PS: Thank you for the encouragement of book friend Ouyang Chaoye.

After three rounds of wine and five flavors of food, during the banquet, Han Shige and Chen Ling kept asking Wang Shichong about the rebellion half a year ago, Wang Shichong suddenly came to the momentum, and retold the thrilling past again, because the wine was a little high, he was excited for a while, and couldn't help but exaggerate, which shocked Han Shige and Chen Ling.

Even Li Jing, who had been sullen all the time, was energetic after hearing the battle, and discussed the art of war with Wang Shichong from time to time, and the somewhat depressing atmosphere just now was swept away.

Everyone was chatting to the beginning, and suddenly they only heard a sound of the stairs, a seven-foot strong man dressed as a headcatcher, with a yellow face and big eyes, wearing a fast hunting suit and fast boots, appeared at the staircase, Han Shige's face flashed a trace of unhappiness, and he slammed the wine glass he was holding on the table, and shouted: "Didn't you explain it a long time ago?" We have guests here today, don't bother us!"

After seeing Han Shige, he first wiped the sweat on his face, and then bowed and said, "Qi Yu assassinated Lord Shi, there was a murder in the city, and someone came to report to the official." ”

Han Shige was slightly stunned, then his face became very ugly, and said, "What the hell is going on?" ”

"Just now, a resident in the northwest of the city came to report to the official, saying that his wife quarreled with him yesterday, and he couldn't get angry for a while, so he looked for a short time when he wasn't paying attention. He also brought a tenant who rented his house with him, saying that he was a witness. ”

As soon as Wang Shichong heard this, his heart moved, and he blurted out almost at the same time as Li Jing: "The human witness is called Xiao Miao?" ”

Caught up in surprise, his eyes widened: "How can the two adults know?" ”

Everyone present looked at each other and put down the wine glasses and chopsticks in their hands. Even Han Shimo's face was cloudy. The light flickered in his eyes.

Wang Shichong understood. It must have been after the old woman killer was killed by Xiao last night. The body could not be disposed of, so a fake suicide scene was created in order to avoid the government's interrogation.

Because of Li Jing's attention to Xiao Miao, the sudden disappearance of the old woman will inevitably arouse Li Jing's suspicions, and if you take this opportunity to investigate to the end, you may be in trouble.

So Xiao Milling will make a first move. I just don't know if I can hide it from Li Jing's eyes this time.

Wang Shichong glanced at Li Jing from the corner of his eye, only to see him caressing the short beard of his chin, thinking intently. saw Li Jing's appearance. Wang Shichong suddenly began to worry about Xiao Miao's future.

Han Shige sighed and said, "Since there is a murder, I'm afraid we won't be able to drink this meal, Brother Wang, I'm really sorry today, Han has to set up another table another day to make amends to you." ”

Wang Shichong smiled slightly and said, "Brother Han is too polite, this murder is about Xiao Miao, and Wang also wants to see it with his own eyes." ”

Han Shige was slightly stunned. said: "Brother Wang has not officially taken office yet, so I am afraid that it will be inconsistent with the law to go to the case now." ”

Wang Shichong smiled and shook his head. Said: "Brother Han misunderstood, Wang just wanted to watch from the sidelines, after all, the pharmacist said just now that this person is very suspicious of rebellion, and Wang will stay here for a few years in the future, if this person is innocent, he can naturally breathe a sigh of relief, and he doesn't have to be suspicious all day long, if he has a problem, it is best to crack it in Brother Han's office, which can be regarded as a great achievement." ”

Han Shige didn't want to take care of this case in his heart, no matter whether Xiao Mo had a problem or not, he was thankless, in case this person was really a traitor, the emperor might be happy for a while, but Empress Xiao would definitely hate herself for the rest of her life, and the risk and benefit were completely disproportionate.

Li Jing has been here for more than a year, Han Shige was also disturbed by his fierce pursuit of this case, and only for the sake of his kinship did he order Hu Sizheng to be as convenient as possible for him, just now Li Jing entangled this matter in the banquet has made him angry in public, and now Wang Shichong has the intention of intervening in this case, and it makes him keep scolding his mother in his stomach, blaming Li Jing for being troublesome.

