Li Chaoge checked the scene at the gate of the Zhang Mansion. There were traces of paint on the door, and there were ink stains on the door. Li Chaoge asked, "When did you find out that there was writing on the door?"
The porter standing by the side said with a bitter face: "As for the princess, I saw it every day as soon as I opened the door. Erlang sent people to watch for several days, and I still don't know who did it."
This house belonged to Zhang Yanzhi's cousin Zhang Yanyi. In order to show off, Zhang Yanyi opened the gate on the street, so that they could go to the street as soon as they opened the gate, which was stylish and convenient. But doing so? There are restrictions. Luoyang has a curfew. No one is allowed to stay on the street after the sound of the drums. Therefore, the Zhang family has to close the gate after dark. You can't arrange guards outside the door, or else you are breaking the law.
Zhang Yanyi had no choice but to send people to guard the gate, so she could only make people wait inside the gate, and come out as soon as she heard unusual movements outside to arrest people. It's a pity that they squatted for several days, and got nothing at night, but every morning when they opened the door, they could see that their door was painted over.
The concierge mumbled, "My lord, I promise I'm not lazy. We kept our ears up all night and didn't even dare to blink our eyes. The villain really didn't hear anything unusual, but the next day he woke up always If there are words, it is also evil."
Zhang Yanzhi was with him, and when he heard this, he said, "Is it some? Lonely ghosts making trouble?"
Li Chaoge didn't want to take Zhang Yanzhi with him at first, but this is the Zhang family's house, and one of Zhang Yan's deputy officials should investigate the case and we should cooperate, so Li Chaoge couldn't drive him away. Li Chaoge can only put him aside, investigate the case by himself, and pretend that Zhang Yanzhi does not exist. Zhang Yanzhi didn't feel neglected, he followed the whole process, and most of them listened quietly, trying not to cause trouble for Li Chaoge.
Now he finds an opportunity and agrees. When Li Chaoge heard it, he laughed softly, and said leisurely, "I didn't do anything wrong, and I'm not afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. If it was really a ghost who did it, then you have to think about what wicked things you have done during this time." .”
Zhang Yanzhi was a little embarrassed, the porter next to him heard this, and hurriedly boasted about the benevolence, righteousness and morality of Zhang Mansion. Li Chaoge was too lazy to listen to these nonsense, interrupted unceremoniously: "Are you the only one guarding the gate at night?"
"Usually there is only one young person." The porter replied, "But in the past few days, strange things have happened frequently, and Erlang has called many people to come to watch the door."
Li Chaoge nodded his head and said, "Who are there in total? Call them all here." The porter hurried to send a message. Zhang Yanzhi saw him and said, "My lord, it's windy outside. If you have anything to say, go in and talk slowly."
Li Chaoge wanted to see the scene, and he was standing in front of the gate of the Zhang family right now? Recently, the news of something strange happened to the Zhang family has spread all over the place. There are so many of them standing here, attracting the crowd to keep looking around. Li Chaoge nodded, planning to go in and ask slowly. Zhang Yanzhi was very happy, and immediately led the way in front of him: "The princess is with me. It's so cold today, but I have to trouble the princess to come to the house to investigate the case. I'm really sorry. My cousin is ready." After the meal, why don't the princess check it after eating?"
"She is a public official, so she can't accept gifts from people related to the case, and she can't even eat."
Li Chaoge stopped in surprise. She turned her head and saw a group of people walking towards Zhang's mansion bravely. The person who is the head is wearing a black cloak, the scarlet clothes are gorgeous, and the cloak is thick, which makes his appearance more and more perfect. Gu Mingke walked up the steps, stretched out his hand naturally, and pulled Li Chaoge to his side: "We appreciate Order Zhang Fengchen's kindness, but now it's time to go to the office, Order Zhang Fengchen is suspected of being a bribe, so I will decline it on her behalf. "
Naturally, Li Chaoge didn't care about Zhang Yanzhi's meal. She didn't even plan to agree, even if the Zhang family invited her to dinner, Li Chaoge still didn't dare to touch her. But she looked at Gu Mingke in surprise: "Why are you here?"
