Chapter 142: Split up
“Evidence found?”
In the hall, Zhao Duan, who was taking a nap in the Taishi chair, suddenly sat up and his sleepiness dissipated.
Zhang Han shook his head and said: "To be precise, it's the location of the evidence."
Next to her, Haitang turned around and walked back to the case.
In the middle of the pile of old books, the lamp oil was almost exhausted, with only a large flame jumping.
"Zhang Han and I searched all night and finally identified the two pieces of evidence that are most likely to kill Zhou Cheng."
Haitang handed him two pieces of yellowed paper: "A man named Zhang Zhu was the judge under Xue Lin back then. It was he who made the proposal of the late emperor's Holy Inquisitor. He was also implicated back then. Later he was demoted and returned to his hometown."
"The second one is a descendant of Pan Yushi who was falsely accused of bullying the emperor in the Imperial Procuratorate.
Of these two people, the former is probably still alive and was an eyewitness who witnessed the incident back then, while the latter tried to overturn the case and used Pan Yushi's connections to re-carry many files from those years. "
Haitang sounded excited:
"According to our argument, as long as we can get one of these two key pieces of evidence, combined with other scattered evidence, it is possible to restart the investigation of this old case. If we can get both pieces of evidence, it will be enough to prove that Zhou Cheng is incompetent. clean."
Zhao Duan didn't understand the twists and turns of detective work and law, but he believed in the professionalism of his two colleagues, and a smile appeared on his face:
"Well done!"
One night.
It only took one night to achieve a breakthrough, and the speed was terrifying.
Of course, without Yuan Li's intervention, they alone would have spent a lot of time.
"However, the only shortcoming is that these two key witnesses are not in the capital."
Zhang Han frowned and said: "Fortunately, it's not too far away. One is in Luan County, west of the capital. The other is to the north, at the border of Tieguan Road. If we set off now and everything goes well, it will take half a month to go back and forth."
Haitang suddenly shook her head. The female hall leader of Narcissus Hall walked to the table, took out a map, made an estimate, and spoke quickly: "You said it was a regular journey. , If you are a martial artist and ride a fast horse, you can travel day and night to at least seven days."
A journey of thousands of miles and a return trip of seven days?
Zhao Duan thought briefly and said:
"There are so many files, and the information about relevant people has been gathered, no matter how careful you are, you can't hide it. More than half a month is too long. Even if Mr. Yuan is covering it up, Zhou Cheng's ears and eyes are enough for him to react. Once he has Without preparation, it will be difficult.”
Haitang nodded and agreed with this view: "So, we don't have much time left.
In this way, I, Shuixian Tang, have a case heading towards Luan County, which was originally handed over to the lieutenant below to handle. In this case... I will go there, use the cover of a business trip, and leave the team alone, which can shorten the time to the greatest extent. "
So positive? Zhao Duan looked at her in surprise.
He vaguely guessed that by now, Haitang was no longer just assisting him in completing the Empress's mission.
Perhaps, for the Xue family, her purpose was to clear up the injustices of those innocent souls from the Zhengtong years.
Sitting in the position of Ji Si, do you still have such a sense of justice? Oh, by the way, she doesn’t seem to have climbed up from the bottom... The second generation has never been cruel in the workplace, and it is always easier to maintain kindness...
Speaking of which, which family is behind Haitang? It seems that I have never heard anyone mention it, it seems to be quite mysterious...
Zhao Duan looked admiring:
"That's great, but the Tieguan Road route still lacks a trustworthy person."
After saying that, the two of them stared at Zhang Han in tacit understanding, without saying anything, just staring.
"..." Zhang Han's paralyzed face twitched slightly, and he sighed helplessly:
"Okay, I'll get another piece of evidence."
Perfect!
Zhao Du appeased him and said with a smile:
"Zhao has the help of the sleeping dragon and the phoenix chick today, and great things can be accomplished."
