Zhao Yu didn't know what to think of, and his expression suddenly calmed down, "The government investigated the truth back then, might they convict the two of them? Five lives were killed back then, or were they murdering master and mother? Well, according to the law, no matter what, you can be sentenced to death.”
Sun Zhao glanced at Huo Weilou, raised his eyebrows, "The government will determine the punishment according to the law, you only need to confess your crimes."
Zhao Yu straightened his back, "I believe that Jiang Xing, Yu Xun and Ye Fei were all killed by me. I wanted to scare them, so I used the blood sparrow as a prophecy. I learned how to tame birds when I was young, and then I came to the garden. I see masters taming birds every day, and it is easy for me to catch a few birds, but they are too stupid, the first bird died in the water tank, and they never found it."
Sun Zhao's voice sank, "What did I ask you, what did you answer, and how did you kill Jiang Xing?"
"It's really hateful to say that the five of them returned to the capital. They are all lukewarm people. In the theater, they are not valued by the nobles at all. But because they learned poultry opera with their master in the early years, they were actually selected by the king of Nan'an County. , Even now, they are still receiving the favor of Master..." Zhao Yu sneered: "The five of them are still together these years, which shows that they are all like dogs, but in the past three years, their relationship has not been as good as often."
"Jiang Xing is a hard worker. He not only pretends to be a blood sparrow, but also wants to learn how to tame a blood sparrow, and then use the trick of turning a blood sparrow into a bird show, which is so valued by the king of Nan'an County. When the blood sparrow was put into the woods, he wandered around to see if he could make the blood sparrow obey, but the weather was bad that night, so I hid in the dark woods and waited for him, and sure enough, he arrived not long after."
Zhao Yu's face showed a bit of ferocity, "There is a water tank not far from the forest. I appeared suddenly, and before he could react, he was thrown to the ground by me. They have been pampered all these years, and their strength is not as good as I, after being subdued by me, I held him in the water tank and drowned him alive, just like that, he drowned one of my senior brothers back then."
Zhao Yu didn't need Sun Zhao to ask, and continued on his own, "I just want to remind the five of them of what happened back then, but I didn't want to expose myself easily, so I threw him into Moon Lake. He fell into the lake and died."
"In the next month, the remaining four of them were a little panicked, but they never thought that someone would come back for revenge. This time, I hanged the blood sparrow to death on the laurel tree in the front yard, but it still didn't arouse everyone's vigilance."
Zhao Yu's tone seemed helpless, "I took care of Yu Xun, I would naturally know how to tie a belt knot, I strangled him to death, and then stayed under the osmanthus tree, as for the feather coat, I just did it to scare you They, because back then in Master's theater troupe, also had such a feather-woven Xiapei, but they seem to have forgotten it."
Zhao Yu pulled his lips, but there was no smile in his eyes, "This time I knew that the king of Nan'an County would definitely report to the officials, so I put the teacup in the house, pretending to have a visitor, is that so-called The 'guest' killed Yu Xun."
Bo Ruoyou couldn't help frowning when she heard this. Later, she thought about whether the tea cup was a trick, but she didn't expect it to be so.
At this time, Zhao Yu also looked at Bo Ruoyou, and then at Sun Zhao and Huo Weilou, "Maybe the yamen is different from the past, or maybe the case happened in Nan'an County Prince's Garden, this time the yamen attaches great importance to this murder case. It was beyond my expectation, not only that, because of those two teacups, Liu Qing and the others were suspected and taken to the Yamen for questioning, so that it was hard for me to continue."
"I thought about it for a while, and decided to frame Song Zhongming with coffin nails."
His eyes were full of complacency, as if thinking of the ridiculous tricks of the people in the yamen, Sun Zhao's eyes froze, "How do you know Song Zhongming's secret?"
Zhao Yu bent his lips, "Who doesn't have secrets? My lord, you must have one too. I have been in the Bird Garden for three years, and I am the most humble servant in the garden. It is not enough to serve Yu Xun. The masters in the garden are also half masters. Doing the most complicated and humble work, but I can also penetrate into every corner, I discovered Song Zhongming's corruption a year ago."
