Chapter 59: Zhen is not a pig "Return to Yunlaixiang, don't look at these." ...
Normally, pigs wouldn't float on the river in winter, but Meng Ge'er had never been one to lie. Everyone laughed a bit and suggested he go back to Zhao Ji Cooked Food Store first. After he finished eating the roasted lamb leg, they would go with him to see it.
Meng Ge'er nodded twice and ran back to his shop obediently.
Zhi Duo Xing took the snacks Gu Xiang handed him, a large bag full of them. He carefully held them in his arms, not even holding his father's hand, but simply following behind him.
"Wei Fuqiu, I will come back to teach you tomorrow."
He turned around to greet Wei Fuqiu and wanted to stretch out his hand, but he was holding so many snacks, so he could only raise a few fingers with difficulty.
"OK!"
Wei Fuqiu replied with her head buried in the bowl, not even raising it.
The pot was so delicious that her sister gave her a piece of mutton with bones and tendons. She grabbed the bones with one hand and tore them apart. With a snap, a piece of mutton with tendons attached to the crispy bone came off. She chewed it and tossed the remaining bone to the loofah.
The loofah opened its mouth and caught the bone under the table. The bone, which was stewed till soft, disappeared from its mouth in two or three bites, and Edamame could only see its shadow.
What flew by?
With Wei Fuqiu's affirmation, Zhi Duoxing felt even happier and took bigger steps. In a few steps, he walked far away and arrived at the door of the shop.
Wei Jinyun hurriedly got up and went to the counter to pay Li Ji's bill.
Li Ji was quite tall, and standing in front of the counter he could clearly see the fingers of the person in front of him moving rapidly across the abacus, and he had completely settled his account in just a few strokes.
The abacus in her hand was made of fine ebony, with a small, delicate "cloud" character carved into it. While powerful, it seemed to lack a certain elegance. If he were to carve it, he would have made the beginning of the "丶" shallower and the end deeper.
This way of looking at it makes it look delicate and soft, which suits her best.
"Guest, guest?"
Wei Jinyun called out to Li Ji again.
This officer in charge of household affairs was so easily dazed. Was it because the winter solstice was approaching and the affairs in the government office were too busy?
Li Ji came back to his senses, smiled a little embarrassedly, and cleared his throat to ease the awkwardness. This shopkeeper Wei was too quick to calculate the bill. Why didn't he count it as an incense stick? He could wait that long.
He paid the money and before he even headed for the door, he heard Zhi Duo Xing, holding a snack, looking off into the distance. "Father, there are more and more people over there at the arch bridge. Are they all going to see the giant pigs swimming? Should we go that way too? Master Zhou told us to exercise during the winter solstice and write an essay about helping our parents at home. If we can find time to write a poem or two, that would be even better. I might as well write 'Ode to the Pig.' If it's good, Master Zhou will definitely praise me! Even Wei Fuqiu will think I'm amazing!"
He jumped up and down excitedly, "Father, please hurry up. I don't see how that swimming pig can write a good poem. What if someone else writes it first?"
Li Ji had no choice but to let his son pull him, looking back every few steps, and quickly went to see the pigs swimming beside the arch bridge.
How to write a poem about a pig?
Pig, pig, pig...white belly floating on the green water, pink hooves paddling the clear waves.
“This is a pig.”
The peddler selling winter dates by the arch bridge had chosen a good spot early in the morning and was currently closest to the pig.
He stood on tiptoe, tilted his head, squinted his eyes, and stared for a long time. "What is this pig doing here? Who left the pigpen untied and let it escape?"
A few people who were still waiting for work before the winter solstice also looked over and said, "Who is so stupid as not to tie up the pigpen? A live pig must be sold for more than one tael on New Year's Day. Every household has tied up the pigpen door tightly... But to me, it doesn't look like a pig."
Although Zhi Duo Xing read a lot of books, his eyes were very bright. He sat on Li Ji's shoulders, looking around with his head raised.
"Dad, this doesn't look like a pig at all."
He frowned.
"How is this not a pig? Isn't it just like a pig, a piece of white skin floating on the water?"