What allusion is this? Zhang Han was puzzled.
Who do you think is Chu'er? Begonia's willow eyebrows stand upright.
The three of them discussed the details, and in order to rush for time, "Wolong" and "Fengchu" left separately and returned to their respective halls.
Prepare to leave the city under the pretext of a business trip to handle a case.
Zhao Duan was alone, wearing his coat, holding up the extinguished candlestick, pushing the door open and walking into the courtyard.
At this moment, the sky is green and dark, with a faint fish-belly white color on the horizon. On the big pear tree in the courtyard, pears are gradually maturing.
Perhaps, in a few days, it will be available for everyone in the hall to enjoy.
…
"Wake up, little lazy pig, stop sleeping."
Zhao Duan walked to the next door to check the room and saw the cute new girl Jinyi lying on the table sleeping, so he called softly.
"ah!"
Qian Kerou woke up with a start, and stood up in a panic. Half of her round face covered with collagen had red marks, and there was crystal water flowing from the corner of her mouth:
"Sir...sir!"
Zhao Duan put on his clothes and hugged the black iron candlestick: "Go to my room and sleep."
Qian Kerou acted as a doorman last night and kept opening the door for the servants of the Yuan Mansion. Now her head was pounding:
"oh!"
"Wait a minute," Zhao Duan remembered something: "I want you to send someone to look for Qin Qiu, but he hasn't been brought here yet?"
Qian Kerou shook his head blankly and said no.
Zhao Duan frowned, feeling uneasy. Could it be that Qin Qiu was fooling around outside last night and didn't come home? Is that why I can’t find it?
At this time, footsteps were heard outside the cold Lihua Hall, and an entourage under Qian Kerou came in with a tired face and unexpectedly said:
"Sir? You came so early?"
I didn't leave at all... Zhao Duan's face was expressionless.
Qian Kerou's eyes lit up: "Where is the person I ordered you to find? Mr. Ji Si wants to see him."
The attendant said with a bitter face:
"Sir, my subordinate followed the address to the Qin family and learned that Qin Qiu was not there. His family said they didn't know where he was hanging out. He didn't come back the night before yesterday. They only told me a few possible places.
The subordinates were thinking about what you ordered, so they didn't dare to delay, so they simply went to all the places for fun that the Qin family told them about.
Finally, we found out that Qin Qiu stayed at Jiaofangsi the night before yesterday, but left yesterday morning. As for where he went, the women in Jiaofangsi didn’t know...
Thinking that in such a big capital, it would be like finding a needle in a haystack, I simply went back to Qin's house to wait. However, in the middle of the night, no one was there, so I had to come back to resume my life. "He's missing?"
Zhao Duan's head sank, and his uneasiness quietly increased. He took out a silver ingot from the wallet at his waist and threw it over:
"Thank you for your hard work, let's go and rest."
The entourage was overjoyed, thanked him and left.
"Sir, are you in a hurry to find him?" Qian Kerou asked softly when she saw his brows furrowed.
Zhao Duan waved his hand without explaining, threw the candlestick to the secretary, and returned alone to the hall filled with documents.
With Qin Qiu's character, it is not unusual for him to hang out with many dandy boys all day long and not see him for two days.
But at this juncture, Zhao Duan will not let anything go wrong.
He reached into his arms and took out the stored magic weapon "Taixu Picture Scroll". With a slight shake, a small simple jade mirror fell out. It was the "Fengyue Treasure Mirror".
Zhao Duan held on to the mirror and silently recalled Qin Qiu's appearance in his mind.
The waves on the mirror shook, and gradually, a scene appeared in the mirror.
It was a dark prison. Under the light of the fire, Qin Qiu was beaten until his nose was bruised and his face was swollen. His silk clothes were covered with blood. He was holding on to the railings and patting them gently.
"Is he in jail?"
Zhao Duan was startled and tried to zoom out. Gradually, through the markers, he recognized that this was the prison of Dali Temple!
