Early the next morning, in the morning light, Liu Ruyan went out to inquire about the news.

It wasn't until dusk that she stepped back to camp in the remnants of the sky.

She picked up a curtain tent, the medicinal fragrance in it was faint, Bai Zhi sat alone on the table, her clothes dragged to the ground, like the green lotus in front of the Buddha that bloomed alone with flowers, it was independent of the world, and the years were quiet.

However, when he heard the footsteps and turned his head, the two blue and black balls on his eyelids made even Liu Ruyan startled.

Although I know that the little white brothers have always studied hard and often read at night, they will not end up so haggard.

"You didn't close your eyes last night?" Liu Ruyan approached.

Bai Zhi lowered her eyes under her gaze, her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and she turned her face uncomfortably.

There were no bronze mirrors in the camp, and he didn't have time to pay attention to his appearance: "Let you see a smile, in fact, I slept for a while at night, but I didn't sleep well." ”

Compared with his restless sleep, Liu Ruyan's smile was a little brighter, and he comforted: "The boat is naturally straight to the bridge, and my brother doesn't have to worry too much." ”

Bai Zhi sighed: "Bai is not talented, the prescription that was recently dispensed was effective in the early stage of the epidemic, but the disease will still recur. I flipped through the medical dictionary "Secret Medicines of Outer Taiwan" and read all the ancient and modern epidemics, and this disease in Taiping Village is indeed difficult to treat. ”

"Is there a possibility that it is not an ordinary epidemic, but through other means, such as ...... Birds? With that, she opened the package in her hand, revealing a half-decomposed animal carcass.

Angelica recognized it as a brindled feather pheasant, which is very common in the village.

Liu Ruyan then said: "This was found under the riverbed, and judging from the number, there should be no less than ten." ”

"Chicken plague?" Bai Zhi immediately thought, "But I haven't heard that chicken plague can be passed on to people." ”

"The world is so big, there are no absolutes. Isn't it strange that the infected villagers are isolated, but there are still people who are sick every day. In this case, the real source may be in the village. ”

She looked at the village, and the smoke was faintly visible.

"If it weren't for the common chicken plague, these poultry wouldn't have been left behind." Bai Zhi immediately got up, "It's a big matter, I'll go to the village to identify it again." ”

Liu Ruyan put her hands together and said with a light smile: "Brother Bai is tired of running by the way, tell the head catcher, and say that the female ghost asks for life and kills the gangsters, and it can be solved tonight." ”

There were less than 100 households in Taiping Village, and the soldiers acted separately, and the results were achieved in less than a day.

came back with Bai Zhi, and there was also a head catcher.

Xing Zhutou has a dark complexion, wears a head-catching official uniform, and a pair of sword eyebrows are raised upward, looking majestic.

As soon as he came in, he looked at Liu Ruyan a few times: "Are you a bad person?" ”

The so-called bad people, that is, the small officials requisitioned by the people, are informally organized to assist the government in solving cases.

Liu Ruyan shook her head.

Xing Zhutou put down the saber and asked, "Then in your opinion, what is going on with this panicked female ghost asking for her life?" ”

Liu Ruyan sat down opposite him and said slowly: "This matter has to start with Li Zheng's concubine, he fell in love with Caizhi Nuyun Niang." As a result, Yun Niang was humiliated, and she swallowed her anger despite the infamy of losing her virginity, not for anything else, just for her only blood relative. ”

Hearing this, the head of the torturer was surprised: "Isn't Yun Niang an orphan girl, where did she come from?" ”

"I'll talk about that later." Liu Ruyan smiled indifferently, "I believe that everyone here is more concerned about the origin of the epidemic. ”

She continued: "Not long after Yun Niang's death, Li Zheng's wife was pregnant with Liujia and gave birth to a baby boy. ”

According to the customs of the village, Li Zheng invited the village elders to eat wine, and the wine and food at this banquet became the key to this case. As we all know, the epidemic was caused by external evils, and these villagers contracted the disease at the same time, and according to the cycle of the pathology, it is likely to be related to that family feast. ”

"We've already checked the drinks, so we can rule them out first." As she spoke, she picked up a pen and wrote down a few dishes and handed them to Xing Zhutou, "This is the name of the dish in the family banquet at that time." ”

Xingtian looked at them one by one, and they were all common vegetables and meat.

