The smile in Lin Chengyou's eyes narrowed.

Before tonight, he had roughly touched the details of the three pregnant women who were victimized.

The recently murdered wife of Prince Rong'an, the wife of Mrs. Jiang, is the continuation of Mr. Song Jian, the prince of Rong'an. Song Jian's original wife, Mrs. Jiang, died of dystocia three years ago, and Mrs. Jiang is the sister of Mrs. Jiang.

It is reported that when Song Jian married Jiang's family, he was strongly opposed by his uncle and his wife. The reason was that Jiang's grandfather used to be a staff officer under a certain general in Huaixi Road. Tried and tested. Such a family can be described as a humble family.

But Song Jian fell in love with Mrs. Jiang at first sight and vowed not to marry her. It happened that Peng Zhen's wife came to Beijing with her husband to report to work. After hearing about this, Mrs. Peng took the initiative to visit Mrs. Rong Anbo, saying that Jiang's family and her were distant cousins. That year, she received a great favor from Jiang's mother in Huaixi Road. She had long recognized Jiang's mother as her sister. Speaking of which, Jiang was her niece.

With Mrs. Peng as bailout, the uncle and his wife were a little loose, and although Jiang's family was not high, it was considered knowledgeable and polite. After seeing Jiang's in person, the old couple finally agreed to this marriage. .

After getting married, Song Jian and Jiang's love were glued together, and soon gave birth to a pair of twins. When the children were two years old, Jiang Shi became pregnant again, but unfortunately died of dystocia during childbirth. After a month, the old lady also died of illness.

Because the uncle has not been in charge of the master for a long time in the house, when his son's filial piety expires, he intends to let his son remarry, but Song Jian insists on not continuing.

More than a year ago, his wife and sister, Xiao Jiang, stayed in the uncle for a while because of visiting his nephew. Not long after that, Song Jian suddenly visited his old husband and said that he wanted to marry his wife and sister, Xiao Jiang, to fill the house.

According to Yan Sizhi, who came back after inquiring, the servants of Rong Anbo's house were talking behind their backs, Song Jian asked to marry the little Jiang family, not only because the little Jiang family was the children's aunt, but also because she looked like the Jiang family.

In addition, there are some unbearable rumors. For example, it was during the period when the little Jiang family was living in the house that she had a relationship with her brother-in-law. In order to take care of the reputation of the two, Song Jian had to come to the house to ask for a marriage... and said that the little Jiang family was married. When I gave it to my brother-in-law, I was already nineteen, and I was reluctant to marry because I fell in love with my brother-in-law when I was fifteen or sixteen.

The Jiang sisters are all from Washington, and the little Jiang family had been married to Rong Anbo's house for a whole year, and was exactly six months pregnant when the accident happened.

The victim of the second case, Shu Liniang, also happens to be from Huazhou. Shu Liniang’s parents died early, and she married a fallen scholar in Huazhou at the age of 17. Last year, her husband unfortunately died of illness. Shu Liniang and her husband’s family have never been together, and they have no Father and brother depended on each other, so they had to go to Chang'an's cousin, who was Shu Changshi of Jingzhao Mansion, whose name was Shu Wenliang.

Today, Lin Chengyou originally planned to go to Shu Changshi and Zheng Pushe first. In addition to asking them about Shu Liniang's past in her hometown, she also wanted to know why a good woman from a good family wanted to be a different housewife. Crash into the resistant world.

As for the first case...

Because Bai was victimized together with her husband Wang Zangbao, Liu Facao of Tongzhou Prefecture always focused on investigating Wang Zangbao's side when investigating the victim's background. For example, did Wang Zangbao ever have a grudge against someone, and why he gave up his family business in the same state to come to Chang'an... But about Bai's behavior, whether he had ever had a grudge against anyone in the past, there was no mention of it in the case.

He only knew that Bai Shi was twenty-two this year and was five months pregnant.

After reviewing the three cases, Lin Chengyou couldn't hold back the doubts in his heart. According to Zhuang Mu, did Zhuang Mu investigate the three pregnant women before the accident?