The round-faced aunt saw the baby sitting on her shoulders and asked with a smile.
"Before my father passed the imperial examination, our family raised several pigs. I helped him feed them every day. Eventually, we raised each pig until it was plump and big, and then we sold it to raise enough money for his exam expenses."
Zhi Duo Xing pointed at a piece of white skin sticking out of the water and said, "The pig skin is very thick, especially the layer on the back. It's very rough and hairy to the touch, and there are some hard bristle roots sticking out."
"Kid, this might be a pig's stomach."
"That's even more wrong. Although the pig's belly is softer, it's not this slippery. The skin is also very thin. You can even see the blue veins and bones on it."
"My family has never raised pigs like this, so we can eat a lot of pork."
The round-faced aunt picked up a large branch from the riverside and said, "Who cares if it's a pig? We're not Lao Wang, the pork seller. Just turn it over and take a look. When you see the pig's head, you'll know if what you said is right."
She grabbed the stone pier under the bridge with her left hand, held the branch in her right hand, and crouched forward. As soon as the branch touched the top, she felt something was wrong. The pig skin was really soft, and it felt like it was embedded in her body.
"Oh, your movements are so clumsy. Where's the energy you usually put into sweeping for others? Let me do it!"
The peddler simply grasped his carrying pole, puffed out his chest under the watchful eyes of the crowd, and probed, poked, and flipped the goods together.
It all depends on his strength to carry the load.
The pig rolled in the water, and its entire appearance was revealed to everyone.
"Mom!"
From the arch bridge came the sounds of deep breaths and affectionate calls to parents.
This looks like a person!
Why is there such a large group of people!
This belly seems to be bulging like a toad!
Is his carrying pole still usable?
Li Ji quickly put his son down and covered his eyes with his hands.
No wonder everyone thought it was a pig. It was naked, with its hands and feet tied together, curled up and floating on the water. What we saw just now was its back. Now, after turning it over, the whole person floated up.
There hasn't been a murder case in Pingjiang Prefecture for a long time. With his hands and feet tied up with ropes, it must be a homicide.
Li Ji sighed inwardly, wondering how such a thing could happen around the winter solstice.
"Manager Wei, there are so many people at the arch bridge."
Gu Xiang's meal was hot, so he stood at the door with his bowl in hand to enjoy the fresh air. From a distance, he could see that the place was practically packed with people.
"After all, it's rare to see pigs swimming. It looks interesting."
Wei Jinyun had almost finished eating, so he took the bowl and fed Yuanbao some cooled fish paste.
"Does Lord Lu still care about pigs swimming?"
Yuanbao licked a few mouthfuls of the fish paste, ran to Gu Xiang, arched his back to look at the arch bridge, then turned around and meowed twice at Wei Jinyun.
Wei Jinyun put down the bowl and walked to the door of the shop.
Besides Lu Lan, there were other people from the Inspection Office, all of whom were seriously blocking everyone else from entering.
"Qu Jie'er, Ling Jie'er, after you finish eating, go pick some duck down with Meng Ge'er to make a nest for Yuan Bao."
She frowned.
He said that things have been uneasy in front of Tianqing Temple recently.
"Does the pig still look?"
The bowl in front of Wei Fuling was still piled high with fish balls, egg dumplings, salted chicken and mutton...
When she and Wei Fuqiu started eating the hotpot, they couldn't wait to fight for two pieces of mutton with bones and tendons, and a big, round fish ball. In the end, when they were full, they would say, "You eat, you eat, you eat more."
"No need to look at the pigs. What's so good about them? Let's go try the roasted lamb legs."
Wei Fuqiu looked up and saw Wei Jinyun's expression. She picked up a few fish balls from Wei Fuling's bowl and put them in her own bowl. "If I don't make two nests for Yuanbao, my silk quilt will be torn apart by him."
"good!"
Wei Fuling, who believed in not wasting food when it was in front of her, stuffed a large egg dumpling into her mouth. "We'll go after I finish eating. Let's make two loofahs and edamame as well. Let's spend the winter solstice together in warmth."
