At this time, it was close to noon, and the kitchen of the government office had begun to prepare lunch, and today the people of the government office have resumed the multiplicity of the previous days, so the kitchen needs to prepare more meals.

Long Xiangtian turned his head to the side, his eyes were a little unhappy at the moment, he naturally understood Gonggong Wei's voice. Chen Renhai said: "Gonggong Wei, this case of the imperial horse not only involves the Xiangma behind the loss of the imperial horse, but also an anti-imperial force that has spread in this river and lake. From this point of view, the loss of the imperial horse is a small matter, and the safety of the court is a big matter. And if we can catch this gang of thieves, I'm afraid the horse can also be recovered. I also asked my father-in-law to elaborate on this matter when he wrote to the emperor. ”

Gonggong Wei thought for a while and said: "The old slave knows, and the old slave said in the letter that the commanders plan to catch the rebel thieves and then recover the royal horse, and put the capture of the thief in the first place, and the matter of the royal horse will follow. Please ask the emperor to postpone or cancel the matter of the imperial horse garden. What do you think?"

When Long Xiangtian got up, the chair and stool were accompanied by the sound of breaking, and he walked out of the back hall without saying a word, and went straight to the front yard hall. Gonggong Wei was a little surprised and said, "This ...... What do you mean, Lord Dragon?"

Li Defei got up and said, "Father-in-law Wei wants to write like this, Li has nothing to say." However, what Li wants to tell Gonggong Wei is that if he doesn't catch the thief, I'm afraid that only the royal horse will be lost in the future, and Gonggong Wei also knows what happened in the album, and now the military camp on the East Road of the Ganliang Army was robbed, and Gonggong Wei should also know about the death of officials in the southeast. This is not the time to refer to Sang scolding Huai and sneering here, and we should be the same enemy and find out the real culprit. ”

Wei Gong said fairly: "Your lords have misunderstood, this is the old slave telling the truth, you really want to catch the thief who stole the royal horse and published the picture album, and then look for the royal horse? Is this true? Please give me advice?"

Chen Renhai nodded and said with a smile: "Father-in-law Wei can write with confidence, and we will focus on handling the case." After entering the capital, we will also talk about the case with the emperor in detail, these 'facts' can be written by Father-in-law Wei, this is the duty of Father-in-law Wei, and we must not be derelict in our duties. ”

While speaking, Long Xiangtian entered the backyard again and said, "Just now the city is catching a report that the painting workshop in the north of the city has committed a murder." Brother Chen, we still need to check it out quickly."

After hearing this, Chen Renhai immediately said: "Father-in-law Wei is concentrating on writing here, and I will go to investigate the case." ”

After that, everyone in Ouchi went out of the backyard, got horses in the front yard, and went straight to the place where the incident occurred in the north of the city. The workshop has been arrested and the soldiers are about to be blocked. When the group arrived, they immediately entered the workshop. I saw a man lying on his stomach on the bookcase, with a knife stuck in his back.

Chen Renhai said: "Leng Du, Yu Wenfeng, look at the corpse experience"

The two put on deerskin gloves and lifted the corpse up with their hands, only to see that the corpse's face had turned pale, and when he opened his arms, his forearms had corpse spots. Leng Jue's fingers gently flicked the man's eyelids, opened his mouth slightly, and examined his tongue. Yu Wenfeng stabbed his person with a silver needle, stained it with some blood, and after coldly slapping the lamp, Yu Wenfeng put the needle on the lamp and roasted it, and there was a small white smoke.

"Poisonous?" Chen Renhai asked.

Leng decided: "Yes, but not to death by poisoning." ”

Yu Wenfeng detoured behind the man, tore open the clothes behind the man, and saw that the knife wound was not abnormal with the ordinary knife wound, so he said: "Commander Chen, we still need to conduct a careful autopsy, this is not a place for autopsy, it is better for us to transport this corpse back to the government first, and after a careful examination, we will inform the commanders of the autopsy results." ”

Chen Renhai said: "This is very good, you wait and the guards to return to the mansion first, and I will wait here to search for a while, I think there is not only such a corpse here." ”

In this way, Leng Jue and the others packed up the body and carried it out of the workshop, and the people on the street gathered around to take a look. In the past few days, the people have been terrified and uneasy, and they think that there is another layer to be added: the appearance of the album, the attack of the Ganliang army, the martial law of the city, and the appearance of the corpse of the painting workshop today. It's easy for them to associate the appearance of the album with these bizarre events one after another. Although the government has issued a notice to reassure the people, how much role can it have now?

