The location of the blacksmith shop in the west of the city is not very good, the blacksmith shop is not large, the door is already a little rotten and crumbling, and a lock on the door is rusty.

The shop is in the shade, and the room is dark and a little infiltrating, and now there is a murder, which is even more eerie and terrifying.

The official took a big knife to surround the shop, blocking the people watching the excitement outside, and Zhao Hanzhuo walked into the shop with a calm face.

In early summer, it was very cold in the shop, and Zhao Xi, who was following Zhao Hanzhuo, sneezed and rubbed his arms: "Big ...... My lord, this shop is very evil! ”

Zhao Xi is a young man who just entered Dali Temple this year, and he is not very experienced in handling cases, although he is reliable, he is a little talkative.

Zhao Hanzhuo didn't answer, lifted the curtain and entered the backyard.

The area of the backyard is not large, there is only one main house and a kitchen.

As soon as he walked in, he could smell the strong smell of blood, Zhao Hanzhuo frowned, and saw a bloody hand falling on the ground outside the main house, which looked like it had been cut down with some sharp weapon, and the section was very neat.

"God, this is a dismemberment?" Zhao Xi exclaimed, squatted on the ground and picked up the hand to take a closer look: "The hand was cut off by the sword, the murderer was very powerful, and he was cut off with a sword, the palm was wide and had a thick callus, it should be the blacksmith's hand." ”

"Put it away."

Zhao Hanzhuo commanded, walked towards the main house, and just walked to the door, his brows furrowed even tighter.

It was the blacksmith's neighbor who went to Jing Zhaoyin to report the case, the neighbor was a widow, and he was so frightened that he fainted without saying a word, Jing Zhaoyin had been languishing because his daughter was unconscious for no reason, and he heard that this case involved Gu Zhi, who was wronged, immediately entered the palace to tell Chu Lingzhao and transferred the case to Dali Temple.

Before coming here, Zhao Hanzhuo only knew that this was a murder case, but now when he saw the scene in the main house, the words 'murder case' immediately poured out of Zhao Hanzhuo's mind.

A wall of blood was splattered on the wall of the main house, and the blacksmith and his wife and a pair of children were all beheaded, and the heads of the four were neatly laid on the bed, and they were looking at the door, dead and dead.

"it!"

Zhao Xi, who had put away his arms and followed him, was so frightened that he took a few steps back, stepped on a stone under his feet, sat down on the ground, and ate a mouthful of mud.

"Phew, what the hell, is the murderer sick in the brain?"

Zhao Xi got up from the ground, a cold sweat broke out on his back, and anyone who was suddenly stared at by four dead people would feel creepy.

"You go to the autopsy and be careful not to move the contents of the house."

Zhao Hanzhuo ordered, walked into the room and carefully inspected inch by inch.

The location of the blacksmith's shop is not good, the business is naturally deserted, the blacksmith's family is poor, a pair of children are four or five years old, but the four of them are still crammed into the same room, and the blood-stained bedding on the bed has been patched with many patches, I don't know how many years it has been used.

The things in the house were neatly arranged, and it could be seen that the murderer's martial arts were very high, and the blacksmith's family had no power to resist at all, so they were killed directly in the house.

The four of them were all cut off their heads, and the murderer deliberately put these four heads together, this bloody and brutal method is indeed very similar to Gu Jiong.

Zhao Hanzhuo walked around the house, and soon went out, and the head catcher of Dali Temple outside stood at the door with the widow who woke up.

The widow's hair was slightly disheveled, her face was pale with fright, and her body shrank and trembled.

"Bring her a bowl of tea."

Zhao Hanzhuo commanded, the head catcher quickly fetched tea, and the widow took it and drank it, and the person finally didn't tremble so much.

"Thank you...... Master Xie Qingtian! ”

The widow stammered that the man in the family died early, and the neighbors also liked to gossip, and she rarely went out on weekdays, but she did not expect to encounter such a big incident today.

"I've already seen the situation in the house, when you went to Jingzhao Yin Mansion to report the case, how did you know that the murderer was Lord Gu?"

Zhao Hanzhuo asked softly, he didn't use the 'official', he calmly used his own name, there was no official authority at all, the widow's face softened a lot, holding the empty bowl that still had residual warmth and replied: "This year, the business of the blacksmith shop is particularly bad, and I can't open the pot, the blacksmith's daughter-in-law borrowed ten hangs of money from me last month to buy rice, and said that I would pay it back at the beginning of this month, but it's been more than half a month, and I haven't seen them pay back, I can't wait, I want to come to the door today and ask them for money in person." ”

The widow didn't report to the official, she didn't know what to say, and she introduced the background for most of the day, Zhao Hanzhuo was not in a hurry, and waited patiently.