Nowadays, there are very few cases that require the Minister of Dali Temple to come out to investigate in person. He has no business outside, and the yamen has not been dismissed. How did he come out
Gu Mingke smiled at Li Chaoge. He held Li Chaoge's hand, and put it into his cloak naturally, as if warming her hands, and said: "The case of civil crimes in the capital area should be taken care of by Dali Temple. I heard that the Zhang family has not Taiping, come and have a look."
Zhang Yanzhi frowned, Gu Mingke was too annoying, Li Chaoge just came out of the palace, and he chased after him
Zhang Yanzhi twitched his lips, smiling? Not smiling? He said: "I didn't expect Gu Siqing to be so concerned about the Zhang family. I'm not very honored. However, the empress said that this time it was a ghost who committed the crime, and I will hand it over to Zhenyao." Si Checha. Lord Sheng Yuan is also a third-rank official of the imperial court, not Gu Siqing's property. Gu Siqing always follows him to figure out what's going on? Could it be that even if the Duke is in charge of a case, Gu Siqing will also intervene? ?"
Li Chaoge wanted to speak, but Gu Mingke squeezed his hand hard. Li Chaoge could only stop, she stood helplessly beside Gu Mingke, looked at him wearing a cloak, standing upright and solemn at the front entrance, and said to Zhang Yanzhi: "It's hard to say anything else, but she is really all mine. Things. I am listed as the third-rank Dali Temple Minister, the same? I am still the prince consort. My wife is acting outside, and I can come and see if I want to, without the consent of outsiders."
Zhang Yanzhi's fingers clenched tightly, and he couldn't even maintain the smile on his face: "I heard that Gu Siqing is the most upright and upright person, and he doesn't care about personal relationships. I didn't expect Gu Siqing to use his power for personal gain like this during his official duties? "
Gu Mingke nodded calmly, with flashes of light in his eyes, hiding his sharpness: "The marriage contract between me and Chao Ge was given by Gao Zong, and the three ministers presided over the marriage. We are husband and wife no matter Shangya or Sanchao, it has nothing to do with time."
Zhang Yanzhi secretly satirized Gu Mingke's disregard of public and private interests, and put on airs. Gu Mingke actually admitted it directly, and even pulled out "laws" to frame his actions in a bright, upright and magnificent manner. Li Chaoge secretly admired it, knowing a little about the law is good, even if he is wronged, he can seize the moral high point.
Zhang Yanzhi couldn't speak well of Gu Mingke, nor was he as thick-skinned as Gu Mingke, yet he was so angry that he couldn't speak. Gu Mingke didn't care at all that he was still wearing the costume of the highest official of Dali Temple, and needed to maintain the solemn and solemn image of Dali Temple in front of the public. He firmly held Li Chaoge's hand, and in front of the public? Openly? Chatted: "Until the truth is found out, who knows whether the criminal is a human or a ghost. I will accompany the commander in for questioning. If it is confirmed Inhumane? It’s not too late to transfer the Dali Temple to the Zhenyaosi.”
Li Chaoge was pulled by him, and said quietly: "According to your logic, you can take over all the cases of the town demon division."
After all, before the murderer is caught, who can guarantee that it must be a monster? Dali Temple will find out what kind of strength the town demon still has.
On the surface, Gu Mingke was bright and breezy, the clouds were calm and the wind was breezy, but the fingers under the cloak pinched her palm hard. Li Chaoge was forced to change his tone and said, "That's right, what Gu Siqing said makes sense. Thank you Gu Siqing for coming all the way to help me. I'm going to interrogate witnesses later, please trouble Gu Siqing to sit in for a while?"
Gu Mingke nodded respectfully, "It's a great honor to be able to help the commander."
