Li Zhiyun walked out of the squatter and whispered the situation to Wang Xianling. It seems that he guessed correctly, this Liu Gu is the inner ghost. She took the initiative to come to the door as a maidservant, peeping into the whole process of opening the secret room outside the building, and then colluded with thieves to steal the gold, silver and jewelry of the Lou family.

Now it seems that the flag with the word "Liang" left at the scene is just a cover-up, and the case is likely to be committed by a local acquaintance. The thief originally only wanted to steal, not to kill, but because he alarmed the bitter master, he killed the nine members of the Lou family as a last resort. When Liu Gu saw that so many people had died, she felt deeply guilty, so she cut her hair and became a nun, and set up an altar in the dark room to pay tribute to the souls of the dead who died in vain, so as to seek comfort for her soul.

Li Zhiyun walked over and clapped his palms together with the owner of the nunnery and said, "Master, this Master Huijue is commonly known as Liu Gu, she was originally a maidservant girl of the Lou Yuan's family, and she has something to do with the murder of the Lou Yuan's family, so we have to take her back to the county office." When the owner of the nunnery heard this, he was shocked, and put his hands together and said, "Amitabha." ”

Aunt Liu stood there, not saying a word, just looking at the many officials with a calm face. She wears a monk's hat and a gray sea blue, although the robe with a wide waist and wide sleeves and a round neck and square placket is very fat, it can't hide her soft waist, and the whole person looks pretty like a peach in three springs, and a chrysanthemum in nine autumns.

It's really hard to find a place to break through the iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get it. Li Zhiyun didn't expect that he would find such an important person so quickly, and his luck was really good! As long as Liu Gu confesses the real culprit behind the scenes, they can catch a murderer and recover the stolen gold and silver. Wang Xianling was also very excited, and waved his hand and said, "Take it away!" So, the officials escorted Liu Gu out of the nunnery and went down the mountain to return to the city of Pizhou.

After returning to the county office, Wang Xianling immediately went to the court to ask about the case, and Li Zhiyun assisted on the side. Liu Gu was escorted to the hall and knelt down, and the officials dragged their knives and sticks to stand solemnly, shouting loudly. Wang Xian Ling was shocked and said, "Aunt Liu, who instructed you to pretend to be a maidservant, enter Lou's house, and find out where the treasure is hidden?" Who broke into the mansion late at night, joined you inside and outside, killed people and robbed money? Hurry up and recruit from the truth! ”

Liu Gu knelt on the ground, staring at Wang Xian Ling with a pair of hateful eyes, and said nothing. Wang Xianling asked seven or eight times in a row, and the shocking wood was about to break, but she still didn't say a word. Wang Xianling was angry, his face turned red, and he shouted: "It seems that you won't say anything if you don't punish you." Come on, take the pick. ”

So, a servant brought a basket. Torture is a form of torture in which the torture device is pierced in a wooden stick and connected to a thread, the hands and feet of the victim are placed in the middle of the stick, and the rope is forcefully tightened on both sides. Torture is mostly used for female prisoners, which can easily lead to crippled hands.

The official put Liu Gu's finger between the sticks and tightened the rope hard. Aunt Liu's face was pale, and cold sweat broke out on her forehead. As the stick tightened tighter and tighter, she screamed in pain and fainted. A servant brought a bucket of cold water, and after Liu Gu was woken up by the cold water, she still refused to speak, and Wang Xian ordered the torture to continue. This repeated times made her worse than dead.

Li Zhiyun was shocked when he watched from the sidelines, and finally couldn't help it, and stopped: "Wang County order, stop the torture." Wang Hao was in the middle of his strength, and when he heard his words, he turned his head and looked at him in surprise: "Lord Wang, ...... you" Li Zhiyun's eyes froze, the light in his eyes flashed, Wang Hao's lips moved a few times, and he didn't dare to say anything more, so he had to wave his hand to the servant.

