"Can we go and have a look at your house? Especially your son Zhang Donglin's bedroom. ”

Ma's face became more and more pale, she blocked the door, and asked in a trembling voice: "Poor master, do you suspect that our family Donglin has killed someone?" ”

Chang Tai hadn't answered yet, but Zhang Youfu, who was standing behind them, opened his mouth first: "Whether it was your Donglin murder or not, I can't be sure at the moment." The poor master came to check, and by the way, I asked about the situation in your Donglin. Your Donglin is a fool, and everyone in our Nanwang Village knows that even if he really killed him, the official master will be lenient. ”

No mother can be calm when she hears others say that her son is a fool, Ma has the heart to refute, but what Zhang Youfu said is also true. Moreover, she is cowardly by nature, and in front of the two catchers, this refutation is even more unspeakable.

Ma Shi got out of the way and let Chang Tai take Xiao Shengzi into the courtyard, and went directly to Zhang Donglin's house. It can be seen that Ma is a woman with very sharp hands and feet, even if her son has become a fool, she still cleans up his house and cleans it neatly.

"This room was cleaned this morning?"

"No, I cleaned it two days ago, and I haven't taken care of it today." Ma Shi glanced at the room and replied, "Since he was sick, my son has not slept at home often. Even when I came back, I was nestled in the yard. Although my father and I were distressed, there was nothing we could do. This house, when he used to be good, he made it all by himself, but now that he is sick, I, as a mother, will help him clean it every few days. I hope that when he is well from his illness, he will see that the house is open and clean. ”

Zhang Youfu's eyes turned twice, and he pointed to the corner of the courtyard and said to Chang Tai: "Poor master, do you want to go and see the place where Zhang Donglin sleeps on weekdays, maybe there are new discoveries." ”

Chang Tai nodded and followed Zhang Youfu to the place in the courtyard where the sundries should have been stacked. There was a thick layer of grass on the ground, and there was a rotten mattress on the grass, and there were a lot of blood stains on the mattress. Underneath the mattress, there was also a garment stained with slight blood.

"Bloody clothes, isn't this bloody clothes? Oh my God, Shen Mingyue, who died in the ancestral hall, was actually killed by Zhang Donglin, a fool. Zhang Youfu shouted as he turned around and pointed at Ma's with his finger: "Your son is the murderer." ”

The blood on Ma's face faded instantly, and the person sat on the ground with a "plop".

"Just by virtue of a bloody coat, you can conclude that someone's son killed someone, Village Chief Zhang, are you also a little arbitrary?" Xing Ruyi appeared at the door of Zhang Donglin's house with a fox in his arms, and when he spoke, he was poking his head out and running towards the shed.

"Who are you, girl? Why do you say that I am arbitrary? ”

"I'm sorry, I'm passing by, and I'm going to see the excitement by the way." Xing Ruyi raised his feet, and originally wanted to enter the courtyard of Zhang Donglin's house, but his eyes were on Chang Tai's, and he took it back. Anyway, what she wants to say, she can say when she stands in the doorway. "My surname is Xing, so you should be regarded as a warm-hearted person who helps me when my road is uneven."

"Who am I, I have just told the village chief about you, as for why you asked me to be arbitrary? This, of course, is based on my own reasoning. Xing Ruyi stroked the fox's hair: "Dare to ask the village chief, is this Zhang Donglin a fool?" ”

"Of course, don't talk about our Nanwang Village, even the villages near here, and they all know that Zhang Donglin is a fool."

"Then ask the village chief again, does this fool know that he has to change his clothes when he kills someone?"

"Just because he doesn't know doesn't mean that the people around him don't either." Zhang Youfu snorted coldly and fell his gaze on Zhang Donglin's mother, who was still sitting on the ground, that is, Ma's. This meaning is obvious, that is, the father and mother help their son cover up the truth of the murder.

"I understand what the village chief means, but you, village chief, do you understand what you mean by saying these words?" Xing Ruyi looked at Zhang Youfu with a pair of beautiful eyes: "Since it was to help cover up, why did the accomplice just help Zhang Donglin take off this bloody clothes, instead of hiding it or even burning it with fire." The bloody clothes were placed in the shed with such a swagger, as if they were deliberately waiting for someone to get them.

Also, since the village chief said that Zhang Donglin had an accomplice to help cover up, the little woman asked the village chief again, why did this accomplice just help take off the bloody clothes, but left Zhang Donglin's shoes alone? ”

"Shoes?"

"Yes, shoes." Xing Ruyi nodded affirmatively: "When the official master opened the court, it happened that the little woman was also there, and it happened that the little woman liked to look at the shoes worn on people's feet. This Zhang Donglin had been to the scene of the crime in the ancestral hall, and had touched the deceased Shen Mingyue with his hand, and in a panic, he was not only stained with blood on his clothes, but also with blood stains on his feet. Some of those blood stains have not dried up until they reached the court, so there is also a string of shallow bloody footprints on the ground of the court.

