scourge the qing dynasty

Chapter 60 Reunion

Although he looked down on Wang Xu's loyalty to the Tartars, Fatty Lu still had to admire Wang Xu's seriousness and persistence. Knowing that the other wave of guests included the current emperor, Wang Xu still offered to Fatty Lu The detailed identities of that group of guests were interrogated in detail, and they planned to find clues to solve the case of Nan Huairen's assassination.But unfortunately, among the people who came to Xuanwumen Church with Xiao Mazi that day, whether it was Suo Etu, Kong Sizhen, Zhou Chang or the ordinary imperial guards Li Xu and Cao Yin, all of them, like Fatty Lu, did not kill anyone. Motive and no time to commit the crime, Wang Xu still got nothing in the end.

"Strange, who is it that is so cruel to Father Nan?" Disappointed by not being able to find any clues, Wang Xu, who has always been steady, couldn't help but mutter in front of Fatty Lu, "Who is so sinister and vicious? Killing Priest Nan and wanting to put the blame on Ao Zhongtang, so as to stir up discord between the emperor and Ao Zhongtang's monarch and ministers?"

"Wang Zongxian, excuse me for saying something." Fatty Lu said hypocritically: "Although I have not officially taken office and handled a case, I have read "Winning Injustice", "Folding the Tortoise" and "Suspect Prison" in advance. "Collection" and other case-handling works, and found that in the cases listed in these books, except for manslaughter and unintentional homicide, other homicide cases usually have homicide motives. The fact that Father Nan was assassinated in his own room is enough to prove that he was murdered. Intentional murder, not manslaughter or unintentional homicide, Wang Zongxian wants to solve this case, why not investigate it from the person who has a grudge against Father Nan?"

"What Master Lu said is very true. In fact, the officer has already started to investigate the suspect." Wang Xu nodded.

"Then who is the suspect?" Fatty Lu asked curiously.

"Why is Lord Lu asking this?" Wang Xu's eyes bulged, and he said displeasedly: "This is an imperial case designated by the emperor to investigate. According to the law, the details of the case cannot be released to the public. If Lord Lu does not want to cause trouble, it is best not to inquire about it."

"Yes, yes, shameless." Fatty Lu apologized helplessly, planning to mislead and disrupt Wang Xu's line of sight while taking the opportunity to frame the case, but also failed. Tatars care more about doing things than being filial to your father, and sooner or later one day they will deal with you!

"Okay, I've finished asking my questions. Master Lu, please do your own thing." Wang Xu stood up, and walked out of the room with his hands behind his back. Xu secretly cursed a few words from his back, and also stood up, flicked his sleeves and followed with his hands behind his back, muttering in his heart, "Wang, you should check it out, as long as you can find out! I have no motive for killing Nan Huairen." There is no time to commit the crime, even if you go to the underworld and summon Nan Huairen's body to interrogate him face to face, Nan Huairen will not know that I killed him."

Humming proudly in his heart, Fatty Lu went out of the room that Wang Xu had found for a temporary interrogation, and came to the church hall to go home, but when he got to the hall, he happened to catch up with Mingzhu who also came from the scene of the murder. come out.Seeing Wang Xu and Fatty Lu coming out one after the other, Mingzhu immediately greeted Wang Xu: "Master Wang, you came just in time, did you find any useful clues from Master Lu?"

"No." Wang Xu shook his head and said distressedly: "Now I can be sure that none of the guests that Father Nan met before his death had a motive or suspicion of murder. It seems that this case can only be investigated from other aspects."

"Very good." Mingzhu nodded, and said, "Since this is the case, then we should immediately arrest the two biggest suspects in this case, Qintian Supervisor Yang Guangxian and Deputy Supervisor Wu Mingxuan, and investigate them from them."

"No!" Wang Xu resolutely vetoed it, and said, "Ming Zhongtang, yes, in the previous calendar case, the two adults Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan of the Qin Tianjian did have a deep hatred with Father Nan, and they were indeed the most suspected, but so far, We have not found any evidence that the two adults are involved in this case, we cannot just arrest them based on common sense speculation, this is against the laws of the Qing Dynasty!"

