Duan Canghai immediately looked at Qining, who had already said: "Master Tie, you said it was at dusk that day when the Meng family received the family letter?"
"Exactly." Tie Zheng said solemnly: "This is what the Chief Manager of the Meng Mansion said personally. There is absolutely no mistake."
"Duan Canghai, if there is a letter from outside in our Marquis' Mansion, does the person who delivers the letter directly submit it to me?" Qining looked at Duan Canghai and asked.
Duan Canghai shook his head and said: "There are rules in the mansion. In the past, the general was on the front line, and the third lady in the mansion was the director. Naturally, the third lady was not allowed to see outsiders, so if there was any letter, it would be reported to the manager of the mansion first. Then the manager will report back to the third lady."
"Master Marquis, generally speaking, incoming letters are not submitted directly, but are handled by the stewards of each government." The iron proof came to light and said: "The stewards will take the time to submit them based on the urgency of the letter." Already. He stood up, walked out of the door, and said in a deep voice: "Here comes someone!"
Soon I heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and then someone said: "Sir!"
"Immediately ask Cai Feng to take people to the Meng Mansion, and send the chief manager of the Meng Mansion to the Kyoto Mansion. He said that I don't know some of the details of the night of the crime, and we need to inquire carefully." Tie Zheng said in a deep voice: " Tell Cai Feng to be polite and bring the Chief Manager of the Meng Mansion over."
The servant agreed and immediately stepped back. Tie Zheng came back. After sitting down, he said to Qining: "The Marquis' words woke up the dreamer. I, the official slave, didn't expect this."
Qining was very satisfied with Tie Zheng's attitude today. Apparently Tie Zheng had discovered something strange about the case and was investigating it with all his heart.
Qi Ning previously thought that Tie Zheng might be involved in this trap, but now it seems that this is not the case.
"Master Tie is busy with official duties. If you had waited for another half day, you would have thought of this." Qi Ning said with a smile: "Meng Guangren got the letter from home at dusk, but the person who sent the letter may not have arrived in the capital at dusk."
Duan Canghai originally had some doubts, but after hearing what Qi Ning said, he understood and punched the chair handle. Fortunately, the force was not too strong and the chair was strong, so it was not damaged. He was a little embarrassed. But he still said: "Master Marquis, someone from Meng's hometown came to deliver a letter. The chief manager of Meng's mansion knew first. However, the chief manager of Meng's mansion did not report it immediately. Instead, he waited until dusk to hand over the letter. Before handing over the letter, He has read the letter and spread the word."
"That should be it." Qi Ning said: "The chief manager of the Meng Mansion at least spread the contents of the letter before noon that day. The real murderer behind the scenes immediately seized this opportunity and planned the murder. The three murderers After receiving the instructions, I sneaked out of the camp that night and intercepted him on the way. The real culprit behind the scenes dropped the letter in front of the Kyoto Prefecture, in order to let the Kyoto Prefecture catch the murderer on the spot and confirm the fact that the Black Scale Camp reversed the case. "
Tie Zheng said: "In this way, the occurrence of the murder will be explained."
"Master Hou, Lord Tie, why do you have to be captured on the spot by people from Kyoto Prefecture?" Duan Canghai frowned and said, "If the three criminals deliberately left alive after killing people...!"
"The reason is very simple. The other party is worried that the Black Scale Battalion will deny his account." Qi Ning smiled lightly: "If the Black Scale Battalion cannot be caught on the spot and the Black Scale Battalion denies it, it will be a bit troublesome for the real culprit behind the scenes. In this case, let the murderer be caught If caught red-handed, there is no way to escape.”
Duan Canghai blamed himself: "Master Hou, this is all because of your subordinates. I didn't expect that someone would take advantage of the recruitment period to add sand to the Black Scale Camp."
"You don't have to blame yourself for this. There is no unbreakable wall in this world, let alone things like recruiting soldiers." Qi Ning said: "But those criminals knew that the fate of being caught would not be much better, so they dared It’s very courageous to take risks.”
Tie Zheng said: "There are many desperadoes."
"Master Tie, since the real culprit behind the scenes planned it, he will not take action personally." Qi Ning looked at Tie Zheng: "However, from the mouths of the three culprits, we should be able to find out who gave them the instructions. I wonder if you are here to investigate. come out?"
Tie Zheng hesitated for a moment, his expression became even more solemn, and he suddenly stood up and said: "Master Marquis, I dare you to accompany me to the prison."
"Go to jail?"
Tie Zheng nodded, but hesitated to speak. Seeing his expression, Qin Ning knew that the matter was not simple. He pondered for a moment, stood up and said, "Lead the way!"
Tie Zheng didn't waste any time and led the way, Qin Ning followed behind, and Duan Canghai followed Qin Ning closely. He left the side hall, passed through a courtyard, and walked back along a stone path.
The Kyoto Prefecture is responsible for the public security inside and outside the capital. There are many officers, and there are five or six hundred people in total. Although most of them are distributed throughout the capital to maintain public security, there are also one or two hundred people left in the prefecture. There are people busy in Sidu, and there are also many large and small courtyards.
The further we walked back, the fewer and fewer government officials we saw. Finally, we came to a stone wall. The stone wall was made of thick boulders and was very strong. An iron gate was blocked by four government officials with swords. Tie Zheng stepped forward and winked. Someone immediately opened the iron door. Tie Zheng looked back at Qi Ning and walked in first.