Zhang Yanzhi didn't want Gu Mingke to join at all, the empress said to hand it over to the town monster, what did Gu Mingke come to disturb? But Gu Mingke was really treacherous, he put up a bunch of glamorous excuses, and blocked every retreat of Zhang Yanzhi. Zhang Yanzhi had no choice but to stare bitterly at Gu Mingke as he entered the door.
Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke walked to the main hall, Gu Mingke put on a posture of listening, let Li Chaoge take the lead, and he sat quietly beside, pushing Zhang Yanzhi, the host, away. Zhang Yanzhi was reluctant to sit on the guest seat, Li Chaoge saw that everyone was ready, so he said: "Send the gatekeeper to come in."
The gatekeepers came in for the first time. When they saw the posture of the three courts in the main hall, they were startled and their legs went limp: "See Lord Sheng Yuan, Lord Gu."
Li Chaoge said: "I just asked you to come here to ask questions, don't be nervous. How are the guards arranged these days?"
"Back? Princess? The young one is the concierge." The servant who answered the conversation at the door just now said, "The young one was originally in charge of guarding the gate. On the twenty-seventh day? The villain closed the door as usual, and I didn't hear any movement at night, but on the second day In the early morning of the second day, the door was splashed with words. Erlang sent someone to repaint the door. On the morning of the 28th, the younger one got up to look, and those words appeared again. Erlang was very angry and sent the younger one to arrest him at night. The villain didn't dare to sleep all night, and lay cautiously at the door. He obviously didn't hear anything, but the next day the words appeared again. On the fourth day, the villain became more careful at night and drank tea all night. Refresh yourself, dare not neglect at all, but the situation is exactly the same? On the fifth day? The villain couldn't hold on anymore and called another person to accompany him to arrest people. On the sixth day? It became four people. On the seventh day? Ten people came, but... the villain swears to God, the little one is absolutely not lazy, if the princess doesn't believe it, you can ask other people, and they haven't heard anything."
After the concierge finished speaking, the rest of the servants agreed together, with bitter expressions on their faces. Although Zhang Yanyi was the host, she did not follow to investigate the case. Instead, Zhang Yanzhi came out, accompanied by the housekeeper of the Zhang residence. Seeing this, the housekeeper saluted Li Chaoge: "Princess Sheng Yuan, they are right, this is indeed the arrangement for guarding the gate these days."
Li Chaoge responded, and said to Zhang Yanzhi: "Zhang Fengchen, I'm suddenly thirsty. Can you please go to the kitchen to fetch a bowl of ginger tea for me?"
Zhang Yanzhi was stunned, why did Li Chaoge suddenly want to drink tea? Hearing this, the steward rushed to do the job for him. Zhang Yanzhi stopped him, stood up, and said, "It's rare that the princess needs me, so let me go."
Zhang Yanzhi glanced at the servants on the ground, turned around and left. After Zhang Yanzhi and the housekeeper left, Li Chaoge changed his posture and said unhurriedly: "To be honest, what did you do when you were keeping watch?"
In front of the master's house, these people put on airs one by one, insisting that they were not lazy or taking naps, and worked conscientiously, but they didn't hear anything. If things go on like this, it will be a ghost to be able to interrogate the results.
There was still hesitation on the faces of the gatekeepers, and Li Chaoge answered leisurely: "You better understand the seriousness. A momentary oversight is a minor issue, but a failure to solve the problem is a major one. If you can't find the writing on the door? Come on, one of you Everyone will suffer."
The concierge also understood this truth. When he saw that Zhang Wulang had left, he smiled flatteringly and said, "Princess? My lord is really discerning and can solve cases like a god! I admire you."
"Get to the point."