Dali Temple...Qin Qiu...
As soon as these two keywords appeared, Zhao Duan's face suddenly darkened, and he realized something was wrong: "Qin Qiu has always been a smooth man, and he has attached himself to many powerful people. How could he enter Dali Temple without saying a word? Especially at this juncture, could it be that..."
Many clues were running around in Zhao Duan's mind, giving rise to a bad premonition.
He lowered his eyes and observed the bronze mirror of the magic weapon for a moment, guessing that the magic power inside could support another peek.
He pondered for a moment and gave up spying on Zhou Cheng, but tried his best to recall the face of "Wang Shan" that had appeared in his memory.
The scene inside the mirror shattered, then slowly rippled, forming a new scene.
The purpose of his spying this time was not to determine Wang Shan's status, but to stimulate the brain and activate the dust-laden memories related to him by "looking at" him.
After about ten breaths, a new picture appeared in the mirror:
In a bedroom, on a bed covered with silk, a man and a woman were sleeping soundly.
The man is about forty or fifty years old. He looks like he has albinism. He has only a few light beards on his chin. He is fat and has ordinary facial features.
At this moment, Dalie was lying on his back like a fat pig, holding a beautiful white body in his arms.
She was a pretty concubine, with her arms around the middle-aged man, sleeping soundly, as if she was extremely tired, with spots of wax and whip marks on her body.
And the messy bed tells the story of last night's madness.
Zhao Du was fine with the small whip and other crime tools discarded by the window, and stared at the middle-aged man's face. His mind began to throb, and little memories emerged.
Wang's house...
Qin Qiu and himself...
Wangshan...
Beautiful woman... bedroom...
boom!
It was as if glass was broken in his mind, and memories rushed out, vivid and clear. Zhao Duan closed his eyes to "observe", his face uncertain.
In the small mirror in his hand, the picture gradually shattered.
After a long time, Zhao Duan opened his eyelids, let out a deep breath, looked at the piles of papers on the table, suddenly chuckled, and whispered to himself:
"That's how you play, right..."
After thinking for a while, Zhao Duan eliminated several countermeasures that came to his mind.
Finally, he took out the silver scroll again, put the bronze mirror back, and fished out a yellow incense stick.
Astonishingly, it was the liaison weapon left to him by the golden slip to summon him.
"It's not yet dawn, so I probably haven't slept yet..."
Zhao Duan stood up, lit the yellow incense with a fire stick, and fixed it on the table.
The head of the incense burns red and bright, as if it is burning a hole in the night. The green smoke curls up and rises straight up, passing through the beams and ridges of the roof...
After a while, the wind suddenly picked up and the green smoke shook violently.
The air was distorted, and a young priest wearing a black priest robe, with a delicate face, slightly curled hair at the end, and divergent eyes slowly emerged.
She stared at him with lowered eyes, expressionless and angry, as if she was asking for an explanation.
Zhao Duan raised his head, looked at the girl floating on the pile of papers, and smiled.
…
The sky gradually became brighter, and as a famous man in Jinyi went to work, the imperial office became lively.
"Didn't you sleep last night?"
When Hou Renmeng, Shen Juan and Old Man Zheng stepped into Lihuatang and saw Qian Kerou holding a "punch book", they were shocked.
"I'm sleeping...yawning..."
Qian Kerou's eyelids drooped, and he was about to answer when suddenly, he heard the closed door of the hall behind him being pushed open from the inside out.
Wearing an official robe and full of energy, Zhao Duan came out with his hands behind his back.
"Sir!" The four people bowed and saluted.
Zhao Duan glanced at his men, and the corner of his mouth curled up in a dangerous arc:
"Let's go have breakfast first. When all the brothers arrive, we will set off with my officer."
Qian Kerou was confused: "What to do?"
Zhao Duan showed his white teeth and spit out two words:
"Arrest him!"
(End of chapter)