Qin Wan changed into men's clothes and Yan Chi arrived at the Meng Mansion in the middle of the morning, and they still entered through the side door.
In the early morning of winter, the inside of the Meng Mansion was bleak and desolate. Qin Wan was wearing a dark blue cloak and a hood on his head. With such an attire, it was indeed impossible to recognize his identity.
Walking along the corridor, it didn't take long to see Zheng Baishi and Zhan Yang approaching.
Qin Wan took off his hood and saluted, Yan Chi asked, "What's the matter?"
Zheng Baishi hurriedly said, "The people in the Meng Mansion have been separated, and the nine girls can go there."
Yan Chi looked back at Qin Wan for a moment, and the two followed Zheng Baishi Zhanyang to the place where the crime happened.
Yan Chi said as he walked, "Meng Wei hanged himself. He hanged himself on an ancient willow tree by the inner lake in the mansion. The place is less than ten steps away from where Meng Jin's body was found."
Qin Wan frowned, hanged? Meng Wei actually hanged himself to death
Zheng Baishi continued, "The body was cold when it was discovered, and the people in the mansion panicked and rushed to the government mansion. It happened that Zhan Yang and I were also going to the Meng Mansion at that time, and we came here as soon as we heard this."
As they spoke, the group of people had already approached the Neihu Lake. Looking from a distance, more than a dozen guards in black clothes were scattered around, and further away, there were government servants blocking the servants of the Meng residence. Qin Wan With a glance over, Meng Zhou, Meng Hui and others were all lined up. Qin Wan lowered his eyebrows and followed Yan Chi to the lake.
Qin Wan has been to the lake more than once, and she checked the lake a few times yesterday, so when she comes here today, she can know the surrounding environment just by looking at it. As far as she can see, there is a plant close to the lake A hundred-year-old willow tree with gnarled branches, the trunk is as thick as two people hugging each other. Now in the middle of winter, the old tree has no greenery, only the wild branches stretching around indiscriminately. A very ordinary hemp rope was hanging on the thick branch, and on the ground near the fence, Meng Wei's body had been carried down and put aside.
Qin Wan first went to Meng Wei's side to have a look. Meng Wei was wearing a dark blue robe, which was exactly the same as what Qin Wan saw yesterday. But there were bruises, and his face was pale and his lips were bruised, and a deep purple bruise could be seen on the neckline.
Qin Wan first took a look at Meng Wei's collar, then frowned.
Zheng Baishi hurriedly said, "Miss Jiu, what's the matter?"
Qin Wan didn't answer, but asked first, "How did he get the injury?"
Zheng Baishi smiled wryly, "Not only what you saw, but also what's on your body, it's all left by the family law yesterday."
Qin Wan naturally remembered the scene where Meng Zhou demanded expert advice yesterday, and then Meng Wei refused to accept and quarreled with Meng Hui. She frowned and said with certainty, "Looking at the knot, it seems that there is really a suspicion of hanging yourself, but you have to pay attention to it." Only need a detailed inspection, move him to the side courtyard where Mengjin is parked, I want to take a good look."
Zheng Baishi nodded, and hurriedly called Zhanyang to move people. Qin Wan stood up and stepped aside, looked back at the rope on the ancient willow tree, then lowered his head, and saw the mud under the ancient willow tree.
She frowned, and hurried over.
This ancient willow is too close to the lake, so that a piece of mud under the willow tree's roots is exposed. At this moment, the footprints on the mud are a bit messy, but after careful identification, it can still be seen that those footprints belong to a person.
Seeing Qin Wan looking at those footprints, Yan Chi came over and said, "Only the middle one of these footprints was left by Meng Wei, and the others belonged to others. Today, Meng Wei was discovered by the maid in charge of sweeping. and then went to report to Meng Zhou. When Meng Zhou came, he found that there was only one person's footprints in the mud below, and only those who had walked there had not walked back. Because of this, it was said that Meng Wei committed suicide of."