In addition, it is impossible for a murderer to have two bloody clothes at the same time. When Zhang Donglin went to the court, he was wearing a bloody coat, but the area of the blood stains was not as large as this one. Could it be that the fool was afraid that others would not know that he was stupid, so he deliberately made two bloody clothes out? Also, this Lord Chang, please be sure to carefully check the physical evidence before handling the case, the clothes that appeared in Zhang Donglin's house are not necessarily what Zhang Donglin himself wore. Although it is an outerwear, the width of the body is different, and the fabric of the clothing is also different. ”

Xing Ruyi's last sentence reminded Ma Shi, who was still sitting on the ground, she quickly got up, walked to Chang Tai, looked at the bloody clothes carefully, and said: "Master Mingjian, this blood-stained clothes are not my Donglin's, not my son Donglin's." My son's clothes from childhood to adulthood were sewn by me as a mother. My family is poor, Donglin likes to read since he was a child, and whenever he has some spare money at home, he also uses it for him to read. Fortunately, my son Donglin is sensible, and he never cares about anything else except spending on reading.

Every year, I go to Luoyang City to buy some wear-resistant fabrics, pull back a large piece of cloth, first make one for Donglin's father, and then make one for Donglin. If you don't believe it, you can open my wardrobe and compare it carefully, whether it is clothes inside or outside, but what Donglin has, his father also has, they are all exactly the same material. This garment is not mine, nor is it something I am willing to buy. ”

"It's really not like Zhang Donglin's." Xing Ruyi didn't know when he also hugged the fox to Chang Tai: "I don't know any fabric, but I can see that this dress is smaller and wider for Zhang Donglin." Zhang Donglin is tall and thin, and this dress doesn't look like he wears, but it looks like the village chief you're wearing. ”

Chang Tai narrowed his eyes coldly, and compared it with Zhang Youfu with the bloody clothes.

Zhang Youfu was so frightened that he hurriedly retreated, and waved his hand again and again and said: "It's not me, it's really not me, I've been at home last night, and my wife can testify for me." ”

"So cowardly, and so afraid of your own lady, it seems that this bloody clothes really don't belong to the village chief." Xing Ruyi said, pointing to the back collar of the clothes: "Don't you think that place is thicker?" ”

Chang Tai pinched it with his hand, and found that the back collar of the bloody clothes was indeed unusually thick, as if there was something entrained in it, and asked Ma to borrow scissors, and when he opened them, they were two silver tickets with large denominations.

"Good girl, there are a lot of silver taels, one for one thousand taels, one for five hundred taels, it can be seen that this bloody cloth is really not the village chief."

"It's not mine, it's not mine." Zhang Youfu wiped the cold sweat on his forehead: "My family's money is in the hands of my wife, and I don't have more than two taels of silver at most, how can this thousand five hundred taels be mine." ”

"That's it, otherwise, let's gather all the villagers of Nanwang Village to the ancestral hall and ask, see whose family is the silver ticket of 1,500 taels? This dress is stained with blood, it may not be a murderer, or it may be like Zhang Donglin, who inadvertently broke into the ancestral hall and met Shen Mingyue. But this 1,500 taels of silver tickets can be exchanged for a large box of heavy silver ingots. So much silver taels, enough for an ordinary family, rich and surplus for a whole year. It's a pity that it was taken by the government like this. ”

"The government won't take it." Chang Tai glanced at Xing Ruyi with a cold face.

"The government doesn't have long hands, so naturally it won't be taken, and it's useless to take it, but some people in the government can't say for sure." Xing Ruyi pretended to yawn, turned around, and walked out.

Xiao Shengzi thought she was very interesting, grinned, and followed: "Girl, are you from this Nanwang Village?" How do you know that the bloody clothes are not Zhang Donglin's? Also, how did you see that there was a silver ticket sewn into the bloody garment? ”

"Want to know?"

"Yes, very much."

"Call the master."

"Call the master?"

"Yes, if you call me master, I will teach you." Xing Ruyi raised her chin arrogantly.

She thought that this little catcher would not bow her head, but she didn't expect that as soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Shengzi called out two words briskly: "Master!" ”

Xing Ruyi was stunned, stopped, and looked at Xiao Shengzi seriously, this was also the first time she and Xiao Shengzi had met seriously. Who would have thought that this seemingly inconspicuous little catcher in front of him would become the favored minister of the popular Tang Emperor in the future.

"Master, isn't this Zhang Donglin really a murderer? Who is the murderer? Why did you choose to kill people in the ancestral hall, and why did you kill that Shen Mingyue? Xiao Shengzi asked a lot of whys.

Xing Ruyi hugged the fox and turned to look at Chang Tai, who was following closely behind him, and Zhang Youfu, the village chief who was still breaking out in a cold sweat on his forehead and waiting for an opportunity to escape.

"Whether Zhang Donglin is the real murderer or not, I can't make a presumptuous assertion now, after all, in the absence of relevant medical appraisal support, I can't be sure whether he is really crazy or pretending to be crazy. If he is really crazy, then he is not a murderer, but if he is pretending to be crazy, according to his wisdom, what we are seeing now may be a game that he has carefully laid out, and this game is used to confuse us and let us judge that he is not a murderer. ”

"It's complicated." Xiao Shengzi scratched his head: "Then is he the real murderer?" Also, Master, what is the medical identification support you just mentioned, is it a pole-like thing? ”

"It's not a pole, it's a complicated but important thing." Xing Ruyi does not intend to explain, because if it is explained, it may not be able to explain it clearly, but it will explain more problems. "If you are asking my personal opinion, I think the real murderer is someone else, Zhang Donglin is just a substitute ghost pushed out by the murderer."