At that time, the yamen of Dali Temple did not speak, and a group of officials in the hall were looking through the files at hand and sorting them out.

Xu Hexiu looked at the surrounding officials who were busy doing things, got up and walked out the door. His colleagues were all immersed in work, and almost no one noticed his departure, even if they found out, they didn't care.

Walking all the way out of the lobby to the door, Xu Hexiu took a deep breath and walked down the stone steps with his feet up.

"Lord Xu." A female voice suddenly sounded at this moment.

Xu Hexiu paused, and when he stepped on the air, he saw that he was about to fall, and suddenly stretched out a hand to support him in the oblique stab.

"Master Xu, are you alright?" The girl who suddenly appeared tilted her head and asked seriously.

Xu Hexiu twitched the corner of his mouth: "No...... It's okay. ”

Fang Cai is really dangerous, if Fang Cai falls, he falls in front of the yamen with one foot in the air, and he is estimated to be laughed at for a while.

Xu Hexiu looked up at the initiator in front of him who suddenly stopped him.

The initiator seemed to be completely unaware, smiled at him, and said, "Lord Xu, I have something to look for you." ”

I can't open my mouth at this time! Xu He sneered and said to the girl in front of him: "The case that Lord Zhen asked me to co-handle has made some progress, and I want to go out." ”

Qiao Ran smiled and said, "Are you going to Yuanheng Qianzhuang?" ”

As soon as these words came out, Xu Hexiu, who was still a little hesitant, immediately changed his face, and quickly pulled her aside, looked around, and couldn't help but whisper after making sure that there was no one: "You...... How do you know? ”

Of course she knew that she had given the seal and the idea was hers. Qiao Ran said in her heart.

"Did Master Zhen tell you?" Without waiting for Qiao Ran to reply, Xu Hexiu spoke, and then nodded to himself, and said, "It must be so, adults still value you very much." He sighed.

Qiao Ran said, "Why are you sighing? ”

Xu Hexiu glanced at her with a melancholy expression: "I don't know, but I suddenly felt a little emotional." ”

Qiao Ran saw that he was suddenly moaning without illness, and did not continue to ask, but opened his mouth to point out his intention: "Lord Xu, I want to visit Xu's house." ”

Xu Hexiu was stunned for a moment: "Who to visit?" ”

Qiao Ran said: "Look at what Xu Ergongzi left behind." ”

As soon as these words came out, Xu Hexiu thought about it and said: "You go to my Xu family, the family must be welcome, but the second cousin has such a thing, and the second aunt and they wash their faces with tears every day at home, afraid that they will lose control of their emotions and do something at that time." ”

Regarding the accident of the second cousin, from the initial worry to the later confirmation, and now although it is sad, it is not impossible to talk about it. In this regard, Xu Hexiu had already secretly sighed: Your Majesty's overwhelm is not useless, if you order someone to investigate thoroughly at that time, I am afraid that I don't know what kind of turmoil will be caused!

It makes sense to be exhausted in one go, whether on the battlefield or elsewhere.

Hearing the disapproval in his words, Qiao Ran took out the waist card in his sleeve pocket and shook it in front of him: "Can't you see it in person?" ”

Xu Hexiu only felt a block in his chest, and said silently: "I can see it, of course I can see it." "Ever since Ru Zhen came in person, how many times a day has she shown off in front of him.

The world is big, Your Majesty is the biggest, there is this brand, who dares not let her see it?

The girl smiled, and looked at Xu Hexiu's expression as if she hadn't seen it: "The matter of Yuanheng Qianzhuang is not in a hurry," he said, "So I want to go to Xu's house today, can I ask Lord Xu to lead the way?" ”

Xu He Xiuchi glared at her: "You are like me coming in person, no one dares to stop you, just go by yourself, I promised Lord Zhen to go to Yuanheng Qianzhuang today." ”

In fact, he was not in a hurry today, but in order to find a good excuse to enter Yuanheng Qianzhuang, he also specially stole his father's seal.

You must know that there is not only money that cannot be put on the table, but also a small treasury that cannot be put on the face of the lady.

It was the private money that his father had saved for many years, and he secretly took it out in order to handle the case, and if it was delayed, his father would find out that he would definitely be beaten by his father and son.