But Han Shige still reluctantly put on a smile and said: "Brother Wang is diligent in his official duties, which really makes Han's hand-shaking shopkeeper embarrassed. Okay, then ask Brother Wang to go with you, if you see any flaws, but it doesn't hurt!"

Wang Shichong smiled slightly: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say." ”

So a group of six people got up and left the table one after another, straightened the official hat, and straightened the official uniform (Wei Zhengnai is a cloth dress, except for Wei Zhengnai), and then Han Shige took the lead and walked down the stairs.

Han Shige majestically swept the officials who were chattering, his eyes were as sharp as lightning, and these people suddenly closed their mouths and bowed their heads silently.

Han Shige snorted heavily, turned around and walked out, while Li Jing walked a few steps briskly and followed. Hu Sizheng glanced around the hall and said, "Everyone, please continue to eat, something happened in the state, Lord Thorn Shi has to deal with it, you can go back first after eating, please forgive me for the inconsiderate hospitality today." ”

The county commanders hurriedly stood up and saluted, respectfully claiming that they were.

Wang Shichong also glanced at Zhang Jincheng and An Jiatuo, and said, "You go back to the inn in a while, and I'll come when I go." After finishing speaking, Wang Shichong also strode out, and Wei Zheng followed him closely and also went out.

Wang Shichong was thinking about what might happen for a while, he began to plan for the worst, if Xiao Mo revealed his flaws and was taken down by Li Jing in one fell swoop, if he bit himself back at that time, what method could he use to break the siege? Extinguish? Resist death and don't admit it? Thinking about it, there didn't seem to be a perfect solution, Wang Shichong couldn't help but feel anxious, and the sweat on his back soaked a large piece of the purple official robe.

Unconsciously, the group walked to the county government hall, Han Shige sat on the chair behind the case, while Wang Shichong sat in a guest seat on the left side of the case, Wei Zheng stood behind him, Li Jing and Hu Sizheng sat on the two chairs on the right side of the case, and the two classes of officials were already in place, holding the wind and fire sticks. shouted in unison: "Might--might-"

There were two people standing in the hall. Xiao Milling was dressed in a green coat and scarf. The simple cloth clothes could not hide his elegant atmosphere, he looked at Li Jing first, and said with a smile: "Li Yi is okay with the same people?" ”

Li Jing said coldly: "Li is very good, don't bother Your Excellency, Your Excellency should take care of your own affairs." ”

Xiao Mo smiled and said nothing, his eyes began to sweep from Hu Sizheng, passed by Wang Shichong and Wei Zheng, and made a slightly surprised look when he saw the two of them. He looked up and down carefully, as if he had never seen these two before.

After a long time, Xiao Mo turned his gaze to Han Shige, who was sitting in the lobby with a majestic face, and saluted with a straight face, and said, "Grass people Xiao Miao, I have seen Lord Thorn Shi!"

Han Shige was about to speak first, but suddenly remembered something, picked up the shocking wood on the table, and slapped it heavily. He shouted in a deep voice: "The two people in the hall, who is the surname?" Who's the people, report the name quickly!"

Xiao Mo smiled indifferently and said unhurriedly: "Xiao Miao, a grass man, whose ancestral home is Jiangling, Jingzhou, now lives in the Qi Daofu family in the northwest corner of Yingzhou City, and makes a living by copying books and writing inscriptions. ”

Han Shige said: "Xiao Miao, did you beat the drum and file a complaint?" If you are from Jiangling, why do you want to come to Yingzhou? ”

Xiao Miao's tone was gentle, but faintly revealed a kind of confidence that was neither humble nor arrogant: "If you go back to the history of Han Thorn, the grass people were originally the Xiao clan of the Liang State, because the old country perished, and went to the people, after several tosses, came to the boundary of Yingzhou, because there are many ancient documents here, and the grass people love to read, so they stayed here for several years. It was Uncle Qi who came to complain, and the grass people were just witnessing. ”

Han Shimo's eyes turned to Qi Daofu, and saw that this person was about fifty-five or sixteen years old, his messy hair was gray, his back was bent, his face was full of wrinkles, and he was wearing an ordinary blue cloth shirt, while a pair of eyes that were not too big were rolling around, as if he was thinking about words.

