Of course, these are only the most superficial and common inferences based on what has been obtained so far.

Seeing that he couldn't ask other useful clues for the time being, Zhu Youzhu said: "If there is a new discovery, Master Lao Cheng will inform me." ”

As for what places need to be carefully investigated, such as who such people have been in contact with recently, where they have been, and whether there are any unusual words and deeds - these common methods used in handling cases, Master Cheng is better than him, and he does not need to explain them specifically.

Cheng Ran responded and sent Zhu Youzhu and Zhang Meishou out in person.

"According to Your Highness, could this matter be a coincidence?" Zhang Meishou asked thoughtfully.

Zhu Youzhu was noncommittal: "If it's a coincidence, it's really too coincidental......"

On the night of Chinese New Year's Eve, in front of the Emperor of the Son of Heaven, he shouted in public——

"Let's wait for Lord Cheng to check it again."

And Cheng Ran, who returned to the backyard, looked at the empty dining room and couldn't help but feel angry.

What about the time he said that he would continue to eat when he finished dealing with the matter ahead as soon as possible?

Even if the food is cold and he has to be withdrawn, at least people should be here and wait for him to come back!

On weekdays, it's okay to ask him to be tired and tired to support his family, but he doesn't show his sincerity to him as the head of the family during the New Year?

Master Cheng, who didn't eat well at the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, complained with a stomach, and simply returned to the outer study to continue working.

But what he didn't expect was that not eating well at the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner was just the beginning.

In the days that followed, he was very busy, and every meal was a few bites in a hurry, and even interrogations were common until late at night.

Just because since the incident of the city tower on Chinese New Year's Eve, three similar cases have appeared in the city one after another——

All of them shouted "the fortunes of the country will decline" in densely populated places, and they all committed suicide before Jinyiwei or officials arrived at the scene.

Even if the city has stepped up patrols, it is still impossible to prevent it.

And because of the extremely strict defense of the city recently, although these people cannot carry sharp weapons on them, but even so, there is still a chaotic situation of hurting people with sundries or broken porcelain.

As a result, the people in the city were panicked for a while, even though the government explained that "foreigners incited the hearts of our people", but because of one case after another, and now there have been four cases in succession - the people are all panicked, and many discussions are almost impossible to suppress.

Some people secretly say that it is a sign of heavenly punishment;

Some people say that those people have been bewitched by cults;

Some people even say that they are possessed by demons, and now the city is full of evil spirits-

In just half a month, many people in the city even began to close their doors, and the Shangyuan Festival Lantern Festival, which was extremely lively in previous years, also showed a bit of desertion.

When Cheng Ran heard the news, he was worried but happy.

What worries me is that there have been four similar cases one after another, and there are obviously people behind these people who are manipulating, but the clues are scattered, and the government has not been able to find useful evidence for a long time. Now, let alone find out the truth, even precautions are impossible.

If the fifth and sixth incidents happened again, he really didn't dare to imagine what chaos would happen in the city......

Fortunately, the number of people going out has plummeted, which is somewhat beneficial in terms of the safety of the people and the fact that they patrol and screen for suspicious people.

After all, it is not possible to prohibit the people from going out because of this, which will undoubtedly only magnify the suspicion and fear of the people—the other party may be disturbing the people's minds, and doing so will allow the conspiracy of the people in the shadows to succeed......

Cheng Ran slowly paced back and forth in the study, thinking back to the time when the prince summoned him yesterday, and the two of them analyzed the similarities of these cases together.

The places those people have been to do not exactly coincide with the people they have come into contact with......

The only thing that is the same is the shouting before death.

And...... They are all people who are not strong-willed.

Weak will, the most easily taken advantage of.

And according to the family members of one of them, before this person went out to make trouble, there was a phenomenon of dull eyes and strange words and deeds-

His Royal Highness the Crown Prince reminded him yesterday that the others may not have been in the same situation, but it is likely that no one has noticed.

Indeed, the other three either live alone or have poor relationships with their families, and are rarely noticed on weekdays.

…… Could it be that it is really evil?

Cheng Ran thought with a headache - isn't he being infected by the emperor with the god's chatter now.

In the final analysis, as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince said, what is most lacking at the moment is a living mouth.

If you can control people before they commit suicide, they will most likely be able to interrogate them with useful clues.

Therefore, in addition to the officials patrolling on the surface, the government secretly invested a lot of eyeliner in the crowd.

Cheng Daren, who was looking forward to not having a fifth similar incident, but also hoped to get a useful job, was extremely conflicted.

……

Next.

Zhang Meishou said goodbye to his parents and left Haitang House with Ah Li.

The master and servant walked all the way, and in front of a fork in the road, they faintly heard the sound of someone talking.

"What do these things have to do with the young grandmother and the young master...... How can they talk so gibberish! You shouldn't have stopped the slaves and maids, but you should have dragged them to see the officials and punished them for the crime of arguing with the officials of the court......"

Ah Li said in a low voice: "Girl, it seems to be Tao'er's voice." ”

Tao'er is Liu Qingjin's personal maid, and she entered the Zhang family as a dowry girl.

"Stop."

Liu Qingjin reprimanded Tao'er in a low voice.

And as soon as he raised his eyes, he saw Zhang Meishou walking towards him.

Liu Qingjin immediately had a smile on his face: "Second sister." ”

"Sister-in-law."

Zhang Meishou blessed her, and then asked, "Sister-in-law, did you hear any gossip outside?" ”

Liu Qingjin was slightly stunned, and then subconsciously said, "Don't listen to this girl's nonsense-"

"Slave ......" is not nonsense.

Tao'er didn't dare to say the rest of the words, but her expression on her face had already said it for her.

"But those rumors about the eldest brother and sister-in-law?" Zhang Meishou said: "It's just some stupid words of ignorant people, sister-in-law, don't take it to heart." ”

She also listened to Ah Li yesterday.

Now there are people outside who secretly rumor that these "signs of heavenly punishment" have been caused by the marriage of her brother and sister-in-law, and the more they spread, the more they spread, almost to say that her brother and sister-in-law are ominous people.

But some people believe such absurd words, and they spread more and more.

"Second sister has heard about it......" Liu Qingjin was a little surprised, and then said with a smile: "I just didn't take it to heart, maybe it was something secretly jealous of someone who said sour things, I don't want to be angry-"

Her husband is so good, I don't know how many admirers there are, and if she can't ask for it, she will have a bad heart, and there are people who want to come.

And if she doesn't even have this psychological capacity, what else can she do to even be the champion lady of the third yuan.

"It's best if my sister-in-law can think freely." Zhang Meishou also smiled and said, "It's temporary, and when the case is solved, these rumors will be self-defeating." ”

It's just that she doesn't think these rumors are from ordinary people.

I'm afraid that the demon monk is paving the way for his brother in the future-

Just like the suspicion and panic that has caused the people in the city right now, it is nothing more than manipulating people's hearts and trying to achieve their goals justifiably in the future.

"Second girl."

At this time, a little maid hurriedly walked over, and when she saw that Liu Qingjin was also there, she hurriedly saluted again.

"What's wrong?" Zhang Meishou asked.