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

"From this account book, we can see that Ziheng would always re-copy the books that the people ordered that day. The next day, after he got the books from the bookseller, he would bring them to the inn for the people to pick up."

There are no entries in the account books after September 14th.

Looking at the large blank page after the fourteenth, Lin Lezhi continued, "There was no note left on the fifteenth day, which means that Guan Ziheng went to the bookseller to hand in the book list that day, and when he appeared in front of everyone again, he had been replaced."

That day.

Guan Ziheng didn't come back for a long time, so someone else was sent to deliver the books.

He was worried about Guan Ziheng so he left the inn to look for him. Soon after he left the inn, he met Guan Ziheng in the market. He was holding a lot of food and two candied haws in his hands.

After seeing Lin Lezhi, he took the initiative to hand over one.

'Why is it someone else who is delivering the books today?'

"I am just trying to cooperate with you. I see that your friends don't know that you are writing a book, and you haven't mentioned it to them, so I think you don't plan to tell them."

"Your friends are not fools. If I run in with a bunch of books, they can easily figure out the connection."

……

Lin Lezhi recalled what Guan Ziheng said to him that day.

The reason why he had no doubts was because with Guan Ziheng's intelligence, he would definitely be able to see that he and Xiao Yihuo and his group were evading and covering up something.

Guan Ziheng is a thoughtful person and treats himself sincerely, so it is normal for him to consider this aspect for himself.

Can……

Now that I think about it, Guan Ziheng who appeared at that time has been replaced.

In order to conceal the fact that he was Wuyouke, Lin Lezhi did not reveal the true situation of the conversation that day. He said with a gloomy look, "He was late that day and asked someone else to deliver the book. It was not because he happened to change the person delivering the book, nor because he was hungry and anxious to buy food. Instead, he had to replace the story in the book before the book reached everyone and hide the evidence of his crime."

He paused, his eyes darkened, and he said, "This way, everything will be perfect. He can continue with his next plan. When he returns to the island as Guan Ziheng, he will secretly replace the one in Brother He's hand."

At this point, He Yu suddenly thought of something and said in surprise, "It was the day when we took off our armor and took a bath by the lake. That day..." He Yu quickly changed his words and said, "It was he who said we smelled. After we took a bath, he also took out the book of the Four Great Mysteries from my armor."

"That's right." Lin Lezhi confirmed what He Yu said, and then said: "When he took out the book, he had already completed the replacement. If he wants to cheat, there is one more thing he must do."

"what?"

"If he wants to get the book the next day without attracting attention, in addition to replacing Guan Ziheng's identity, he must also appear at the Jianghe Inn on the 14th."

"How can this be..."

He Yu was in disbelief at the moment and wanted to say that he did not see Qiao Ying at Jianghe Inn that day, but when he was halfway through his words, he glanced at Qiao Ying who was squatting on the ground playing with lanterns.

Since Qiao Ying can pretend to be Guan Ziheng, she can naturally pretend to be someone else and appear in the inn to order books from Guan Ziheng.

"Detective Jiang Gui is saying... Qiao Ying has appeared in Jianghe Inn in disguise?"

"That's right. Before he showed up at the Jianghe Inn, no one from outside the town knew who Qiao Ying was, and people in Pinghai Town wouldn't mention him for no reason. The book Four Mysterious Cases has only been published for a short time, and few people buy it unless they like this kind of book. Judging from the fact that he replaced it with the book Four Mysterious Cases, he must have decided to get the book after hearing Brother He's description of the book at the inn, otherwise he could have ordered the book a few days earlier."

Lin Lezhi paused for a moment, then continued, "Besides, he said it himself that day by the lake."

That day.

He Yu was afraid that Cheng Su would know that he was reading idle books, so when Cheng Su took the book out of He Yu's clothes and was about to ask him, He Yu was so scared that he held him down. The soldiers next to him also covered for He Yu and pressed him to the ground together.

Being pressed to the ground, he struggled and looked very panicked.

Then, after finally getting away, he said.

'This book has just been published, and only one person in the entire Pinghai Town has bought it. I just want to ask who is so discerning to buy such a book.'

Upon hearing this, everyone present narrowed their eyes.

Lin Lezhi narrowed his eyes slightly, raised the account book in his hand and said, "He said that Brother He was the only one who bought it in the entire Pinghai Town. If there was only one person who bought it, why is there a second one in this account book?"