Those who believe naturally believe in the government, but those who don't believe will not believe it anyway, they can even think that the things in the album will be realized one by one, and then the world will change here, even if some of them can't even recognize all the words in the album, but they still believe that things are going to happen. The words that come up most often are those that come up with the phrases "I hear people ......" or "You still believe in the peace notice" to show their vision. Some of them also said that the imperial court was afraid, so they would send so many important officials to investigate the case.

Yes, some people are afraid, but Long Xiangtian and others will not be afraid, and Pu Mu and others who went to the two southeastern prefectures to investigate the case will not be afraid, they are worried that the people will be afraid, so they issued a notice to calm the people, but they don't know that someone will say that it is because they are afraid that they posted the notice.

Chen Renhai searched in the workshop, and the back hall of the studio was a bedroom, with a downstairs and an upstairs room. Bai Yang and Li Defei led people downstairs to investigate, while Chen Renhai, Ren Chaoxian, Mei Jin and others went upstairs to check.

Long Xiangtian asked the catcher who saw the corpse in the workshop, and said, "There was nothing unusual in this workshop a few days ago?"

Na Zhu said quickly: "A few days ago, this painting workshop has been closed, and I heard from the neighbors that the owner of this painting workshop went home for the New Year before Chinese New Year's Eve and has never returned. The oil lamp that was lit in the second-floor bedroom of the studio last night was also seen by the brothers who patrolled the street. The brothers who patrolled the streets this morning did not see anything unusual, and the workshop was still closed at that time. It's just that after the shift change, the studio opened, I waited to patrol here, and saw that the workshop had been opened, but I smelled a fishy smell, and when I arrived at the workshop, I saw this person close his eyes, but his face was a little strange. After entering the workshop, someone just touched his shoulder lightly, and he fell vertically, so I waited to see him

When a knife was stuck in his back, I didn't dare to act rashly, so I reported it to the government. ”

Long Xiangtian nodded and said, "Wait until you go out to guard, don't let people come here." ”

Looking at this case, Long Xiangtian felt a little strange, why was there fine dust on the case? This dust was very fine, but it showed some marks. Long Xiangtian seemed to think of something and ran upstairs.

Chen Renhai saw an open box in the upstairs room, in addition, the bed was neat, the things on the table were complete, there was still some ink left on the inkstone, and there was a lit oil lamp on the table. And there seems to be some oil paint wafting in this room. The room has two windows, one facing the main street of the workshop, and the other facing an alley, which is lined with residents on both sides of the alley.

Long Xiangtian went upstairs at this time, Chen Renhai looked at Long Xiangtian and said, "Brother Long, have you found out?"

"I have some doubts and want to go upstairs to confirm it. "Long Xiang Heavenly Dao. After that, Long Xiangtian stepped on the floor a few times, rubbed it slightly, and said, "There is some fine sand on the wooden board, and there is also fine sand on the bookcase on the painting workshop." I heard what the catcher said, there was a light here last night, and no one has come to this workshop for a long time, so it was lit last night......"

Chen Renhai interrupted Long Xiangtian's words and said: "Brother Long is saying that if the owner of the painting workshop returns home, the dust on the bookcase must be swept away, and this building is its master bedroom, so it should be dusted, even if it is not dusted, this desk should not be like this" Saying that, Chen Renhai flicked his fingers, and some dust shook from the desk.

"The people of the Shaxi Gang have been here. Kill people and kill people" Long Xiang Tiandao.

Chen Renhai asked, "But there were lights last night, and they won't do it at this time...... That's right," Chen Renhai immediately ran to the window leaning against the alley and saw some scratches on the window edge. He nodded here with his finger and said, "This inverted scratch must be strange."

"Painter ......" Long Xiangtian muttered to himself, thinking about it, Ren Chaoxian said: "The painter did not die at night, he was killed during the day, and he is afraid that he is one of the people who make albums for this northwest generation." ”

Mei Jin seemed to understand Ren Chaoxian's meaning, so he said: "What Brother Ren said is reasonable, what Commander Long said about the mark on the bookcase under the painting workshop downstairs, can there be no dust, and there is some fine sand and dust around." The fine sand was supposed to have been shaken off by the man, but the ash raised from the sand was not too big, or the catchers only felt that no one had come to the workshop, so the dust was raised from the bookcase. The sand and dust are on his body, and this trace can be explained by thought: it is the hanging basket that delivers food to him every day, and it is related to the sketches he sends."

