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

The people who were brought back were led by them through a secret passage behind the owner of the Ya Ren Manor and into the courtyard on the other side.

The courtyard on the other side, which had been silent, was now filled with people.

Everyone has different expressions.

Qingchuan quietly observed the expressions of everyone present.

Some were terrified, some were angry, some were distraught, and some looked normal. It was just unknown whether this normality was something they had expected or whether it had nothing to do with them.

Behind Qingchuan followed Yang Hancai and the four patrons.

Yang Hancai followed behind, trembling and saying, "What on earth is going on? Where is this place?"

"Yeah, I thought we were finally out of this damn place, but now we're brought back again. Who would have thought that the two bosses had set up an ambush at the exit."

"Why... why can't we see Master Jiang and Master Xiao? Could it be..."

"Pah, pah, pah, what are you talking about, you crow-mouthed idiot! Both of these young masters are good people, they will definitely be fine!"

"Yes, yes, yes, look at my mouth, I deserve a beating."

"........."

Boss Hu listened to everyone's discussion and looked at the human traffickers standing guard at various places. He was terrified and said to the three customers beside him tremblingly, "Could it be...could it be that the two bosses want to kill us to silence us because we know too much?"

"According to what Boss Hu said, the person who should be killed should be you, Boss Hu." A customer nearby said sarcastically.

Boss Hu got anxious when he heard this. "What do you mean? We are all in the same boat. The person who died was a government official. If something happens to me, do you think you can get away with it?"

"We just have business dealings with Mr. Xing. We don't know the inside story. It's possible that Mr. Hu killed people because he failed to extort money from him."

"You...!" Boss Hu was speechless. He beat his chest and stamped his feet, saying, "If I had known I would not have come to this damn place. Not to mention making money, I've also lost my life. What am I trying to do?"

"At this point, getting angry and regretful will only add to your troubles. You should all stay calm and not hurt the harmony." The female customer at the side had a calm expression and spoke in a conciliatory voice.

It is called a reconciliation, but in fact it is to point out the interests involved.

The most important thing for businessmen is profit. Whoever destroys this profit will have no chance of survival in Changluan County.

This is a consensus that both parties know deeply.

Because they were so close, Yang Hancai heard everything around him very clearly. The more he listened, the more panicked he became. He quickly walked a few steps to Qingchuan's side and asked in a low voice, "Master Qingchuan, do you think Master Jiang and the others will really get into trouble?"

After seeing Qingchuan's unhappy look, he knew he shouldn't say such things. He gradually lost confidence and his voice became smaller and smaller.

Qingchuan retracted his gaze and said in a light but firm tone: "I believe they will be fine."

"Master Qingchuan is right. God bless them, they will be fine!"

Under the guidance of Ren Yazi, they gradually walked into the depths of the forest. There were flowers, plants and trees growing wildly everywhere around them, blocking the sunlight. Without someone to lead them, it would be difficult to identify the direction.

Finally, when everyone turned the last corner, they saw the first and third in command kneeling on the ground, their faces bruised and swollen. Their hands were tied behind their backs. They kept struggling to stand up, but were quickly pinned down by the men next to them.

Behind them, there were many human agents, whose hands were also tied, but their situation was much better than that of the two bosses. At least they were not kneeling and had no injuries on their faces.

Originally, we thought that the first and third bosses sent people to capture them, but now it seems that there is someone controlling the whole thing behind the scenes.

"Are they having an internal conflict?" Yang Hancai leaned close to Qingchuan and asked softly.

Qingchuan shook his head, indicating that he didn't know.

The big boss seemed to be confused and tried to get up from the ground, but was kicked in the leg. He hissed and immediately got angry. Used to being high and mighty, he shouted, "You rebels! How dare I treat you like this? You are asking for your life! Let me go!"

However, the man standing by ignored his shouting and instead spat at the boss, saying coldly: "You are only fit to kneel down, be quiet!"

"What did you say..." the boss gritted his teeth.

"Big brother!"

Following the Third In Command's gaze, the First In Command looked over and saw several human traffickers carrying the bodies of Yan Jingyi and the Second In Command and placing them in front of them.

The boss, who had been in a threatening attitude just now, immediately made a 180-degree turn and sat down on the ground without caring whether he was kneeling or not.

