Wu Chengsi was silent for a long time, then suddenly took two steps forward, grabbed a guard by the collar, and asked, "Why are you doing this?"
The guard was surprised and said: "Your Highness, what are you talking about?"
Wu Chengsi loosened his collar and had an extra buckle in his hand. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm just doing an experiment."
Princess Taiping clapped her hands and said: "I understand. Before Yan Yaosheng died, he must question the murderer like you did. In this way, they must know each other!"
Wu Chengsi nodded: "If I hadn't known him, it would have been impossible for Yan Yaosheng, a frail scholar, to get the murderer's buttons."
Princess Taiping thought for a while and asked curiously: "Then why did Yan Yaosheng hide the buttons in his sleeves again?"
Wu Chengsi pondered for a moment and said: "Perhaps he is afraid that the murderer will find him if he holds it in his hand, or maybe..."
"What could it be?"
Wu Chengsi sighed and said, "Maybe he suddenly changed his mind and didn't want to reveal the identity of the murderer."
Princess Taiping was surprised and said: "How is this possible? If someone kills him, does he still want to defend him?"
Wu Chengsi touched his nose and said:
"I'm just saying that there is a possibility. Yan Yaosheng's expression before his death was too weird. I always feel that this case may be more complicated than we imagined."
Princess Taiping smiled and said: "No matter how complicated it is, now that we have this buckle, we can find the murderer!"
"Oh? How to find it?"
"That's not easy. Gather all the guests at the banquet and ask them to bring their entourage with them. Whoever has a missing button on his clothes will be the murderer!"
Wu Chengsi said angrily:
"The murderer is not a fool. Even if he didn't notice the missing button when he committed the murder, he must have noticed it after the murder. Wouldn't he change his clothes?"
Princess Taiping flattened her lips and said, "Then this clue is useless, isn't it?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "It is more useful than you think, but you just didn't find the right way to use it."
Princess Taiping said angrily: "People also know that they are not as smart as you, so stop showing off and tell me quickly!"
Wu Chengsi pondered for a moment and said leisurely:
"Let's first release the news that a buckle was found next to the rockery, then randomly arrest a lonely servant of the Wei family, and finally release the news that there is only one piece of evidence left to close the case."
Princess Taiping blinked and said, "Then what?"
"There is nothing left to do. If you do all this well, the murderer will come to your door." Wu Chengsi said with a smile.
Princess Taiping rubbed her head, frowned and thought for a while, then pouted: "Second cousin, are there any clues you haven't told me?"
Wu Chengsi said: "You know everything I know."
"Then why can't I understand what you are saying?"
"You will understand then."
With that said, Wu Chengsi walked towards the guards in the distance, seemingly ready to give them their tasks.
Princess Taiping hurriedly grabbed him, grabbed his arm and said: "I don't want to wait to understand, I want to ask clearly now!"
Wu Chengsi really couldn't do anything to her, so he said: "Then if there is anything you don't understand, just ask."
Princess Taiping said:
"You just said that you want to spread the news, but if the murderer is those guests, the news will not reach their ears at all. How can they fall into the trap?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "No matter who the murderer is, he will definitely pay attention to every move of the Wei Mansion."
After a pause, he added: "Actually, I already roughly know who the murderer is."
Princess Taiping was shocked and said: "Who is it?"
"He is a servant of Wei Mansion."
Princess Taiping was stunned and retorted: "Even if the material of the buckle is very poor, it may not be the servants of the Wei family, it may be the entourage and guards brought by the guests!"
"It can't be them."
"Why?"
Wu Chengsi pointed his finger at the ground and said, "Where is this place?"
"Xu Guogong's Mansion."
"It's the back house of Duke Xu's mansion." Wu Chengsi corrected: "This is the residence of the female family members, and outsiders are not allowed to enter."
Princess Taiping said: "It may be that Yan Yaosheng brought that person here!"
"It's impossible."
Before Princess Taiping could ask, Wu Chengsi explained: "If you want to kill someone, would you risk walking a long way with him and then kill him?"
Princess Taiping murmured: "Yes, if someone sees him, he will be suspected easily."
Wu Chengsi smiled and said:
"We now know that the murderer wore very ordinary clothes and was able to freely enter the back house of Duke Xu's residence, so we are basically certain that the murderer is a servant of the Wei family."
