Chapter 141: Wenxin Pavilion Falling Incident (Part 2)
When listening to a story, the most unbearable thing is probably when it reaches the most exciting part, there is suddenly no follow-up.
This kind of behavior is called "out-of-context dog" in modern times.
Although there was no such saying in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the audience who were stopped outside the Wenxin Pavilion after listening to half of the reasoning were equally itchy and insatiable.
Although no one dared to attack the cordon set up by the yamen runners, various complaints were heard one after another.
Some even wanted to show off their fathers' wealth by shouting slogans like 'My father is Li Gang, the director of the Ministry of Justice', 'My father is Li Erjiang, the deputy director of the Ministry of War', 'My brother is Li Zongrui, ', in an attempt to get the gatekeepers to let them in.
Not to mention the chaos below.
However, after Sun Shaozong entered the room, he asked about the room where the deceased was, and then asked the waiter to lead him to the third floor.
Lin Delu had been waiting at the stairs for a long time. He led Sun Shaozong to the deceased's room with a flattering look on his face, and reported: "Sir, the deceased's name is Su Kunmao, a native of the capital, and he ranked 126th in the high school entrance examination."
"There are a total of 72 people staying in the inn. During the Autumn Examination, the rooms are charged according to the number of guests, so the guests live alone and there are no servants to serve them."
Because in the past there were always some poor scholars who, in order to bask in the literary aura of their predecessors, would pool their money together to book a guest room, and then a dozen or even dozens of people would sleep on the floor and eat dry food.
The inns near the Imperial Examination Hall were fed up with the inns' troubles, so they set a rule of charging per person during the Autumn Examination.
"Don't worry about others for now."
Sun Shaozong stopped, stretched out his hand from east to west, and ordered: "Call the guests in these guest rooms over, and remember to ask them to bring the round tables in the rooms as well."
The third floor of Wenxin Pavilion is a standard L-shape, with a north-south corridor and an east-west corridor.
The staircase is located at the south end of the north-south corridor, while the east-west corridor is connected to the north end of the north-south corridor.
As for Su Maokun's room, it is located at the end of the east-west corridor and is also the room in the entire Wenxin Pavilion that is most suitable for overlooking the Imperial Examination Hall.
Sun Shaozong's move included nearly twelve guest rooms in the entire east-west corridor.
"Let them bring the round table over?"
Lin Delu was stunned and asked, "Sir, why is this happening?"
"Because the round table is the most important physical evidence in this case, remember, you must let them move it here themselves!"
Sun Shaozong said something nonsense without changing his expression, then walked leisurely into Su Maokun's room.
The guest room is not very spacious, and is divided into two rooms by wooden grids, making it seem even more cramped. If it weren't for the added bonus of "literary atmosphere", Su Maokun might not be able to get used to living in such a place.
There was a table full of leftovers on the round table in the middle of the outer room. There were four wine glasses, but the dishes were basically untouched.
Seeing him looking at the wine table, Lin Delu hurriedly explained, "After Su Maokun passed the imperial examination, he immediately set up a banquet and invited his familiar classmates to celebrate. But after just a few drinks, he mocked and ridiculed the three of them, and the banquet naturally ended in a bad mood."
"Among those three, are there any who live in this east-west corridor?"
"One of them lives diagonally across the street, and his name seems to be... Liu Xianglian!"
Liu Xianglian?
I don’t know how his parents came up with such a sissy name.
As they were talking, the seven guests living in the east and west corridors came to the door one after another, carrying tables. Most of them were panting, and some were half-dragged and half-carried.
There was only a handsome young man with a powdered face and beautiful features inside , who was carrying the table with one hand without feeling any strain at all.
Sun Shaozong's gaze lingered on the man for a moment, and he bowed alertly and said, "I am Liu Xianglian, your student, and I am honored to meet the Inspector General."
It really matches the name!
But judging from his expression, he seems to be someone with martial arts skills.
Sun Shaozong's suspicion grew even stronger, but he still ordered expressionlessly, "Lift the tables higher so I can have a good look."
