"Sister Fan?"
As expected, Sun Chengye's prediction came true. Sun Shaozong had just arrived at the government office and had not yet sat down in the Criminal Law Department when Jia Yucun hurried over.
Things like 'I am waiting for your brother, just like one longs for rain after a long drought', 'This case is complicated and confusing, rarely seen in history, only your brother can solve it', 'I just lost a prefect in Shuntian Prefecture, there must not be any more mistakes', and so on, and so on, and so on.
Although Sun Shaozong had already made up his mind to investigate the case, he still deliberately hesitated for a long time. Only after listening to his flattering words again and again did he reluctantly agree.
Afterwards, Sun Shaozong summoned Wei Ruolan and others to inquire about the investigation process of the case and whether any useful clues had been found.
The key clue given by Wei Ruolan is the two words "Fan Sao"!
The so-called "Fan Sao" is a bad custom left over from Xiangguo Temple in the Northern Song Dynasty. It is said that there were monks at that time who married prostitutes, and they were called Fan Sao.
"What the adults said is all old news."
Qiu Yunfei curled his lips and said, "Now this Fan Sao does not refer to a prostitute, but a decent woman who had an affair with a monk."
Master Qi added, "Actually, this is a legacy of the Mongolian Tartars who occupied the Central Plains. The Mongolians were extremely harsh on the people of the Central Plains, but treated the monks with great courtesy. As a result, some lawless people disguised themselves as monks and committed all kinds of evil under the guise of monks."
"At that time, many temples had a lot of land, and unlike ordinary people, they did not have to pay heavy taxes. Therefore, these evil monks often used this as bait to lure those desperate tenants to offer their wives and daughters for them to rape in exchange for the qualification to rent the temple property."
"And these women are collectively referred to as Fansao."
After hearing Master Qi's words, Sun Shaozong could not help but question, "Such bad habits would be fine if they were only in remote places, but Fayuan Temple is located at the foot of the emperor and is the most famous temple in the capital. How could they dare to do such a despicable thing in the face of the world's disapproval?"
Wei Ruolan shook her head: "This is not the intention of Fayuan Temple, but it was done privately by Monk Jiexian."
It turned out that the monk Jiexian was originally a playboy from the suburbs of Beijing, who loved to sleep with prostitutes. Later, for some unknown reason, he ran to Fayuan Temple to become a monk.
At first, Jiexian was quite well-behaved and there was nothing out of the ordinary about him.
But since the beginning of this spring, there have been some rumors in the temple that the monk Jiexian has secretly started a pimp business and often acts as a matchmaker for the monks in the temple, introducing young married women and daughters of good families to publicly learn the true essence of Joyful Zen.
This rumor naturally attracted the attention of the Vinaya Institute. However, Jie Nian, the head of the Reception Hall and the disciple of Monk Liao Chi, strongly proved that the matter was completely false and saved Monk Jiexian.
"But according to our investigation today, the monk Jiexian did engage in the business of pimping, and the first batch of so-called Buddhist sisters were actually pilgrims whose bodies were damaged by his use of drugs."
" Those pilgrims were also coerced into making peace with the monks in the temple."
"In addition, the head monk of the Discipline Institute, Jie Chen, has not given up investigating this matter. He has been secretly investigating whether Jie Xian and Jie Nian have some kind of hidden relationship."
"But Jie Nian has always been cautious in his actions, and he hasn't been able to catch anything with him so far."
Everyone's narration finally came to a temporary end.
Sun Shaozong lowered his head and pondered for a long while before asking, "From what you said, it seems that you are suspicious of the monk Jie Chen. But since you already have a target, there has been no progress in the past few days - could it be that Jie Chen has a clear alibi?"
"That's right."
Master Qi spread his hands and said with a wry smile, "On the night when Jie Chi died, Monk Jie Chen was patrolling with a disciple."
"And on the night when Monk Jieming was nailed to death in front of the mountain gate, he happened to be discussing the Dao with another disciple."
Wei Ruolan quickly added, "But those two little monks were orphans raised by Jie Chen, so it is very likely that they are covering up his crimes."
Master Qi did not comment on his supplement and continued, "As for the monk Jie Xiu, although he had no obvious alibi when Jie Ming died, when Jie Chi was killed, he was ordered to kneel in the main hall for a whole night because he violated the precepts of anger. Therefore, the monks on duty in the temple can testify for him."
In other words, Jie Xiu's suspicion can now be basically ruled out, and although Jie Chen has an alibi for both times, he is still suspected of covering up for his relatives.
Sun Shaozong pondered for a while, then carefully read the case file brought by Wei Ruolan twice, then stood up and said, "Seeing is believing, hearing is false, let's go to the scene first."
If it were in the past, when Sun Shaozong took the initiative to take over the case he was investigating, Wei Ruolan would definitely be a little uncomfortable. But today, she cooperated very well. When she heard Sun Shaozong say that he wanted to investigate the scene, she sent someone to prepare a means of transportation without saying a word.
If he had to make a compromise in order to find out the truth, it doesn't seem like that.
Sun Shaozong was a little puzzled by his change, but Wei Ruolan took advantage of the busy moment and came up to him and said mysteriously: "The child has been sent out of the capital."
Tsk~
Could it be that he thought that if two people rescued the "baby" at the same time, they would be considered comrades in the trench?
He is indeed a proud and naive young man!
Sun Shaozong sighed in his heart, but he looked puzzled: "What child? Is Wei Tongpan talking to me?"
The smug expression on Wei Ruolan's face froze, and then her face turned red with shame and anger.
Just as they were about to say something unpleasant to express their frustration, Qiu Yunfei and Master Qi had already packed everything and urged the two of them to rush to Fayuan Temple to investigate the case.
Wei Ruolan had no choice but to swallow her words back and walked out of the Criminal Law Department with a constipated expression.
No conversation along the way.
When we arrived at Fayuan Temple, we saw that the square in front of the mountain gate was deserted, with only a few believers bowing at the gate.
Although it rained yesterday and the roads were not easy to walk on, Fayuan Temple is so famous in Beijing that it shouldn't have so few believers - it seems that the deaths of three monks in a row have dealt a heavy blow to the reputation of Fayuan Temple.
They climbed up the 981 steps and saw a magnificent temple nearby. Several monks came up to greet them with their palms clasped together. However, Sun Shaozong suddenly stopped and squatted on the ground to observe carefully.
"Then did Monk Jieming die here?"
After being repeatedly washed away by last night's heavy rain, the bloodstains on the ground had long disappeared, but the chisel marks made by the iron bar were still clearly left on the bluestone slabs.
"That's right."
Master Qi also squatted on the side, gesticulating and saying, "The two-foot-long iron rod, as thick as a thumb, pierced through Jie Ming's chest, piercing through his chest cavity and heart, and leaving a shallow mark on the ground."
Sun Shaozong reached out and touched the shallow chisel marks, then looked up at the magnificent temple gate not far away. He pondered for a while and asked, "Did you find any other injuries during the autopsy, and no signs of being tied up or drugged?"
"No, apart from some cotton thread found in his mouth, there were no other injuries, and no drugs were found - and judging from the blood on his hands, he should have been awake at the time."
"In addition, after repeated investigations, it was determined that there were no signs that the body had been moved, and this was indeed the crime scene."
At this point, Master Qi couldn't help but smile bitterly and said, "This is exactly why I am confused. Since he was awake, why didn't he fight back desperately? You know, the iron rod is not very sharp. If you don't hit it hard with the hammer, it is difficult to pierce the heart with one blow."
"And if the murderer holds the iron rod in one hand and the hammer in the other, how can he hold down the deceased?"