Han Shige turned to Qi Daofu and shouted, "Are you Qi Daofu?" ”

Qi Daofu seemed to be startled by Han Shige's voice, and knelt on the ground with a "plop", his voice trembling: "Go back to the Qingtian master, the little old man is Qi Daofu." ”

Han Shige sneered and said, "Qi Daofu, but you are beating drums outside the mansion to voice grievances?" Said it was a homicide? ”

Qi Daofu lay on the ground, didn't dare to raise his head, his body was trembling slightly, and said: "It's all because the little old man is not good, last night he had a few words with our old wife over trivial matters, and finally the little old man ran away from home angrily, and deliberately angry with her, saying that I was going to the Chunxiang Pavilion in the city to find the girl." ”

"As a result, the little old man just went back after a night on the street, but I didn't expect it, but I didn't expect that my wife couldn't think about it for a while, so she actually looked for a short time!" When Qi Daofu said this, he burst into tears, beat his chest in this public court, and cried.

Han Shige snorted heavily, turned to Xiao Miao, and asked in a deep voice, "What Qi Daofu said is the truth?" ”

Xiao Mo smiled slightly, and said, "No, no, that Liu was killed by this Qi Daofu." ”

Xiao Miao's words were like a stone stirring up a thousand waves, and the people in the hall and the hall heard the words, and even the left and right classes of officials began to talk to each other, only Li Jing frowned and didn't say a word, as if he had expected this a long time ago.

Wang Shichong didn't expect Xiao Mill to retract his confession in court, this time it was really unexpected to him, he looked at Xiao Mill fixedly, only to see a faint confident smile on the corner of Xiao Mill's mouth, and he didn't know what medicine he was selling in his gourd, but one thing is for sure, today's qiē is obviously his plan after careful planning.

Qi Daofu, who had been rolling on the ground just now, also stopped his performance suddenly, looked at Xiao Mo in surprise, his eyes were full of disbelief, and said, "Mr. Xiao, don't dare to say this." You saw with your own eyes that my old woman was looking for a short-term view, and she said that she wanted to clear her grievances for the little old man. ”

Han Shige slapped the startled wood, "snapped", and everyone in the hall dared not make a sound, he said in a deep voice: "Above the court, what kind of system is it to make a loud noise?!"

After training the officials, Han Shige turned to Xiao Mill, with a stern expression: "Xiao Mill, this official has heard of your reputation here, and you can be regarded as an admired literati." But this is a matter of human life in the public court, and you can't talk about it, otherwise even if you have a backer, I'm afraid you won't be able to clear yourself of the crime of false accusation. ”

Xiao Mo saluted unhurriedly, his tone was smooth, and his words were round: "Of course Xiao is not open-mouthed, when Xiao was copying the book last night, he heard some quarrels in Qi Daofu's room. At that time, Xiao didn't care, after all, it was someone's family matter. Then the voice died down. Xiao saw that Qi Dao Fu snorted and went out. I didn't think much about it. I continued to read and quickly fell asleep due to some tiredness last night. ”

But early this morning, this Qi Daofu came to Xiao, saying that Aunt Liu hanged herself to find a short view, and pulled Xiao to his room to check. Although Xiao was not talented, he knew at a glance that it was Qi Daofu's hand, and Qi Daofu asked Xiao to testify for him at that time. ”

Although Xiao saw the clue. But at that time, only Xiao and Qi Daofu were present, if he was poked on the spot, this person was likely to poison Xiao, although this Qi Daofu was already old, but after all, he had killed people, and Xiao was just a weak scholar, and he had no power to restrain the chicken, if he really started to do it, he was afraid that he would be poisoned by this person. So Xiao falsely wronged him and pretended to agree to come to the state government with him to testify. to expose this thief on the spot!"