Except for Liu Xianglian, most of these people were weak scholars. Even though they tried their best, only two of them succeeded in lifting the folding round table above their heads.
Sun Shaozong first walked up to the four losers and observed them carefully until they turned pale. Then he waved his hand and said, "You four, step aside first."
Then he turned to the other three and asked, "You three, tell me what you were doing when the incident happened?"
Liu Xianglian was the first to say, "To answer your question, sir, I had a quarrel with Su Kunmao and we parted ways. After returning home, I drank two pots of wine and sang some songs to amuse myself."
Generally speaking, even if one is not the murderer, he is unwilling to reveal information that is unfavorable to himself. However, Liu Xianglian did not hide his conflict with Su Kunmao at all.
This made Sun Shaozong look at him with a higher opinion.
"Reply to your Excellency's words."
The second person said with a depressed look on his face: "The student was sad because he failed the exam, so he hid in his room and didn't do anything special."
"grown ups."
The third person said proudly: "I was lucky enough to pass the exam. I was writing a letter to my father who was away as the governor at that time."
"So, neither of you drank?"
After Sun Shaozong heard this, he immediately ordered, "Come here, smell them carefully to see if there is any smell of alcohol on their hands!"
The failed scholar was puzzled, but the successful scholar's expression changed and he hurriedly explained: "Sir, what do you mean? I did have a few drinks outside, but what does this have to do with Su Kunmao's death?"
"Really?"
Sun Shaozong sneered, "Then open your mouth and blow out a few breaths, so that my servants can smell it. You are grinding ink and writing letters home, and the smell of alcohol on your hands hasn't dissipated yet. Wouldn't the smell of alcohol in your mouth disappear first?"
The newly-appointed scholar panicked even more, but still tried to argue: "Even if that's the case, what can it prove? You can't just say that I killed Su Kunmao for such a ridiculous reason, right?!"
"That alone is not enough, but you have revealed far more than just one thing."
Sun Shaozong continued with a sneer, "First, when I went upstairs, I asked the waiter. He was cleaning near the staircase before and after the incident, and he didn't see anyone entering or leaving the east-west corridor, so the murderer must be among the seven of you."
"Secondly, in order to create the illusion that the deceased was drunk and fell out of the window, the murderer sprinkled some wine on the collar of the corpse. Perhaps because of the haste, some of the wine spilled on the handle of the pot, which naturally wet the murderer's hands."
As Sun Shaozong spoke, he picked up the wine jug and revealed the slightly reflective water stains on the handle.
Then he pointed to the window of the room and said, "Besides, the window here is nearly four feet high. It takes a lot of strength to throw a slightly fat dead person out. And after my test just now..."
"grown ups!"
The newly-appointed scholar interrupted Sun Shaozong's deduction hastily, pointing at Liu Xianglian and saying, "Doesn't he also meet these three criteria? Moreover, he is so strong that it would be easy for him to throw Su Kunmao down!"
"I did doubt him at first."
Sun Shaozong said: "However, there is one sentence in his testimony just now that is enough to prove his innocence."
The newly-appointed scholar immediately roared again: "What did you say? Why didn't I hear it? Besides, he clearly didn't say anything special!"
This guy will not give up until he reaches the Yellow River.
Sun Shaozong walked to the wooden wall with a bit of helplessness, tapped it lightly with his fingers, and said, "The guest rooms here have been renovated before, and the wooden wall added at the back has a very poor sound insulation effect. If someone sings a little song in the room, do you think it will be heard next door?"
"yes!"
As soon as Sun Shaozong finished speaking, a scholar who had been excluded before suddenly said, "I did hear Brother Liu singing a little song next door, and it seemed that he was singing..."
Someone nearby said, "It's The Romance of the West Chamber, and it's sung by Cui Yingying!"
"Look."
Sun Shaozong spread his hands towards the newly-appointed scholar and said, " You are the only one who meets all the suspicion criteria now."
