Tang Dynasty detective

Chapter 408 Loyalty comes first
"My lord, if you eat like this, be careful not to choke!" Xiong Asi reminded carefully.

Li Canghai smiled at him, desperately swallowed the food stuffed in his mouth, drank a few mouthfuls of broth, and said calmly: "Master Xiong is really a good man!"

"Young Master, I am serious. I can't bear the title of a good man." Xiong Asi shook his head.

Li Canghai smiled slightly, and said: "If Master Xiong can't be called a good person, wouldn't the world be full of wicked people?"

Xiong Asi was stunned for a moment, he looked at Li Canghai, and said with a simple and honest smile: "Young master's words really make Ah Si feel ashamed. I'm just a commoner, and I haven't done anything. Say?"

"Oh? Have you never done anything?" Li Canghai smiled indifferently, and said meaningfully: "Master Xiong did a lot of good things 14 years ago!"

Xiong Asi's face suddenly changed. He grinned, shook his head and said, "Young master, do you mean that I collected the corpse for General Qin's family? I told you, it was just General Qin's kindness to me. He just went to collect the body."

"I'm afraid Master Xiong didn't just collect the corpses for them as a reward?" Li Canghai laughed.

"What do you mean, young master?" Xiong Asi's expression turned ugly.

Li Canghai picked up a bun, squeezed it in his hand, and said calmly, "Did you forget that you saved a life back then?"

When Xiong Asi heard this, his right hand suddenly shook, and the bamboo chopsticks in his hand fell to the ground.

"I... I don't know what the young master is talking about." Xiong Asi bent down to pick up the bamboo chopsticks, tried to calm himself down, and said while looking at him.

Li Canghai smiled slightly and said, "Oh? Master Xiong really doesn't know what I'm talking about?"

Xiong Asi's face turned red and then pale, he was obviously flustered, and said in a low voice, "I don't know."

Li Canghai was not in a hurry to speak, but finished the buns in a leisurely manner, and said calmly, "Master Xiong, why don't I tell you a story?"

Xiong Asi was stunned for a moment. He looked at Li Canghai and frowned.

Li Canghai ignored him, but said directly: "This story begins 14 years ago. When a blacksmith fled to Luoyang, he met a nobleman when he was suffering from hunger and cold. He ate, and opened an iron shop for him."

Xiong Asi's face was pale, and his breathing became short of breath.

"However, it didn't take long for this noble man to be executed for cooperating with the enemy and treason." Li Canghai sighed, shook his head, and continued: "Dozens of lives were wiped out overnight. However, all the people who were acquainted with the nobleman were afraid of being implicated, so no one rushed to collect the corpse. The corpse was exposed to the sun for several days in the hot weather until the corpse rotted and smelled."

Xiong Asi frowned tightly, and he clenched his hands into fists, as if caught in some kind of memory.

Then I heard Li Canghai continue to say: "Everyone dare not stand out, but the blacksmith dared. He was not afraid of getting involved, not afraid of the stench, and went to collect the corpse alone."

Speaking of this, Li Canghai took a deep look at him, and said: "He buried all the corpses in the noble man's house on the spot. Each corpse is a mound, and there are 65 mounds in total. However, Interestingly, among the 65 graves, there are only 64 corpses, and one of them is empty."

"You... who are you?" Xiong Asi stared at Li Canghai, his voice visibly trembling.

Li Canghai did not answer him, but smiled slightly: "Master Xiong, don't worry, this story is not over yet."

After a short pause, Li Canghai continued: "There are 65 mounds, but there is one empty tomb. Where did the corpses in this empty tomb go?" As many people as there are."

"All the population of Luoyang City is recorded by Luoyang Prefecture. Therefore, you only need to check the household register to know the exact number." Li Canghai squinted his eyes and sighed: "Unfortunately, the household register of that noble man , but I don’t know who tore it away. In fact, there are only 65 corpses in 64 mounds. This is already obvious. One person is not dead. It is self-evident that the tomb mound was also erected by blacksmiths."

Xiong Asi's face was extremely ugly. He stared at Li Canghai with horror in his eyes.

"My lord, what's going on here?" At some point, the store owner was attracted to him, and he asked curiously after listening to the story Li Canghai told.