Even if strong winds blew around the winter solstice, the people were happy. They did not feel the strong winds were very cold, but only felt that the winds would soon bring the New Year's Day.
But now the chill was floating up with the water vapor from the river, and even the bare willow branches on the river bank looked a little scary.
There was already a crowd of people gathered around, talking and unable to help but lean over to take a look.
"It's a dead man. Look and see if we know each other."
"Look for yourself. I don't dare. All I know is that it's all white."
"You two cowards, let me see!"
Old Zhou, who was selling candy, mustered up the courage to look over there, and just one glance made him want to vomit the vegetable rice cake he had eaten in the morning.
Lu Lan, dressed in crimson official robes, stood on the riverbank. He didn't look at the onlookers, but instead looked straight at the river.
"Surround them."
Upon hearing this, several of his men stepped forward with wooden sticks and blocked the crowd from rushing forward half a meter away. The originally noisy river bank suddenly became quiet, without even a whisper.
"Jing Liulang."
He turned sideways and said, "Use the net and pull him out."
"yes!"
When Wei Jinyun came over, he was pushed by the crowd behind him and staggered, almost falling into the wooden stick in front of him.
"careful."
Li Ji protected the Zhi Duo Xing in his arms with one hand and stretched out his other hand, but saw a faster figure getting ahead.
Gu Xiang held Wei Jinyun's arm firmly, and the force was so strong that she could stand firmly in an instant, "Shopkeeper Wei, please hold my arm. There are so many people here."
Wei Jinyun nodded, his gaze fixed on the object Jing Liulang and his men had just dragged ashore with great difficulty. Swelled from the water, it lay sprawled on the straw mat, vaguely recognizable as a human.
The old man behind Lu Lan squatted down.
He was about fifty years old, wearing a brown short jacket and carrying a half-sized wicker box with a copper lock fastened to the top.
The coroner squatted beside the straw mat, his brow furrowed in a knot. He put on his gloves, untied the hemp ropes, and gently wiped away the water marks on the corpse's face.
The flesh on the corpse's face was rolled up, obviously cut by a sharp weapon.
He looked up at Lu Lan and sighed heavily, "Sir, the murderer is too cruel. The face is scratched so badly that even the outline of the eyebrows and eyes can't be seen clearly. How can we tell whose family it is?"
The coroner leaned over and took out a long and thin object from the rattan box. It had a slightly curved small hook at the front and a non-slip hemp rope wrapped around the handle.
He carefully parted the corpse's tightly pursed lips with a probe, gently pressed the tongue, and examined the teeth closely. "The gaps between the teeth are clean, with moderate wear marks. This person appears to be a man around thirty years old."
Coroner Zhuang pressed lightly on the corpse's abdomen. The knife marks there had turned white from being soaked in water, the skin around the edges was a little swollen, and there were a few pieces of dried water plants on them.
He stood up, his brows still furrowed, "Look, sir, his stomach is swollen. He has been dead for at least ten days."
He pointed at the corpse's hands and feet and said, "They were tied so tightly that they're completely stiff by now. They won't recover for a while."
Lu Lan hummed, her eyes darkening as she recalled the records in the files from a few days ago. "More than ten days ago... The Inspection Department did take on a missing person case a while ago. It involved a woman."
He turned and looked at Zhan Wenxing behind him, "Go call the person who reported the case and ask her to come here immediately to identify the body."
Zhan Wenxing responded and hurriedly squeezed out of the crowd.
The wind from the riverbank swirled with steam, making the tips of people's noses red. Many of the onlookers had already left, their necks hunched. Seeing such a spectacle around the winter solstice seemed a bit unlucky. The only ones left were the curious and the brave.
The wise man in Li Ji's arms was different. He opened his round eyes, leaned his head forward, and stared at the movements of Zhuang the coroner.
"Dad, this uncle is so awesome."
He pointed at the coroner Zhuang and praised him, "You can still tell how old he is even in this state."
Li Ji quickly reached out to cover his eyes, "What are you doing looking at this, kid?"
"Oh, Daddy."
