“Mom, mom…” The aunt-in-law quickly pinched Geng’s philtrum.
After a long while, Geng finally recovered. She took a long breath and continued to wail: "My son, what happened to you? If you die, how can I live?"
Wang Boyan didn't say anything and just kept watching Geng crying below. At the same time, the patriarch of the Liu family, Mr. Liu Sanye, was also invited over.
"Please take a seat, old man." Wang Boyan was quite respectful to the elderly. "What is the situation at the deceased's home? Has anything happened recently? You need to tell me everything."
Mr. Liu Sanye had never expected that Liu Erzhu would die before the New Year was over. He stroked his beard and started telling the story of the Liu family from the time when Liu Erzhu beat Zhang violently.
Liu Erzhu had another woman outside, and when she became pregnant, he wanted her to be his concubine. His ex-wife couldn't bear it and committed suicide at the door of Liu's house.
"That Zhang was a fierce woman. When she died, she was wearing a red dress and red shoes, and she hanged herself with a red rope. Alas, she will become a fierce ghost after death."
In the eyes of Mr. Liu San, Liu Erzhu's death was retribution, and he was killed by Zhang's ghost.
It is normal for Mr. Liu Sanye to have such thoughts since he has not read much. But Wang Boyan is different. He is a Jinshi and is good at solving cases. If he attributes all these cases to ghosts and gods, then he will not solve the cases.
Confucius does not speak of strange and supernatural things.
Wang Boyan waited until Mr. Liu San finished speaking before asking, "Didn't Mrs. Zhang give birth to a son?"
Mr. Liu: "No, she gave birth to two daughters, both of whom were married before she died."
Wang Boyan nodded slightly: "Parents are pitiful. She is afraid that after she dies, her husband's family will embarrass her two daughters."
Mr. Liu San agreed very much: "She gave birth to two daughters, who were looked down upon by her mother-in-law. The eldest, Liu Qiaoer, was sold to the home of County Magistrate Lu three years ago. After County Magistrate Lu was arrested, she was lucky enough to be married to a poor scholar. They were reluctant to sell the second daughter, so she was finally betrothed to Niu Dahu's family in our village."
Wang Boyan thought for a long time and asked again: "Does he have any enemies?"
Mr. Liu thought for a while and shook his head: "Liu Erzhu usually works as a laborer in the city to make a living, and his family is not short of money. Anyway, he doesn't have many enemies in the village, but I don't know about him in the city."
There doesn't seem to be any clues on the Liu family's side, so we have to rely on Zhang Li.
But after questioning and investigation, neighbors all said that the two of them had a good relationship, and since Zhang Li followed Liu Erzhu, she had never been involved with other men.
Moreover, she was pregnant. Liu Erzhu's wife had just passed away, and he needed to observe mourning for a month before he could remarry. As long as he waited for a month, Zhang Li would be able to form a new family with Liu Erzhu.
There is no motive for committing the crime.
At this moment, Wang Boyan saw a child of seven or eight years old in the crowd, looking at Liu Erzhu's family with anger.
Wang Boyan's mind suddenly lit up: "Does Zhang Li have another child?"
The investigating yamen runner nodded: "He is a little over seven years old. He was originally in school and was brought back during the Chinese New Year. The boy is him..."
Would a seven-year-old commit a crime? Wang Boyan couldn't imagine it.
What kind of poison is in Liu Erzhu
"Go ask the coroner what poison the deceased died of."
The coroner was testing the deceased for poison, something that couldn't be verified in public, so he was in his own room.
After a while, the yamen runner came to report: "It's the poison of bitter almonds."
Wang Boyan looked at the child with his eyes slightly narrowed, and his scalp felt a little tight.
A seven-year-old child knew that bitter almonds were poisonous? Where did he plant them
When the coroner learned that Liu Erzhu had been poisoned, he searched their kitchen and trash cans thoroughly but did not find any poison. He only made the diagnosis after smelling a scent of almonds in his saliva.
But there were no bitter almonds in their room.
Selling the stolen goods after poisoning
Wang Boyan thought for a long time and finally asked someone to bring the child over.
Unexpectedly, the child was very stubborn. No matter how Wang Boyan coaxed or threatened him, he just wouldn't say a word. Finally, a neighbor told him that the child was introverted and never said a word except when reading.
Unfortunately, it happened. Zhang Li suffered heavy bleeding after the miscarriage and died.
Wang Boyan rubbed his forehead and thought for a long time, then closed the case.
Liu Erzhu was accidentally killed by Zhang Li, who also died of dystocia. The case was settled like this, and as for the child, Wang Boyan let him go.
Geng took Liu Erzhu's body back, but no one took Zhang Li's body, so the government threw it into the charity cemetery. The neighbors pooled money to buy her a coffin and buried her randomly.
Seeing the case hastily closed, Liu Qiaoer snorted coldly: "Detective, I thought he was a real detective, but he's just this good."
In ancient times when there was no help from technology, it was still very difficult to solve cases.
Liu Qiaoer was playing with a box of rouge in her hand and threw it into the space.
Lu Yunzheng also felt that Wang Boyan's conclusion of the case was a bit hasty. After thinking for a long time, he said, "I think the murderer is not Zhang Li, but someone else."
Liu Qiaoer raised her eyebrows: "Oh? Then who are you talking about?"
Lu Yunzheng's gloomy eyes flickered across Liu Qiaoer's face for a few times, and finally he shook his head gently: "I don't know either. It should be the person who wants him to die the most."
Liu Qiaoer sneered: "There are many people who want him dead, me, Erniu, and my son... I guess there are also people from my husband's family, but Wang Boyan couldn't find any evidence, and Zhang Li happened to be dead, so the case can only be closed like this."
Wang Boyan is a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder. He is depressed when he knows that the real murderer in his case has not been found.
He had been in Fengxin County for several days, but the Su family case had not been solved. In this case, the murderer had not been found. He felt an indescribable sense of frustration.
Living in the guest house of the county government office, Wang Boyan was drinking alone when Su Mingyu happened to come to him.
Wang Boyan pulled him to drink together. Although Su Mingyu was a playboy, he had no bad habits. His only hobby was probably finding women and competing with Lu Yunzheng.
Now that Lu Yunzheng is dead, he no longer has the energy to do this. He is also worried about the Su family being robbed and losing so much silver.
"Sir Wang, excuse me for disturbing you. Since you want to drink, may I invite you to the best restaurant?"
Wang Boyan shook his head: "The environment is too noisy, it's quieter here. Mr. Su, I want to ask you again, who did you invite to Mrs. Su's birthday party that day?"
Su Mingyu took out a list and handed it to Wang Boyan. After a careful look, he found that all the important people in Fengxin County had gone there.
However, Wang Boyan had excluded all these people.
After several days of investigation, it was found that these people had either returned home long ago and were sent away by the Su family themselves, or they had brought their families with them. Since so much silver from the Su family was moved out, there must have been boxes and carriages.
No one had the conditions to move the silver and grain away, and Wang Boyan was overwhelmed.
At the end, Wang Boyan saw Yue Nishang's name, tapped it with his fingers, and ruled it out.
Although Yue Nishang went with her maid, they rode in a sedan chair, and it was the Su family's sedan chair. They picked up people and sent them away, and they did not have the conditions to commit a crime.
Who is it
"Has there been any suspicious incident in Fengxin County recently?" Wang Boyan asked.
Su Mingyu sighed: "Except for the Lu family last year, there is nothing suspicious about our Su family."
"Then are there any incredible things? For example, strange people and strange things." Wang Boyan asked again.