It was the first time for Sun Zhao to see such a calm and calm murderer, and he was even annoyed by his sarcastic smile, "Did you change the medicine before killing Ye Fei?"
"Although we take care of different masters, we often help out with things. It's very easy for me to go to Ye Fei's house to change the medicine." At this point, Zhao Yu said again: "My lord must still want to know how I came out at night without being caught." I found out that the person I live with always likes to drink medicinal wine at night, I added sleep aid medicine to the wine, even if there is thunder, he will not wake up."
Sun Zhao stared at Zhao Yu with narrow eyes, but under his gaze, Zhao Yu's expression remained unchanged.
Zhao Yu said again: "Ye Fei and the three of them returned to the Bird Garden, and they felt a little weird. They were already old when the incident happened, and they were not as young as me and couldn't remember things clearly. So that night, Ye Fei Fei went to see Liu Qing, and after seeing Liu Qing, he went back to his room and had dinner before he started taking medicine, and soon he collapsed, and as soon as I walked in, he was terrified—”
"He seemed to have guessed my identity, but he didn't know who I was back then. I tied him up and took him to the cave in the rockery. The coffin nails were so long. I nailed the coffin nails into it alive. into his temple."
At this point, the corners of his eyes twitched suddenly, and a stern look appeared in his eyes, "That's how he killed Master back then, he used the iron arrows used for juggling in our theater troupe, just like me, and pierced Master's head one by one. head."
"It was such a pain. Therefore, when I nailed him to death this time, I moved very slowly, which caused him pain for a long time before I smashed it down with one hammer at a time..."
Sun Zhao looked at Zhao Yu and took a deep breath to suppress the hostility, then looked at him calmly.
Sun Zhao looked at Huo Weilou, saw that Huo Weilou was holding a cup of tea and closed his eyes without saying a word, so he ordered the servants at the door: "Take him to the prison first, and wait for Wu Xiang to come back and interrogate carefully."
At this moment, since Zhao Yu confessed, Sun Zhao didn't have to interrogate him carefully at this moment. Zhao Yu was pushed and shoved, and he didn't struggle at all, and there was no trace of fear on his face. When he was taken away, Sun Zhao would be cold. He said: "This person was only a child when he witnessed the killing of Team Leader Zhao and others, but he has become such a cruel and merciless person in these years."
Huo Weilou put down the teacup, "Since the person has been found, I will leave the rest to you. The case can only be settled after the authentication and evidence are complete."
Sun Zhao should be, Huo Weilou just left the yamen with Bo Ruoyou.
After getting into the carriage, Bo Ruoyou exhaled softly, and Huo Weilou held her hand, "The case is over, you can rest in peace for a few days."
Bo Ruoyou hummed, but her eyebrows were still half frowned, and Huo Weilou looked at her, "What's wrong? Is there anything else I haven't figured out?"
Bo Ruoyou shook his head, "He pleaded guilty quickly, which is also in line with his crime habits. Among them, Catcher Wu will naturally investigate. I just listened to what he said just now and thought of some old things."
Huo Weilou's heart moved slightly, "What happened to your brother?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "Just now I heard him say that everything will be settled, and only those who have witnessed it will be tortured, so I thought of the accident of my younger brother and the death of my parents. At the age of five, he remembers clearly what happened back then, but I can't remember clearly."
Huo Weilou closed his knuckles slightly, and pulled her into his arms, "You were ill back then, and you were young, so it's normal that you can't remember clearly. This matter has been going on for many years, and Mr. Cheng didn't tell you in detail, so it's the same thing. Afraid to make you sad."
Bo Ruoyou naturally understood Cheng Yunzhi's painstaking efforts, she sighed, did not say any more, the carriage rattled and went straight into Changshou Fang, and after sending Bo Ruoyou home, Huo Weilou said goodbye and left.
Cheng Yunzhi had already fallen asleep, and Bo Ruoyou went back to the boudoir to rest, but it was extremely difficult to fall asleep after lying down, this kind of situation was only a month ago when there was no news from Huo Weilou, after a long time, Bo Ruoyou fell asleep lightly.