Zhi Duo Xing twisted his body to avoid it, "You should just watch something this powerful. I'm not afraid at all."
Lu Lan happened to hear the voice and glanced sideways. When his eyes swept across the crowd, they inadvertently fell on Wei Jinyun.
She stood beside Gu Xiang, and although she didn't move forward, she also looked curious.
Lu Lan shook her head.
Wei Jinyun nodded in response but did not move.
The subtle interaction between the two happened to be seen by Li Ji who was standing next to them.
Does Lord Lu know her? These two look so familiar.
He was still pondering their relationship when Lu Lan walked over and said softly, "Reply Yun Laixiang, don't look at this."
"Okay. I'll go back to the shop and heat up some tea for you. Come over and drink it when you're done."
"Um."
A burst of rapid crying interrupted the tranquility of the riverbank. Wei Jinyun had just turned around to go back to the shop when he saw a figure stumbling towards him from outside the crowd.
Zhen Meiyou's hair was half loose at the moment, and he ran while shouting at the top of his voice, "Brother, brother!"
When she was stopped by the patrol officers, she was still struggling to move forward. "Let me pass, let me see if it's my brother. My brother hasn't been home for more than ten days!"
Seeing her crying heart-wrenchingly, Jing Liulang glanced at Lu Lan's face and hesitated to let go.
Zhen Meiyu immediately rushed to the straw mat. She touched the corpse with trembling fingers and was stunned.
Then she covered her face tightly and cried even harder, "Brother! How did you become like this? Sister is here... Sister is here to pick you up!"
Lu Lan stood a few steps away, looking at Zhen Meiyou's hunched back, and said in a deep voice, "Take a closer look. Are you sure it's your brother?"
Zhen Meiyu cried so hard that she could hardly breathe, but she still struggled to raise her head, staring at the blurry face of the corpse with tearful eyes, and then touched the corpse's arm with trembling hands.
"It's him...my brother..."
She choked up and nodded, "There is a small red scar on my brother's arm. He has had it since he was born..."
Before Zhen Meiyu could finish her words, she fell headfirst onto the straw mat and fainted.
She felt dizzy and the surroundings became chaotic again.
The wise man in Li Ji's arms murmured softly, "Dad, that old lady fainted from crying. I think this is really her brother. He looks so pitiful."
Li Ji patted his son on the back.
Lu Lan turned around and said to the men behind him, "First, help the man aside and find a woman to look after him."
Coroner Zhuang squatted beside the straw mat, glanced in the direction where Zhen Meiyou had fainted, then looked down at the body and sighed, "With the family like this, it's hard to conduct a detailed examination."
He used a probe to gently poke at the knife marks on the corpse's abdomen. "But this wound on the stomach does reveal something."
He looked up at Lu Lan and said, "Sir, look, the skin and flesh around the edge of the wound are curled inwards. Although it has become dull due to soaking for a long time, it can be concluded that the knife was stabbed in while the person was still alive."
Lu Lan hummed, bending down to look at it with him. "Was he stabbed to death first, and then his body was thrown into the water? Or was he stabbed but survived, and then drowned?"
"We have to wait until this Shopkeeper Zhen wakes up."
The coroner took off his clothes and said, "We need to ask her about the circumstances surrounding her brother's disappearance, whether he had any grudges against anyone, or if he had anything on him. Furthermore, after she recovers and agrees, we can open her body and carefully examine the water in her mouth, nose, and lungs to determine whether she was stabbed or drowned."
Seeing Zhen Meiyou fainting violently, Wei Jinyun stepped forward and said, "Master Lu, why don't you help Shopkeeper Zhen to Yunlaixiang first? It's hot there, so she can get some relief."
"good."
Lu Lan then solemnly instructed Zhan Wenxing, "Take a few people and seal off the area around the riverbank. No one else is allowed to approach or damage it. Brothers, thank you for your hard work. I'll have Manager Wei bring you some hot tea and snacks later."
"Your Excellency, what are you talking about? Pingjiang Prefecture has been peaceful for so long, and suddenly a case like this occurs. We should have done our utmost. If we don't get to the bottom of this, how can we reassure the people?"
