"Lord Wang, come and take a look." Zhang Zheng, who had been standing at the table, shouted.

Li Zhiyun walked over, Zhang Zheng pointed to the table and said: "Although there is only an empty wine glass on this table, there are faint traces of soup stains on the table, indicating that when Sun Fen was drinking, there were dishes on the table, and later someone took them away." The man wanted to create the illusion that Sun Fen had committed suicide by taking poison, but he didn't wipe the table clean because he was in too much of a hurry. Li Zhiyun looked at it for a while, nodded and said, "What you said is right, and the relationship between that poisoner and Sun Fen must be very close, so that he can be defenseless." ”

The work was not large, and the guards came back one after another, and the entire mansion was searched, but no stolen goods were found. It seems that the looted gold and silver treasures were not hidden here, otherwise this small mansion would not have withstood such a carpet-like search.

At this time, Wang Xianling came with a group of officials and soaps. As soon as he saw Li Zhiyun, he stepped forward and said, "Lord Wang." After Li Zhiyun returned the salute, he said: "Wang County Order, do you know Sun Fen?" ”

"Acquaintance."

"He is Aunt Liu's own brother."

"Really?" When Wang Xianling heard this, he was taken aback.

Li Zhiyun saw that the work brought by Wang County's order was being autopsied, so he walked over and asked, "What kind of poison did you take?" He took out a silver needle from a cotton sac, picked a little blood stain on the corner of Sun Fen's mouth with the tip of the needle, looked at the light, and said, "It's arsenic." ”

After the autopsy, the body was carried away on a stretcher by the officials. Li Zhiyun left the scene to Wang Xianling to deal with and left with his own people.

When they walked to the street, Cai Hu rode close to Li Zhiyun on horseback and said in a low voice: "Lord Wang, I went to Yongshou County this time and heard about such a thing. Then, he told him what he had heard, and after Li Zhiyun heard it, he was surprised: "There is still such a thing?" ”

Sun Fen died, and the clues of the case were broken again. Li Zhiyun felt that this case was more complicated than he originally imagined, and that he could not uncover the truth of the case alone, and that he must work together and give full play to the wisdom of the collective.

After returning to the King of Chu Inn, Li Zhiyun did a division of labor, Zhang Zheng and Cai Hu led people to find clues, and every day at dinner, everyone gathered together to report the investigation and analyze the case.

Sun Fen was poisoned, and it was done by an acquaintance, so first of all, we must draw a general range of suspects. At dinner, everyone sat around the dinner table, and Cai Hu said: "Lord Wang, we investigated the people around Sun Fen, he is a relatively withdrawn person, he has no friends, and only a few people from the state capital who are close to him have joined the army. ”

"Then start with a few people who joined the army and try to find the murderer."

"Okay," Cai Hu continued, "In addition, we also visited the restaurants and restaurants in the city, and none of the people from the restaurants sent drinks and food to Sun Fen's residence that day. ”

Zhang Zheng interjected: "Could it be that the murderer made his own dishes, or bought them from some restaurant and brought them to Sun Fen's residence with a food box?" Li Zhiyun nodded and said, "If that's the case, then looking for a needle in a haystack and salt in the snow is looking for it." After a pause, he turned his head to Cai Hu and said, "Have you asked Sun Fen's neighbors?" Did they see anyone enter his yard that day? Cai Hu shook his head and said, "I've asked everything, but no one has seen it."

At this time, Liu Hong, who was sitting opposite, spoke: "I think that since people are poisoned, they should start from the source of the poison." Zhang Zheng smiled and said, "Lord Liu, of course we will not miss this matter." Arsenic is something that can only be bought in pharmacies, and to buy arsenic, you must not only have Langzhong's prescription, but also have the approval of the government. We searched all the pharmacies in the city and found a few people who bought arsenic, but they had all the formalities and knew the usefulness of arsenic, so there was no problem. ”

"What about outside the city, have you checked?" Liu Hongdao, "As far as I know, there is a Zhushan town fifteen miles away from Pizhou City, where there is a big medicinal herb market, and there are more than a dozen medicine shops in the town, you might as well go there and look for it." ”

When Cai Hu heard this, he smiled and said, "Lord Liu, you are quite familiar with this area of Pizhou." Liu Hong smiled and said, "The prince asked me to take care of the business of the Chu Palace, and in the past two years, I have been running all over the world, so I know more places." Li Zhiyun hurriedly said: "Lord Liu, you have worked hard!" Liu Hong waved his hand and said, "It's okay, while my body is still quite strong, I am willing to do more." Li Zhiyun nodded, turned his head to Zhang Zhengdao, and said, "Tomorrow, you take someone to check the pharmacy in Zhushan Town." ”

"Yes".

The next day, Zhang Zheng rode out of Bizhou City with a guard and headed for Zhushan Town. Fifteen miles away, the two of them hurried up, and arrived in less than half an hour.

Zhushan Town is really not small, judging from the number of houses, there should be thousands of households. There are several streets in the town, and the streets are very bustling with people. Starting from the east end of the town, the two walked along the street to find a pharmacy, and when they came across a pharmacy, they went in to inquire about it, and if they met a customer who bought arsenic, they recorded the buyer's situation and investigated it later.

