[The seventy-first year of the Great Qiankang Yuan, the third day of the fourth month, the time of Chenshi, Tsing Yi Wei]

After Xu Ke slept all night, he got up early, ate breakfast, and rushed to Tsing Yi Wei as usual.

He sat in his office for half an hour, and was processing official documents, but he saw his subordinates report that it was Chang'an Zhixian Zhou Shouju who asked to see him.

Xu Ke had a good impression of this Zhou Zhixian, and he hurriedly instructed his subordinates: "Please!"

After a few moments, the guard led the shoulder-juggling into the door.

Zhou Shouju saw Xu Ke, and hurriedly leaned over and saluted:

"Xiaguan see Lord Xu!"

"Zhou Zhixian, don't be polite, sit!"

Xu Ke looked at Zhou Shouju, and saw that he was no less than fifty years old, and he was still so respectful to himself, he was a little uneasy, he hurriedly got up and left his seat, pulled Zhou Zhixian aside and sat down, and ordered his subordinates to watch the tea.

The two only spoke a few words, and Xu Ke had already asked Zhou Beiju's intention.

Chang'an County recently had another murder, the deceased was a short and fat old man, the cause of death was very strange, Zhou Zhixian could not judge the case for a while, and it was inconvenient to report to Jingzhao Mansion, so he personally ran to Tsing Yi Wei and directly asked Xu Ke for instructions.

Xu Ke pondered for a moment, and said in his heart, why didn't this magistrate look for Zhong Xingming, but instead asked himself for help? Seeing that the other party trusted him so much, he no longer shirked it, and then got up and went to Chang'an County with Zhou Beiju.

After half an hour, the two walked into the inner hall of the Chang'an County Ya together.

Zhou Shouju led Xu Ke into a hut in the county office, pointed to a male corpse on the wooden platform and said:

"Lord Xu, this is the deceased, his name is Wu Fangda, nicknamed Wu Da Fat, he is fifty-three years old this year, and he is a medicine shop in Chang'an City. At about noon on March 28, he was eating in the Deyue Building, but suddenly he fell to the ground and died, and the death was very strange, my lord, you can take a look first......"

Xu Ke immediately walked up to the corpse and looked at it carefully. I saw that the "Wu Da Fat" figure was very bloated, lying on the wooden platform at the moment, his eyes were closed, and his fat belly was facing the sky, although he had been dead for a long time, but the body was well preserved. The most surprising thing is that the deceased's face and chest were wrapped in a layer of light frost, and the deceased's face was pale and cold, as if he had been frozen to death......

Xu Ke carefully inspected the whole body of "Wu Da Fat", touched the frost on the deceased's face, and untied his clothes, paying attention to the deceased's chest. He saw that the deceased did not have the slightest scar on his body, and the death seemed to have sunk into an ice cellar for a long time, or he was exposed to the severe cold, frozen alive and died. He was really puzzled in his heart.

After Xu Ke examined the body, he and Zhou Beiju came to the retreat room of the magistrate and sat down.

That Zhou Zhixian treated Xu Ke very respectfully, and let Xu Ke sit on the main seat of the county magistrate no matter what, and brewed a cup of the best green leaf hair tip in the county government for Xu Ke. Xu Ke couldn't refuse, so he had to sit on the Taishi chair of the magistrate.

Xu Ke took a sip of hot tea, and then asked:

"Zhou Zhixian, then Wu Da Fat has been dead for so long, why did you come to me today?"

Zhou Shuangju hurriedly said: "I can't hide it, Lord Xu, Xia Guan also hesitated for a long time, and then came to Tsing Yi Wei to find you! Chang'an City has recently been rumored to be a cat demon case, and the people have been scared to the ground, if there is any more trouble, maybe there will be some big things coming out! Yes, although Xia Guan received this case five days ago, he has not dared to report it when he saw that Wu Da Fat's death was so strange......

"Then why did you report to me again today?"

"Today, Lord Xu also saw that Wu Da Fat died suddenly in the Deyue Tower, and he has not been able to find out the cause of death until today, only saying that he died of freezing. He was obviously drinking and eating in the Deyue Tower, and he was still wearing a thick cotton robe, so where did he get from the cold? Besides, Xia Guan had already asked Wu Da Fat's family, and Wu Da Pang was not seriously ill before his death, but he was just drinking and greedy for drinks, and he liked women, so why did he die suddenly? Yes, Xia Guan felt that the murderer was very happy...... It's just a demon! Since the lord is the deputy envoy for the investigation of the case of the cat demon ordered by the emperor, the subordinate has to come to the adult!"

