Chapter 170 The so-called truth

Du Lingchun held the banquet in a private garden on the outskirts of the city.Although it looked unremarkable from the outside, when Gongsun Zhuoyu stepped out of the carriage and was led in by the maid, he realized that there was something special.

Inside, there are overhanging eaves, waterside pavilions, pavilions and pavilions, all half-hidden among the flowers and trees.The dozens of meters long corridor is located next to the lotus pond, passing through the rockery and running water, and finally leads directly to a pavilion in the middle of the lake.

The maid led the way and then stopped. She knelt down and saluted Gongsun Zhuoyu and said, "My lord, please forgive me. I don't like others to serve you closely. We can only wait outside."

Gongsun Zhuoyu glanced at the veranda that was only a short distance away. At the end was a pavilion, surrounded by white curtains. When the wind blew up, a figure could be vaguely seen.He nodded to express his understanding: "It's okay, I'll just go by myself."

He was so handsome that if the maid looked at him twice, she would blush, cover her lips and retreat with a smile.

Gongsun Zhuoyu went to the pavilion in the middle of the lake. When he got closer, he found that Du Lingchun was reading a book, somewhat lost in thought.I thought it would be best not to disturb him, so he stopped three steps away and waited quietly.

There is a low table in the middle of the pavilion, filled with all kinds of precious fruits and melons, which are not often available to ordinary people.The floor was covered with a thick velvet blanket, which was worth tens of thousands of dollars.Gongsun Zhuoyu looked at the plate of grapes and was a little greedy.

Du Lingchun dressed more casually because he was in the mansion.The dark hair is loose on the shoulders.Wearing a red shirt with wide sleeves, her skin was as white as snow, making her soft to the core.

He held the scroll in his hand and waited until he finished reading the current row of poems. Then he put it aside, raised his eyes to Gongsun Zhuoyu, and laughed out loud: "Master Gongsun has the air of a gentleman. You have been waiting for a long time. Please take a seat."

In fact, Gongsun Zhuoyu didn't stand for long. He knelt down opposite him as he was told and said, "Seeing that the master was so absorbed in reading, I didn't dare to disturb him."

After finishing speaking, he glanced at the collection of poems on the table without leaving any trace. It happened to be a page of Li Bai's "A Journey from a Guest", and the sentence "Lanling fine wine and tulips, and jade bowls filled with amber light" came into view.

When Du Lingchun saw him looking at the poetry collection, he raised his eyebrows and suddenly waved his sleeves aside: "I don't like reading."

Gongsun Zhuoyu thought to himself that he was really moody when he looked at you so enthusiastically even if he didn't like you, but he said: "It's okay not to like you. The company is a big shot, so naturally there is no need to waste time on such trivial matters."

"Trivial matters?" Du Lingchun suddenly smiled, "You are the first scholar to say such things."

Just as Gongsun Zhuoyu said, many poor people's families are in need of food and clothing. They can't afford to eat, so how can they have money to study.Du Lingchun didn't like those verbose things. To him, books were as annoying as the sour and aloof atmosphere of a scholar.

He lazily stood up and walked towards a fishing pole fixed by the fence. He was not wearing boots, and a pair of white and thin feet could be vaguely seen in the crimson clothes as he walked.Du Lingchun took the fishing rod, flicked it casually, and suddenly said: "I thought Lord Gongsun wouldn't come to the banquet today."

Gongsun Zhuoyu thought to himself why he didn't come, he had to come. He stood up from his seat and followed Du Lingchun with a serious look on his face: "Why did the company say this?"

Du Lingchun looked at him sideways, and the curve of his lips seemed to be smiling: "Don't you all think that our company is a rootless eunuch, huh?"

It is always quite shameful to mix with powerful officials and corrupt officials.Anyone who cares about his reputation will avoid him.

Du Lingchun gave an example: "For example, that...Zhang Jiji, Zhang Zhixian?"

Gongsun Zhuoyu's heart skipped a beat when he heard this. Zhang Jiji, a foul-mouthed man, had long told him to stop talking nonsense.This is great. The drunken blunder was directly heard by the real owner. Wouldn't it be asking for trouble?

After all, Gongsun Zhuoyu was more loyal to the friends, and said with a little embarrassment: "Master Zhang didn't mean to do it, it was just a drunken gaffe. I have no need to argue with this kind of person."

