Although he looked down on Wang Xu's loyalty to the Tartars, Lu Fatzi still had to admire Wang Xu's seriousness and persistence, knowing that there was another wave of guests among the emperors, Wang Xu still interrogated Lu Fatzi in detail about the detailed identities of that wave of guests, and planned to find out the clues to the murder of Nan Huairen. But it is a pity that among the people who came to Xuanwumen Church with Xiao Mazi that day, whether it was Suo Etu, Kong Sizhen, Zhou Chang or ordinary imperial guards Li Xu and Cao Yin, they were all the same as Lu Fatzi, there was no motive to kill, let alone time to commit the crime, and Wang Xu finally found nothing.

"It's strange, who did such a heavy deal to Father Nan?" Disappointed that he couldn't find a clue, Wang Xu, who had always been steady, couldn't help but murmur in front of Fat Lu, "Who is so insidious and vicious?" Kill Priest Nan and still want to blame Ao Zhongtang and provoke discord between the emperor and Ao Zhongtang's monarchs and ministers? ”

"Mr. Wang, forgive me for taking the liberty of saying a word." Lu Fatzi said hypocritically: "Although I have not officially taken office to handle cases, I have also taken precautions to read the case-handling works such as "Records of Clearing Grievances", "Prison Turtle Jian" and "Collection of Doubtful Prisons", and found that the cases listed in these books, except for manslaughter and unintentional homicide, other homicide cases usually have homicide motives. And Father Nan was assassinated in his room, which is enough to prove that he was deliberately murdered, not manslaughter or unintentional homicide. ”

"What Lord Lu said is very true, in fact, the official has already begun to investigate the suspect." Wang Xu nodded.

"And who is the suspect?" Fat Lu asked curiously.

"Why is Lord Lu asking this?" Wang Xu's eyes bulged, and he said unhappily: "This is a Qin case designated by the emperor to investigate, and the details of the case are not allowed to be announced to the public according to the law, if Lord Lu doesn't want to cause trouble, it's best not to inquire." ”

"Yes, yes, presumptuous." Lu Fatzi had no choice but to make amends, and his plan to indiscriminately guide and disturb Wang Xu's vision of handling the case and take the opportunity to frame the blame was also frustrated, and he couldn't help but hate in his heart - you dog Han Annihilation, it is more important to do things for the Manchu Tartars than to be filial to your father, and sooner or later one day to clean you up!

"Okay, the official's words are over, Lord Lu, please take care of yourself." Wang Xu stood up and took the lead out of the room with his hands behind his back, and the record office also packed up his pen and paper and went out, while Lu Fatzi secretly cursed a few words at Wang Xu's back, and also stood up, flicked his sleeves and followed out with his hands behind his back, muttering in his heart, "The surname Wang, you go and check it, as long as you can find out!" Lao Tzu has neither motive nor time to commit the crime when he killed Nan Huairen, you just went to the underworld and interrogated Nan Huairen in person, and Nan Huairen didn't know that I killed him. ”

Humming proudly in his heart, Lu Fatzi went out of the room that Wang Xu found for the time being used for questioning and confession, and came to the church hall to go home, but when he arrived at the hall, he just caught up with Mingzhu and came out of the murder scene. Seeing Wang Xu and Fat Lu coming out one after the other, Mingzhu immediately greeted Wang Xu: "Lord Wang, you came just in time, did you ask any useful clues from Lord Lu?" ”

"Nope." Wang Xu shook his head and said distressedly: "Now it is certain that none of the guests that Priest Nan received before his death had a motive or suspicion of murder. It seems that this case can only be investigated from other aspects. ”

"Good." Mingzhu nodded, and said: "Since this is the case, then we should immediately arrest the two biggest suspects in this case, Yang Guangxian, the chief of the Qintian Prison, and Wu Mingxuan, the deputy of the prison, and start from them." ”

"No way!" Wang Xu categorically vetoed it and said: "Ming Zhongtang, yes, in the previous calendar case, Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan of Qin Tianjian did have a deep hatred with Nan Shenfu, and they were indeed the most suspicious, but so far, we have not found any evidence to prove that the two of them are involved in this case, and we can't arrest them based on common sense speculation, which violates the laws of the Qing Dynasty!" ”

"Lord Wang, who said that there is no evidence for the true appearance?" Mingzhu said a little angrily: "In the middle of this month, Priest Nan went to the court to impeach Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan for dereliction of duty and perfunctory dereliction of duty when calculating the calendar, and the calculated calendar is full of errors and omissions, and it is absurd!" The emperor was furious, and ordered the prime minister to lead the officials of Qin Tianjian to recalculate (historical facts, Kang Mazi's life pearl recalculated the Yang Wu calendar happened to be in December of the sixth year of Kang Mazi)! At present, the results of the recalculation of the calendar have not yet come out, but Priest Nan has died, is it not the two of them who did it? ”

