Chapter 68 Patrol by the Ministry of Punishment (1/3)
Wu Chengsi stayed in the mansion the whole next day.
Han Cheng went to Dali Temple and reported that Zhuge Nan had returned to Dali Temple last night. He seemed to have some clues, so he mobilized some people and went out again.
Another day passed like this. At noon that day, Zheng Lingxuan left the imperial city and came to the soup cake stall she often frequented. Just as she was about to order a bowl of soup cake, she suddenly heard someone calling her.
When she turned around, she saw that the person calling her was Zhang Lei.
"Why are you here?" She walked over to Zhang Lei and sat down.
Zhang Lei ate a large bowl of soup cake. While eating, he said: "I come here to eat at noon every day, but you, how can you come to a place like this?"
Zheng Lingxuan shouted loudly, "Staff, a bowl of soup cakes," and smiled, "Is it weird that I come here to eat?"
Zhang Lei glanced at her and said vaguely: "I heard them all say that you are the Lord of Xuanyang Township, and as a woman you can serve in the Ministry of Punishment. You must be from a noble family, right?"
"I'm just an ordinary person." Zheng Lingxuan shook her head and changed the subject: "During your recent investigation, have you encountered foreigners committing crimes?"
Zhang Lei suddenly raised his head: "Why do you ask this?"
Seeing his reaction, Zheng Lingxuan asked, "Have you ever encountered him? Tell me quickly!"
Seeing her staring straight at him, Zhang Lei looked away and said, "There is a case that happened outside the city. I heard from people in Chang'an County that it was probably the Khitans who did it."
"When did it happen?" Zheng Lingxuan asked anxiously.
"Just this morning, someone went to Chang'an County to report a crime, saying that a family of four was killed forty miles north of the city. As you know, as long as more than three people are killed, it must be reported to the Ministry of Punishment, which will send people to supervise the investigation.
, so the superiors sent me to take a look."
"When are you going to check?"
"Go after dinner."
"Take me with you!" Zheng Lingxuan stared at him closely.
Zhang Lei was stunned and asked curiously: "Why are you so interested in this case?"
"Don't ask any questions, just eat quickly. Let's get on our way after eating." After that, Zheng Lingxuan shouted to the waiter: "Why hasn't my soup cake arrived yet? Can you hurry up!"
Zhang Lei saw that Zheng Lingxuan was not polite at all and yelled at the waiter, showing no ladylike image. He thought to himself: "Isn't she a lady?" While thinking, he ate silently.
Not long after, the two finished eating the soup cakes and headed out of the city together.
After riding the horse for more than half an hour, we first went north along the official road, then turned west. After a while, we could see several wooden houses in the wilderness in the distance.
After walking in, I discovered that it was a family home. Behind the main house in the north was a hill, with a kitchen and a woodshed on the left and right.
There is a fence on the south side, forming a square courtyard with three huts. There are chickens and ducks in the courtyard, but unfortunately the owner of the courtyard is no longer there.
There were seven or eight police officers standing in the courtyard. The leader was lecturing one of his subordinates. After seeing Zheng Lingxuan and the other two, the police officer in charge quickly stepped forward and said, "Are you two from the Ministry of Punishment?"
Zhang Lei took out a piece of paper from his arms and gave it to him and said, "Please tell me the details of the case."
This piece of paper was an attachment to the case sent to the Ministry of Punishment from Chang'an County. Seeing that it was stamped, the police officer took the lead and said: "This family's surname is Lei. There are four people in total, two adults and two children. They originally lived not far from here.
Leijia Village, five miles away, was moved out later because of disagreements with the villagers."
The leading detective, whose surname was Chen, explained to the two of them and led them into the main house. The door was damaged. Zheng Lingxuan's heart skipped a beat when she entered the house.
The house was in a mess, with three corpses lying in total. An adult woman died near the door, and two children about ten years old fell at the door leading to the inner room.
"Didn't you say there were four people?" Zhang Lei frowned.
"There is another person who died in the wild. That person's name was Lei Hu, and he was the head of the family. His body was badly eaten by wild beasts and was placed in the woodshed. Do you want to go in and have a look?" Chen Qiao asked tentatively,
He knew that many officials from the Ministry of Justice couldn't bear to see that scene.
Zhang Lei nodded and followed Agent Chen out quickly.
Zheng Lingxuan did not follow, and kept staring at the faces of the two children. They had many external injuries on their bodies, and the fear before death remained on their faces.
After a while, Zheng Lingxuan put away her emotions, left the main house, and came to the woodshed, where she saw Zhang Lei checking the body. Zheng Lingxuan only took one look at the body and almost vomited it out.
She had always considered herself brave, but after seeing the half-gnawed corpse, she recognized herself again. Especially when she saw Zhang Lei inspecting the corpse nonchalantly.
