Jiang Mantian didn't know where Qining was, but Wei Yujiang didn't know what Qining's current situation was.
Qi Ning has not returned for a long time, and there is no news about it. This makes Wei Yujiang anxious, but he can't show it. Several officials who followed him from the Ministry of Justice also felt that something was strange, and asked Wei Yujiang from time to time for news and when he could return to Beijing. , Wei Yujiang could only deal with it as best he could.
For the officials of the Ministry of Punishment, Tantai Zhilin's body has been examined and it has been confirmed that he committed suicide. In this case, there is no murder. Since there is no murder, there is no murderer. There is no need to stay here and worry about finding the real culprit.
Although Wei Yujiang was worried about Qining's safety, he did not miss these two days.
He chose a yard of the post house and arranged it in the house. The furnishings in the house were also arranged according to Tantai Zhilin's study. The windows were all closed just like when Tantai Zhilin was found to have committed suicide. In addition, even Someone made a dummy, strangled its neck, and hung it on the roof beam, which basically restored the scene when Tantai Zhilin died. Wei Yujiang almost stayed in the yard these two days, searching carefully. See the flaws in it.
He sat on a chair in the room, looking at the hanging dummy, his brows furrowed.
Until the door of the room was pushed open with a "squeak", Wei Yujiang was still deep in thought without being surprised. It was only when someone came and tapped him on the shoulder that Wei Yujiang came back to his senses. He raised his head and saw that the person standing next to him was actually him who was worried. Qining stayed for a few days.
"Hou... Lord Hou!" Seeing Qi Ning, Wei Yujiang was startled at first, then showed joy and stood up immediately.
Qi Ning smiled slightly, glanced around the room, walked over and sat down on the chair next to him, and said with a smile: "Sishen Wei has been studying the death of the Grand Governor?"
Wei Yujiang nodded and felt relieved when he saw that Qi Ning was unharmed. Although he was very curious about where Qi Ning had been these past few days, he was only an ordinary official of the Ministry of Punishment after all, and he did not dare to ask more questions.
"Can you find any flaws?"
Wei Yujiang frowned and said: "Master Hou, I have been thinking about what I missed these past few days, but...!"
Qi Ning raised his hand with a smile, pointed at the dummy hanging on the beam and said, "Sishen Wei, was it the Governor who committed suicide?"
Wei Yujiang was stunned and didn't understand, but he still said: "Master Marquis, this is a dummy made by a lowly official, but it does represent the Governor."
"You don't understand what I mean." Qining looked serious: "I'm asking you, is the body they found at the scene the governor?"
"This...!" Wei Yujiang frowned, hesitated, and then said: "Master Hou, according to the description of the case, the body of the Governor was removed after General Shen Liang Qiu Shen arrived from the army, and besides General Shen who was present at that time, , as well as the Governor Hou of the Governor's Mansion and several other people. These people are all from the Governor's Mansion and are naturally very familiar with the Governor. If they find that the body is not the Governor's, they will be able to tell immediately. "
Qi Ning nodded and said, "You are right. The body found by Shen Liangqiu when he arrived must be that of the Grand Governor."
"The body found when they arrived?" Wei Yujiang was an official of the Ministry of Justice after all, and he immediately heard the flaw in Qi Ning's words: "Master Marquis, you said that the body found by General Shen when he arrived was that of the Governor, then... the body found before Could it be...?”
Qi Ning motioned Wei Yujiang to sit down and said with a smile: "Sir Wei, actually, like you, I have been wondering what flaws there are in the crime scene these days, but after thinking about it, the environment of the crime scene is almost impeccable. There's no loophole to be found at all, it's an absolute secret room."
"What the Marquis said is absolutely true. I broke my head. I can't think of any other way for the Governor to be murdered besides committing suicide." Wei Yujiang looked solemn: "But my intuition tells me that this case is not like what we see. It’s so easy to get there.”
Qi Ning sighed: "Actually, the flaws in this case can be seen with the naked eye. It's a pity that someone carefully designed it to block our eyes."
Wei Yujiang seemed to have realized something, but he obviously had not understood the meaning of Qi Ning's words. Qi Ning stared at Wei Yujiang and asked: "Wei Sishen, please tell me again what happened that night."
Wei Yujiang knew that Qining already knew everything about what happened that night, but he asked himself to say it again at this time. Naturally, there was a profound meaning in it, and he immediately said: "Master Hou, on the night when the incident happened, the Governor went to When they got to the study, when it was almost Haishi, Mrs. Tantai asked General Manager Hou to invite the Governor to go back to his room to rest. When General Hou arrived in the yard, he found that the lights in the room were still on. He called several times, but the Governor did not agree, but the door was closed. He couldn't open the door even if he tied it from the inside, so he went to tell the lady."
Qi Ning nodded and signaled Wei Yujiang to continue. Wei Yujiang continued: "My wife brought two maids here, and Manager Hou also called two servants. They called the chief governor but they didn't respond. They felt something was wrong, so they broke in through the door. , at that time everyone saw the Governor hanging himself in the house, but they did not immediately remove the body, but...!"
