After the incident, the Tang Mansion had been jointly banned by Dongchang, Jinyiwei and the Criminal Department, and it was a lieutenant of Dongchang who was in charge.

Because the case was hasty and sensational, it is said that at the beginning, several officials of the yamen had broken through in the name of investigation, and many clues had been destroyed.

Xu Rui was originally very worried that most of the clues would be annihilated, but when King Yu and Lu Shangshu took Xu Rui to the Tang Mansion, they found that the situation was much better than expected.

Except for the part of the antechamber and cloister that no longer has any valuable clues, the rest of the place is basically the same as it was at the time of the crime.

Seeing Xu Rui's happy expression, Lu Hua said with a smile: "After Liu Shilang learned about this case, he blocked the scene as soon as possible under pressure from all sides, and we can see such a complete crime scene now." ”

Xu Rui nodded and said with a smile: "Liu Shilang is worthy of being my expert in Dawei criminal law, if this case can be solved, you will be a great contribution." ”

Liu Haofei smiled bitterly and shook his head: "I don't dare to be, but it's a pity that even if I left a relatively complete scene, not only did the official not find any clues, but I didn't even find a possible inference, it was not as big as Lord Xu's harvest in half a day, and I was really ashamed." ”

King Yu smiled: "Haofei must not blame himself, although this case is urgent, but the clues are gradual, as the case deepens, the scene you save will become more and more important." ”

After some joking and compliments, Xu Rui and the others began to carefully search the Tang Mansion with the officials of the Criminal Department.

The "joint task force" of Dali Temple, the Criminal Department, Dongchang and Jinyiwei is still in the lobby of the Criminal Department, and King Yu has been hanging for a whole day, after all, it is the order of Emperor Hongwei, and he is not good to do too much.

Seeing that there would be no results in a short period of time, King Yu and Lu Hua went back to the Criminal Department to continue arguing, leaving Liu Haofei to accompany Xu Rui to find clues.

Liu's Mansion is a big mansion with three entrances and three exits, it is said to be a big mansion, but it is much smaller than imagined, not only is it completely incomparable with Yang Weiyuan's Jingwu Marquis Mansion, but it is not even half the size of Liu Yi's General's Mansion, which makes Xu Rui a little surprised.

You must know that if such a house is replaced by a petty official of four or five grades, it is still too small, Tang Jiuguang occupies such a fat shortage as the right servant of the household department, and living in such a house either shows that he is really clean on his sleeves, or he has another hidden secret.

"Does Lord Liu know the details of this mansion?"

In the corridor, Xu Rui asked seemingly casually.

Liu Haofei laughed: "Lord Xu also thinks it's a little strange, right?" The official was also very strange before, how could the dignified right attendant of the household department live so shabby, and after investigation, it was found that this was his family's ancestral home. ”

"Ancestral home?"

"Yes, Tang Jiuguang's father, Tang Heng, once served as the household department of the seventh grade, don't look at the grade is not high, but it is a fat shortage, this is the property he bought thirty years ago, and after Tang Heng died, this house was inherited by his only son Tang Jiuguang."

Xu Rui looked at the already decayed window edge and the faded gallery paintings, and frowned: "Even if you don't change the house, it shouldn't be so dilapidated, it seems that this Tang Shilang doesn't have a lot of money." ”

He muttered to himself, Liu Haofei was noncommittal, and the two continued to inspect the entire mansion.

In the process of searching for clues, Xu Rui also found some puzzling places, such as the Tang family's curtains are used very thick, and some can even completely block the sun.

It is said that this kind of opaque curtain is to cope with the premature rising sun in summer, but the sun height angle in Daxing City is not big enough to the point that the sun will come out at three or four o'clock, and they are eunuchs, and they are used to getting up early, how can they use this kind of curtain?

Moreover, the windows of almost all the rooms of the Tang family were wide open, and only a few were tightly closed.

Xu Rui asked Liu Haofei, and Liu Haofei said that except for the study where Tang Jiuguang hanged, the rest of the rooms where the deceased appeared had open windows, which also made Xu Rui puzzled.

There is another point, there is a square trace in the corner of the study, it seems that there should have been a wooden cabinet there, and later Liu Haofei confirmed that a few days before the incident, Tang Jiuguang had gone to the pawnshop to sell a Huanghuali bookcase, and he got more than 3,000 taels of silver, and the size of the wooden cabinet just coincided with this trace.

Liu Haofei said that in addition to the wooden cabinets, the Tang family had also sold many family properties one after another in the months before the incident, with a total price of nearly 30,000 taels.

On the day of the incident, the reason why the maid was able to escape was because she went to the pawnshop early in the morning to make jewelry, and she was afraid that someone would find out and gossip, so she went out early and completed the task when the pawnshop opened.

Not to mention that all the money is missing, it is very unusual to say that a household servant kept selling his property during a sensitive period when he knew that the imperial court was investigating a case of corruption in the treasury.

