When the book-traveling little detective meets the two-faced prince

Upon hearing this, everyone present was shocked.

Deng Yang, the only citizen who followed, had a different expression in his eyes from everyone else. His shock was mixed with disbelief, and he looked a little dazed and at a loss.

"No... Impossible." Deng Yang's eyes widened, and he shook his head in disbelief. "Mr. Chang treated us very well, he would never do such a thing. Impossible... Are you... Are you mistaken?"

Deng Yang looked at Jiang Lian'an who was standing beside him with a pleading look, but Jiang Lian'an did not make any excuses and remained silent.

Jiang Lian'an's silence undoubtedly agreed with what Lin Lezhi said.

"is it wrong?"

Lin Lezhi asked softly, but there was no trace of uncertainty or hesitation in his voice. He then looked at the bewildered Deng Yang and asked, "Brother Deng, I am not from here, and I am not clear about the arrangements of the Lantern Festival. Brother Deng has never missed a Lantern Festival. I wonder if Brother Deng can help me solve my doubts?"

"……what?"

Lin Lezhi looked at Deng Yang with an unwavering and insightful gaze and said, "How were the sacrificial boats chosen for the Lantern Festival in the past, and where were they chosen?"

Lin Lezhi just asked this simple question. Everyone else was confused and puzzled as to why Lin Lezhi asked this question. Only Deng Yang opened his eyes wide as if he had been hit on the head, with astonishment in his eyes, and stood there in a daze.

"Brother Deng?"

Deng Yang came back to his senses after hearing Lin Lezhi's question. He looked dazed and a little helpless. He said, "The boats are selected by the people. The selected boats are then inspected by the government. The government will affix a document with an official seal to the boats that have been selected. In the past, they were selected by the Ping...Pinghai Lake."

"Have you ever moved to another place in all these years?"

“…No…No…”

"That's it." Seeing Deng Yang's bewildered expression, Lin Lezhi did not continue to ask, and then retracted his gaze to look at everyone and continued to answer: "A month ago, Chang Feizhang ordered the boats that were originally docked at the lake to be moved to the river connected to the lake and sealed. Until yesterday morning, Chang County Magistrate lifted the order to seal the boats, and prepared a fishing boat for General Cheng to go to the island at the lakeside. However, except for the fishing boat prepared for General Cheng, there are no more fishing boats on the lake."

"I think... County Magistrate Chang probably felt that this was not appropriate and was on guard, so he did not release all the fishing boats and only sent out the fishing boats that General Cheng needed. But that's strange, isn't it?"

"It was as if he had anticipated that something would happen later, and General Cheng would ask him to search for Wu Sanshan's background. Moreover, when General Cheng only asked him to find out his background, he took the initiative to go to the place where the ship was sealed to search for Wu Sanshan's ship, and brought back the news that he found nothing. Then, he asked General Cheng, contrary to his usual behavior, whether the sacrificial rituals should also be released at the same time."

"A few days ago, you begged General Cheng to think twice before going to the island, but then you took the initiative to ask whether we could hold a lantern festival. Isn't this a contradiction? And the ship that was burned and unclaimed happened to be Wu Sanshan's. Isn't this too much of a coincidence?"

"Or maybe he has another purpose, so he had to do this." Facing the shocked eyes of the crowd, Lin Lezhi continued to speak calmly and slowly: "Since the other boats are not on the lakeside, they can only be at the dock. If you want to select the ritual boat for the sacrifice, you can only choose it at the dock. There are yamen runners guarding there, and the people cannot get close except when selecting the sacrificial boat. After the government checks it, they can easily change the position of the seal and replace the boat without anyone noticing."

"However, these are just my guesses, and no one can testify. The mere fact of delaying the release of the ship cannot be considered as evidence. After all, the only people who could switch the ships without anyone noticing were Magistrate Chang and the several guards. What really made me suspicious of Magistrate Chang were two other points."

"What two points?"

Liu Yunhe became more and more concerned about the truth of the matter and asked.