Li Zhiyun stopped Wang Hao from using torture, not because he felt pity for the fragrance and jade. He didn't expect that such a delicate woman would collude with bandits, seek money and kill people, and brutally kill nine members of the Lou family, such a person is not worthy of sympathy. He just felt that from the look in her eyes, this woman had the heart of death, and she would definitely carry it to the end. The woman is weak, if the torture is excessive and she dies in Huangquan, then there will be no live mouth that she finally caught. Moreover, as a modern person, Li Zhiyun has an innate resistance to torture. Since Aunt Liu secretly set up an altar to worship the tablets of the nine members of the Lou family, and worship every day, at least it shows that her conscience has not been completely extinguished. Perhaps, they could find another way to get her to speak.

In order not to embarrass Wang Hao too much, Li Zhiyun said in a low voice: "It's useless to just use torture, she won't say it." However, people's hearts are like iron, and kings are like furnaces, and I believe that as long as we are patient, we will find a way to pry her mouth open sooner or later. There is no rush in this matter, so let's put her in prison first. ”

After the capture of Aunt Liu, there has been significant progress in the case, and a stone in Li Zhiyun's heart has finally fallen to the ground. He felt like he was walking in a dark tunnel and finally saw a glimmer of light. The next step is how to get Aunt Liu to speak. Is it moving with emotion and knowing with reason? Or find her weakness and break through her psychological defenses? ……

After Li Zhiyun returned to the King of Chu Inn, he thought about it for a night and finally came up with some eyebrows. After breakfast the next day, he took Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu out of the inn and went to the county government to prepare to go to the prison to interrogate Aunt Liu.

When they walked down a street, they saw pedestrians and horses rushing to meet a four-horse carriage with gold, silver and purple curtains. The carriage stopped beside it, and two people got out of the carriage, one was a thin juniper, and the other man looked about fifty years old, five feet seven inches tall, not fat or thin, with a rectangular face, bronzed skin, a pair of sword eyebrows, two tiger eyes, a high nose bridge, thin lips, and a short beard under his chin.

The two walked towards them, and Juniper smiled and arched his hand: "Lord Wang, please stay, let the official introduce you," and then pointed to the man beside him, "This is Zhao Tingshi." The man walked up to Li Zhiyun and arched his hand: "Zhao Changlin, the assassin of Xiaguan Pizhou, will meet His Royal Highness the King of Chu." Li Zhiyun hurriedly returned the salute: "It turned out to be Zhao Tingshi, this king heard that you went out to inspect, and you worked hard." ”

"The prince is polite. On the way, Xia Guan heard that the prince was coming to Pizhou, and immediately rushed back to the state office, has the prince already settled down? What do you need to do to serve as a lower official? ”

Li Zhiyun smiled: "This king's men and horses have already settled in the inn, so Zhao Tingshi doesn't have to worry about it." This king came to Pizhou this time, just to do some personal affairs, and planned to go home, but unexpectedly there was a tragedy in Loujiazhuang outside the city, and a family of nine outside the building was killed. With such a shocking case, this king naturally can't stand idly by, so he drowns to see if he can do his part to help Wang County Order arrest the real culprit. Zhao Changlin listened, and arched his hand and said: "The prince has done his best, and he has taken the lead in setting an example, and the officials have a deep understanding. The subordinate must urge his subordinates to solve the case as soon as possible and arrest the murderer. ”

Li Zhiyun nodded and said, "Then there is a history of Lao Zhao's assassination." Zhao Changlin glanced to the side and said, "This is not the place to speak, can the prince move to the state capital, and the lower officials can listen to the prince's teachings in person?" Li Zhiyun smiled and said, "This king still has some things to do, and he will definitely visit him another day." ”

"Okay, the lower officials are waiting for the prince to come."

After Zhao Changlin and Juniper respectfully saluted Li Zhiyun, they returned to the carriage. The carriage drove away, and Li Zhiyun also continued to walk in the direction of the county government with two subordinate officials.