Zheng Baishi also stepped forward and said, "The silt has not been dried since the snow melted a few days ago, so people will still leave obvious footprints when they step on it. Meng Wei had already been put down when we came."
There were only footprints going under the tree, but no footprints going back. On the surface, it seemed that Meng Wei had committed suicide because he couldn't think about it. Qin Wan nodded, "I'll go and see the corpse first."
Yan Chi said, "I'll accompany you."
After speaking to Zheng Baishi, he and Qin Wan went to the side courtyard earlier.
There were guards guarding the gate of the side courtyard, and there was no movement in the quiet. When entering the courtyard, they saw the servants put Meng Wei's body on the long case in the house, and Meng Jin's body was still on the coffin bed. .
The corpses of the father and son were placed in the room at once. Qin Wan inexplicably felt a little miserable. She walked to the side of Meng Wei's corpse, first checked whether there were any injuries on the head, face, ears, nose, etc., and then removed him. The collar was undone.
Once the collar was undone, the marks on Meng Wei's neck became especially obvious.
Yan Chi stepped forward, "You just said that this knot is suspected of hanging yourself?"
Qin Wan nodded, and fiddled with the scar on Meng Wei's neck with his gloved hand, "The rope strangulation is between the hyoid bone and the throat cartilage, and the deepest part of the strangulation is flat. On the side, it is lifted upwards obliquely. The depth of the scar is the deepest where the force is the heaviest, and the sides are shallower. There is no bleeding in the scar groove, but there is bleeding at the edge of the upper and lower scars. His face is pale, and the bleeding spots on the eyelids are light, and he really seems to have hanged himself to death."
As she spoke, Qin Wan walked up to Meng Wei's feet. She lifted the hem of Meng Wei's robe, and sure enough, she saw obvious corpse spots on Meng Wei's calf and instep. Qin Wan frowned slightly, "The way he died is indeed There is no doubt that he died by hanging, but whether he hanged himself or not will have to be checked again." After speaking, Qin Wan unbuttoned Meng Wei's chest and began to examine his body.
Yan Chi ordered Bai Feng to stand guard at the door, and accompanied Qin Wan to perform the autopsy in the house alone. While watching Qin Wan's autopsy, Yan Chi said, "I sent someone to investigate the inside story of the fourth house of the Meng family. The eldest wife of the first house passed away long ago. The second wife of the second room is Meng Jin's successor, and because of this, she looks extraordinarily indifferent. In contrast, the third room is particularly troubled. The master of the third room died of illness five years ago. Two sons, the eldest son was originally very intelligent, he was both civil and military since he was a child, but died of illness at the age of twelve, and now only the second son, Meng Ziyi, is left. This Mencius suffered from stuttering since childhood. After the death of the third master, only orphans and widows remained in the third room. The third wife has a weak temperament. In addition, Meng Ziyi has been ill all year round. Later Mencius married a wife."
What Yan Chi said echoed what Meng Yao said, which shows that Meng Yao did not lie to her. Qin Wan listened patiently, while carefully examining the scars on Meng Wei's body, Yan Chi continued, "As for the fourth room, Meng Hui has been suppressed by the second room for many years. , I was dissatisfied for a long time. It is true that he had two shops before. One of them was closed, and the other one is now open, but it is not enough to make ends meet. Meng Hui also sent people to a few restaurants in charge of Erfang earlier to make a fuss. The incident almost brought trouble to the government."
Qin Wan listened, "If it wasn't because of the fight for family property, what else do you think it was because of?"
Yan Chi said, "Second Madam's existence is very special. She has been married to the Meng Manor for ten years, but she has not given birth to a child, and she has a bad relationship with Meng Jin early in the morning, so I asked someone to check the Second Madam's background. This investigation really found something.”
Qin Wan paused, then turned to look at Yan Chi, "What did you find?"
