Chapter 924: Consideration (Part 2)
Sun Shaozong was sketching on a piece of paper and thinking over the case when he suddenly heard a report from outside that Lin Xiuyuan, the eldest master of the Lin family, had come to discuss something important with him.
This is someone else's territory, so how could Sun Shaozong not see it?
He immediately went out and welcomed Lin Xiuyuan into the living room.
After the two of them sat down as host and guest, Lin Xiuyuan immediately explained his purpose: "Master Sun, my father's body should have been examined last night, right? Would you allow us to set up a memorial hall and burn incense tribute?"
Sun Shaozong had even less reason to object.
Just as he was about to agree, he suddenly had another thought and quickly changed his words, "Since we are going to hold a memorial ceremony, can we call back the servants who were dismissed from the mansion? First, it can strengthen the relationship between master and servant, and second, we may be able to get some other clues from them."
In fact, Sun Shaozong had thought about reuniting the servants who had been dismissed from the Lin Mansion for interrogation early on.
Unfortunately, the Dali Temple did not have enough staff. Before the Lin Mansion had a thorough investigation, they could not spare any manpower to search for the nearly 200 people in and outside the city.
Lin Xiuyuan hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded and said, "Then I will have someone spread the word that my father left a will before his death, and that all the old servants who come to ."
This old man of the Lin family is really a knowledgeable and interesting man, and he also has some skills. With his full support, it is much easier for the people in the Dali Temple to investigate the case.
Of course, the premise is that he himself is not the murderer!
Since Lin Xiuyuan came looking for him on his own initiative, Sun Shaozong naturally would not miss this opportunity, so he took the opportunity to ask if there was any place in the mansion where a secret room was suspected to be hidden.
Then he tried to find out indirectly why Lin Qisheng insisted on dismissing his personal servant.
However, Lin Qisheng couldn't explain why. Putting aside the secret room and the like, although he was second only to the emperor in the mansion, his authority was still too insignificant compared to his father's.
Whenever Lin Qisheng made a decision on his own, he, as his son, could only obey his orders. How could he dare to follow up and dig into the matter?
But it's not all in vain.
At least when Sun Shaozong asked about the reconstruction, Lin Xiuyuan said right away that the mansion had indeed been renovated about three years ago.
Three years?
This timing was somewhat beyond Sun Shaozong's expectations.
He originally thought that, if the secret room had not existed from the beginning, it was most likely created after Lin Qisheng's personality changed drastically.
But why was it three years ago?
Forget it, let’s not worry about anything else for now and just follow this clue to see if we can find some clues.
After receiving Sun Shaozong's request, Lin Xiuyuan still cooperated very well. He immediately sent someone to find the official and asked about the dental clinic that had contracted the construction.
However, the brokerage firm is only an intermediary, and its connections with both parties are relatively loose. Now, after three years, no one can guarantee whether the craftsmen from that time can be found.
After arranging the task of investigating the pawnshop, Lin Xiuyuan also hurried to arrange for his mother.
Sun Shaozong picked up the straw paper he had just painted and reviewed it again. After making sure that no new ideas emerged, he decided to start a second round of questioning.
This time, the people he focused on questioning were, firstly, those who were generally acknowledged to be resentful towards Lin Qisheng, and secondly, those who claimed to have seen Lin Qisheng in the past five days.
In addition, there are three concubines favored by Lin Qisheng - especially the last one. If she is the murderer's accomplice, then a series of actions such as killing, hiding the body, and using someone else as a substitute could all be completed that night.
The first person to be summoned before Sun Shaozong was Wang Peng, the manager from the Green Grassland.
According to the statistics compiled by the yamen runners, Wang Peng is only 29 years old this year, but he looks very old. Even the hair on his head is sparse. It is obvious that he has fallen into the midlife crisis prematurely.
"The great Lord of Heaven is wise!"
Wang Peng had probably guessed that he had become the main suspect. As soon as he entered the room, he hurriedly threw his head to the ground and said pitifully: "Although my wife did have an affair with the master, but...but before she married me, she was the master's maid!"
"It was the master's leftovers that he threw to me. Now I'm just picking it up and chewing it a few times. What's the big deal? I don't have any complaints in my heart..."
Sun Shaozong suddenly interrupted him and said, "I heard that you beat your wife several times because of this."
I originally felt that this guy was somewhat pitiful, but after seeing his obscene words as he tried so hard to distance himself from the matter, my sympathy for him instantly vanished.
"this……"
Wang Peng was immediately stumped by this question. After a while, he said with a cold sweat, "It is impossible for me to have no complaints in my heart. But even if I have the courage of the sky, I dare not harm you!"
This scoundrel!
No wonder he was still able to keep his position as manager after catching Lin Qisheng in bed.
Or maybe, he actually went there to play the flute to liven up the atmosphere that day?
