Crossing the Ming Dynasty to be the magistrate

The person who found Lu Baozhu's body was also a little beggar. After he learned that the government rewarded those who provided information, he paid special attention to this matter.

But now that everyone in the city is looking for it but can't find it, he feels that this matter is not easy to handle.He simply did the opposite, everyone went to search the deep mountains and dense forests, and he went to other places to search.In the end, he really let him find Lu Baozhu in a ruined temple on the outskirts of the city.

At this time, Lu Baozhu's body was already decomposed badly. The little beggar was begging for food with him, but he recognized him at a glance, and hurried to the Yamen to report to the official.

Now it can be said that everything has returned to the starting point. No, it is not as good as the beginning. Now there are three murders.

Wen Yu didn't deliberately block the news, and now Mengyang is full of troubles.

Three people died in a row, and they were all big men. The death was strange and miserable. One of them was an official. Everyone in Mengyang was in danger for a while, and there was no one on the road before the curfew at night.

Wen Yu and Xu Jing had no clue, Xu Jing simply stayed in the county yamen, and the two spent their days looking through files to study the case.

Wen Yu knew that Xu Jing went to see the scene of Su Huai's crime, so he asked Xu Jing if he found anything.

Xu Jing thought for a while and said, "Su Huai's body was severely damaged, and some of it was fried and stored in an airless basement. There is no way to determine the exact time of death. We can only roughly deduce that it should be related to Jiang Lei. The days are about the same.”

Wen Yu added: "I prefer that he was killed before Jiang Lei was killed. If Suhuai and Jiang Lei had a secret that could be threatened by others, Jiang Lei was discovered not long after his death. At that time, the whole city We all know that it is impossible for Su Huai to have no defensive reaction after hearing about it. When we went to find Mrs. Yan, he said that Su Huai had been missing for more than two days, which means that he had already been killed when he disappeared."

Xu Jing agreed with him: "According to Su Huai's body this time, first of all, the murderer and Jiang Lei's murderer must be the same person. Secondly, I think the murderer is like a doctor... or a butcher..."

"Oh? How did you see this?"

Xu Jing recalled the scene at that time: "When I arrived, Wu Zuo was picking up the corpse. We studied it carefully. Su Huai should have been dismembered after his death, but his body was cut very neatly. The bones are all intact, and I feel that the opponent's hand is very stable."

Following his words, Wen Yu imagined the scene in his mind, and broke out in a cold sweat: "Actually, I have thought about this before. At that time, I was more inclined to believe that the murderer was a soldier or a doctor who had been on the battlefield. At the very least, he must see blood frequently, otherwise he would be able to do so." Cruel murder, unless born with a lack of emotion."

Because there is really no clue, the two can only start from this aspect, and ask the people in hand to investigate the doctor butcher in Mengyang City to see who has the time or motive to commit the crime.

A few days later, I got a reply. I checked all the butchers in the medical halls in the city, but no one was found to be suspicious. The case was once again deadlocked.

At this time, ten days have passed since Jiang Lei was murdered at the beginning, and everything that should be recorded has also been recorded. Today, Jiang Lei should be buried in the ground for peace.

On the day of the burial, the inspection department made an exception to rest for half a day, everyone came to funeral for Jiang Lei, and many people from the Mengyang County Yamen came.

Originally, it had been raining lightly for the past few days, and the autumn wind was blowing and the weather was cloudy, but the sun was shining brightly that day. This was also good, in line with Jiang Lei's personality that loves to laugh and play.

Because Jiang Lei was alone, all the steps to carry out the funeral to the ancestors were omitted.

The funeral procession came to the tomb.Although at this time, in order to keep quiet and ensure safety when the coffin is lowered, and crying is forbidden, some people still secretly wiped their tears.

Wen Yu also felt his nose sour. It was the first time in his two lifetimes that he faced death so close. He still remembered that he hosted Xu Jing, Jiang Lei and the others at home before, and that scene seemed like yesterday.

After the funeral, everyone dispersed, only Xu Jing was still standing in front of the grave.

Wen Yu was going back to the county government office to deal with government affairs, but seeing Xu Jing's straight back, he just stayed there with him by accident.

The two stood for a long time without saying a word.

Xu Jing suddenly said: "Jiang Lei and I met in Shaanxi, almost five years ago. At that time, Wang Huike and I were on duty not long ago, and the superior ordered us to fight the flood. We had little experience, and we almost fell into the trap because we were greedy. There, in the end, Jiang Lei designed and saved us."

Wen Yu couldn't bear to hear it, and didn't know what to say, so he could only comfort him: "Jiang Lei is indeed astute."

Xu Jing turned to look at him: "Master Wen, I, Xu Jing, have never begged anyone, but I only begged that you can find out the murderer, so as to comfort my brother's soul in heaven."

Wen Yu replied solemnly: "Master Xu, don't worry, even if I dig three feet into the ground, I, Wen Yu, will definitely find the real culprit."

Xu Jing bowed to him, and the two paid respects in front of Jiang Lei's grave, and then went back to the county office together.

