My daily mountain driving, I met a fox at the beginning and got married

As the commander of the Jinyiwei, Zhang Hao couldn't help but observe his pace - his pace was not fast, his steps were regular, and he had a sense of nobility and pampered. Unfortunately, he was weak, and even though he was tall, his handsomeness was greatly reduced.

Zhang Hao recalled his face: a little thin, but definitely handsome, with sharp eyebrows, deep eyes, and thin and sexy lips. There might not be many people in the whole capital who are more handsome than him.

Perhaps because he had not seen the sun for a long time, his skin was even two shades whiter than mine. The hands that pulled me up from the ground were slender and had distinct joints...

No, no! What am I thinking about? I am not really too immersed in the role!

This is just an illusory scene that cannot be escaped, so you must stay awake!

"Master Shi!" It turned out to be the eunuch Hai who had led him into the palace before, trotting over and saying, "There is a man named Gao Lin waiting for you at the palace gate. He said he has something important to report. I have already told the emperor, so you can leave first."

"Okay, thank you Eunuch Hai for coming to tell me." Zhang Hao pulled off the valuable jade pendant from his waist and quietly stuffed it into Eunuch Hai's pocket. "My father is still talking to the emperor, right? Please take care of him."

"Oh, you are..." Eunuch Hai pretended to refuse twice, and then accepted it with peace of mind, "Master Shi is a long-time friend of the emperor. The friendship is there, so don't worry, just go to handle the case with peace of mind."

As soon as he stepped out of the palace gate, Gao Lin came to meet him. He seemed a little surprised when he saw Liu Bingyun.

At Zhang Hao's signal, Gao Lin first saluted respectfully to Liu Bingyun, and then walked to Zhang Hao's side and followed closely.

"Go ahead." Zhang Hao said briefly.

"The deceased was an orphan who came here from Jiangnan six years ago. He had no roots at the time, so he made many friends. The previous suspect was one of his good friends. Liu Nian liked to lend money to others, but few people paid him back. Recently, he seemed to have a financial crisis. He borrowed money from people everywhere and even went to collect debts from people who owed him money. The conflict between him and the suspect was the most prominent."

"Then what are the places he often goes to?" Zhang Hao asked as he walked with a serious look on his face.

Gao Lin quickly responded: "We have checked all the places he often goes to, including the dock where he works, the low-end teahouse, the suspect's home, and Yingchunlou."

Zhang Hao suddenly stopped, turned his head, frowned, and asked: "Yingchun Tower? Isn't that..."

"Yes, it is a place of entertainment, and a high-end one at that. I don't understand how he can afford to go to such a place."

Zhang Hao habitually touched his chin and fell into deep thought - this was obviously beyond his spending power, there must be something else behind it...

Gao Lin shook his head solemnly and said, "We can't be sure yet, but our plainclothes brothers have already gone over to investigate."

Zhang Hao looked up and asked, "How's the investigation of the body going?"

"According to the regulations, our people must be sent to the Dali Temple after the investigation. They have been sent there now. Shall we go and take a look now?"

"Let's go!" Zhang Hao ordered, and then he seemed to have suddenly thought of something, turned his head to look at Liu Bingyun, and asked: "Your Highness, is it convenient for you...? Or you can wait outside the Dali Temple for a while."

Liu Bingyun's expression remained indifferent, as if he had turned a deaf ear to the discussion about the case just now. He just nodded slightly again to indicate that he was fine with either.

Zhang Hao felt very strange when he saw this - what was he planning?
Although both the Dali Temple and the Jinyiwei were deeply trusted by the emperor, they were essentially different.

Simply put, the Jinyiwei were responsible for confronting the murderer head-on. After catching the murderer, they would hand him over to the Dali Temple, which would then engage in a battle of wits with the murderer and ultimately convict him and impose punishment on him by the Ministry of Justice.

The Jinyiwei looked down on the literati nerds in the Dali Temple who only knew how to sit and flip through case files and talk nonsense all day long; the Dali Temple looked down on the Jinyiwei, a group of reckless warriors who carried knives and sticks and shouted for fighting and killing all day long.

Generally speaking, some minor cases could be solved in the government offices in the four districts of the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest of Bianjing City.

Cases that can be reported to the Jinyiwei and the Dali Temple are usually those that affect the general public or are related to powerful people in the court.

Just like this hanging corpse case, it belongs to the former. People who were working hard in the early morning in the whole south of the city saw it, causing panic among the people. The higher-ups could only ask the Jinyiwei to solve the case as soon as possible.