He is usually weak and has no friends, but he is extremely patient and meticulous when handling cases, and his eyes are always bright.

The widow completely relaxed, thinking of the fright she had received before, her eyes were red: "This blacksmith is an honest man, and he said before that he would let this pair of children recognize me as a godmother, who would have thought that as soon as I entered the door today, I saw their family die tragically in the house, Lord Qingtian, you must find out the real murderer and give them justice!" ”

The widow knelt down as she spoke, and Zhao Hanzhuo hurriedly reached out to support her.

She said it sincerely, and the reasons for the succession were all explained, and I couldn't find anything wrong for the time being.

Zhao Hanzhuo quietly glanced at her hand, which had been doing rough work for many years, and it was very rough, but it was all done needlework and washing clothes, not the hands of people who practiced martial arts.

This is a habit he developed after he became the Shaoqing of Dali Temple, once he takes over the case, as long as the people involved in the case cannot rule out the suspicion of being the murderer.

He never opened his mouth to urge the widow to get to the point, but the widow reacted first: "I found a silver mask in the house, the mask has a very majestic pattern on it, that looks like the lord of the wrong, Jing Zhaoyin's official messenger also took it to check, I didn't tell a lie!" ”

"I know, you go back and rest first, if there is progress in the case, I will have someone summon you again."

Zhao Hanzhuo whispered, gave a look to the person next to him, and soon two people stepped forward, the widow didn't let them help, tidied up her clothes, and saluted Zhao Hanzhuo: "Master Xie Qingtian." With that, he turned and left.

The people around to watch the excitement hadn't left yet, so Zhao Hanzhuo walked over and asked some questions casually.

According to the people around him, this blacksmith is a mute, he only knows how to work with iron on weekdays, and he has nothing to do with other people, but he is lucky to marry a beautiful daughter-in-law and have a pair of children.

The blacksmith's daughter-in-law was very virtuous, and she only got close to the widow on weekdays, and often did needlework together and helped people wash clothes, but after careful questioning, no one knew where the blacksmith's ancestors were and when the blacksmith shop was opened.

Unable to ask for any more useful information, Zhao Hanzhuo walked around again to understand the surrounding terrain.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, there are no taller buildings around the blacksmith shop, and there is only one window on the second floor of the teahouse across the street where you can see the tiled roof of the blacksmith shop, but you can't see the backyard.

In other words, at the time of the crime, except for the deceased and the murderer, it was basically impossible for anyone else to know what happened at the scene of the murder.

Zhao Hanzhuo looked around and returned to the blacksmith shop, Zhao Xi was squatting in the sink in the backyard to wash his hands, and his mouth kept sighing: "It's miserable, it's really miserable!" ”

"How?"

Zhao Hanzhuo asked, his tone was flat, he was used to seeing life and death.

Zhao Xi picked at the bloodshot in his fingernails, sighed and shook his head: "At present, I can only see that I have died a miserable death, and the rest is not very clear, let's transport the body back first." ”

Although this person is a talker, he will never say anything unreliable.

Zhao Hanzhuo nodded, asked people to come in to carry the corpse, and said: "It's not early, I'll go to the Guogong Mansion, and if someone from the Jingzhao Yin Mansion looks for me in a while, let them send the things to the Guogong Mansion directly." ”

"Today, the Guogong Mansion is holding a happy event, my lord, don't you want to handle the case directly in the Guogong Mansion? Aren't you afraid that the old man will hammer you? ”

Zhao Xi asked with wide eyes, Zhao Hanzhuo didn't reply to him, he went out and turned over his horse directly, and ran towards the Guogong Mansion.

When Zhao Hanzhuo arrived at the Guogong Mansion, it was already past noon, the wedding banquet was opened, the guests in the hall pushed the cups and changed the lamps, the atmosphere was lively, Zhao Hanzhuo went to the porter to give a gift, and was led to the table to sit down, Lu Ji was toasting from table to table with a spring breeze, Lu Zhan stood next to Lu Ji with a large jar of wine, very well-behaved.

"Why is it so late?"

Gu Yuanfeng asked in a low voice, and poured him a glass of wine.