"Master Wang, who said there is no evidence for the truth?" Mingzhu said rather annoyed, "In the middle of this month, Priest Nan went to the court to impeach Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan for neglecting their duties when calculating the calendar. The calendar is full of errors and omissions, absurd! The emperor was furious and ordered the officials of the Qin Tianjian to recalculate (historical facts, Kang Mazi ordered Mingzhu to recalculate the Yang Wu calendar, which happened to be in December of the sixth year of Kangmazi)! Now the calendar is recalculated Before the result came out, Father Nan died unexpectedly, was it the two of them who did it or who did it?"

"Ming Zhongtang, this can only be said to be suspicion, not evidence." Wang Xu continued to retort, "Even less should this be used as a basis to arrest Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan."

"If you don't arrest them, how will this case go on?" Mingzhu's face darkened, and she turned to Li Tianyu, Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, and asked, "Master Li, what do you think, should Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan be arrested for interrogation?"

"This...." Li Tianyu was a little dumbfounded. On the one hand was the newly appointed Shangshu Mingzhu of the Ministry of Justice who was a big celebrity in front of the emperor, and on the other was Wang Xu, the censor of Zuodu who was famous for his stern and selfless face. Anyone of this group of people would offend the other side!

"Master Ming, the laws of the Qing Dynasty stipulate that officials cannot be arrested without evidence." Fortunately, Fatty Lu couldn't help but interjected, "But there is another rule in the laws of the Qing Dynasty. If officials are involved in the case, without evidence, the two adults can be arraigned in accordance with the law."

Mingzhu and Wang Xu turned their gazes to Fatty Lu together, while Li Tianyu hurriedly wiped off his sweat and said, "Yes, Master Lu is right, we cannot directly arrest Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan now, but we can arrest them according to the law." Summon them and ask them to explain the details of the case." After that, Li Tianyu gave Fatty Lu a grateful look, and said in his heart that thanks to Fatty Lu's quick response, he finally helped me out.

"If it's just a subpoena, I agree." Wang Xu was the first to nod.

"Very good, then summon them in accordance with the law." Mingzhu also agreed with Fatty Lu's suggestion, then smiled at Fatty Lu and said, "Master Lu, I can't believe that you are so proficient in the laws of the Qing Dynasty before you officially took office." Well, the people under your rule are blessed. How about it, are you interested in serving in the Ministry of Punishment in the future?"

"Master Ming has won the award, and I dare not expect extravagantly." Fatty Lu was a little shy, and said casually: "However, I have quite a lot of experience in investigating cases. If there are case-handling books such as "Sherlock Holmes" and "Detective Conan", if Master Ming needs it during the investigation process, he can summon his subordinates for assistance at any time."

"Really? Thank you Lord Lu first for the truth." Mingzhu smiled. Although she didn't take this matter to heart, she still remembered it a little bit.

Another stick of incense was put on Nan Huairen's body, Fatty Lu, the real murderer, left the murder scene in a big way, and Ming Zhu and Wang Xu jointly signed an official document, ordering the poor Yang Guangxian to be interrogated.And Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan, two unlucky guys lying on the ground, were also shot. Naturally, they yelled their injustice and firmly denied it. It's a pity that Ming Xiangye's new official took office three times, and he was afraid that Kang Mazi would blame him for his ineffectiveness. Naturally, he firmly refused to believe their words; In addition, in order to close the case as soon as possible and avoid getting involved in a bigger whirlpool, Li Tianyu, the Yin of Shuntian Prefecture, also targeted Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan, the two biggest suspects. In addition, Wang Xu was firmly opposed to extorting confessions by torture, and the case was completely deadlocked. do not mention.

………………

Let's not mention Nan Huairen's case for the time being. Let's just say that after Fatty Lu returned to Wu Yingxiong's mansion, on the second day, on the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month in the sixth year of Qingkang Mazi, he arranged for Lin Tianqing to have a secret audience with Xiao Mazi. Fatty Lu suddenly received a message from Yang Qilong, saying that Geng Jingzhong's younger brother Geng Juzhong was coming to Beijing today, and he couldn't help but think of Geng Jingzhong's entrustment to him when he was in Fujian, asking him to take time to visit his younger brother Geng Xinghe and Geng Juzhong, let's discuss the matter of military pay and see if we can get more military pay for Fujian.