The three of them came to the county office, and as soon as they walked into the gate, they met the master book. As soon as the chief bookkeeper saw them, he exclaimed, "Lord, it's not good, Aunt Liu is dead." When Li Zhiyun heard this, he was shocked like a thunderbolt hitting his head, and hurriedly asked, "How did you die?" ”

"It looks like self-hanging."

Li Zhiyun calmed down, thought for a while, and said, "What about the Wang County Order?" ”

"He's gone to prison."

"Where's the prison? Take us there. ”

The main book led the way in front and led Li Zhiyun and them to the prison. The corridors of the cells were dimly lit, and there were jailers carrying lanterns in broad daylight. They walked to the door of a women's prison, and Li Zhiyun stepped in. This cell was quite spacious, and I saw Liu Gu lying on the muddy floor, with Wang Xianling and several other people surrounding her. A man stood up from the side of Liu Gu's body and ordered Wang Xian: "I hanged myself, and I have been dead for two or three hours. "It seems that he is a faker, and he has just finished examining the body.

As soon as Wang Xian Ling saw Li Zhiyun, he hurriedly arched his hand and said, "Lord Wang, do you already know?" Li Zhiyun walked over and looked down at the corpse on the ground. A beam of light came in from the skylight of the cell, which shone right on Liu Gu's face. Her face was as white as paper, without a trace of blood, and her eyes were closed. Li Zhiyun couldn't help but sigh secretly, the golden boudoir is willowy, and it is a pity to go to Huangliang in one ride! He frowned, raised his head and said, "What's the matter?" How can a good person hang himself? Wang Xianling did not answer, but turned around and said loudly: "Where is the prison guard?" A thin man next to him hurriedly surrendered his hand: "Humble duty." ”

"Tell the prince, what's going on?"

The prison guard hurriedly smashed a female cell head next to him with his elbow and said, "You say." "The head of the female cell is fat and thick, with thick shoulders and a round waist, and a face full of meat. She was obviously frightened, she didn't dare to look directly at Li Zhiyun, she only glanced at it from the corner of her eye, and said tremblingly: "She was fine in the first half of the night, she didn't cry or make trouble." I just squinted for a while in the second half of the night, and when I woke up, she was hanging there, and when I put it down and touched it, she was already out of breath. ”

"Where did she get the rope?" Li Zhiyun asked.

The prison guard hurriedly explained: "She tore the clothes on her body into strips of cloth and knotted them into ropes. The woman's body was light and her neck was thin, and even the strips of cloth strangled her to death. ”

Wang Xian Ling was furious, and said sharply: "The jailer is derelict in his duties, and the heavy rod is fifty!" When the two officials next to him heard this, they immediately stepped forward and grabbed the head of the female cell, although she tried to forgive, Wang Xianling still had a black face and did not let go. The official didn't care about thirty-seven twenty-one, and dragged her away.

When the prison prison saw that his subordinates were punished, he was so frightened that he shook his clothes and frantically fought. Wang Xianling stared at him and said, "You can't run away, I will report to Master Shi, demote you to a deputy position, and deduct you for half a year." The prison guard didn't dare to talk back, so he could only resignedly: "Yes, yes." ”

Leaving the prison and returning to the county hall, Wang Xianling invited Li Zhiyun to take a seat. Li Zhiyun waved his hand, sighed and said, "I finally caught an accomplice, but he died, and now the clue is broken again." Wang Xianling was a little guilty: "The subordinate officials were derelict in their duties and did not urge their subordinates to fulfill their responsibilities." Li Zhiyun waved his hand and said, "Now is not the time to hold accountable, see if there is any remedy." Wang Xianling understood, and hurriedly said: "Xiaguan will go to check and see if anyone has had contact with the female prisoner." With that, he turned around and walked away, leaving Li Zhiyun there. Li Zhiyun had nothing to do in the county office, so he took Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu back to the inn.