Volume 4: Holy Capital Tribulation Chapter 234: Shui Lingcheng
Day 4.
The weather suddenly changed and a continuous winter rain fell in Xuanmiao City.
This winter rain heralds the end of winter, and the holy city is about to usher in the revival of all things and the return of spring to the earth.
In the mansion of Cao Ding, the Water Commissioner.
Tie Jing, Dongfang Yaorao and Chen Taiji were under the eaves, taking shelter from the rain and discussing something.
"Why... are you back here again?" Tie Jing was puzzled. "Haven't I been here before?"
"Haha, maybe there was a mutiny that night," Dongfang Yaorao said sarcastically, "Envoy Xu didn't find out clearly, right?"
"That... that doesn't mean we need to mobilize so many troops?" Tie Jing frowned. "He pointed at the map and asked us questions for a whole day. We have already wasted a day. What are we going to do if we continue to waste time like this?"
"So," Dongfang Yaorao smiled faintly, "the fact that foreign monks can chant scriptures is not the truth, and it is not applicable to investigating cases!"
"Of course," Tie Jing finally found a common topic and stroked his beard, saying, "We local monks can't even figure it out, let alone this outsider!"
"You two adults don't know," Chen Taiji couldn't help but say, "Shui Lingcheng Cao Ding is indeed a little suspicious."
"What?" Dongfang Yaorao was the first to hear the problem and asked, "Are you saying... there is something wrong with Cao Ding's murder, or there is something wrong with Cao Ding himself?"
"All of them have problems," Chen Taiji said. " After checking all the assassination scenes, Xu Zun found that only Cao Ding's case was the most special."
"What...what's the special method?" Tie Jing asked hurriedly.
"All the victims were assassinated by young, beautiful women with whom they had a close relationship," Chen Taiji explained, "These women were either concubines, daughters-in-law, maids, or prostitutes of brothels.
"These female assassins lurk around their victims, waiting for the pre-planned assassination moment to arrive, and then they kill!
"The longest time they stayed dormant with the victim was only about half a year, while the others were in the last one or two months.
"But... the woman who assassinated Cao Ding has been married to Cao Ding for a year.
“Moreover, only Cao Ding cannot prove that the assassin must be the young lady he married, because there are no witnesses at all.
"We just naturally thought it was her based on inertia."
"This..." The two looked at each other and suddenly felt that it made some sense.
"There is another major doubt," Chen Taiji said, "Most of the victims had large families, or were protected by guards and masters. The assassins could only lie in wait and gain their trust before taking action.
"But Cao Ding is a lonely man with only a housekeeper at home, and he doesn't even have a maid ." He pointed at the house and said, "Although the residence is not bad, it doesn't look like the home of a dignified fourth-rank official."
"Hey? Don't say that..." Tie Jing nodded slightly, "There really is something wrong.
"But... to be honest, I have some friendship with this Cao Lingcheng in the past. Cao Ding is an introvert, not good at socializing, and doesn't like crowds. What he likes most is to study his model designs. Why not let him work on water conservancy projects?"
"So..." Dongfang Yaorao took over the conversation and asked, "Special Envoy Xu is suspecting that Cao Ding himself is also a member of Xuanmen?"
"Logically speaking," Chen Taiji said , "it would be easy to assassinate Cao Ding, and there is no need to place a woman next to him.
"Xu Zun suspected that this woman might be monitoring Cao Ding, or trying to obtain some information from Cao Ding!"
"This... is a bit..." Tie Jing frowned and said, "It's a bit risky, right? I know Cao Ding. It's possible that others are rebels from the Xuanmen sect, but Cao Ding definitely won't do that. He lives a simple life without so many twists and turns..."
While they were talking, Zhao Yu was leading the guards in a search, which was extremely thorough, almost digging three feet into the ground.
"My Lord, my Lord..." At this time, Cao Ding's housekeeper was heard saying to Xu Zun, "My Lord Cao usually doesn't let me into the study. I really don't know what's missing in there!"
