Xiao Qinglang nodded, "If he can get the maritime quota, then either he has a rich family, or there are people in the court." After a moment's thought, he continued, "Although most of the maritime quotas are controlled by powerful families, it is not excluded that some officials operate and resell from them, and then make a profit. This matter is generally not investigated deeply, and even if it is investigated, it is not a big mistake, at most it is just a reprimand. ”

This answer is not surprising to Xu Chu, after all, in a centralized feudal society, even if the emperor monopolizes power, he still can't do everything himself. Further down, the same is true, the powerful families get maritime quotas, but there are very few people from the real family who do this business in person.

"In any case, this Liu family has some doorways and some family backgrounds."

"Whether it's a doorway or a side doorway, I won't know until we have a detailed investigation." Xiao Qinglang's eyes were cold, and he squinted and said lightly, "There is still a Song Derong in Jinzhou City who is in charge of coastal defense!" ”

Suddenly, Xu Chu seemed to be awakened, and suddenly remembered the original purpose of their trip to Jinzhou. It was because of the discovery of several corpses of officials belonging to Jinzhou officialdom in the Furong Inn, and among those corpses was Song Derong.

On the carriage, the two of them listed some of the doubts on the file that were not obvious. The first is Liu Zhen's head, followed by the maid who was kidnapped by the bandits around her, and why did Liu Zhen and the maid encounter accidents, but the partial coachman is intact?

At first glance, these seem to be fine, but when they are linked, they make people feel full of loopholes. How could the bandits, who were bloody murderers and robbers, allow a coachman to escape?

But for such a strange situation, they couldn't think of the reason for it for a while. After all, the features on the corpse are indeed owned by Liu Zhen's, so there is no such thing as stealing the day. And if the corpse has no traces of abuse, it is not torture.

Ordinary homicide cases are nothing more than love and revenge for money. On the file, it is said that Liu Zhen and her husband Liu Wengui are extremely affectionate, and the two have two sons and a daughter, which can be regarded as both sons and daughters. Life is also rich and comfortable, and there is no concubine room and fans to provoke. Therefore, the situation of love killing does not exist.

And vendetta is impossible to talk about, Zhang Youwei traced all the social relations of the Liu family, and did not find that the husband and wife had a feud with others. Even if there are some business unhappiness, it has not reached the point of murder and robbery.

As for the sake of money, this is more in line with the inference of the scene. It is said that Liu Zhen went to the nearby Taisui Mountain to repay his wish that day and brought 100 gold, but the gold disappeared after the incident. In addition, the coachman testified that it was the bandits on the side of Taisui Mountain, so the most consistent conclusion is that the bandits robbed money and killed people.

"How did the bandits find out that she had a lot of money?" Xiao Qinglang raised his eyebrows slightly, and pointed out another doubt.

Xu Chu nodded and wrote down these words on the codex. Then she looked up and saw that inside the carriage with a simple appearance, the auspicious clouds and green lotuses with fine decorations, brocade patterns, gold and silver interlaced, and the soft and fragrant brocade cushions, all of which showed the dignity of the master. So, she thought for a while and said, "Maybe it's guessing by looking at the decorations of the carriages and horses, and the clothes of the subordinates?" ”

Her fingers followed Xiao Qinglang's posture and clicked on the desk, her rounded fingertips glowed slightly under the light, clean and fair, neat, without complicated color rendering, but even more exquisite.

Xiao Qinglang had to admit that in her eyes, she was getting more and more ..... I liked it. It's like, the more you look at it, the more you feel that there are no flaws.

Love/people are out of Xi Shi, when Aunt Chu said it, he still scoffed. Now that I have realized it, I know that what gold and jade are precious and what is beautiful and small jasper is not as good as the one that has entered the eyes and hearts.

He is the best at planning and has enough patience. And now, whether it is her own skin that makes Xu Chu feel good, or because of the convenience she brings her, she relaxes, at least she is not rejecting herself from approaching, this is the best result.

Xiao Qinglang thought of this, and the faint depression in his heart that rose because of Zhang Youwei disappeared. The so-called too much, since she was able to endure it when she rejected it at first, now that she is used to it, why can't she wait any longer?

He glanced at Xu Chu, who was still looking at the codex seriously, stared at it for a moment, and then said in a low voice: "In any case, the facts on the file are all speculations by others, and you and I can only use them as references but not preconceived ideas." After the autopsy, the carriage will be examined before making inferences. ”

Xu Chu also agrees with this. However, when these words came out of Xiao Qinglang's mouth, she was a little curious.

"Isn't it that Gongzi has had the experience of being deceived by the file?"

Xiao Qinglang saw her asking with great interest, glanced at it, leaned comfortably on the back of the brocade, and said disapprerovingly: "Most of the records sent to the house every day are retouched and painted. The people in the capital, who is not an old fritter, can turn big things into small things, they are eager to do it. ”

"If you really want to get to the bottom of it, you have to find out the clues from the whitewashed records, and then check it again."