She is not an easy person to persuade, Xu Hexiu continued to think of the refusal after speaking.

It's just unexpected, the girl just smiled when she heard this, and then turned sideways and stepped out of the way.

Xu and Xiuhu looked at her suspiciously, seeing that she had really given way and was about to leave, but they heard a small but clearly audible muttering behind them.

"It's a pity, I originally wanted you to go with me to Xu Ergongzi to see ......"

As soon as these words came out, Xu Hexiu's steps immediately turned back, and he hurriedly turned to the girl behind him, and said, "Even if you promise Lord Zhen, you can go another day." Master Qiao, since you are going to my Xu family, how can I not lead the way? Let's go! ”

Lord Zhen's matter is not so urgent, but in comparison, being able to "participate" in the case of Que Lou, even if it is only a little, is amazing.

However, after a little weighing, Xu and Xiu chose the latter.

Que Lou's case was not small in the first place, not to mention, according to his "years" of experience, as long as the cases she was involved in, the bizarre and wonderful things were far from being comparable to ordinary cases. Besides, this is originally a matter involving the second cousin, what's wrong with him being positive?

The reason is just to find it.

The Xu family is not far from the Yamen of Dali Temple, and it is more troublesome to take a car than to walk, so the two simply walked to the Xu family's mansion.

At this time, Mrs. Xu was in the early dynasty, and the children of the Xu family who had entered the officialdom were also on duty in the yamen, so there was no one in front of the Xu family's mansion.

When he passed, the door of the Xu family's mansion was open, Xu Hexiu walked in directly with Qiao Ran, and asked the gatekeeper who greeted him, "Is the tenth sister at home?" ”

It just so happened that his tenth sister had always wanted to see Master Qiao, such a good opportunity, no need for nothing!

Qiao Ran glanced at him and didn't interrupt him.

See you, she is also curious about the Miss Xu Shi who wrote the book!

However, it is a pity that the porter replied: "Several ladies and ladies are not at home, and Qin Tianjian issued a notice yesterday saying that it will not snow for any time, so Mrs. and Miss took advantage of the good day to go out to the Hanshan Temple outside the city to pray for blessings." ”

The smile on Xu Hexiu's face immediately faded.

Prays. Laba doesn't have the custom of praying for blessings, and there is no elder in the family for birthdays or anything, so what else can you pray for when you go to Hanshan Temple at this time?

For the second brother! Everyone knows that something has happened to the people in the Que Tower, and His Majesty has not allowed them to take the corpse back, what else can the family do at the moment besides these?

The mood was gloomy for no reason, Xu Hexiu was silent for a while, then turned to Qiao Ran and said, "In this way, it saves a lot of trouble, let's go to the second cousin and have a look!" ”

Qiao Ran replied and followed.

……

Although the Xu family has a first-class master, it can also be regarded as a famous existence among the wealthy families in Chang'an City, and his prestige and power are flourishing. However, the upstart is not as good as the big families that have been in business for hundreds of years, and among the wealthy families in Chang'an, the Xu family is considered poor, which can be seen from Xu Hexiu waiting for the clan to release silver every month. Of course, no matter how poor you are, it is also a first-class family in Chang'an, which is far from being comparable to ordinary people.

It's just that compared with the big families next to it, the Xu family's mansion doesn't have so much elaborate thought, and along the way, it is not much different from the ordinary mansion compound, and it is even a little simple.

"It's not a secret, after the second cousin's accident, I also went into his yard, but I didn't find anything." Xu Hexiu took her as she walked.

Qiao Ran glanced at him: "I don't know what to look for!" ”

Xu Hexiu nodded: "Yes, it should be the wrong way for me to check." I don't know what to look for, I'm confused, I have nowhere to start! ”

There is a lot of emotion between the words, how to find a fly without a head.

"It's not like there's nowhere to start now." The girl retracted her gaze as she spoke, looking at the small courtyard that was close at hand.

Xu Hexiu followed her gaze and looked over: "That's my second cousin's yard, let's go in and have a look!" ”

After entering the courtyard gate, the furnishings of the courtyard can be described at a glance. The division of the courtyard is very simple, the middle is the bedroom, the left is the study, and the right is the place where the miscellaneous items and the little guy Kunzhi lived, but now the little guy Kun Zhi is also dead.