"Hey, yes." The concierge hurriedly responded, "The first two days, the villain didn't care, and fell asleep after closing the door as usual. On the third day, after the word appeared again, Erlang knew the other party It was on purpose. Erlang was very angry, and the little one didn't dare to sleep anymore, and waited at night. But winter? It was cold at night, and the little one seemed to have lost a few naps, and fell asleep without knowing it. The fourth day? Afraid of being scolded by Erlang, he asked the kitchen to send strong tea to refresh himself. The villain was clearly awake all night, and only squinted for a while when it was about to dawn, and then turned to them again. On the fifth day? The villain was afraid that he would lose his mind, so he called another person, thinking that the two of them would remind each other so that they would not fall asleep. Who would know that the handwriting would reappear after just not paying attention for a while. Sixth At night, we simply arranged for four people to work in two or two shifts. If you don’t believe it, you won’t be able to catch that ghost thing. This time? Say hello, two people inside, two people outside, three shifts, but to see what is playing tricks. This time? It was a safe night. When the curfew was lifted, we looked at the gate, which was clean .We came back to do business, and in the blink of an eye, there were words on the door again."
Li Chaoge asked: "On the sixth night, how did the four of you work in shifts?"
"Two people stand behind the door and listen, two people sit in the house warming up, and the shift changes every half an hour."
"Are you sure no one is asleep?"
"Standing in the cold wind, I definitely didn't fall asleep." The janitor said firmly. Li Chaoge frowned. This night was different from before. People were guarding the door from beginning to end. If someone was writing outside, they would definitely be able to hear it inside. Why is it still not found
Gu Mingke sat beside him quietly, as if he really came to listen. At this moment, he finally opened his mouth and asked, "Are you always guarding the door? Is there a case where all four of you enter the house?"
The janitor insisted no, but his eyes seemed to be dodging. Li Chaoge saw that something was wrong, and immediately asked with a sullen face, "Tell the truth."
The janitor was frightened. He knelt on the ground, shivering and said, "It seems that there was one time. It's the twelfth lunar month now, and the night is too cold. I couldn't stand the cold, so I went back to the room with my companions and warmed up a stick of incense. Kung Fu. We will come out soon, and before we enter the house, let the night watchman guard the door for us, so we will never miss it."
Li Chaoge's eyes moved slightly when he heard this: "Night watchman?"
"That's right, an old man, the mistress has just recruited in." The gatekeeper said, "My lord, you also know that our lord has just moved to a new house, and there are many distinguished guests every day. An old man was recruited to patrol around the house every day and night, specializing in fire prevention and thieves.”
There are night watchmen in the Gao? Gate compound, otherwise? In such a big house, no one would know when to jump in. Zhang Yanyi has made the garden so big, she needs to be more careful.
Li Chaoge didn't express his opinion, but he and Gu Mingke secretly looked at each other, both of them felt that there was something wrong with the night watchman.
Li Chaoge said: "Are you going down? Go ahead and call the night watchman over."
Soon the night watchman came over. He was already old, with a hunched figure, and his walk was a little bumpy. After seeing Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke, he knelt tremblingly: "The grass-roots see the princess' son-in-law."
Li Chaoge sighed secretly when he saw such an old man. She asked someone to help the night watchman up first, and asked: "You are so old, patrolling every day and night, can your body bear it?"
The night watchman smiled wryly: "Can't stand it? Can you? What should I do? People always need to eat. I am old and frail, and I can't find other jobs, so I can only apply for the drudgery of night watch. Can I get a bite of food?" , the grass people will be satisfied."
Li Chaoge couldn't help but asked, "Where are your children? You are so old, why do they let you go out to find hard labor?"
The night watchman lowered his head and said: "The son of the Caomin gave birth to a grandson, and the daughter-in-law is pregnant again. The family really can't open the pot, so the Caomin can only come out and see where there are still recruits. No matter what kind of job it is, as long as you can... Just bring some money home."
Both Li Chaoge and Gu Mingke sighed. Li Chaoge asked: "On the night of the second day of junior high school, when you were patrolling, why did you guard the door for the porter?"
The night watchman said: "Those adults are popular people in front of the master's house. The grass people dare not offend them. The grass people saw that they were freezing badly, and wanted to please the two adults, so they offered to support them for a while. Anyway, the grass people always guard One night, why don't you fight for a while? It doesn't matter."