Knowing that they don't like to join in the fun, this table was specially left for them by Su Li, except for Gu Yuanfeng, only Chu Huaian and Chu Lingxi, the other seats were empty.

Zhao Hanzhuo took a sip of wine, avoided answering Gu Yuanfeng's question, and asked instead, "Why is this table so empty?" ”

"Lord Renxian and Gu Ji haven't arrived yet, and the people from the Zhang family haven't come either."

The Zhang family refers to Zhang Zhizhi and Wen Ling, Su Li gave the 100,000 taels of silver to Wen Ling, and now the Zhang family is already a famous imperial businessman in Yuanzhao, and it will not be long before he will become the richest man in Yuanzhao, and the status of Zhang Zhizhi and Wen Ling is not what it used to be.

Zhao Hanzhuo's eyes flashed, he didn't say anything, he took the chopsticks and dishes, and after a while, Wen Ling and Zhang Yuntian came over with Zhang Ruan Ruan and Zhang Zhizhi.

Zhang Zhizhi followed behind Wen Ling, bowing his head slightly, rare quiet and well-behaved.

"The grass people meet the Hou Ye, the Wang Ye, the Prime Minister, and the Zhao Lord!"

Zhang Yuntian bowed, and Wen Ling hugged Zhang Ruan Ruan and bowed slightly.

Chu Huai'an has the highest rank here, and spoke on his behalf: "No need to be polite, sit down." ”

The four of them sat down at this time, and after they sat down, Chu Lingxi took the initiative to chat with Zhang Yuntian, the Zhang family's business is getting bigger and bigger, and there are many contacts with Yunzhou, and the Zhang family often escorts goods to walk between Kyoto and Yunzhou, and Chu Lingxi and Zhang Yuntian naturally deal with each other a lot.

Zhang Yuntian was upright, and after sitting down, his body was also straight, Zhao Hanzhuo only glanced at him, and then his eyes fell on Zhang Zhizhi.

Although he doesn't like to listen to gossip, he also knows that Miss Zhang Jiaer often haunts Gu Jiong's side these days.

Zhao Hanzhuo's gaze was very calm, not aggressive, but the sense of presence was very strong, Zhang Zhizhi was quickly seen by him a little uneaten, slapped the chopsticks in his hand, and was about to speak, Wen Ling stuffed Zhang Ruan Ruan into her arms: "Ruan Ruan and you are closer, Zhizhi help me take care of her." ”

Wen Ling deliberately interrupted Zhang Zhizhi, but she has been used to crawling around in the mall over the years, and doing these things is very natural and does not seem deliberate at all.

Zhang Zhizhi glanced at Wen Ling in surprise, but Wen Ling didn't look at her, Zhang Ruan Ruan cooperated and grabbed what Zhang Zhizhi wanted to eat, Zhang Zhizhi had to pick up chopsticks again to feed Zhang Ruan Ruan to eat.

The interaction between the two is all in the eyes of others, and the eyesight of several people has long been very comparable, of course, it can be seen that there is something hidden in it, but they don't say it.

After a while, Lu Ji toasted to this table, and Chu Huaian took the lead in standing up.

Lu Ji was happy today, he had already drunk a lot before, and there was a strong smell of wine on his body, and the drunkenness was also on his face.

He didn't drink well, he poured a glass before, and today he relied on that joy to support him.

Lu Zhan helped Lu Ji fill up the wine, his eyes swept over the few people on the table in confusion, and a smile appeared on his face: "Today, I married a wife!" ”

"Congratulations!"

Several people congratulated in unison, Lu Ji smiled, clinked glasses with them, raised his head and drank the wine in his hand.

"I'm very happy today!"

Lu Ji said, he burped and shook his body, as if he was already drunk.

Everyone can see that he is happy today, but everyone understands how much longing and helplessness there is in his happiness.

"It's good if the general is happy!"

Zhang Yuntian said in a deep voice, as a man, he admired Lu Ji very much.

A man can dedicate his life to the battlefield for the country, and he can give a grand wedding banquet to the woman he loves deeply to be affectionate, and he should be a model for a generation in public and private.

"I'm happy, I'm so happy!"

Lu Ji muttered to himself, turned around to go to another table to toast, but was pulled by Lu Zhan: "Dad, I want to toast again!" ”

Lu Zhan said as he helped Lu Ji refill it and stuffed the wine glass into his hand.