Ren Chaoxian said: "Yes, Governor Ma once said that this album may only be sent out from here. I think that the man who died was the painter who made this album here. ”

Long Xiangtian was a little puzzled, and said: "Then how does he paint, he only paints during the day, and does not light the lamp at night, and then the daily meal is served by someone from this alley, if it is night, he hangs the food from the alley to the building to eat, it is really easy, but during the day, what should I do?"

Mei Jin stared at the window, and then said: "This window is knotted with a rope, look at the corner of the window......"

While talking, Li Defei and Bai Yang also went upstairs and said, "Dig it out under the wall where the bed is leaning downstairs" Then, Li Defei put a few stacks of paper on the table and said: "The bottom plate of the picture, this is what it was originally drawn."

What Li Defei is talking about is the pattern that depicts seven strange animals. Poplar then put a bag of things on the table, and said, "And these gold bars, I think he also hid them from others to see, if no one here has come for a long time, how should these objects be explained?"

Chen Renhai picked up these paintings, looked at these gold bars, and said: "This is the most weighty evidence he left for us before he died, and we will seal this place for the time being." I will go back to the government to see the results of the autopsy and then confirm the matter."

In the public hall of the mansion, Yu Wenfeng had already pulled out the knife, the blood in the knife was a little dark, he put the knife in a basin and soaked it, and then took it out. I put a packet of medicinal powder into the basin, and the pale red water in the basin turned up white foam, and the foam did not spread after gathering, and it seemed to be a little sticky.

Leng Du took a short knife, and had cut open the corpse's chest, probing something with a silver needle, and the corpse's face was pierced with silver needles, and blood flowed out of the closed eyes from time to time.

At this time, in the public court, except for the servants who fought down, no one dared to come to see it, Governor Ma originally wanted them to go to Yizhuang to conduct an autopsy if there was a murder case involved in the original government, and they would go to Yizhuang for an autopsy, but now that these people arrived at the public court, they said that they wanted to conduct an autopsy, so that the commanders could come back to investigate, so Governor Ma did not dare to make a sound, and could only let them 'drastically' exert their magic powers in the public court.

Father-in-law Wei looked at the court from time to time, and when he saw this scene, he retracted his head in fright, and said straight in the hall: "When will this be investigated? There is no progress at all, all the people caught are inconsequential, and now there is another dead person, what clues can they find in this dead man?"

Governor Ma knew about Grandpa Wei's complaints, and today he had seen that Grandpa Wei and these people were not on the way, although he didn't know what kind of grudges they had, but they couldn't be compatible with each other, and he definitely knew. After being an official for so many years, of course, he also knows how to do it at this time, as long as he does not make the most foolish move: which side to say a word for. In this way, you can get through it.

In this way, he chatted with Grandpa Wei with a smile about other things, and it was not until those people rushed to the court that the two got up and went out to greet each other. But when he arrived at the court and saw such a terrifying scene, Grandpa Wei screamed in fright. Long Xiangtian looked up at his actions, then sneered and asked, "Leng Jie, Yuwen Feng, you can wait."

Check out some details?"

Leng Jue took off the blood-stained deerskin gloves and placed them beside the corpse, and then said, "There is no poison in the knife, it is poison from the mouth and nose, but the poison only reaches the lungs and stops spreading." The middle knife on the back coagulated a large blood mass at the spine, which was caused by internal strength, and the force of the knife was too great, so it stopped the blood burst in the blood veins and accumulated in the wound. We can preliminarily detect that he was first poisoned in his mouth and nose, and then he was stabbed in the back and died. If you don't carefully examine his facial features, and use acupuncture to detect that he has inhaled poison powder in his mouth and nose, he will be tested as a knife and die."

Li Defei looked at the knife on the ground, and saw that the horn on the handle seemed to think of something, and the horn was also engraved on the weapon of Lu Qiang and Le Zijin that night, so he said: "This is the weapon of the Shaxi Gang." It was done by the people of the Shaxi Gang."

"It's the Sand Creek Gang again, the sand ...... The wind and sand attacked, and then killed with a knife," Poplar said.

Long Xiangtian said: "The Shaxi Gang has just experienced infighting, and the cities have been under martial law, how can they still wander here? If they commit a crime, how should they start?"

Mei Jin said: "Or the knotted rope on the window, can someone patrol the alley?"

Governor Ma said: "The alley is the alley where the people live, not the main street in the city, there will be a team patrolling every hour, there are some old residents there, the alley is very quiet, and there is nothing abnormal in the past few days. ”

"Will there be any residents in this alley hanging clotheslines?" asked Mei Jin.

