Records of the Cattle and Horses of Chang'an

"Generally speaking, murders are basically committed for money, love, or power, but these are four murders. It is impossible that these four dancers were entangled with the same person." Cui Bianxu wanted to raise his hand to touch his chin, but he had not started growing a beard yet, and felt a little empty. In the end, he touched the ring on his little finger.

Wang Leisheng chuckled, patting his belly and offering his own opinion: "Shaoqing, if it's all for the same man, then the four of them should be fighting each other!"

Although this statement was a bit vulgar, it was not without reason. Lu Xingzhou wrote it down in the case file and said, "If it wasn't murder for love, then it was murder for money..."

Before he finished speaking, he shook his head: "Their money, gold, silver, silk, etc., have not been lost."

Wang Leisheng, however, had a unique insight: "Think about it, if these women died, who would own their gold, silver, and valuables?"

Seeing that no one else had thought of it, he shook his head with great pride: "Of course it's the brothel's madam!"

Ding Yuan stared at him for a while as if he were a fool, and finally chose to continue working. Compared to talking to a fool, he still preferred to face these corpses more intimately.

"Wang Sizhi." Cui Bianxu called him softly.

Wang Leisheng immediately put away his complacent look and asked, "What are your instructions, Shaoqing?"

"No."

Cui Bianxu felt that it was difficult to explain. It was important for a person to know himself. He believed that he was not a very smart person, but was Liu Qing really not sending this person to him on purpose to cause trouble for him?

"I'm just a little curious about how this amazing brain of yours came to be."

Wang Leisheng finally realized that he had probably said something wrong. His thick skin was one of his strengths. Another strength was that he was particularly humble when his leader scolded him. "Sir, I am stupid. If there are any omissions, I hope you can correct me."

Lu Xingzhou sighed and kindly reminded him, "You probably know more about those brothels than we do. If the brothel's madam wanted the dancer's money, why would she go to such great lengths and cause such a scene?"

"What's more, those four are their top girls. They're still young and haven't reached old age yet. Wouldn't it be more profitable to keep them?"

Cui Bianxu sighed. He didn't believe that his own subordinates could teach him. He couldn't get his head around it. "If you and I were the brothel owner, and we really wanted to kill people for our money, why didn't we wait until they were old and unknown?"

Even if you can't help but want to get the money quickly, can't you find a way to make them die of illness one by one? In Pingkangfang, a few prostitutes die every year, isn't that normal?

Money, money, money, not a way to get into a coffin! What's the point of making such a big fuss? Four beautiful heads? Or is it the secret to beheading after achieving success?

In the current situation, we don’t even have to wait until His Majesty returns to Chang’an. Even if the thief is not caught before the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, I’m afraid the people from the Dali Temple and the Jinwu Guards will want to pour boiling water over even the ant holes in Chang’an City!

Wang Leisheng suddenly realized something and flattered him in an exaggerated manner: "Shaoqing is indeed from the Qinghe Cui family. He is very smart and I really can't flatter him enough."

Cui Bianxu raised his hand, signaling him to stop. This flattery always felt like a roundabout way of scolding him: "It's even more impossible to do it for power. What does a brothel dancer have to do with power?"

"Hey, Shaoqing, you don't know this."

Wang Leisheng was stunned again when he heard this. If this guy were in modern times, he would definitely be like the PEP version of Ghost Seer who raises his hand to answer questions in class and doesn't get discouraged even when he gets the answer wrong. "In Chang'an City, besides the imperial court, the places with the most information are brothels and restaurants. If they hear something they shouldn't hear, or know something they shouldn't know, then people will..."

He raised his right hand and made a knife-like gesture across his neck, then rolled his eyes, twisted his mouth and stuck out his tongue: "Murder to silence the witness, maybe."

The three people present all praised his performance, but said, "If they were killed because they knew something private, the person who did it should have just killed them and thrown them into Shanghaofang."

Going to so much trouble to dismember the body and then scatter the body parts all over Chang'an, aren't you just bored?

Cui Bianxu secretly thought that the person who did this was either a lunatic or had some ulterior motive. He didn't understand the world of lunatics, but the most abnormal person in the entire Dali Temple was right next to him, so he could ask him a few questions in detail: "Ding Yuan, why do you think the thief did this?"

Ding Yuan, who was suddenly called out, somehow understood what he meant and gave him a deep look that made Cui Bianxu feel a little uncomfortable. He then withdrew his gaze with satisfaction and said, "I don't understand criminal cases, nor do I understand the thoughts of prisoners. If you want to hear it, I can only put myself in their shoes."

"can."

"I don't kill people, I only perform autopsies." He solemnly stated.

Wang Leisheng urged impatiently, "Alright, I know you won't kill anyone. With your current condition, if you run into a young lady at night, you'll scare her to death. Do you really need to do it yourself?! Hurry up and tell me!"

Ding Yuan closed his eyes, deciding not to argue with him for now. "From the missing parts of the corpse, it's easy to tell that this man only wants three things: skin, fat, and the head. I and the coroners from the two counties have made some guesses about what these three items can be used for, but they're incomplete. Your Highness, just listen to them and don't take them seriously."

Cui Bianxu nodded, signaling him to continue.

"Human skin can be used for painting, recording text, making lanterns, drums, straw dolls, puppets, cushions..."

"Eh..." Wang Leisheng grimaced. "Who could be so cruel and crazy as to make something like this?"

Lu Xingzhou couldn't help but pull him back a few steps: "Listen to him!"

"As for the ointment, there are rumors that if it is refined into human oil and used in oil lamps, it will last for a thousand years. There are also rumors that human oil can be used in some evil spells with excellent results. I have heard that by mixing human oil with pearl powder, almond powder, musk, borneol, peach blossoms, white silkworm, etc., a moisturizing product for women can be made. This product has miraculous effects, removing freckles, whitening the skin, and smoothing out wrinkles."

"Hiss, is this true?" Wang Leisheng widened his eyes. In his house, from his wife to the concubines, no one was not well versed in beauty care. They pestered him to buy this and that all day long. How come he had never heard of such magical things?

Ding Yuan, who was interrupted again, could no longer bear it. He closed his mouth and looked at Cui Bianxu expressionlessly.

Cui Bianxu understood immediately: "Wang Sizhi, if you interrupt me again, get out!"

Wang Leisheng immediately covered his mouth with his hands and shook his head to indicate that he would never interrupt again.

Ding Yuan then continued, "As for the head, to be honest, I can't imagine why they would want it whole. However, I have heard that in that remote place, there is a rumor that if someone is born stupid, they can eat human brains to replenish their body."