"First, it is what Magistrate Chang said and did before coming to the lake island." Lin Lezhi looked at Cheng Su and asked, "General Cheng, do you still remember what Magistrate Chang was like after the first murder happened by the lake?"

Hearing this, Cheng Su looked displeased, and said angrily, "If you are timid, you will never amount to anything."

"That's right. When Magistrate Chang saw Wu Sanshan's body, he was so frightened that he seemed to have lost half his soul. From what he said and did, we can infer that he did not know Wu Sanshan. It was not until the appearance of the Zhou Yuanliang brothers that he identified the deceased as Wu Sanshan."

"But County Magistrate Chang is a good official recognized by the people. Since he took office, he has personally handled all matters of the town, big or small. Even though Huaifeng Village might be in danger, he did not care about his own safety and personally led the yamen runners to search the island. When he received the threatening letter, he tried every means to prevent the people from going to the island. Even though his official position was low, he resolutely risked his life to ask General Cheng not to go to the island. He was pushed outside the tent by Lieutenant Hong and sprained his foot."

At this point, Cheng Su's eyes shot towards Lin Lezhi like sharp arrows, with a hint of displeasure in his gloomy expression.

Lin Lezhi pretended not to notice Cheng Su's gaze, but in fact he was sweating in his heart and continued, "Just imagine, how could such a good official who loves the people like his own children and is trusted and loved by the people not recognize Wu Sanshan, who is well-known throughout the town and even has a reputation outside Pinghai Town?"

"Afterwards, when everyone suspected that there was a murderer hiding on the island and was uneasy and could not find any clues, he blurted out a guess that it might be the work of the people of Huaifeng Village who disappeared that year, which led the people to think that it was the work of wronged ghosts. This coincided with the various strange things that happened after arriving on the island. Everything was invisibly guiding and deepening everyone's thoughts that this case was the work of wronged ghosts."

"The inconsistency between his words and actions is the first reason why I suspect him, and the second reason..." Lin Lezhi looked at a certain place in the tomb, his eyes deepened, "That is the key clue that makes me suspect that it was County Magistrate Chang who did it."

Everyone followed Lin Lezhi's gaze and saw bloody footprints heading towards the huge gate.

"Bloody footprints?" Meng Dafeng asked in confusion, "These bloody footprints don't look like something a human could have made. How can they be considered clues?"

Lin Lezhi's eyes were calm and firm, and he said slowly: "It is because it doesn't look like a human coming out that we have a clue."

Lin Lezhi paused and continued, "I said before that on the night when Magistrate Chang begged General Cheng not to go to the island, Captain Hong pushed him outside the tent and sprained his foot. His foot injury had not healed yet and he had been walking on the island for so long with the pain, which made his foot injury more serious. Therefore, when he walked, he could only put the center of gravity of his body on his left foot as much as possible, and his right foot could only touch the ground to relieve the pain and barely maintain walking."

As Lin Lezhi spoke, he imitated Chang Feizhang's walking posture, and his walking posture was almost the same size as the bloody footprints on the ground.

Everyone suddenly understood.

After knowing that it was not the work of wronged ghosts, the anxiety of the people present eased a lot.

The bloody footprint with only the heel exposed under Ju Men undoubtedly indicated that Chang Feizhang went behind Ju Men.

"Since he was able to get in, it means there must be a way to open this stone door, but..." Liu Yunhe looked at the coffins around the tomb, confused, "It doesn't look like there are any mechanisms inside, how can it be opened?"

"I already know this."

As soon as Liu Yunhe finished speaking, Lin Lezhi continued, and everyone looked at Lin Lezhi in surprise.

"How do I open it?"

Cheng Su asked in a serious voice.

Lin Lezhi had observed it carefully when he searched the entire tomb just now.

Lin Lezhi walked to the huge door, looked at the slit in the middle and said, "This door looks like it opens to both sides, but it's just a trick. The way to open it is on this door."

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi pointed to a carving on the iron gate.

Everyone looked and saw that the place he was pointing at was a white snake with its eyes closed and its tongue sticking out.