Chapter 841 Heavenly Master's Mansion (Part 4)
"There's nothing else to steal in the main hall except for the ladders, so the inspection at night... was a little lax."
"Sir, I am not trying to shirk my responsibility. This is just a difficult task. It is the coldest time of the year and we are short of manpower at night. There are only three of us on night watch. This is such a big place..."
"Yes, yes, yes, I understand, I understand! Let's get down to business, let's get down to business!"
"The side halls on the east and west sides are being repaired. The main door is locked and no one goes in or out. So it was not until after noon when a few strong men came to move the ladder that they found a headless corpse hanging on it."
"Then they called me over. I saw that a murder had occurred, so I immediately had someone notify my superiors, and then sent someone to Shuntian Prefecture to report the case."
"Shuntian Prefecture was dragging its feet. It was almost noon when I got here. Before I could even start investigating, I heard that the case had been transferred to the Dali Temple. So I just..."
"Ah? Wood? Of course there is wood! It's piled over there in the backyard. It's all top quality material, so the night watchmen rest nearby."
"Has it been touched? That... that's something you need to ask the person on duty last night."
——Feng Yinglong, Director of the Construction Department of the Ministry of Works.
…
"I was on duty last night."
"No, no, no, I just hold a title in the Ministry of Works, which doesn't count as an official position."
"Yesterday...yesterday we mainly searched the backyard and the east and west sides. Since there was nothing to steal here, we left it alone."
"Your Excellency, I am not the only one who did this. Others also did this when they were on duty..."
"Wood? No one should have touched it, right? When we patrol at night, we always leave someone in the room, so it stands to reason..."
"Nothing can be hidden from you, sir. It was I who was guarding the backyard yesterday."
"No, no, no, there's a dog in the yard. Even if I'm blind and deaf, the dog won't have any reaction..."
"Eh?! It seemed like someone called out a few times, but I looked around and didn't see anyone. Besides, the two night watchmen came back after a short while."
"When the dog was barking? It should have been the third watch...just a quarter or two after the third watch, right? I can't remember exactly."
——Lin Baotian, a small foreman registered under the Ministry of Industry.
…
"Master, please understand. How do we know where we should patrol and where we shouldn't patrol? If the master tells us to go, then we should go there, right?"
"I didn't hear anything wrong last night, but who would have thought someone would die!"
——The night watchman.
…
"This side of the main hall was completed about two months ago."
"Those ladders were brought here last time when the palace sent people to inspect them. They have been here for about six or seven days."
"We were repairing the side hall a few days ago, so a few ladders were enough. We are going to repair the corridor from today, so the more ladders the better."
"I haven't seen any strangers come here in the past few days..."
——Feng Yinglong.
…
After questioning the confessions of several key persons in charge and comparing them with other confessions recorded by the yamen runners, Chen Jingde happened to rush over with Wei Yi's confession and two coroners from the Dali Temple.
According to the rules, it should be sent back to the Dali Temple for investigation.
However, Sun Shaozong was not very confident about the professional level of these two coroners.
Since they brought autopsy equipment with them, Sun Shaozong simply ordered his men to use local materials and build a simple autopsy table in the shed in the backyard.
Sun Shaozong sat horizontally at the door of the shed, paying attention to the autopsy process inside while discussing the case with Chen Jingde and Huang Bin.
During the whole process, the young Taoist priest and two middle-aged Taoist priests just watched coldly.
Sun Shaozong did not deliberately drive them away. As for making his attitude clear, the previous conflict was enough. There was no need to offend people to death.
Of course, because of the presence of these three outsiders, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but have some reservations when analyzing the case.
"grown ups."
Just as he was summarizing the details of the scene from every corner, the supervisor assigned by the Ministry of Works, Feng Yinglong, the sixth-rank official in charge of the Construction Department, came rushing over.
Feng Yinglong was in his early thirties. Although his official position of sixth rank was not outstanding, he might be in charge of such a large project, but he could be considered a powerful figure in the Ministry of Works.
However, facing Sun Shaozong, his "achievements" seemed insignificant, especially since he had just been involved in a murder case that had gone viral and his future was extremely unpredictable.
Therefore, he put on a very humble attitude. When he was still about two meters away, his back slumped down. When he arrived in front of Sun Shaozong, he was hunched over as if there was a pot on his spine.
He raised his hands above his head and handed a newly copied list of names to Sun Shaozong:
"Sir, I have followed your instructions and have written down all the people who have worked since the palace's last inspection."
After a pause, he added: "Those who have asked for leave, and those who have worked for a few days and will not be required to come later, are all circled in red ink."
Sun Shaozong nodded without comment, took the list in his hand and glanced at it. He found that there were about seventy or eighty names on it, and more than ten percent of them were circled in cinnabar pen.
Fortunately!
Fortunately, this case happened after the beginning of winter, and the main construction tasks had been completed, leaving only some minor technical work.