This is somewhat different from his original vision.

After Zhuang Mu finished saying those words, he stopped talking. Lin Chengyou waited for a while, then got up and went to the table to pick up a pot of prawns. Leave the shackles and handcuffs behind.

After doing all this, Lin Chengyou personally poured out a large bowl of prawns, put the bowl in front of Zhuang Mu, and said with a smile, "It's fun to eat and drink like this."

Zhuang Mu swallowed, ignoring the dried blood left on his hands, he picked up the bowl and drank without saying a word. After drinking, he couldn't wait to put the bowl on the ground, his eyes flashing with greedy light, waiting for Lin Chengyou. Pour him a second bowl.

After drinking three large bowls of wine in one breath, Zhuang Mucai seemed to recover, picked up the soup bowl on the other side, and immersed himself in the bowl of steaming prison pills. After he was full, he was not in a hurry to put the bowl away. Putting it down, he quietly raised his eyes and looked at Lin Chengyou from the top of the bowl.

He gave Lin Chengyou a deep look, put down the bowl, nodded and said solemnly, "You're young, so you can hold your breath."

The smile on Lin Chengyou's face did not diminish, and he waited patiently.

Zhuang Mu was silent for a while: "I can tell you everything I know, as long as you prepare for me what I want: two hundred gold, a fast horse, and a pass that can guarantee my smooth departure from Tongguan. So - and let me go."

Lin Chengyou laughed: "Your Excellency dares to make an offer."

Zhuang Mu twitched the corners of his mouth: "These four things are difficult for others to handle, but they are easy for you. You should have expected that the murderer will commit crimes again soon, but this person is too cunning, you Dali Temple have not yet Find useful clues, but I have actually dealt with the real murderer."

Lin Chengyou calmly said: "The real murderer is willing to let you be caught by our Dali Temple, and I am sure that the clues you provide will never be found on his head, a person who may not be helpful in determining the case, how can someone agree to your proposal? these unreasonable demands.”

Zhuang Mu said with a sneer: "Although I don't know the real identity of the murderer, I have learned more in the past month than you did in a year of investigation at Dali Temple. I think you know this very well, so you will go to prison many times. Treat me with good wine and good food."

Lin Chengyou said: "If you have nothing else to ask for, you can continue to refuse to eat and drink, and you are willing to accept the wine and food that I serve, doesn't it mean that you are also eager to deal with the murderer."

Zhuang Mu was stagnant.

Lin Chengyou took the pot and poured another bowl of wine for Zhuang Mu: "I said earlier, you want to take revenge with the hand of Dali Temple, I want to use the clues you provided to find the murderer, you and I each take what we need, but The things you know alone are not enough to find out who the murderer is in a short period of time."

Zhuang Mu looked at the wine in the bowl with a complicated expression.

Lin Chengyou smiled and said: "To arrest the murderer, it's not enough to just tell what you know. At least you have to cooperate with Dali Temple to make a game. If this game can successfully catch the murderer, the four things you said—"

Zhuang Mu stared at Lin Chengyou closely, but Lin Chengyou hesitated deliberately, and after a while he nodded with a smile: "Maybe you can give it a try."

Zhuang Mu's expression was slightly relaxed, but there was a hint of hesitation in his eyes.

Lin Chengyou looked up at him: "You should know that your chances are running out, once the real culprit finds out who's behind you first, it's useless to set up a situation, then you'll be useless to Dali Temple, guess what? Will I agree to your terms?"

Zhuang Mu gritted his teeth, took up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp, and suddenly said, "On the first day of the third lunar month, a friend of mine suddenly sent a message to me, saying that one of his subordinates lost someone in another place three years ago. An important object, this object suddenly appeared in the same state last month, my friends suspected that the thief was in the same state at the moment, let me go immediately to capture the object and the thief back to Chang'an."

Lin Chengyou didn't say a word. This so-called "friend" thought he was the real master of Zhuang Mu.

