"Has anyone ever come in?" , Nie Xiaohu asked.

"No," the woman said, shaking her head, "no one has come in since I found out that my master had been killed." ”

Nie Xiaohu nodded and began to survey the scene. The furnishings in the study are in good order, there is no mess, there are no traces of a fight in the room, there is a teapot and a teacup on the small coffee table next to the deceased, the teacup is as clean as new, there is no tea stain, and there are still a few drops of water on the coffee table.

The deceased's eyes were closed and his face was serene, and although he had a hairpin stuck in his throat, there was no expression of pain on his face, as if he had fallen asleep. At this time, Shi Yuning also arrived with someone, and Qi Zuo immediately started the autopsy work, Nie Xiaohu walked in front of Qi Zuo, whispered a few words in his ear, and nodded hurriedly.

"Who found the dead first?" , Nie Xiaohu looked at the woman and asked.

"It's me," the woman whispered.

"You are?"

"The slave's maiden name is Tian, the name is Guizhi, and the one who died was my master Ji Chuanjun."

Tian Guizhi wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, and then said: "This afternoon, I went out shopping alone and didn't come back until the evening, but as soon as I entered the master's study, I was... I found that the old man was ......," and began to sobble quietly.

"In the time since you went out and when you came back, didn't anyone in the family find out?"

"No", Tian Guizhi shook his head, "My lord has something to talk to Liao Chunhua today, and I don't want to be disturbed, so let me order my subordinates not to enter the study, unless he is called." ”

"Oh! That's right! ”

Tian Guizhi seemed to suddenly remember something, and then said: "Could it be that Liao Chunhua killed my master?" ”

"Who is Liao Chunhua?" , Nie Xiaohu's brows furrowed slightly.

"She is the proprietress of a calligraphy and painting shop on the street next door, this afternoon she came to my house to plead with me, I said I can't be the master, let him talk to the master, I took her to the master's study, and then I went out."

"Your Excellency!" At this time, he handed the corpse grid to Nie Xiaohu, and along with the corpse grid, there was also the hairpin on the deceased's throat.

"Looking for you to intercede? For what? Nie Xiaohu asked while taking the corpse and hairpin.

"That's right, my family has an old house outside the city, although it has been abandoned for many years, but there has always been an old servant guarding nearby, for fear that a homeless man will go in and make a fire or something.

On the afternoon of the day before yesterday, Liao Chunhua and her husband Wei Zhijie entered the old house for some reason, and took away a candlestick inside, which was silver, and may have accidentally fallen when cleaning up the house before.

Just when they were about to leave, they were discovered by the old servant who watched the house, and came back to report to the master, who took people to his house, but even caught people and things, and the master was about to report to the official, but they pleaded hard, saying that they did not know that it was the owner's thing, and it was not intended to steal.

The old man is also a soft-hearted person, and he is pitiful to see them, so he asked Na Wei Zhijie to write a confession on the spot, and limited them to hand over ten taels of silver within three days, and the matter is over.

Just this afternoon, I just wanted to go out shopping, who knew that Liao Chunhua came, I happened to meet her in front of the courtyard gate, so I took it back to the bedroom, in the bedroom she begged me bitterly, saying that the family was poor, and could not afford to come up with ten taels of silver, and asked me if I could reduce it.

I said that I could not do this, so let him go and talk to the master, and she said yes, so I took her to the master's study, and then I went out. ”

"When did Liao Chunhua leave?" , Nie Xiaohu asked while looking at the corpse grid, and it was written on the corpse that the time of the deceased's death was around Shen Shi.

"She left around the time of Shin," said a maid on the sidelines.

"Oh? Did you see it with your own eyes? Nie Xiaohu's gaze was like a blade staring at the maid's body.

The maid couldn't help but shudder when she was stared at by Nie Xiaohu, and whispered in a trilled voice: "Yes... Yes, this afternoon, around Shen Shi, I had some discomfort in my stomach and wanted to go to the toilet, and just as I was walking into the courtyard, I happened to see the woman come out of the master's study and leave directly. ”

"Who else went into the study after the woman left?"

"No, no one has been here since the man left," said the maid cautiously.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," the maid nodded, "my room is directly opposite the master's study, and I can see it at a glance if someone comes." ”

"What's that woman wearing?"

"She was dressed in a blue dress with a veil covering her face, and the veil was green."

"With a veil? So you didn't see her face anymore? ”

"Yes," the maid nodded.

"The reason why she wears the veil is because she is afraid of being recognized, after all, this is not a good thing, is it?" , Tian Guizhi said.

"Liao Chunhua", Nie Xiaohu muttered to himself while playing with the hairpin in his hand.

The hairpin is silver, a very ordinary style, the hairpin still has blood stains on it, when turning the hairpin, Nie Xiaohu suddenly found that the top of the hairpin was engraved with a very small word, Nie Xiaohu put the hairpin close to the oil lamp in the house, and looked carefully at it through the light, it was a "Liao" word.

"Let's go! Go to Liao Chunhua's house! Nie Xiaohu sighed.

At this time, it was late at night, and he couldn't see his fingers on the street, Nie Xiaohu led someone to hold a torch, and under the guidance of a subordinate of the Ji family, he came to the door of a small shop on the next street, which was a two-story building facing the street and had no yard.

"This is it!" , the subordinate of the Ji family pointed to the closed door and said.

"Call the door!"

Shi Yuning immediately stepped forward, stretched out his hand and slapped twice on the door.

"Open the door, arrest and solve the case!"

There was no response in the house, Shi Yuning screamed a few more times, and there was still no movement in the house.

"Didn't you abscond in fear of crime?" , Cao Xiaohui said with a frown.

Nie Xiaohu also frowned, and after thinking about it, he said, "Pry the door open!" ”

"Oh yes!" , Shi Yuning agreed, pulled out the Tang knife on his waist, held the blade flat, inserted the blade through the crack in the door, and moved the door latch to the side little by little.

In less than a pillar of incense, the door opened, and the room was pitch black, and Shi Yuning and others entered the house with torches.

The first floor is a shop, the wall behind the counter is full of calligraphy and paintings, the shelves against the wall are placed with goods such as the four treasures of the study, the floor and the counter are very neat, there is a small iron box in the counter, and the posture is open, there are more than a dozen copper coins in it.

"Tiger head! Someone was hanging from the beams! ”

Just as Nie Xiaohu was observing on the first floor, Shi Yuning's shout came from the second floor.

Nie Xiaohu was taken aback, and hurriedly went up to the second floor, there were two rooms on the second floor, and Shi Yuning and the others were standing at the door of the room inside with torches.