Everyone knows that the Criminal Department is a ghost gate, and every brick and tile is full of cold breath.

Kyoto Prefecture is naturally not as cold and dark as the Criminal Department, but the room specially used for interrogation in Kyoto Prefecture is dim and abnormal, as if to put pressure on the prisoners under trial.

When the little Taoist priest Xuanzhen was brought into the interrogation room of Kyoto Prefecture, he only felt that his legs were weak, and if it wasn't for the official messenger, he would almost be paralyzed.

There was a lamppost in the corner, and there was a light in it, but it was deliberately not too bright.

Xuan Zhen was escorted by the official to his knees and fell to the ground, and he heard a low voice from the front: "Xuan Zhen, the official has no time to talk nonsense with you, the palace is still waiting to close the case, let's say, why do you want to hire a murderer?" Where is the Assassin called Shadow Arrow? ”

"We are fair and selfless in Kyoto." Judge Zhou said: "If we don't have conclusive evidence, we won't arrest you." Are you wronged? Hongling Zhenren was murdered by a little Taoist boy, that is wrong. That night, you drugged Hongling Zhenren tea, just to facilitate the assassin's murder, don't think we don't know. This official has been handling cases for many years, and with a glance at his eyes, it is clear who is guilty and who is not guilty. That night, Lord Cheng personally asked you, and you said that no one went to see the real person that night, which was obviously a lie. ”

Xuan Zhen changed color in horror, and immediately said, "I..... I can't say! ”

"Of course not." Judge Zhou said coldly: "Because you know that the Shadow Arrow was going to assassinate a real person that night, and the Shadow Arrow was the assassin you hired, of course you can't say it." ”

Xuan Zhen raised his head suddenly, his face turned pale, and he lost his voice: "Hire..... Hire a murderer? I..... I didn't! ”

"Still hard-mouthed?" Judge Zhou, who was in charge of the interrogation, had a gloomy face and sneered: "We are already clear about the cause and effect, and you are still quibbling?" When you served Hongling Zhenren, you were often beaten and scolded by Hongling Zhenren, and you had resentment in your heart, so you hired a murderer, yes or no? ”

"It's not." Although Xuan Zhen was terrified, he also knew that once he was convicted, he would definitely die, and immediately shouted: "I didn't kill the master, I ..... I didn't hire a murderer, wronged, I was wronged. ”

Judge Zhou said angrily: "It's nonsense. You said that there was a woman who went to see a real person in the middle of the night, so who do you say? ”

"I don't know, yes..... It's a woman, and ..... And the clothes are very rich, I .....!" Cold sweat broke out on Xuanzhen's forehead.

"Shut up!" Without waiting for Xuan Zhen to finish speaking, he heard a sharp reprimand from behind him, Xuan Zhen turned around, and saw an official behind him standing there with his hands behind him, his expression was cold, he snorted coldly, turned around and walked out of the interrogation room, Judge Zhou immediately got up and followed out quickly.

"No, no." Xuan Zhen hurriedly said: "The Shadow Arrow was not hired by me, it was ..... that night The Lord was contemplating that night..... It's to see a woman. ”

"Women?" Judge Zhou was stunned for a moment, and then sneered: "It's really nonsense, the Guan Lord is a monk, how could he see a woman in the middle of the night." Xuan Zhen, death is great, you murdered a real person, do you still want to damage his reputation? ”

"It's really a woman." Xuan Zhen said anxiously: "The Lord asked me to wait at the side door at night, someone would want to see him, so I waited at the side door, and in the middle of the night, a woman knocked on the door, so I took her to see the real person, and then.... And then it was gone. Later, someone heard a strange noise coming from the courtyard of the Lord, so I ran over and found out..... only to find out that the viewer had been shot. ”

"I don't think you understand." Tang Jing had a cold face and said in a low voice: "Not to mention that this case has been settled, even if we don't figure it out, we must close the case as soon as possible." Why do you think Young Eunuch Chen personally interrogated this case? He doesn't really want to meddle in this case, let alone help Kyoto Prefecture solve this case, but hopes that we will give the palace an explanation as soon as possible. ”