The two bodies that died in the summer began to rot at the severed parts, emitting a foul stench even though they were stored in a dark dungeon.

But the word "slave" was unusually clear.

Whether it is the taste or the vision, it is unbearable and uncomfortable, and one has to cover their mouth and nose.

"Take it away, take it away, keep this thing away from me!"

The big boss moved backwards frantically like a madman, but was soon held down by the shoulders by the human toothbrush standing behind him, who forced him back to his knees on the ground.

Approaching the two corpses at a close range, the boss couldn't help but retching. His eyeballs were more bulging than the two corpses, and his body kept twisting in an attempt to escape.

It's approaching noon.

As if it was a memorial service, the human traffickers nearby took out paper money from their pockets one after another and scattered it into the air, and then the yellow paper money slowly fell down from the sky.

Occasionally, a few pieces of paper money fell on the broken part of Yan Jingyi's head and on his forehead.

The thin yellow paper money was soon stained with blood and blended with the surrounding bloodstains that had not yet dried.

The people watching all this were silent, no one dared to speak. It was clearly summer, but they didn't feel hot at all, and it was chilly just by looking at it.

Under the sky full of paper money for the dead, a man in a black cloak slowly walked out from behind a tree, holding a knife with a circle of white cloth wrapped around the handle.

A man dressed in black, holding a knife, stood in front of the first and third bosses, but because his hat was pulled down very low, the two bosses could not see his face clearly.

The big boss was so frightened that he was out of his mind. The third boss managed to keep a trace of calmness. He looked at the man in front of him and said, "Who are you? What do you want to do?"

The man in the cloak smiled, with a hint of sadness in his laughter. He turned to look at the two people on the ground and said, "Of course you don't know who I am, but I know who you are, Liang Gaocheng and Duan Hongzhi."

The name that hadn't been called for thirteen years and was about to be abandoned was called out again.

"Or...should I call you Liang Erniu or Duan Xiaogou?"

Even the calm Third Master showed a panicked look on his face. He shouted at the man in the bamboo hat, "Don't shout that name!"

"Yes, the old cow is sturdy and kind, and the dog is loyal and protective of the family. You don't deserve such names."

"But now that I have a new name, I never thought you would be so ungrateful. It doesn't matter if you forget all the bad things you have done in the past ten years. I will remember them for you."

"who are you!"

"Who I am is important? What is important is the justice of heaven. What you did will not be buried forever. What you did to Cao An, I will repay you double today."

The man in the bamboo hat grabbed the head of the leader and was about to strike him on the head.

"But if you do this, what's the difference between you and them?"

A voice came from a tree not far away.

Hearing the sound, everyone looked up at the tree, and the man in the cloak also stopped the knife in his hand.

With the help of branches, Lin Lezhi and Xiao Yihuo fell from the tree together and appeared in front of everyone. Then Lin Lezhi walked alone to the man in the bamboo hat.

"You are preparing such a big game. I believe that there are more important things for you than killing them."

Seeing Lin Lezhi slowly walking towards him, the other party put away the knife and said coldly: "Of course I won't let them die so easily. I will make them pay the price they deserve and die in pain."

Lin Lezhi felt that the knife looked familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere, but the other party put it away too quickly and he didn't have time to see it clearly.

"But Master Jiang, how can you be sure that I have something more important than killing them? If you hadn't intervened, I would have taken the lives of these two people just now."

"Three."

The man smiled and said, "Are there so many?"

“This is the first…” Lin Lezhi looked at the human agents around him and said calmly, “Looking at the current situation, most of the human agents in this village must have been replaced by your people long ago.”

If there hadn't been some well-placed people mixed in with the human traffickers, he would have had no chance of escaping.

"As long as you want, you can kill them in an instant, even if it's just when you're serving them a cup of tea. There's no need to go through so much trouble, nor to falsify accounts and cause unrest in Yaren Village, making the brothers in Yaren Village sleepless all night and everyone in danger."

"Second, if you simply wanted to kill these two people, why did you let these people who had already been sent out come back here again and let the people see you kill these two people with your own eyes?"