When Qi Daofu heard this, he suddenly jumped up from the ground. Pointing at Xiao Mo and scolding: "Okay, your surname is Xiao, my husband and wife see that you are pitiful, and they kindly took you in for the past few years, but I didn't expect you to take revenge, spew blood, and frame me!" If you are still a scholar and have a conscience, you are not afraid of retribution!"

Xiao Miao's face didn't have any expression, he didn't look at Qi Daofu, and there was a trace of coldness in his voice: "Human life is bigger than the sky, Xiao Mou can't help you break the law if he reads the sage book, right and wrong, as long as Han Tingshi arrives at the scene, he will know at a glance." ”

Han Shige nodded, turned his head and asked the yellow-faced catcher who came to Xiaolou to inform everyone: "Lei Catcher, did you send someone to protect the murder scene?" ”

The yellow-faced head catcher is named Lei Shimeng, born in a wealthy family in Yingzhou City, and he has also been a head catcher in the state government for more than ten years.

Lei Shimeng saluted Han Shige and said respectfully: "If you go back to the master, when you receive a report, you immediately sent Dong Jingzhen, the deputy head of the capital, with ten capable brothers, to the Qi Daofu family. ”

Han Shige nodded approvingly: "Lei Zhutou, you handled it very well, now the official is going to go to the scene to check, and you will lead the way in front." ”

Lei Shi snorted, turned around and walked in front with his head held high, and there were already six five big and three rough officials surrounding Xiao Mo and Qi Daofu, walking behind Lei Shimeng.

Han Shige stood up and made a gesture of invitation to Wang Shichong, while Wang Shichong and the others followed Han Shige all the way out of the state office.

When he arrived at the yamen, Chen Ling, who had not been in the hall just now, had already led the troops to wait here on horseback, and there were even armored sergeants who brought over five horses for Wang Shichong and others to ride.

More than 100 government soldiers set up a vigilant formation on both sides of the horse, and several officials holding high the signs of "Silence" and "Avoidance" stood at the forefront, sounding gongs all the way to open the way, and walking slowly.

Wang Shichong This is the first time to go out on patrol like a real official master, and along the way, I saw people standing on both sides of the street, and they didn't even dare to take a breath of atmosphere, and some people knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing. And Han Shige, who was riding in front, was complacent, constantly raising the horsewhip in his hand, greeting the people on both sides, and the ground was majestic.

After walking for a long time, after passing through three or four streets, I arrived at the small courtyard of Qi Daofu, when Wang Shichong came to this courtyard last night, because the night was dark and the wind was high, and there was no lantern, so he did not take a closer look at the surrounding environment. Now in broad daylight, Wang Shichong can really see that this is really an ordinary civilian house, but the big water tank in the courtyard has disappeared.

Xiao Mo led the way in front, led everyone into the courtyard, pointed to the loess rammed bungalow on the left, and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this is the place where Qi Daofu killed." ”

Wang Shichong walked to the door and looked in, only to see a middle-aged woman in her forties, hanging high above the beam, the house was in a mess, the table was crooked, the woman's face was purple, her clothes were torn in several places, her tongue was sticking out of her mouth, her eyes were bulging, and she looked like she had been dead for six or seven hours.

Han Shige glanced at it, shook his head, turned his head to Xiao Mo and said: "Xiao Miao, the official can't see anything wrong here, the deceased is hanging on the beam of the house, and you haven't examined the body, how can you tell that Qi Daofu killed him?" ”

Wei Zheng and Li Jing glanced at each other, comprehended, and smiled without saying a word.

Xiao Mo smiled and walked into the room. Said: "Qi Daofu." Xiao will teach you how to sin now. ”

Qi Daofu said hatefully: "The surname is Xiao." You are spewing blood, and all the adults are bright-eyed, and you will be punished for false accusation in a while. ”

Xiao Mo circled around the corpse and said slowly: "Qi Daofu, first, if I were you, I would change Aunt Liu into new clothes to cover up the fact that you had a scuffle with her." The cracks in her clothes now prove that you fought last night. ”

Qi Daofu was speechless all of a sudden. Stayed where I was.