After going back, Wen Yu didn't rest for a moment. He felt that since all the clues were cut off now, it's better to start with the relationship between Jiang Lei and Su Huai when they were teenagers.

As far as he knew, Jiang Lei did well in Mengyang back then. Although he was a thug for others, he was also famous. Since Su Huai was his good brother, he would be fine.

But a few years ago, Jiang Lei suddenly left Mengyang to venture out, Su Huai simply went to the countryside to plant land, and returned to Mengyang City after a long time, obviously something happened in the middle.

In addition, Lu Baozhu, a beggar, was also present, so what exactly was it?Wen Yu couldn't figure it out.

Meng Yang has changed four county magistrates in a short period of ten years. The old people in the previous yamen have long since disappeared, and there is no place to ask anyone if they want to ask.

It just so happened that Zhou Wan came back from an inspection tour in other counties, so he went to ask Zhou Wan with a glimmer of hope to see if he could get any news from him.

After hearing what happened during this period of time, Zhou Wan was also deeply moved.He said with emotion: "Master Jiang is really a pity. Before I left, I jokingly introduced him to a daughter-in-law to help him housekeeper. In a blink of an eye, she said no."

Then he said: "My lord, you are really asking the right person when you ask me. I happened to meet an acquaintance when I went to Pang County for investigation this time. That person used to be a clerk in the county government office. He just retired from his position at that time, and now he is over sixty years old, but he seems to be in good spirits. If you ask him, maybe he knows something."

Wen Yu was overjoyed, and hurriedly told Zhou Wan to go again, and he didn't need to bring anyone here, as long as he asked about Jiang Lei and Su Huai.

Zhou Wan took the order and went to Pang County to find out about the situation with that person.

Wen Yu secretly prayed that nothing would go wrong this time.If he can't ask any more questions, he really doesn't know how to proceed with this mysterious case.

In the afternoon, Wen Yu was planning to tidy up and go back to accompany Brother Fu, when suddenly someone beat a drum. Wen Yu's mind was full of the case, thinking that someone had provided information, and hurriedly promoted.

In the end, it was just a civil dispute between two common people who came to report to the government. One sued the other for stealing the peony flowers grown by his own family.

Wen Yu couldn't laugh or cry, but the case still had to be judged, so she asked the plaintiff if she had any evidence. The plaintiff said that the defendant had praised her peony flowers when she invited her neighbors to her home. The accused stole it!

Everyone in the courtroom was dumbfounded.In the end, after dragging for a long time, the plaintiff was still making trouble unreasonably, Wen Yu directly acquitted the defendant and ordered the two to go back.

The plaintiff's expression was obviously dissatisfied, and he didn't dare to make a fuss in the courtroom, so he could only goug out the other party fiercely with his eyes.

The defendant was helpless, and swore to prove his innocence. When he left, he still said that if he stole the flowers, he would punish himself to fall into the [-]th hell and never recover!

Wen Yu felt it was funny, if only these trivial things happened every day.But suddenly something flashed through my mind. "Eighteen levels of hell, yes! Why didn't I expect that! It's eighteen levels of hell!"

He hurried back to the county government office, invited Xu Jing to come over, and at the same time asked someone to buy him two books, namely "Ksitigarbha Sutra" and "Ten Mud Plow Sutra".

When Xu Jing came, Wen Yu excitedly said to him: "Master Xu, there is a new discovery in the case." Xu Jing expressed all his ears.

Wen Yu took out the two scriptures, pointed to one of them, and said, "I've always wondered why the murderer would use such cruel methods to kill people. Even if there is a deep hatred, it is more convenient and tormenting than this." There are too many means."

Xu Jing nodded. Indeed, such a crime is not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also very easy to expose themselves. They had already detected from the knife edge that the murderer might be a butcher or a doctor.

Wen Yu went on to say: "Not only that, the criminal's psychology is also very contradictory. Generally speaking, if the murderer has carried out such a brutal and characteristic serial murder case, he will usually show the body to everyone. But Jiang Lei was actually an accident It was discovered by someone, and Li Tieniu also said that if it wasn't for his sharp nose, Jiang Lei who was behind the trees might not have noticed it at all."

"The same goes for Su Huai and Lu Baozhu. If Jiang Lei's body hadn't been discovered and the whole city was put under martial law, it would have taken a long time before anyone reported to the police. Imagine if Zhao Ergou and Li Tieniu hadn't caught the bamboo rat that day, we might have thought that Jiang Lei is missing."

After finishing speaking, Wen Yu still sighed in her heart, as if everything was God's will in the dark. "The murderer did this, which means that he didn't do it for others to see, and he didn't want to cause panic. He did it entirely for himself. So what reason can a person kill like this?"

Wen Yu spat out two words: "Hate".

Then he took out the book, "I always thought that this kind of murder method seemed to have been read somewhere, but because of the line of Lu Baozhu, my attention was attracted to him, so I didn't think about it. In fact, it is very obvious, but we have been Didn't guess."

Xu Jing couldn't help asking: "What exactly is it?"

