Bo Ruoyou immediately said: "Is there a younger sister? Could it be the girl I met on the boat?"
Huo Weilou stared, "It's very possible that the people below asked his neighbors, and they all said that Han Qi's younger sister is a bit weird. She doesn't go out on weekdays, but she will help Han Qi with some errands. It is said that his younger sister was born very ordinary, and she is also very introverted. When we meet occasionally on weekdays, she walks by quickly and rarely even looks at each other. Therefore, the neighbors can't tell what she looks like, and they don't even know her name. It is said that she is neither tall nor short, but she is quite strong."
Bo Ruoyou was a little puzzled, Huo Weilou said: "The place where they live is a mixed bag, his sister was once bullied by a few hooligans, but who would have thought that his sister was strong-tempered and not weak, so she injured one of them. People never bullied her, and were shocked by her, since then they rarely come to trouble them."
This surprised Bo Ruoyou, but Han Qi's brother and sister were not born well, women from poor families are used to rough work, and some strength is not unusual, Huo Weilou said again: "This Han Qi is from Chuzhou."
Bo Ruoyou thought of the poem about homesickness in Chuzhou, and felt that it was connected in series, "When did Han Qi run away? Can he still hold it now?"
Huo Weilou quickly said: "The last time the neighbor saw him was this morning, but his sister hadn't seen him for several days. They are not natives of the capital, and they probably want to escape from the city. In the next few days, they will definitely try. Going out of the city, cards have been set up at several city gates."
Bo Ruoyou understood, "It's probably because he learned that the wine shop was raided, or because he knew that Lu Wenhe was arrested, and realized that he was about to be exposed." As he spoke, Bo Ruoyou lifted the curtain and took a look outside , I saw the carriage heading south of the city, "Is this going to Han Qi's house?"
Huo Weilou nodded, "He searched all over his house, but he didn't find any human skins or murder weapons. He found some knives, but he wasn't sure."
The murderer peeled off the skin of the girls, probably not just to vent his anger, just like the murderer who likes to collect the hair of the murdered, most of the perpetrators this time will hide the dead's human skin somewhere, just to embroider clothes to make the search After searching for a while, they still couldn't find it, and Bo Ruoyou must be better at this than the embroidered clothes envoys.
The carriage went all the way to the south of the city, passing Yongdingfang, and then went south through two square markets, and went straight into a dilapidated folk square with a low door. There was no name for the folk square here, and there was only one that barely passed the carriage during the period. It is called the main road of Calabash Street, so the people nearby call it Calabash Square. Most of the people living in the square are poor people and untouchables who do rough work. The carriages drive all the way, and the doors along the street are opened all the way. Wealth is expensive, and a pair of eyes only dare to look behind the doors and windows.
When they arrived at the place where Han Qi lived, Bo Ruoyou and Huo Weilou got out of the carriage.
Compared with the simple row houses elsewhere, Han Qi lived in a small courtyard. At the moment, the embroidered clothes envoy was guarding the door. Looking in from the wide open door, the courtyard was almost unobstructed. There was no decoration in the courtyard. There were three upper rooms. The vermilion paint was also mottled, Bo Ruoyou followed Huo Weilou into the courtyard, went straight to the upper room, and saw piles of snow-white rice paper piled up inside the room.
The layout of the house is simple, with sleeping places on the left and right sides, the bedroom and warm pavilion are connected on the left side, and a screen separates the bed. Outside is a huge study room, with two desks placed one on the south and one on the north. Books and story books are mostly picture scrolls, and there are jade seals on the shelf, and silk cotton paper to frame the picture scrolls.
And near the west window, there are a few huge scraping boards. In the bamboo basket under the scraping boards, there are brown brushes, pens, paper knives, and Bo Ruoyou can't help but go forward to check it out. Bo Ruoyou looked at it for a moment, then took out the paper cutter. There are two paper cutters, a large one can cut paper stacks, and a small one can After doing some fine trimming, Bo Ruoyou looked at the edge of the blade and frowned.
Huo Weilou stepped forward, "How?"
Bo Ruoyou said: "This small paper knife is enough to peel skin."
Huo Weilou then ordered the embroiderer to take it away, and Bo Ruoyou went to look at the jade seals on the shelf, etc. She scanned the room, "This Han Qi is actually an expert, he seems to know everything."
Huo Weilou nodded, "Painting, writing poetry, mounting and engraving are all acceptable."
