NOVEL NEXT Chapter 48 Jujube Cake Steamed Buns
In the county government office of Kaitang Town, the police once again inspected the two buried bones brought back from the ruined temple in Liujia Village.
The county magistrate Zhou Rusheng asked Wu Zuo: "Check again, but there are new clues."
The man replied: "Sir, this white bone has been ossified for more than 30 years. What it has in common with the one next to it is that it was injured by a heavy blow to the back of the head. As for the one that has not yet ossified, it is not possible to determine whether he consumed hallucinogenic green fungi before his death. pink."
Captain Zhang pointed to the unbone corpse and added: "The only connection between this deceased and the fox demon case is the jute paper on his body."
"Lethal brain injury, jute paper, scholar... Was there a report similar to the fox demon case thirty years ago?"
"No!" The old man had stayed in the county government office for a long time and had never heard of it.
"Go and check if there are any missing candidates from more than thirty years ago." The magistrate stood up and ordered the police officer, "Captain Zhang, you come with me to the prison. The breakthrough point is still Old Man Zheng. There must be something hidden."
"Sir, tomorrow is Qiuwei. Zhang Xiucai may not be able to participate in this scientific examination. Wang Xiucai's spirit has recovered. I will refer to it tomorrow to decide whether to send someone to take care of me. I'm worried..."
"Protect in secret, but don't make it public. Since the Zheng family and his daughter are in custody, Wang Xiucai's target must be too big, and the suspect will not take action for the time being!"
"Sir, you also think that it is the same suspect who drove Wang and Zhang crazy."
"Captain Zhang, don't you think that the time and the person who happened are too coincidental. If it is a copycat crime, you can change it to another person. The yamen officer will investigate. This scholar is much poorer than Wang Xiucai. The money for staying in the inn is paid to the innkeeper. I earned it by writing articles and letters.”
"Sir, do you think the murderer was not motivated by money?" Detective Zhang had not analyzed this before.
"Then let's see how much Old Man Zheng is willing to tell us today!"
The county magistrate Zhou Rusheng came to the prison together with Captain Zhang and the chief clerk, and the jailer opened the iron gate.
"Old man Zheng, another scholar in the city has been drugged. Do you have anything else to say to us?" Zhou Rusheng sat on the chair and looked at the old man in the haystack.
Old Man Zheng lowered his head and said nothing, his hair messy.
"I know this has nothing to do with you. If you reveal the person who instigated it, it will be regarded as a good deed for your daughter. You and I both know that she just drugged her but did not do anything. Do you want her to be accused of committing murder in the future? "
"I said, everything was done by me and has nothing to do with her!"
Agent Zhang stepped forward quickly: "Miss Cai Die took all the blame for you!"
"More than thirty years ago, when I had just turned twenty..." Old Man Zheng raised his head and recalled.
"I left Kaitang County alone and came to Lihua Town. I thought that my future was hopeless, but I wanted to do it but failed to survive. I saw a little beggar at Beiquemen. I was very pitiful, so I gave her a jujube cake bun. The little beggar After eating jujube cakes and steamed buns, she followed me all the way. When I was about to jump into the river, she held my legs and wouldn't let go..."
Zhou Rusheng: "Is this little beggar Miss Cai Die?"
Old Man Zheng nodded and continued: "Later, I adopted her as my adopted daughter, and I had hope for life. After Cai Die grew up, I took her to play and sing. We had no fixed place and relied on performing arts to make a living. , although life is poor, but also comfortable. "
"Old man Zheng, let's get to the point. How does this have anything to do with the case?" Agent Zhang was a little anxious.
"Sir, I'm a little thirsty. Can you give me some water?" Old Man Zheng said with tears in his eyes.
"Come here, go get some water and jujube cakes and steamed buns. Miss Cai Die will also send you a portion." Zhou Rusheng ordered the yamen servant.
"Sir, when will the Qiu Wei exam start?" Old Man Zheng asked.
"Tomorrow." Zhou Rusheng replied.
