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

"The General is a meticulous and careful person. I can sense this even after only spending four days with him. Captain Hong has been by his side for eight years, so he must understand him better."

Lin Lezhi paused and continued, "The general handled everything very carefully, striving for absolute safety. Haven't you ever wondered why the general didn't send anyone to guard the courtyard with the evidence on his first day on the island? He only had two soldiers guard the village entrance, and then ordered them back into the courtyard after nightfall. And why didn't he leave anyone guarding the boat, giving the water ghost an opportunity to take advantage?"

After hearing this, Hong Mingxu thought seriously, and his eyes suddenly darkened and he wavered.

"That's because the general had already prepared a fallback plan. He had Cui Yan disguise himself as a water ghost, hijack the largest ship, and then hide it, ensuring everyone could return safely when the case was concluded. This is why the general needed one of his soldiers to fake his own death. First, to ensure everyone's escape, and second, so that if the general didn't fail too badly, he could help him catch the real culprit."

Lin Lezhi looked at Cheng Su who was leaning against the wall and said, "If my deduction is correct, the communication between the general and Cui Yan should be the signal of the smoke."

Cheng Su found it difficult to speak and just nodded solemnly.

now.

The exploded firewood was no longer as hot as when it burned in the fire, but it still emitted residual heat and wisps of steam.

"To make the signal smoke more effective, keep it burning long enough for safe use while also providing guidance, saltpeter and damp sawdust are added. If you want to give it color, sulfur is used instead of saltpeter, so it won't explode. But... today we were searching for Lü Xingpeng's body, and it just exploded. Captain Hong, do you know why?"

Hong Mingxu was stunned for a moment, then his eyes darkened and he said, "Because there was something else mixed in the cigarette."

"That's right. To make the smoke explosive, you have to change its internal proportions and add sulfur or alum. When these two are mixed with saltpeter and exposed to high temperatures, they will cause an explosion. However, sulfur itself has color and smell, which makes it easy to reveal. That's why the general chose alum, so that the sound can serve as a signal."

The explosion of the smoke will generate a lot of heat.

Therefore, the grass near the smoke at the foot of the cliff was burned more severely than that near the corpse.

Lin Lezhi paused for a moment, then continued, "The fog at the bottom of the mountain doesn't dissipate quickly, so the signal smoke can't be seen in time, but the sound is easy to hear. Without the signal smoke rising, it will not only hinder everyone's efforts to find the body, but also alert Cui Yan and the others to prepare to descend the mountain, allowing him to find a hiding place."

Previously, he thought that Xinyan had fallen from a cliff and broke into pieces, but he didn't expect that it was actually the case. Cheng Su had been on guard against him and had made some arrangements.

No wonder.

When he was on the edge of the cliff, Cheng Su chose to talk to a soldier alone rather than in front of everyone.

The purpose was to keep everyone away from the cliff and minimize the possibility of everyone hearing the explosion, and also to ensure that the soldier would accurately get the cigarette containing alum after returning to the earth temple.

In order to prevent the soldiers from taking it by mistake, Cheng Su had to keep it on his body.

Can……

From Pinghai Town to Hudao, there were fires three times.

Lantern boats, bone pits, and burning boats.

Even if Cheng Su didn't participate in the firefighting, didn't he think about what would happen if the fire burned himself?!

Saltpeter is often used together with sulfur or alum to make gunpowder and fireworks.

Even if there are not many placed, it is not enough to cause a big explosion.

Can……

Even if there is a little mistake.

Not to mention arresting himself, his own life would be threatened.

Just thinking about this was enough to make Hong Mingxu's frown tighten even more. He didn't want to continue this topic. His face was gloomy and he said sternly: "Stop talking nonsense. You don't need to tell me these things. Tell me, how did the general let Cui Yan fake his death and get away with it in front of everyone!"

"trace."

"trace?"

"I hadn't thought of it before, until a little kid told me today by the lake that you can't judge a person by what they say; you have to look at what they do."

Feeling that Jiang Lian'an was trying to be cunning and talk nonsense again, Hong Mingxu said with an unhappy look, "What does this have to do with the traces?"

"Of course it's related." Lin Lezhi confirmed, then continued, "Whatever a person does will inevitably leave traces. For example, if I walk into a narrow cave with a sword, I will accidentally leave scratches on the earthen wall. Or for example..." Lin Lezhi paused, then said meaningfully, "Duckweed in a puddle."

Hearing that Jiang Lian'an had other intentions, he suddenly remembered that Jiang Lian'an had said similar words to Cheng Su by the lake at dusk.