There are all kinds of indications that Tang Jiuguang, the person who should not be short of money in the Great Wei, has been in financial difficulties for a long time, could this be the reason why he has done something to the treasury?

A dejection popped up in Xu Rui's mind, but it only existed for a short moment before disappearing without a trace.

Because when inspecting the study, Liu Haofei took out the original letter written by Tang Jiuguang and showed it to Xu Rui, and the original text of this letter surprised Xu Rui.

Because the content of the song is clear and logical, it is also mixed with a large number of very easily verifiable examples, and the spearhead is directly aimed at Du Ruo, the head of the book.

If they are verified one by one, then the so-called treasury corruption case is not only not committed by Tang Jiuguang, but also proves that Du Ruo and the household departments have lost the treasury and framed him, in a vain attempt to cause a huge political turmoil in the government with him.

Xu Rui didn't know what kind of waves this letter would cause when it was handed to the emperor, but with this case, it seems that the strength of this letter will only be stronger than the original, and everyone knows that behind the household department are Huang Tingzhi, the first assistant of the cabinet, and the king of Liao.

Xu Rui handed the song back to Liu Haofei and asked, "What do you think?" ”

Liu Haofei said: "This official has sent someone to verify, and there is no result for the time being, but judging from the current situation, even if there is an exaggeration, there will not be too much, but if it is said that the King of Liao killed Tang Jiuguang's mouth, he will not leave such an important clue......

He didn't explain what he said, but Xu Rui could hear it clearly, whether this letter was written by Tang Jiuguang himself, or later forged, since there was such a strong clue, it showed that the person who did it could never be the King of Liao, but it was very likely to be the opponent of the King of Liao.

Everyone in the Manchu Dynasty knew that there was only one opponent of the King of Liao, and that was the crown prince!

But Xu Rui had another bold idea in his head, that is, if something happened to the king of Liao and the crown prince, others would have the opportunity to become vested interests, such as ...... Yuwang!

Just thinking about it, the official of the criminal department hurriedly came to report, saying that he had brought the surviving maid to the wing room to await trial.

On this day, Xu Rui ran around, non-stop, and had no time to interrogate the only witness to this tragedy, in order to save time, Liu Haofei ordered her to be taken to the Tang Mansion so that Xu Rui could ask at any time.

Now that the person has been brought, Liu Haofei looked at Xu Rui and asked what he meant.

Xu Rui shook his head and said, "Slow down first, I always feel that there is something wrong with this study, let me think about it first." ”

Liu Haofei is also a master of solving cases, and he knows that when thinking, he is most taboo to be interrupted, so he waved his hand to the little official and asked him to go out first and stand by.

Xu Rui ignored the movements of the two, frowned and spared the room several times, and the faint feeling in his heart that something was wrong became stronger and stronger.

"What does Master Xu think is wrong with the study?"

When Liu Haofei saw his expression, he couldn't stand his curiosity, so he asked.

At this time, Xu Rui's eyes just fell on Tang Jiuguang's bookshelf, and he couldn't help but be slightly stunned when he saw that the books on the bookshelf were neatly arranged and wiped spotlessly.

"I see!"

Xu Rui exclaimed.

Liu Haofei was shocked and asked, "What do you know?" ”

Xu Rui said: "I remember that the file said that there was no evidence of Tang Jiuguang's correspondence with the prince, right?" ”

Liu Haofei nodded suspiciously: "I searched it all, but I really didn't find anything." ”

Xu Rui sneered: "That's right! ”

Liu Haofei was even more confused and asked, "What do you mean?" ”

Xu Rui glanced at the study and snorted coldly: "Lord Liu, don't you think this study is too clean?" ”

"Clean?"

Liu Haofei glanced around suspiciously, and now the sky was completely dark, only a small candle was lit in the study, and most of the study was hidden in the shadows, dancing slightly with the flickering candle flame.

Liu Haofei felt a little strange in his heart, and shouted loudly: "Come on, hold the lamp!" ”

However, his call for peace seemed to sink into the sea, and no one answered at all.

Liu Haofei frowned, stepped to the door with an arrow step, and pushed open the door of the study, but the corridor outside the study was empty.

Not to mention that the officials and errands of the Criminal Department who were supposed to be waiting at the door are gone, and even the Jinyi Guard and Dongchang Fanzi who should be standing guard in the cloister are all gone.

"What's going on?!"

Liu Haofei's pupils shrank.

Xu Rui also realized that something was wrong, rushed to the door of the study, and was about to speak.

But at this moment, a heavy footstep suddenly sounded in the corridor, and the two stood at the door of the study and suddenly turned around, and their pupils suddenly shrank.

Because the place where the footsteps came from was empty, and not only that, but a sneer sounded from the empty cloister, as if a woman was laughing at them with disdain.