Judge Zhou's body was shocked, and Tang Jing sneered: "That old Taoist priest is the imperial alchemist, who was killed under the nose of the Son of Heaven, if he can't solve the case for a long time, what is the face of the imperial court?" Solving the case in three days is already the limit, if it is delayed, everyone in the world will feel that the court is incompetent, and this big case that happened at the feet of the Son of Heaven cannot be solved quickly, and even the face of the saint will be damaged. Now that Young Eunuch Chen has already brought his meaning, we are still procrastinating here, will we all be stabbed? Staring at Judge Zhou's eyes, he asked softly, "Do you know why the Criminal Department threw this case over?" ”

"Humble ...... Humble and dull! ”

"Lord Fucheng, ...... you?" Seeing that the official was standing not far away, Judge Zhou hurriedly stepped forward.

Kyoto Mansion Cheng Tang Jing's face was cold, and he said in a deep voice: "Judge Zhou, what are you trying for?" The prisoner is talking nonsense, and you even ask who it is, he is obviously talking nonsense, and you still have to follow his words to ask? This case has even been questioned by Young Eunuch Chen of the Purple Prison Prison, and the facts of the case have been made clear, today's interrogation is just to ask him to sign and draw the detention quickly, and there is no need to talk nonsense. ”

Judge Zhou hurriedly said: "Humble duty..... Humble duty understands! ”

"Got it!" Judge Zhou arched his hand and said, "Humble duty should come up with a confession as soon as possible." He turned around and went back to the interrogation room.

As the sun sets, outside a high gray-white wall in the south of Kyoto Castle, there is a small river, which is a branch of Raosui and quite wide, just a few meters away from the high white wall, the river is clear, and a stone bridge connects the two sides of the river.

Under the gray stone bridge, the flow is as slow as a mirror, reflecting the shadow of the small bridge and the branches of the green branches on the side of the road stretching to the water, which looks quiet and beautiful, and occasionally a gust of wind blows, and the water surface ripples.

"Lu Butang is so shrewd, he knows very well that there are no other requirements for this case, it just needs to be closed as soon as possible, and the fewer people involved, the better." Tang Jing said in a low voice: "For such a case, Lu Butang naturally has no interest, just go through the motions and find a reason to close the case." I didn't understand it at first, but when Young Eunuch Chen came over, I immediately understood. Hongling Zhenren is not an important minister of the imperial court, even if he finds a random reason to close the case, the Taoist priests in the Taoist temple dare not say anything, and it is impossible for anyone to complain about the old Taoist priest. When he was alive, the old Taoist priest was a royal alchemist, but when he died, he was not even as good as a dog. ”

Judge Zhou understood, sweat broke out on his forehead, and said: "The humble position understands, my lord, rest assured, within an hour, the humble position will definitely let him sign the confession." ”

"That's very good." Tang Jing sighed: "Lord Fu Yin is waiting for the confession to arrive, and he will immediately submit it to him. By the way, Xuan Zhen's mouth, don't let him involve other people, none of them can, if you really implicate others, this case can't be decided for a while, and the unlucky ones can only be us. ”

"The Kyoto Prefecture will close the case soon." Standing in front of the old man was Chen Xi, the young eunuch of the purple-clothed prison, with a straight body, but a respectful voice: "This case will soon pass on the bright side." ”

A slight smile appeared on the old man's lips and asked, "Chen Xi, who do you think the murderer is?" ”

"At least not

It's a beautiful place, but few people dare to approach it.

Because this square courtyard is where the purple prison is located.

In a rather dimly lit room in the purple-clothed prison, an old man without a beard on his mouth sat on a slightly old chair, his eyes slightly closed, looking at the glimmer of sunset projected from between the window lattices, his expression as calm as water.