Whether the veteran traitors Geng Jimao and Geng Jingzhong could get more military pay was none of Fatty Lu’s business. The rebellious Fatty Lu was quite moved.In addition, since Geng Jingzhong had this order, Fatty Lu had to make a trip to give Geng Jingzhong a face. Immediately, Fatty Lu went to Wu Yingxiong to explain the reason, and was going to visit Geng Xinghe's house to welcome Geng Juzhong by the way, while Wu Yingxiong said Wishing that the San Francisco would join forces to blackmail Xiao Mazi, they naturally agreed, and sent a servant to guide Fatty Lu to visit Geng Xinghe's home.

"Yifeng, you must be careful when you go to Geng Xinghe's house this time." Before leaving, Wu Yingxiong told Fatty Lu: "As a proton, Geng Xinghe is different from me. He is an idiot who is very close to the imperial court, not to mention me, even his elder brother Geng Jingzhong is not at ease with him, so Geng Jimao and Geng Jingzhong did not dare to hand over the task to the San Francisco military pay this time. For him, Geng Juzhong was specially sent from Fujian to negotiate. When you arrive at Geng Xinghe’s house, don’t talk too much, just have a little contact with their brothers, and just invite Geng Juzhong to visit the mansion another day.”

"Thank you for your advice, my son, I understand." Fatty Lu thanked him, and then he got into the car and drove his horse, leading a group of scoundrels to kill Geng Xinghe Mansion.

All the way to Geng Xinghe Mansion located in Xizhimen, as soon as he entered the alley, Fatty Lu saw lanterns and festoons in front of the gate of Geng Xinghe Mansion, dressed in red and green, posing to welcome distinguished guests.Fatty Lu hurried forward to hand in the name card, explaining his intentions, and the servants of the Geng Mansion flew to report to the mansion. After a while, they came out and told Fatty Lu that Geng Xinghe agreed to meet him. Dianpidian sneaked into the Geng Mansion to spread the plague and disperse the poison.

All the way to the second gate, far away from the reception hall, Fatty Lu heard the melodious sound of silk and bamboo, besides that, there was also the sound of the pipa and the crisp and soft singing, "There are beauties in the North Country, peerless And independence, one cares about the city of people, and then the country of people..." Fatty Lu couldn't help sneering in his heart, "As expected of a waste that even Wu Yingxiong looks down on, my brother is going to Beijing, why don't you go out of the city to meet him? It’s a romantic place here, when your brothers rebel in the future, it’s no wonder that they will care about your life and death... Huh? Wait, why is this singing voice so familiar? I seem to have heard it somewhere?”

After thinking about it, Fatty Lu had already reached the entrance of the hall. At this moment, the song ended, the hall burst into applause, and two people applauded loudly. A male voice seriously lacking in masculinity shouted: "Okay, let me say a word." "Ning don't know the beauty of the city and the country, it's hard to get a beautiful woman again", it really sang the beauty of the beauty, the peerless demeanor."

"The words are good, the music is good, and the song is even better. The words are beautiful, the music is beautiful, and the people are even more beautiful." Another male voice, which is even less masculine, also shouted: "Sigege plays and sings the song "Song of a Beautiful Woman" by myself. It is the first in the world.”

"Sigege?! Why is that bitch Kong Sizhen here too?!" Fatty Lu was startled, and stopped involuntarily.

"Lord Lu, since we have already arrived at the door, why don't you come in?" Sure enough, Kong Sizhen's charming voice came from the hall, "Could it be that the Nu family is really so scary, and Master Lu is so afraid of seeing the Nu family?"

"This bitch has such a good ear, she can still hear my footsteps when she plays the music." Fatty Lu cursed inwardly, but had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk into the hall.Seeing two men in their thirties sitting in the hall, both of them had greasy hair and pink face and sick complexion, they looked like the sequelae left by excessive drinking and lust. Holding a red sandalwood pipa, she was smiling sweetly at herself.Fatty Lu didn't dare to neglect, he hurriedly saluted and said: "Lu Yifeng, the humble magistrate of Qujing County, pays respects to Sigege and Heshuo."

"Master Lu, I really have a predestined relationship with you, how could I bump into you there?" Kong Sizhen asked with a coquettish smile, "What are you going to do when you come here to join Shuo'e's house today?"

"Back to Si Gege, when I was in Fujian, I was once favored by the prince of Jingnan." Fatty Lu replied honestly: "The prince of Jingnan told me that after I let you enter Beijing, you can come over to pay homage to Heshuo. Dare not to be ungrateful, today I am here to fulfill my promise."

"Really?" Kong Sizhen said with a coquettish smile, "But Mr. Lu has been in Beijing for six days, why don't you come sooner or later, why do you want to come today to greet He Shuofu?"

