Chu Mo said to him: "Your Excellency, this case has always been in charge of his subordinates, and the case has been closed, and the file has been sent to the state capital. ”

"I know. Zhang Renjie waved his hand and said to him, "Niu Tao's case is actually above, and the Criminal Department has specially handed it over to me to supervise, in fact, I don't want to interfere too much, to put it bluntly, I just look at this case is too simple, you should be able to handle it." ”

Chu Mo listened and nodded again.

Zhang Renjie continued: "But I didn't expect it, you can't handle such a simple thing." ”

Chu Mo saluted him and said, "Please ask the envoy for advice."

Zhang Renjie frowned and said, "How many times have I told you, you don't need to call me adult, just call me by my name." Niu Tao's case has been watched by the adults of the Criminal Department, they have been staring at Niu Tao when he was alive, and they are also very concerned about his movements. I've read the files you have submitted, and most of them are similar to my conjectures, and as for the murderer, it's. ”

Chu Mo raised his eyebrows and asked, "What about ...... What do you mean ......"

"Niu Ran is also a big guy, he is the son of Niu Tao, who you said was the murderer. Zhang Renjie said, "Niu Tao has two knife wounds on his body, and cutting his throat is a fatal injury. But at that time, Niu Tao was already fascinated, he had no strength to resist, and judging from the bloodstains, the knife wound he suffered in the abdomen did not produce much blood, and the main blood spurted out was on the neck, indicating that Niu Tao was stabbed in the stomach after his throat was cut, which also shows that there is no trace of struggle at the scene, if he stabs his stomach first, Niu Tao will definitely not die for a while and a half, and he must struggle. ”

Chu Mo listened, thought carefully, nodded and said, "What you said is true." ”

"So, Niu Ran, according to the dossier, he has never killed anyone, and he must be flustered when he kills for the first time, even if he has a deep hatred, he will not stab a dead person again, and he must be so panicked that he wants to run away at the first time. ”

Chu Mo frowned and asked Zhang Renjie, "Then ...... What do you mean......"

"The murderer is someone else, you go back and investigate. Zhang Renjie said, "This person is particularly unfavorable under the knife, the wound is not happy, either the old and weak, the sick and the disabled, or a weak woman, no, even the woman is not very similar, the direction of the wound is from the bottom to the top, this is very critical, most people are cut horizontally, from the bottom to the top is not very smooth, either a short man, or, is a child." ”

"Master Zhang really has a good memory, and he can remember the details in the file so clearly. Chu Mo said, "Then you mean that the murderer is no longer between them?"

"Nope. Zhang Renjie raised his finger at Chu Mo and said, "You forgot, in the dungeon, there is another person, Niu Tao's daughter, Niu Lian." ”

Chu Mo looked at Zhang Renjie, his face showed an expression of affirmation, and he looked at himself with his mouth open.

"Go back and check that little kid, don't use ordinary thinking to handle the case, make bold assumptions, and be careful to verify. Zhang Renjie raised his head, looked at the vast night sky, and said, "Also, the second thing is the matter of Qingyulou." ”

"Your Excellency, please. Chu Mo said.

"The blue fish building was burned down for no reason, and Lord Zhizhou attaches great importance to it, according to the news from above, the murderer and arson was a woman, dressed in black, and there is no accurate portrait. The people who had seen her were dead, and her general appearance had only been seen by the Praetorian Guards. Zhang Renjie said, "The upper authorities have put a lot of pressure on me, so I was specially sent here to assist the county government in the investigation with Hurun." Many people died that night, counting those burned, the Praetorian Guards and the common people died in total, almost a hundred, and it has not been a long time since the end of the war. ”

Chu Mo bowed his hand to Zhang Renjie and said: "This incident is due to the poor supervision of the subordinates, and the matter appears within the jurisdiction of our county, I have ordered all the arresters to collect clues in the entire county, and it is necessary to bring the murderer to justice and return justice to the people." ”

"That woman is no ordinary person. Zhang Renjie casually folded a weed in the crack of the stone on the side, put it in his mouth and chewed it, and said, "You can fight so many Praetorian Guards alone, and you can escape unharmed. Fortunately, these ordinary people don't remember to eat, so many people have died, and the fire that burns paper money has not yet been flourishing during the festival. ”

Chu Mo's face sank a little, and he didn't answer.

"You have clues to report this matter to me on time." Zhang Renjie turned his head to Chu Mo and said, "Don't act rashly, just make a claim, and one last thing." ”

He straightened up from the guardrail, stretched out his hand towards Chu Mo, and said, "Where is the paper I just came to show you?"

After hearing this, Chu Mo took out the piece of paper from his arms and handed it to him. Zhang Renjie took it and said while looking at it: "You have seen the things on this, it is a report from Yuzhou, there was a case of extermination in Ninghai County, the method was cruel, and the time happened to be the day when the Qingyulou was burned." ”

"Hmm. Chu Mo answered, waiting for his next words.