The emperor's house, above the court of the Great Zhou, the case of the three law divisions and the inner court sent to him, which one is not significant? And under those intricate involvement, there will always be officials who are willing to take risks to whitewash the peace.

The night deepened, and only a bright moon shone above the inky sky. The veil-like moonlight outlined the outlines of the two carriages running one after the other, and slowly moved, breaking the loneliness of the night.

I don't know how long it took, but the flat and comfortable environment made Xu Chu drowsy again. As soon as she stretched her legs, she rubbed against Xiao Qinglang's crossed legs under the desk, and when Xiao Qinglang saw it, her cheeks were hot, and she said, "My legs are a little numb......"

Xiao Qinglang glanced at her meaningfully, pushed the desk aside with a chuckle, and then reached out to press several acupuncture points on her legs. Even though there was a cotton coat block, Xu Chu was still inevitably flustered. She pursed her lips, and the direct tilting candle flame in the car made her dizzy, and even her clear mind was a little confused, and in her confusion, she suddenly remembered that it was not the first time that he had pressed his legs for himself.

"Childe's skill in pressing legs is very good......" As soon as the words came out, she suddenly became at a loss. In the stagnation, her strong composure was also a little unbearable, and she was really embarrassed and cramped at this time, and she didn't dare to look at the pair of dark eyes from the bottom up.

The night was cold, Xiao Qinglang smiled silently, and said indifferently: "When I was young, my mother was still there, and she always had unbearable pain in her legs every rainy season. At first, I just secretly helped her beat her legs, and after a long time, I learned how to press acupuncture points. ”

He said it very lightly, but when it fell into Xu Chu's ears, he felt full of sourness. She has never been in contact with the life of the royal court, nor has she heard him complain, and even from Xiao Mingzhu's mouth, what she heard is how this third prince, King Jing'an, is valued by the former emperor and the current saint.

She only knows that he grew up in the prince since he was a child, and he is deeply loved by the queen mother and queen. is probably calm and wise, and it has also been formed since childhood.

But now that I think about it, he was just a child over three or five years old, and he was taken to the prince's house alone, and he couldn't accept his mother's knees, how cruel it was. What's more, the royal concubine, when it rains, her legs hurt unbearably, if she hadn't been hit hard, how could she have been?

Xu Chu's impression of the palace is nothing more than the Forbidden City in his previous life, as well as the places where people don't see blood and eat people without spitting out bones in various TV series. Therefore, it is not difficult to imagine how much Xiao Qinglang suffered when he was young.

For a moment, she looked at Xiao Qinglang's eyes with pity and distress. It was Xiao Qinglang, who slowly raised his eyebrows, a pair of black eyes with a smile, and he didn't know what Xu Chu had done to make up for his brain, but he showed such a look.

"Don't think about it, I'm not the little pathetic in your head. When I was young, my mother was weak and could only send me to the prince's office. However, it is also loved by the elders, cherished by the brothers, and the subordinates are also regarded as protectors, so life is not difficult. Xiao Qinglang withdrew his gaze, sat up straight, took a sip of the teacup, and leisurely took a sip. Those deep eyes brought a smile, which made Xu Chu's face look stunned, and then his face turned red.

She could see that Xiao Qinglang was not joking, nor was he having fun in the bitterness, he really felt that life was smooth when he was young. The feeling is that I made a big fuss, but fortunately I didn't say anything.

The road was smooth, and before I knew it, the carriage heard the back door of the county office. Zhang Youwei sent the coachman to place the carriage, and then took a few officials to Xiao Qinglang's carriage, and said respectfully: "Miss Chu, it's here." ”

The moon hung high in the sky, bright but a little chilly. The cold wind swept by, making the shadows of the eaves staggered with a bit of eerie teeth. As soon as he approached the morgue, he saw an old man with a lantern and asked, "But the adults are here?" ”

"Uncle Liu, you go and rest, I'll be busy for a longer time tonight." Zhang Youwei obviously had a lot of respect for the old man, and after some explanation, he let people go down first.

Uncle Liu glanced at Xu Chu and the others with cloudy and cold eyes, his gaze stopped on Xiao Qinglang's face for a moment, and then he coughed violently a few times and left silently hunched his back. It's just that the flickering white lantern adds a terrifying aura to this silent night.

"This is the old man guarding the morgue?"

"Yes, Uncle Liu is actually an outsider, and he has worked in the yamen for most of his life, but unfortunately he doesn't have a son and a half daughter when he is old. Fortunately, he didn't think the morgue was bad, so he was guarding a corpse or something. ”

Zhang Youwei said as he pushed open the wooden door of the morgue. With a squeak, a cool breeze gushed out from the inside, carrying a disgusting smell of corpses and blood, which made the faces of those few promising henchmen and officials change.

However, when I saw Xu Chu, a pretty woman, and Xiao Qinglang, a rich boy who was pampered at a glance, they all stepped in without changing their faces. Naturally, the old men were not easy to retreat, so they simply followed into the morgue with bated breath.