The incident at Xiangguo Temple did not cause any disturbances in the capital. At dawn, Wu Xiang took all the spare servants in the yamen out of the capital, and went straight to the banks of the Luo River and the small town at the foot of Xiangguo Temple.
Bo Ruoyou got up as usual, followed Cheng Yunzhi to read the dowry list all morning, and then couldn't let go of the case, so she went out to the yamen. At this moment, only Hu Changqing and some civil servants were left in the yamen, and Bo Ruoyou still went into the inner treasury to look through file.
She couldn't run around like a yamen's servant, if Wu Xiang ran away this time, at least she might be able to find clues by looking through the files.
Now that Hu Changqing has been reinstated, he has worked a lot harder than before. As soon as Bo Ruoyou entered the internal treasury, he pointed out a few more cases, "There are three more cases here. I think they are very similar, but they all happened five or six years ago. , I was not the one who was in charge of the yamen at that time, and I can't be sure about the situation at that time."
Bo Ruoyou took the files and looked at them, and quickly frowned. Hu Changqing was the author. Compared with civil servants, it is natural to judge more accurately by looking at the inspection records. These three cases occurred in the 26th year of Jianhe, It has been built for 24 years, and the last one is under construction for 20 years.
The three cases were all missing cases at first, and they all happened in the late autumn and winter. The three missing boys were between five and seven years old. In the third case, three days after the child was lost, the body was found in Weiyang Lake. It was the twelfth lunar month, and the surface of Weiyang Lake was frozen.
Compared with Jianhe's 17th year file, the Jianhe's 20th year file has more detailed records. Even though this case was ten years ago, Bo Ruoyou discovered a suspicious point just by looking at the file.
"The child drowned in the icy lake. At that time, the weather was extremely cold and the lake water was icy cold, so his body was pale and bloodless. It seems that there is nothing wrong with it, but it is recorded here that the child's face was also bloodless, and there was no blood in his mouth or nose. Abnormal, that's not right—"
After Bo Ruoyou finished speaking, Hu Changqing's eyes moved slightly and said: "The drowned person is in the water, and the temperature of the water is lower than that of the human body, so most of the corpse spots are light in color, but it does not mean that there will be no corpse spots, and drowning The head of the patient is heavy, and the head and face are down. There should be some bruises on the face, or at least some scars. In the ice water, the corpse spots will not dissipate so quickly. As for the mouth and nose, there should be some scars. Some drowning and foam would be right—”
Bo Ruoyou nodded, "That's right, but this child's body is pale, the scars on the body are almost gone, and there are no major traumatic wounds, and the spots on the body are caused by the blood deposition of the deceased, so... at least it shows that this child has lost blood before. many."
Hu Changqing thought for a while, "Falling into the lake by stepping on the broken ice, if you lose too much blood in the lake, the nearby broken ice will definitely be contaminated, and you will definitely find the corpse when you salvage it—"
Bo Ruoyou closed the file with her knuckles, "I don't know if I can find this family."
She turned back again, and then frowned: "Pingningfang? I remember that this folkfang was demolished a few years ago."
The folk square was demolished, and the family must have moved, so it was difficult to find family members.
At this time, Hu Changqing said as if thinking of something: "You don't have to look for this family. I know an old yamen servant who has been in the yamen for many years. This person was a young man more than ten years ago. When I went to the yamen two years ago, he He was almost forty years old, and he was injured and limped at that time, so he left the yamen to go home to take care of the elderly. Before I came, almost all the yamen servants retreated. This person was the only one who worked with me for a few days , based on the time he entered the Yamen, he should have handled the case."
Bo Ruoyou's eyes lit up immediately, "Do you know where you live? These cases have been going on for a long time, if you can really find the old yamen servant, that would be great."
Hu Changqing nodded, "I know! It's just in the south of the capital city. I visited him last year. It's been a long time since I visited him. I probably won't move."
Bo Ruoyou glanced at the sky, saw that the sun was setting to the west, but it was still early in the evening, so she looked affirmative, "Then let's go!"
At this time, there were only some clerks available in the yamen. Bo Ruoyou thought that this trip was to see the old yamen servants, and there was no danger, so he made a decisive decision. Seeing her like this, Hu Changqing felt a little angry, and soon followed her out. out of the Yamen.
Hu Changqing rode on the horse, walking on the road, Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but lifted the curtain and said: "This old yamen servant has been in the yamen for many years, I think he knows most of the cases?"
Hu Changqing smiled wryly when he heard the words, "The clerks in the yamen change very quickly. He has been in the yamen for a long time, but he also does some other errands. I'm not sure whether he will remember this case or not. Miss, don't get too hopeful. "
Hu Changqing didn't dare to talk too much, but Bo Ruoyou didn't know it, so he naturally agreed.
The carriage came all the way to the south of the city, and although there was sun in the sky, the cold wind was still piercing. When the carriage stopped, Bo Ruoyou's hands and feet were freezing cold. She got off the carriage and rubbed her hands. When she raised her eyes, she saw a In a simple courtyard.
Hu Changqing stepped forward and knocked on the door, and soon there was a sound of footsteps in the garden.
"Who-"
Accompanied by an old voice, the courtyard door was opened, and a wrinkled bronze face appeared inside the door.
Hu Changqing stepped forward and said, "Uncle Zhao, it's me."
Zhao He didn't expect Hu Changqing to come, he was taken aback for a while, and then he looked happy, and when he saw Bo Ruoyou again, he was a little puzzled, Hu Changqing hurriedly said: "Uncle Zhao, this is the girl from the yamen, we are here today to An old case."