"Oops! This bitch must have doubts about my intentions, and she must also suspect that I actually want to see Geng Juzhong!" Fatty Lu groaned in his heart, but he said with a bit of embarrassment on his fat face: "Back to Si Gege, the humble job was originally It doesn't matter which day you come to pay Heshuo's forehead, but today..., today..."

"But what is it today?" Kong Sizhen asked with a coquettish smile, but there was already a look of suspicion in his almond eyes.

"But I heard that today, I heard that Si Gege is also here." Fatty Lu was quite clever, and looked at Kong Sizhen affectionately, and said shyly, "So I just rushed to come today."

"Hey, when did this fat man become so infatuated with me?" Kong Sizhen was a little dazed.At this time, the two greasy-haired and pink-faced men had already clapped their hands and laughed, "Si Ge Ge is really charming, and another infatuated man has fallen under your pomegranate skirt!"

"Go to you!" Kong Sizhen coquettishly pulled Fatty Lu, who had been coveted for a long time, and introduced to Fatty Lu, "Let me introduce you, this is the one you are coming to today." The visiting He Shuo Efu, Geng Xinghe, this one is also He Shuo Efu, the third prince of Prince Pingnan, and he is very courteous."

"It turned out to be Shang Efu, and I'd like to greet Shang Efu from a lowly position." Seeing Shang Wanyi's face, Fatty Lu saluted his future third brother-in-law, wondering in his heart, "How come Shang Zhili, this trash, also ran away?" Are you here?"

"Exemption." Shang Zhili waved his hand with a smile, and said, "Master Lu, I have heard about your great reputation. I haven't had time to thank you for my little sister's matter, but later..."

"Report!" At this time, a member of the Geng family ran in and shouted happily: "Qi Fu, the second master and Qian Gege's team has arrived at the entrance of the alley."

"Second brother is here." Geng Xinghe jumped up and said happily: "Quickly, quickly open the middle door, let off a salute, and welcome my second brother and my sister."

"My younger sister? Why is Geng Xinghe's younger sister here? That younger sister?" Fatty Lu was even more puzzled, and hurriedly followed Geng Xinghe's monk Zhili and others to go out to greet him at the gate of Geng's residence.Kong Sizhen quickly caught up with Fatty Lu, and asked with a coquettish smile in Fatty Lu's ear: "Lord Lu, tell me the truth, why did you come to visit Geng Xinghe and Geng Efu today? Did you hear that Geng Juzhong is here today?" I'm going to Beijing, and Wu Yingxiong ordered me to come here to spy on the news?"

"Si Ge Ge Shengming, you expected it." Fatty Lu admitted helplessly, and then said shamelessly: "However, I really want to see Si Ge Ge, so I accepted this job."

"Liar, then you still want to run when you hear my voice?" Kong Sizhen cast a wink at Fatty Lu with a coquettish smile, and said with a chuckle: "Besides, you, a dog slave, can also trace the whereabouts of my family." ?”

Fatty Lu shrank his head, not daring to speak glib again.Kong Sizhen gently pinched Fatty Lu's waist again, and said with a slight smile: "However, no matter if you are sincere or not, in terms of what you said and your loyalty to the emperor, I can consider it." , when the time is right, I will talk to you in private."

"Forget it, I'm afraid my chastity will be lost!" Fatty Lu shuddered, not daring to continue the conversation.

While speaking, Fatty Lu followed Geng Xinghe and others to the gate of Geng's Mansion. At this moment, the convoy of Geng Juzhong and others also stopped in front of the gate of Geng's Mansion. Geng Juzhong, who met once, got out of the car first, laughed and hugged with his brother Geng Xinghe, expressing their love for each other.Immediately afterwards, two more luxuriously decorated carriages stopped, and an extremely handsome young man in his twenties jumped out of one of the carriages, and bowed his hands to Geng Xinghe. Geng Xinghe was even more joyful, and grabbed the handsome man The man's hand said: "Xiao Lin, you are here too. I haven't seen you for a few years. You are even more handsome. If you come to the stage to sing a female role, I'm afraid you can save even makeup."

"Sigege, who is this guy?" Fatty Lu hated the handsome man's appearance very much, and couldn't help asking Kong Sizhen curiously: "Why does this guy ride in the same carriage as the second prince Geng Juzhong?"

