Chapter 919 Praise and Criticism
Although some information was obtained from the body, there was no directional evidence - at least its direction could not be determined until more information was obtained.
So after the investigation, Sun Shaozong requisitioned the flower hall of the Lin Mansion and began to investigate the interpersonal connections of the people in the Lin Mansion.
Because according to the Lin family, Lin Qisheng has been refusing visitors since he resigned from his official position, and is waiting to move his family back to his hometown in Shanxi at the end of the month.
Since he has never even left the house, let alone seen any outsiders, the people most suspicious at the moment are naturally those around Lin Qisheng.
But when everyone in the mansion gathered together, Sun Shaozong discovered something strange: there were more owners of the Lin Mansion than servants.
"Lord Sun doesn't know."
Facing Sun Shaozong's doubts, Lin Qisheng's eldest son Lin Xiuyuan took the initiative to explain: "The servants we employ are mostly from good families near the capital."
"As the saying goes, it's hard to leave one's hometown. After all, only a small number of people were willing to follow my father back to his hometown in Shanxi to spend his remaining years in retirement. So after my father set the itinerary, he simply dismissed all of them."
So that's what it is.
In fact, this is also a common practice. After all, not everyone is like Rong Guo, who has settled down in the capital and has changed his children one after another.
Nodding, Sun Shaozong unconsciously glanced at the south wall, and then said seriously: "Since there are not many people left, in order to facilitate the investigation, could you trouble Master Lin to briefly introduce their identities and names one by one?"
It was Lin Xiuyuan who had insisted on going to the Dali Temple to report the case. Faced with Sun Shaozong's request, he did not refuse at all.
Then, according to the order of seniority in the mansion, he pointed out the people of the Lin family to Sun Shaozong one by one.
Lin Qisheng lost his wife in middle age, and his family has been vacant ever since.
He has five sons and two daughters. His two daughters have been married for many years and are naturally not at home at the moment.
Among his five sons, only two were by his side, while the rest were officials in other places .
The eldest son, Lin Xiuyuan, is now 46 years old. He married Zhou and took a concubine named Liang.
He has two sons and one daughter, all of whom are legitimate. His daughter is married, and his eldest son died young, leaving behind a widow.
As for the second son, he was ordered to return to his hometown in Shanxi a month ago to prepare for the family's relocation.
Lin Zhiyuan, Lin Qisheng's eldest son, was born out of wedlock. He is now 21 years old and seems to be not very favored by his father. He is still single today.
After introducing these family members, Lin Xiuyuan finally turned his gaze to the south wall, where a dozen women were standing in a row uncomfortably.
"These are my father's concubines."
Just one sentence, but it revealed an unspeakable embarrassment.
This is because not only are there a huge number of these women, but their age range is also surprisingly large.
From a white-haired old woman to a young girl in her twenties, it is simply a history of a woman's evolution from adulthood to death.
Of course, this also faithfully records the changes in Lin Qisheng's taste over the years.
When he was young, he liked slim women. When he reached middle age, he liked plump women. Now that he is old and can no longer do that, he deliberately picks on the delicate ones to "bully".
Speaking of which...
This number has already exceeded that of our eldest brother, right?
I am also ill, while my elder brother is famous for his lust, but Lord Lin is a well-known moral role model - no wonder he can be the helmsman of the Ministry of Education and the leader of the clean stream, his level of controlling the direction of public opinion is incredible!
"Sixteen in total."
Sun Shaozong was just measuring when Chen Jingde beside him gave the exact number. When Lin Xiuyuan was a little further away, he quietly added, "There are a few people whose ages are a little different. I guess a few of them died along the way."
This guy...
He doesn't pay attention to other things, but he is very proficient in this!
Of course, Sun Shaozong, who had to take in fourth and fifth concubines before getting married, didn't seem to have any right to look down on others.
"cough."
So he cleared his throat and said seriously, "It 's getting late, let's ask everyone a few simple questions first - let's start with you, Mr. Lin, and the rest of you please go to the next room and wait for a while."
Lin Xiuyuan nodded in agreement, and the crowd then filed out.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Sun Shaozong ordered Tang Weishan, Chen Jingde, and Huang Bin to take the yamen runners out and interrogate the servants gathered outside - especially to carefully count who had seen Lin Qisheng in the past three to five days.