Even if the two parties dislike each other, they still have to interact with each other.

Under Zhang Hao's persuasion, Liu Bingyun stayed in the courtyard of the Dali Temple and waited.

This man, who has not appeared in public for thirteen years, although he has an extraordinary temperament and handsome appearance, is just an existence that can be easily overlooked in the busy Dali Temple where time is of the essence.

At this time, Zhang Hao was carefully examining the corpse when a discordant sound suddenly came from outside the door.

"The coroner at the Dali Temple is much more professional than the Jinyiwei. He has checked all the details clearly. The deceased was strangled to death."

Without even looking, Zhang Hao knew who made the annoying sound—Xu Chi, the Dali Temple official. This man looked to be in his early twenties, but when it came to speaking vicious words, he was no less skilled than those old ladies with eighty years of “battle experience”.

"Or are you just forgetful? We had an agreement before that when the body is brought to my Dali Temple, you Jinyiwei can only inspect it with my consent. Why didn't I receive your request today?"

Zhang Hao was too lazy to answer him and continued to look down at the marks on the neck of the deceased Liu Nian.

The rope was tied very tightly, and under the weight of the deceased, the bones in his neck had been torn apart, and the surrounding flesh and blood turned a horrible black and purple color.

Below this circle of black and purple rope marks, there is a faint palm print - this is the direct cause of Liu Nian's death.

"Hey! I'm talking to you, are you deaf?"

"Pinch me."

"……what?"

Xu Chi's eyes widened, and he looked at Zhang Hao with a look that said "are you sick?" "Why, did the emperor call you into the palace and force you to sign a military order?"

"Stop talking nonsense and pinch me! Just like you pinched him!" Zhang Hao pointed at Liu Nian's neck and urged.

Xu Chi was the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, and he had never been bossed around like this before. He was immediately furious and thrust his hands forward to grab Zhang Hao's neck.

However, as soon as he touched it, his hand froze.

——He could feel Zhang Hao’s pulse beating violently under his skin. His skin was warm and soft, and his neck was so thin that he could wrap his hands around it, as if he could break his neck with just a little force.

Xu Chi, who was furious just now, suddenly lost his temper and held Zhang Hao's neck like a hot potato, neither trying to use force nor letting go. "Hurry up!" Zhang Hao scolded him with his eyes and urged him, "I'm in a hurry."

Xu Chi shook his head helplessly, then became serious, rolled his Adam's apple, and exerted force with both hands.

--Sudden!
"stop!"

As soon as Xu Chi exerted force, Zhang Hao quickly raised his hand and held down his hand.

"Remember the force posture of your hands now. Don't forget it."

As he spoke, Zhang Hao carefully moved Xu Chi's hand away from the corpse's neck.

Xu Chi crossed his hands with his knuckles crossed, his fingers spread out evenly like a net, his fingertips slightly curled inward, and he had both "gripping" and "pinching" methods of exerting force.

"This is really strange." Zhang Hao pulled Xu Chi and pointed to the neck of the corpse and said, "Although the rope marks made the marks blurred, there was a time interval between the secondary injury and the fatal injury, and the life reactions were also different. The color difference can be seen from the overlapping marks."

Xu Chi looked at it carefully, but shook his head in confusion.

He was a judge who was well-versed in the law. He could recite those long and difficult criminal law provisions by heart, but he knew very little about such professional details.

"Look, you are like this." Zhang Hao used his hands to imitate Xu Chi's posture and placed them on Liu Nian's neck, but the marks did not match at all.

Then, he put his ten fingers together, and miraculously, the mark matched the previous purple mark perfectly!

Xu Chi's eyes flashed, and he quickly called the coroner to come and record this discovery.

"This posture is too weird. I can't exert any strength at all." Zhang Hao retracted his hand and said, "If I want to kill someone and I am confident in my strength, I will definitely choose a posture like yours. I can strangle someone to death with the strength of my ten fingers and palms. But the marks on the body are not like that. The marks show that the color at the finger position is lighter, while the color in the center is very dark. This is caused by the ten fingers clasped together. I speculate that the murderer used his own weight to break the neck with his tiger's mouth!"

When these words were spoken, everyone in the morgue couldn't help but gasp.

——Not every dead body can wait until the truth is revealed before rotting. Many bodies rot in a long wait before finally welcoming a glimmer of hope. However, this hope is too fragile and it is unknown when it will be shattered again as the case is investigated in depth...