Li Canghai smiled and said: "It's actually very simple. When the blacksmith collected the body, he found a survivor. In order to protect that person, the blacksmith purposely erected an empty grave."

"Oh, so that's the case." The shopkeeper nodded suddenly, and after thinking for a while, he asked again: "Who tore up the household register?"

"The household register was actually torn up by the blacksmith to protect the survivor." Li Canghai said calmly.

The shopkeeper widened his eyes, shook his head and said, "Is this impossible? Household registers are usually placed in the Sihu Hall, and the key to enter the Sihu Hall is also in the hands of Master Sihu, so how can the blacksmith enter?"

Li Canghai took a deep look at the dazed Xiong Asi, and said, "This is the brilliance of the whole story. In order to protect the survivor, he will do everything possible to destroy his household register, because only In this way, no one will know the exact number of the noble family."

"My lord, this doesn't seem right. Didn't you say that there are 65 graves? Doesn't that mean the exact number of people?" the shopkeeper asked a little puzzled.

"The 65 graves are just to deal with the government. After all, the corpses have just been buried, and no one will think about digging them up for inspection. What the blacksmith is worried about is the future. If someone opens the graves for inspection and there is no household register, there will be no household records. It is impossible to find out the identity of the surviving person." Li Canghai said.

"Speaking of which, the blacksmith's mind is quite cautious!" the shopkeeper praised.

Li Canghai nodded, and continued: "If you want to destroy the relevant household records, you have to get the key from Sihu. But Sihu's key is always with you, so, in order to get the key, the blacksmith began to observe Sihu. Soon, he discovered that Sihu had the habit of going to the bathroom to take a bath. And he tried every means to sneak into the bathroom and became a bathroom attendant."

The store owner was confused, he scratched his head, and asked, "Master, why is this? Why does he want to work as a waiter in the bath house?"

"Because Sihu will only take off the key when he is taking a bath." Li Canghai said flatly.

The shopkeeper suddenly realized, but then he was puzzled and said: "Could it be that he wants to steal the key while Sihu is taking a bath? If so, wouldn't Sihu find out?"

"If the key is stolen, Sihu will naturally find out. The method used by the blacksmith is much safer than this." Li Canghai smiled slightly. He picked up a bun in his left hand and a chopstick in his right, and put the chopsticks on the bun. After pressing it hard, a trace of chopsticks appeared on the bun immediately.

"This is the method used by the blacksmith." Li Canghai said.

The shopkeeper stared at the steamed stuffed bun, still seemed confused, scratched his head and said, "My lord, forgive me for being stupid, I still don't understand."

Li Canghai explained: "The blacksmith prepared something like soft clay in advance, and then while Sihu was taking a bath, he printed the key model on the soft clay, and then put the key back to its original place. Afterwards, according to the soft clay, Using the model on the website, make a new key, so that you can get the key to enter Sihutang without anyone noticing."

"It turned out to be like this! Tall, it really is tall!" After hearing Li Canghai's explanation, the shopkeeper couldn't help but praise him.

Li Canghai nodded and said, "Everything the blacksmith does is not for himself, but for repaying kindness. From this point of view, he is indeed a righteous man who values ​​love and righteousness."

The shopkeeper also nodded and praised: "Exactly, exactly. To collect the corpse without fear of being involved, and to risk destroying the household register in order to protect others, you are truly a righteous man!"

However, the shopkeeper soon became surprised, and he always felt that this story seemed a little familiar.

Whole house copying and beheading, collecting corpses, blacksmiths, bathroom attendants...  

The storekeeper suddenly looked at Xiong Asi in surprise, and said, "Brother Xiong, how can this story be so similar to yours?"

Xiong Asi, whose face had been pale all the time, with sweat dripping from his head, smiled wryly: "Now, I don't need to hide it anymore. The blacksmith you mentioned is me."

The shopkeeper was stunned when he heard this!

Xiong Asi sighed, looked at Li Canghai and said, "My lord, who are you and why do you know this?"

Xiong Asi couldn't figure it out, he had never told anyone about these things, why this handsome and refined young man in front of him was able to tell all these things in detail, even as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

Li Canghai stared at Xiong Asi, and said his name calmly.

