Murong Ci looked at the beggar, he was not good looking, about the same age as Ma Dong, wearing a torn and dirty gray coarse cloth robe, and a pair of severely worn straw sandals on his feet, almost unwearable. The big foot was black and dirty, as if it hadn't been washed in a year. His hair was as rough as straw, and it was unbelievably dirty, with a few grass clippings on it.
Shen Zhiyan said that the beggar's legs had been broken and he walked with a limp, so he was called Li Laizi.
Lame Li wandered leisurely in the cell, neither worried nor in a hurry. After scratching his body for a while, he felt much more comfortable. Then he yawned a long time and was about to sleep. It seemed that this was his home, where he could eat and drink. It's more comfortable to sleep than to be a beggar outside.
Shen Zhiyan scolded: "Li Lizi, get up, I want to ask you something."
Lame Li lay comfortably on the cool ground, propped his arms on the ground, supported his head, yawned again, and said vaguely: "My lord, don't disturb Xiaomin's sleep. When Xiaomin wakes up, what do you want to ask, little one?" The people must report the truth.”
"Okay, you can go to sleep, the officials won't let the yamen servants bring you food and tea for three days, and you will report after starving for three to five days." Shen Zhiyan said slowly.
"My lord, don't." Li Lizi got up quickly, sat against the wall, and smiled apologetically, "My lord, Xiaomin is not sleepy anymore, you can ask any questions you want, and Xiaomin will answer truthfully."
"Where did you spend the night wandering around the small temple in the west of the city?" Murong Ci asked coldly.
"Yes. Xiaomin either stayed overnight in that small temple or in a cottage three miles away."
Shen Zhiyan said in a low voice: "There are a few huts a few miles to the west of the city. They were built by some beggars. They are the dens of beggars in the west of the city."
Murong Ci nodded, and asked again: "Do you know Ma Dong?"
Li Zizi yawned again, and replied: "Yes, Xiao Min and Ma Dong are good buddies, we have known each other for many years."
"Do you know where Ma Dong is now?"
"I know. Ma Dong was arrested by your yamen and locked up. It's good to be locked up. He ate delicious public meals from the yamen, which everyone envied. That's why Xiaomin came in today." He giggled, extremely proud.
"He was imprisoned on suspicion of murder. Do you know why you were imprisoned?"
"I know. The two young girls were killed. Everyone knows that Ma Dong killed them. As for Xiaomin, what crime did Xiaomin commit?"
"You are Ma Dong's accomplice. Ma Dong was sentenced to death, and you will also be beheaded." Murong Ci raised his eyebrows coldly.
"Ah, beheading!" Li Zizi's complexion changed drastically, and he knelt on the ground anxiously, "Master Qingtian, Xiaomin didn't kill anyone, let alone Ma Dong's accomplice, Xiaomin didn't do anything."
"You and Ma Dong are good buddies. If you are an accomplice, you are suspected of murder. You can't let it go." She sat down in the armchair leisurely.
"I'm wronged, Lord Qingtian, June Feixue!" He cried loudly, stretching his hands forward, exaggerating, "Xiaomin, I'm wronged!"
"Where were you the night of the incident?"
"Xiaomin is here" Li Xizi lowered his head, his eyes dodged, "Xiaomin is over there in Caoliao"
"Nonsense," Shen Zhiyan scolded angrily, "You told the yamen servant that you were in Xiaomiao."
"My lord, Xiaomin lied to them, because Xiaomin wanted to be arrested and put in a cell. The food in the public house is delicious."
Murong Ci smiled slightly, but it was so gloomy that it was creepy, "You don't have to say anything, I'll hang you later, or turn the torture instrument first. What do you think?"
Shen Zhiyan also smiled and said: "I'll go and arrange it now, once the torture instrument of running water is used, most of his life will be gone."
Li Zizi was frightened, and waved his hands anxiously, "No, Master Qingtian, please don't, Xiaomin did go to the small temple that night."
She shouted, "What time did you go?"
He lowered his head and replied, "It's approaching midnight."
She glanced at Shen Zhiyan, and suddenly asked sharply: "You saw the beauty of Miss Xia, the deceased, and you were attracted to her, so you raped her first and then killed her, didn't you?"
He was startled, raised his head in shock and shouted in panic: "My lord, Xiaomin didn't rape that girl, let alone murdered someone else. Xiaomin saw a man kill those two girls."
"It's not you who witnessed it with your own eyes"
"It's absolutely true, Xiaomin witnessed it with his own eyes." Lame Li almost swore to God.
"What exactly did you see? Did Ma Dong rape and then kill Miss Xia?" Murong Ci asked sternly.
"It's not Ma Dong. That night Ma Dong drank a lot of wine, walked in front of Xiaomin to the small temple, and suddenly passed out drunk in front of the small temple." He said neatly, "Xiaomin In the back, after a long distance from Ma Dong, Xiaomin saw that Ma Dong was drunk and suddenly felt sick to his stomach, so he ran to the nearby grass to relieve himself. After that, Xiaomin pulled up his pants and saw someone in front of the small temple."
"Who is Miss Xia's master and servant?"
"Xiaomin saw two girls walking to the small temple, as if they were waiting for someone. Then a person came out of the temple, as if they had said a few words, and then that person grabbed the girl's head and slammed it against the wall." Li Laizi Recalling the scene of that night, I still have lingering fears in my heart, "The other girl screamed and rushed to beat the man, but the man seemed to be quite skilled.
