fast and ferocious

Chapter 290 The Murder of Hu Qian ([-]) One More

Qin Wubing entered the house and saluted Guo Zheng and Lin Zhidong. He didn't have time to greet the county magistrate, so he began to ask, "How long after the death was the deceased discovered?"

Wu Zuo hurriedly replied: "Not long after his death, he was discovered by his followers. When we arrived, the body was not completely stiff."

"Is the cause of death determined to be poisoning?"

"Yes! The deceased was lying in the guest room with vomit near his mouth. His mouth and eyes were open, his complexion was dark purple, his lips were purple and black, his fingernails were black, and his abdomen was distended and black. He tried the vomit with a silver needle, and the silver needle turned pale. black."

"What is the poison?"

"This is a symptom of arsenic poisoning."

"Have you found any residual arsenic in the room?"

"The bowl containing the herbal tea is still there, and there is arsenic in it."

"Is there any trauma on the deceased?"

"The deceased's left leg was bruised and swollen, but nothing else. The attendant said that he had bumped when he got off the carriage. The bruising should be caused by the bump, and the swelling should be one of the symptoms of poisoning."

"Is the deceased lying on the ground straight or curled up?"

"Lie down straight."

Qin Wubing frowned, looked at the official and asked, "What did the deceased eat before he died? How long did he stay in the room alone? Is there a guard guarding the door? Have they seen any suspicious people?"

The clerk quickly opened the notebook in his hand.

Hu Qian arrived in Lishan County [-] days ago, and it was already evening when he entered the county seat. Hu Qian didn't want to live in the post house, thinking the conditions were poor, so he rented the Tianzihao guest room in Yunlai Inn.

Because of the sweltering weather, Hu Qian had something else in his mind. He was anxious to get angry, and his mouth and tongue were sore. He only had some porridge for dinner, but he couldn't eat anymore. He ordered his followers to buy herbal tea.

The herbal tea was bought from a long-established shop in Lishan County. The follower said that because of the hot weather, there were many people buying it, and there was a queue.

The herbal tea was delivered, and Hu Qian said he wanted to rest, so all the entourage left the room, leaving only two people guarding the door.

The two took turns to eat, and it was the end of the Xu Dynasty. Seeing that the candles in the room were still on, and Hu Qian hadn't changed his clothes, the two called softly outside the door a few times. Gently open the door...

Qin Wubing listened, took a deep breath, and hurriedly asked: "I checked all the herbal tea shops and inns, and found no arsenic?"

The official shook his head.

"Have all the people from the herbal tea shop and the inn been arrested? After the interrogation, nothing suspicious has been found?"

The clerk nodded and said, "All their family members and neighbors were also arrested."

Qin Wu was not surprised when he fell ill. The case here was handled in a simple and rough manner. There was no step of questioning, and the suspect's family members and neighbors were directly arrested.When he was in Jinghai, Qin Wubing could decide what to do, so he didn't do this, but other places handled cases as usual.

Qin Wubing asked: "Where are these attendants now?"

"Because the case has not been clarified, they cannot be cleared of their suspicions, and all of them are being held in the dungeon of the county government."

"Go and see if they are still alive!" Qin Wubing yelled and walked out the door.

But everyone in the room was stunned, unable to react for a while.

Qin Wubing walked to the door and turned around to take a look, he said anxiously: "First order the yamen guards to check if the attendants are safe, if there is nothing wrong, send more yamen guards to guard them!"

Guo Zheng said to the county magistrate, "Check quickly!"

……

The county magistrate hurried out with the clerks and foremen, Guo Zheng frowned and asked, "Why did the Qin policeman make such an inference?"

"My lords!" Qin Wubing clasped his fists together, "If the cause of the deceased's death was poisoning, it must be inseparable from eating. The inn and the herbal tea shop are extremely suspicious, and the people in the shop must be the focus of the interrogation, and some methods were even used. Didn't ask any useful clues, am I right?"

Guo Zheng glanced at Lin Zhidong, the two remained silent, waiting for Qin Wubing's next words.

"But the people in the shop are just ordinary people. It doesn't make sense to kill the first-rank officials of the dynasty and pass by! But if they are bought or ordered, the people behind the scenes will not keep them after the incident is completed. Otherwise, they will often I can't afford torture, and besides, using them will not achieve the purpose of the people behind the scenes."

"Purpose?" Guo Zheng asked.

"Hu Qian can't block anyone's way right now. The rebel army suddenly raised troops in the Southwest Province. The governor of the Southwest Province cannot absolve himself of the blame. Even if anyone has a grudge against him, he can wait for the emperor to punish him. Hu Qian was with me in Xining before. There was a dispute, and it almost killed me, if I want to take revenge, who will help me? The eldest princess! If the eldest princess takes action, how can I instruct others?"

Guo Zheng and Lin Zhidong nodded frequently.

Lin Huai said urgently: "My lords ask you, why do you think of your followers being killed..."

Guo Zheng said, "I've made it clear."

Lin Huai looked at Guo Yi in surprise, and asked, "When did you talk about it?"

Guo Yi said with disgust:

"You can't use your brain? They want to frame the eldest princess and the third brother. Who does the eldest princess want to kill, and why do they need to ask others for help? You forgot that Zhao Guang was sleeping in the guest room at night. The door is He was tied up, but woke up next to the latrine in the morning, and his followers didn't know."

Lin Huai nodded again and again: "Yes, yes, yes! The eldest princess doesn't need other people's help to clean up people. Hey, no, Mr. Guo just asked about the attendants..."

Guo Yi was even more disgusted: "Did the eldest princess do this?"

Lin Huai quickly shook his head.

"Since it's not, then who would be able to sneak into a room and kill people silently? Oh, let me put it this way, whose subordinates can be stronger than the Eldest Princess?"

Lin Huai turned pale with shock, and blurted out: "Your Majesty!"

Guo Yi quickly covered Lin Huai's mouth.

Qin Wubing scratched his forehead and said, "Brother, there is nothing in the law that says that a person is not liable if he is stupid! If no one is able to break into a house and kill someone in this case, it is very likely that the prisoner has stolen it!"

"They bought off Hu Qian's followers?!" Lin Huai finally understood.

Guo Zhenghan said with a straight face: "In the past few days we picked up important people and interrogated them repeatedly, but we didn't see any flaws."

"Most of these attendants have practiced martial arts since childhood, and they are more tenacious than ordinary people. They can withstand ordinary punishments. Of course, this is just speculation right now..."

While Qin Wubing was explaining, a yamen servant rushed to report: "Three followers in the prison were poisoned and died!"

Guo Zheng and Lin Zhidong got up at the same time, walked out of the signing room without saying anything, and went straight to the cell, Qin Wubing and the others followed closely.

……

The county government dungeon has limited rooms, and many people were arrested this time. Apart from the people in the inn and herbal tea shop, their family members, neighbors, and followers, these people were mixed together and held in several cells.

The three dead attendants were not in the same cell. The others in the same cell had fallen asleep just now, and they were only woken up when the county magistrate rushed in with the yamen servants to check.

Several jailers were still drowsy when Qin Wubing and his group arrived. The county magistrate poured water and slapped them, but they couldn't wake up the jailers.

Qin Wubing said: "Let them sleep, they will wake up naturally when they should wake up, it's useless if they can't wake up."

(End of this chapter)