the status of women there was three degrees lower than that of women in Dayu. With the support of the eldest princess, women from ordinary families in Dayu's court were gradually able to attend academies and gain further knowledge. However, this move was opposed by many civil servants, and Emperor Chengming, concerned, had not yet extended it to other vassal states. To date, only the academies in Jingdu and Bingguo Jincheng have established a policy of unisex enrollment, as a test of the eldest princess's initiative.
Although the coed academy had little immediate effect, it marked the first step for Dayu women. No longer confined to the Eight Graces, needlework, and precepts, women were like delicate flowers, protected from wind, frost, rain, and snow, and unable to climb beyond their own mountains. They could choose to study, practice martial arts, or learn medicine and poison detection, strengthening their spirits and bodies. In the future, women could compete with men in the academy, and even in the court. All of this was possible.
The situation in Youkou was completely different. While women there could read and write a few words, they didn't study the Four Books and Five Classics, but instead the usual "Nujie Nu Lunyu" (The Analects of Confucius). Even their opportunities to interact with men were pitifully rare. Women in Youkou were treated as mere vessels for childbearing, betrothed upon reaching adulthood. Except for those with high family status, the rest were little better than caged birds.
Women's vision and knowledge are far inferior to men's. They rely on their fathers when they are children, and they depend on their husbands when they grow up. They have no opinions of their own and obey in everything. As a result, the population of Youkou Country is increasing day by day, but after all, it is just an island country and cannot accommodate so many children who need countless resources to feed.
Therefore, in the eyes of Youkouguo, Dayu was a piece of fat meat that was right in front of him. Every year, he would pick a few children to smuggle over and let them make trouble if they could. He had been waiting for an opportunity in secret, wanting to take advantage of natural disasters to invade Dayu's territory through Luzhou City.
Song Pingsheng sighed deeply, "I thought that since the princess was in the city and His Majesty and Prince Zeng valued her so much, the Youkou Kingdom would not dare to invade..."
Luzhou City suffers from flood disasters all year round, and Youkou Country also suffers from frequent rainstorms and floods. They are very familiar with the signs before the coming of flood disasters. Luzhou City is naturally the same. Otherwise, Song Pingsheng and Xiao Qinggu would not have brought refugees to rush to repair water conservancy projects during those few days of calm, in order to prevent sudden rainstorms and reduce casualties after the bell was rung.
Song Pingsheng originally thought that Youkouguo would not come again this time, but he did not expect that Youkou people would directly kill Liu Ziqi.
"Have all the people in the city been counted?"
Shang Yuwan stared at the line of words, pondering carefully in his mind.
She originally thought that it was You Kouguo who instigated the child to become more aggressive, but she didn't expect that there seemed to be another hidden story this time?
Song Pingsheng nodded and said, "We counted the numbers yesterday at midnight. Apart from the casualties, there were no more or less people, but..."
"There was a seven-year-old child named Liu Mengyao. No one in the city seemed to recognize him, but he insisted he was a citizen of Luzhou City. When asked to produce his household registration, he said his parents were dead and his home was destroyed by the flood, so he couldn't find anything."
Also surnamed Liu?
"Judging from this action, it seems to be a revenge killing." Shang Yuwan lowered his eyelids and shook his eyeballs left and right. "What do you think, Master?"
Xiao Qingxu was suddenly called by her. He was stunned at first, but then he reacted.
"Call that kid over to Liu Ziqi's body and test him first."
Song Pingsheng hesitated. "Isn't this too cruel to a child? What if he's not the murderer?"
Xiao Qingxu turned his head and looked at him calmly, "City Lord, how many casualties were there this time?"
Song Pingsheng opened his mouth and closed it again.
Shang Yuwan reminded him, "City Lord, the imperial edict and the people from Kyoto should be arriving soon. Perhaps someone from Prince Zeng's side will also be coming."
She seemed nonchalant. "The people are waiting for an explanation from us, but we don't have much time."
Xiao Qinggu wanted to say something to help Song Pingsheng, but he stopped talking when he heard the voice.
As the only princess of Emperor Chengming, she had to report such a devastating flood. Everyone in Luzhou City was so busy that no one thought of sending a message to the capital. However, Jingcheng couldn't just sit there and do nothing. They sent reinforcements and naturally sent a message to Prince Zeng.
Prince Zeng will definitely send a carrier pigeon to Kyoto to deliver the news to the emperor as soon as possible. Given the importance Emperor Chengming now holds in Xiao Qing and Gu Ming, he will definitely send someone to visit them.
Song Pingsheng couldn't say anything else for a moment and fell silent.
He knew that Shang Yuwan was warning him. It was fortunate that Xiao Qinggu was still fine at this time, but after all, he had experienced a dangerous encounter. If he was merciful and let the child go, the people sent from Kyoto would definitely not let him go.
And the people of Luzhou City...also urgently need an explanation.
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