After He Erbao received the emperor's decree and transferred Yan Ruyu's official file and Heyuan's old file from the pavilion, he rode a fast horse from the capital and galloped all the way to Chengdu. It takes at least three days to travel from the capital to Chengdu, and when I entered Hefu, I said, "Master." ”

"Erbao, did you see Master Mu Zhang'a when you entered Beijing," He Jiehao asked anxiously.

"I saw it, the little one also brought the emperor's holy decree," after finishing speaking, he took off the package and said, "Yan Ruyu's official files and Heyuan's old files are here." ”

He Jiehao took the emperor's holy decree with both hands and opened it, and then moved, took a few steps out of the hall and knelt down to look up at the red sun on the horizon, raised the emperor's holy decree, and said to the north: "The emperor's grace is vast, and the ministers will not live up to the emperor's support for the ministers, and repay the Qing Empire with death." ”

After speaking, he stood up, took the package, locked himself in the study, and watched and thought about it all night. The next morning, there was the sound of birdsong outside the window, and He Jiehao opened the door of the study, as if he was more energetic, refreshed, and even walked so easily. He Jiehao called a few domestic slaves to escort Gou Cai to the county government hall.

"I don't know what Lord Ho means?" At this time, the county order was a little blind, and I didn't know why He Jiehao did this, but he was a little overwhelmed when he suddenly came here.

"Yan Ruyu, do you know the guilt," He Jie Hao came to the door to ask the guilt, so that the county order stood up in a daze, walked out and knelt down, pondered for a long time before saying: "The lower official doesn't know what crime he has committed, and please remind the lower official," After finishing speaking, the county order's eyes kept turning, as if he was thinking about something, and then said: "Lord He is the prefect of Zhejiang, and now he is idle at home, I am afraid he can't take care of the affairs of Chengdu." ”

"The emperor's holy purpose is this, and He Jiehao is the Sichuan Patrol Border Qincha can deal with big and small matters, and solve the case of drunk drunk death within a time limit, do you want to take it to see it to distinguish the true from the false."

"The lower officials don't dare."

"Yan Ruyu, you are so bold, who lent you the courage to release the suspect before the case is clear, what is the use of asking you, the parent official, to be so hasty in the big murder case?" He Jiehao put the emperor's holy decree on the desk, turned to face the county commander and said angrily.

"The lower official is guilty, the lower official is guilty," the county commander knelt on the ground with his legs, his head bowed, and his body was constantly twitching, and his voice was a little trembling when he spoke.

"Yan Ruyu, 54 years old, a Jinshi of Qianlong's twenty-third year, served as a county magistrate in Chengdu, and has not been promoted, right?" He Jiehao walked up to the county hall and sat down at the desk and took out his official file and flipped through it.

"The lower official will tell you the truth now, in fact, this official certificate is fake. Xia Guan was originally a businessman, and later heard a colleague say that as long as there are 100,000 taels of silver tickets, you can buy an official to do, I heard him say that he has a fellow villager who also spent the same money to buy a Hangzhou prefect, three years Qing prefect 100,000 snowflake silver. Xiaguan is also a fan of money, found a door with adults, and spent 100,000 taels to buy a seven-grade county order, and if there is an official, he has the right, so he has made the Chengdu county order until now, and he has not been promoted, and his political performance is mediocre," the county order said this, and sighed, and said: "Xiaguan is just a small trader, and 100,000 taels of silver is also Xiaguan's savings for three years, everyone says that he is very greedy with adults, and he wants to buy a prefect with this silver tael, but no one thought that he is greedy with adults and adults are more greedy, and 100,000 taels can only buy a seven-grade county order, The prefect will spend 200,000 taels, where will the lower officials find the 200,000 taels of silver, so it can only be like this, it is better to have an official than no official, otherwise the 100,000 taels of silver will really be wasted, and there is no return. ”

"Lord Prefectural, please take a seat."

"Lord Xie Qincha gave me a seat," the county commander stood up and sat aside. In fact, this county order is still quite pitiful, with 100,000 taels to buy a seven-grade county order, He Jiehao thought about it or don't do things absolutely, his back road is not good for anyone, it is better to sell personal favors along the water, so the tone of speech is not so impatient, the speed of speech is gradually slowing, but there is still a little respect for him. Walked down from the county hall and said, "Your Excellency the county magistrate, please sit down, this case will be tried by you, and the official will be jurors." ”

"You are Lord Qincha, and the lower officials dare not overstep the line."

"Where the murder occurred, the official should avoid suspicion."

"Okay, it's better to be respectful than to obey," the county magistrate sat on top of the Wang Fa hall, Xingmu patted on the desk, and said: "Someone, put the suspect Gou Cai in prison, let him be tried later, remember to take good care of it," the official stood up and escorted Gou Cai, a subordinate of He Yuan, and looked at He Jiehao who was sitting next to him.