"Master Li? You are the one who rescued the saint from danger and repeatedly solved strange cases, and is known as the 'Living Lord Di'?" Xiong Asi asked in astonishment.

Li Canghai touched his nose. He never knew that he still had the title of 'Living Di Gong' among the people.

"Those are all exaggerations. I am indeed Li Canghai. Don't you have doubts?" Li Canghai asked.

Xiong Asi and the shop owner knelt down at the same time, not even daring to say anything.

Xiong Asi didn't have any doubts about Li Canghai's identity, and could accurately tell everything about him, except for Li Canghai, who has become famous all over the world recently, who else could do it?
"Get up, sit down and talk." Li Canghai said lightly.

The two stood up, but did not sit down, but stood bent over and stood aside.

Seeing this, Li Canghai smiled gently and said, "You two don't need to be formal, just sit down and talk. I still have something to ask you."

The two looked at each other, hesitated for a while, and then sat down.

"The official came here this time not to pursue the matter of you destroying the household register. You can rest assured." Li Canghai said gently.

Xiong Asi smiled wryly and said: "What happened back then is indeed as the adults said. I sneaked into the household registration hall and tore up the household registers. If the adults punish the grassroots, the grassroots will have nothing to say."

Li Canghai smiled lightly and said, "This matter, I will pretend it never happened. In fact, even if you destroy the household register, it will not be of much use. If someone opens the grave for inspection, the survivor can still be found out." identity of."

Xiong Asi was stunned. He looked at Li Canghai in puzzlement. Back then, he planned carefully, and the household register was the most important thing. But why did Li Canghai say that without this register, the identity of the person could still be found out?

Seeing his puzzled expression, Li Canghai said indifferently: "The Qin family has more than sixty members, only one young child, and the rest are adults. Today, the official opened the grave for inspection and found only 64 adult bones, but no The child's bones, this is the most obvious flaw. If I am not mistaken, the survivor is Qin He, the son of General Qin Fu!"

Xiong Asi let out a long sigh, only then did he realize that everything he had arranged was full of loopholes and would not have any effect at all.

I heard Li Canghai continue to say: "Qin He was only six years old, and the Qin family only had him as a child. If someone opened the grave, wouldn't it be easy to think of the identity of the survivor?"

"My lord is right. The survivor was indeed the son of General Qin." Xiong Asi said with a sigh.

Li Canghai nodded and said, "Tell me about the events of that year in detail."

Xiong Asi was silent for a moment, he seemed to be stuck in a distant memory, and after a while, he said: "General Qin is a heroic man who donates money generously, and it was with the support of General Qin that I opened that iron shop. Back then, when I was shopping for ironware in other places, I was surprised to hear that General Qin was collaborating with the enemy and treason. , General Qin has been copied and beheaded by everyone."

Xiong Asi's face was full of sadness, Li Canghai walked over and patted him on the shoulder.

A few tears fell from the corners of Xiong Asi's eyes, and he continued: "The Qin family was ransacked and beheaded, and it was in the Qin family's compound. For three days, no one dared to collect the corpse. I have been favored by General Qin, so I cannot replace him. To avenge their grievances, but no matter what, they must be buried in peace! Fortunately, Duke Di, who was not dead at the time, learned about this and posted a notice to find someone to collect the corpse, so I unveiled the notice and went to collect the corpse."

Xiong Asi clenched his fists tightly, he seemed very reluctant to think about this past.

After a long while, he said with difficulty: "I will never forget the scene I saw when I stepped into Qin's house. The soil on the ground was stained brown by blood, and the whole yard was emitting bursts of chilling There was a disgusting stench, and the bodies of the Qin family were piled up together."

"Pile them together?" Li Canghai keenly noticed the strangeness, and asked with a frown.

Xiong Asi nodded heavily, panting heavily, with veins throbbing on his forehead, he gritted his teeth and said: "It should be the perpetrator, who did it after the murder. Some corpses still have corpse hooks hanging on them. I guess , they must have done it to see if there are any survivors."

Li Canghai's eyes were slightly cold, and anger welled up in his heart.

(End of this chapter)