As soon as the coffin lid was opened, the pungent smell of rancidity overflowed. Xu Wanshu, who had been dead for a month, was lying in the coffin in mourning clothes. As far as the eye could see, maggots and flies were densely crawling all over her body.
Even Bo Ruoyou, who has experienced many battles, couldn't help but frowned when he saw this scene, and the embroidered clothes on the side looked at each other for a moment, looking at Bo Ruoyou's expression with hesitation and sympathy, rather Xiao even stared at her coldly.
Bo Ruoyou rolled up her sleeves, held a scented pill in her mouth, covered her face with a silk handkerchief, and put on the gauntlets given by Huo Weilou, before she went up to have a look. When Ning Xiao saw the gauntlets, surprise flashed across his face, He took another quick glance at Huo Weilou.
Xu Kangwei and his wife were standing not far away, they didn't dare to go any closer. Seeing the two of them like this, Huo Weilou walked over to Bo Ruoyou by himself, and frowned when he saw the situation in the coffin.
The mountain wind was extremely cold, and Bo Ruoyou rolled up her sleeves to prevent dirt from rubbing against her body. At this moment, her two thin white arms were exposed like tender lotus root. It was pity to look at her, but she had a cold expression on her face. The meaning of austerity is to isolate all eyes from the outside.
Although Ning Xiao and the embroidered clothes envoys knew that their Lord Marquis would not bring someone with poor craftsmanship by their side, but Bo Ruoyou was a woman, everyone was still a little uncertain, seeing Bo Ruoyou shoving away among the maggots and flies After taking off the collar of the corpse's mourning clothes, everyone's expressions were a little brilliant. Ning Xiao was watching with cold eyes, but when he saw this, the coldness in his eyes couldn't help but relax.
Huo Weilou looked at Bo Ruoyou's bent and slender waist, the corpses wriggled beside her, and Xu Wanshu, who had been dead for a month, was not only rotten, but at the moment it was even more difficult to distinguish her human form. It was a little difficult for him to watch.
Huo Weilou turned his body sideways, it was the first time that he felt such emotions in his heart, he clearly understood that it wasn't because Bo Ruoyou was a woman that he felt such pity that he had never felt before.
No matter how much you can't bear it, it's still a tolerance, and Huo Weilou couldn't possibly make her rash because of pity, and Bo Ruoyou obviously didn't have this intention, she was alone by the coffin, and the inspection lasted half an hour .
When she straightened up, Bo Ruoyou was still sweating against the cold mountain wind, she raised her hand and wiped her forehead with her arm, and then said: "The deceased died by strangulation, not by hanging. "
One word determined the cause of death, and also determined the nature of Xu Wanshu's death. If he died by hanging, he might have committed suicide, but if he died by strangling, he must have been murdered. The expressions of Xu Kangwei and his wife in the distance changed slightly when they heard this. Seeing Xu Kangwei's dubious face, Bo Ruoyou reported to Huo Weilou in a cold voice.
"The strangle marks are very similar to the strangle marks on the body of the first deceased. The strangle marks are located under the cartilage of the deceased's throat. If he hanged himself, the strangle marks would not be so low. The strangle marks are in the shape of a ring around the neck, and the slope is not high. If he hanged himself, The traces on both sides of the rope around her neck were raised obliquely upwards. In addition, the strangulation marks on her body were deep, the skin was severely damaged during the period, and there were many bleeding points, and the same was true on the eyelids. If an autopsy is to believe her There will also be obvious bleeding on the meninges in the brain, but if it is a suicide, it will not be accompanied by such severe bleeding, and there are many bleeding points in the constriction, and the congestion and swelling on the face will not be so serious. "
Taking a look inside the coffin, Bo Ruoyou said again: "The deceased had obvious scratches on his hands, and there was dirt in his nails. I haven't figured out what it is yet..."
She held another piece of silk handkerchief in her hand, and on that silk handkerchief were a few black dirt the size of needlepoints, because it was stained with corpse water, the color looked quite dirty at the moment, she paused and said: "This is thanks to Mr. Xu buried Miss Xu without cleaning her body properly, otherwise, these stains would not have been seen."
There are many rules for wearing mourning clothes after death, and the most basic thing is to tidy up the appearance of the deceased, not to mention helping her to scrub her body so that she looks neat and tidy. The Xu family even failed to clean her exposed hands properly. , it is conceivable how Xu Wanshu was brought back to the mansion that day, how she was hastily put on mourning clothes and wrapped in a coffin.