He Jiehao stood up and saluted very respectfully, and said, "Lord Qiyu County, now it's time to summon the court for questioning." ”

"That's right, the servants on both sides said, "Chuan Zuo." ”

He Zuo walked up to the county government hall, looked at the officials standing on both sides, and then exhaled "Mighty ——," He Zuo first looked at He Jiehao who was sitting next to him and saluted: "Lord He," and then looked at the county magistrate sitting on the county hall and said, "Lord County Commander." ”

"Well, how's the autopsy? Tell us about the results. ”

"According to the preliminary examination of the body, the deceased Hu 13, male, 40 out of 3, perennial drinking is drunk, there are no fatal wounds around him and no traces of fighting, only the rattan hanging marks on the lower jaw, the traces are very deep and clear, and gradually disappear behind the ears, so that he can be verified and ruled out from homicide," after finishing speaking, he submitted the autopsy check. The county order took the autopsy and passed it to He Jiehao, He Jiehao nodded and said, "You can go down." Only then did he retreat, and it was preliminarily verified that Hu Shisan was drunk and died.

He Jiehao took out the rattan and handed it to the county magistrate: "This is the thirteen rattan hanging on the treetops, and the county magistrate can compare it to see if it matches." ”

"Yes," the county commander took the rattan and put it in his arms, and then ordered someone to go to the dense forest in the backyard of the He family to check again, and there were traces of rattan strangled by the treetops. At this time, He Jiehao looked at the county order and said, "How can there be a ghost fire in this dense forest?" ”

The county commander was a little stunned, and said, "The things of the netherworld are not something that mortals like us are trying to figure out. ”

"No, phosphorus will burn when it comes into contact with the air, and this fire mostly comes from between the graves, and you see that there are flies hovering here, and there will be bones buried underneath," so he ordered someone to excavate, and the county order immediately stopped and persuaded: "Lord He, it is not easy to break ground in your own house, I am afraid that there will be a disaster of blood." ”

"What is the best way for the prefectural magistrate?"

"Ask a Taoist priest to come and check, and allow the ground to be broken only after that."

As it got dusk, He Jiehao sent Erbao to Qingcheng Mountain to invite a Taoist priest in Tsing Yi, holding a compass to the backyard to check, and then said: "The master of the courtyard is breaking ground here." ”

"Yes, I don't know if I have an opinion," He Jiehao replied very seriously. Taigong and the county magistrate stood behind He Jiehao, without saying a word, with a calm expression as if he also knew some feng shui doctrines, but these are also their hearsay, just some skins, not as professional as this Taoist chief, now it is mainly up to what this Taoist chief says.

The Taoist chief looked around very calmly, looked at the compass in his hand, and said: "This place is facing the back wing, and it is not appropriate to break ground, otherwise there may be a big murderer." The poor road thought that some glutinous rice could be sprinkled here, and a ploughshare could be set up in the north to ward off evil spirits. Tonight, the poor road will be done here, and the ground will not be broken until three days later. ”

"Okay, thank you for your late life."

Three days later, He Jiehao called the county magistrate and the official to go into the dense forest in the backyard, cut down some trees and dig the soil, but what he didn't expect was to dig deep and see maggots crawling out, and some rags mixed in the dirt. Seeing this, the officials immediately stopped and looked at the county magistrate, He Jiehao, and the prince standing next to them.

He Jiehao slowly walked out and stood in front of them, and said, "Dig, continue to dig deeper." ”

The officials dug deeper, and finally dug up several female corpses and several male corpses, whose corpses began to decompose, and the flesh and blood were blurred and their appearance could not be distinguished. He Jiehao was stunned and stood in place. Taigong and the county magistrate stood aside, and were very surprised when they saw the exhumed corpses.

The county magistrate stepped forward, looked at the dug up corpses and said, "Lord He, what's going on with these corpses?" The lower officials were confused. ”

"These corpses should have been buried in the ground for more than twenty years, and some of them have become white bones," He Jiehao was pondering at this time, and said slowly. After a while, He Jiehao faced the county order and said: "Lord County Order, you go to investigate the household registration to see if there were people who were lost 20 years ago, and then post a notice, if no one in Chengdu comes to identify the body, it will be posted around Chengdu until a relative comes to identify the body." ”

"Okay, I'll leave these to the lower officials."

"Okay, you stand down," and then the county commander ordered the officials to carry the bodies into the county office and put them in the morgue.

He Jiehao returned to the room, and as soon as he sat down, Taigong asked anxiously: "Hao'er, do you say that these corpses were when the garden was built, and in order to hide people's eyes and ears, He Shen secretly executed these workers or people who knew about the construction of the garden after the garden was completed, so that the gods would not know it." ”

"I have also thought about this child, it is very likely that such a luxurious palace can be compared to the imperial palace, so as not to impeach the courtiers or seize this handle to secretly execute these workers or insiders, so as to leak the news, the reason why it is possible is that it is the nearby villagers or the surrounding villagers, although there is little hope for this, let's give it a try, maybe it is possible to find some clues."

"It's been more than 20 years, and the hope is indeed a little slim, Hao'er, where do you want to start with this case?"

"Heyuan's old file, the child wants to see what unknown things have happened to Heyuan in the past 20 years?"

"It's okay, your idea is very good," Taigong pinched his beard with one hand and nodded in satisfaction. He Jiehao sat in the hall, sitting very quietly, waiting for the results of the county investigation.