Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 34 The case must be investigated in this way
Na Yan was stunned.

Sun Bin was stunned.

The curled-up body of Wang Yuhui, the postmaster on the ground, shuddered suddenly.

After a moment of silence, Sun Bin was completely unable to accept it. "Impossible! How could the master leave alone? And why didn't he tell us? Without Brother Xiang, who will protect his safety?"

Haiyue reminded: "There was more than one guest in the inn. There was another official staying on the first floor. After the incident on the second floor, they left silently."

"I didn't expect you to notice this..."

Min Ziyong was surprised and told the whole story, "Zong Chengxue, the Tongpan of Qiongzhou Prefecture, is an old friend of Dong Weng. He stayed at the posthouse to make Dong Weng escape. He officially arrived in Qiongzhou Prefecture and then headed north with Zong Tongpan that night, returning to Xuwen!"

Sun Bin's eyes widened: "Why didn't you tell us this?"

Min Ziyong said, "Xiang Ang may appear rough on the outside, but he's actually quite delicate. He's not good at acting. You're still young, so it's easier for you to reveal your flaws. I didn't tell you because this trip is so important. The fewer people who know, the less exposed we are!"

"Why did the master do this? It's because of that letter. He was planning to check..."

Sun Bin muttered something, then suddenly realized, "Was that the reason Mr. Min and the master were arguing in low voices on the boat earlier?"

"Not bad!"

Min Ziyong nodded. "Dong Weng's plan was to quietly head north to Qiongzhou Prefecture, leaving me here to communicate with the government. Since we weren't sure if he'd gotten lost while taking a nighttime stroll, we used the excuse that Dong Weng was ill and experiencing acclimatization issues to suppress the news temporarily while secretly searching for him and buying time! But this was a risky move, and I was worried. I tried to dissuade him on the boat, but Dong Weng believed the opportunity couldn't be missed. After all, everyone in Guangzhou knew he'd gone south to Qiongzhou because of the Annan envoys case..."

Na Yan was completely bewildered. "Wait a minute! Wait a minute! That high-ranking official actually left on his own? I won't even explain why you're all going through all this trouble. What's with the totem on the wall? We have no grudges, so why would he accuse us, the Li people, of kidnapping him?"

"That 'blood totem' was not left by Dong Weng at all!"

Min Ziyong gritted his teeth. "At first, I was also completely baffled as to why Dong Weng suddenly left this thing behind, leading to misunderstandings and tensions at the government office! Later, I figured it out. When everyone first discovered Dong Weng wasn't in the room, the calligraphy and paintings on the wall were still hanging. It wasn't until the calligraphy and paintings were torn down that the hideous patterns appeared on the wall! This can't be right! There wasn't any pattern on the wall originally. The 'blood totem' was secretly painted there by someone else while everyone was out looking for him!"

Na Yan and Sun Bin were startled and looked at the small figure curled up on the ground.

The little servant boy's eyes widened, somewhat disbelieving. Na Yan clenched his fists and angrily said, "It was you? You took advantage of the three of them going out to look for the high official, went to the kitchen to get chicken blood, painted a totem on the wall, and framed me, the Li people?"

Min Ziyong said coldly, "I hadn't noticed him at first, but now I remember that during dinner, this postmaster repeatedly mentioned to Dong Weng how the people of Qiongzhou were so arrogant, leaving corpses at the gate of the government office and threatening to rebel again! Only then did I realize that he might have added the 'blood totem' to the wall to frame the people, so I came here to interrogate him!"

Wang Yuhui had been quiet before, but now he suddenly started struggling again, even spitting out the rag in his mouth: "Mmmm! Mmm! It's not me... It's not... How could I dare to do such a thing?"

Seeing this unprepossessing postmaster twisting on the ground, Na Yan frowned again, and Min Ziyong's eyes also fluctuated.

In fact, even his suspicions were not entirely firm.

I always feel like there's a lack of motivation.

Why would the other party do this?