Bo Ruoyou's words were clear, her voice was clear, she didn't even look at Xu Kangwei, but she blushed when he said it.
She continued: "She must have struggled violently when she was murdered. This can be proved by the numerous bleeding points on her neck, as well as the bruises on her collarbone and side of her neck. The murderer was probably in a nunnery or a hidden place near the nunnery. He strangled her to death, and the broken beam in the nunnery was a coincidence. You can judge by asking the people who were the first to go to the place where the crime happened... You can think of it when you see the trauma on her hands and body. She didn't commit suicide, it's just that Mr. Xu ignored it on purpose."
Xu Kangwei looked guilty and frightened, and wanted to explain, but now that the evidence is in front of him, any explanation is powerless, Bo Ruoyou said again: "Except for bleeding and shape similar to the first deceased, the left and right The depth is also the same as that of the first deceased, if there was a slight doubt about whether it was a murderer earlier, now it can be confirmed that several people in this case were killed by the same person."
"The wound on the outside of her arm is too rotten to tell what kind of sharp weapon was used, but the obvious boundary can still be seen, and when the flesh was peeled off, no redundant wound was left, or In that sentence, the murderer is good at exquisite knife skills, especially this time Miss Xu has slender arms, but he is very good at using knives. Most likely he lives by knives, or is very good at a certain skill that requires knives people."
Saying that, Bo Ruoyou gestured to the postmortem knife in his hand: "For example, if a civilian girl uses a postmortem knife, she can also peel off human flesh like this."
She was not shy, Huo Weilou frowned slightly, "I doubted the cook and butcher before—"
But Bo Ruoyou didn't answer immediately, her eyes were serious, it seemed that after a few days, she had a different idea, but before she could speak, Huo Weilou said, "Let's talk about these things on the way, now it's okay to think about it." If there are omissions or those that need to be checked again, if they are gone, we should go to clean our hands first, and we should go back to the city."
It's getting late, and the clear weather has turned gloomy at this moment, and the weather may change if we stay any longer.
Bo Ruoyou first put the filthy silk handkerchief into the wooden box, and then went to look at the corpse. The corpse that died in January had deteriorated so badly that it was impossible to find direct evidence about the murderer from it. There were deep scars left on the corpse telling what happened that day, and Bo Ruoyou determined the location of several traumas, and then ordered the embroidered envoy to close the coffin.
The coffin was slowly closed, and Bo Ruoyou frowned while watching Xu Wanshu who was slowly disappearing under the coffin lid. At this moment, Huo Weilou asked them to rebuild the tomb, and walked to Bo Ruoyou's side, "You come with me."
Bo Ruoyou didn't know what he was going to do, but she followed him without thinking. After following him out of the Xu family's cemetery from the northwest corner, Bo Ruoyou realized that he was leading her to the valley ahead, and the two left Not long after, the sound of a gurgling stream reached Bo Ruoyou's ears, and she was overjoyed, "How does Lord Hou know that there is a stream here?"
Walking past another piece of pines and cypresses, a stream running down the valley came into view. Bo Ruoyou was still wearing a kerchief on her face at this moment, only her eyes were exposed, her hands were stained with dirt, and her body also smelled of corpses. The smell, is it a woman, Xijie, before Huo Weilou answered, she has already rushed over.
Huo Weilou stood under a green pine and looked at her, "I've been here before, so I know."
Bo Ruoyouzi washed the handguards carefully, then took off the upper handkerchief, revealing her sweaty face, seeing the crystal clear water, she couldn't help but threw her hands on her face, now In the early spring weather, the stream on the mountain was still bitingly cold, but she was not afraid. Huo Weilou raised his eyebrows, but held back when he wanted to say something.
After washing neatly, Bo Ruoyou stood up with the wet face on her face. Now that she has put down her sleeves, her whole body has returned to her gentle appearance. She looks like a lady, but in fact she is very rough. Huo Weilou shook her head , Turn around and go back to the cemetery.
Bo Ruoyou followed behind him, and said as he walked, "The strangle marks of the two strangled to death are almost identical, which makes the girl guess that the murderer prepared his own rope each time, not on a whim, but just murdered the second son of the uncle's house." When I was a young lady, I somehow changed the method."
Huo Weilou walked slowly, "Wei Ling's trip is not fixed, and that day may really be a coincidence."