"That's wrong!" Qi Ning suddenly interrupted and shook his head: "What Wei Sishen said is inaccurate."
Wei Yujiang was startled for a moment, but he understood immediately and said: "It was discovered that the Governor had committed suicide by hanging from a beam, and his wife fell softly to the ground. Manager Hou led people to rush in. He thought there was an assassin, but there was no one in the house, and we had observed At the scene, if anyone was hiding in the house, he would be easily discovered. There were so many people at the time, so Manager Hou’s statement that no assassin was found would be correct, so Manager Hou prepared to lead people to put down the body of the Grand Governor...!"
Qi Ning nodded slightly, and Wei Yujiang added: "However, Mrs. Tantai stopped General Manager Hou at this time, telling him not to touch the Grand Governor, and ordered General Hou to immediately go to the Navy Camp to find Shen Liangqiu. Hou. The general manager rushed to the camp, met Shen Liangqiu, and then hurried back to the city. General Shen personally untied the body. Because he was worried that someone had murdered him, he did not dispose of the body immediately, but placed it in the study. "
"You made it very clear. That's what happened that night." Qi Ning's eyes were bright and he said softly: "Wei Sishen, you are an officer of the Ministry of Justice, and after going to the scene, you always felt that something was fishy. , I suspect that the Governor is not as simple as hanging himself from a beam."
"Master Hou, I am indeed so suspicious." Wei Yujiang looked serious.
"Well, what did you find wrong with what you just mentioned?"
"Master Hou, in fact, what puzzles me the most is why Mrs. Tantai didn't let Mr. Hou remove the body." Wei Yujiang said solemnly: "If Madam didn't believe that the Governor committed suicide, suspected someone of murder, and wanted to protect the scene, then even if Shen Liangqiu arrived later, so he shouldn't have put down the body." After a pause, she frowned and said, "Madam seems to have wanted to wait until Shen Liangqiu arrived so that he could untie the body with his own hands."
A smile appeared on Qi Ning's lips, he raised his head, looked at the hanging dummy again, and suddenly asked: "Sishen Wei, when will the Governor return to the study that night?"
Wei Yujiang immediately said: "Back to Mr. Hou, we asked Mr. Hou that day that the life in the Governor's Mansion is very regular, especially when the Governor is not in the mansion, everyone in the mansion must abide by strict hours whether eating or sleeping. Dinner in the Governor's Mansion It all starts at a quarter of the hour, and the dinner will definitely end before the third quarter of the hour."
"That is to say, the general must have returned to the study before the garrison." Qi Ning said seriously: "When did Mr. Hou go to the study?"
"It's approaching Haishi." Wei Yujiang said: "The earliest it should be at three quarters of the garrison hour."
"That is to say, the Governor was in the study for about an hour." Qi Ning said: "A lot of things can actually happen in one hour. Let me ask you again, after discovering that the Governor committed suicide, Mr. Hou was quickly Send someone to find Shen Liangqiu in person, it should be at Haishi."
"Master Hou, actually this is also a doubtful point." Wei Yujiang said: "I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but then I thought about the details of what happened that night countless times from beginning to end, and the section about Mr. Hou came to mind."
Qining said: "You say."
"Master Marquis, there are many servants in the Governor's Mansion. It is the Governor's Mansion after all. Although the East China Sea is now our territory of Chu, and the Governor of Tantai commanded tens of thousands of naval troops to guard the East China Sea, but when the Golden Sword Tantai conquered the East China Sea, that He also killed a lot of people. If there are enemies in the East China Sea, I have no doubt about it." Wei Yujiang said slowly: "The Governor has always stayed in the navy camp and rarely lived in the Governor's Mansion, but his family stayed in the mansion. For this reason, the guards in the Governor's Mansion must all be elite."
"That's right." Qi Ning nodded and said, "I have also observed that the guards in the Governor's Mansion are all fierce and powerful. They are carefully selected."
Wei Yujiang frowned and said: "That's what's strange. Mr. Hou, although Mr. Hou is also from the army and has a much stronger body than ordinary people, he is over fifty years old after all. Whether it is physical strength or skill, he should not be able to compare with the government." There are many capable guards inside.”
"That's natural." Qi Ning said: "Since ancient times, heroes are like beauties. They are not allowed to grow old in the world. No matter how powerful a person is, they cannot withstand the erosion of time." After saying this, he suddenly thought of Beigong Liancheng. and Mo Lancang, the owner of the East China Sea Island, are obviously not included in this list. Those two old monsters seem to have defeated the years and still remain immortal to this day.
"The Governor's Mansion is only about twenty miles away from the Navy Camp. I can't say how far it is, but it's not very close either." Wei Yujiang said: "Since we were anxious to find Shen Liangqiu at that time, the sooner the better. , even if you send out a few strong guards who are good at equestrian skills, you can quickly invite Shen Liangqiu." After a pause, he frowned slightly and said in a low voice: "But why did Mr. Hou have to go there in person? General Manager Hou is already old, and his riding speed is definitely not as fast as that of the young guards. Under the circumstances at that time, General Manager Hou is the chief manager of the Dudu Mansion, so he should stay and deal with the aftermath instead of going to Shen Liangqiu."