Lin Lezhi tightly grasped the account book in his hand, looked at Qiao Ying and said, "That's because he didn't know that Guan Ziheng had the habit of re-copying, and thought he could hide it from the world. He didn't know that the injury on my shoulder could be applied with ointment, so he only boiled the medicine. The reason why he knew that the medicine at the door was for his own treatment. Maybe... it was because he had stayed with Ziheng outside the basement for a while, and Ziheng was not on guard against him and accidentally revealed something, which was heard by him."

As he spoke, whether out of anger or sadness, Lin Lezhi's hand holding the account book was shaking a little, the pages were wrinkled, and his voice was trembling a little.

He did not have the slightest excitement about solving the case, and his eyes were filled with self-blame and regret.

If he didn't leave all these trivial matters to Guan Ziheng, or if he took a look at the account book every day, he would have discovered the extra book "Four Strange Cases" early in the morning.

That way he would be able to discover suspicious points more quickly and get to the bottom of the case.

After Lin Lezhi finished saying this, Qiao Ying did not react at all. She was still trapped in her own world, absorbed in looking at the lantern in her hand.

But no response was exactly what Lin Lezhi wanted.

Lin Lezhi turned to look at Cheng Su, his eyes sharp as he said, "General, there is one more thing that proves that the person who came to the island that day was not Guan Ziheng."

"What?" Cheng Su asked with a fixed gaze.

"Mr. Chang only prepared a boat for the general to land on the island. The other boats have not been released yet. That day, a boat appeared on the lake. If Guan Ziheng wanted to rent a boat to the island, he would have to ask the owners of the returning boats. But as far as I know, Ziheng didn't have much money left, so he moved in with me so that he could help me heal my wounds."

"But if we want to convince the frightened people, I'm afraid we can only offer more money to tempt them." Lin Lezhi looked at the ten taels of silver in his hand and said, "He didn't touch the ten taels of silver when he had no money. If it was really Guan Ziheng, how could he rent the boat?"

Hearing this, Cheng Su's eyes darkened, and then his scrutinizing gaze fell on Qiao Ying. His eyes became darker, but he remained calm and said, "You have only known Guan Ziheng for a few days. Maybe he didn't tell you everything."

Cheng Su is worthy of being a general who has led troops in battles for many years. Although he is not good at writing, he is calm, meticulous, and decisive. He will not make a hasty conclusion based on the one-sided statement of others.

In his response, he neither indicated that he believed in his own inference, nor did he say that he would overturn all of his inferences. He just wanted to come up with more powerful evidence himself.

indeed.

What he said about what happened between him and Guan Ziheng was just his one-sided statement. There was no testimony from anyone else, so it could not be considered as evidence.

Luo Zhifeng, who was standing by, also felt that something was wrong after thinking about it, and said, "So, this case really cannot be concluded. It is not necessarily Qiao Ying's doing. The disguise is just your guess, Brother Jiang. What you said may have been done deliberately by Brother Guan, but it is not enough to clear Brother Guan of suspicion."

After Luo Zhifeng expressed his doubts, Lin Lezhi looked at Luo Zhifeng and said calmly, "After the property in the coffin was stolen that night, Brother Luo proposed to send Qiao Ying back to Village Chief Wang's house." Lin Lezhi's eyes deepened and he said, "Brother Luo, can you guarantee that after you sent Qiao Ying back, he did not leave Village Chief Wang's house again?"

"..."

Luo Zhifeng was unable to answer Lin Lezhi's words. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and said, "I don't know... I was afraid of waking up Village Chief Wang's family. I just saw him enter the door and then leave."

"Brother Luo and the general are both right to worry. I am not deliberately trying to make things difficult for Brother Luo. I am just discussing the matter at hand."

Lin Lezhi's voice was very soft and gentle, but Luo Zhifeng didn't know if it was his own illusion, he felt that there was a hint of seriousness in Lin Lezhi's eyes, making Luo Zhifeng unable to guess what Lin Lezhi's mood was at the moment.

Luo Zhifeng said somewhat awkwardly: "I understand, Brother Jiang, this is how the case should be solved."

Lin Lezhi nodded and smiled at Luo Zhifeng, then walked away while saying, "What I just said was just circumstantial evidence, just my one-sided statement, and it really can't be considered as evidence. As for the evidence, I've already said it before."

As he spoke, Lin Lezhi walked to where he had put the things just now, bent down to pick up the two things, pinched them together between his fingertips, and said in a firm tone: "This is the piece and the leaf."