It was dawn in a daze, Bo Ruoyou was still sleepy, but was awakened by the voices outside, she got up, changed her clothes and washed up, and saw Cheng Yunzhi talking to Eunuch Fu at a glance, Bo Ruoyou's eyes brightened and walked forward , "Why is the father-in-law here?"
Eunuch Fu smiled and said, "Could it be possible that the county master forgot that you are going to marry Lord Hou? The regulations are complicated, and Lord Hou has already told me to come and help. Fortunately, it will take a long time. Let's prepare accordingly."
Naturally, Bo Ruoyou didn't forget it, but she still had two or three months to go, and she didn't feel that it was time to prepare for the wedding, "What does father-in-law want me to do?"
Eunuch Fu and Cheng Yunzhi looked at each other and both smiled, Cheng Yunzhi said: "You don't need to worry about these things, you can just wait for February in peace."
Bo Ruoyou felt at ease when Father-in-Law Fu came to make arrangements. She ate breakfast in the mansion, but seeing that there was really nothing she could do to help, she went to the yamen again. Wu Xiang had already returned, and when she entered the yamen, Zhao Yu had already The account was clean and neat.
Wu Xiang saw Bo Ruoyou in the back hall, with nearly ten pages of confession in his hand, and when he handed it to Bo Ruoyou to read, his expression was a little confused, Bo Ruoyou looked strange, "What's wrong with arresting the head?"
Wu Xiang sighed, "This Zhao Yu can be regarded as a kind and righteous person. If there were no incidents in the past, he would have lived a good life. It's a pity that he has three lives on his body now, and he won't be able to live until the end of the year."
It was already early winter, and cases from various prefectures in Dazhou were sent to the Ministry of Criminal Justice. Zhao Yu's case would also be sent to the Ministry of Criminal Justice after it had been arraigned in the yamen. His death sentence was inevitable.
Wu Xiang said again: "It's a pity, he shouldn't be so impulsive to take revenge on himself, if he still comes to the government to report to the government, he will always be able to find out the murder case back then, and none of the five people can escape."
Wu Xiang's sympathy for Zhao Yu was beyond words, but as a clerk in the yamen, he had to search for evidence impartially. While reading Zhao Yu's testimony and listening, Bo Ruoyou's eyes darkened suddenly, "The coffin was nailed by him in the south of the city." Bought from the coffin shop?"
Wu Xiang nodded, "Yes, he said that he bought it a year ago and has been looking for opportunities to buy a mobile phone. However, during the Chinese New Year and spring and summer seasons, there are a lot of banquets in the garden, and there are more servants than usual. dragged on until autumn."
"Can I go to the coffin shop to ask?" Bo Ruoyou said again.
"Go and ask, there is indeed such a coffin nail in the coffin shop, but it's been too long, and the shopkeeper's shop assistant can't remember clearly."
Bo Ruoyou hesitated for a moment, then looked down again, Wu Xiang asked suspiciously: "Why? Do you suspect that what he said is false?"
Bo Ruoyou said: "His confession said that after death, Master Qian and another senior brother were buried in a mass grave outside the city, and I can't remember the location, but I find it strange, you should remember Qian The barren tomb outside the town, the land is not small, Master Qian bought it to bury Team Leader Zhao and others, if it was you, where would you bury Master Qian and Senior Brother after they died?"
"Of course they are buried together in that barren grave!" Wu Xiang blurted out.
Bo Ruoyou said, "This is where I hesitate. Zhao Yu is a calm-minded person, and he is very obsessed with revenge. He has been dormant in the Bird Garden for more than two years. He killed three people in a row this time. It is not ruled out that someone knew about it." Or he helped him, but he insisted that Master Qian and another senior brother were dead, which is a bit weird."
"You mean, it's possible that those two people didn't die, and they even became accomplices, but now he wants to protect them, so they are dead long ago?"
"I can't rule out this possibility." Bo Ruoyou handed back the confession, "When he confessed last night, I wanted to ask where the graves of those two people are, but I didn't expect this to be the result today."