"This second lady is the daughter of a wealthy gentry in Luozhou. She had a marriage contract before that. She married Meng Jin because her childhood sweetheart's fiancé-in-law died suddenly. The rich gentry saw that his daughter was gone. After getting married, it happened that their family had contacts with the Meng family. At that time, Meng Zhou was already a fifth-rank member of the court, and the business of the Meng family was also successful. The rich gentry wanted to marry his daughter into the capital, and married Naturally, he was happy to join the official family, so he forced his daughter to marry him."
Qin Wan frowned upon hearing Yan Chi's words, "So the Second Madam has been thinking about that unmarried husband for so many years?"
"It's not impossible, but it's not enough for her to kill Meng Jin. What's more, she has been married to the Meng family for so many years. Even if the incident was related to Meng Jin, she wouldn't do it at this time."
Qin Wan said, "What if she only recently found out the inside story of what happened back then?"
The corners of Yan Chi's lips curled up, "So I have sent someone to investigate what happened back then, and we will have to wait three days for any news."
When Qin Wan heard the words, there was a bit of gleam in his eyes. She and him were quite in tune when they were in Jinzhou, and now they are even more in harmony. Luozhou is the closest city to Lin'an City, but it takes a day to go to Luozhou More time, even if everything goes well, it will take three days to go back and forth.
"As for Meng Jin's death, the second wife is indeed a possibility. After all, the entire Meng family, just judging by Meng Jin's performance after his death, the fourth room Meng Hui and her are the most suspicious."
As she spoke, Qin Wan frowned looking at Meng Wei's body covered with scars. "There are dozens of injuries on his body, big and small. Who did it yesterday?"
Yan Chi hurriedly said, "Meng Zhou and Meng Hui."
Qin Wan nodded and said, "Most of Meng Wei's body is covered with club wounds, but there are also irregular bruises. You have to ask in detail, make a record, and see who hit where. The more detailed the better," he said. Looking at Qin Wan, he said again, "Prepare some rice vinegar for me."
Yan Chi nodded, and walked to the gate of the courtyard to give some instructions. On the other side, Qin Wan straightened up and frowned.
When Yan Chi returned, seeing Qin Wan's serious expression, he asked, "What's wrong?"
Qin Wan stared at Meng Wei's expression and said, "Do you think he will commit suicide?"
Yan Chi squinted his eyes, "It's not like that." He continued, "I've also asked people to check Meng Wei's personality. He was the son of Meng Jin's original wife, because his wife died early, and the old lady of the Meng family died early. Especially doting on him, later Meng Jin also loved this son very much, and later handed over the business in his hand to Meng Wei, who was impulsive and had a bad temper, beat and scolded the clerks many times in his shop, and was quite arrogant outside Domineering, something happened to Meng Jin. First, he wanted to cover up the scam they set up. Second, he wanted to find the key. Third, he really wanted to avenge Meng Jin. Yesterday he was dealt with by the family law, and Meng Hui threatened to kill him. He was expelled from the Meng Mansion, but at night, he was still sending people to look for the key, which shows that he has no intention of committing suicide."
"The cronies around him said that first he was beaten and lay down all afternoon with medicine on his body. Later, when it was dark, he still wanted to find the key, so he ordered people to look for it. In the middle of the night, the servant came He still couldn't find the newspaper, so he got dressed and got out of bed and said he wanted to find it by himself. The two servants followed him, but they were separated in the garden. Meng Wei, when we got back to Meng Wei's yard, there was no one there. We were going to look for Meng Wei, but last night Mengzhou sent people to see Meng Wei. The two wanted to cover up for Meng Wei, insisting that Meng Wei was asleep. Then the two servants didn't dare to wander around, so they waited for Meng Wei in the yard, who knew that they didn't come back after waiting all night, until Meng Wei was found hanging himself this morning."
Qin Wan squinted her eyes, "The idea of suicide, either has really come to a dead end, or this person is too self-pitying on weekdays, or there is another situation, that is, he was very fragile since he was a child. He couldn't bear the blow of his father's death and chose to commit suicide, but I saw that he was very stubborn in his arguments in the court yesterday, and he didn't seem to be able to bear the blow of his father's death. will do."