"Ming Zhongtang, this can only be said to be a suspicion, not evidence." Wang Xu continued to retort: "You can't use this as a basis to arrest Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan. ”

"If you don't arrest them, how can this case be investigated?" Mingzhu's face sank, and then he turned to Shuntian Mansion Yin Li Tianyu and asked, "Lord Li, what do you think, should Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan be arrested for interrogation?" ”

"This ......." Li Tianyu was a little dumbfounded, on the one hand, he was the big red man in front of the emperor, and on the other hand, he was the new Shangzhu of the Criminal Department, and on the other hand, he was known for his iron-faced selflessness.

"Master Ming, there are provisions in the laws of the Qing Dynasty that you can't arrest court officials until there is evidence." Fortunately, Lu Fatzi couldn't help but interject again, "However, there is another article in the law of the Qing Dynasty, if an incumbent official is suspected of a case, in the absence of evidence, these two adults can be summoned in accordance with the law." ”

Mingzhu and Wang Xu turned their eyes to Lu Fatzi together, and Li Tianyu hurriedly wiped his sweat and said: "Yes, Lord Lu is reasonable, we can't directly arrest Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan now, but we can summon them in accordance with the law and ask them to explain the details of the case." After that, Li Tianyu also glanced at Fat Lu gratefully, and said in his heart that thanks to this Fat Lu man's quick response, he finally helped me out of the siege.

"If it's just a summons, I agree." Wang Xu was the first to nod.

"Very well, then summon them according to the law." Mingzhu also agreed to Lu Fatzi's suggestion, and then smiled at Lu Fatzi and said: "Lord Lu, I didn't expect that you have not officially taken office, and you are already so proficient in the laws of the Qing Dynasty, and the people under your rule are blessed." How about it, are you interested in working in the Criminal Department in the future? ”

"Ming Xiangye has won the award, and he doesn't dare to expect extravagance." Lu Fatzi was a little shy, and said casually: "But the lowly job has a lot of experience in the trial and investigation of cases, not only has I studied a lot of our Qing Dynasty case-handling books, but also has been exposed to Western case-handling books, such as "Sherlock Holmes Detective Collection" and "Detective Conan" or something, if Ming Xiangye needs it in the process of investigation, he can summon lowly officials to assist at any time." ”

"Really? Then I would like to thank Master Lu in advance. Mingzhu smiled, although she didn't take this matter to heart, but she remembered it a little.

After Nan Huairen's corpse was covered with a pillar of incense, Lu Fatzi, the real murderer, left the murder scene with a swagger, and Mingzhu and Wang Xu jointly signed an official document and ordered the poor Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan to be arraigned. And Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan, two unlucky guys, were also shot while lying on the ground, naturally shouting that they were wronged and resolutely denied it, but it was a pity that Ming Xiangye's new official took office three times, and he was afraid that Kang Mazi would blame him for his ineffective work, so he naturally resolutely did not believe their words; and Shuntianfu Yin Li Tianyu In order to close the case as soon as possible and avoid getting involved in a bigger whirlpool, he also aimed all the spearheads at Yang Guangxian and Wu Mingxuan, the two biggest suspects, plus Wang Xu resolutely opposed the use of torture to extract confessions, and the case was completely deadlocked.

………………

Nan Huairen's case, let's not mention him for the time being, just say that after Lu Fatzi returned to Wu Yingxiong's Mansion, on the second day, and on the twenty-fourth day of the lunar month of the sixth year of Qianqing Kang Mazi, after arranging for Lin Tianqing to secretly meet Xiao Mazi, Lu Fatzi suddenly received news from Yang Qilong, saying that Geng Jingzhong's brother Geng Juzhong entered Beijing today, and couldn't help but think of Geng Jingzhong's entrustment to him when he was in Fujian, and asked him to take time to meet his younger brother Geng Xinghe and Geng Juzhong after entering Beijing, and discuss the matter of military salary. Let's see if we can get a little more military pay for Fujian.