"I am but a broken stem floating in a puddle. General, consider me a commoner, willing to die for the sake of those who are still alive."

Lin Lezhi looked at his hands and remembered that when he came to this world, he was in a turbulent river. At that time, he didn't know that he had changed his identity. He just relied on the instinct of survival to struggle to grab everything he could in the river.

It was because he did not give up that he was able to grab the vines that had been placed in the water in advance and climb up the boulder, thus saving his life.

Otherwise, he would have died long ago.

although.

At that time he just felt that he was dreaming.

"When faced with a life-or-death situation, people subconsciously want to cling to anything they can grab, but there are only footprints in the well, no hand scratches. This is enough to prove that Cui Yan fell after careful preparation, and it wasn't a sudden break in the rope. It's not difficult to fake a sudden break in the rope. All you need is a small section of the same hemp rope and rub it back and forth at the desired break point."

After saying this, everyone present remembered the rope in the well, which shook violently for a while.

If what Jiang Lian'an said was correct, it was Cui Yan who broke the rope.

That day.

Cheng Su and Cui Yan went down into the well to create an opportunity for them to talk alone and to find a way to make Cui Yan fake his death.

After going down into the well, the two of them discovered that there was indeed something hidden underground and that there was a road leading to another place.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one had ever been down the well and the unique structure of the well, the two men came up with a brilliant way to fake their death and escape.

They went down into the well and stayed there for more than half an hour. If they were not familiar with the situation underground, it would take an incense stick of time to reach the crack. But that was just going there. If they were not familiar with the situation underground, the return would definitely be faster.

There is still some room in the ropes down there.

It can be pulled in a small range, but in order to keep it secret and avoid being discovered, Qi Xi prevented the hemp rope from being dragged out of the wellhead.

They used this small gap to complete this technique.

The entrance to the well was deep, and in order to prevent people from discovering the abnormality in the well too quickly, Cui Yan climbed back slowly and cautiously along the rope. After climbing to a position where no one could see him, he used his feet to support the slippery well wall.

Then he used a knife to cut the rope in the well and tied the end connected to the iron ring around his waist temporarily.

Then he cut off a piece from the top.

His body could also make up for part of the rope, so after a section of the rope was broken, it did not affect his actions. He just needed to be quick, otherwise he might be discovered by the people above and fall down first.

When the rope breaks, there is no way to fix the upper end of the rope, and if you want to break the rope by friction as quickly as possible, you must have a fixed point.

He supported the shaft with his feet, and in order to cut the rope as quickly as possible, he had to use both hands, so Cui Yan bit the cut lower end with his teeth and quickly rubbed the rope until it broke by itself.

After doing all this, he first talked to Hong Mingxu to alleviate the doubts of the people at the wellhead, and then created the illusion of falling into the water.

I heard Cui Yan's cry for help and the sound of him falling into the water.

Everyone on the well would naturally check the rope, and then they would find that the rope that was originally unable to be pulled out of the well could now be pulled out of the well. Later, when they saw the broken marks on the rope, they would think that the rope was broken during Cui Yan's climb and unfortunately fell into the underground river.

Cheng Su said that he returned after hearing Cui Yan's screams, but it was actually an act. He had been standing in the well the whole time because he had to ensure that Cui Yan would not be in danger of his life and rescue Cui Yan who fell into the river in time. Then he asked Cui Yan to hide first and he would take care of the rest.

After Cui Yan left, he threw the rope back into the water, and when Hong Mingxu came down, he created the illusion that he had just returned.

Then, using vines and ropes to secure them together, he naturally cut the rope that was tied around Cui Yan's waist. The rope drifted away with the rushing river water underground, concealing the fact that the rope had been cut.

Hong Mingxu was at a loss for words. "How is that possible? There's no place to hide in that underground river. If he hid in a crack, the water stains on his body would expose him to the ground."

"What do you think the general is like?"

When Jiang Lian'an suddenly asked him the question, Hong Mingxu was suddenly unable to answer. In addition, he was upset at the moment and had no intention of responding.

"A general is a general, why are you asking this?"

"The people have all said that General Dingyuan is cold-blooded and merciless, never showing mercy to anyone who kills. But... based on my observations over the past few days, the rumors don't seem to be accurate. The general isn't as unkind as they say. On the contrary, he's kind and compassionate, always concerned about the safety of his people, especially his own soldiers."

Lin Lezhi looked at Hong Mingxu, his eyes darkening as he said, "Captain Hong has been by the general's side for over ten years. He should understand the general's character better than I do, right?"