A shadow suddenly flashed in Bo Ruoyou's mind, but she didn't feel such a coincidence, so she didn't mention it. She just looked at each place carefully, and saw a lot of paint in a porcelain basin by the other wall. He picked up some dry paint on the side of the porcelain basin with his hand, and suddenly felt that it was somewhat similar to the one found in Xu Wanshu's nails.
When she raised her eyes again, Bo Ruoyou saw many jade seals on the shelf. The jade was very inferior. Bo Ruoyou picked up a few seals and looked at them. They were all inscribed by the previous dynasty. This Han Qi engraved There are some geniuses, although Bo Ruoyou is not good at this, but it is not easy for one person to engrave such a variety of seals vividly.
There are two pieces of jade on the side, presumably for future preparations.
Looking around, Bo Ruoyou seemed to feel that something was missing, but because she was not good at it, she couldn't figure it out for a while. At this moment, she noticed a few paintings on the top shelf.
These paintings seemed to have been painted for some time, they were rolled up and tied with fine hemp rope, and piled up on top of them all at once, so she tiptoed to get them, but the shelf was too high, and she couldn't touch it even on tiptoe. When she was in trouble, a hot breath suddenly came from her back, and then, a hand passed over her head, and took off the top scroll.
Bo Ruoyou subconsciously turned around—
Turning around, I saw Huo Weilou standing very close to her, her whole body was caged by him between his chest and the bookshelf, his aura filled every square inch, and he was like a mountain covering the sky and the sun. Glancing at her with deep eyes, he first brushed the dust off the scroll, brushed it away, and then handed it to her.
Bo Ruoyou's heart skipped a beat, and as she took the scroll, she thought that what she said to Cheng Yunzhi was actually wrong. Although Huo Weilou didn't know how to pity and cherish jade, he had his own tenderness, but this tenderness was hidden behind his coldness. Under the appearance, it is difficult for ordinary people who are far away to see. She turned sideways to avoid the sound of Huo Weilou, and instead of looking at the painting, she untied the string that tied the scroll.
It is impossible to use this kind of fine hemp rope to tie up the paintings that are going to be sold. They are either made of silk or silk. If this kind of rope is used, it is really less elegant, but Han Qi’s family is poor, and there are useless paintings that cannot be sold at home. , are all bound with these strings.
Bo Ruoyou pulled hard. Although the rope looked thin, it was extremely resilient, and its rough surface was just in line with the bleeding and damage on the surface of the two victim's grooves during the autopsy. She said decisively: "Master, this rope It can be a murder weapon, but I don’t know if this rope is often used by scholars—"
Huo Weilou said: "The homes of the other two people have also been searched, and they will be brought back for questioning. This thing can be used as suspicious evidence."
Bo Ruoyou had said before that the murderer used similar ropes for the two murders, and it was probably something close to him, perhaps related to his business. Bo Ruoyou went to look for the human skin that was still missing, but after looking around, she still couldn't see where the human skin could be hidden.
Turning around, she glanced at the collection of words on the shelf. She suddenly remembered what the shopkeeper on the painting boat said, and couldn't help flipping through the words on the shelf. There are pornographic poems, but what I hold in my hands now are just some ordinary books, and most of them are legendary stories about gifted scholars and beautiful women. .
Bo Ruoyou's eyes lighted up slightly, "Master Hou—"
Huo Weilou looked over, and Bo Ruoyou held up the storybook and said: "Minnv remembers that the shopkeeper of Huafang said that when Lingxiao Poetry Club goes to the club for the day, it often prepares some fun things, except for the piano, chess, flying flowers, and jade cards. In addition, there are many story books, and the girl guesses, if the person on board that day is really Han Qi's younger sister, is she going to deliver the story books?"
Huo Weilou didn't notice the details here, he calmed down a little and said: "Just ask the shopkeeper to find out the words that will be delivered, and a pair of handwriting is enough, the woman on the boat must know something about the boat."
After Huo Weilou finished speaking, he went out to give orders, Bo Ruoyou was convinced, and went to look at the inner room next to the study room, the men's clothes hung on both sides of the bed, it was Han Qi's sleeping place, this place has been searched by the embroiderer, She looked at it all, and then went to the other bedroom.
Entering the door, you can see women's rouge hairpins and rings placed on the dressing table. It is Han Qi's sister's bed. Although the materials of the skirts and clothes are simple, the colors are mostly bright.
A trace of strangeness slipped through Bo Ruoyou's heart.
She continued to look around in this hut, and after seeing every place, Bo Ruoyou was surprised to find something even weirder. Sister Han Qi had a lot of clothes, and she could be seen as a girl who likes to dress up. But the strange thing is that she has a lot of outerwear, but she doesn't have women's underwear, and she hasn't seen anything that women use when menstruation comes.