Otherwise, if it had been two months ago, the scope of this list would have expanded by at least five or six times!
"grown ups."
Just as he was rejoicing, Feng Yinglong asked cautiously, "Is there anything else I can do?"
Sun Shaozong waved his hand and said, "Master Feng, there is no subordinate relationship between you and me, so there is no need to mention the word humble position."
"Your Excellency does not know."
When Feng Yinglong heard this, he smiled and said, "I used to work for Jia Guozhang and often heard about your great achievements. Therefore, I have admired you for a long time. I am willing to call you 'your humble servant'."
It turned out that he was an old subordinate of Jia Zheng.
This officialdom is really big and small at the same time.
Although he knew that he was trying to establish a relationship with Jia Zheng, since he had an old relationship with him, Sun Shaozong's attitude became more friendly. He chatted with him for a few words before sending him away.
After Feng Yinglong left, Sun Shaozong lowered his head and looked at the list for a long time, then asked for pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and started writing and drawing on the paper.
Chen Jingde and Huang Bin naturally did not dare to disturb him.
But the young Taoist priest couldn't hold it in any longer after being silent for so long. He said a few words to the two middle-aged Taoist priests beside him, and suddenly said, "Master Sun, you have been asking about this for a long time. Have you found out..."
Before he could finish his words, Sun Shaozong suddenly stood up.
Having suffered a loss before, the young master subconsciously took a half step back, holding his sword with a look of vigilance.
Unexpectedly, Sun Shaozong didn't even look at him, and called Huang Bin directly, saying, "Captain Huang, follow me in to see the autopsy results."
Huang Bin took the order and without even looking at the young Taoist priest, he bowed and followed Sun Shaozong into the shed.
"hateful!"
Shao Tianshi was immediately furious, and was about to draw his sword again, but was stopped in time by two middle-aged Taoists who had been prepared for a long time, one on the left and one on the right.
Although the young celestial master had given up the idea of using force, he still couldn't help but complain, "A few days ago when I went to Prince Zhongshun's mansion, even Prince Zhongshun was very polite to us. He's just a junior minister, what's there to be so arrogant about?!"
The two middle-aged Taoist priests smiled along, but did not respond to his words. Instead, one of them asked, "Young Heavenly Master, should we follow him in? After all, Master Hong Yuan has told us to keep a close eye on the official's every move."
Upon hearing this, Shao Tianshi frowned and looked into the shed. After a while, he turned his handsome face aside and sneered, "Go ahead if you want to. I don't want to see that Sun's cold face!"
The two middle-aged Taoists were speechless when they saw that although he had a defiant look on his face, he had lost his color upon closer inspection.
After looking at each other, one of the Taoists followed him in.
But after a while, the Taoist priest retreated with a pale face.
Although he had seen many corpses during rituals, this scene of cutting open the abdomen and pulling out the intestines was the first time he had ever seen it in his life.
When the young Taoist priest saw his miserable appearance, he rolled his eyes and muttered "useless thing", but he was extremely relieved in his heart.
at the same time.
Seeing the Taoist stumbling away, Huang Bin grinned and said in a hoarse voice: "Sir, you asked Chief Feng to collect the list of craftsmen, but do you suspect that there is a traitor among them?"
Sun Shaozong turned around and glanced at him, then spread out his hands: "What did you just draw? Show me."
Huang Bin hurriedly handed over the booklet recording the confession, but he only saw a picture of a few men with rat-like faces and carrying a ladder in front of the main hall door, pointing at the headless corpse.
However, the subject that takes up the most ink and brush in the entire painting is not the living people, nor the corpses, but the ladders they carry on their shoulders.
He is indeed a smart one!
The reason why Sun Shaozong suspected that there was a traitor was because of these ladders.
The murderer chose to commit the crime the day before the craftsmen were going to use the ladder, neither early nor late. If we say it was just a coincidence, it would be difficult to explain.
"So what do you think?"
Sun Shaozong threw the manual back to him and asked further, "Among these seventy or eighty people, where should we start investigating?"
"Of course it's those Liba who helped out!"
Huang Bin answered without hesitation: "I have already inquired about it. Liba and the craftsmen are not very familiar with each other. Liba usually don't know when those delicate works will be completed and what to do next."
"If the traitor is hiding inside, we must find out in advance, so the suspicions of these Liba are the easiest to find out!"
Even among the criminal police forces of later generations, Huang Bin can be considered to be above average.
And among the yamen runners who have hardly received any professional training, he can be considered a top-notch figure!
Unfortunately, he was born in a low family and was illiterate. Unless he made military achievements in his life, he would only be able to linger at the eighth or ninth rank at most.
Feeling regretful, Sun Shaozong handed what he had just written to Huang Bin and said, "Then let's do as you say. First, take people to question those Liba separately. Ask them all the questions above one by one."