The next second, everyone saw Xu Zun walking out of the study and asked at the same time: "Do you know what Cao Lingcheng is doing recently? Is he responsible for any projects?"
"This... this villain doesn't even know !"
"Special Envoy Xu..." Seeing this, Tie Jing hurried forward and said, "Don't worry, if you want to know what Cao Lingcheng is doing recently, we can go to the Ministry of Industry!
"I think, since Cao Ding is the Water Minister, he must be in charge of the water conservancy construction of my Daxuan."
"Okay!" Xu Zun said firmly, "In that case, let's go to the Ministry of Industry!"
“Oh…” Unexpectedly, Dongfang Yaorao yawned suddenly and said, “Special Envoy Xu, let’s wait for you here!”
"Yes, yes," Tie Jing agreed, "The Ministry of Industry is in Xinglongfang, very close."
Xu Zun knew that these two people looked down on him, so he ignored them and led Zhao Yu and others away from Cao Ding's residence.
However, Chen Taiji was different from Tie Jing. He had already vaguely felt that Xu Zun might have discovered something.
So he did not stay in Cao Ding's residence, but set off with Xu Zun and others.
"Report..."
Just as he went out, the inner guards came to report that Xu Yusheng, the assistant minister of the Ministry of War who had escaped the assassination attempt, had returned to the Holy Capital and was being questioned at the Inner Guard Palace.
Xu Yusheng was worried that the Queen Mother would suspect him, so he did not dare to lead his troops, but rode back to the city alone.
Since Xu Yusheng was not killed by the assassin, his confession must be very important.
However, Xu Zun was now preoccupied with Shui Lingcheng's affairs, so he decided to continue investigating at the Ministry of Industry.
…
The Ministry of Works was an extremely large organization that was in charge of the country's civil construction, water conservancy projects, and the manufacture of various equipment.
Because of their different functions, these departments are located relatively scattered and are not in the same place.
Xu Zun had a clear purpose and went straight to the Ministry of Water Resources where Cao Ding was.
In this assassination, the Ministry of Works lost two high-ranking officials, one was the Minister of Works Ying Rang, and the other was the Minister of Water Resources Cao Ding.
In terms of rank, Cao Dingying was one rank lower, but it was also an extremely important position in the Ministry of Works.
Previously, according to Xu Zun's instructions, someone had asked about Ying Rang and Cao Ding's work situation.
At this moment, a young craftsman from the Ministry of Water Resources was introducing Cao Ding's work to Xu Zun.
This person is Cao Ding's deputy and naturally the person who knows Cao Ding best.
However, after some introduction, Xu Zun found that Cao Ding had not undertaken any large-scale projects recently. His work was mainly to deal with water conservancy issues across the country.
If there is any important task, it is that the Ministry of Water Resources is manufacturing a batch of bronze bulls to suppress water, which will be placed on both sides of the river downstream to prevent flooding.
Next, Xu Zun checked Cao Ding’s office and found that it was full of books about water conservancy projects.
"Let me ask you," Xu Zun asked, "Who does Cao Lingcheng interact with the most on a daily basis?"
"Minister Ying, but..." The young craftsman lowered his head and said, "Minister Ying was also killed!"
"Anything else?" Xu Zun asked again.
"And there is me, and there is... and there is..." The young craftsman recalled carefully. It can be seen that the interpersonal relationships of this Minister Cao were indeed worrying.
However, before the young craftsman could finish his words, an inner guard suddenly ran in from outside.
"Special Envoy Xu...Special Envoy Xu...It's bad, it's bad..." This person rushed in like crazy and reported to Xu Zun, "Cao Ding's mansion was attacked, and Tie Jing was assassinated on the spot!!! The Eastern Divine Constable was also seriously injured, the situation is worrying..."
ah……
When Xu Zun and others suddenly heard such news, they were shocked!
"Ah?" Unexpectedly, the young craftsman said, "Tie Jing... is it the Tie Jing from the Dali Temple? He... he is also a good friend of Cao Lingcheng..."
…
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