Wu Xiang went to look at the evidence again, and when he was deep in thought, Hu Changqing ran out of the inner hall out of breath, "Capture, county magistrate, but the murderer has been found?"
Hu Changqing didn't arrive last night, and only today did he know that the case of Bainiaoyuan was solved, Wu Xiang showed the evidence in his hand to Hu Changqing, and said to Bo Ruoyou: "What you said is indeed suspicious, I will go to interrogate him later. "
Bo Ruoyou responded, Hu Changqing read the testimony with disbelief on his face, "God, for more than ten years, he actually lived to avenge his master and his mother. He doesn't believe in the government, otherwise, he wouldn't have come to this point."
Wu Xiang said: "It's not unusual. He was a disaster victim back then, and lost his parents at a young age. Later, he was adopted by Banzhu Zhao and his wife. Banzhu Zhao and his wife are like adoptive parents to him. He is a person who knows how to repay .”
Hu Changqing thought for a moment, "Time will dilute hatred, and it is very bitter for a person to always remember revenge. He has not changed his ambition all these years, which also shows his tenacity. No wonder he can fight wits and courage with the government when committing crimes. "
Wu Xiang stretched her sore neck, "In any case, this case is considered solved, but it still involves an old case, and there will be a lot of work in the future, and it will be really relaxing after the court."
He was busy looking for evidence from the civil servants, and he didn't talk much with Bo Ruoyou and the two of them. After a while, he went to the valet, and Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing left the yamen together.
As soon as he walked out of the yamen, he saw four or five children on the long street in front of the yamen reciting nursery rhymes and having fun.
"... strike iron three, three liang of silver in exchange for a cloth shirt."
"Strike the iron four, the four flower needles are easy to pick."
"Strike iron five, five rice dumplings to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival..."①
The sound of nursery rhymes came from a distance, and Bo Ruoyou listened for a while before she could distinguish the words and sentences. The childish voice was childish, but joyful, making people feel full of vitality when she heard it. She paused slightly, smiled and looked around, Hu Changqing also stopped.
Soon, Hu Changqing said: "It's 'Strike the Iron Song'. I remember that when I was young, this nursery rhyme was widely circulated in Beijing for a while, but because there was a word in the ballad that violated the taboo of a prince's name, gradually People in the capital are not allowed to read this ballad, and now it has been circulated again for some reason.”
Hu Changqing was only past the age of double tenth, when he was a teenager, that is, when Bo Ruoyou was still in the capital, but she can't remember the past clearly now, and naturally she has no impression of this ballad, so she asked instead, "Hu Wu Zuoben is from the capital?"
Hu Changqing nodded, "Yes, I have lived in the capital for generations. When I was young, my family was in trouble, and I was not allowed to gain fame. Later, I started to work as a ghost by accident."
Bo Ruoyou heard Wu Xiang talk about Hu Changqing's background, nodded and said no more, the two said goodbye, and when Bo Ruoyou got into the carriage, the sound of the song was still going on.
She ordered Zhou Liang to go to Wu Zhaohou's mansion, although she didn't know if the yamen had reported the case to Huo Weilou, but she still wanted to go by herself, the carriage drove slowly, but the nursery rhyme echoed in Bo Ruoyou's mind, strangely Being passed on by the children, the meaning of the words is straightforward and catchy, and it was only in front of the Hou's mansion that Bo Ruoyou thought he must have entered the mansion.
The attendant went to report, but when Bo Ruoyou arrived in the study, she heard voices inside. When she entered the door, she saw Huo Qinghong and Ming Guilan were there. He laughed and said, "Miss Bo is now the head of the county, so please ask Haihan Guilan not to be present."
Regardless of his joke, Bo Ruoyou first told Huo Weilou the confession he had seen. Huo Qinghong clicked his tongue and said to Ming Guilan: "The two of them are really like-minded—"
Ming Guilan laughed, and only after Bo Ruoyou finished speaking did he ask, "I heard that an old case from more than ten years ago was also involved?"