Princess Taiping nodded repeatedly, her eyes shining brightly.
"So if we release the news about the buckle, the murderer will be very nervous. Then if we arrest someone at random, the murderer will secretly rejoice. After learning that we are missing the piece of clothing that is missing the buckle, he will provide us with it.
evidence!"
"That's it."
Wu Chengsi nodded secretly, Princess Taiping was indeed very smart, she could tell at once.
Princess Taiping continued:
"I've figured out everything else, but why do I need to find a lonely servant?"
Wu Chengsi smiled and said: "Because lonely people are the easiest to arouse others' suspicion, this can dispel the murderer's doubts."
Princess Taiping nodded and said: "Last question, even if we just arrest a random person, we still need to find a reason to arrest him, right?"
"This is easier. Yan Yaosheng has a wound on his body. We only need to use the location of the wound."
Princess Taiping understood what Wu Chengsi meant. He had previously asked her to use the wound location to exonerate Xue Yujin, and said with a smile:
"Okay, I understand everything. Let's make arrangements quickly."
Wu Chengsi said: "We don't need to make arrangements. We just need to tell the Wei family and let the Wei family do it."
Princess Taiping frowned and said, "Can't we do it ourselves?"
"It's not impossible, but this is Xu Guogong's mansion after all. It's more reliable to let the Wei family do it. I know you doubt the Wei family, but we still need to rely on their strength to catch the murderer of Yan Yaosheng."
Princess Taiping nodded in agreement.
In the middle of Haishi, the moon had risen above the treetops.
The night wind beside the rockery was getting colder and colder. Wu Chengsi asked his bodyguard to ask for Xu Guogong, and then asked the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion to deal with Yan Yaosheng's body and clean up the scene.
Seeing that Wu Chengsi had made arrangements, Princess Taiping ordered people to guard the surroundings and whispered: "Second cousin, do you think the money in the Wei family's secret treasury was stolen from the national treasury?"
Wu Chengsi said: "I'm not sure at the moment. Logically speaking, Wei Xuanzhen is so afraid of people knowing about the existence of the secret vault, so he must have a guilty conscience."
Princess Taiping said: "Yes, there must be something wrong with his reaction. I think the Wei family is very suspicious. They can't have so much money!"
Wu Chengsi said: "But the Wei family is indeed a gentry descended from the Han Dynasty. Their wealth accumulated over nearly a thousand years is naturally astonishing."
Princess Taiping glanced at Wu Chengsi with a somewhat proud expression.
"Second cousin, you don't understand the details of these big families. Even though they have a lot of property, these ancient wealthy nobles are the most extravagant and their expenses are extremely shocking."
Wu Chengsi suddenly remembered the "Zuimenglou" where the second lady of the Wei family often went, and nodded silently.
Princess Taiping continued:
"Nowadays, the aristocratic power of the aristocratic family is suppressed by the father and mother. They will only use more money and their wealth will decrease. It is impossible to have so much money!"
Wu Chengsi pondered: "So, the money in the Wei family's secret treasury is indeed questionable."
Princess Taiping said: "I think they were the ones who did it. They can't be wrong!"
Wu Chengsi raised his hand and said: "No, we can't draw conclusions easily until the two things are clear."
"Those two things?"
Wu Chengsi said: "Have you forgotten why we came to Wei Mansion?"
Princess Taiping was stunned for a moment and said: "You mean that organization?"
Wu Chengsi said in a deep voice:
"Yes, we previously suspected that the organization was stealing the treasury. However, judging from the information in the Woyang Jade Tablet, the people behind the organization are definitely not from the Wei family."
Princess Taiping propped up her chin and said, "What about one more thing?"
Wu Chengsi glanced at the rockery and said, "Of course Yan Yaosheng is dead."
Princess Taiping thought for a while and said: "That organization made an appointment to meet at the Wei Mansion on the day of Wei Xuanzhen's birthday party. Maybe they were the ones who killed Yan Yaosheng!"
"It's possible. We currently have two clues. One is Yan Yaosheng's death, and the other is the Wei family's huge money."
Princess Taiping blinked and said, "We can investigate Yan Yaosheng's death, but how should we investigate the Wei family's money?"
Wu Chengsi rubbed his hands and said with a smile:
"Let's first assume that this money was obtained from the national treasury. Then do you think that the Wei family can get this money without having any contact with the national treasury?"