"When you replaced, was there any unusual movement outside?"
The night watchman shook his head: "No, Caomin didn't hear anything."
"When you were guarding the door, was there anyone beside you?"
The night watchman also shook his head: "No, there is only Caomin."
That is to say, at that time, no one could prove the whereabouts of the night watchman. But Li Chaoge looked at the night watchman's body, and really didn't think that such an old man had the ability to jump out of the wall under the noses of the four servants, and turn back safely after writing.
Gu Mingke's eyes fell on the hands of the night watchman, and he asked, "Have you ever plowed the land?"
The night watchman nodded and said, "Yes, the grass-roots have been living off the land all their lives. Now that they are old, they really can't bend down, so they can only go to the city to find some part-time workers."
Gu Mingke asked again: "Do you know how to read?"
The night watchman shook his head? Gu Mingke was not surprised. A farmer can't even speak the right accent. How could it be possible? He can read.
Li Chaoge called to send the night watchman down. After the people left, Li Chaoge was surprised: "He is old and weak, and he can't read. It's impossible for someone to write? It's him. Then who else has time to commit crimes?"
It's not that Li Chaoge never suspected ghosts, but she looked carefully at the door today and found no ghosts on it. After that, all her investigations revolved around people, and now, she began to doubt her own judgment.
Could it be some unusual monster
Gu Mingke was noncommittal, at this time Zhang Yanzhi came back with ginger tea. Li Chaoge made up a random reason just now to send Zhang Yanzhi away, so why would he want to drink some ginger tea. She lifted the tea cover and made a gesture, then suddenly thought: "The janitor said that the kitchen brought refreshing tea on the fourth and fifth nights, and then he accidentally fell asleep. Could it be that there is something wrong with the tea?" ?”
Zhang Yanzhi had known for a long time that Li Chaoge was deliberately dismissing him, so it is not surprising to hear information that he does not understand now. Zhang Yanzhi asked: "Since the princess is suspicious, shall I call the people from the kitchen?"
"No need." Li Chaoge put down the teacup, stood up and said, "I'll just go to the kitchen and have a look."
Li Chaoge went out, followed by a motley group of people. The kitchen has never been a beautiful place, with oily spots, bloody smells, messy ingredients, and messes everywhere. The maids with a little bit of dignity are not willing to go near the kitchen, but Li Chaoge is not unusual when he enters this environment. The people in the kitchen were shocked when they saw Zhang Wulang coming, followed by two fairy-like ladies. Everyone hurriedly wiped their hands on their clothes, and saluted Zhang Yanzhi in various ways: "Slave to Wulang, send your greetings."
Zhang Yanzhi waved his hand and said, "There is no need to be too polite, I will accompany Lord Sheng Yuan to ask questions."
The people in the kitchen were startled again, princess
The kitchen steward visibly panicked: "Princess? Princess? How can a person with golden branches and leaves come into a place like the kitchen? Slavery deserves death, and it stains the princess? Princess' eyes."
Li Chaoge stopped their words, she glanced at each stove, and asked: "On the 29th and 30th? Did the concierge and the kitchen order refreshment tea?"
Everyone didn't know what Li Chaoge was doing with this question, but the woman who was in charge of making the tea stood up and said tremblingly, "Princess? My lord, what happened? It's the old slave who made the tea."
Li Chaoge looked pale, and asked, "Have you checked the tea?"
The woman making tea was startled when she heard this, and the steward of the Zhang residence said, "Back? Princess? Master, this woman was brought by Mr. Lang from the old house. She has served her for many years and is trustworthy. The concierge also doubted the tea. Two days? Erlang asked someone to check, and it was indeed ordinary strong tea."
The tea is fine, and the clue is broken again. Li Chaoge secretly sighed, planning to leave. When she went out, she saw a hot pot and asked, "What's in it?"
Upon hearing this, the butler quickly introduced: "My lord, you are right. This is the cook specially invited by our house. She is especially good at making pasta. King Wei said it was good after eating it. My lord, Would you like to stay? Try it?"