Whether the veteran Han annihilated Geng Jimao and Geng Jingzhong's father and son could get more military salaries was originally none of Lu Fatman's business, but considering that Geng Jimao and his son got an extra tael of silver, Xiao Mazi had one or two less silver in his hand, and Lu Fatzi, who had a thick backbone on the back of his head, was still quite excited. In addition, since Geng Jingzhong had this order, Lu Fatzi couldn't help but run to give Geng Jingzhong a face, and then Lu Fatzi ran to Wu Yingxiong to explain the reason, and was going to visit Geng Xinghe's house, and greeted Geng Juzhong by the way, and Wu Yingxiong couldn't wait for the three feudatories to join forces to blackmail Xiao Mazi, so he naturally agreed, and also sent a family member to lead the way for Lu Fatzi, so that Lu Fatzi could visit Geng Xinghe's house.

"Yifeng, you have to be careful when you go to Geng Xinghe's house this time." Before leaving, Wu Yingxiong told Lu Fatzi: "The same proton, Geng Xinghe is different from me, he is not only a fool who only knows the wind and snow and the moon and poetry, but also walks very close to the imperial court, don't talk about me, even his eldest brother Geng Jingzhong is not at ease with him, so this time to negotiate the military salary of the three feudatories, Geng Jimao and Geng Jingzhong did not dare to hand over this errand to him, and specially sent Geng Juzhong from Fujian to negotiate." When you arrive at Geng Xinghe's house, don't talk deeply, just make a little contact with their brothers, and invite Geng Juzhong to visit the house. ”

"Thank you for your advice, I understand my humble position." Lu Fatzi thanked him, and then got into the car and drove the horse, leading a group of dogs to kill the scourge of Geng Xinghe Mansion.

All the way to Geng Xinghe Mansion located in Xizhi Gate, as soon as he entered the alley, Lu Fatzi saw the lights in front of the gate of Geng Xinghe Mansion, dressed in red and green, and put on a posture to welcome distinguished guests. Lu Fatzi hurriedly stepped forward to hand over the famous thorn, explaining the intention, and the people of Geng's Mansion flew into the mansion, and after a while, he came out and told Lu Fatzi that Geng Xinghe agreed to meet him, and Lu Fatzi was overjoyed, and hurriedly blocked the door and asked the people of Geng's Mansion to lead the way, and he went into Geng's Mansion to spread the plague and spread poison.

All the way to the second gate, far away from the reception hall, Lu Fatzi heard a pleasant sound of silk bamboo, in addition, there is a collapsing pipa sound and a crisp and delicate singing, "There is a beautiful woman in the northern country, peerless and reading, one look at the city, and then look at the country ......." Fat Lu couldn't help sneering in his heart, "It's worthy of being a waste that even Wu Yingxiong looks down on, my brother is going to Beijing, and I don't go out of the city to greet him, and I am still here, when your brothers rebel in the future, I ......will care about your life and death." Hey? Wait, why is this singing voice so familiar? Seems to have heard it there? ”

Thinking about it, Lu Fatzi had already walked to the door of the hall, and at this moment, the song ended, the applause in the hall stood up, and two people applauded, and a male voice who was seriously lacking masculinity shouted: "Okay, a good sentence 'I would rather not know the city and the country, and the beauty is hard to get', it really sang the peerless elegance and peerless style of the beauty." ”

"The words are good, the songs are good, the songs are better. The words are beautiful, the music is beautiful, and the people are more beautiful. Another male voice that lacked masculinity also shouted: "Sigege personally played and sang this "Beauty Song", which can be regarded as the first in the world." ”

"Four grids?! Why is Kong Sizhen's bitch here too?! Fat Lu was startled and couldn't help but stop.

"Master Lu, since you've already arrived at the door, why don't you come in?" Sure enough, Kong Sizhen's coquettish voice came from the hall, "Is the slave family really so terrible, and Lord Lu is so afraid to see the slave family?" ”

"This bitch has such a good ear that you can hear my footsteps when you play the music." Fat Lu cursed in his heart, and had no choice but to walk into the hall. Seeing that there were two men in their thirties sitting in the hall, both of them had oily heads and powdery faces and sickly faces, and at first glance they belonged to the sequelae left by the transition of wine color, while Kong Sizhen was obviously carefully dressed, wearing a flag woman dress, holding a red sandalwood pipa in her hand, and smiling at herself. Lu Fatzi didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly saluted and said: "Lu Yifeng, the lowly Qujing Zhi County, give Sigege and Heshuo a request for peace." ”

"Master Lu, the slave family is really destined for you, how can I meet you there?" Kong Sizhen asked with a smile: "What are you going to do when you come to Heshuo's house today?" ”

"Back to Sigege, when I was in Fujian, I once received the favor of the prince of Jingnan." Lu Fatzi replied honestly: "The prince of Jingnan confessed that after the lowly post entered Beijing, he could come over to ask for peace with Heshuo, and the lowly man did not dare to be ungrateful, and he came to fulfill his promise today." ”