Princess Taiping's eyes flashed and she said: "Yes, we only need to check the properties in his name. As long as there is any connection with the palace, we will focus on the investigation!"
At this moment, firelight flashed in the distance, and Duke Xu and the eldest daughter of the Wei family were seen coming together.
Xu Guogong glanced in the direction of the rockery and found that Yan Yaosheng's body had disappeared, and asked: "Your Highness, King Zhou, you have been checking here for a long time, have you found anything?"
Wu Chengsi said: "I can already confirm that the murderer is a servant of your Wei Mansion."
Xu Guogong was furious: "You mean, can I send someone to kill Yaosheng?"
Wu Chengsi said calmly: "I only said that he was a servant of the Wei Mansion, and did not say that it was you who instigated it."
Xu Guogong was stunned for a moment, unsure whether Wu Chengsi had really discovered something, and asked tentatively: "Then what are you going to do next?"
Wu Chengsi said: "If you want to find out the murderer, you may need the cooperation of Mr. Wei. First of all, I need a list of the servants of the Duke's mansion."
…
The night has grown dark, the cold wind is blowing, and the ice-disk-like bright moon has risen a little higher, illuminating the rockery in the apricot garden.
In the darkness of night, the blood on the rockery could no longer be seen clearly, but the smell of blood in the air had not dissipated.
Xinglin, which was noisy not long ago, now only has two Jingzhao government officials guarding the scene.
These two government officials are both over thirty years old and are experienced subordinates in Jingzhao Mansion. They have seen many similar scenes.
The murder scene, which would frighten ordinary people to the point of being unable to walk, was just a boring place to stand guard for the two of them.
The two of them didn't have any fear at all, but they just felt a little cold.
Even though the night wind in December is not unbearably cold, it always makes you realize that winter has arrived.
The two yamen servants stuck torches into the cracks in the rocks on the rockery and whispered about the important people attending today's birthday banquet.
At this moment, the taller of the two officials suddenly walked towards the gate of Xingyuan and looked outside for a few times.
Another person shouted: "What's wrong?"
"There's no one outside."
When the tall yamen officer walked back, he had a fox-like smile on his face.
The short yamen officer frowned and said, "If there is no one, there will be no one. Why are you laughing?"
The tall yamen officer glared and said, "Don't pretend to be stupid. I can smell the smell of sauced duck on you from five feet away. Why don't you take it out?"
"Damn it, I wrapped it with three layers of lotus leaves, and you can still smell it. You really have a dog's nose." The short yamen servant laughed and scolded.
The tall yamen servant took out a bottle of wine from his arms and hummed: "I don't want to eat your wine for free. This is wine from Dong's old shop in Liquanfang. Let's just have it."
The short yamen servant then took out the sauced duck wrapped in lotus leaves from his arms and said with a smile: "The wine of the old Dong family is very strong, I think you are quite interesting."
As they spoke, they placed the sauced duck on a protruding stone. The two of them did not hesitate at all that someone had just died here, and just started eating and drinking.
The tall yamen servant licked his fingers and said, "Is this braised by your wife herself?"
The short yamen servant nodded and said, "She guessed that I was called to the yamen so late and would have to spend the night outside, so she asked me to bring out the freshly marinated duck."
"Damn it, you idiot, you did find a good wife. Not only is she beautiful and virtuous, she is also so good at her craftsmanship!"
The tall yamen servant looked at the short yamen servant who was not even as tall as his chin, and felt quite indignant.
The short yamen servant felt proud, but said: "That's it. Sometimes he talks too much, which is quite annoying."
The tall yamen servant was extremely jealous and threw a bone towards the apricot grove.
Unexpectedly, with this throw, the sound of branches being trampled was suddenly heard in the forest.
The two government officials instantly grasped the handle of the knife, and the tall government official shouted: "Who is it?"
There was a sound of footsteps, and a man slowly walked out of the darkness.
The man was wearing a servant's uniform. He was shorter than the short yamen servant. He was extremely delicate and had soft features like a woman. He smiled and said, "Hello, you two catchers."
The tall yamen servant frowned and said, "Are you a servant of the Wei family?"
The man handed over a badge, smiled and nodded: "Yes."
The tall yamen officer took it, took a look at it, and murmured: "Gu Feng, temporary officer."