"When I arrived in Tongzhou, the object disappeared in the city hall. I found an inn in the most lively neighborhood in Tongzhou and secretly investigated the matter."

"What kind of object? Why can I know just by asking?" Lin Chengyou asked coldly.

Zhuang Mu was silent.

Lin Chengyou sneered: "Even if you don't tell me, I can find out if I go to Tongzhou to check for a few days. Why waste each other's energy."

Zhuang Mu drooped his eyelids and said, "It's a Qiankun Bagua mirror. The mirror surface is not round, but a crescent moon. It's called the Moon Moon Mirror."

Lin Chengyou raised his long eyebrows, and it was "New Moon" again.

"One side of this mirror is yin and the other is bright, the yang side is red, and the yin side is black. It is said that there are monsters in this mirror. As long as the yin side is aimed at a person who has just died, the soul of the person can be scattered, even if the person turns into a ghost on the spot. Specter, he will also forget some things before he was killed, and since then he will become a puppet, willing to be at the mercy of the mirror holder."

Lin Chengyou thought to himself, it sounds very similar to the boundless mirror of the master, but the mirror of the master reflects the injustice. Any object or corpse that has been contaminated by evil spirits can only be known by looking at it with this boundless mirror, and the mirror that Zhuang Mu said can **** people's souls is obviously a harmful magic weapon created by sorcery.

Suddenly, I thought that this style of mirror manipulation and torturing ghosts is a bit similar to Peng Yugui's way of torturing the Tian family and his wife. In the world, there are only some broken versions.

About fifteen or six years ago, the uncle of the emperor heard a report from a minister about a tragic case of using sorcery to kill people. It is decreed that all Taoist temples and Dayin Temple in Chang'an will cooperate fully.

With the cooperation of all the monks and Taoists, the master threw a treachery and cast a net in secret. It took four or five years before and after, and he finally caught all the disciples of Chang'an sorcery at that time. He confiscated more than ten sorcery secret books before and after, and destroyed them at the same time. Dozens of harmful instruments.

Afterwards, the master locked the secret books of the evil sect in the treasure pavilion of Qingyun Temple. This is nothing more than fearing that there are still many hidden practitioners of sorcery in various states and counties. If these people use sorcery to make trouble, they can also use these secret books to figure out the principle of sorcery harming people in time.

Since he was a child, he has been hanging around in Qingyunguan, and he has already picked the lock and secretly read the few secret books, one of which is the "Soul Sutra" that records the seven-man guides the road. It was after reading this book that he realized that there are still There is such a powerful soul restraint.

And the secret book that recorded the "unfeeling Gu" sorcery was also what he accidentally read at that time.

Just thinking about it, I heard Zhuang Mu say: "This mirror has always been very angry because it has swallowed too many remnants of resentful spirits. Every cloudy day, the mirror will spontaneously flow out dirty blood. The body is often stained with blood without knowing it. Only my friend and a few of his friends know about it. The thief who stole the mirror doesn't seem to know it. The reason why my friend knew that the mirror appeared in the same state It's because a few businessmen from the same state were discussing in the Chang'an liquor store, saying that when a Taoist priest was walking in the market last time, blood was pouring out from his chest and abdomen, and it was strange that there were no scars on his face. , and after being reminded, the Taoist hurried away immediately..."

Lin Chengyou suddenly said, "This mirror is so evil, it doesn't matter when you use it to harm people?"

Zhuang Mu took a sip of wine and said, "It's very particular. Whether it is to use this mirror to 'detain the soul' or to 'scatter the soul', it is extremely damaging to the yin and virtue. Before that, it is best to find out whether the victim himself has committed evil deeds during his lifetime. If he is not a kind person, he can be considered as a cause and effect, and then the evil retribution to the mirror-holder will be less. Therefore, mirror-holders often only pick the bad guys."

Lin Chengyou thought for a while and said, "That's why you decided that the three victimized pregnant women were not good people?"