"Really?" Kong Sizhen said with a smile: "But Lord Lu has been in Beijing for six days, why don't you come early or late, but you want to come today to ask Heshuo to say goodbye?" ”

"Oops! This bitch must be suspicious of my intentions, and she will definitely suspect that I actually want to come to see Geng Juzhong! Fat Lu complained bitterly in his heart, but he said with a little embarrassment on his fat face: "Back to Sigege, the humble post was originally done regardless of the day to ask for peace with Heshuo, but today ......, today ......." ”

"But what today?" Kong Sizhen asked with a smile, but in a pair of apricot eyes, there was already a look of suspicion.

"But today, I heard that Sigege is also here." Fat Lu was quite clever, glanced at Kong Sizhen affectionately, and said shyly: "So the lowly post is here today." ”

"Hey, when did this fat dead man become so infatuated with me?" Kong Sizhen was a little flustered. At this time, the two oily-haired and powder-faced men had already clapped their hands and laughed, "Sigege is really charming, and another infatuated man has fallen under your pomegranate skirt!" ”

"you!" Kong Sizhen was coquettish, and with a happy heart, he pulled the long-coveted Fat Lu over, pointed to the two oily noodles and introduced the fat man to Lu Fatman: "Let me introduce you, this is the Heshuo forehead attached Geng Xinghe that you are going to visit today, this one is also a Heshuo forehead, the third prince of the prince of Pingnan, Shang Zhili is still attached." ”

"It turned out to be Shang Nuo, and the humble position was attached to Shang Forehead." For the sake of Shang Wanyan's face, Fat Lu gave a salute to his future third brother-in-law, and wondered in his heart, "Why did Shang Zhili come here?" ”

"No courtesy." Shang Zhili smiled and waved his hand, and said, "Lord Lu, I have already heard of your famous name. I haven't had time to thank you for my little sister's business, I'll ...... in a while. ”

"Report ——!" At this time, a Geng family member ran in and shouted happily: "Qi Yu Efu, the second master and Qian Gege and their convoy have arrived at the mouth of the alley." ”

"Second brother is here." Geng Xinghe jumped up and said happily: "Quick, open the middle door quickly, fire a salute, and greet my second brother and my sister." ”

"My sister? Why is Geng Xinghe's sister here too? That sister? Fat Lu was even more puzzled, and hurriedly went out with Geng Xinghe and Monk Zhili and others, and went to the gate of Geng's mansion to greet him. Kong Sizhen quickly caught up with Lu Fatzi, and asked with a smile in Lu Fatzi's ear: "Lord Lu, you tell the slave family the truth, why did you come to visit Geng Xinghe Geng Erfu today, did you hear that Geng Juzhong was going to Beijing today, and came over to spy on the news on Wu Yingxiong's order?" ”

"Sige Shengming, you expected it." Lu Fatzi reluctantly admitted, and said shamelessly: "But the humble position really wants to see Sigege, so I should do this errand." ”

"Liar, then you still want to run when you hear my voice?" Kong Sizhen smiled and threw a wink at Fat Lu, and chuckled: "Besides, the whereabouts of the slave family are also touched by you, a dog slave?" ”

Fat Lu shrank his head, and he didn't dare to flamboyate anymore. Kong Sizhen quietly pinched Lu Fatzi's waist again, and said with a light smile: "However, no matter whether you are sincere or not, for the sake of listening to your words and your loyalty to the emperor, the slave family can consider it, and at the right time, I will talk to you in private." ”

"Excuse me, I'm afraid that my chastity will not be guaranteed!" Fat Lu shivered and didn't dare to answer this conversation again.

While speaking, Lu Fatzi had already followed Geng Xinghe and others to the front of Geng's mansion, and at this time, Geng Juzhong and others' convoy also stopped in front of Geng's mansion, and in the roar of the salute, Geng Juzhong, who had a relationship with Lu Fatzi in Fuzhou, got out of the car first, laughed and hugged his brother Geng Xinghe, and told each other about their farewell. Immediately afterwards, two more luxuriously decorated carriages stopped, and a young man in his twenties and extremely handsome appearance jumped on one of the carriages, bowing to Geng Xinghe, Geng Xinghe was even more happy, took the handsome man's hand and said: "Xiaolin, you are also here, I haven't seen you for a few years, you kid is more handsome, if you go on stage to sing Danjiao, I'm afraid you can even save makeup." ”