Bo Ruoyou followed, surrounded by towering pines and cypresses, it was a bit cold, but Huo Weilou was beside her, which made Bo Ruoyou feel at ease, so she asked: "After returning to the city, will Lord Hou still go to the uncle's mansion?"
Huo Weilou turned his eyes to look at her, and seeing her looking at him with wonderful eyes, he nodded when he looked away, "Go."
Back in the cemetery, Xu Wanshu's tomb had been rebuilt. When everything was ready, the group returned to the capital and went down Fengming Mountain. Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but lift the curtain and look back up the mountain. There are quite a lot of cemeteries and cemeteries on Fengming Mountain, and the nobles of the aristocratic families in the capital also choose geomantic treasures here. Of course Bo Ruoyou remembers that the Bo family's cemetery is also among them.
"What did you want to say about the murderer?"
When Huo Weilou asked like this, Bo Ruoyou came back to her senses, she turned around and said, "Before the minnv suspected that the murderer might be a cook or a butcher, but now, I don't know if Lu Wenhe suddenly got involved in it. The minnv has seen a lot more Because of the poems and paintings, the women now feel that the murderer is not a cook."
"The targets chosen by the murderer are all young ladies from wealthy families. Wearing a red dress and having a cinnabar mole are the most important characteristics. Family background cannot be ignored. Moreover, all three of them belong to the Ling Xiao Poetry Club. The murderer chose by chance. Killing the three of them made Minnv think that the murderer must be a well-educated generation, and his penchant for cinnabar moles on women also made Minv think of some stories about ghosts and painted skins that she had seen in legendary stories."
"Ghosts are born ugly. Seeing the beauty of women in the world, they turn into human beings to seduce them, and then murder them. It is just to take away the beautiful appearance of women, put cinnabar rouge on the women's appearance, and then wear them on themselves. …”
Bo Ruoyou returned to the case and said, "The murderer's knife is exquisite. Perhaps in his own eyes, he regards a woman's appearance as a beautiful thing, and his behavior is like spending a lot of money on paintings and poems. Take off the skin and flesh of a woman to admire and collect, or if he has such a defect, he is jealous and wants to take it."
What Bo Ruoyou said was no longer a simple inference that day, she even described the murderer's psychology on this trip, this seemingly cruel way of killing people is difficult to find a normal motive, from Bo Ruoyou's words, it seems that there is a Reasonable answer.
Huo Weilou stared at her, which made Bo Ruoyou a little embarrassed, "Did the girl take the murderer's word for granted? Some people in this world may be good at reading, but their character may be bad, or maybe Looking at the well-dressed clothes, there are ghosts hidden in my heart. Based on my own preferences, I have some unimaginable thoughts to harm others... "
"Why does Ben Hou say that you are wrong?" Huo Weilou leaned against the wall of the car, "Ben Hou thinks that your autopsy is very good, and it seems that it is against ordinary people's thinking to think so, but he just happened to find the murderer. Motive for the crime."
Bo Ruoyou breathed a sigh of relief, and Huo Weilou said: "If it is similar to literature, ink, poetry and painting, there are many places where knives are used, such as mounting paintings, jade carvings, porcelain clay sculptures, book bindings sold by the library, even in shops that sell rice paper. Paper cutting is also a skill. People who do these things either have at least a rough literacy, or they deal with elegant things all day long, and they all do fine work related to knives."
Although the murderer's method of committing the crime is brutal, but when the woman's flesh is peeled off, it gives people a sense of delicacy and delicacy, which indeed seems to be possessed by people who often deal with elegant things. Bo Ruoyou will definitely feel at ease after getting it. Che Lian ordered Ning Xiao, "You go to Xu's house to see how the interrogation is going, and the maid must be found. Benhou will go to the uncle's mansion."
Ning Xiao should be outside, when the group returned to the capital, they parted ways after walking not far, Huo Weilou took Bo Ruoyou straight to the Zhongqin uncle's mansion, before arriving at the uncle's mansion, the concierge saw Huo Weilou Come in person, and go to communicate in panic.
Before reaching the main courtyard, the old lady came to greet her in person, "It was Hou Ye who came in person?"
Huo Weilou sent the old lady's condolences first, and then said: "Ning Xiao took over this case. I have time today, so I also asked a few questions. I came to the mansion today to inquire again."