Lu Ji looked at the wine in his hand and then at Chu Huai'an, and touched the glass with Chu Huai'an as if he didn't understand.

"Master Hou, this cup is for you!"

What exactly is it Lu Ji didn't finish speaking, he raised his head and drank a glass of wine.

Chu Huai'an's cup was still empty, so he simply poured it around without so much trouble, and directly picked up the wine jug and poured a big sip.

"I'll be good to her for the rest of my life!"

Chu Huai'an said something thoughtlessly, but the people at this table understood what he wanted to express.

Lu Ji hooked his lips and wanted to laugh, but drunkenness and sleepiness struck, but he actually planted it backwards and fell asleep directly.

This poured caused a lot of commotion, and Su Li, who had just returned to the banquet, hurriedly asked Lu Ji to help Lu Ji back to the room to rest, and then let the kitchen cook a decanting soup and send it over.

Gu Zhi was suddenly involved in the murder case and didn't know what was going on, and he had to finish the wedding banquet first, Su Li was too busy to be free, so he only told his subordinates to find a way to leave Zhao Hanzhuo after the banquet for a while.

The wedding banquet lasted until a moment before it ended, Su Li and the housekeeper sent the guests away before returning to the lobby tiredly, Zhao Hanzhuo really hadn't left yet, and was sitting in the hall with Chu Huai'an drinking tea to relieve his greasy.

Su Li cheered up and walked in, and before she could speak, the official next to her handed Su Li a silver mask.

The mask is exquisitely made, with a wolf's head engraved on it, fierce and lonely, and when you open it, you can see that there are special marks made by the Ministry of Internal Affairs inside.

"This was discovered by the informant at the scene of the crime."

Zhao Hanzhuo said that one sentence has verified the authenticity of the murder.

This mask belonged to Gu Jiong, and he appeared at the scene of the crime again, so he was naturally suspected of being a great murderer.

"Where is Gu Jiong now?"

Su Li asked, Dali Temple has always paid attention to ironclad evidence in handling cases, and with only one mask, it is impossible for Zhao Hanzhuo to directly arrest Gu Zhi.

"The person I sent to the Gu family said that he was not in the Gu family."

Today is the day of Gu Li and Lu Ji's wedding, Gu Ji is not in the Gu family, and he didn't appear at the wedding banquet, so where did he go?

"Does Lord Zhao think the murderer is him?"

Su Li asked bluntly, strictly speaking, she didn't have much friendship with Gu Zhi, Gu Zhi's temperament was cold, and there was no one in his eyes, it was difficult to guarantee that he and the blacksmith would not have any deep hatred, so he would destroy the family.

"To be honest, the style of the crime is very similar to his, but the evidence is not enough at the moment."

As a judge who holds the power of life and death of the criminal, he is always fair and objective.

Su Li nodded, this matter is actually not that complicated, as long as you find Gu Ji and confront him face to face, you can know whether he is a murderer or not.

He has killed so many people that he doesn't even dare to admit these four lives.

Thinking of this, Su Li relaxed, but she was not nervous, Zhao Hanzhuo suddenly spoke: "I heard that Lord Renxian did not attend today, does Madame know what happened?" ”

"Sister Yan didn't come?"

Su Li was stunned, she had been so busy in the past two days that she hadn't touched the ground, but she hadn't paid much attention to it.

Since Su Li came out of the illusion, Yue Yan rarely went out of the palace, and only came to diagnose her pulse a few times during Su Li's fetal period, and prescribed a few pairs of fetal pills, and for the next half a year, Yue Yan almost stayed in the palace, as if he had made up some kind of determination, and he must break off with Gu Zhi completely.

But Gu Zhi is Gu Jiong, Gu Li is married, she should be there anyway.

Su Li frowned, feeling that something was wrong, and immediately sent someone to the palace to question.

The questioner quickly replied, saying that the county lord of Renxian left the palace early this morning to go to the Guogong Mansion to attend the wedding banquet.

Yue Yan left the palace early in the morning to prepare for the wedding banquet, but disappeared halfway for no reason!

Su Li became nervous, thinking that Gu Zhi was also missing, and always felt that there must be something related to these two things.

Zhao Hanzhuo and Su Li had the same thoughts, and immediately got up: "I'm afraid this matter is not simple, and I also ask Master Hou to enter the palace with me to face the saint, explain the reason, and jointly investigate the case." ”

After the Anjia rebellion and the war of the undead, Chu Lingzhao strengthened the defense of the imperial city, the strength of Dali Temple increased to 20,000, and the other city protectors were all in Chu Lingzhao's hands.