Zhuang Mu sneered: "This murderer didn't kill just one person, but several pregnant women who were pregnant with Liujia. Even a rogue like me would feel that this kind of thing is too hurtful. , you will naturally think carefully before you start."

Lin Chengyou was silent: "How did the murderer know what the three victimized women did?"

Zhuang Mudao: "I don't know either, but the blood on the mirror surface happened a month ago, which means that the thief had already arrived in Tongzhou, but there was no bizarre conspiracy within this month, so it can be seen that this person didn't start out. Why did the pregnant woman who chose the right attack target the Bai family after one month, it should be determined that killing the Bai family will cause the least damage to their own cultivation."

Lin Chengyou was silent, the murderer not only killed the Bai family, but also killed her husband Wang Zangbao.

When choosing a pregnant woman, you are cautious, and when you kill Wang Zangbao, you are not afraid of harming your cultivation?

According to Liu Facao, the couple gave up their family business and came to Chang'an because they offended the local ruffians.

This made him feel unbelievable for a long time. The Wushu Store opened by Wang Zangbao and his wife was handed down from his parents. It had been in the local area for decades before. Just because cockfighting offended a few local ruffians, even the ancestral property no more?

It's a pity that these few days he has focused all on Yue Shuo Tongjun, and he has not paid attention to the unusual aspects of the couple themselves.

"I checked for a few days and found no clue. I was planning to return to Chang'an to return to life. At this moment, two traveling merchants in the inn where I stayed suddenly said that on the way into the city in the morning, they suddenly saw a Taoist priest's Taoist robe stained. Bloody, other people wanted to remind, but the Taoist disappeared soon. I found out that the place was at the foot of Wuji Mountain in the suburbs, and hurried to Wuji Mountain again. Unexpectedly, that night, the nearby Ju'an Inn happened. The murder case, it was a young couple who died.

"After I returned to Chang'an, I went to my friend to report to my friend. When my friend heard about this, they said that the murder was most likely committed by the thief, but why did the thief kill the couple, and my friend also said that I was in the same prefecture. After inquiring for so long, it might have aroused that person's vigilance, and in order to avoid revealing my identity, I was told to hibernate for a while before returning to the pig iron shop."

Lin Chengyou: "But as far as I know, you haven't been dormant all the time. On the day Shu Liniang was killed, you went to Chun'an Lane again."

Zhuang Mu laughed coldly: "It's not because of the thief's plan. I guess this thief has been eyeing me since he was in the same state. I am in the light, he is in the dark, he wants to find out who sent it. I went to check on him, so as soon as I got back to Chang'an, I started planning to deal with me."

After listening to the words of his "friend", Zhuang Mu went to Chongrenfang to find a hostel with many foreign merchants to stay. One day, I really felt stuffy, so I went downstairs to find a liquor store to drink, and after drinking for a while, I heard two children outside bluffing and talking, saying that they saw blood on the body of the Taoist priest who passed by just now, guessing that. Is the priest injured?

Zhuang Mu hurriedly came out of the restaurant and chased along the crowd for a while, and he saw a Taoist priest in yellow robe. , and thus followed to Chun'an Lane.

The Taoist entered the alley and disappeared in a flash. Zhuang Mu wandered a few steps in the alley, but could not find any trace of the Taoist. Mu felt that something was wrong and had to leave in a hurry.

On the second day, I heard that another pregnant woman had died in Chun'an Lane.

"It was only then that I realized that the pair of children at the entrance of the wine shop were likely to be instructed to say those words. I went back to the inn and looked for them, but I didn't see the pair of children again. I knew that I had exposed Xingzang. When I went to look for my friend in a panic, I undoubtedly fell into the trick of the thief. So I didn’t dare to act rashly, just as the Miyougui Pig Iron Store opened the door, I went back to the Pig Iron Store to continue working.”

Lin Chengyou thought for a moment, the murderer Teng Yuyi saw in the spice shop that day was short and about the same size as Zhuang Mu.

"Is the Taoist you saw at the door of the restaurant the same Taoist you heard about in the same state? Is this person tall or short?"