While talking to Huo Weilou, the old lady looked at Bo Ruoyou, looked at Bo Ruoyou, and then looked at Huo Weilou. Although there was some surprise in her eyes, it was not obvious on her face, "Master Hou came here in his busy schedule. If you think about it, it will be broken in a short time, just ask what Hou Ye wants to ask."
After entering the main hall, as soon as the tea was served, Huo Weilou asked Wei Ling about asking Mr. Wei to teach poetry, the old lady said: "It is true that she said, we support her likes, but she never said who she would invite, I also ordered someone to invite Lu Jijiu's classmate..."
Lu Jijiu's classmate is not in the same generation as Lu Wenhe. Wei Ling didn't get Lu Wenhe's consent, so he didn't mention his name. He just saw that the old lady wanted to invite the master, but he didn't really agree. Huo Weilou asked a few more words, the old man He had never heard of Lu Wenhe before, so Huo Weilou said, "I want to visit the second lady's boudoir."
The traces of a person's life naturally leave the most traces in the place where she usually lives. Bo Ruoyou only did an autopsy last time, but did not go to Wei Ling's boudoir, and Ning Xiao only took away the books mentioned by the maid. The old lady hesitated for a moment when she heard the words, and finally said: "Then let's go and have a look, but I'm afraid I won't find anything, Ling'er usually only has those preferences."
Huo Weilou didn't mention her admiration for Lu Wenhe for the time being. When they reached the courtyard where Wei Ling lived, Wei Jun rushed over after hearing the news. Seeing that Huo Weilou had come in person, she hurriedly saluted. After Wei Jun, there were one person.
With a glance, Bo Ruoyou saw the young miss of the Bo family whom she had seen before.
Huo Weilou saw that her expression was different, and followed her to look over. Seeing this, the old lady explained: "Master Hou, this is Yixian, the eldest lady of the Bo family, who has come to accompany Jun'er every day these days."
Huo Weilou's face remained motionless, he turned around and went to Wei Ling's boudoir, Bo Ruoyou followed calmly, after entering the door, he only took a rough look at the inner room, and then went to the study behind Duobao Pavilion.
Wei Ling really likes poetry, calligraphy and painting. Except for the books that were taken away, the shelves in her study are still full. A thick stack.
They have all read the books they brought back to the Hou's Mansion, and they are all looking around at the desk at the moment. Wei Jun supports the old lady to stand at the door, and Bao Yixian stands behind and looks curiously. She looks at Bo Ruoyou from time to time, her eyes full It is the color of curiosity.
Soon, Bo Ruoyou saw two stacks of sprinkled gold paper on the bookshelf.
This item is very common in rich and noble families, but what makes Bo Ruoyou strange is the number of these two stacks of sprinkled gold paper, one stack is high and the other stack is low, which has obviously been used by Wei Ling a lot, Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but ask He said, "I don't know what the Second Miss Sprinkling Jinjian usually uses for?"
Knowing that Bo Ruoyou was the author, Wei Jun said, "It's for posting and writing letters."
Bo Ruoyou raised her hand and counted the number of sprinkled gold paper, and asked, "When did you buy this sprinkled gold paper?"
Wei Jun thought for a while, "It was before the Chinese New Year, at the end of the twelfth lunar month, I added 200 sheets."
Bo Ruoyou frowned slightly, "From the end of the twelfth lunar month to the next year, the second lady wrote more than fifty posts?"
She counted out more than 50 cards, and when the words were settled, Wei Jun couldn't help but stepped forward, "There will only be one banquet in the house after the year, and the friends she invited will only be four or five people, so it is impossible to use more than 50 cards. this… "
Even if you make a mistake and write more, more than ten sheets are enough, but now there are so many missing, so where did Wei Ling use the remaining forty or so golden notes
Huo Weilou immediately understood what Bo Ruoyou meant, and asked in a deep voice, "Where do you throw the waste paper she wrote on weekdays?"
Wei Jun hesitated for a moment, and immediately called someone to call over the Lu Xiu whom he had met before. Hearing this question, Lu Xiu hurriedly said: "Miss was thrown in the wastebasket earlier. After Miss passed away, the slaves cleaned up the house. The shredded papers have been thrown away."
"Shredded paper?" Bo Ruoyou asked sharply.
Lvxiu nodded, "Miss has to tear up everything that is useless, and it's torn to shreds." After a little hesitation, she added: "Miss didn't have such a habit before, it only happened last summer."