Governor Ma nodded and said, "Yes...... The residents around this alley do not have their own small courtyards, and sometimes the sheets and bedding, clothes, pants, shoes and socks are not easy to dry, so after some of the households have been discussed, they put a clothesline between the two households. ”

Mei Jin said: "Someone slipped into the painter's house at night. ”

After hearing this, Gonggong Wei immediately said: "Master Mei, this person in front of you ...... How do you know he's a painter?"

Chen Renhai said: "I waited in his room to find the bottom plate of the album pattern, and the upstairs room has the smell of oil paint, in addition, there are some faint ink marks on his ring finger, and there is unused ink in the room, which is not the thick ink used for writing on weekdays, but the painting ink that is a little light and added with egg whites for painting. Is there anything else Grandpa Wei wants to ask?"

Long Xiangtian said: "We don't say anything sometimes, not because we forgot the details of the detective, but because we trust that the other party has found out these details." ”

Although Gonggong Wei was unhappy after hearing this, he could only smile and said: "What your lords said is very true, the old slave doesn't talk much, and I ask Master Mei to continue to ......."

Mei Jin glanced at Father-in-law Wei, and then said to the corpse: "The household on the opposite side is where the Shaxi Gang settled in Ganliang Mansion, and the clothesline is the channel for them to deliver food to that room during the day, and it is also the only way for them to sneak into the house and kill people. ”

Governor Ma was a little puzzled, and said, "Send food, my lord means that this person has never returned home, but is hidden in his own painting workshop?"

Mei Jin nodded and said, "During the day, he doesn't light the lamp, and after making the base plate of the painting, he will trace it by himself." The tracing paintings are then delivered by a clothesline to the opposite house at night, and the house then delivers the honorarium. The hanging basket in this night is supposed to be a way to carry food or gold, and these two transportation channels are the channels for interaction with the outside world. Thinking that he knew that he was about to die, he hid the bottom plate of the picture and the gold bar in the house on the first floor, but fortunately, Commander Bai and Commander Li had dug them up. ”

Long Xiangtian said: "I think it's the birds that hide the bow, and the rabbits and dogs that are dead." Or is he trying to hide something?" Long Xiangtian looked at these pictures.

Chen Renhai handed the picture to Long Xiangtian, he knew what Long Xiangtian wanted to verify at this moment. Long Xiangtian looked at the bottom plate of the picture and said, "If this painter knows that the bird is hiding all the bows, how can he die in the first place?"

"It can't be like General Zhou, someone kidnapped his wife and child, right?" the bed downstairs ......" Bai Yang said, he didn't dare to conclude, so he stopped talking for a while.

Li Defei pondered for a while, and said: "I don't think about it, first, the bed is newly bought, if there is a wife and a child, how can he buy a new bed? The newly bought bed is supposed to be to block the objects he hid at the root of the wall; second, Brother Chen upstairs has searched all over and has never found the rest of the objects, if there is a wife and a child, how can there be no objects about his wife and child? If this person has a small family, when I return today or when Brother Leng and the others carry out the corpse, how many will the people mention it, have Brother Leng and Brother Yuwen heard it?"

Leng Jue and Yu Wenfeng didn't hear it.

Chen Renhai thought of the open box, and said, "That...... What is the explanation for the open box upstairs, what did the murderer take from there, and what did the painter leave behind the plate and the money, but what did they want?"

Long Xiangtian looked at the picture and muttered, "The ...... left behind Take it. His hand was twisting the corner of the paper, and he suddenly felt something strange. He immediately said, "Go and fetch a basin of water."

Governor Ma immediately sent the officials to fetch water, "The material of this paper is different from ordinary drawing paper," Long Xiang Tiandao.

Chen Renhai asked, "What's the difference?"

"Although the middle of the paper is the same as that of ordinary paper, the corners of the paper are elastic. This paper must have a good time, and when I am in the armament, I will find a kind of 'bullet paper' to make a flexible weapon, and I have this kind of bullet paper in my soft sword. This is a kind of unique paper used by several painters in the rivers and lakes, which is used to dip ink and mix colors, and pour color ink into its four corners, and the ink will show different layers of color bands, and the painters can make more colorful paintings by dipping them in more color ink. "Long Xiang Heavenly Dao.

As he spoke, the water was ready, and Long Xiangtian's fingers were dipped in some water, dripping from the four corners of the paper, and the picture was immersed in the water along the four corners. The painting gradually blurred, as if layered ribbons of color formed a few words.