Zhang Renjie read the contents of the paper carefully, and said to Chu Mo without raising his head: "The methods of these two incidents are very similar, the victims were hit by daggers, short knives and other murder weapons in the vital parts, without giving people any room for resistance, clean and neat, he is a person with strong martial arts, and he is by no means an idle person." ”

"Then the lord is saying that the woman who burned the Qingyu Building is also the murderer who killed the door in Yuzhou?" Chu Mo asked.

Zhang Renjie nodded and said: "Yuzhou is not far from us, if you are fast, you can arrive in an hour, and the time is in time, the important thing is that there are not many people with this kind of skill, if it is two unrelated cases, it will inevitably be a bit of a coincidence, and one more thing, do you know who the family that was destroyed?"

Chu Mo said: "My lord, please speak." ”

"Liufu. The Liufu family has never had much contact with the people in the town, and there is no enemy who has a deep hatred, and Qingyulou is not like a place where someone wants to make a special trip to kill people and set fires, but the eldest daughter in Liufu, a woman named Liu Xiaoxiao, has been a popular piano girl in Qingyulou. ”

After hearing this, Chu Mo had an epiphany, and said: "You mean, Liu Xiaoxiao in Niu Tao's case? The subordinates remembered a little, that Liu Xiaoxiao did grow up in Liufu in Yuzhou, and he did work in Qingyulou for a while, and later redeemed himself and married Niu Tao. ”

Zhang Renjie nodded and said: "That's right, that's it, Liu Xiaoxiao probably provoked some enemy, wiped her out, and killed all the friends she once knew, if she wasn't locked in a well-guarded dungeon, I'm afraid the next target would be her." ”

Chu Mo said: "What the lord said is true, Liu Xiaoxiao will leave for Taizhou immediately, if it is for her, we can send troops to set up an ambush, and we will definitely be able to find the murderer." ”

Zhang Renjie sighed and said, "I hope so." ”

The number of pedestrians on the bridge gradually increased, many couples snuggled together, standing on the bridge and looking into the distance to enjoy the scenery, a few high-spirited young scholars gathered together to talk and laugh loudly, and a small vendor pulling a cart knocked on the small gong in his hand, trying his best to sell it.

"Let's go, walk with me again. Zhang Renjie smiled at Chu Mo and walked under the bridge.

The two walked side by side, and the nearby restaurant business was bustling, with colorful lights, and several tall and luxurious carriages parked neatly outside.

Zhang Renjie looked up at the restaurant and said to Chu Mo: "Let's go, accompany me in and sit down." ”

"Didn't the envoy just have a meal?" Chu Mo said with a smile.

"Oh, I have two bellies, one for food and one for wine. Zhang Renjie smiled at him and said, "I don't have any silver on me, you are the landlord, you have a treat." ”

"The envoy laughed, this is the friendship of the landlord that I should do, please. Chu Mo beckoned to him.

"Huh. Polite. Zhang Renjie walked into the restaurant with great interest and said, "Don't call me an adult, I don't like to hear it." ”

Chu Mo followed him and said with a smile: "Then what should I be called?"

"It's called Brother Zhang, we are about the same age, how good it is to be called brothers. Zhang Renjie was greeted by Xiao Er, who was waiting at the door of the restaurant, and did not look back.

"Okay, Brother Zhang. Chu Mo said to Xiao Er, "Give us a quiet place and serve some good wine." ”

Xiao Er led them upstairs, came to a window position, and walked away. Chu Mo and the others sat down, and Zhang Renjie looked downstairs through the window.

"Eh, Brother Ouyang, what do you see that?" Suddenly, Zhang Renjie pointed out the window and asked Chu Mo.

Chu Mo looked down, and not far from the restaurant, a group of scholars were surrounding a high notice board, talking about something.

"Oh, this is the new county test unveiling, this is the first batch of county exams after the end of the war, and there are many scholars who come to participate, all of them are promising offspring. Chu Mo said to Zhang Renjie.

"Well, I didn't read well before, and now I can't talk to cultural people. Zhang Renjie smiled self-deprecatingly.

Chu Mo said: "How come, Brother Zhang's reasoning just now opened my eyes, no wonder I can enter the state capital to do things at a young age, unlike me, I can only be a county magistrate in the county government." ”

"Eh, don't say that. Zhang Renjie waved his hand at him and said: "I still envy you, it's nothing, you can drink a little wine and have a little affection, there are too many things in the state capital, I can only rest for a while on a business trip, don't you just wait to figure it out when you arrive." ”

Speaking of this, Xiao Er brought up two pots of wine and respectfully retreated,

Chu Mo picked up the wine jug, filled the wine glasses of the two, and said, "Come, Brother Zhang, I will toast you with a glass and taste the rice wine of this famous Shaoxing Town." ”

Zhang Renjie replied, drank the wine in the cup with his neck tilted, and comfortably snorted, saying, "Ah, it's really good wine." ”

Outside the restaurant, the festive atmosphere has not dissipated, the dragon dance team walks along the street, the sound of gongs and drums shakes the sky, and the people passing by can't help but stop and watch, and the cheers come out one after another.

After three rounds of drinking, Zhang Renjie was a little drunk, leaned on the table, and said to Chu Mo: "Brother Ouyang, do you know why the adults in the Criminal Department attach so much importance to the case of Niu Tao that you took over?"