When Du Lingchun saw the fish mark floating, he raised the fishing rod and pulled the line back. A lively carp hung on it: "Really, but others say that people tell the truth after drinking."

Gongsun Zhuoyu nodded and said, "There are people who talk nonsense after drinking."

Du Lingchun just said it casually.He threw the fishing rod into the bucket, looked at Gongsun Zhuoyu with a smile, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and returned to his seat: "Well, for your sake, we won't care about him."

If it were anyone else, he would have to shed his skin even if he died. After all, few people in high positions in this world can freely discuss things.

Gongsun Zhuoyu felt slightly relieved after hearing this, thinking that Du Lingchun was not as difficult to get along with as the rumors outside said, so he returned to his seat and asked, "Isn't the company going fishing anymore?"

Du Lingchun said: "Those carps have been fattened up in the pond. Without vigilance, they can catch a bunch of them with just one hook. It's not interesting. Besides, today is a banquet for you. Don't let other things disturb you."interest."

After saying this, he pulled the jade bell at his hand, and immediately the maids and servants filed in, removed the snacks, melons and fruits from the table, and placed delicacies on the table.Gongsun Zhuoyu quietly moved the plate of grapes to the side and ate a few as if nothing had happened.The maid was also very discerning and did not move away.

Du Lingchun noticed it and asked: "Do you like eating grapes?"

Gongsun Zhuoyu said: "It makes me laugh. I have a breeze in my sleeves. The grapes are expensive and I don't often get them."

Du Lingchun thought he was magnanimous and moved the grapes towards him: "Eat it if you like. If it's not enough, take more back. When you're full, come with me to the Magistrate's Garden to see the excitement."

Gongsun Zhuoyu paused: "Huh?"

Du Lingchun just smiled meaningfully: "Our company is very curious about what tricks they can find out."

Thanks to Gongsun Zhuoyu's quick application of grease on the soles of his feet yesterday, the task of investigating the case of the female corpse in Gujing fell on Zhang Jiji.He stayed up all night, interrogating all the maids and servants in Bieyuan, and finally discussed with the prefect all night, and barely managed to find out the "truth".

"Reporting to the company, I checked last night. There was a maid named Danqiu in the villa where the guests were held yesterday. She disappeared three days ago and her whereabouts are still unknown. The female body in the well may be Danqiu."

Du Lingchun sat high on the throne, while down in the hall was the body found last night, covered with a white cloth. It may have been cleaned up, but although the body odor was still lingering, it was not as direct to the forehead as it was last night.After hearing Zhang Jiji's words, he did not express his opinion: "Oh? How do you know that the corpse is Dan Qiu?"

Zhang Jiji had already prepared and ordered his maid to bring something to him. It was the wedding dress worn by the female body: "Although the body had been soaked in the well water for a long time, the clothes and jewelry were still intact. The lower official found Danqiu, who was friends with him on weekdays.Several maids came to identify it, and they all recognized that the embroidery on the wedding dress was made by Dan Qiu, and the hairpin she often wore."

It sounds reasonable.

Gongsun Zhuoyu thought that Zhang Jiji was such a pervert that he even took off the clothes of the corpse.

Du Lingchun picked up the tea cup, picked up the lid, and skimmed off the foam: "How did that person die? Why was he wearing a wedding dress when he died?"

Hearing this, Zhang Jiji glanced at the prefect without leaving a trace, then quickly looked away, bowed and replied: "Dan Qiu was engaged to Lei Quan, the deputy housekeeper of Bieyuan, and they will get married next month. He should have been trying on wedding clothes before he died., and was later assassinated and pushed into a well, so that's why."

After he finished speaking, he ordered a maid in pink clothes to be escorted up. She was tied up and stuffed in her mouth. She was struggling so hard that her face was wet with tears.

Zhang Jiji explained eloquently: "This maid's name is Ling Shuang. According to people in the mansion, she has always admired the deputy housekeeper Lei Quan, but Lei Quan and Dan Qiu were in love with each other and never treated her with false words. So.Ling Shuang is jealous of Dan Qiu and secretly rejects her."

"On the night before Dan Qiu finally disappeared, a servant in the mansion saw them pushing and shoving. It seems that the resentment accumulated over time made Ling Shuang angry for a moment, so he pushed Dan Qiu into the well."