Bo Ruoyou should be, at this moment, she suddenly remembered that she had seen the case files of Ming Guilan's kidnapping with her own eyes. The files of the kidnapping case of Mr. Guo Ming."
Ming Gui's eyes showed surprise, "That was more than ten years ago."
"It happened in the seventeenth year of Jianhe." Bo Ruoyou remembered it very clearly, "It was the same year as the old case brought up this time."
Ming Guilan's pupils darkened, "Yes, it's been fourteen years. After the accident that year, my father was unwilling to give up, but after the investigation found nothing, he had to let it go. Now it's an unsolved case."
Huo Qinghong said: "Did the government not do their best back then? Isn't the old case of this theater troupe just because of the dereliction of duty by the officials back then?"
Ming Guilan shook his head, "The government office at that time was indeed lax and ineffective, but my father entrusted many people to put pressure on the government office, and they were forced to use some manpower and material resources to find it, but they never found any clues."
Huo Qinghong glanced at Ming Guilan's leg, "That person has harmed you all your life, if there is a chance to find him, he must be severely punished."
Ming Guilan was relieved, "It's been so many years..."
Huo Qinghong is stubborn, "Don't give up hope, the case of Zhao Jiaban was revealed after more than ten years, and the murderer was still punished."
Although the two cases happened in the same year, they are very different. Zhao Yu knew who the murderer was, but Ming Guilan didn't see the murderer's appearance. He shook his head with a smile, obviously he was really tortured and gave up hope. .
Bo Ruoyou didn't know what he was thinking about, Huo Qinghong and Ming Guilan saw the situation and offered to leave.
Huo Qinghong said: "The sky has been dry recently, neither rain nor snow, the weather is getting colder, if there is no snow for the whole winter, there will be disasters in the coming year, a few families with titles in the city held a rain and snow praying ceremony in the south of the city Taichang Temple also contributes in the name of the Tian Family, the dojo starts today and ends in seven days, I plan to take Guilan there to join in the fun."
Huo Weilou was delighted to see this, he sent the two of them out of the study, quickly turned around and said: "Hong'er has gone to Taichang Temple, today is to complain about suffering."
As he spoke, he came forward to embrace her in his arms, Bo Ruoyou was surprised, "Why does Taichang Temple exist?"
"He finds it boring. Boredom is the biggest suffering. He deals with clansmen all day long, and what he sees are all old antiques. He is very depressed."
After he finished speaking, he pulled her to sit down, Bo Ruoyou said: "Then what should I do?"
"What to do, let him stay for a few years, so that he can temper his temperament." After Bo Ruoyou sat down, he asked again: "Why did you talk about the Guilan case?"
"When I saw the dossier that day, I paid attention to it. It's just that there were very few records back then, and it was true that no valuable clues were found. Now it is extremely difficult to catch the perpetrator."
Huo Weilou patted her hand, "You don't have to worry about it. Over the years, the Ming family has already seen it. Although Gui Lan is not good for her, her medical skills have not declined. By the way, he went to the Princess Mansion this morning to ask for his mother's help." Pulse, saying that my mother's health has obviously improved a lot, thank Mr. Cheng for me."
Bo Ruoyou's eyes lit up, "It's only a month or so before the initial effect. In a year and a half, the adoptive father will be able to take care of Her Royal Highness's jade body. I will tell the adoptive father about it when I go back."
Huo Weilou didn't ask for much, now he is satisfied, and said to Bo Ruoyou: "I have already sent someone to Xiangguo Temple to explain what to do for your father and mother, and the seventh day of next month will be a good day."
Unexpectedly, Huo Weilou had made all the arrangements, Bo Ruoyou felt his heart warm, "Thank you, Lord Hou—"
Huo Weilou saw that she was moved, he couldn't help but took her into his arms, and said with a pure smile: "How can we say thank you between you and me? I will go with you then."
Bo Ruoyou loosened the hand in front of his lapel, and hugged him tightly.
The author has something to say: Note: ①From Volume 7 of "Selected Records of Zhuang Xie".