Chapter 13 When the Fog Rises Again 2
Meng Fan was stunned for a moment, then turned his eyes to look at the bell that transmitted the sound.
The murderer's voice could no longer be heard from there.
Meng Fan rushed over and untied Meng Qin with trembling hands. The little girl was so scared that she hugged him tightly and cried. Meng Fan patted her back and kept comforting her: "Qinqin, don't be afraid, it's okay, it's okay."
"It's not advisable to stay here for long, let's go!" Zhou Zhenzhen frowned and looked around. Meng Fan nodded, carried Meng Qin on his back and walked out.
What Zhou Zhenzhen asked Huo Chi to do was to survey the vicinity and locate the murderer's direction while Meng Fan was dealing with the murderer.
The murderer was good at using the mechanism, so he was able to hide, but this method is not without disadvantages. The wire of the mechanism cannot be extended too long. Firstly, there is not enough preparation time, and secondly, it is easy to attract discovery. Therefore, the murderer must be not far away.
The art of cracking the mechanism varies greatly depending on the different sects, but Huo Chi is the young master of Xuanji Pavilion. Even if he can't crack the mechanism, he can still try to guess the hidden location of the mechanism wire and follow the clues to find the murderer.
This method had a 30% chance of success. Cheng Jue was hesitant and didn't want to try it, so Zhou Zhenzhen made the decision.
It's better than just sitting there and waiting for death.
Fortunately, Huo Chi did not disappoint.
There is a warehouse near the martial arts field. It was used to store food and grass in the military camp. After the patrol camp moved away, it was completely abandoned. From the outside, the warehouse was just a dilapidated firewood room, not eye-catching at all.
At this moment, outside the abandoned warehouse, the Dali Temple's men and horses were scattered around. Cheng Jue stood with his hands behind his back, looking calm and composed. He was not in a hurry to go in, and did not let his men make any noise. Although Huo Chi was curious, he always believed in Cheng Jue, so he put away his curiosity and continued to stand aside.
In the past, Cheng Jue regarded Lin Yuxiao as an opponent hiding in the dark.
Because he is open and honest, he is worthy of being his opponent.
But the murderer in this case is an extremely twisted evil spirit who only hides in the dark and manipulates everything, not living in the light.
And Cheng Jue was born the sun.
The murderer was good at using tricks. If he went in rashly at this time, he would not necessarily have the upper hand even if he had more people. He had to remain calm and force the murderer to take action first, exposing himself to the sun. The evil ghost would disappear and have no way to escape.
The invisible confrontation did not last long, and Cheng Jue smelled a faint pungent smell at the tip of his nose.
He frowned in surprise and shouted loudly: "Get out of the way!!"
Everyone subconsciously obeyed Cheng Jue's order and quickly dispersed. With a "bang", the ground shook and the heat wave quickly spread out from the warehouse, baking people's bodies.
…
Zhou Zhenzhen led the Meng brothers and sisters to hire a carriage on the road. The Meng brothers and sisters got on first. Zhou Zhenzhen was about to follow in, holding the carriage, when she heard the explosion.
They were fast and ran as fast as they could, so they were actually quite far away. But the sound seemed to explode in her ears, blowing her away and leaving her mind blank.
She turned her head and saw a patch of fire in the distance. That was the direction of the horse farm...the direction where Mr. Cheng was.
"Zhenzhen, hurry up!"
Meng Fan lifted the car curtain and called out. He was too worried about Meng Qin just now and didn't hear anything. Now he knew what had happened.
"Hey..." Before he could say anything else, Zhou Zhenzhen had already run towards that direction.
Meng Fan gritted his teeth, stuffed a silver ingot into the driver's pocket, and drove him away: "I want the car."
Then he jumped out and blocked Zhou Zhenzhen's way horizontally.
"boarding!"
Zhou Zhenzhen stared at Meng Fan with red eyes. Meng Fan shouted impatiently: "If something happens to Master Cheng, I'd rather die than live. Come up quickly!"
Zhou Zhenzhen wiped her face with her backhand and got into the carriage.
The gunpowder was very strong and the entire warehouse was on fire. Fortunately, there was nothing nearby so the fire did not spread. Before the carriage had even stopped, Zhou Zhenzhen jumped down impatiently. There was nothing in front of the sea of fire.
nobody.
There is no adult without her.