This is the courtyard where Han Qi's brothers and sisters have lived for several years, and this is where she lives in daily life. She is a woman herself, and she knows that there are some private things in women's dormitories that are not easy to show to others, but sister Han Qi does not have them here. .
She stood on the spot and turned around, the room was not messy, on the contrary, it seemed that the owner had just left and was about to return, and although the furniture and utensils in the room were not extravagant and rich, the rouge and gouache used by sister Han Qi was enough. It can be seen that Han Qi is very fond of this younger sister, so when he leaves, he should take all these private things with him, so that they can be used on the way to escape, and it is not necessary to take all of them away, after all, most of the clothes are still there .
Bo Ruoyou frowned slightly, feeling that she had missed something.
Huo Weilou went back to the room and saw her standing here in a daze, so he walked in, "What's wrong?"
Bo Ruoyou came back to her senses, and said in a low voice: "It's nothing, it's just... it's Sister Han Qi's place, and she didn't find her private things."
Huo Weilou didn't know what the woman's private things were referring to, but it didn't sound strange, so he didn't ask, Bo Ruoyou just felt a little uncomfortable explaining this, so he went outside again.
Han Qi's yard is not big at all, except for the upper room, one of the left and right sides is the kitchen, and the other side is the utility room. In the utility room, there are mostly chopping boards, drying racks and other things for mounting pictures. Bo Ruoyou lived in Han Qi The younger sister found nothing in the boudoir, but when she came out of the utility room, she still found nothing, seeing Huo Weilou standing under the eaves looking at the yard, she stepped forward suspiciously: "I'm afraid they will take him away. "
Huo Weilou's eyes were slightly cold, "Almost all the money in the house was taken away, but it can be seen that they left in a hurry, and all the paintings and calligraphy were not collected."
There was no trace of the person, and no human skin was found, only a few knife ropes that were suspected to be murder weapons. Huo Weilou was a little unhappy. The strong wind and the torrential rain also fell at this time, the crackling raindrops were as big as peas, and hit the person densely, and Bo Ruoyou felt that his clothes were wet in an instant.
Huo Weilou said: "There is no need to search anymore, go back to the mansion first, get in the carriage and go—"
Bo Ruoyou nodded, hurriedly ran towards the carriage, got on the carriage, his body was already covered with water vapor, Huo Weilou ordered the embroidered clothes envoys a few words, and left two guards to prevent Han Qi brothers and sisters from coming back, and he took them with him. Others leave.
After getting into the carriage, Huo Weilou's black hair was also damp, but just as the carriage drove out of the alley here, a fast horse came suddenly in the rain.
"Master Hou, Han Qi caught him! He caught him at the south gate."
The south gate is not too far away, Huo Weilou immediately ordered the carriage to divert to the south gate, Huo Weilou asked the embroiderer, "Is he alone?"
The embroiderer said, "He's the only one. He wanted to go out of the city, but we found out when we asked him where his sister was, but he didn't ask."
Huo Weilou frowned.
The carriage was driving forward in the rain, and the embroidered envoys were also drenched in the rain. The sudden heavy rain left the market empty, but there were a lot of people sheltering from the rain under the eaves. The carriage drove across the long street quickly, splashing muddy water Flying in all directions, after turning around two long streets and entering the Yudao, soon, the south gate of the capital was in sight.
The Embroidered Clothes Envoy was inspecting at the south gate, and the people from the Nine City Patrol Battalion did not dare to neglect them. When the carriage stopped at the south gate, the general of the patrol battalion had already personally held up an umbrella to greet him. Huo Weilou said to Bo Ruoyou: " You stay in the carriage."
Bo Ruoyou nodded in response, Huo Weilou opened the curtain and got out of the carriage.
The rain was so heavy that Bo Ruoyou only dared to lift the curtain halfway to look. He saw a man in green shirt standing in a corner under guard under the shanty of the patrol camp inside the south gate. His baggage was placed on the table, and through the heavy rain curtain, Bo Ruoyou saw his appearance clearly at a glance. She raised her eyebrows, never expecting that it was the young man she saw at the Hanmo Painting and Calligraphy Museum that day. .
It turned out that the person was Han Qi.
In a daze, Bo Ruoyou remembered that the shopkeeper once said that he had a younger sister...