"Sigege, who is this guy?" Fat Lu hated the handsome man's appearance very much, and couldn't help but ask Kong Sizhen curiously: "Why does this guy sit in the same carriage as the second prince Geng Juzhong." ”

"His name is Lin Qing." Kong Sizhen wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth and said casually: "He is the confidant and guard of the prince of Jingnan, and he is very favored by the king of Jingnan, and he is treated like a nephew, and the relationship is not simple." After that, Kong Sizhen glanced at Fat Lu and said with a smile: "What? Seeing that people are handsome, are you ashamed of yourself? ”

"How is that possible? No matter how handsome he is, can he catch up with me by a tenth? Fat Lu snorted shamelessly, and couldn't help but ask more curiously: "Since he is the henchman and guard of King Jingnan, why did he come to the capital?" ”

"Eighty percent because of her." Kong Sizhen lifted his chin. Lu Fatzi looked back, but saw a girl dressed as Han Chinese on the third carriage, sixteen or seventeen years old, with a beautiful complexion, extremely long hair, and the tail was still draped over her shoulders like a waterfall after being tied into a bun, black and bright, very eye-catching. I only saw that Lu Fatzi was dumbfounded, and it took a while to come back to his senses and ask Kong Sizhen: "Sigege, who is this girl?" ”

"What? Fancy it? Kong Sizhen snorted a little jealously: "Didn't you live in Fuzhou for a while?" Why didn't she even know? ”

"Back to Sigege, when I was in Fuzhou, I lived in a post house, and I only went in Jingnan Wangfu twice." Fat Lu replied with a wry smile.

Kong Sizhen snorted a few more times, and then said: "Her name is Geng Qianxia, she is the adopted daughter of the prince of Jingnan, and she can be regarded as the little Gege of the Jingnan Palace. But I advise you not to beat her idea, first, the prince of Jingnan can't look down on you blindly, and second, there is news that the prince of Jingnan intends to marry her to Lin Qing - now you should understand the reason why Lin Qing came to the capital, right? ”

"Sigege laughed, a seven-grade sesame official, how dare you have such extravagant expectations?" Fat Lu smiled bitterly, but he couldn't help but think of Shang Wanyan who was cold to everyone.

At this time, the carriage of Geng Juzhong's team had already passed, but Geng Xinghe and Shang Zhili and others were not in a hurry to send Geng Juzhong, Geng Qianxia and others into the house, and then, another group of people came over with two carriages, and a short and fat man jumped out of the first carriage, shouting angrily at Shang Zhili: "Third child, you guy don't go out of the city to pick me up, why did you run to Brother Geng's house to meet me?" I'm really afraid that my little sister and I will live in your house and make you poor? ”

"Second brother forgive sins!" Shang Zhili hurriedly saluted and said with a smile: "The second brother misunderstood, the younger brother just thinks that since you are entering Beijing with the second prince of Jingnan, then after entering Beijing, you will simply get together first, so it's a little lively, isn't it?" ”

"Shang Zhili's second brother? Shang Zhixin's nemesis, Shang Zhixiao?! Fat Lu was startled, and then his heart jumped, and he quickly turned his eyes to look at the second carriage, but saw Li Tianzhi standing next to the carriage in an ordinary groom suit, smiling at himself.

"She's here too." Fat Lu suddenly realized, and his heartbeat increased more and more. Sure enough, when Li Tianzhi lifted the curtain, Shang Wanyan, who had not been seen for a long time, leaned over and got out of the car, standing in front of the carriage, Qingli was still the same, but her expression was still so cold. In the middle of the beautiful eyes, Shang Wanzhen and Lu Fatzi intersected their eyes, Lu Fatzi only felt that his heart was beating again, and Shang Wanyan's cold eyes first showed a little iceberg melting look, and then his eyes glared, and suddenly two murderous aura.

"What's wrong with the little girl?" Lu Fat Man was stunned, and when he looked back again, he saw that Kong Sizhen had already hugged his fat arm affectionately at some point, Lu Fat Man was shocked and quickly shook off Kong Sizhen's hand. Over there, Shang Wanyan's face was already frosty, and the little excitement and joy of reuniting with Fat Lu before had been swept away.

"Lord Lu, the slave family only understands now." Kong Sizhen smiled in the ear of Fat Lu: "Who are you here to visit Geng Erfu today?" ”

Note: Lin Qing and Geng Qianxia are both real people, after Geng Jimao's death, Lin Qing and Geng Qianxia, who had already married, escaped from Jingnan Wangfu because they were afraid of Geng Jingzhong, became naturalized Wanping, and made a living selling tea.

(To be continued)