"Hmm...... It's good for you to do this!" Xu Ke took another sip of warm tea and nodded.

But he thought in his heart, isn't the mastermind of the investigation of the case of the cat demon ordered by the emperor my senior brother? Why don't you dare to see him, but you come to me? You just want to push this case to me, so that you don't have to bear the responsibility of concealing the report, and you don't have to be guilty of disturbing the people...... It's sleek!

Xu Kexuan asked again:

"Zhou Zhixian, in your opinion, is the murderer in this case the cat demon?"

"My lord, Xia Guan thinks that Wu Da Fat's death should not be the work of the cat demon!"

"Oh...... How so?"

"Adults think about it, that cat demon is a troublemaker, usually only committing crimes at night, but Wu Da Pang died suddenly at noon, this is the wrong time! Moreover, Xia Guan heard that the cat demon specializes in seducing men with the 'art of harmony', and most of the objects he is looking for are young and strong men, and Wu Da Pang is old and ugly, and it seems that he is not the appetite of the cat demon! What's more, Wu Da Fat's face is snow-white, and his head, face and chest are covered with frost, and this frost has not melted after five days, so the way of death is also very different from the previous dead corpses......

"Makes sense!" Xu Ke couldn't help nodding frequently:

"So...... In your opinion, the murderer has another demon?"

"This ......" Zhou shoulders pondered slightly, and then said to Xu Ke:

"The qualifications of the lower officials are blunt, and it is difficult to guess for a while, to determine what the culprit of this case is, you have to rely on Lord Xu!"

Xu Ke nodded, although he felt a little sleek and sophisticated about Zhou Keju's approach, he also recognized it in his heart. After all, the other party is only a county order, and the resources in his hands are limited, so he can truthfully report this case of Wu Dapang to himself today, and the reasoning of the case is also reasonable, which is not easy.

At that moment, Xu Ke asked: "Who else knows about this case?"

"Lord Hui, except for you and me, no one else knows!"

"Very good!"

Xu Ke then commanded:

"Zhou Zhixian, you should keep Wu Dapang's body properly, and don't let outsiders know all the news related to this case! If Wu Dapang's family inquires, you will say that he died of a sudden illness! After I discuss with His Royal Highness King Zhao, I will come to your yamen tomorrow!"

"The subordinate obeys!"

Xu Ke immediately got up and said goodbye to Zhou Shouju and went out, and Zhou Zhixian was busy sending him off in person all the way.

The two walked out of the retreat room and entered the inner courtyard of the county government, but they saw a young man about eleven or twelve years old, who looked quite heroic, and rushed towards Zhou Shoulder, and the young man was still carrying a wire cage in his hand. Worry-free Chinese network

"Daddy, Daddy! Oh no! This 'cat demon' is dying, Daddy help me!"

"Tong'er, don't mess around!" looked at his baby son with a huge look on his shoulders, his face was full of love, but in front of Xu Ke, he could only stop it.

"Daddy, really, if you don't help me think of ideas, the 'cat demon' is really going to die!"

"Where did the cat demon come from?" Xu Ke couldn't help but smile when he saw this.

"Ah, it's this 'cat demon'!" the young man lifted the iron cage, pointed to a small flower cat in the cage, and said to Xu Ke, he spoke at the moment as if he was already a powerful figure in the world.

Zhou Shouju saw that his son was so childish at this time, if it was another boss who came in person, he would have pulled his son away and scolded him loudly. However, at this time, he knew Xu Ke's temperament, so that he could introduce Xu Ke to him:

"Lord Xu, this is the dog Zhou Tong, he is eleven years old this year, he doesn't like to read, but he likes to play, today let the adults laugh!"

"Eh!" Xu Ke waved his hand and said, "Ling Lang is very cute!" He leaned over to Zhou Tong and asked, "What's wrong with this 'cat demon' in your hand?"

Zhou Tong said anxiously: "The 'cat demon' stayed in the cage for three days, but refused to eat anything! I put all the best fish bones in the cage, but it still refuses to eat, big brother, help me see if it is about to die? Why does it refuse to eat?"

"Tong'er, Hugh is rude!This is the master of a thousand households in Tsing Yiwei, you have to be called 'adult'!" Although Zhou Beiju knew that Xu Ke would not care, he still reminded Zhou Tong loudly.

"Don't scare the child!" Xu Ke waved his hand to Zhou Shoulder again. He looked at the wire cage in Zhou Tong's hand, and saw a very cute little flower cat in the cage.

However, at this moment, the little flower cat seemed to be weak and lay softly in the cage. When she saw Xu Ke, she hurriedly jumped up, and made a "meow" sound in her mouth, as if she was begging for help.

