In the county government compound, the snow was falling more and more densely, and the huge iron coffin was already covered with a layer of silver.
Those standing in the courtyard, regardless of the cold weather, stood on tiptoe, always paying attention to the changes in the courtroom.
"Let's start with the Iron Coffin Case!" Xu Zun, head of the case, raised his chest and said loudly, "This case has been complicated and confusing from the beginning, and it is so weird that we have never been able to grasp the key points of it and have no way to investigate it.
“But in fact, we just ignored one of the most basic elements in this case, which is the means of transportation!
"We don't know how the murderer transported such a huge and heavy iron coffin to Zhangqiao.
“At that time,” Xu Zun said, “we checked the roads on both sides of Zhangqiao, but could not find the corresponding ruts, which led us to think that the iron coffin fell from the sky!
"To be honest with you, this question has been bothering me for a long time, and it wasn't until one day that I finally found the answer." Xu Zun turned around, pointed at the iron coffin in the courtyard and said, "I wonder if you still remember,
How long did it take the workers just now to transport this iron coffin to the courtyard and place it in place?"
When Xu Zun said this, everyone started to recall.
"Don't think about it, I'll tell you the answer!" Xu Zun said, "It took them two hours to transport the iron coffin from Yizhuang to the county government office and finally place it in place!"
Two hours is the modern four hours.
"Oh?" Everyone frowned, obviously not understanding what Xu Zun meant.
"Don't you understand?" Xu Zun said seriously, "A few days ago, our county government officials took two hours to transport the iron coffin from Zhangqiao back to Yizhuang. What does this mean?"
"Hmm..." Everyone started thinking, and one of the government officials said to himself, "The road seems to be longer, right?"
"Yes!" Xu Zun immediately gave the man a thumbs up, "The distance from Zhangqiao to Yizhuang is more than ten times that from Yizhuang to the county government.
"Everyone, why did it take the same time to move the iron coffin twice? Can anyone tell me what this means?"
"Oh...I understand!" At this time, Chen Taiji, the censor in the court, thought of the answer, "It's because people are different!"
"Awesome," Xu Zun snapped his fingers and praised, "Master Censor, you have hit the mark. The people responsible for carrying the iron coffin today are all newly hired workers. They have never carried such a heavy thing before.
, so time was wasted due to unskilled operation.
"Last time, in addition to the hired migrant workers, the people responsible for the transportation were also our county government servants and police officers.
"I didn't expect that it was their first time to move an iron coffin, but why could they move it so smoothly? This is really... intriguing!"
Xu Zun deliberately slowed down his speech and took the opportunity to scan the people in the courtyard to observe their reactions.
"Xu Zun," asked the governor Li Yan, "what do you mean? Are you saying that there is something wrong with the people in your county government?"
"Lord Governor, there is a big problem!" Xu Zun said with wide eyes, "In addition to the people, there was also a big problem with the carriage used to carry the iron coffin.
"I observed carefully at the time and found that there were many scratch marks on the frame, which were consistent with the shape of the iron coffin. The key is that those scratch marks were not new.
"Also, the size of the frame is just right, and the two old horses pulling the cart seem to be familiar with the road. This is not the first time to pull such heavy goods...
"So, at that time, I had a bold idea in my mind," Xu Zun raised the corner of his mouth and said, "The reason why the murderer of the iron coffin case did not leave any traces was not because he wanted to create mystery, but because he did not want to let anyone know about it.
People discovered that the iron coffin was actually pulled over by the county government’s carriage!”
Oh oh oh...
Xu Zun's words were surprising and once again caused people to shout in surprise. Some people even made a surprised sound similar to a rooster crowing.
"Isn't this... is this bizarre?" County Prime Minister Luo Wanwan said, wiping cold sweat, "That carriage is used by our county government to pull coal in winter. If the murderer used the iron coffin pulled by that carriage, you...
...Are you not saying that our entire county government, I...we..."
At this point, Luo Wanwan had doubts about himself for the first time, and there was also a sense of uncertainty in his eyes when he looked at Qiu Yongnian.
"Hahaha..." Xu Zun suddenly laughed, causing the noisy discussion at the scene to stop. He said loudly, "Everyone, don't worry, this is just the beginning, the fun is yet to come.
"Magistrate Qiu," he turned to Qiu Yongnian and said, "If one person does bad things alone, it may be easy to be exposed, but if a group of people do bad things together, wouldn't it be easier to be discovered?"
"You..." Qiu Yongnian blushed, but didn't know how to refute.
"Do you think that my original intention to investigate the big case in Qijiawu was really my intention? It was just a cover-up!" Xu Zun said harshly, "At that time, I had already noticed that something was wrong and realized that something was wrong.
My opponent is not alone at all.
"So, I can only use the excuse of investigating the Qijiawu case to investigate what I really want to investigate."
"Oh?" After hearing this, Qiu Yongnian trembled slightly, and his body could not help but feel nervous.
“In the archives room,” Xu Zun continued, “I deliberately pushed down the bookshelves and pretended to be mad because I couldn’t find any clues.
"In fact, I quietly opened the latch of the archives' iron window, and that night, a friend sneaked into the archives and took away what I wanted!"
Snap, snap!
Saying that, Xu Zun clapped his hands twice, and a tall woman immediately walked in at the door of the court, it was the Iron Umbrella female general Huo Anu!
Huo Anu held a stack of files in his hand. After entering the court, he threw them on the ground.
"Master Qiu, these are our Xinye County's personnel files, compiled by Master Liu Zhang himself." Xu Zun said, "When I looked through these files carefully, I suddenly made an astonishing discovery.
"This astonishing discovery is completely consistent with my previous guess. From this, I am even more certain that the person who has been controlling the overall situation behind the scenes is - you!!!"
"Ah?" Qiu Yongnian was startled again, and his expression became even more ugly.
"Xu Zun, tell me quickly." At this moment, the governor Li Yan almost stood up and asked again and again, "What exactly did you find?"
"I discovered that since Mr. Qiu came to Xinye County to take office a year ago, he has successively mobilized personnel in the county and arranged for more than 20 people to serve in the county government.
"There are masters here, there are yamen servants, there are catchers, there are handymen, and of course, there are jailers." Xu Zun said, "Originally, when new officials take office, there is a new atmosphere, and the county magistrate's arrangement of duties is natural and there is nothing to say.
"But the strange thing about this is that the people he arranged are all foreigners without exception!
"It doesn't matter that they are all foreigners! Mr. Qiu is from Nangeng, Shangzhou. If these foreigners are the same hometown of Mr. Qiu, it would make sense.
"But these people are all from different states and counties. This is hard to understand, right?
"So, with this question in mind, I asked Miss Huo to help me check various industries in Xinye County to see if there were any foreigners who came to the local area to engage in other jobs before and after Magistrate Qiu took office.
"This investigation is incredible, and more than 20 people were found!
"These include almost all walks of life in Xinye County. Oh, by the way, there are a few of them that I can name." Xu Zun raised the corner of his mouth and showed an evil smile, "For example, the postman Liang San
, Cheng Wen, the owner of the post house, and You Dalang and his wife from the silk and satin shop..."