After Tang Weishan, Chen Jingde and Huang Bin received their orders and left, most of the idle people in the flower hall had also left.
Lin Xiuyuan took the initiative to bow and said, "Master Sun, if you have any questions, just ask. As long as the real murderer who killed my father can be found, I will tell you everything I know!"
This attitude is quite firm.
However, this did not reduce Sun Shaozong's suspicion of Lin Xiuyuan.
"In this case, I apologize for the offense."
He bowed slightly and said sternly, "May I ask what your father's character was like at home when he was alive? Did he do anything or say anything that would make people resentful?"
"this……"
Lin Xiuyuan hesitated for a moment, then sighed, "Of course there is, but death is like the extinguishing of a light. I just ask Lord Sun to save some face for my father for the sake of our relationship as ministers in the same palace, and not to record it in the case file."
“This…”
Now it was Sun Shaozong's turn to hesitate. After a long while, he gave in and said, "I will not record everything that Master Lin said for now, but if some of the details are found to be relevant to the case, I must submit a written report. After all, your father is not an ordinary person, and I must give an explanation to the court."
Although Lin Xiuyuan had never been an official, he was familiar with the various aspects of officialdom. Therefore, he understood that Sun Shaozong was already showing favor to him by doing this.
So he sighed again and said with a wry smile: "It is said that a son should not criticize his father, but now that things have come to this, in order to avenge my father, Xiu Yuan can no longer care about many things!"
"To be honest, my father has been doing some absurd things in recent years. For example, two years ago, he decided to marry the maid of the seventh concubine to the housekeeper Wang Peng, but afterwards...he often had private dealings with that woman...with that woman."
"Once, Wang Peng actually saw them at home. The two of them were really... really embarrassed."
At this age, with more than a dozen concubines at home, he still couldn't help but cheat on his wife. This moral gentleman is really...
Uh~
Better not to comment.
Sun Shaozong was quite self-aware and stopped praising or criticizing Lin Qisheng. He continued to ask, "What about Wang Pengren? Is he still in your house now?"
"Yes, both husband and wife are here."
Lin Xiuyuan said, but then shook his head and said, "But he took people to buy local rituals in the morning and didn't come back until the afternoon."
"What about the past few days? Did he have the opportunity to meet your father? Or your father's food and tea?"
"A few days ago..."
Lin Xiuyuan pondered for a long while, but answered the question irrelevantly: "Master Sun, do you also think that my father has been dead for several days? How is this possible! When I went to pay my respects this morning, my father was still fine!"
"Not to mention that there are many people in our house who have seen it with their own eyes - is Lord Sun trying to say that everyone in our house is blind?!"
"Mr. Lin, please be patient."
Sun Shaozong originally wanted to ask him whether he could be 100% sure that it was Lin Qisheng himself, and whether there was a possibility of an impostor.
But seeing how excited he was, it was obvious that he was very sure of what he saw and heard.
Sun Shaozong had no choice but to change his strategy temporarily and followed his words: "It's still unclear what the situation is. Let's first list the suspicious points and suspects one by one, and then eliminate them one by one. We will definitely be able to find the real culprit!"
Lin Xiuyuan's emotions calmed down a little, and he bowed and said, "I was excited for a moment, and I am sorry to make you laugh, Lord Sun."
Sun Shaozong waved his hand and said, "It's okay. Master Lin just said that your father often behaved in absurd ways. In addition to the incident with Wang Peng and his wife, there must have been other things that happened?"
“This… is available!”
"About a year and a half ago, Concubine Xu was found to be pregnant, but my father suspected that she had an affair with someone else. He beat her and caused Concubine Xu to have a miscarriage and also a serious illness."
"The head of the guards, Zhao Ligen, had always been trusted by my father. But at the beginning of the year, he was kicked out by my father for no reason, and he also withheld his money on the pretext of something. If it weren't for the help of his relatives, Guard Zhao would have almost ended up on the streets."
"It is said that the newly adopted concubine Zhao Nianxiao already had a lover who was compatible with her, but her parents coveted my father's money and forced her to marry him. Until now, concubine Zhao has been resisting."
"besides……"
Well, this old guy is really nothing!
