"East City is on fire?!" Zhan Yang raised his eyebrows, "Not good! The murderer is attacking East City! Quick, let's go!"
Zhan Yang gave an order, and his heart tightened tightly. They waited here for so long, but there was no movement for a long time. Unexpectedly, the murderer chose Dongshi, which is easier to be found, to attack. Was it accident or murder
"Give me your horse—"
The yacha turned over and immediately handed over the horse to Zhan Yang. Zhan Yang swung his whip and landed. He headed towards the East Market first. After galloping for less than a stick of incense, Zhan Yang saw the East Market in the west from a distance. There was a stream of flames mixed with thick smoke billowing into the sky in the direction. Tonight, there were no stars or moons, and the black-like night sky reflected the flames even more shockingly.
Zhan Yang slammed the whip a few times, the horse was in pain, and the speed increased even more. When he reached the main street of Dongshi, Zhan Yang suddenly found that the place where the fire was on was exactly where Taoist Zhang was standing during the day. In the middle of East Mayor Street, around him, there are row upon row of restaurants and tea shops. At this moment, a small two-story building is on fire. Zhan Yang galloped up to him and reined in his horse abruptly. Come, "Boss! Something happened!"
Zhan Yang got off his horse and saw at a glance that the place where the fire was burning was a shop called Shuyufang. At this moment, the time had passed, and the streets of Dongshi were still lonely. However, the fire had obviously been burning for a long time, and it attracted tea from nearby restaurants. All the servants who stayed overnight came out. This street is originally one shop connected to another shop. A fire in one place can easily affect other houses. Therefore, everyone knows that if there is a fire, everyone dare not be careless!
The servants of the government office, plus the people who rushed over, were twenty or thirty people. Most of them took out the buckets and basins of their own shops to fight the fire. The fire was controlled and did not spread to both sides, but this Shuyufang However, it was burned badly, and it was obvious that the fire started from the back, and the fire was extremely strong at the back, but the facade was still standing.
Zhan Yang frowned, "What's going on, didn't you let you guard it?"
The left-behind yacha had a bitter look on his face, "boss, when we waited until midnight, there was no movement around here. We all guessed that the murderer must have gone to your side, or we found out that we didn't do anything, just as we were discussing whether to When I was looking for you, the shop suddenly caught fire. The place we were standing at that time was blocked from our sight. We didn’t see it until the fire started. It was too late when we came over. At that time, the door of the shop was also locked... "
Zhan Yang frowned, "So I still don't know if there is anyone in this room?"
Ya almost nodded, "Yes, I don't know yet, but other people said that this shop sells jade. They are afraid of someone stealing at night, and usually there will be a shopkeeper guarding them at night, but when we rushed over, we broke the door open and no one was found." , I just don’t know what’s going on in the backyard, which was already in flames.”
Zhan Yang waved his hand, "Forget about it, put out the fire! Organize everyone to put out the fire!"
Zhan Yang arrived at Dongshi first, and soon, other officials also arrived. Zhan Yang led everyone to put out the fire together. By dawn, the fire was finally extinguished.
The impact of the fire in Dongshi was not small. In the early morning of the second day, the bosses, shopkeepers, and fellows who came to Dongshi first came to watch. After all the sparks inside and outside the fire were extinguished, a clerk suddenly rushed out of it. !
"Boss, someone was burned to death..."
Zhan Yang's heart skipped a beat, and he hurriedly walked into the fire scene. Most of the back of the shop was burnt down, the shelf for storing jade wares was burned to ashes, jade wares, large and small, were scattered all over the ground, several beams in the backyard were burnt down, and the entire roof was burnt down. They all collapsed from the middle, but in the corner of the wing room in the backyard, there was a scorched figure curled up. The fire burned all night, and this person was hiding in the place where the fire was most intense. Not to mention that the whole body was scorched black, all the limbs were burnt and only the bones were left. The officials looked at each other in blank dismay. Could it be that the murderer set fire right under their noses
"Go and ask people outside, if anyone knows the owner of this shop, send someone back to the Yamen to tell the magistrate."
The yamen servants took the order to go, and soon brought in two plainly dressed young men of seventeen or eighteen, "Boss, these two are apprentices of this shop, which mainly sells jade ornaments. They said yesterday The shopkeeper was guarding the shop at night, and the two of them left at Xushi, the shopkeeper's home is not far away in Anlefang, and we have already sent someone to notify."
Zhan Yang nodded, "Is there anything flammable in your shop?"
The two apprentices looked at each other and shook their heads to express their ignorance.
Zhan Yang asked again, "You shopkeeper, do you have any enemies with anyone on weekdays?"