"Eighteen Hells"

"Eighteen levels of hell?"

"That's right, Master Xu, please take a look." Wen Yu pointed three places, and Xu Jing followed the direction of his fingertips, and saw that they were: Tongue Pulling Hell, Oil Pot Hell, and the last level - Knife and Saw Hell.

The scene depicted corresponds to the way of death of Lu Baozhu, Su Huai, and Jiang Lei.Wen Yu said again: "Actually, the most noteworthy thing is their corresponding crimes."

Tongue Pulling Hell—Everyone living in the world sows discord, slanders and harms others, and lies and deceives others.After death, the adults pulled out their tongues and went to hell.

Oil Pot Hell—Thieves who rob, bully the good and the weak, falsely accuse and slander, and conspire to seize other people’s property and wives will be sent to the oil pan hell after death, stripped of their clothes and thrown into a hot oil pan for frying.

Knives and Saws Hell - cutting corners, cheating others, abducting women and children, buying and selling unfair people, and going to Knives and Saws Hell after death.

Wen Yu looked at Xu Jing cautiously: "Master Xu...you said... Is it possible that the three of Jiang Lei made a big mistake and escaped more than ten years ago, and now someone else came to seek revenge on them, of course This is just my guess...the murderer may be someone else."

Xu Jing was silent for a moment: "No, what you said should be right. I remembered that a long time ago, when we were drinking, Jiang Lei was drunk that day, and then cried and told everyone that he made a big mistake when he was young. I can never forgive myself, so I can only do more good deeds to make up for it now...We were all a little drunk that day, and we didn't take this matter to heart when we woke up. Now that I think about it, what Jiang Lei said may be this matter."

Wen Yu saw that his expression was a bit sad, and then he said: "Even if Jiang Lei and the others really made a mistake, the murderer should still be dealt with according to the law of the Ming Dynasty."

Xu Jing nodded, and then asked back: "But now even if we know that the murderer is killing people according to the [-]th hell, how can we determine the target?"

Wen Yu smiled and said, "This is actually very useful."

Seeing that Xu Jing was puzzled, he explained to him: "First of all, we can confirm that the murderer is a person who advocates Buddhism. Nowadays, today's son is advocating Taoism, and the incense of Taoist temples is becoming more and more prosperous. There is only one Buddhist temple in Mengyang. Some gain."

Xu Jingmao suddenly realized, and said to Wen Yu: "The people in the county government are very tired these few days, I will ask the people from the inspection department to ask, you take a rest."

Wen Yu shook her head: "I'm afraid the inspectors can't interfere with this matter."

Xu Jing raised his eyebrows, Wen Yu continued: "This is the second harvest, if the murderer is here for revenge, then he must be someone close to Jiang Lei."

"Let's take a look at the timeline. First, Jiang Lei and Su Huai left Mengyang City. Lu Baozhu, a beggar, has no fixed place to live. The murderer has not been found in these years. Then Su Huai changed his face and returned to Mengyang. He was blackmailed by Lu Baozhu for several years. In the end, the two broke up, and they lived together peacefully during this period, so how did the murderer find the two?"

Speaking of this, Wen Yu paused for a moment: "I personally think that it was the day when Lu Baozhu made a big fuss in the inspection department and was seen by people around Jiang Lei that day. The murderer must have joined the inspection department later. He recognized Jiang Lei first. It is very likely that Jiang Lei had murderous intentions at that time. Then Lu Baozhu came, and he recognized Lu Baozhu, and along Lu Baozhu's line, he finally found Su Huai, so all three of them were killed."

Wen Yu turned to Xu Jing and said, "When the inspection department first came to Mengyang, there were less than a hundred people. Later, more than [-] people were taken in to suppress the bandits. There are also some handymen. Who has contact with Jiang Lei? Please Xu The adults check one by one, and the criminals are likely to be mixed in."

Xu Jing solemnly replied: "I will make an unannounced visit when I go back, and I will give you an answer in a few days."

In this way, after half a month, this serial murder case finally has some clues.

The next day, Zhou Wan also rushed back and begged to see Wen Yu as soon as he came back.Wen Yu invited him into the room: "Master Zhou, can you gain something this time?"

Zhou Wan nodded: "The old scribe was very impressed with Jiang Lei's affairs, he told me everything when I asked him, it's true, it's hard to explain..."

The author has something to say: The funeral process of a big family in ancient times was actually very cumbersome.They have to go through a series of processes: the funeral after the funeral, the opening of the funeral, the pilgrimage to the ancestors, the decoration of the hearse, the presentation of the artifacts, and the crying.The older the big family, the more complicated it is.

Regarding the [-] levels of hell, there are too many versions of the [-] levels of hell, and there are many folk theories. I searched the books for a long time, but I couldn't find a unified one.If there is something wrong, please take it as an overhead look.

Originally, I wanted to add another chapter to Feifei. After finishing this case, I could continue farming. But yesterday, I was so sick that I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Let’s talk about it tomorrow, and everyone should go to bed early~