Last summer? ! The first time Wei Ling and Lu Wenhe met was at the Wenhui held in Uncle Zhongyi's mansion in June last year.
Bo Ruoyou and Huo Weilou looked at each other, and Bo Ruoyou asked anxiously: "Where did those shredded papers go? Maybe they can be found back?"
The green sleeve showed panic when asked, "Throw away...these unwanted papers and other sundries in the study are mostly thrown to the woodpile in the kitchen... usually they are used to ignite the fire."
Huo Weilou ordered in a deep voice: "Lead the way—"
The green sleeves did not dare to delay, and the complexions of the old lady and the others changed slightly. They could all understand that Wei Ling might have written letters to someone, and this person might be related to Wei Ling's murder. The old lady looked anxious and took Wei Jun Also follow all the way.
After arriving at the kitchen yard of Bo's residence, Bo Ruoyou frowned when she saw the firewood pile.
The pile of firewood is extremely high, and the sundries mentioned by the green sleeve, besides shredded paper, there are also some large sheets of waste paper, and dead branches and leaves mixed in one place. Seeing a few pieces of paper shredded with gold powder, the old lady and the others felt that it was a bit difficult to deal with, but Huo Weilou had already ordered the embroiderer to go forward and search for it.
"Whether there are words or not, all the torn golden papers are collected."
When the embroiderer envoy went to search for it, Huo Weilou asked Luxiu again, "When your lady is writing a letter, is there anything else strange about it?"
Lu Xiu thought for a while, "Miss does not allow servants to serve in front of her."
Wei Jun and the old lady frowned, and the old lady asked, "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
Luxiu was about to cry, "Miss said she likes to be quiet, but this servant doesn't realize he is there, and every time I enter the door, I see Miss throwing away a lot of waste paper, servant... the servant is still a young lady, she is really hard at work."
The old lady stomped her crutch angrily, and Huo Weilou and Bo Ruoyou understood everything when they heard this, and the old lady still wanted to inquire, Huo Weilou said: "She did meet someone else outside, but now she still has something to do. If it is true that she was harmed by this person, I will let the old lady know everything in detail."
When Huo Weilou said this, the old lady had no choice but to agree with a sigh. After spending half an hour, she didn't find the latest paper sprinkled with gold. Instead, she found a lot of dirty paper left in the dead branches. It is probably because the small pieces of paper were missed when the servants lit the fire.
Huo Weilou naturally wanted to take these away, and when he was about to leave, the old lady personally sent him to the door of the uncle's residence, and as she was about to leave, the old lady suddenly asked, "How is your mother?"
Huo Weilou said calmly, "It's a lot more relaxed today, Mrs. Lao is concerned."
The old lady of Bofu sighed and watched them leave without saying a word.
Huo Weilou led Bo Ruoyou to the carriage. Usually, he was the one who entered the carriage. Now that he stepped up, he didn't immediately get into the carriage, but turned around and stretched out his hand to Bo Ruoyou, "Give me your hand—"
Bo Ruoyou turned her back to the old lady and her party, her eyes widened in surprise.
She was about to lift her hand but did not lift it, she obviously obeyed subconsciously, but she didn't understand why, Huo Weilou's eyes flashed helplessness, he grabbed her wrist, pulled her up, and then grabbed her waist and put her into the carriage Then he got into the carriage by himself.
This scene not only stunned the three old ladies in the gate of the uncle's mansion, but also made the driver and the embroidered clothes of the left and right horses a little messy. When Huo Weilou's carriage moved slowly, Wei Jun said in surprise: "This Isn't this a girl from the government office? How...how..."
Bao Yixian slightly raised her eyebrows, "Didn't you say that Marquis Wu Zhao is not close to women? It can be seen that I still haven't met anyone who is beautiful enough."
The old lady also looked at the direction the carriage was leaving and frowned. At this moment, Wei Jun said: "I forgot to tell you that this girl is also surnamed Bo. She passed you the other day and heard someone calling your surname. , I feel a little surprised."
But Bao Yixian blinked, "Huh, there is another Bo family in the capital?"
Wei Jun smiled and shook her head, "I know, I know, you are the only one who is a Bo family with three books, and that girl doesn't seem to be a native of the capital."
In the carriage, Bo Ruoyou looked at Huo Weilou suspiciously, "Why is Hou Ye like this?"
Huo Weilou raised his hand and nodded between her brows, "Don't you want to go back to Bo's to get back what is yours? From now on, this Marquis will support you."