Zhao Heying was admitted to the hospital, and went to the upper room to take a seat. They were a little embarrassed when serving tea, "Don't be disgusted with a sip of rough tea."
Zhao He's left leg was indeed inconvenient, and he limped when he walked, and although he had not been away from the Yamen for a few years, his figure was already quite bent.
Bo Ruoyou exchanged a few words and then got to the point. When he heard that the question was about a case ten years ago, Zhao He showed embarrassment. He thought about it carefully, and Hu Changqing couldn't help but said: "Uncle Zhao, I remember that Jianhe Shi I have been in the Yamen for seven years, but I don’t know if Uncle Zhao handled this case at that time.”
Zhao He heard this and said: "Every year there are quite a few children who get lost in the capital, half of them are really lost and can be found, and half of them are accidents. Others are afraid that they will be abducted by kidnappers. If you ask me like that, I really can’t remember…”
Both Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing were a little disappointed, and she couldn't help but said, "Please think about it, although there are many children who have accidents every year, there should be far fewer children who fall into the lake in winter than those who drown in summer. , lived in the former Pingningfang, just south of the current West Market... "
Bo Ruoyou's words reminded Zhao He of something, his eyes lit up slightly and he said, "Is that the busy city not far from Weiyang Lake?"
Bao Ruoyou nodded immediately, and Zhao He said: "That said, I remember a little bit. Back then, Pingningfang was close to Weiyang Lake. The family lost their child. The government office first went to Weiyang Lake to look for it, but the family It must be said that it is impossible for the child to go to the lake to play by himself, so the government office changed the direction, but unexpectedly, three days later, the child was found in the lake, but the person was gone. The child was the only child in the family. A funeral was held for the child, and a spirit streamer was set up by the Weiyang Lake, causing quite a commotion."
Bo Ruoyou hurriedly asked, "Can you think of any other suspicious points in this case?"
Although there were simple autopsy records on the file, it was finally determined to be an accident, and there was no further detailed description. Zhao He thought about it carefully for a moment, and suddenly his pupils darkened, "If I have to say something suspicious, it is that the child died in a strange way. He is pale, there is no external injury on his body, at most there are some bruises and cuts, it looks scary, and some people say that the child was killed by a water ghost."
Bo Ruoyou straightened her back and leaned forward slightly, "Bruises? Where are the bruises?"
This stumped Zhao He, he thought for a long time with a bitter face, and finally said: "I really can't remember this..."
Bo Ruoyou knew that it was hard to remember the details after so many years, so he said, "In the next few years, do you remember any similar cases where children died accidentally? For example, they all happened in winter, and they were all in lively places. The children who got lost and died were all very young."
"The child died unexpectedly and reported to the government... There are not many cases like this. The government will receive a few cases every year." Zhao He squinted his eyes and thought for a while, "Similar to the case of Luohu, here In the next few years, I can’t remember it for a while, and some cases were not handled by me, but in my first year in the Yamen, there was a case that was somewhat similar to this one.”
Both Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing listened intently, and Zhao He said: "It's also a child who is gone. I heard that the child is only four years old. He is the young son of a high official's family. They live by the Luo River outside the city. They were a pair of sisters at first. The younger brother was lost, and the family thought that the two children had been kidnapped by kidnappers, but they didn't expect the elder sister to show up by herself the next day, but the younger brother did not come back."
Zhao He shook his head and sighed, "That elder sister was so frightened that she couldn't say a word, and she seemed to be possessed by a water ghost and kept talking nonsense. When the family asked her brother where he went, they couldn't find out, probably Seven or eight days later, my younger brother's body was found outside the city, and his body was soaked in the Luo River in winter, and he was finally sentenced to die by falling into the river."
Bo Ruoyou frowned, "Falling into the river again?"
Zhao He sighed, "That's right, but, that place is two miles away from the place where the two siblings disappeared, and that section of the river is full of dark rocks, so it stands to reason that if a person falls into the river, the body will be washed away along the river by the current." You will be hit by stones with injuries all over your body, but you can't imagine that although the child's body is swollen, there are no bruises on his body, except for a few small injuries, which are not at all like falling into the river upstream The one who died, said that he ran to the place where the body was found and jumped down."
Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing didn't understand that if they were bled to death, the wound would be small, and if they had been soaked in water for several days, the only small wound would be ignored.
Hu Changqing couldn't help but said: "Then this is most likely not an accident!"
Zhao He shook his head helplessly, "But the child didn't see any external injuries, no fatal injuries were found, and there was no other evidence of murder. It can only be said that he fell into the river and died. It's a pity, that sister seemed to be frightened stupid. In the end, I didn’t tell what happened that day, and then the matter disappeared. At that time, I just entered the yamen, and I saw the little baby’s body for the first time, and I have a deep memory.”
Bo Ruoyou and Hu Changqing looked at each other, both of them felt that this case might be a murder that slipped through the net, Bo Ruoyou said: "Is it about the eighteenth year of Jianhe?"
"That's right, at the beginning of the eighteenth year of Jianhe, I entered the job after the year passed. This should have happened around the Shangyuan Festival in the eighteenth year of Jianhe. At that time, I had only been in the Yamen for a few days."
Naturally, Bo Ruoyou would not let go of such an opportunity, "You said this family is a high official's family? Do you remember which one it is?"
Zhao He finally showed a determined expression, "I haven't forgotten this, their family name is easy to remember, it's not another family, it's the Bo family of the Sanshangshu. I heard that something happened a while ago and the house was ransacked—"
The hopeful light in Bo Ruoyou's eyes dimmed, and the blood on her face faded instantly.