He had been exposed to a number of poisoning cases, and the most clever method was the mutual restraint between food.

But there is nothing wrong with the names of these dishes.

"In your opinion, someone poisoned the food?" He asked tentatively.

"It's not poison, but it's better than poison." Liu Ruyan pointed to one of the dishes.

"This ......" Xingtian became more and more puzzled.

In Youzhou, every winter will use clay pots as pots to cook food, this dish is "antique soup", because the food will make a "coo" sound when put into the soup pot and get its name.

When cooking, put a layer of charcoal under the pot, then blanch the food with boiling water, and wait until the meat slices are rolled up, then you can pick it up and eat.

The taste is fresh and tender, and it is loved by everyone.

He didn't see anything wrong with the historic antique soup.

Liu Ruyan held a pen in her hand, and outlined a word with a haojian, "bird".

Liu Ruyan looked at Bai Zhi on the side: "Brother Bai has been to the village, how many villagers have found chicken plague, and how many dead birds have been thrown into the river?" ”

Bai Zhi thought carefully and groaned: "A total of nine households have chicken plague, and roughly speaking, fifty should be sunk into the river. ”

"The numbers are right." Liu Ruyan nodded, "In addition to the ten corpses found at the bottom of the river, there are still forty missing. There are 20 tables at the feast, and two poultry meat will be served at each table......"

She described it lightly, and Xing Zhutou was terrified.

Not to mention whether the plague chicken can be eaten, this was salvaged after the corpse was thrown to the bottom of the river.

I don't know how many people drowned in the river outside the village, or whether there was any mortal flesh and blood other than poultry meat that was served that day.

Xing Tian finally said: "It's just your words, can there be evidence?" ”

"Guo Shiquan, who is being detained by you, should know, if you don't believe it, you can also ask anyone in the village how the antique soup tastes compared to the usual taste at the family banquet that day?" Liu Ruyan said.

Xing Tian's sword eyebrows twisted deeply: "So, Li is the mastermind of this case." ”

"Yes and no. If he had left the matter to someone else, he would not have known about it. ”

Liu Ruyan said, tapping his index finger on the table: "What I want to say next is the key to this case." ”

"Last night, a gangster sneaked into the camp and waited for an opportunity to get the soldier who was guarding the tent drunk, killing him with one move, and the wound left on the soldier's neck about three inches deep and one and a half inches wide, almost penetrating the human throat."

She raised her apricot eyes slightly, and looked at him for a long time: "Xing has hunted countless murderers, so he must know what kind of murder weapon can leave such a wound?" ”

Xingtian was very familiar with all kinds of murder weapons, and when he first heard the description, he immediately remembered the butcher knife used to kill pigs and sheep.

It can be up to eight inches long, wide and slightly curved.

He expressed his guess in his heart, but Liu Ruyan took out the knife and handed it over.

"If you are a murderer, how can you kill people with this butcher knife?"

Xing Tian clenched the knife and subconsciously waved it: "Wipe the neck, or stab the knife into the heart." ”

Liu Ruyan asked again: "Who is used to stabbing the neck with a sharp knife?" ”

"Butchers, naturally." He blurted out, then froze again.

Liu Ruyan nodded: "Since the murderer brought a butcher's knife and spirits, obviously from the village, Xing Zhutou might as well go and search for it, presumably, there will be some gains." ”

Xingtian suddenly realized: "Lizheng's family banquet is indispensable for killing pigs and sheep." Therefore, the butcher at the family banquet is the key to this case! ”

He put down the butcher's knife and made the final decision.

"As for the rumors of female ghosts, I also ask Xing Zhutou to come with me to the river." Liu Ruyan said.