After Qin Wan finished speaking, he and Yan Chi looked at each other, "But if Meng Wei was killed, then who was the one who killed him?"
Speaking of Meng Jin, the person who killed him might be the second wife, so what about Meng Wei
Even if there was an inside story about the marriage back then, could it be that the second wife regarded Meng Wei as an enemy
Yan Chi narrowed his eyes, "As far as I know, the second wife has lived alone in the same courtyard for so many years. Although Meng Wei didn't say that he regarded the second wife as his mother, he never did anything rebellious. He still called her madam in front of outsiders. .”
Qin Wan frowned, "If Meng Jin is killed, there must be some stake in it."
While talking, Bai Feng took the rice vinegar he found into the yard, "Master, Miss Jiu, the rice vinegar is ready."
Qin Wan hurriedly stepped forward to take it, then walked to Meng Wei's side, and carefully smeared the rice vinegar in his hand on Meng Wei's body, "Meng Wei has too many messy injuries, and most of them are bruises. It is inevitable that there will be deep bruises that cannot be seen. Apply some vinegar to see if there are other injuries that have not been seen, and compare them with the confessions of Mr. Meng and Meng Hui to know which bruises are later. .”
Of course, Qin Wan is the best at these things. After Qin Wan finished wiping off the rice vinegar, Zheng Baishi led Zhan Yang into the courtyard, "Your Highness, Miss Nine, Master Meng wants to come to see the autopsy. I have stopped you for a long time. I can't stop it right now."
Zheng Baishi said again, "Miss Jiu is wearing men's clothing today, why don't you let them in?"
Qin Wan frowned, Yan Chi looked at Qin Wan for a moment, "Did Miss Meng go to the Hou Mansion yesterday?"
Qin Wan nodded, it was also this problem that caused her a headache.
Yan Chi took a deep breath, "You do the autopsy here, ask Bai Feng to stay and help you, and I'll go outside."
As he spoke, he brought Zheng Baishi and Zhan Yang out, and closed the door again.
As soon as the door closed, Meng Zhou walked in with Meng Hui and others.
Yan Chi's phoenix rolled her eyes, and her voice became cold, "Master Meng is an orderly official of the imperial court, and murders happen frequently in his own mansion, but he doesn't even know how to cooperate with the government's investigation?"
Yan Chi was dressed in a black dress, his expression was stern, and his tone was so cold that Meng Zhou's heart skipped a beat.
Seeing Yan Chi here, Meng Zhou had to hold back no matter how anxious he was, and then he said bitterly, "Your Highness, it's not that the officials are unruly, it's really... I really didn't expect Meng Wei to hang himself, we haven't had a good look at it this morning. Looking at Meng Wei, the government surrounded him, and it has been a long time, and they have to tell us what is going on."
While talking, Meng Zhou said again, "Remember, the autopsy in the Yamen is not a secret matter. It is better to have a judgment if there are many people present. Your Highness, although Meng Wei did something wrong, we were the ones who grew up watching him. suddenly died, we..."
Meng Zhou's tone was sympathetic, Yan Chi raised his chin slightly and said, "Meng Wei's death is not unusual, and everyone in the Meng family is suspected, so why should you wait and see?"
Meng Zhou was stunned, "Your Highness means... Meng Wei was killed by someone?"
Yan Chi stood motionless in front of the door, although there was only one person, but he seemed to be the one who would be the only one who could not be opened. He quickly scanned the few people around, but found that Meng Hui was just an accident and did not panic. color.
"Whether he was murdered or not has not yet been determined. Right now, I would like to ask you, how did you do it when you wanted to deal with Meng Wei yesterday? What kind of utensils did you use? It hurt him again." where?"
As soon as Meng Zhou's eyes changed, Meng Hui also widened his eyes, "Your Highness, we just hit him with a stick according to the family law, and we didn't do anything to him."
Yan Chi squinted his eyes and looked Meng Hui up and down for a moment. Suddenly, he saw the black bruise on the back of Meng Hui's hand. He said coldly, "How did you get the bruise on the back of your hand?"