Xiao Mo continued: "Second, if I were you, I would have straightened the tables, chairs and benches in this room, and at a glance here, you can tell that there was a fight, far from being as simple as you said. ”

Qi Daofu's head began to sweat, the corners of his mouth twitched, and he protested: "We are not as particular as you scholars, and husbands and wives have to do their hands and feet when they quarrel, what can this prove?" My wife was obviously hanged, I don't believe we can find a doom to do an autopsy!"

Xiao Mo smiled slightly. said: "Don't worry, I haven't finished yet." Third. If I were you, I wouldn't have hung Aunt Liu so high after strangling her. ”

When Xiao Mo said this, he helped up a bench under Aunt Liu's feet, and the stool was still more than half a foot away from the soles of Aunt Liu's feet.

When Wang Shichong saw this, he immediately realized that Aunt Liu's feet only had this stool that had been kicked down, and it was half a foot away from her feet, which was obviously not the distance that a hanged person could kick over the stool.

Qi Daofu's face suddenly turned to ashes, and he collapsed to the ground weakly.

Xiao Mo put away his smile, and a cold glint flashed in his eyes: "Qi Daofu, you killed Aunt Liu before you went out last night, and afterwards you were weak-hearted, first disguised the scene, and then tried to pull me to help you perjury, now the evidence is ironclad, what else do you have to say?" ”

Han Shige shouted at Qi Daofu: "Bold Qi Daofu, killing his wife first, deceiving his official later, now that the case has come to light, he didn't quickly recruit from the truth!"

Qi Daofu knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing: "It's all to blame for the villain's drunken immorality, first quarreling with my wife, and then making a move, and finally accidentally strangled her to death." The villain was frightened and did not dare to take the initiative to surrender, so he faked the illusion that the old woman was hanged, and wanted to get by. Big master, what the little old man said is true, and I hope that the big man will be kind and spare the little old man's life!"

Han Shige snorted heavily, and said to the group of officials behind him: "Take down Qi Daofu and put him on death row." ”

Lei Shi violently promised, took two officials, and picked up Qi Daofu from the ground like catching a chicken, sandwiched it left and right, and dragged Qi Daofu out, and Qi Daofu kept shouting along the way: "The master spares his life." ”

Wang Shichong's heart is bright, Xiao Mo directed and acted in such a play, that Qi Daofu is a dead soldier of the Xiao family, deliberately pretending to be so stupid and obscene, and using a simple murder case to clear Xiao Miao's suspicion, but this trick can hide Han Shige, Hu Sizheng and Li Jing, who are not very familiar with the contradictions between Xiao Mo and Queen Xiao, but they can't hide it from Chen Ling.

Wang Shichong looked at Chen Ling, only to see that his face was gloomy, looking at Xiao Miao, who was talking to Han Shige, and was thinking in a trance.

As soon as Wang Shichong's eyes fell on him, Chen Ling immediately realized something, regained his smiling expression, and said to Wang Shichong: "Wang Tingshi, you see that our Yingzhou is really a hidden dragon and a crouching tiger, Mr. Xiao is really worthy of his reputation, and even I, the Sima who is responsible for catching thieves and bandits in the city, am ashamed of myself." ”

Wang Shichong smiled and said meaningfully: "Yes, Mr. Xiao is a member of the former dynasty clan, and a relative of Empress Xiao of the current dynasty, since the emperor ascended the throne this year, many of the children of the Xiao family have soared, Mr. Xiao's talent must be outstanding in the Xiao family, and he will definitely be entrusted with important tasks in the future." ”

Chen Ling's face changed slightly, and in an instant, he smiled again, and laughed: "Yes, Mr. Xiao is talented, and the future is really limitless." ”

Li Jing has been watching coldly from the sidelines, without any expression on his face, and his eyes are almost not rolling, obviously thinking in a trance, after hearing Chen Ling and Wang Shichong's words, he shook his head and said: "Li thinks that there are still some doubts in this case. (To be continued......)