More than a dozen pharmacies went through it, and it took half a day, and seeing that it was already noon, the guard said: "Let's find a place to sharpen it, and go back quickly after eating." Zhang Zheng glanced ahead and said, "This street is not finished yet." The guard glanced at it and said, "The houses in front are dilapidated, there are few pedestrians, and there should be no shops." ”

"Let's go over and have a look."

The guards had no choice but to follow Zhang Zheng forward. The two walked for more than 100 steps, and sure enough, they saw a pharmacy on the side of the road. The door of this shop is not large, and it is indented into it, so it is not very eye-catching.

The two walked in and saw a shopkeeper standing behind the counter. Zhang Zheng got straight to the point: "Boss, has anyone bought arsenic recently?" ”

"Arsenic?" The shopkeeper shook his head, "No." ”

"What about the books? Take it for me to see. ”

The shopkeeper stared at Zhang Zhengdao: "Who are you?" Zhang Zhengdao: "We are officials, and there was a case of poisoning people in the city, and we were investigating the case." The shopkeeper looked at him suspiciously: "Do you have any official documents?" Zhang Zheng took out the token of the Chu Wangfu from his arms and showed it to him, the shopkeeper glanced at it, shook his head and said: "No, we are under the management of Xinping County here, and we need the official document of the county government." ”

"Isn't the King of Chu bigger than the county order?"

"It's useless to be big, the county officials might as well be in charge."

Zhang Zheng became angry when he heard this, stepped forward and grabbed the collar of the shopkeeper, glared and said: "As long as you are in the realm of the Tang Dynasty, the King of Chu can control you!" Go and get it, if you delay the right thing, Lao Tzu will kill you! When the shopkeeper saw an unreasonable reckless man, he had to say, "Okay, okay, I'll get it." ”

Zhang Zheng let go of his hand, and the shopkeeper turned around and brought the account book. Zhang Zheng took it and flipped through it, and found that someone had bought five dollars of arsenic a few days ago, and the time was the day before Sun Fen was killed. looked at the signature and drawing, which read: Lu Shanhai.

"Who is this Lu Shanhai?" Zhang Zheng asked with a frown.

"The villain doesn't know either. According to the regulations, in addition to the prescription prescribed by Lang Zhong, the purchase of arsenic must also have a letter of guarantee from Lizheng, but this person only has Lang Zhong's prescription and does not have a book of guarantee, but he shows his famous seal of thorn. The villain saw that it was from the state capital, so he had to sell it to him. ”

"Someone from the state capital?" Zhang Zheng pondered for a moment and said, "Shopkeeper, you can come with us." ”

"Where are you going?"

"Xinping County Ya."

"No, the villain still has to do business."

Zhang Zheng pulled out the Qinglong Sword with a "swish", and the sharp blade of Xue Liang rested on the neck of the shopkeeper: "Do you want to go?" ”

"Go, go."

The shopkeeper called the guy to stand in the store for him, and then followed Zhang Zheng and them. Zhang Zheng and the guards didn't bother to eat lunch, so the two bought a few baked cakes on the side of the road to take with them. Zhang Zheng rode a horse and took the shopkeeper and hurried back to Pizhou City.

At the King of Chu Inn, Li Zhiyun was practicing calligraphy in the room, Zhang Zheng broke in in a hurry, handed him a piece of paper and said, "Lord Wang, look at this painting." Li Zhiyun took it and took a look, and the picture on the paper was a man. He stared intently, and finally recognized it, isn't this Lu Sifang?

"This is the painter's drawing based on the description of the shopkeeper of the pharmacy."

Li Zhiyun understood as soon as he heard it, and hurriedly said: "Immediately gather people and horses, and follow me to arrest Lu Sifang!" Zhang Zheng agreed, turned around and went out. Li Zhiyun walked to the hanger, took off the saber and tied it around his waist. When he walked to the courtyard, Zhang Zheng had already gathered the people. Li Zhiyun stepped on the stirrup and got on the horse, led everyone out of the inn, and went straight to the state office.

Halfway through, Li Zhiyun suddenly stopped his mount, and Zhang Zheng on the side was surprised: "Lord Wang, what's wrong?" Li Zhiyun frowned and said: "I always feel that this Lu Sifang may also be a chess piece, and there is someone else behind the scenes." When Zhang Zheng heard this, he nodded and said, "There is such a possibility." ”

"We must hurry up and catch the other party alive before they are extinguished." Li Zhiyun said, turned his head to Cai Hu on the other side and said, "Do you know where Lu Sifang lives?" Cai Hu nodded and said, "I know, the prince asked us to investigate several soldiers in the state capital, so I know their situation well." ”

"Let's go to Lu Sifang's residence first." Li Zhiyun ordered.

The reason why Li Zhiyun wanted to go to Lu Sifang's residence first was because he learned the lesson of the last arrest of Sun Fen. He knew that his opponent was cunning and cunning, and he probably knew that he had tracked down Lu Sifang's head. Therefore, he must rush to catch this important person before the other party makes a move.

Everyone turned their horses' heads and went straight to Lu Sifang's residence under the leadership of Cai Hu. When I arrived at the gate of the house, I saw that the gate was open. Everyone dismounted and walked into the courtyard to take a look, and the main house was wide open. Zhang Zheng suddenly screamed badly, pulled out the Qinglong Sword, and rushed into the house with an arrow, only to see a black shadow flashing, and a person jumped out of the window and fled. Zhang Zheng also came to the "Fish Leaping Dragon Gate", jumped out of the window, and pulled his legs to chase the assassin......