"His name is Lin Qing." Kong Sizhen wiped the saliva from the corner of his mouth, and said casually, "He is Prince Jingnan's confidant bodyguard. Fatty Lu took a look, giggled and said, "What? Seeing that he is so handsome, are you ashamed of yourself?"

"How is it possible? No matter how handsome he is, he can catch up to one-tenth of me?" Fatty Lu hummed shamelessly, and couldn't help asking more curiously: "Since he is King Jingnan's confidant guard, how can he not be so handsome?" Came to the capital?"

"It's probably because of her." Kong Sizhen raised his chin.Fatty Lu looked back, only to see a girl dressed as a Han coming down from the third carriage. She was sixteen or seventeen years old, with a beautiful face and extremely long hair. On the shoulders, it is black and bright, very eye-catching.Fatty Lu was dumbfounded at the sight, and after a while he came back to his senses and asked Kong Sizhen: "Si Gege, who is this girl?"

"What? You fell in love with it?" Kong Sizhen hummed rather jealously: "Didn't you live in Fuzhou for a while? How come you don't even know about her?"

"Back to Si Gege, when I was in Fuzhou, I lived in a post house, and I only entered the Jingnan Palace twice." Fatty Lu replied with a wry smile.

Kong Sizhen snorted a few more times, and then said: "Her name is Geng Qianxia, ​​she is the adopted daughter of Prince Jingnan, and she can be regarded as the little Gege of Prince Jingnan's mansion. But I advise you not to think about her, because Prince Jingnan is blind I can't even look down on you, and second, there is news that Prince Jingnan intends to betroth her to Lin Qing—now you should understand why Lin Qing came to the capital, right?"

"Si Gege was just joking, how dare you have such extravagant hopes for a low-ranking sesame official?" Fatty Lu smiled wryly, but he couldn't help but think of Shang Wanyi who was indifferent to everyone.

At this time, the carriages of Geng Juzhong's team had already passed by, but Geng Xinghe, monk Zhili and others were not in a hurry to send Geng Juzhong, Geng Qianxia and others into the mansion. Immediately afterwards, another group of people surrounded two carriages and jumped out from the leading carriage. A short and fat man yelled angrily at Shang Zhili: "Third brother, it's fine for you to come out of the city to pick me up, why did you go to Brother Geng's house to meet me? I'm afraid that my little sister and I will live in your house, Made you poor?"

"Second brother, forgive me!" Shang Zhili hurriedly saluted, and smiled apologetically, "Second brother misunderstood, I just think that since you entered Beijing with Prince Jingnan, you should get together first after entering Beijing, so that It's more lively, isn't it?"

"Shang Zhili's second brother? Shang Zhixin's deadly enemy, Shang Zhixiao?!" Fatty Lu was startled, then his heart skipped a beat, and he turned to look at the second carriage, only to see Li Tianzhi standing in the carriage wearing ordinary groom's clothes Beside him, he was smiling affectionately at himself.

"She's here too." Fatty Lu suddenly realized, and his heart beat faster and faster.Sure enough, when Li Tianzhi opened the curtain of the car, Shang Wanyi, who hadn't seen her for a long time, leaned over and got out of the car, and stood in front of the car, her face was still so beautiful, but her expression was still so cold.While looking forward to the beautiful eyes, Shang Wanyi and Fatty Lu met each other's eyes, and Fatty Lu felt his heart skip a beat. Shang Wanyi's icy eyes first revealed a look of melting icebergs, and then he stared fiercely, suddenly Two more murderous shots were fired.

"What's wrong with the little girl?" Fatty Lu was stunned, and when he looked back, he saw that Kong Sizhen had embraced his fat arm affectionately at some point. Fatty Lu was shocked, and quickly shook Kong Sizhen's hand away.On the other side, Shang Wanyan's face was frosty, and the little bit of excitement and joy of reuniting with Fatty Lu had been swept away.

"Lord Lu, I only understand now." Kong Sizhen chuckled in Fatty Lu's ear and said, "You chose to visit Geng Efu today, exactly for whom?"

Note: Both Lin Qing and Geng Qianxia were real people. After Geng Jimao's death, Lin Qing and Geng Qianxia, ​​who were already married, escaped from the Jingnan Palace because they were afraid of Geng Jingzhong. They were naturalized in Wanping and sold tea for a living.

(End of this chapter)