, quickly dodged, and then knocked the girl unconscious. "
"Then what?" Shen Zhiyan never expected that someone would witness the murder, and it was really easy to find nowhere to find it.
"The man dragged the fainted girl to Ma Dong's side. When the girl woke up, the man covered her mouth and nose. After a while, the girl lost her breath."
"Didn't Miss Xia be bullied by that person before she was alive?" Murong Ci felt that something was wrong with this case.
"Xiaomin didn't see it." Li Lizi waved his hand and said, "My lord heard Xiaomin continue to say that the man seemed to spread the girl's legs and make her legs bend, but the man turned his back to Xiaomin, Xiaomin could see It’s not true, I don’t know what I did to that girl.”
She frowned, what did the murderer do to Miss Xia, did she rape her
Shen Zhiyan then asked, "Have you seen the face of the murderer?"
Li Lizi replied: "The man is wearing black clothes and his hair is tied up, but he is not tall, and he doesn't look like a man who is tall or thick."
Shen Zhiyan was delighted, and asked again: "How tall is it as tall as this official?"
Lame Li looked at Murong Ci and gestured, "Slightly shorter than this lord."
Murong Ci thought about it, and asked, "Then the murderer left?"
"The man searched carefully inside and outside the small temple, but he didn't know what he was looking for, and then left."
"Didn't you go to the small temple a few days ago? Why didn't the yamen servant see you?" Shen Zhiyan asked.
"On the second day after the incident, Xiaomin heard that there was a murder in Xiaomiao. Thinking of what he saw at night, Xiaomin was worried about being involved in it, and even more worried that the murderer knew that Xiaomin had seen everything and came to kill Xiaomin. Therefore, Xiaomin a few days ago Min has been hiding in Caoliao," said Li Cripple.
After coming out of the cell, after a long silence, Shen Zhiyan asked, "Your Highness, what do you think?"
Murong Ci's bright eyes flashed with a cold light of insight, "We always thought that the murderer who killed Xia Xiaolu's master and servant was a man. Maybe we guessed wrong. The murderer may be a woman."
He nodded approvingly, "I have the same idea, but we can't ignore one point, Xia Xiaolu has been raped before, and there is blood in her vulva."
"This is the key to the murderer's layout of the crime scene so that Ma Dong raped the deceased before killing him."
"If the murderer was a woman, how could she get blood in Xia Xiaolu's vulva?" He was puzzled.
"One more thing, the murderer is not tall, a little shorter than Ben Gong, isn't he about the same height as Qin Ruo?" Murong Ci was pleasantly surprised, "Do you remember that the boy who delivered the letter to Xia Xiaolu said that it was a girl who asked him to deliver the letter?" Yes, and her figure is about the same as Qin Ruo. The girl who invited Xia Xiaolu's master and servant to the small temple in the west of the city is most likely the murderer of them."
"This girl was sent by Mr. Rong to silence her," Shen Zhi said.
"It's very possible. By the way, Ben Gong picked up a red wishful knot in the small temple. It is very likely that this wishful knot was left by this girl."
"That kind of wishful knot is sold in many stalls on the street that sell all kinds of gadgets. It is very difficult to find the murderer. Later, I will send someone to find Li Zizi and draw a portrait of the murderer."
Mentioning the portrait, Murong Ci had a flash of inspiration, his mind flashed like lightning, "I'm going to visit Guiyun Tea House, you don't need to follow."
Seeing His Highness leaving in a hurry, Shen Zhiyan raised his voice and asked, "Your Highness, what are you doing at Guiyun Tea House?"
However, no one answered him.
Arriving at Guiyun Teahouse, Murong Ci and Qin Ruo walked in, took out a portrait and showed it to the shopkeeper, "Shopkeeper, we came here yesterday to find Young Master Rong."
The shopkeeper was busy settling accounts, and replied without raising his head, "Young Master Rong has never been here."
"Take a look, shopkeeper, is the person in the portrait Rong Gongzi?" Qin Ruo put a portrait in front of him, "Look carefully."
"Okay, let me take a look." He took the portrait and looked at it for a while, "It is indeed Mr. Rong."
Murong Ci asked her to put away the portrait, and asked solemnly: "Shopkeeper, can you see clearly?"
The shopkeeper nodded, "How can I not see that it is indeed the same person."
Coming out of Guiyun Tea House, Murong Ci's slender eyebrows became deeper and deeper.
Seeing her thoughtful look, Qin Ruo asked, "Your Highness, are you going back to the palace now?"
Murong Ci subconsciously nodded, "Go back to the palace."
However, instead of going back to the East Palace, she went to Jinghong Hall.
Since Princess Zhaohua's feet were restricted and she was not allowed to come in and out at will, the entire Jinghong Hall was quieter than usual, and there was no shadow of half of the palace people.
When they went in, a servant suddenly appeared from the side, both of them were startled.
"The slave pays homage to His Royal Highness, and the slave reports to the princess." The servant said quickly.
"No need, I want to surprise the imperial sister." Murong Ci took out the red wishful knot and asked, "Have you ever seen such a wishful knot?"
The servant raised his eyes to look at the wishful knot, and replied respectfully: "I have seen it before, and Li Xin has worn it before."
Qin Ruo asked: "Is Li Xin the palace maid of Jinghong Palace?"