Zhan Wenxing accepted the order and nodded, and the others also agreed with raised brows.
Several people cordoned off the area and drove away the remaining brave onlookers.
"Father, why is Lord Lu's official uniform red? I always thought he wore red, but I read in a book a few days ago that you and Lord Lu are of the same rank, so he should wear green."
"Lord Lu was granted the red robe by the emperor, so he can wear red official robes. This is not something you can wear casually."
Even the two civil servants in the Lu family possessed martial arts skills. How on earth could Lu Lan have wiped out the Black Wind Gang at such a young age, and yet still refused to go to Bianjing, the capital city everyone wanted to visit?
He doesn't understand.
Li Ji saw Lu Lan walking beside Wei Jinyun, "Cheng'er, are you hungry?"
"ah?"
"Let's go to Yun Lai Xiang for some snacks, okay?"
"OK!"
When Lu Lan stepped into Yunlaixiang, she saw Zhang Renbai sitting next to a small table.
Although he still looked thin, he raised his eyes and asked, "Miss Wei, there's so much commotion on the riverbank by the arch bridge. What happened?"
Lu Lan had already turned around and said in a deep voice, "Murder."
His eyes fell on the thin Zhang Renbai, "Do you know Zhen Yong?"
The smile on Zhang Renbai's face froze, and he took a sip of tea from his teacup. "Lord Lu, you're joking. He runs a chicken farm, and I'm in the calligraphy business. We're not even remotely related, how could we know each other?"
Lu Lan raised her eyebrows and said "Oh?" softly.
There was no emotion in his eyes, but it made Zhang Renbai feel a chill on his back.
Zhen Meiyou was brought to the window and finally woke up after being fed a few sips of hot tea.
Zhao Xiangping ran in from outside the shop, still wearing an apron.
She held Zhen Meiyou's cold hand and sighed, "Sister Meiyou, you're finally awake. Don't cry. It's not good if you cry and hurt yourself."
Zhen Meiyou's lips moved, and his voice was hoarse, "I only have this one brother... I grew up with him... He's gone, what should I do?"
Zhao Xiangping patted her on the back and said, "I know you're feeling miserable. But life has to go on. You still have that chicken farm. So many chickens and ducks are waiting to be fed, and so many regular customers are counting on your business. If you go bankrupt, who will take care of all that?"
Zhen Meiyou seemed not to hear, she just covered her eyes and sobbed. Zhao Xiangping did not try to persuade her, but just sat with her.
Wei Jinyun lit the small clay stove for Zhen Meiyou, and looked up to see that Zhuang the coroner was still standing outside the shop, with his back to the wind under the eaves and his wicker box slung over his shoulder.
She walked over and said to him, "Mr. Coroner, why don't you come in? It's so cold outside."
The coroner Zhuang was so happy when he heard the voice of "Mr. Coroner" raised his mouth to the sky.
He rubbed his cold hands and chuckled twice, "I heard your Yunlaixiang business is doing well. My business... is a bit unlucky, so I won't go in and cause trouble."
"There's no such thing."
Wei Jinyun stepped aside and said, "You are here with Lord Lu to investigate the case, not someone else. Come in and warm up. The wind outside is like a knife."
Gu Xiang brought a pot of hot tea and invited him in. "Yes, Mr. Coroner, our shopkeeper Wei has spoken. Come in and try our Yunlaixiang snacks."
Unable to resist, the coroner followed him into the shop. He sat down at the small table near the door and pulled out a small plate, a teacup, and a pair of bamboo chopsticks from his satchel, placing them on the table.
Gu Xiang looked at him in surprise, "Guest, what are you doing..."
The coroner arranged the dishes more neatly and explained, "I know Yunlaixiang's dim sum is delicious. I happened to be there today, so I wanted to try it. I'll use my own tools to keep it separate and clean."
He glanced at the guests enjoying snacks in the lobby, put his hand to his mouth and whispered, "It's the winter solstice, and something like this happened. I'm afraid I'll... I've driven away your guests."