"You have many brothers in Yaren Village, but if you really count their heads, once the people fight back, you may not be able to gain the upper hand. Moreover, if you can't kill them all, what happened here will eventually be known to outsiders, and you and all the people who help you here will not be able to escape the blame."

Hearing that he could not escape the blame, the man in the cloak who was standing there swayed a little.

Looking at the people around him, he looked a little hesitant.

"What about the third?"

Lin Lezhi lowered his eyes, his eyes wavering a little, but he sighed softly, looked at the man and said slowly: "Third, on the surface, it was my own will to come here to investigate the case, but in fact, everything was done intentionally by you. It was you who guided me to investigate this case."

The man sneered, but did not object, "Why should I do this?"

Lin Lezhi said without hesitation: "The reason is what you just said. Justice is clear. What you want is not to kill them, but to give Cao An justice and make the events of that year known to the world."

"So, you came to me early in the morning."

"Mr. Jiang said this as if he knew who I was."

"I also hope that I am wrong, but I remember that when we first met, I did not tell you my name. How did you know that my last name is Jiang?"

"This is not Mr. Jiang. He admitted it himself last night. Everyone present last night can prove it. How come... Mr. Jiang has a worse memory than me?"

Lin Lezhi's eyes darkened and he said, "You know, I'm not talking about last night."

"Okay, then I'll make it clearer."

Lin Lezhi looked at the person in front of him and continued, "If I remember correctly, this is the fourth time we have met, including this time."

"Oh?"

"Back when I was investigating the case of the bride in Yulong Village, I went to the abandoned house once. That was where we met for the first time. I did not mention my name there."

"Then may I ask how you called me Young Master Jiang the second time we met, in that narrow alley? You also invited me to go begging with you in Changluan County if I couldn't make it one day. I don't know if I remembered correctly, should I call you Xiaopeng?"

Hearing this, the man in the cloak laughed heartily, then took off his hood, his long hair covering his eyes, and said with a smile: "I didn't expect that I would be exposed so quickly. I thought I was hiding well. Detective Jiang is indeed worthy of his reputation. I, Shi Peng, admire him!"

Hearing the name Shi Peng, the first and third bosses looked at each other, but still didn't know who this person was.

"In fact, you were exposed a long time ago."

"Really?" Shi Peng's eyes flashed with surprise, and then he said frankly: "I thought I hid it well, but it seems that I am still showing off my skills in front of Jiang Guitan. I hope Jiang Guitan can let me know clearly."

"Okay, then I'll start from the beginning."

Lin Lezhi walked towards the direction of the first and third bosses, looked at the back of the two kneeling on the ground, and said in an orderly manner: "When the body of the young man appeared, according to your description, you were the only one who got up early that morning and found the copper coins in the courtyard. Then you followed the copper coins all the way to the hidden corner of the abandoned house and found that the copper coins in your hand had turned into ghost money."

"That's right."

"Yes, that's true, but people can lie." After saying that, Lin Lezhi turned his gaze back to Shi Peng.

"You said... your shouting alerted other people in the front yard. However, given the location and distance of the boy's skeleton, it is impossible for your shouting to reach the front yard."

"This is clearly proven by the fact that Yang Zhifu came later. When Yang Zhifu led the yamen runners to the abandoned house, there was quite a big scene, and the yamen runners were even more powerful. I'm sure they shouted a lot along the way, but it wasn't until they were close that we could hear the shouts and footsteps of the yamen runners."

When Prefect Yang heard Lin Lezhi calling his name, he shrank behind Qingchuan, trying to weaken his presence.

"Am I right, Magistrate Yang?" As he spoke, Lin Lezhi turned his gaze to Yang Hancai in the crowd.

"what?"

Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes were directed towards Yang Hancai.

Now, Yang Hancai couldn't hide anymore, so he could only stand up and laugh, and replied repeatedly: "Yes, Master Jiang is right. It's impossible to hear them at this distance. I will let them talk about them when I go back."

After saying this, he fell silent again.

Lin Lezhi turned his gaze back to Shi Peng and said, "In a place where you can't hear each other, but because of your shouting, other people living in the abandoned house are surrounded. If what you said is true, then they are the only ones who lied. They are the ones who jointly set up the trap to lure you to find the bones."