"The Shadow Arrow is a third-grade, and the archery skills are passable." The old man smiled and said: "At that distance, if you can dodge his arrows, the strength of the opponent is naturally far above him, at least in the Fourth Rank Heavenly Realm." ”

Chen Xi said: "Yes." The murderer subdued the Shadow Arrow, and there was not a trace of blood at the scene, so naturally he did not kill him, but let the Shadow Arrow leave the bow and arrow and clothes, and then used these to disguise his identity and shoot the old Taoist priest. The murderer may not be trying to blame the Shadow Arrow, his subordinates think that the real purpose is just to cover up his identity and confuse the clues, so that we have no way to find out. ”

"The murderer is smart." The old man said with a smile: "But in the Heavenly Realm of the Four Grades, he has to attack a Taoist priest, does he have a grudge against the old Taoist priest, or is he instructed by others?" Shaking his head and sighing, he thought of something and asked, "You said there were other people on the scene that night?" ”

Shadow Arrow. Chen Xi said respectfully: "The Shadow Arrow has been in the capital for two months, and we have already found out where it appeared in these two months. However, since Hongling Zhenren was killed, the Shadow Arrow was like a drop of rain falling into the sea, completely losing its trace, and his subordinates were incompetent, and they couldn't even be sure if he was still in Kyoto. ”

The old man smiled: "It seems that the Shadow Arrow really has some ability, and it can be used in the assassin industry for many years, and it still has some ability." He leaned back in a more comfortable position and said calmly: "I don't care where the Shadow Arrow is now, I'm just curious about who blamed the Shadow Arrow and shot the old Taoist." ”

"The subordinates surveyed the scene, and the Shadow Arrow fought against people in the forest that night, and fired at least two arrows, but both arrows missed and sank into the trunk of the tree." Chen Xi said softly: "However, those two arrows were pulled out of the trunk of the tree and put into the quiver box to stay at the scene, if you don't investigate carefully, it is naturally impossible to find that the shadow arrows have fought with people in the forest." His last sentence was naturally mocking the officials in Kyoto.

"For what purpose?"

"You mean, the night the old Taoist priest was killed, Shadow Arrow went to buy poison from him?"

"It's not." Chen Xi said with certainty: "I went to Kyoto Mansion and saw the arrows in the arrow box, and there were more than a dozen poisonous arrows left in it, which proves that before this, the shadow arrow had already traded with the old Taoist." After the Shadow Arrow came to Beijing, except for the night when it attacked Qin Xiao, it did not use poison arrows in other places, so his subordinates judged that the poison would never be used up so quickly in the previous transaction. The Shadow Arrow went to the Taoist temple that night, with another purpose. ”

"There are traces of carriages." Chen Xi said: "Judging from the depth of the car tracks, there should be two people in the car, in addition to the driver, there is also one person in the car. After a pause, he continued: "It's not the Shadow Arrow who rides the car, the Shadow Arrow has always been single-handed, and he won't take the carriage when he goes to the Immortal Temple. In addition to alchemy, Hongling Zhenren will also prepare some medicines, among which there is severe poison, the arrow clusters of the Shadow Arrow have been quenched with poison, he has high requirements for poison, he can't look down on ordinary poisons, and his subordinates judge that the Shadow Arrow secretly has a deal with Hongling Zhenren, and he buys poison from the old Taoist. ”

"The subordinates are not sure, but there is a possibility." Chen Xi's body was as straight as a javelin from beginning to end, and his voice was as calm as water, without any emotion: "Qin Xiao was hit by an arrow that night, and the Shadow Arrow thought that he would definitely die, but Qin Xiao was alive afterwards. The Shadow Arrow assassination missed, so he would suspect the medicinal properties of the poison and go to the old Taoist priest, probably because of this. ”

"Good." The old man sat up, his eyes showing relief: "Chen Xi, after many years of experience, you can already take charge on your own." Then he was silent for a moment, and finally asked: "The Shadow Arrow has a holiday with Qin Xiao, and the old Taoist priest also has a holiday with Qin Xiao." On the street, Qin Xiao clashed with the old Taoist, and that night, the old Taoist was shot to death, in your judgment, is it possible that Qin Xiao is the murderer? Or is he related? ”