"Let's go to the study first!" After a pause, Xu Hexiu took Qiao Ran to the study.

The study was not locked, and when he pushed the door in, there was a burst of dust and smoke coming to his face, Xu Hexiu covered his lips and fanned him, and waited until the dust and smoke fell in mid-air before he walked in with Qiao Ran.

"Originally, it was still cleaned every day, but after the bridge was connected, no one cleaned it." Xu and monasticism.

When the people are gone, what are you cleaning?

Qiao Ran nodded and said, "This is a good thing. ”

"yes!" Xu Hexiu's face was a little complicated, but he also sighed and said, "This is a good thing. ”

Naturally, the less damage there is to the case, the better, so that a house full of dust and smoke that no one has set foot on is a good thing for them to find objects.

"My second cousin is not in the office," Xu Hexiu said and walked to the two rows of large bookshelves in the middle of the study, picked up a book and flipped through it, "He likes to sing poetry and paint, and Su Rili also talks about Fengyue or something with his friends, and he doesn't like anything else." ”

Qiao Ran nodded, paused, and suddenly said, "Do you remember the famous man case in Jinling?" ”

The old case was brought up again, and Xu Hexiu's face became delicate: of course he remembered that they were not very familiar with him at that time. It's just a few celebrities who move the world, and the death of everyone can shake the Dachu painting world a lot.

Of course, they were in Jinling at the time, and when they returned to Chang'an, the shock caused by the accident had subsided.

Chang'an is such a place, and there are few things that can be active in the mouths of the people for a long time.

However, her sudden mention must not be groundless.

"What do you mean? Could it be that I also suspect that my second cousin has done something evil, and they have been retaliated against like those celebrities in Jinling? Xu Hexiu couldn't help but sneer lightly, and then shook his head again and again, "Impossible, my second cousin is not such a person." ”

Qiao Ran flipped through the bookshelves on the side one by one, and didn't raise her head when she heard the words: "Is it this kind of person, you don't count, I don't count if I say it, the evidence has the final say." ”

It's really hard to say anything at the moment, but if you look at the murderer's methods of comparing himself to the hell judge, it is very likely that he thinks that those people in the tower are guilty, and they are still extremely evil. Qiao Ran paused as she flipped through the book: So it is not impossible for someone to retaliate and kill someone because of a mistake, just like the case in Jinling.

Xu Hexiu's face was a little ugly, obviously as an official of Dali Temple, he also knew that her words were right, but he was a little uneasy after all.

"My second cousin Su Rili will bring back a wild cat when he is hungry on the road, how can he do such a thing?" He muttered, but only muttered, and did not continue to argue with her, and then asked, "What are you looking for?" ”

"I don't know." Qiao Ran shook her head and said, "Look for it first, and then let's see." ”

"There are no special things in his study, just objects for books and paintings." Xu and monasticism.

He'd already rummaged through it once, and he didn't find anything special about it.

The girl replied, obviously not wanting to say any more.

Xu Hexiu didn't say anything, and looked for it seriously again.

Looking for it like this, it was like looking for a needle in a haystack, and I didn't know what she wanted, Xu Hexiu turned around and began to flip through the book aimlessly.

Qiao Ran's hand flipping through the book stopped at this time, and Xu Hexiu behind him was still flipping through the books on the shelf, and the rustling sound of flipping books sounded one after another.

She glanced back at Xu Hexiu, her eyes were dark.

She has been looking for the difference between each corpse, those who have been tortured by pulling out their tongues and swords, although it is difficult to identify their appearance when she goes to see them, but they are earlier than her, when Feng Qizuo went to see them, although those corpses are also horribly swollen into fat people, but they can still faintly distinguish the connection between the corpse and the real person, and some of the obvious physical features can even accurately identify who it is.

Of course, this is due to the mastery of Mao's depiction, and his vivid depiction of the state of the corpse.

Even if it was the murderer who broke the bridge, it was uncontrollable when it would be restored, and this was something that even the master of the craftsman could not determine, and the murderer was naturally impossible to determine.

Therefore, if she is the murderer, the identity of the dozen or so corpses with tongues and knives and the miscellaneous servants who were killed with a knife cannot be hidden, if the craftsmen and prisoners restore the bridge early, then they can enter the tower earlier, and the difference between the corpse and the real person will be smaller. Therefore, there is no problem with the identity of the dozen or so corpses and the miscellaneous servants.