Zhou Zhenzhen ran inside sobbing, but Meng Fan was quick to grab her and said, "You can't go, Zhou Zhenzhen, calm down!" Although he said that, he couldn't help but shed tears.
"Let me go! I want to go find Master Cheng! Let me go! Let me go!" Zhou Zhenzhen went crazy. She struggled hard in his arms, slapping his arms with her hands.
Bo Xiang came around from behind the warehouse and was stunned when he saw the two strange people: "What are you two doing?"
Zhou Zhenzhen and Meng Fan froze at the same time, looking over with their necks stiff, then one let go, the other stopped crying, and they ran towards Bo Xiang in unison, speaking at the same time -
"Where is Master Cheng?"
"Where is Master Cheng?"
"What's behind?" Bo Xiang scratched his head in confusion. Just as Zhou Zhenzhen and Meng Fan were about to run again, a tall figure turned around and saw the two of them holding hands and looking at each other with tears in their eyes. His face immediately darkened.
Zhou Zhenzhen didn't even bother to look at his expression. She was completely immersed in the joy of regaining what she had lost. She looked at him seriously for a moment without blinking, then suddenly threw herself into his arms and burst into tears.
Meng Fan was also very excited, but just as he was about to rush over, he was stopped by Cheng Jue's eyes. He could only wipe his tears awkwardly, but he breathed a sigh of relief.
"Zhenzhen, stop crying."
Cheng Jue touched the furry head of the person in his arms. Her tears were wet and seeped gently into his heart. The unhappiness in his heart just now disappeared immediately.
Meng Fan took a few steps back automatically, not looking at the couple leaning against each other, and asked, "What's going on?"
Bo Xiang sighed: "The murderer set off the explosives inside, and everything is gone."
The flames licked every inch of the warehouse, turning the beams and door panels into ashes. Gradually, the fire subsided, and after a few hours, only a dark wreckage remained.
Those who do not see the light will eventually die in darkness. This is their destination and also their fate.
At dawn the next day, the Dali Temple team took back everything they found in the warehouse ashes. After Meng Fan sent Meng Qin home, he washed his face casually, bought some food, and went to the yamen. By then, Huo Chi had already identified several things.
"The wire of the voice transmitter is specially made. Even under a fierce fire, it will only deform and change color, but will not burn out." Huo Chi put down the burnt black and thin silk thread that was almost invisible, and pointed to the two burnt and cracked original objects next to it. "This is a set of two. Fill one with gunpowder and put the other far away. Light the one nearby and the other far away will explode. The murderer used this thing to control the gunpowder in the martial arts field. Fortunately, it was discovered in time, otherwise..."
Huo Chi stopped talking and looked at Cheng Jue who was holding something in his hand in a trance: "My Lord, have you found anything?"
It was a small piece, held in the palm of the hand, burnt black and only the shape of a flower could be vaguely seen.
Zhou Zhenzhen took out the tofu pudding that Meng Fan brought in a bowl. Upon hearing this, she took a curious look at it and felt vaguely familiar, as if she had seen it somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where for a moment.
"You don't even know your hair is all messed up." Meng Fan muttered as he pushed Zhou Zhenzhen away, "If your hair falls into the bowl, how will others eat it?"
Zhou Zhenzhen glared at him, took a few steps back, took off the white jade hairpin, and put it aside carefully.
She held the silky black hair in her palm and skillfully tied it into a bun. When she picked up the hairpin again, Cheng Jue's gaze followed her like a shadow, gazing at her deeply for a long time, making her blush a little, before he moved his gaze away and rested it on the white jade hairpin thoughtfully.
In a flash, Zhou Zhenzhen suddenly remembered and raised her eyes: "It's him!"
"Who is it? Who is it?" Meng Fan asked repeatedly.
Cheng Jue uttered four words coldly: "Zheng'an Palace."
The troops were divided into two groups. Cheng Jue and Huo Chi led a group of people directly to the Zheng'an Palace, while Zhou Zhenzhen and Meng Fan led people to the Ministry of Justice.
It was unusual for people from the Dali Temple to come to the Ministry of Justice so frequently. Fortunately, Zhou Zhenzhen had a perfect excuse. She waved the files in her hand at the guards and said, "Lord Cheng ordered me to return the files I borrowed from the Ministry of Justice. Because the files involve confidential information, Lord Cheng ordered that I must hand them over to Lord Zheng in person."