Qining knew that behind the stone wall was the prison of the Kyoto Prefecture. After walking through the stone wall, he didn't know whether it was because of psychological effects, but he felt really eerie.
Behind the stone wall, there are three roads, one on the left and right, and the other goes straight forward. Tie Zheng turned to the left, walked for a while, and turned inside. Every few steps, there were guards guarding him. Qin Ning looked at In my eyes, I thought that the prison in Kyoto Prefecture seemed to be more strict than the Shenhou Mansion.
After walking for a while, the surroundings became dark. Tie Zheng finally stopped in front of a stone door. He reached out and darkened a raised spot on the stone door. He heard a rattling sound and the stone door slowly opened. At this time, An officer had already handed over an oil lamp. Tie Zheng took it and carried the lamp into the room. Qining and Duan Canghai looked at each other and followed closely.
There was a musty smell in the house. The smell penetrated into the nose and made people very uncomfortable.
Tie Zheng conveniently hung the oil lamp on the lamp stand. Qi Ning had already seen at this time that the stone prison was not big. There were two wooden boards placed on the ground in the middle of the stone prison. It seemed that someone was lying on the wooden boards. But it was covered with a yellowish coarse cloth.
"Master Tie, what is this?" Qi Ning frowned, a little confused, wondering why Tie Zheng would bring him into a place like this.
Tie Zheng had already walked over and squatted beside a wooden board. He stretched out his hand and lifted up the coarse cloth. Sure enough, there was a person lying underneath, but he was motionless. Qining came closer and found that the skin on the person's face was black, and there were still stains on the corners of his mouth. There was blood that had not been wiped clean, but it had already condensed into lumps. One look at it and it was clear that this person was dead and could not die anymore.
"Master Hou, this person's name is Tian Heng." Although Tie Zheng was speaking to Qi Ning, his eyes were looking at Duan Canghai: "He is one of the three murderers."
When Duan Canghai heard the word "Tian Heng", his expression changed slightly, and he immediately said to Qining: "Master Marquis, Tian Heng is one of the three stolen soldiers."
Qi Ning was greatly surprised and his face was solemn: "Master Tie, is the murderer dead?"
Tie Zheng sighed: "Master Hou, this is the official's dereliction of duty. Since the official took office, he has never made such a big mistake, and no prisoner has ever died in prison without being convicted. The official will naturally express his gratitude to the Holy Lord. Please plead guilty, but before that, I must investigate the truth of this case."
"Master Tie, did Tian Heng die in prison?" Qi Ning also squatted down next to the body, looked at the body carefully, and then said: "He seemed to have died of poisoning!"
"That's right." Tie Zheng said: "The poison has also been identified, and it is the highly poisonous Crane's Crown Red."
"Hedinghong?" Duan Canghai said immediately: "Master Tie, Tian Heng is in prison. Of course it is impossible for him to bring Hedinghong with him. Where does this Hedinghong come from?"
"After the three murderers were caught, the subordinate was worried that if they were locked up together, they would collude in secret confessions, so in order to prevent them from colluding, they were detained in separate cells." Tie Zheng's two thick eyebrows squeezed together: "Today's day Early in the morning, I was going to interrogate this person, only to find that this person had died in the cell. After an autopsy, it was determined that he had been infected by Crane Crown Red, and his throat was sealed with blood."
Qi Ning's expression also turned grim: "Since they are being held in separate cells and the case is still unclear, Lord Tie will certainly not let anyone come into contact with these three criminals."
Tie Zheng nodded and said: "My superior has given instructions. Without my instructions, no one is allowed to approach the murderer except one person."
"who?"
Tie Zheng raised his hand and pointed to another corpse beside him: "He, the official who delivered meals to the three criminals, is called Song Santai!"
"The cadre who delivered the food?" Qi Ning understood: "Tian Heng ate the poisoned food and died of poisoning." He moved over and lifted the coarse cloth, and sure enough, there was a man in his fifties lying underneath. , the skin on his face also turned black, and with just one look, he could tell that he was also poisoned by the red crane crown.
Tie Zheng sighed: "After Song Santai took office for the second year, he was asked to be responsible for the food of felons. This is the East Prison, with eighteen cells. All those imprisoned in the East Prison are felons who have committed the most heinous crimes. For more than ten years, Song Santai never made any mistakes. He was always honest and honest, even a little dull. He was never married and had no family members in the capital. He lived here almost all year round, so the official trusted him very much. There is a room specially arranged for him near the cell.”
"Master Tie, Tian Heng was poisoned by Song Santai. How come Song Santai was also poisoned and died?" Duan Canghai frowned and asked, "Did he commit suicide?"
Tie Zheng said: "When Tian Heng was found dead in prison, and the poisoned food was next to his body, the subordinate immediately knew that it was Song Santai who had done it, and immediately arrested Song Santai. The doors and windows of Song Santai's room were all bolted. The lower official had someone break in the door, and after entering the house, Song Santai was lying on the table, dead from the poison. After conducting an autopsy, it was determined that Song Santai and Tian Heng had been dead for no more than half an hour."
Qi Ning said: "Song Santai first delivered food to Tian Heng. Tian Heng was poisoned and died. Song Santai returned to his room and also drank poison and committed suicide." He put his chin on his hand and his eyes were cold: "But a man who has been in prison for more than ten years Why would an honest man in the cell poison Tian Heng to death at the cost of his life?"