Huo Ran raised his head and asked: "Are you a temporary employee?"
Gu Feng smiled and said, "Yes, the Wei Mansion recently expanded the Buddhist temple, so some temporary servants were recruited, and I am one of them."
The tall yamen servant threw his badge back and said coldly: "It's so late, what are you doing sneaking around here?"
Gu Feng raised the small stove in his hand and said with a smile:
"I'm here to deliver a heater to the second young lady. Because it's relatively close here, I came across this and disturbed you two. I really feel sorry for it."
The tall yamen servant only felt that the other party's soft words and gentle smile made people feel good about him, so he waved his hand and said:
"A murder just occurred here. We were ordered to guard here. Please don't pass by here again."
Gu Feng was slightly startled and said, "Aren't those two going to guard here until dawn?"
The tall yamen servant said warily: "Why do you ask this?"
Gu Feng handed the stove over with a smile and said: "It's cold here at night, please take this and use it."
The short yamen servant was surprised and said: "Aren't you going to give it to the second lady? If you give it to us, won't the second lady blame you?"
Gu Feng said with a smile: "You two don't have to worry about me, I will just go get a heater."
The short yamen servant took the heater and said gratefully, "Thank you very much!" The tall yamen servant also nodded in thanks.
Gu Feng glanced around, suddenly sighed, turned around and left.
The short yamen servant asked hurriedly: "What's wrong with you?"
Gu Feng stopped and whispered:
"I just suddenly felt that something serious happened in my house, and no one came to tell me. It's just a little sad."
The tall yamen official frowned and said, "Didn't they tell you?"
Gu Feng shook his head: "For them, we only need to repair the Buddhist temple. Everything in the Duke's Mansion has nothing to do with us."
The short yamen officer snorted and said, "I didn't expect the people in the Duke's Mansion to be so indifferent. I think it would be best for you to resign your job quickly and leave here."
Gu Feng was stunned for a moment and said, "Why?"
The short yamen servant looked around and whispered:
"The person who died was the uncle of the Duke of Guo, and His Royal Highness the King of Zhou is personally investigating the matter. I think the Palace of the Duke of Guo may be in trouble. You'd better leave as soon as possible and don't get involved with them."
Gu Feng was surprised and said: "Yan, Master Yan is dead?"
The short servant nodded and said: "Yes, I will die on the rockery."
A line of tears flowed from the corner of Gu Feng's eyes, and he said, "Master Yan is such a good person, why would someone kill him?"
The short yamen servant asked: "Do you have a good relationship with him?"
Gu Feng shook his head and said softly: "Master Yan is the only person in the Duke's mansion who cares about us temporary servants."
The short yamen servant sighed:
"Don't be sad, listen to me, go back, quit your job, and leave the Duke's Mansion. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you can go to Yong'anfang to find me. My name is Feng Ma."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly froze and thought to himself: "Hey, why would I say such a thing to someone I met for the first time?"
However, after seeing Gu Feng thanking him with gratitude, he felt relieved again.
Gu Feng hesitated for a moment and said cautiously: "I wonder if I can ask how Master Yan died. It's okay if it's inconvenient."
The short yamen officer smiled and was about to speak when the tall yamen officer suddenly said: "You just said that only Master Yan in the Duke's mansion is good to you, right?"
Gu Feng nodded and sighed:
"Originally, the salary that the senior manager gave us was only half of that of ordinary servants. It was only after Master Yan helped us that we got the same salary as ordinary servants."
The tall yamen servant stared at him and said, "Then why did the second lady of the Wei family ask you to bring her a heater?"
Gu Feng showed a bitter smile and said: "Second Miss always likes to send me to do various things for her. I, I don't know why."
The short yamen servant thought to himself, "It must be because of your appearance." He glared at the tall yamen servant, as if blaming him for making Gu Feng sad.
The tall yamen officer also had all his doubts, and both of them answered Gu Feng's next questions.
Until Gu Feng said goodbye and left, the tall servant was still staring at his back in confusion.
The short yamen officer smiled and said: "Everyone has left, what are you still watching?"
The tall yamen servant was silent for a long time and murmured: "If he is a woman, I will definitely marry him home even if I risk my life!"
The short yamen servant laughed and scolded: "I think you are crazy about girls!"