Wonderful, really wonderful.Gongsun Zhuoyu quietly took a sip of tea beside him, thinking that it was a pity that Zhang Jiji didn't talk about stories. At the same time, he glanced at the corpse without leaving any trace -

Because only half of the bones were left rotten, and the white cloth covered them, the outline of the body could be vaguely seen.

Gongsun Zhuoyu paused his fingertips slightly and frowned, as if he had discovered something, but he thought it was none of his business, so he suppressed it for the time being.

Du Lingchun had nothing to do anyway. Hearing this, he looked at the tied maid: "Did she plead guilty?"

The magistrate interjected: "This lowly servant refuses to admit it until death, but sir, don't worry. I think it only takes a few days of torture to extract a confession, and then she will confess her crime."

As soon as he said this, Ling Shuang got the strength from nowhere, threw herself forward, spat out the cloth stuffed in her mouth, and cried out in a shrill voice: "Sir! I have never harmed Dan Qiu.Even though I had a few arguments with her that day, I would definitely not kill anyone because of it. Please give me a clear lesson! Please give me a clear lesson!"

Her hands were tied behind her back, and she knelt on the ground and kowtowed hard. There was a banging sound, and blood started to appear within a few breaths.His hair was disheveled and he was really embarrassed. He cried with tears streaming down his face: "I still have an old mother at home. Her legs and feet are inconvenient and she can only rely on me to support her. If I die, how will she live? Please give me some advice!"

The maid standing next to her also showed unbearable expression when she saw this. The magistrate said angrily: "Just because your old mother's legs and feet are inconvenient, can you be cleared of guilt? Someone, please take this wretched maid away quickly!"

Immediately, a government official dragged her down. Ling Shuang struggled and refused to leave. She kept kowtowing and kowtowed, crying so hard that she couldn't speak: "Sir, my mother is really inconvenient in her legs and feet. She can't even walk.Please...please..."

There was a splash of blood on the bluestone tile floor, and the head hit it with a dull sound, and finally it was forcibly dragged out, leaving a blood stain.

Seeing this, Gongsun Zhuoyu looked away unnaturally and remained silent. Who would have thought that the system would pop up again at some point, hugging his shoulders with its wings and crying: [Ooooooooo, so pitiful, so pitiful., she is definitely not the murderer] Gongsun Zhuoyu thought that the prefect was just looking for an excuse to calm down the matter. Who would care if he was the murderer? He pulled the system away with a little disgust: "You graduated from Notre Dame de Paris, every dayYou pity others, but I don't see you pity me."

The system wiped away tears: "I am a top student who graduated from the Interstellar Scumbag Reform Academy."

Gongsun Zhuoyu: "..."

The system continued to wipe away tears: "As a parent official, if you don't clear up the grievances of the people, you will be a failed official."

Faint officials will be punished with electric shocks.

Everyone saw Ling Shuang being forcibly dragged down. Unexpectedly, at this moment, Gongsun Zhuoyu, who had been silent all this time, suddenly said, "Your Majesty, I think this case is not that simple."

The prefect was furious: "Gongsun Zhuoyu, you..."

Du Lingchun raised his hand to stop and turned his head to look at Gongsun Zhuoyu: "Master Gongsun, do you think there is any problem?"

There is definitely something wrong, and everyone knows there must be grievances if the truth is found out overnight.But everyone here is a human spirit, and no one would rashly stand up for a humble maid and use her little life to calm down Du Lingchun's anger.

Gongsun Zhuoyu said bravely: "I just have a question."

Du Lingchun's attitude towards him has always been very gentle: "But it doesn't matter."

Gongsun Zhuoyu glanced at the prefect, and then at Zhang Jiji, the coward: "According to Master Zhang, Danqiu has only been missing for three days, but the body recovered from the well was severely decayed and had turned into white bones. The time of deathIt won’t be less than fifteen days.”

Zhang Jiji thought for a moment and said, "Good fortune brings wisdom": "The well water is moist, so it is possible that it will rot quickly."

Gongsun Zhuoyu said: "No, even if the well water can affect the degree of decomposition of the corpse, it will not be able to decompose to this extent in just three days, and..."

He measured the height of the skeleton next to him from a distance: "This skeleton is most likely that of a man, not a woman."

As soon as this statement came out, the whole audience was in an uproar.