"Meet Your Adults"

"No need to be polite, let's talk about how things are going."

As soon as several people saw Wu Zhi and got up to salute, Wu Zhi immediately waved his hand and asked them to sit down together and talk about business.

Wu Zhi was also very eager

The three of them glanced at each other, and finally couldn't help but show a smile, Qin Hui said first: "Lord Hui, I found out that the rest of the Sun family has no relatives or friends around Bianjing, but only the old housekeeper of the Sun family, he is from Shanghe Village, a southern suburb of Kaifeng Prefecture. ”

Song Gong continued: "The portrait of the suspect has been drawn by Vice President Wu of the Hanlin Painting Academy, and we took the portrait and visited the neighbors around the Sun family, and found that every time the suspect went to the Sun family, he was led in by the housekeeper, all through the back door."

"In this way, as long as we go to Shanghe Village in Nanjiao County, we should be able to find out the identity of this person." Wu Zhi pinched his chin and said thoughtfully: "But I read the records in the file, the housekeeper has been with the Sun family for nearly twenty years, and he has been serving the Sun family for ten years when Lord Sun was an official in other places, so it stands to reason that he should be loyal to the Sun family, why would he lead the wolf into the room."

As the chief judge, the dossier Wuzhi is naturally familiar with his chest.

"Indeed, I found out that the housekeeper was only from Shanghe Village, Nanjiao County, but he was alone, and he had no immediate family members in Shanghe Village, and he had not returned to his hometown for more than ten years, so it should be impossible to collude with the wicked." Qin Hui nodded.

"There must be a reason for the incident, that person is only suspicious, not necessarily the murderer, we just need to take the portrait to investigate, and we will naturally know the reason." Lord Lan got up and said to Wu Zhi: "My lord, Zhang Quan's men and horses have been prepared, without further ado, I think we should set off to Shanghe Village in Nanjiao County." ”

Wu Zhi lifted the winged black gauze official hat on his head, and said loudly: "Okay, let's go to Shanghe Village."

During the investigation process, Wu Zhi can order his subordinates to complete it, but it is very important to go out of the city to arrest the suspect, so Wu Zhi, the chief, should personally lead the team to go to make it official. Wu Zhi can't give everything to his subordinates, and it is the way to be an official to be relaxed and moderate.

Lord Lan, Qin Hui, and Song Gong also prepared according to the usual practice.

In order to save time, Kaifeng Mansion transferred twenty fast horses, Wu Zhi and they did not put Kaifeng Mansion honor guards, except for him and Lord Lan Qin Hui Song Gong, and his left and right guards, the rest were led by Zhang Quan Kaifeng Mansion officials to catch fast, a team of people directly on the back of the horse, the queue galloped out of the mansion neatly, and went to the south gate of Bianjing with a rainbow.

After Wu Zhi's team left the city, it was not the county government of Nanjiao County who went directly to Shanghe Village, and the county government naturally sent someone to report the news quickly to ensure that when Wu Zhi arrived in Shanghe Village, the county magistrate and the chief secretary and others would wait for Wu Zhi.

Originally, if it was a general state yamen, the magistrate of the county under its jurisdiction would not listen to the dispatch of the judge in the state yamen, and the real power of the judge may not be as good as that of the magistrate, but Kaifeng Mansion is the capital of the Great Song Dynasty, and the administrative unit is at the ministerial level, which is more than two levels higher than the state.

Wu Zhi and his team had just left Bianjing, and in a luxurious mansion in Bianjing, a son in a golden brocade robe was standing in front of the birdcage, carefully holding the lark in the birdcage in the palm of his hand, and kept stroking it.

"Report to the young master, just now the spies around Kaifeng Mansion came to report, Wu Zhi led a team of men and horses out of Bianjing in a hurry, and was heading for the southern suburbs." A sturdy man in black knelt down on one knee behind his son.

"Do you know what they're going to do?"

The young master's voice was high-pitched, and from behind, he was gently stroking the bird.

"Wu Zhi is following the master all day long, and it is difficult for us to get close to him" The man in black was a little flustered, and said: "But I have already sent people to follow from afar, it seems that they are probably going to Nanjiao County." ”

"Southern Suburbs County"

The young master continued to caress the bird gently, and did not turn around, and could not see its expression at all.

"Looks like they've found some clues, it's really fast"

The man in black immediately asked nervously: "Then what should we do, please ask the young master to command"

"Don't do it and don't stop it"

The young master's voice was vicious, and as soon as he finished speaking, he clapped his hands and walked away, leaving only the corpse of a lark where he had stood.

The bird's eyes were bulging, its mouth was bleeding, and its neck feathers were messy, which was obviously fatal when someone twisted its neck in an instant.

"Yes"

The man in black stared at the dead bird, and his triangular eyes also revealed a strong killing intent.

In less than an hour, Wu Zhi's team had already arrived at the entrance of Shanghe Village in Dongjiao County, and at the entrance of the village, an official wearing an official uniform and wearing a black yarn was leading the big and small dukes to wait for Wu Zhi.

"Master Wu, the lower officials have been waiting for a long time"

Seeing that Wu Zhi arrived, Na Zhixian hurriedly carried a wide belt, dragged his fat body and trotted to Wu Zhi's horse, and while taking the whip, he was about to help Wu Zhi.

"No"

Wu Zhi jumped off the horse neatly, looked around, and ignored everyone's courtesy, and directly interrogated the magistrate.

