When the glow painted half of the sky rose, a small official came to Qu Zhengkun's house, hesitated at the door for a long time, and finally patted on the door, "My lord, the old man Chen who sells tofu was found dead at home, do you want to go over and take a look." ” After a long time, there was no sound in the room, and the little servant just wanted to knock on the door a few more times, when he suddenly heard Qu Zhengkun's yawn floating out of it, "This day, how can there always be dead people, yesterday I didn't let people sleep well, and I came again this morning." ” The little official was quite dissatisfied when he heard his voice, so he didn't dare to say anything, and waited at the door respectfully, waiting for Qu Zhengkun to come out.
After waiting for about a quarter of an hour, the door finally opened, Qu Zhengkun stepped out of the threshold while wearing his belt, and raised his hand slightly at the little officer, and the two were about to leave.
But as soon as he took two steps, a delicate "master" in the room made him stop again, and the little servant turned around and saw the concubine Qiaoyun who Qu Zhengkun had just married coming out in disheveled clothes, and he did not shy away from hanging Qu Zhengkun's neck with two naked arms, and snorted in his nose, "Master, why did you go out so early and wake up the concubine." ” Her belly pocket was faintly exposed from the transparent blouse, red, embroidered with mandarin ducks on the neck, the little official saw this fragrant scene, frightened and quickly avoided, walked a few steps out of the courtyard gate, and did not dare to say a word.
Seeing him go out, Qiao Yun became even more unscrupulous, and her whole body twisted like candy on Qu Zhengkun's body, "Master, I don't sleep well all day because of these cases, and I am quarreled early every morning, you see, my eyes are blue, how do you compensate me?"
” Qu Zhengkun hugged her and put his lips to her ear, "Don't worry, lady, wait for me to come back, I have my own way to compensate you." ” Qiao Yun pouted, "Since the master said so, the concubine will not get up to greet the lady, and wait for the master to come back in the room." ” Qu Zhengkun touched her buttocks, "What is the mother-in-law doing, you go to sleep, I will come when I go." ” Qiao Yun wanted this sentence, her two eyes rolled, and she smacked on Qu Zhengkun's face, and then walked towards the house satisfied.
Old man Chen was lying on his thin wooden bed, his eyeballs protruding from his sockets, his mouth wide open, his two hands clasped in front of his chest, and his ten fingers clenched into fists.
His thin face was now swollen and cyanotic, his eyes were faintly blood-red, and his death was terrifying, as if he was telling the comer about his unwillingness.
Qu Zhengkun only glanced at the corpse, then quickly stepped aside, and asked the officials who arrived here before him, "What's the matter?"
How did this old man die?
” One of the officials saluted, "Lord Qiyu, this old man goes out to sell tofu every day before dawn, but today, the neighbors all got up, but when they saw that his cart was still outside the door, they felt puzzled, so they came in to check, who knew that as soon as they entered, they saw the body of this old man Chen lying on the bed, the body was already stiff, and it was obvious that he had gone last night."
His subordinates had already investigated, and there were no signs of a fight in the old man's house, and there were no injuries on his body, but judging from his appearance, it looked like he had died of suffocation. ” Qu Zhengkun sneered coldly, "Suffocated to death?"
You're bluffing me, right, I've been a county magistrate for so many years, don't you know what a person who suffocates looks like?
Whether it is hanged or strangled to death, it is impossible for there to be no traces left on the neck and skin, let me ask you, this old man Chen has no scars on his body, so how can he have a swollen face and protruding eyes, and die of exhaustion?
” The official leaned over slightly, "Yes, my lord, the little one can't figure out what's going on, but his subordinates have also checked his throat and found that there is no foreign object in it, so I don't understand why he suffocated to death." ” Qu Zhengkun looked around, "Have you found footprints or other clues?"
” "No, and the subordinates have already asked the neighbors, they said that this old man Chen went home early last night, but they didn't hear any unusual news from his house."
Qu Zhengkun rolled his eyes upward, then yawned loudly, and asked again, "Doesn't this old man Chen have any relatives?"
Why didn't anyone come?
” The official said, "His wife died early, his daughter married to other places, and his son went to the army, so there are no cronies in Liaoyang." ” Qu Zhengkun's eyes rolled, "He died so strangely, it will be difficult to solve the case for a while, you can investigate, ask around, look around, see if you can find a suspicious person, I really can't find it, so I quickly disposed of the body, it's hot, and the body can't be left for too long."
After speaking, he glanced at the blazing sun outside, "Yo, it's almost noon, there are other things to deal with in the yamen, I'll leave first, a few of you" He patted the officer on the shoulder, didn't say anything, and walked away towards the door.
Seeing that he was far away, the official in the house took a sip, walked to the courtyard and took a few breaths of fresh air, "I heard that this old man has no relatives and no reason, and no one will go to the yamen to make trouble, so he didn't care, patted his ass and left, leaving a few of us here, what is this called." ” The official next to him came up and persuaded him, "He's not been like this for a day or two, why should you be angry with him anymore, but then again, even if he doesn't leave, do you still expect him to solve this case?"
When didn't it take our brothers to contribute, he sat alone in the county government and was free," After speaking, he looked at Old Man Chen's corpse again, frowned and shook his head, "But our county master is not wrong about one thing, this old man Chen died a really strange death, obviously he died of suffocation, but there are no scars on his body, I have never seen such a death in so many years." ” "It's not that it's nothing, this old man's body is quite similar to the twenty or so people in the Liu family yesterday, they all died of suffocation, and there are traces of struggle before death."
"I was confused by the sun, the Liu family died because of the mud under the lotus pond, did you see the mud here?"
The two of them walked back to the room as they spoke, not noticing that Fang Cai's conversation was being heard by the two peers who had been hiding outside the door, they looked at each other, nodded understandingly, and hurried in the direction of the inn.