Zhang Lei usually looks dull, but once he handles a case, he seems to be a different person, and his eyes become extremely sharp.
After seeing the body, he asked Agent Chen to take him to the death scene in the wild, and Zheng Lingxuan also followed.
It was a small forest, and there was a death spot on the ground that the policemen had piled up with stones.
Zheng Lingxuan followed Zhang Lei and did not disturb him. She only saw him rummaging around the ground near Lei Hu's body for inspection. He also ran to a tree and looked at it for a long time, and then stood far away to look at the tree.
Zheng Lingxuan believed that he must have discovered something.
Not long after, Zhang Lei returned to the wooden house at the foot of the hill and carefully inspected the body in the main room. Zheng Lingxuan squatted beside him and watched.
The body of the adult woman was the same as that of the child. In addition to the fatal wound on the neck, there were many external injuries.
Immediately afterwards, Zhang Lei went into the inner room to take a look. There was also some mess inside, and the cabinets and bed had been turned upside down.
Agent Chen stood by the door, folded his arms and said, "These Khitan people are really crazy. They killed everyone and made the house a mess."
Zheng Lingxuan speculated: "Could it be that they did it deliberately to make us think that bandits committed the crime?"
Captain Chen quickly clapped his hands and praised: "You are right, why didn't I think of that?"
At this moment, Zhang Lei stood up and asked Detective Chen: "Why do you suspect that the Khitans killed this family?"
Captain Chen smiled and said: "You two, please follow me." He led the two of them to the woodshed and saw a dead dog lying in the corner.
Detective Chen squatted next to the dead dog, pointed to the gap in the wall of the woodshed, and said: "This dog was shot to death. Although the arrows on the dog were taken away, we also found them in the woodshed.
An arrow."
Zheng Lingxuan stared at the gap and said: "When someone shot the dog, the arrow must have entered the woodshed through the gap."
Detective Chen laughed and said: "That's it. I asked someone to look at it. The arrows and wood are different from the arrows we use. They are arrows unique to the Khitan people. Although the Khitan people took away the arrows from the dogs, they still
One was missing in the woodshed."
Zheng Lingxuan was silent for a moment and asked in confusion: "Why do these Khitan people want to kill this family?"
Just as Agent Chen was about to say "still investigating", Zhang Lei said: "They should be looking for something!"
"Looking for something?" Agent Chen asked in surprise.
Zhang Lei nodded slightly: "You guys come with me." As he said that, he led the two of them to the place where Lei Hu died.
He walked to a piece of downed grass and said: "Judging from the traces on the ground, horses passed here, at least five or more."
Then he motioned for the two of them to stand here, walked behind a big tree in the distance, and shouted loudly: "There are footprints under this tree, and there are traces of arrows on the tree, and the direction is from you.
Came here."
Then he ran in the opposite direction to them. Not long after, he fell to the ground with a thud. The position where he fell was the position of Lei Hu's body!
When Zhang Lei came over, Zheng Lingxuan said: "I understand. Several Khitan people must have passed by on horseback. Lei Hu was hiding behind a tree. Those Khitan people noticed him and shot arrows at him. After he was hit by the arrow,
He ran away in the opposite direction, but after running a few steps he was seriously injured and died!"
Zhang Lei said solemnly: "He didn't get hit by an arrow and run away, but he got hit by an arrow after running away, otherwise there would be blood stains under the tree!"
Zheng Lingxuan's heart sank. They still killed people after seeing the figure. This meant that they killed Lei Hu deliberately, and it could be ruled out that it was a manslaughter.
Agent Chen was puzzled: "But how does this mean they are looking for something?"
Zhang Lei's eyes turned cold: "Under normal circumstances, they would just kill someone and leave immediately, but not only did they not leave, they went to Lei Hu's home and killed his family."
Detective Chen asked: "Could it be that they have a grudge against the Lei Hu family?"
Zhang Lei glanced at him: "How could Lei Hu, an ordinary hunter, have enmity with the Khitans? In addition to fatal injuries, the three deceased people in the wooden house also had trauma from torture. There were also signs of rummaging in the bedroom. This can only be
It means they are looking for something or someone!"
Detective Chen held up his hands and praised: "You are indeed a high-ranking official from the Criminal Department. I didn't expect to find out the motive of the crime so quickly!"
Zheng Lingxuan felt that this case would be of great help to Wu Chengsi, so she smiled at Zhang Lei and said, "Captain Zhang, thank you very much! I'll leave first." After that, she walked towards the courtyard gate.
"Where are you going?" Zhang Lei shouted.
"I'm going back to the city. You can continue investigating the case. Remember to let me know if there is any news." He waved his riding whip and ran towards Chang'an City.