"The Taoist did a disguise, but the merchants in Tongzhou said that the Taoist was very short. The one I saw at the door of the restaurant was about the same size as me."

Lin Chengyou nodded, such a short adult man is not common, it seems likely to be the same person.

"The day Mrs. Rong Anbo was killed in the spice shop, why did you go to the back alley of the spice shop?"

Zhuang Mu snorted coldly, his face gloomy.

He stayed in the pig iron shop for two days, and the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He wanted to send a letter to his "friend", but he was afraid of being intercepted by the thief. Take a trip out of the city for him, and actually let this poppy help him deliver the letter without knowing it.

He went to the casino to gamble twice, and found that there were a lot of tails stalking him behind his back, including Marquis Wu, and a few high-level martial arts masters of unknown origin.

Zhuang Mu had not done anything bad recently, so he was a little puzzled. He was thinking about countermeasures secretly when he suddenly saw a Taoist priest in yellow robe leaving the casino in a hurry. He seemed to have accidentally seen him, and he was so scared that he turned around and left.

Zhuang Mu was a little hesitant. Today, this Taoist person is much taller and stronger than the previous Taoist person, but his martial arts are significantly worse. Moreover, this Taoist person is so flustered when he sees him, indicating that this person has no accomplices around him.

The opportunity could not be missed, and Zhuang Mu immediately decided to catch up. In order to get rid of the tails behind him, he deliberately took a shortcut and came out of the dark passage, injured the few Marquis who were blocked in the dark passage, and chased down the street in one breath.

At that time, it was the time when the West City was the most crowded.

Zhuang Mu followed the Taoist priest into a secluded narrow alley. The Taoist priest seemed to have finally sensed someone behind him, and suddenly started running wildly, but before he ran a few steps, the hem of the man's Taoist robe dripped with blood.

Zhuang Mu's eyes lit up, no wonder the Taoist was so flustered. The Moon Moon mirror that "friend" was looking for seemed to be on the Taoist. The same thing was thrown into the wooden barrel in the alley.

Zhuang Mu immediately stopped, half a bucket of blood was in the wooden bucket, and he couldn't see if there was a mirror in it for a while, so he had to bend down and dip his arms in the blood to fish, but after a while he didn't find anything. , suddenly realized that he might have been fooled.

He broke out in a cold sweat and was about to leave the narrow alley. Suddenly, someone screamed in the quiet room behind the window. Listening to the movement, it was obvious that something big was happening.

He was stunned for a moment, and was about to run up the wall. Suddenly someone pulled the rope. The wooden barrel full of blood was quickly lifted up in front of his eyes. Zhuang Mu's face changed greatly, and he remembered his arm. It was stained with blood, but he was not allowed to wipe it, and Lin Chengyou appeared.

This series of events happened in a very short moment, and every step was calculated perfectly.

Lin Chengyou stared at Zhuang Mu in the cage, even if he wasn't there that day, the murderer would lead Wuhou to the scene. As long as Wuhou saw Zhuang Mu whose hands were covered in blood, he would tell the truth of what he had witnessed. "Report to Dali Temple, in this way, the murderer can still achieve his goal.

Whether Zhuang Mu was caught on the spot or a wanted notice was posted afterwards, Dali Temple and the county government would investigate Zhuang Mu and the master behind him.

The murderer not only successfully obtained the three Yueshuo children, but also sent Zhuang Mu to the front of Dali Temple, so that he could take advantage of the fisherman quietly.

Thinking of this, Lin Chengyou's eyes darkened a bit. This person seemed to have some understanding of his abilities, as if he knew that as long as Zhuang Mu fell into his hands, it was just around the corner to find out who was behind Zhuang Mu.

Even the character of Zhuang Mu, who was regarded as a "chess piece", and how he would react in the event of an incident, this person scored exactly the same.

From this point of view, this person is no longer a wise man of Peng Yugui's level, but a strategist who can arrange troops.