After questioning for a few more times, Wang Peng just kept on asking in fear.
Seeing that he could not get anything useful out of the question, Sun Shaozong signaled his attendants to take Wang Peng out and then summon the next suspect.
This person was none other than Wang Peng’s wife Zhao Yingying.
Zhao Yingying, now 27 years old, is a typical petite woman. When she was paired with Wang Peng, Lin Qisheng preferred plump women and naturally did not have much attachment to her.
But I didn't expect that seven or eight years later, Lin Qisheng's taste would change again...
However, unlike her petite figure, after entering the room, Zhao Yingying held her head high and chest out, showing no fear at all.
When Sun Shaozong asked her about her behavior in recent days, she answered irrelevantly: "I am just a plaything of the master. How did he die? How would I know?"
After a pause, she added nonchalantly, "But if you want to kill anyone, I am willing to plead guilty. I can't live like that anyway!"
This woman...
Either the acting is so good that people can't see the flaws.
Or maybe he has really decided to die.
Having said that, it is only normal for an ordinary woman to have an emotional breakdown after being bullied by Lin Qisheng, who is nearly 70 years old, and having to endure beatings from her husband and strange looks from others.
These two questions were consecutive, but I couldn't get anything out of them.
Sun Shaozong decided to change the plan temporarily, put aside those who had deep hatred and grudges, and start with the three favored concubines.
The first person to be brought in was the Thirteenth Concubine, who was the least suspicious, the twenty-two-year-old Zhang Ning. She was the first concubine favored by Lin Qisheng after he drove away the servants around him.
Zhang Ning was married into the Lin family six years ago. At that time, Lin Qisheng was in the transition period from plump to petite. Therefore, Zhang Ning has the beauty of both, but she is not as weak as those who came later, like the sick Xi Shi.
And her behavior was finally much more normal. After kneeling on the ground trembling with fear, she did not dare to speak.
"I'm asking you."
Sun Shaozong asked solemnly, "When Lord Lin stayed overnight at your place that day, was there anything unusual?"
"Abnormal?"
Zhang Ning heard this and looked up at Sun Shaozong with a strange expression on his face. Then he quickly lowered his head and stammered, "It seems... there's nothing wrong."
It's obvious that there's something being concealed.
Pah~
Sun Shaozong immediately slammed the table and shouted, "Is it true or not? If you dare to disobey me again, be careful of severe punishment!"
“This…this…”
Zhang Ning turned pale with fear. He looked at the clerk who was recording the confession in panic and said hesitantly, "Sir, this... there are some things that I cannot say."
"snort!"
Sun Shaozong snorted coldly and shouted in a pretentious tone: "Come here, take this secretive woman away..."
"Please spare my life, sir! Please spare my life! I will tell you, I will tell you!"
Now Zhang Ning didn't dare to hesitate any longer and hurriedly described the scene of that night in detail.
Actually, it's nothing surprising. It's just that that night, Lin Qisheng was not in good condition and he couldn't get it hard.
Considering that Lin Qisheng is already 69 years old, this is perfectly normal.
Therefore, Sun Shaozong was quite disappointed and asked casually, "Besides that, are there any other abnormalities?"
Zhang Ning seemed a little surprised by Sun Shaozong's cold reaction. He looked up and stammered, "No...no more."
It was this surprised look that made Sun Shaozong vaguely realize something, so he hurriedly asked, "Did you have a similar experience with Lord Lin in the past?"
"It's not that there is no time at all, but that's only after the master has been busy and toilsome, and then occasionally..."
Zhao Yingying blushed and said, "And that day I helped the master and helped the master... but there was no improvement. The master didn't get upset because of it. Instead, he slept very soundly at night."
Sun Shaozong grasped the point again: "You mean to say that whenever a similar situation occurred in the past, Lord Lin would be angry and embarrassed, but this time he made an exception?"
"Um."
Zhang Ning nodded, his face getting redder: "Although the master is old, he never admits his age, especially in this regard."
That being said, it does seem a bit strange.
Sun Shaozong hesitated for a moment, then ordered Zhang Ning to leave first, and then called the other two concubines in. After entering the room, without asking anything else, he asked about Lin Qisheng's performance that night.
As expected, Lin Qisheng was soft to the end!
And both times, he did not get angry or humiliated.
The only difference is that in the mouths of these two concubines, Lin Qisheng seemed unusually tired.
This is even more strange!
If he suddenly became impotent and was under great psychological pressure, so he seemed more and more tired, it stands to reason that he should become more and more irritable.
But how could he accept it so calmly, contrary to his usual behavior?
Could it be...
There were actually other reasons that led to his condition, so he didn't care at all whether the sex life with his three concubines was harmonious.
Or maybe, he went to spend the night in the third concubine's room to cover up something?