Although coroners worked for the government and received a salary, they were not part of the official staff. They dealt with corpses all day and had long been classified as unpopular.
Wei Jinyun served several snacks to Zhuang the coroner and also brought him a bowl of red lotus anti-aging soup.
This is a forensic doctor. Some people are still superstitious about forensic doctors in modern times, let alone in the Song Dynasty.
Today's forensic scientists are not only extra-staff, but also looked down upon.
To do this job, you really need extreme passion and a noble heart to vindicate others.
Wei Jinyun thought it was so noble!
Seeing Zhen Meiyou slow down, Lu Lan walked over.
"Shopkeeper Zhen."
Lu Lan stood beside her and asked, "Did your brother Zhen Yong have any grudges against anyone during his lifetime?"
Zhen Meiyou's eyes were a little evasive. "My Lord, my brother is a chatterbox and doesn't know how to control his words. He must have offended many people. I really don't know who they are..."
"Recently."
Lu Lan asked, "Did you have any arguments with anyone a few days before you disappeared?"
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhen Meiyou's face turned pale instantly, his head drooped even lower, and his eyes unconsciously glanced towards Zhao Xiangping, then hurriedly retracted them.
She hesitated for a long time before whispering, "It seems he had some unpleasantness with Lawyer Zhan a few days ago..."
"Sister Mei You!"
Zhao Xiangping stepped back, immediately becoming anxious. "You can't say that! Ziming isn't that kind of person! What do you mean by that?"
Zhen Meiyou waved her hands hurriedly. "I, I didn't mean anything else. I just said that among those who had a dispute with A-di, there was Lawyer Zhan."
Having said that, she didn't dare look up at Zhao Xiangping again.
Zhao Xiangping's face flushed crimson, a mixture of grievance and anger. "He wasn't just arguing with Ziming those days! When he saw me, he didn't say a single serious word, only nonsense! I was so angry that I cursed him a few times and had a fight with him. If you say that, then everyone who argued with him is a suspect? Then shouldn't I be arrested and questioned as well?"
She became increasingly anxious as she spoke, her eyes reddening. "Sister Mei You, I know you feel bad for Zhen Yong, but you can't just make a fuss based on a small argument. Ziming is a scholar, a good lawyer, and he writes cases for poor people for free! Zhen Yong said those nonsense, and he was just venting his anger for me. Why does he become a suspect?"
Zhen Meiyou was speechless at her question, tears streaming down her face again. "That's not what I meant. I just remembered him saying he had an argument with Lawyer Zhan."
Lu Lan stood aside, looking at Zhao Xiangping's excited expression, then looked at Zhen Meiyou who seemed to be hesitant to speak, "It's just a question, there's no need to panic.
Wei Jinyun stood beside Lu Lan, holding the soaked osmanthus lotus root powder. "Pingjiang Prefecture has been in turmoil lately. Are you talking about this case?"
Lu Lan took it and said, "No, it's something else. I'm still investigating."
"So, was it still possible to walk at night in front of the Qingguan Temple that day? I mean... if the murderer hadn't been caught, would he just randomly attack people?"
Wei Jinyun hesitated for a long time before speaking hesitantly.
"I don't know, but I will catch him as soon as possible."
"Well, in two days, I'm going to deliver Baixiong dumplings to the Chen family in the west of the city. Their baby is turning one hundred days old."
This incident happened at the arch bridge in front of Tianqing Temple. She was so timid.
This is not just a petty thief, he looks like a perverted murderer!
She has a grandmother and a younger sister, as well as Yun Laixiang and four hundred strings of cash.
"Well, so?"
Lu Lan raised his eyebrows slightly and looked down at her.
The sweet aroma of osmanthus and lotus root powder lingers.
"That area is quite quiet at night. At Yin time, Lu Lan, could you... accompany me for a while?"
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Author's words: Jinyun: This is a perverted murderer. [Scared]
Lord Lu: I will investigate and protect [Starry Eyes]
Happy Qiqiao Festival to my wife (hold out the Qiaoguo
I hope everything goes well. [Pink Heart] I drew some red envelopes, hoping to be sweet.
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