Chapter 157 The Unburned Oil Lamp
“Students understand.”
Zhu Lan was actually just a little curious. As she had just arrived, she wanted to know as much as possible about the situation here.
To be fair, she was neither an official nor a conscripted laborer. As a student at an academy, her original motivation for offering to come and help with disaster relief was not great, and could even be said to be somewhat utilitarian.
If she could help some people within her ability, it would be the best. But her main purpose was to go deep into the grassroots to understand the people's sentiments, supplement her own knowledge, and prepare for the future examinations.
With her current abilities, she can only do her best to save people from disaster.
Zhu Lan came to the door of Li Yishen's room alone. The door was not locked, so she pushed it open gently.
Not far from the threshold, a stool was overturned on the ground. On the beam above the stool was a loop of white silk, which fluttered slightly as Zhu Lan pushed the door.
It seems that Li Yishen hanged himself by standing on this stool.
Zhu Lan looked at the height of the stool. If an adult stood on it, his head would indeed reach Bai Ling.
Zhu Lan was not afraid. He looked around the room. The windows were closed tightly and there was an unburned oil lamp on the table.
Something seemed to be wrong, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"Lanlan, why are you here?" Qiao Youyou poked her head out of the door. "Ouyang Jiabei said that he will gather everyone soon and take them to the front line to help!"
Zhu Lan looked up and waved at her, "Youyou, come and see, how did this oil lamp... go out?" She finally grasped the doubts in her mind.
"Hey, we're here to provide disaster relief, and you're investigating a case!"
Qiao Youyou came over and stared at the oil lamp for a long time. "There's still so much oil left in the lamp. How could it go out? It must have been blown out by someone or the wind."
“But don’t you find it strange?” Zhu Lan tilted his head and said as he recalled.
"Didn't that Chief Clerk Qian just say that it was still dark when he came to see the county magistrate, and he guessed that the county magistrate hadn't gotten up yet, but he had something urgent so he had to knock on the door?"
Qiao Youyou thought about it and said, "It seems to be said that way."
"Does that mean that when he arrived at the door of this room, the light inside was off?"
"Well, that should be the case. If the lights are still on in the early morning, it must mean that the county magistrate has not slept all night, or has already gotten up!"
"Then the question is, when did the oil lamp go out?" Zhu Lan looked at Qiao Youyou, as if he wanted to use her thoughts to confirm it.
"Did you blow it out yourself before hanging yourself?" Qiao Youyou said, and immediately denied her own thoughts, "No, we are going to die soon, this is unnecessary, and it is not convenient to hang yourself in the dark.
Are you afraid of being discovered? No, who cares about this when you don’t even want to live…”
Qiao Youyou thought for a long time, "Could it be that he hanged himself before dark the day before, so he didn't turn on the lights that night?"
Zhu Lan pondered over Qiao Youyou's words, "This possibility is not impossible, but the probability is very small. Think about it, the disaster in Long'an County is so serious, there must be people who come to report frequently. How is it possible that the county magistrate died in the afternoon of the previous day and was not discovered until the next morning?
Therefore, it is more likely that he committed suicide late at night."
Qiao Youyou nodded, agreeing with this statement.
"Let's assume that he hanged himself late at night. Then the lamp must have been lit at the time, otherwise there would be no way to accurately throw the white silk over the beam. Then it comes back to the first question. There were still so many oil lamps left, how did the lights go out?
The windows of this room were tightly shut, and according to Qian Zhubu, the door was also shut when he came that night. Since the windows and doors were tightly shut, and since it wasn't blown out by the wind, and it wasn't blown out by Magistrate Li himself, there was only one possibility left."
Qiao Youyou widened her eyes slightly: "You mean, someone blew out the oil lamp, this is murder?"
Zhu Lan glanced outside the door and whispered, "If he really died in the middle of the night, then the only possibility is murder.
But we cannot completely rule out other unexpected circumstances, such as he hanged himself during the day the day before for some reason and was not found until the next day. "
"It would be great if Lao Chang was here..." Qiao Youyou felt her CPU was getting a little hot.
"Old Chang is best at autopsies, but the county magistrate's body has been taken away. We can only rely on on-site analysis now."
"After your analysis, I suddenly feel like there's a conspiracy behind this..." Qiao Youyou scratched his head, "Should I tell Ouyang Jiabei?"
"No, don't tell anyone about this now." Zhu Lan looked outside vigilantly and lowered his voice.
"It's just our suspicion now, and we have no actual evidence. In addition, the county magistrate is an official appointed by the court. If there is a force behind the scenes that dares to attack the county magistrate, it will be easier to deal with us now.
As long as you and I pretend not to know, the other party won't know that we are suspicious, and this is safe."
Zhu Lan said as he pulled Qiao Youyou out of the room.
She turned around to close the door, but suddenly paused.
"What's wrong?" Qiao Youyou asked.
Zhu Lan shook his head and closed the door. "Nothing, let's go."
When the two returned to the gate of the courtyard, they heard Duan Wenqing's voice, "Hey, where did you go? Mr. Ouyang is asking everyone to gather!"
"Come right over." Zhu Lan and Qiao Youyou quickened their pace and returned to the courtyard with Duan Wenqing.
"Mr. Duan, have you met Magistrate Li before?" Zhu Lan asked casually.
Duan Wenqing nodded, "We are a small county, and he is the parent official, of course I have seen him before, what's the matter?"
"Nothing, it's just that I have a senior brother in the academy who has the same name and surname as Magistrate Li." Zhu Lan smiled shyly, his eyes seeming a little shy.
"That senior brother is extremely talented and handsome..."
Duan Wenqing uttered an "ah" and looked confused, "This County Magistrate Li is not handsome at all..."
"What's wrong?" Zhu Lan blinked and asked curiously.
"Well, although the dead are the greatest and gentlemen should not talk about others behind their backs, this is not a secret." Duan Wenqing hesitated for a moment and whispered, "Our county magistrate is a little..."
As he spoke, he pressed his palm down and stopped at his chest.
Zhu Lan pretended to be surprised, "How tall?"
Duan Wenqing nodded seriously.
Zhu Lan suddenly understood and everything became clear.
She and Qiao Youyou had just left the room, and when they closed the door, they found that there were some wear and tear on the door, which was obviously the result of someone pushing the door frequently.
But the location of the wear and tear was obviously much lower than the location that a normal person would touch when pushing the door. Combined with Duan Wenqing's words, Zhu Lan could conclude that the county magistrate was a dwarf!
Although Daliang would examine the appearance of officials when selecting them, the examination was not so strict for a county magistrate, as the county was a minor official and the place was so remote, so it was possible for loopholes to be exploited.
If Li Yishen was really a dwarf, then the stool under his feet would definitely not be high enough to hang himself on the white silk at that height!
It must be murder.
Zhu Lan made a conclusion in his heart, but remained expressionless.
During this relief trip, everyone ate and lived together, and she did not have the opportunity to gather together those who had traveled through time together to discuss things like she did in the academy.
I can only find an opportunity to remind Liang Zhou and the others that things in Long'an County may not be as simple as they seem on the surface, and they need to be more careful in everything.
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