If it is confirmed that Yue Yan and Gu Wei are missing, I am afraid that the number of people entering and leaving the city will be limited in the next few days, and the patrol of the imperial city will be strengthened.

Chu Huai'an had no opinion on Zhao Hanzhuo's proposal, got up and took a step outside, then turned back and told Su Li: "I will find a way to solve these things, you are not allowed to be reckless, no matter what happens, you are not allowed to act without authorization!" ”

"Yue'er and Guagua are waiting for me at home, I won't mess around."

Su Li assured that Chu Huai'an and Zhao Hanzhuo left together, and not long after they left, Su Xun took Su Lou and Su Xian to protect Su Li.

They are now second lieutenants in the army, and their bearing is very different from before.

Su Li finished handling the rest of the trivial chores and went back with them, Chu Gua and the little girl hadn't seen her for a few days, and they all pounced on her happily.

Su Li was pestered by the two little guys and had no energy to think about anything else, so she could only put Gu Ji's matter aside, and first took the little ones to Chu Liu's courtyard to chat with her.

Although she is happy to have her granddaughter Chu Liu, she can't control her aging, and Su Li will go over to talk to her as long as she has time.

Hearing that Lu Ji and Gu Li's marriage went smoothly, Chu Liu lamented that it was not easy for him and Lu Guogong's father and son, and praised Su Li for doing it properly, capable and competent, and hinted at a wave by the way, asking Su Li and Chu Huai'an to give birth to a younger brother to the little girl.

Su Li vaguely brought this matter over and diverted it to other issues.

Chu Liu knew that she had an idea, and she didn't force it too much, so she prepared dinner early, but in the evening, the little girl suddenly had a high fever all over her body, vomiting and diarrhea.

Chu Liu was frightened, and told Su Li a few home remedies, Su Li tried it to no avail, and immediately asked people to go to the Tai Hospital to ask for a royal doctor.

The symptoms of the three were the same, and after tossing back and forth several times, they collapsed on the bed.

Su Li's face was pale, even if she didn't need the imperial doctor to take a look, she could also see that the three of them were poisoned!

The Hou Mansion is heavily guarded, although it is not like Chu Lingzhao, there are special palace people who try to eat and detoxify, and the food they eat on weekdays is also carefully checked, who is so bold that he dares to do something in the Xiaoyao Hou Mansion?

Su Li calmly asked the housekeeper to gather all the people in the house in the courtyard of the Chu Liu family, and the imperial doctor quickly came to see him, and the diagnosis was as expected to be poisoned, the poison was not serious, but it would make people vomit and diarrhea for three or two days, which shows that the murderer did not want to harm people's lives.

But how innocent is the child? Chu Liu's family has rarely gone out in recent years, and he is dedicated to Buddha, where would he offend anyone and cause such a disaster? I'm afraid the person who poisoned him just wanted to use this to intimidate her and Chu Huai'an!

Behind the scenes, some unsightly ways to harm people are definitely not good people!

Su Li asked Qibao to move the stove to the courtyard, and asked people to pick up the medicine according to the prescription written by the imperial doctor, and then pour it into it and boil it after the imperial doctor confirmed that it was correct.

After drinking the medicine, Chu Liu and the two children fell asleep, Su Li asked Qibao to send the imperial doctor back to the palace, and she sat in Chu Liu's courtyard to guard them, and the people in the courtyard also followed her to guard.

At the end of the unitary time, Chu Huai'an came back from the palace, and as soon as he entered the door, he heard about the poisoning, and walked into the courtyard of Chu Liu's family with a dark face, and saw Su Li sitting in a dim candle flame from a distance, supporting her full of exhaustion and not resting for a moment.

Chu Huai'an immediately strode over, and when he came back, Su Li's face softened a little: "You're back, my mother drank the medicine and fell asleep, Guagua and Yue'er are fine, it's just ......"

Su Li didn't finish speaking, she was picked up by Chu Huai'an and walked out.

"The person who poisoned him hasn't been found yet!" Su Li reminded Chu Huai'an that he didn't stop, and he walked out of the yard with Su Li in his arms, and he couldn't refuse: "I will do these things, you have been busy for several days, rest first." ”

"But ......"

"No, but!" Chu Huai'an interrupted Su Li's words strongly, his eyes were deep: "I will catch him, slaughter him and feed the dog!" ”