Bo Ruoyou blamed herself for being late, but seeing him standing alone in the shanty town, she always felt a little unreal. She had seen his paintings and bought Lu Wenhe's poems and essays copied by him. Wen even learned from everyone's strengths, so he killed the three of Xu Wanshu
Bo Ruoyou stared at Han Qi, and Han Qi in the distance was looking at Huo Weilou that suddenly appeared, but at this moment, he looked towards the carriage as if he had sensed it, and he looked at Bo Ruoyou through the rain curtain, his expression unexpectedly is calm.
Bo Ruoyou felt it was strange, he was alone, and now he was captured, he also had such a calm expression, what about his sister
Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but look around. There were many people going out of the city under the city gate, but because of the sudden heavy rain, they were hiding under the eaves in the distance. The movement in front of the door, at this moment the host and guest in the building are standing at the door and window looking at this side from a distance, Bo Ruoyou's eyes are looking at the past, and there is really nothing to see.
Huo Weilou, who had already reached the shanty, was also looking around. Han Qi was pushed and knelt on the ground by the embroidered clothes. Glancing at him, "What's your sister's name? Where is she now?"
Han Qi lowered his head, "My sister's name is Han Sheng. Three days ago, when Mr. Lu was invited into the Marquis's residence, the villain entrusted the villagers to bring my sister back to Chuzhou."
Huo Weilou's phoenix eyes were stern, "So you have pleaded guilty?"
Han Qi still lowered his head, "The villain pleads guilty."
There was no surprise on Huo Weilou's face. He stared at Han Qi for a moment, then asked the general of the patrol battalion who was on duty at the south gate today, "Are there any single young women leaving the city today?"
The general hurriedly said: "There are, there are many more, but there is no difference."
Of course Huo Weilou would not believe Han Qi's words, his eyes swept around again, somehow, he had a strong intuition that Han Qi, the younger sister, had not left the capital.
After a while, Huo Weilou ordered: "From now on, all single women who go out of the city must be strictly investigated." As Huo Weilou looked back, seeing Han Qi still hunched over, he couldn't help but let his heart sink. The three of them were cruel, extremely cunning and sneaky, but now he pleaded guilty so easily.
Huo Weilou said again: "Regardless of men and women, any young people under the age of thirty who want to go out of the city must be carefully interrogated."
Han Sheng's ability to sneak into the boat to spy on the women and cheat a boat full of people is enough to prove that he is also quite cunning, if he pretends to be a man and sneaks out of the city, it will be very bad, so Huo Weilou changed his tone.
The generals of the patrol battalion responded quickly, and Huo Weilou was about to order something more, but he heard footsteps behind him, but it was Bo Ruoyou who got off the carriage and ran towards this side, he couldn't help frowning, "What are you doing down here?"
Bo Ruoyou said: "Master Hou, the daughter of the people has seen him."
Han Qi, who was hanging his head down, finally raised his head. When he saw Bo Ruoyou, his calm expression changed slightly, showing a hint of surprise. Huo Weilou asked suspiciously, "Have you seen him?"
"Yes, that day when I went to the Hanmo Painting and Calligraphy Museum, I happened to be leaving just as he was leaving. He had copied Lu Wenhe's poetry collection, and I bought the one he copied. Imitate Lu Wenhe's paintings, and the girl guessed that he is the one who ghostpainted for Lu Wenhe now, and he saw that painting when he went to Lu Wenhe's study—"
After Bo Ruoyou finished speaking, she looked at Han Qi. Before Huo Weilou could ask any questions, Han Qi spoke up, "Young lady is sharp."
As Bo Ruoyou got closer, he was able to look at Han Qi more clearly. Although he was kneeling at the moment, his back was straight, and the hands lying beside him were slightly clenched. The knuckles were slender and beautiful. hand with pen.
Already a prisoner, yet still able to praise Bo Ruoyou's keenness, Huo Weilou's phoenix eyes were half-stern, and he raised his hand, "Take him back to the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion for interrogation."
The Embroidery Envoy pulled Han Qi up from the ground and took him out, but Han Qi couldn't help but look back at Bo Ruoyou, Huo Weilou frowned at this look, he turned to look at Bo Ruoyou, and saw her running over Drenched in the rain, the clothes on her body were half-wet, and her face was also wet, especially those black feather-like eyelashes were also wet, which made her eyes more clear and charming.
Huo Weilou took the umbrella held by the patrol battalion general, and covered Bo Ruoyou, "Let's go."
Seeing that Huo Weilou held an umbrella for her, Bo Ruoyou was flattered for a moment, got into the carriage, Huo Weilou explained a few words to the patrol battalion general, threw the umbrella back, and only then did the carriage start to move.