The two looked at each other and shook their heads again.
Seeing that the two seemed to be frightened, Zhan Yang waved his hand, and nodded to the clerk, "Take them out to ask."
Yachai took two apprentices out, Zhanyang looked at the scorched shop with some headaches.
…
…
Knowing that Zhan Yang and the others were going to arrest people the night before, Qin Wan got up early the next morning. The first thing he did when he got up was to send the guards from the mansion to the magistrate's office. When the guards are done, they come back.
"Miss, the East City was on fire last night. All the people in the yamen put out the fire all night. They didn't hear the news that the murderer was caught. The head of the exhibition has not returned to the yamen..."
Qin Wan's heart skipped a beat, "Dongshi is on fire, did people burn to death?"
The guard hurriedly said, "I don't know this yet. When the villain went to the yamen, Mr. Zheng had already rushed to Dongshi. There were only a few small officials in the yamen, and no one else was there."
Qin Wan nodded to let the guards back down, her heart beat wildly, since Zheng Baishi has gone, he must be dead.
Qin Wan casually finished his breakfast, changed his clothes, and left the Hou's mansion. When he arrived in Dongshi, he found the place where the fire broke out without asking any further questions. When he got out of the carriage, he saw Daoist Zhang sighing in front of the burnt score.
Qin Wan came over, "What is Daoist Zhang looking at?"
Taoist Zhang turned around, saw Qin Wan coming, quickly saluted, and then said, "I was looking at this shop. When I came here yesterday, I felt that something was wrong here. I was a little suspicious at the time, but I didn't expect something to happen."
Qin Wan also took a look at the shop, what can the shop see yesterday
Qin Wan didn't know what Zhang Daoshi was talking about, and Zhang Daoshi didn't intend to say more. Soon, Zheng Baishi and Zhan Yang came out of the room, and they hurriedly saluted Qin Wan. Qin Wan said, "I heard that Something happened, so I came over to see, how, what did you find? Who is the deceased?"
Zheng Baishi glanced at Zhan Yang, and Zhan Yang immediately said, "The dead man is Wang Shouchang, the shopkeeper of this shop. It must have been set on fire. We found pine oil in the back alley. The fire started in the backyard. There is a road behind. The alley, when our people guarded here last night, they didn’t guard the alley, the murderer probably came in from behind and set the fire.”
Speaking of Zhanyang, he blamed himself a bit, "I thought the murderer was going to attack in another place, so I led people to guard there, but I didn't expect... His target is here... Blame me."
Qin Wan shook his head, "The murderer wants to kill, there are too many ways, and there are many ways to avoid you. Now he must know that the Yamen is going all out to investigate, so he will naturally find another way."
Qin Wan looked at Taoist Zhang again, "Master Daoist, if the murderer's murder was also to set up the dojo, then the burning to death is..."
"It's the Fiery Hell." Daoist Zhang knew what Qin Wan was asking, "The Fiery Hell is the fourth level of the seven hells of the Moon Worship Sect, and it is dedicated to punishing those who set fire to do evil."
Qin Wan looked at Zhan Yang, and Zhan Yang hurriedly said, "I haven't checked this yet, and the Wang family hasn't come yet. We are searching the scene now to see if we can find anything."
Qin Wan asked, "Where is the corpse?"
Zhan Yang showed a look of distress, "Princess, the body cannot be examined, it has been burnt to a skeleton, you should not look at it."
After all, Qin Wan was just a little girl, and Zhan Yang felt very sorry for Qin Wan.
Qin Wan smiled, "It's okay, I'm not afraid, I'll go and have a look. Although I can't find any clues, at least I can judge whether the identity of the deceased matches the shopkeeper you mentioned."
Zheng Baishi said, "Zhanyang, bring the princess in."
When Zheng Baishi said this, he admired Qin Wan very much in his heart, so it was even more pity that Qin Wan was his daughter's family.
In the past, Qin Wan's autopsy was very meticulous. Now that Qin Wan has a higher status, he is still meticulous in these matters. This is much better than many officials.
The corpse had been moved out of the corner and placed on the open space in the backyard. As soon as Qin Wan walked in, he saw a rather horrific corpse. The corpse was charred black, and the limbs were burned to the point where only the joints remained. Qin Wan approached step by step. , looked carefully, "It is indeed a man, five feet tall, and should be over forty years old."
Zhan Yang nodded, "That's right, we've already asked about it just now."
Qin Wan raised her eyes and looked around again, only to see that the house was mostly made of wood, but now in the early summer, the house has become very dry, not to mention pine oil, even a little spark may set the house on fire.