"Can you let the big brother take a closer look at this 'cat demon'?"

"Here you go!"

Xu Ke lifted the iron cage and looked at the little flower cat in the cage for a moment, only to feel that the little flower cat, the coat color on the body was white and red, very bright, but a pair of cat eyes seemed to be smart and extremely cute. Xu Ke has seen many domestic cats and wild cats since he was a child, but he has never seen a small flower cat with such a bright color and such a cute shape. He saw that the little flower cat had a pair of cat eyes at this time, and he was also staring at himself upright, and he didn't feel very interesting in his heart.

Xu Ke returned the wire cage to Zhou Tong's hand, leaned over, and said with a smile:

"Little brother, do you know why the kitten refuses to eat it?"

"Why?"

"Because you've locked it up! If it's not free, it's not going to be happy. If you think about it, what would you do if your father locked you up in the house and told you to read and not do anything else?"

"I'll run over the wall, hahaha!" Zhou Tong replied with a smile. In his immature voice, there was a bold air of his own.

The little flower cat in the iron cage struggled to "meow", as if scolding: "Little rabbit, you can escape over the wall, but this iron cage is locked to death, how can you let Aunt Ben escape?!"

Xu Ke patiently persuaded again:

"But if you climb over the wall and get out and your father catches you back, and this time he locks the door so that you can't go out half a step again, and you are locked in the house all day long, will you still be happy?"

"Big brother, I know, you want me to let it go, don't you?"

Xu Ke nodded, and said in his heart that this child looks naughty, but he is quite smart.

"No! I can't let it go!"

"Why?"

"It took me a long time to catch it! Besides, it's not an ordinary cat, it's a 'cat demon'! If you let the 'cat demon' out, isn't it going to harm people again?"

Zhou Beiju originally saw Xu Ke and his son laughing happily, so he didn't bother, at this moment he heard Zhou Tong say "cat demon" one after another, his brows were secretly furrowed, and he said in his heart, this Lord Xu is now the deputy envoy of the cat demon case, although Tong'er is joking, but in case the speaker has no intention of listening to the heart, saying that the son of the county is hiding the cat demon, if this matter is spread, it is not a joke!

At that moment, Zhou Beiju could no longer care about the image of a "loving father", he hurriedly strode forward, snatched the iron cage in Zhou Tong's hand, and reprimanded loudly:

"Tong'er, don't talk nonsense here! Under this blue sky and white sun, where did the cat demon come from! This cat has been locked up by you for three days and three nights, and it should have been released!"

As Zhou Beiju spoke, he was about to open the wire cage, but the iron cage was carefully made by Zhou Tong, and Zhou Beiju couldn't grasp the essentials, and he twisted it for a long time, but he still couldn't open the iron cage.

That Zhou Shouju is already fifty this year, and he only got a child at the age of forty, because he has always been fond of Zhou Tong, and he is almost obedient every day, and never scolds. Today, in front of outsiders, Zhou Tong was reprimanded by his father, and immediately cried aggrievedly:

"Daddy! This is the 'cat demon', it's the 'cat demon'! I want this 'cat demon', you can't let it go......!

"Okay, good, daddy, daddy won't let go of your 'cat demon'......" Zhou Shouju has almost become crazy about his son in the past eleven years, at this moment, where is he willing to let his baby son cry so much, he turned to a plan, and said:

"Tong'er, do you know? This Lord Xu is the deputy envoy for the investigation of the case appointed by the Lord Long Live Lord, and he has come to arrest the cat demon! Since you have caught the 'cat demon', you should dedicate it to Lord Xu!"

Zhou Tong stopped crying, looked at Xu Ke and asked, "Big brother, are you here to catch the cat demon?"

"Yes!" Xu Ke nodded and said with a smile.

"That'...... What about this 'cat demon'...... You can take it!" Zhou Tong pointed to the iron cage in his father's hand and sobbed. It can be seen that he was suddenly drunk by his father just now, and he was really sad in his heart.

The giant shouldered the iron cage into Xu Ke's hands.

At this moment, the little flower cat in the iron cage was churning again, her front body stood up hard, the cat's paws grabbed the edge of the iron cage, the cat's eyes stared at Xu Ke even more obsessively, and the mouth was "meow" and called continuously, as if to say:

"My little brother, please! Take me away! You cut my leg last time, and I still hurt to this day! This time, as long as you take me away and let me go, not only will I not hate you, but I will remember my little brother's kindness to me from now on! Even if you let me make a promise, you can do it!"

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