Lin Chengyou thought back and forth for a long time, stood up in deep thought, and rethought the whole thing in his mind, he turned to look at Zhuang Mu: "Can your 'friend' say when the mirror appeared in Tongzhou? "

"The first day of February."

Lin Chengyou stroked his chin. Bai Shi was killed on the fifth day of the third lunar month, and it had been more than a month since the Moon Moon Mirror appeared in the same state.

This is not difficult to understand. Resisting heavy repression is in the same state. The murderer should not bring Yueshuo Tongjun all the way from Chang'an to feed. Therefore, the first Yueshuo Tongjun can only be picked up in the same state. The local area is not very familiar, so it took a lot of time to select the pregnant women.

After being reluctant to eat a Yueshuo Tongjun, he still did not wake up. The murderer either managed to transport it to Chang'an, or he was afraid that frequent crimes in the same state would lead to suspicion, so he had to rush back to Chang'an to find another Yueshuo child. Sir.

What puzzled him was that only 20 days later, the murderer targeted and killed Shu Liniang.

Chang'an has a prosperous population, and there are countless pregnant women. Shu Liniang is a "housewife" raised by Zheng Pu, who hides in Chun'an Lane. Shooting around is even more delicate.

How can the murderer know that she is not a "good person" for a woman who does not go outside the door?

unless…

Unless the murderer knew Shu Liniang in the past, even if she was hiding in Chun'an Lane, the murderer would be able to find her exactly.

After killing Shu Liniang, the murderer killed Xiao Jiang, the wife of Prince Rong Anbo, in the West Market just the next day.

One day's work is not enough to find out what a person has done in the past. It can be seen that before killing Shu Liniang, the murderer had already thought that the next one was Xiao Jiang.

No matter how capable the murderer is, it is impossible for the murderer to know who Shu Liniang was in the past and what kind of evil the little Jiang family did in such a short period of time. Based on this, the murderer either learned about the two from someone. The details, or the murderer himself knew the characters of the two.

A white light flashed in Lin Chengyou's mind, the time spent preparing to kill the little Jiang family was the shortest, would it mean that this person was the most familiar with the little Jiang family?

And this might be the only flaw left by the murderer.

Zhuang Mu took a sip of wine to himself, looked down at the wine cup and said, "How is it, this game is not easy to do, right?"

Lin Chengyou turned to look at him and said with a smile, "It's not easy to do, but it must be done."

After thinking for a moment, he tied the chain to Zhuang Mu again. Before leaving, he said, "Wait, wait until I confirm a few things, and then tell you how to cooperate."

***

In the case room, Lin Chengyou briefly said the conversation just now.

Yan Sizhi was stunned for a moment: "This is simply unexpected... But looking at it this way, the murderer should not commit the crime again. The pregnant women in Chang'an City have basically been recorded now. , of course there is no way to start.”

Lin Chengyou said: "It was before, now is now, Naizhong has already appeared in the world, according to the situation of my dealings with this thing today, this thing has not recovered, if the murderer wants to use Naizhong to disturb Chang'an, he must seek it as soon as possible. A Yueshuo Tongjun, he is all about speed now, and he may not be as forward-looking as before when he starts. The little Jiang family may be the key point of the whole case, I will go to find Song Jian, the prince of Anbo. "

Yan Sizhi hurriedly put down the file in his hand: "I'll go with Lin Pingshi. When I get to Rong Anbo's mansion, I'll make a record."

***

Rong Amber House.

The steward led Lin Chengyou and others inside, and said, "Uncle has been ill recently, and he rested early. The prince is still the director of the outer study."

Lin Chengyou looked around as he walked, the body of Xiao Jiang's was still parked in Dali Temple, but Rong Anbo's house was already plain white.

The servant led the two around the corner, and a handsome man in his twenties or thirties walked towards him, it was Song Jian, the son of Rong Anbo.

Song Jian described being haggard, his eyes were full of grief, and although he was not wearing plain clothes, he did not wear any jade pendant and fan pendant around his waist. He should have heard the servant's report and came to greet the guest specially. come over.