"Ma Zhi County is very important, let's get rid of those red tape, I came here to find someone, this person is from Shanghe Village under your jurisdiction."

After speaking, Wu Zhi gestured to Qin Hui behind him, and Qin Hui immediately took out the portrait and unfolded it for Ma Zhixian to see.

"This is the person we are looking for, you see if it is from your county"

As soon as Ma Zhixian saw the lifelike portrait, his face immediately turned pale, and then he called an old man, who was the chief of Shanghe Village, and asked him to look at the portrait as well, and asked: "Lao Li, do you see if this person is Zheng Kai of your village?"

The person named Lao Li's face turned pale when he saw the portrait, and then he nodded to Wu Zhi again and again: "This person is exactly the same as Zheng Kai from our Shanghe Village."

Wu Zhi was overjoyed and asked, "Then where is Zheng Kai and bring it up quickly?"

After speaking, Lord Lan immediately stood up with Zhang Quan and the others.

"This"

The old Li Baochang's expression froze, and then he looked at Ma Zhixian in embarrassment.

Ma Zhixian also said to Wu Zhi with a bitter face: "Master Wu, you don't know yet, that Zheng Kai is dead."

"Dead"

Wu Zhi was taken aback, and Lord Lan beside him, Qin Hui and Song Gong, also frowned tightly.

"When did you die, how did you die?"

Wu Zhi asked in a deep voice, finally found a clue, if the person died, then everything was in vain before.

"On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, he committed suicide by throwing himself into the river." Mazhi County replied.

"It was also the fifteenth day of the first month that he committed suicide"

Wu Zhi narrowed his eyes, this date is the same day as the destruction of the Sun family, will it be too strange, and why did he commit suicide and exchanged glances with Lord Lan beside him, they were obviously very suspicious.

At this time, Zhang Quan helped Wu Zhi move a small bench, Wu Zhi tidied up his clothes and sat down, and set up a public hall at the entrance of the village.

"Go on, the more detailed the better," Wu Zhi said to Ma Zhixian and Na Li Baochang.

"Alas, the Zheng Kai family is also unlucky, the main thing is because a year ago, their six-year-old only son fell into the ice cave while playing on the river, Zheng Kai and his wife were in pain, and washed their faces with tears all day long, and then after the Chinese New Year, on the fifteenth day of the first month, the two of them couldn't think about it, and they both committed suicide by jumping into the river where their son had an accident."

After Ma Zhixian finished speaking, Li Baochang also sighed: "The family is gone."

"Family"

"Another case of extinction"

Wu Zhi Lanying Qin Hui Song Gong and others looked at each other, but they were out of Beijing for a trip, and they encountered another case where the whole family died, and the parties were not only related to the Sun family's extermination case, but also died on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, there is a faint and inexplicable connection, although Wu Zhi They can't conclude anything, but they know that things are definitely not as simple as they seem.

"Ma Zhi County, after the death of Zheng Kai's family, has the county government conducted an investigation to determine that it was really a suicide," Wu Zhi asked coldly.

Ma Zhixian immediately bowed his head and saluted Wu Zhi, and said without raising his head: "My lord Mingjian, if there is such a major event whose lives are at stake, the county government will naturally conduct an investigation, and after inspection at that time, it was indeed concluded that Zheng Kai and his wife died of drowning and cold, and the specific investigation details have been meticulously recorded in the file of the county government." ”

"What about the kid," Song Gong asked.

Ma Zhixian replied: "The child also fell into the ice and fell into the river and died, Shanghe Village led the big river, and there will be thick ice in winter, but the ice in the center of the river is very thin, and every few years in the winter, there will be children who fall into the ice cave and die. ”

Hearing this, Wu Zhi groaned, this kind of thing is not uncommon in the countryside in later generations, but it is a little strange that Zheng Kai and his wife can't think of committing suicide, but human nature is strange, and family affection is better than any emotion in the world, Zheng Kai and his wife lost their beloved son, and it is not impossible to do irrational things.

But what annoys Wu Zhi is that no matter whether Zheng Kai commits suicide or not, he will never be able to open his mouth, which means that his clue has been broken.

The clues that were finally queried were cut off like this, and although Wu Zhi and them were very unwilling, they were helpless.

"Then Zheng Kai has other relatives in his family," Wu Zhi asked.

Li Baochang replied: "That Zheng Kai is a foreigner who moved to our Shanghe Village decades ago, and his father had many friends when he was alive, but when it came to Zheng Kai, he was a single line, and he didn't have too close relatives." ”

Hearing this, Wu Zhi was disappointed again, presumably Zheng Kai was able to get in touch with the Sun family's housekeeper, and it also relied on his father's relationship before his death.

"My lord, I think let Ma Zhixian take the file about Zheng Kai's family, and we will go back to Bianjing and review it carefully to see if we can find any clues." Song Gong approached Wu Zhi, and his tone was not too low.

"That's all there is to it"

Wu Zhi exhaled heavily, then got up and ordered Ma Zhixian to send someone to get the file quickly, and he would return to Bianjing immediately after getting the file.

It didn't take long for the official to take a thick stack of files, and Wu Zhi instructed Qin Hui to put it away, then turned over and got on his horse, ignoring Ma Zhixian's retention, and left with a team of people and horses.

Spoiler alert: the truth is in the next chapter

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