The wall of the backyard was burnt to blackness, and the door collapsed to the ground. Qin Wan was not afraid of the dirt on the ground, so he walked out along the back, walked out of the courtyard gate, and there was indeed a very narrow alley behind. Although it is narrow, it extends in all directions, connecting the streets and alleys of Dongshi City. Not to mention that Zhan Yang didn't bring people to guard this place, if he really guarded it, the murderer might have a way. Qin Wan took Bai Ying along the alley. Going east, walking straight out of the alley, you will arrive at another main street. At this time, the street is already full of people, and at a glance, they are all ordinary people in ordinary clothes.
The murderer knew that the government had already begun to investigate the case, but still wanted to continue killing, and he knew that there were Yamen servants around him. This person must have been crazy and fearless to the extreme.
Qin Wan turned around and found nothing unusual. When he returned to the shop, he saw an old lady with two women and a few attendants crying outside the shop. The Taoist stood watching from the side, Zheng Baishi and Zhan Yang were advising from the side, Baiying pulled Qin Wan when she saw this, "Miss, don't go there yet."
Qin Wan's footsteps paused slightly, and saw that the old lady in charge not only sat on the ground crying loudly, but also kept pulling Zhan Yang's robe to ask the government to give an explanation after hearing that the servants from the government office arrived last night. A bit aggressive and rude, Qin Wan sighed, and Bai Ying said, "Miss, why don't we wait until Master Zheng and Zhan Butou have finished their questions."
Qin Wan nodded, but everyone has arrived here, but they don't know where to wait, not to mention the investigation of the deceased's situation, it can't be found out in a moment—
Bai Ying said, "Miss, why don't you go around?"
Qin Wan smiled wryly, "I'm not in the mood right now."
"Qin Wan—" Just as he was talking, someone in the crowd suddenly called Qin Wan.
Qin Wan looked back, but saw that it was Yue Ning who did not know when to appear. Qin Wan quickly walked over, and Yue Ning jumped off the carriage to look at the burned shop, "It really happened again?"
Qin Wan nodded, "Why are you here?"
Yue Ning sighed, "I went to the Hou's Mansion to look for you, but the people in the Hou's Mansion said that you had come out. I heard that something happened in Dongshi, so I came to look for you. Is that the family of the deceased?"
Although Yue Ning was far away, she still saw the crying woman sitting on the ground, Qin Wan nodded, "The deceased was the manager of that shop, who was burned to death by the fire..."
Yue Ning sighed, "It's useless for you to stay here, you can accompany me to the Yanmo Painting Gallery."
The last time Yue Ning went to the Yanmo Art Museum to buy paintings, but met Feng Zhang, and then the matter was delayed. Yue Ning continued, "My father is leaving, so I have to buy paintings quickly."
Qin Wan immediately cheered up when he heard the words, "Is the adoptive father going back to Jinzhou?"
Yue Ning nodded, "Yes, I'm leaving the day after tomorrow."
Qin Wan sighed, "I haven't been to the mansion for the past few days and I don't know. If that's the case, then I'll go with you and pick out a gift for my adoptive father..."
Qin Wan abandoned his own carriage and got into Yue Ning's carriage, and the two headed to the Yanmo Painting Gallery together. The carriage had not gone far when Qin Wan saw a familiar figure outside through the gap in the curtain. , Qin Wan frowned, and quickly lifted the curtain to look again, but this time, he could only see a figure from the back among the crowd.
"What's wrong? Did you see someone you know?"
At this time the carriage had already passed the man, Qin Wan could only look at his back, and said, "It's a bit like the third son of Uncle Weiyuan's family, maybe I misread it..."
Wu Qian has been dead for many days, and Qin Wan has only been to Weiyuan Bo's house once, but he did not expect to meet him on the side of the road. What is the third son doing here? ! Qin Wan had some doubts in his heart, but he couldn't go back and ask, so he had to suppress the thought first.
The carriage came out of Dongshi and went straight to the dyed ink painting gallery. Before arriving at the painting gallery, the young servant immediately came forward to greet him, "I pay my respects to the two princesses, Mr. Ning is upstairs, and you two go to the private room to wait. Let Ning and everyone come to see the two of you."
Qin Wan and Yue Ning went up to the second floor familiarly, and were about to go to the private room, but Yue Ning saw the atrium of the backyard from the window of the corridor with sharp eyes. As soon as he entered the courtyard, under the atrium corridor, Ning Buyi was standing with a beautiful woman.
Ning Buyi is already in his twenties, so it's not surprising that he has a confidant by his side, but at this moment, I don't know what Ning Buyi said, but the woman she said was raining with pear blossoms, bowing her head and weeping.