"Why is such a heavy rain so disobedient?" Huo Weilou asked dissatisfied.
Bo Ruoyou is not a delicate person at all, she never thought so much, but at the moment her back is a little wet, and she is indeed a little uncomfortable, seeing Huo Weilou's displeasure, she didn't dare to talk back, she just said weakly: "Because of thinking about it. I didn't tell Lord Hou about seeing Han Qi, so I felt a little uneasy in my heart, so I told Lord Hou earlier."
Seeing the gloomy look on Huo Weilou's face, she whispered again: "Minnv is afraid that Han Qi's sophistry—"
Seeing her like this, Huo Weilou couldn't express his displeasure, and said in a relaxed voice: "He never tried to quibble, I just asked, and he admitted it."
This made Bo Ruoyou a little surprised, "This is a serious crime involving three lives. He was able to commit this case. He was a man with a ruthless mind at the time, and seeing his expression was calm, the girl thought he was sure that we would not be able to find him." If you find evidence of crime, you will kill him and deny it."
This place is also a strange place in Huo Weilou. Once convicted of the three major crimes of human life, death is certain. It is impossible for Han Qi to kill someone and not want to live.
Huo Weilou said: "The perpetrator is a man, no matter what, he is the most suspected, and the whereabouts of his sister will continue to be searched. Let him be interrogated first tonight and see if his confession is correct."
Bo Ruoyou responded, the carriage went straight up the imperial road and headed for the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion. At this moment, the night had fallen and the rain was still unabated. Bo Ruoyou was a little cold, but he didn't dare to show it in front of Huo Weilou. After walking all the way, when it was almost time to reach the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion, I couldn't hold back a sneeze.
Huo Weilou's face was about to freeze, "When you arrive at the yamen, I will ask someone to take you back to your residence. You will not be needed for the interrogation tonight. Han Qi will most likely be able to find the whereabouts of the human skin."
Bo Ruoyou rubbed the tip of her nose in embarrassment, and had no choice but to agree. Before reaching the Yamen, Sun Zhao and Wu Xiang were already waiting outside. Huo Weilou got up, but halfway there, the hand that raised the curtain stopped, and people were not far away. The one that is not close is lying in the middle of the carriage, and the one that is very close to Bo Ruoyou, "Drink some ginger soup to warm up after returning home, don't catch the wind and cold."
Bo Ruoyou was taken aback, she never expected to hear such words from Huo Weilou one day, before she could react, Huo Weilou had already got off the carriage. As the curtains rose and fell, a gust of damp cold wind rushed in, and Bo Ruoyou couldn't help sneezing again, but her face felt slightly hot for some reason.
The embroidered envoy was not in a hurry on the way back. When he returned to Changxingfang in the heavy rain, the whole capital was shrouded in a rainy night. Bo Ruoyou stepped forward to call the door. After watching her enter the gate, the embroidered envoy just left .
Seeing her come back, Cheng Yunzhi spoke first, "Youyou, I've identified your vinegar-soaked dirt for you, it should be rouge."
Bo Ruoyou was taken aback for a moment, when Aunt Liang saw that her clothes were wet, she immediately stepped forward, "I was worried about Miss, it really rained, go back to the house and change clothes, be careful not to catch a cold, this is It’s the heaviest rain this year, I forgot to close the windows in a few houses just now, the rain almost flooded the house—”
Bo Ruoyou went back to the room to change her clothes in response, and while walking, she was thinking, how could the dirt under Xu Wanshu's nails be rouge? Did she put rouge on it? Still got it from the murderer...
This thought made Bo Ruoyou's heart tremble, and it took him a lot of effort to examine this thing, because he felt that Xu Wanshu must have snatched it from the murderer while he was struggling, but Han Qi had already recognized it, so could it be that he killed someone? When you put on rouge
Bo Ruoyou's head was a little confused, and when she entered the door and lit the lamp, she went to the inner room, but found that there was also a puddle of water under the window lattice in her room, remembering what Aunt Liang said, she never hesitated, she just put down the lamp to find clean clothes.
After looking for clothes, Bo Ruoyou went to the bedside to change. She was facing the bed, and in the direction of her back against the wall, a tall nanmu cabinet for brocade quilts stood quietly.
The wind and rain were howling outside the window, but there was only the rustling of clothes in the room. The thoughtful Bo Ruoyou was only concerned with undressing, but she didn't notice that a withered hand slowly stretched out from the cabinet door.