Li Chaoge was not in the mood to eat. She planned to leave after asking a question, but in order to keep her for dinner, the people of the Zhang family kept saying, "My lord, Mrs. Sun's pastries are really very good. They The soup cake stall at home is famous far and wide, and later entered the mansion, specializing in making pasta for Erlang and the nobles."
A somewhat chubby middle-aged woman lowered her head. So many people praised her, but she didn't show any complacency, she just lowered her hands peacefully. The mother-in-law who made the tea was a little unhappy, and ran against Mrs. Gong? Take it to the gatekeeper. They have left half a pot of tea, but they've eaten up all the bread."
The mother-in-law's words were very low, and she was immediately drowned in the noise, but Li Chaoge noticed it. Li Chaoge didn't say anything, and when he came out, he calmly asked the housekeeper, "What's wrong with Mrs. Sun?"
The housekeeper replied: "She used to run a stall in this area, and the business was very good. After Erlang moved here, he heard that she made good pasta, so he recruited her into the mansion."
"Where does she usually live?"
"Naturally? In the inner house." The housekeeper didn't know what Li Chaoge was doing with this question, and said strangely, "She is a servant in the inner house, sleeping with the woman in the kitchen."
"Can you go out tonight?"
The housekeeper was embarrassed, and laughed dryly? Twice. Zhang Yanzhi answered: "My lord, the second sister-in-law is the housekeeper in the mansion, the inner door will be locked at night, and the inner and outer houses will never have any private communication."
Li Chaoge thought the same thing, even if Grandma Sun added something to the cake, how would she know when the other party had finished eating? Besides, Aunt Gongsun lived in the inner house and shared the bunk with the people in the kitchen, so the possibility of slipping out at night was very small.
Li Chaoge felt a headache and asked, "Gong? Do you know Mrs. Sun and the night watchman?"
"How do you know each other?" said the housekeeper, "Gong? Mrs. Sun is a chef specially hired by Erlang, and the night watchman is a short-term laborer, and they have no contact at all at ordinary times."
One was chosen by Zhang Yanyi on her own initiative, and the other was applied by herself. It is impossible for these two people to make arrangements in advance. Li Chaoge asked for a long time? But there was no progress in the relationship between the characters. She changed her way of thinking, and felt that all changes remained the same, so she said, "Let's go to the scene to see it."
This time, Li Chaoge did not go through the main entrance, but planned to visit the square gate. Li Chaoge went out from the side door of the Zhang residence, and walked out along the fence. Zhang Yanyi's residence occupied half of the square, and she insisted on opening the door on the street. Fang Zheng didn't dare to offend the Zhang family, so he demolished the original square door, and moved the entrance and exit passage to the southeast corner.
Li Chaoge glanced at the small and narrow gate, then turned his head and glanced at the housekeeper lightly: "Everyone in the workshop must enter and exit from here. The gate is so dense and the road is not even. Now, if anyone has a car, I’m afraid they’ll go out? They’ll go out? Don’t go.”
The butler smiled apologetically, but his expression looked completely inappropriate. That's right, as long as it's convenient for their family, it's none of their business whether other people live or die.
Li Chaoge stopped in front of the square gate, and when she went out, she glanced at the square wall. The wall of the square is rammed with loess. After years of wind and sun, it has already weathered a lot. Looking back, Li Chaoge saw that the walls of the square were low and dilapidated, but the courtyard walls of the Zhang Mansion were neatly lined with green bricks, tall, big and beautiful.
Li Chaoge secretly hit the wall of the measuring workshop, Gu Mingke stopped beside Li Chaoge, and said softly: "This altitude is not difficult. If you are an adult man, it is easy to climb over."
Li Chaoge didn't answer, raised his eyes and smiled and asked: "The case is not clear, how do you know whether it is a human or a ghost? Gu Siqing is so keen to rob the case with me?"
Gu Mingke smiled lightly, then looked down at her: "Is it the case that I'm robbing?"