The rest were the five bodies that died in the Bronze Pillar Prison and the one who died in the first place to be skinned, whose identities were unidentifiable. Later, they were identified by their robes and the bones and lengths they carried.

But the length is not too precise, not to mention that they are all young people in their twenties, and the height originally recorded in the book may not be reliable, so there is no way to fully confirm it.

This Xu Er Gongzi is one of those people who may have died of skinning or Tongzhu Prison, which has not been confirmed.

Judging from the murderer's desire to compare himself to the judge to reproduce the eighteen hells, he desperately wanted to kill people with the sins committed by each person, but there were only four punishments in the Que Tower.

The sword mountain and the bronze pillar have their respective sins, but the sins of pulling out the tongue and peeling the skin are actually heavy, and they all correspond to the mistakes of the tongue, since they are all like this, then why do you separate one of them from the eleven people?

Qiao Ran felt a little strange.

Flipping the book and turning his hands were sore, only to realize that he hadn't heard the sound of flipping the book behind him for a long time, Xu Hexiu turned around and looked over, and then met the girl's faint eyes.

This look startled Xu Hexiu, and he hurriedly said, "You...... What are you doing? "Looking at him so faintly, it makes people's hearts furious.

Qiao Ran glanced at him and said, "It's okay, I'll just take a look." ”

Then don't look at him, okay? Xu Hexiu took a step back and bumped into the bookshelf, which shook and made a sound of a stalk.

Qiao Ran was stunned and said, "Mo is not a mouse!" ”

Hearing the word "mouse", Xu Hexiu's face changed suddenly, and he exclaimed, and at this time, with a "meow", a dirty cat walked out from behind the bookshelf.

Skinny, with a pair of blue eyes, looking at them faintly.

Xu Hexiu breathed a sigh of relief and shouted "Moxiang".

The cat turned its head to look at him, meowed at him, waited for a moment, and then turned to look at Qiao Ran.

"Where's this cat?" Qiao Ran frowned at the dirty cat, although it had rolled into gray, but judging from her years of experience in watching cats, this should be a white cat, but it was so dirty and skinny, no one should care about it.

"It was brought back by the second cousin and raised secretly." Xu Hexiu squatted down as he spoke, stretching out his hand towards the white cat, "Moxiang, come." ”

The white cat turned its head to look at him, ignored him, and then slowly walked up to Qiao Ran and "meowed".

Qiao Ran looked at it and didn't speak.

The white cat barked at her twice: "Meow! ”

Xu Hexiu, who was ignored, was a little embarrassed, but when he saw Mo Xiang "meowing" at Qiao Ran, his eyes couldn't help but light up: "Master Qiao, don't you look at Mo Xiang like this now, it's beautiful when it's cleaned." Do you want to take it back and keep it? ”

Qiao Ran didn't pay attention to him, just looked at the white cat, and one person and one cat looked at each other like this.

The scene is somewhat bizarre and comical.

Xu Hexiu, who was completely ignored, could only laugh dryly twice, and continued to persuade: "I also like ink fragrance and want to raise it." It's just that the elders of the clan are afraid of cats and don't like them. At first, there was a second cousin who was secretly raised, and after the second cousin was gone, this ink fragrance didn't know where it went, I looked for it a few times and didn't see it thinking it had run away, but I didn't expect it to be here. ”

"Lord Qiao, I really don't lie to you, this cat is really beautiful, you feed it more, it looks good when you raise it, it's a beautiful cat embryo......"

Xu Hexiu persuaded seriously, and when he saw Mo Xiang's thin appearance, he was also a little distressed. This cat has a big temper, ignore him, if you force it to pick it up, you will give him a paw, he has eaten a few lessons for this, and I don't know how this cat fell in love with her?

"It has blue eyes, long hair, and short legs." The girl spoke at this time, she turned her head and asked Xu Hexiu, "This is not our cat from the Central Plains of Great Chu, but it seems to be from outside the plug." ”

Xu Hexiu was stunned for a moment, and then heard the girl speak again: "This kind of cat is not common, where did your second cousin get it?" ”