"It's too late! Thirty years ago, I was also a scholar, and the bones buried in the deserted temple were once my classmates."
Detective Zhang: "Did you kill him?"
"No, there's someone else."
"Who is it?" Zhou Rusheng stood up.
"That's what you think. The mastermind of the fox demon case... Sir, my daughter Cai Die has never touched her. You must promise me that you will never hurt her."
"As long as Miss Cadie did not commit any murder, I will consider giving her a lighter sentence!" Zhou Rusheng stared into Old Man Zheng's eyes and saw the firmness and fatherly love in them.
"Sir, this is your peak, Lu Yongxu, the magistrate of Jingzhou!"
"This matter is of great importance, so don't talk nonsense!"
"Sir, this is the end of the matter. Why did I lie to you? You can check them one by one."
Zhou Rusheng: "Keep talking."
"The name of the person buried in the abandoned temple is Song Duixin. Thirty years ago, I took the provincial examination with him and Lu Yongxu. Song Duixin was talented but arrogant. Only because we had a disagreement before the examination, Lu Yongxu He started interacting with Song Duixin.
My attempts to persuade him were ineffective and Lu accidentally killed Song. I was afraid of causing trouble, so I hid it for Lu and buried Song beside the deserted temple together with him. "
Detective Zhang: "You're saying that Lu Yongxu accidentally killed the scholar at that time. How does that have anything to do with the fox demon case?"
"Don't worry, listen to what he has to say!" Zhou Rusheng was calm and composed, while the bookkeeper beside him was writing notes quickly.
Old Man Zheng continued: "After we buried Song Dui's heart together, we went to the exam on time. Unfortunately, due to the incident, I failed the exam, but Lu Yongxu passed the exam. Because my family was poor, I even paid my travel expenses to Quanquan. I borrowed it from the village, and I wanted to jump into the river, but because I couldn't let go of my little girl Cai Die, I have been surviving until recently, until Lu Yongxu sent someone to find me."
Agent Zhang: "He asked you to drug the scholar?"
"He sent someone to contact me and asked me to use my little girl to drug some scholars under the guise of a fox demon."
"Can the person who administered the drug be designated?" Zhou Rusheng asked. The case might not be settled that day, and tomorrow is the scientific examination and cannot be postponed.
"He also sent me the green pleated mushroom powder and the oil lamp drug. He first asked me to stun some scholars in Kaitang County and Lihua Town, and gave him the jute paper for practicing their strategies. Then he would designate some people to let him know. I would drug them with powder until they went crazy, so that if they were found out, it would only be said that they were possessed by goblins."
Old Man Zheng drank the water in the bowl. Thinking that his adopted daughter Cai Die was still in prison at this time, he sighed: "Back then, Lu Yongxu threatened that if I didn't cooperate, he would frame what happened back then on me and even sell Cai Die. Die, now that he is the governor of the state and I am a pariah, how can I redress my grievances? I can only listen to his orders."
Detective Zhang: "Old man Zheng, where is the other body? Why did you want to harm him?"
"This man is a reference scholar for this year. Originally, the request was to make him crazy. Unexpectedly, Lu Yongxu sent someone to kill him and bury him in the deserted temple." Mr. Zheng's eyes were filled with red threads, and he was a little excited.
Zhou Zhixian: "Old man Zheng, do you know about the crime of falsely accusing officials? How can you prove that the poisoning was ordered by others?"
Captain Zhang added: "And that day, why did you commit murder against Wang Xiucai? Wasn't it true that your deeds were exposed?"
Old Man Zheng quickly kowtowed and knelt on the ground: "Everything I said is true. I hope you will understand clearly. The murder of Wang Xiucai was forced by Lu Zhizhou's threat to the life of the little girl Cai Die."
Kaitang County Prison, where Zheng Caidi is being held.
The yamen servant brought her water and jujube cakes as requested by the magistrate.
Cai Die picked up the jujube cake buns, her eyes filled with tears, and she sobbed: "Daddy..."