In order to delay the decay of corpses, the morgue has almost no large windows on all four sides. It is located in the shade and is very cool, and the room is lit entirely by candlelight.

A cold wind blew from somewhere, the candlelight flickered, and an inexplicable chill rushed from the soles of their feet to everyone's heart.

Zhang Hao continued, "I compared it. Sir Xu, your handprint is much bigger than this one, but it's about the same size as mine."

Xu Chi was stunned for a long time before he muttered to himself: "I don't have confidence in my strength, and my hands are small..."

Gao Lin seemed to have thought of something, and slammed the bedside table, exclaiming: "The murderer is a woman!"

At the same time, an officer from the Embroidered Uniform Guard came to report that a woman's rouge box and a handkerchief embroidered with the word "Yin" were found in Liu Nian's home.

At the command of Zhang Hao and Xu Chi, the Dali Temple's field staff and the Jinyiwei officers set out together and headed straight for Yingchun Tower.

"If nothing unexpected happens, the murderer is in Yingchun Tower. How boring." Xu Chi crossed his arms and said, "But for you, these small cases are enough to keep you busy."

"There is no big or small case." Zhang Hao, who had been indifferent to Xu Chi's teasing, now looked gloomy. He stared at Xu Chi sharply and said in a low voice: "In my opinion, if a citizen loses a needle or a person dies on the street, it is a big deal. As a parent official, what I can do is to handle every case handed to me and find out the truth for the deceased. Lord Xu, you can say whatever you want, but please respect the deceased."

After saying these words, Zhang Hao's tone instantly became relaxed again, and he said with a smile: "Besides, the case has not been finalized yet. No one knows the truth until the last moment, so it's better to be cautious when speaking!"

Xu Chi put down his arms and looked at Zhang Hao who was walking away quickly, his eyes flashing with complex and incomprehensible light, as if there were deeper emotions hidden beneath the surface.

As soon as Zhang Hao walked out of the Dali Temple, he saw Liu Bingyun standing at the side of the gate, listening to someone talking.

The man was dressed in black and had an ordinary appearance. He was the type that would be hard to find if thrown into a crowd. However, when he spoke to Liu Bingyun, his expression was particularly solemn, as if he was talking about something important.

Liu Bingyun seemed to have noticed something and turned his head suddenly. His sharp eyes met Zhang Hao's, which gave Zhang Hao a fright!
But this look lasted only a second before disappearing without a trace. When Zhang Hao blinked again, Liu Bingyun had returned to normal - cold, numb, and emotionless, like a puppet being controlled by someone.

Zhang Hao put on a deliberately flattering smile and walked over slowly with his hands behind his back. At this time, he noticed that Liu Bingyun's gesture to let the man leave was to wave four fingers from the inside to the outside.

This is a highly controlling gesture, and usually only people who hold great initiative will use this gesture to command others.

Walking up to Liu Bingyun, Zhang Hao did not ask about the identity of the man in black, but smiled and said, "We are going to Yingchun Tower to investigate the case now! Is it convenient for Your Highness to go with us?"

"It's convenient for me."

"Well... Your Highness, do you have any important matters to deal with today?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Bingyun's gaze fell on Zhang Hao again, and there seemed to be a hint of subtle mockery in his eyes.

He lowered his voice and asked, "Don't you want to know why this prince left the palace with you?"

Zhang Hao put on a smile, and he looked just like an ordinary man who had seen an immortal. His false flattery and deliberate display of profoundness intertwined together, making every word he said seem neither humble nor arrogant, just right: "Your Highness naturally has his own considerations when he acts. We are in broad daylight, and no one can influence anyone else, so there is naturally no need to say more. What do you think?"

This sounds a bit ambiguous.

It seems to say that "we" do not interfere with each other, but also seems to say that no one can interfere with "me".

Liu Bingyun stared at Zhang Hao's smiling face, his brows suddenly frowned, then he put his hands behind his back, slowly bent down, and his face suddenly got close to Zhang Hao.

Zhang Hao's expression and movements froze instantly. He was forced to look at Liu Bingyun, and even his breathing became cautious.

It was not until this moment that a hint of human nature finally appeared in his eyes—it was calmness, not dullness.

At this moment, his calm and gentle gaze slowly came over, as if penetrating Zhang Hao's body and looking into the distant past, or into the unknown distance... This emotion made Zhang Hao a little overwhelmed, not knowing whether it was heavy or panic.

He was the first to react, took a step back, touched his cheek randomly, and asked: "Your Highness? Is there something on my face?" (End of this chapter)