Chapter 707: Red Lotus and White Lotus Are One Family
Could this be...
Sun Shaozong took the black post in his hand and looked at it carefully, his expression becoming much more serious than before.
This post is based on cardboard and soaked in thick ink. After drying, it appears hard and shiny, and is very similar to the legendary "black post" that appeared in the Criminal Law Department of Shuntian Prefecture.
After a brief hesitation, Sun Shaozong stuffed the note into his sleeve, then crouched down and got out of the cabin. He asked the three clerks who were looking at each other on the shore, "Is there any charcoal fire or something to keep warm in the pavilion?"
The three clerks couldn't help but lower their backs when they heard this. One of them replied hesitantly, "Yes, there is a pot of charcoal fire, and..."
Before he could finish, Sun Shaozong had already jumped ashore and strode into the pavilion.
But there were a few small dishes on the stone table, and a pot of hot wine on the charcoal basin, which was bubbling.
In addition, there were three hand warmers on the stone table.
What a relaxing time!
No wonder those petty officials seemed a little embarrassed when I asked the questions just now.
Sun Shaozong was a little annoyed at the moment, but then he thought, what's the big deal for officials to enjoy the snow in their spare time these days? If they can really write a few good poems, they may even be known as literati and scholars.
Besides, this matter is not worth dealing with in person, and it won’t be too late to deal with it later.
The most important thing right now is to verify whether this black post is true or false.
Thinking of this, Sun Shaozong wrapped the handle of the pot with a rag, lifted the wine pot from the charcoal basin, and used his toes to overturn the shelf covering the pot, then threw the post into the basin.
The fire suddenly rose, and most of the post was burned in an instant. The remaining small part faintly showed the word "injustice".
It’s the real thing!
Sun Shaozong sat down on the stone bench and frowned as he pondered what the case in front of him meant.
As mentioned before, this "Black Post" serial case was a series of major cases that had caused a sensation in the capital. The successor to Shuntian Prefecture, Ge Changcun, completely lost his reputation because of it, and finally fell into a desperate situation.
However, the black notes from Shuntian Prefecture appeared quietly on Ge Changcun's desk after the case was over.
If Qiu Yunfei had not insisted on investigating, perhaps no one would have discovered that this post was actually related to an unjust and wrongful conviction.
However, this post blatantly appeared with the corpse, and was obviously different from the black post from Shuntian Prefecture.
Could it be...
Is the owner of the black post challenging me?
Sun Shaozong's conjecture was not just a figment of his imagination - when he and Qiu Yunfei discussed the case, he felt vaguely that this case seemed to be similar to several cases instigated by a masked man in black two years ago.
They were all manipulated by a mastermind behind the scenes, and the victims were all extremely evil, but there was no evidence to bring them to justice.
The executors are often very secretive and may even have no relationship with the deceased. They kill only out of righteous indignation.
Two years ago, Sun Shaozong had basically figured out the methods used by the masked man in black to commit crimes.
Judging from his series of actions at the beginning, and even the subsequent "black post" incident, this guy was obviously very confident about the level of his planning case.
There was even a sense of self-admiration in his voice - even though no one had noticed the flaw, he still sent a black note.
Based on this inference, it is reasonable for him to take the initiative to come to the door to "turn the tables".
These two monks must have some blood debt on their backs, otherwise they would not have been chosen by him and sent to the Dali Temple as "sacrifices".
"grown ups."
Just as Sun Shaozong was pondering, Zuo Si Cheng Yang Zhiming also rushed over after hearing the news and asked cautiously: "More and more people are gathering on this shore. Do you think we should collect the bodies first?"
Upon hearing this, Sun Shaozong raised his head and looked towards the shore, and saw a lot of people gathered in groups of three or five, pointing at the black-sailed boat and talking.
"There's no need to be restrained."
Sun Shaozong said, "It's freezing cold, and the body won't rot in a short time. So, while there are many people here, find a way to drag the boat ashore and send it to a nearby courtyard for storage."
At this point, he added seriously, "Remember to try to maintain the original appearance and don't destroy the scene inside."
Get the boat ashore?
Do we still need to keep the crime scene as it was?
Yang Zhiming's face turned bitter, but he didn't dare to say anything. He turned around and was about to go to the shore to capture strong men. However, just when he took two steps away, he was called back by Sun Shaozong.
"Arrange people to check along the shore to see where the boat came from and who the owner is."
"Also, send people to all the temples in the capital to inquire if there are any missing monks."
"If there are not enough people, go to Shuntian Prefecture to transfer some officials."
After sending Yang Zhiming away, Sun Shaozong saw that the black-sailed boat might not be towed up in a short while - if he was willing to help, it would be easy, but as a Shaoqing, it was not a critical moment, so how could he do such a rough job by himself?
Therefore, he ordered people to find the files of the "black post" case and look through them in this pavilion.
As we watched, people came back one after another to report:
First of all, this boat belonged to nearby fishermen, but it was stolen last night.
According to the testimonies pieced together by eyewitnesses along the coast, the boat should have originally sailed out from the reed marsh on the opposite bank of the Dragon King Temple. However, there was no white sail on the boat at first, and there was someone maneuvering the bow.
In other words, the murderer must have calmly raised the white sail and abandoned the ship and fled when the ship was near the Dali Temple.
The murderer must be a good swimmer and not afraid of death - in such rainy and snowy weather, if he gets a cramp in the water, he will definitely sink to the bottom of the water and become food for the turtles.
Could he be a fisherman?
While he was flipping through the book and making guesses, someone else came to report something, but this time it was definitely not good news, because the two clerks were pushing and shoving each other, and neither was willing to speak first.
Finally, he raised his head and glanced at them, and then someone spoke up, "Sir, there's a message from Shuntian Prefecture saying that they can't spare any manpower at the moment, so we should transfer troops from other government offices."
Sun Shaozong frowned and thought to himself, could it be that Ge Changcun has gone crazy?
If you casually report the case to the Dali Temple, at most you will get a poor evaluation, but it won't cause any serious consequences.
However, this 'superior department''s' rude and direct refusal when requested to assist in the investigation clearly constitutes dereliction of duty.
Besides, he already had a bad reputation, and if I took the opportunity to report him, he would be in big trouble.
but……
According to Qiu Yunfei, although this guy lacks ability, he is not stupid. He should not have made such an obvious mistake.
"Did Shuntian Prefecture tell us why they couldn't spare any manpower?"
"this……"
The clerk who had spoken to him was suddenly speechless.
A colleague beside him hurriedly added: "I heard that the Prince Zhongshun's palace was robbed and two Taoist priests stole a lot of treasures, so they ordered Shuntian Prefecture and the City Defense Battalion to search for them."
Prince Zhongshun’s palace was robbed?
Two Taoists ran away?
Could it be that he is a Taoist priest who wants to use the hearts and livers of young boys and girls to make elixirs and who also likes to raise poisonous creatures?
Did he really run away, or did Prince Zhongshun sense something was wrong, so...
etc!
Sun Shaozong suddenly had an idea. The two monks had just shaved their heads, and their clothes smelled musty. It was obvious that they had just been found and had not even had time to wash and dry them.
In addition, their hearts were dug out, which was similar to the way those boys and girls died...
Could it be that these two were not monks, but Taoist priests who escaped from Prince Zhongshun's palace? !