The guard immediately released the man.
Zheng Xiangrui was sitting upright in her seat copying files, her brows lowered, exactly the same as last night. Zhou Zhenzhen's eyes fell on the hairpin in her jet-black hair, the top of which was a red plum blossom in full bloom, and she could vaguely smell its faint fragrance.
The file was placed on the table. Zheng Xiangrui looked up and saw that it was Zhou Zhenzhen. He stood up and put on a shy smile: "Mr. Zhou finished it so quickly."
Zhou Zhenzhen just looked at him without saying anything, which made Zheng Xiangrui touch his face and asked hesitantly, "Is there something on my face?"
"No." Zhou Zhenzhen shook her head and said, "The Dali Temple has found the murderer of Du Ruyue and Liu Fang, so Lord Cheng ordered me to return the file. Thank you Lord Zheng."
Zheng Xiangrui smiled and said, "The Dali Temple Detective Division lives up to the name bestowed by His Majesty. It is indeed extremely capable."
"It seems that the prince did not come today." Zhou Zhenzhen glanced at Zheng Xiangrui's desk and did not eat.
"Yeah, I don't know where my brother has gone. He usually comes to deliver lunch at this time. Even if he doesn't come, he will send someone from the mansion to come..." Zheng Xiangru's voice was low and a little exhausted, but after a moment he smiled, "My brother must have something important to do and can't be delayed."
Zhou Zhenzhen's chest paused, and she looked at Zheng Xiangrui's hairpin again: "Master Zheng's hairpin is very unique. I seem to have seen the same plum blossom-shaped necklace worn by the prince before."
Zheng Xiangrui touched the hairpin and nodded with a smile: "I didn't live in the palace before. This is the first gift my brother gave me after I came back. He made it himself. It is the only one in the world. He likes plum blossoms, so he gave me his favorite thing."
"You two siblings have such a good relationship." The identity of the person who died in the fire has been confirmed. Zhou Zhenzhen hesitated for a moment, but still did not tell Zheng Xiangrui the truth at this moment.
The brother who loved and cared for her so much was a murderer and was dead.
No matter which of these two things was said, it would be enough to destroy the fragile Zheng Xiangrui.
People from the Dali Temple found a large box under a large pear tree behind the South Garden where the Crown Prince lived in the Zheng'an Palace. Inside the box were all kinds of intricately constructed mechanisms, large and small.
At the bottom there was a small box containing several bottles and jars. Cheng Jue called Yan An to carefully identify them. There was the drug Begonia and the mute drug that Meng Qin had been injected with.
"Sir Meng, please give this to your sister. She will recover in less than an hour." Yan An handed the bottle over. Meng Fan thanked him gratefully and hurried home.
In addition to the burnt plum blossom buckle, several pieces of cloth that were preserved because they were pressed under abandoned horseshoes were also found in the ashes of the martial arts field.
The blue silk is embroidered with golden circular patterns.
The guards at the Zheng'an Palace said that the prince left the palace yesterday afternoon and never came back, and he was wearing clothes of this color.
From then on, the identity of the murderer was finally determined.
The murderer who caused a stir in Chang'an City, deployed meticulously and used cruel means, turned out to be Zheng Yan, the prince of Zheng'an who loved his younger sister on weekdays.
When he was discovered, he chose to commit suicide. He wanted to be the manipulator of this game from beginning to end and not let anyone take his life.
The afternoon when the case was solved, Meng Fan returned to Dongyuan to sort out the case files.
Yan An took the boxes of bottles and jars to an empty room to study them, and Huo Chi also took the pile of mechanisms to look at them carefully. Zhou Zhenzhen had nothing to do for a while and was idle. She opened the window of the Detective Department and smelled the sweet-scented osmanthus fragrance coming from the street next door. She actually found that Cheng Jue was as idle as she was.
He stood in front of the window, eyes closed, the golden light of the afternoon shone on his face. Zhou Zhenzhen's heart moved, she raised her finger, and carefully traced his outline from a distance.
From the corner of his forehead, to the tip of his handsome nose, then to his thin lips that were always pursed, all the way to his heart.
He suddenly opened his eyes and took in all her little movements.
Zhou Zhenzhen immediately withdrew her hand, feeling a little embarrassed. He smiled and waved. She climbed out of the window and trotted to stand in front of his window.
"Master Cheng, do you have any questions?"