Just because of hatred towards the Li people?
At this moment, Hai Yue spoke up, "When I first observed the 'Blood Totem,' I noticed something was wrong with the handwriting. It's clearly a hideous and bloody totem, but the strokes seem very stiff. It's even quite messy towards the end, clearly drawn in a hurry, revealing a sense of timidity."

"Based on the handwriting on the blood totem, I had a hypothesis: there were actually two groups involved in the kidnapping. One group was bold and kidnapped Inspector Wu, while the other group was timid and left a blood totem at the scene to frame the Li people."

"But based on this assumption, there are two new questions——"

"First, it's timing. How could the two groups have such a coincidence, completing these two tasks one after the other?" "Second, it's courage. Leaving behind a blood totem may seem no more daring than kidnapping an official, but it still carries a huge risk. It's provoking a conflict between Han and Li, and bringing chaos to Qionghai. In a sense, the nature of the act is even worse!"

"So, based on these two questions, the target with the greatest suspicion emerged."

"Members of the Inn!"

Hearing this, Wang Yuhui, who had been wailing just now, became even more panicked. "Master Hai, Master Hai, you can't wrongly accuse me too! Even if you suspect someone at the post station drew that totem, there were so many people at the post station that night, and I wasn't the only one, so why me?"

"Because you really hate the Li people!"

Hai Yue said, "Han and Li people live together on this island, some integrating, some communicating, some rejecting, and some keeping their distance! Many are prejudiced against the Li people, and often hostile. But the look you gave Na Yan just now was filled with fear and deep hatred. Combined with what I heard, did you say, 'My ancestors performed great services for the court'?"

Wang Yuhui's body was completely frozen, and he couldn't move.

Hai Yue turned to Na Yan and asked, "Did one of Fu Nanshe's close associates accept the imperial amnesty and betray the leader?"

"Have!"

"What's the name of your confidant? Do you remember?"

"We Li people remember those traitors clearly. How dare we forget them?"

Na Yan shuddered, then suddenly realized what was happening. He looked at the postmaster Wang Yuhui lying on the ground and asked, "Are you the descendant of the traitor Wang Tongwei?"

Hai Yue said, "This is the most likely speculation at the moment. Fortunately, it's not difficult to verify. This incident has only been going on for thirty years. The government office only needs to investigate and they'll know whether your ancestors had this kind of relationship with the Li people!"

"Definitely..."

Looking at the postmaster lying on the ground with a pale face, no more excuses to make, and teeth chattering, everyone knew the answer.

Hai Yue said calmly: "Compared to torture and forced confession, I believe more in the motive for the crime and the connection of clues. Now that everything has a complete context, the truth has become clear -"

"When you heard that the Li people killed the Annan fugitive and dumped his body at the gate of the government office as a protest, leaving behind the twin snake totems of the Fu Nan Snake, you were filled with fear. If the Li people started another war, officials like you, the descendants of those who betrayed the Fu Nan Snake, would undoubtedly bear the brunt of the consequences."

"So when Inspector Wu first arrived at the post station, you couldn't wait to inform the court of this matter, hoping that the court would take it seriously and suppress the Li people."

"As a result, that night, Imperial Censor Wu disappeared, and his followers were extremely anxious. Naturally, you were also alarmed. When you found out they were out looking for you, you suddenly had a sinister thought. You took chicken blood from the kitchen and painted a 'blood totem' on the wall, just like the one at the yamen gate, and threw this dirty water on the Li people!"

"On the one hand, this move is to put the blame on the Li people who are currently causing a stir, so that the court will pay attention and start to suppress the Li tribe. On the other hand, it is also to shirk responsibility."

"After all, the Imperial Inspector has disappeared at the post station. If there isn't a more feared target for the government, you, the Postmaster, will be the first to bear the brunt of the consequences. I'm afraid you won't even be able to keep this lowly position."

At this point, Hai Yue summarized the case: "So, last night, the Imperial Censor Wu Lin opened the second-floor window himself and left with the help of the first-floor Tongpan Zong Chengxue. His attendants, unaware of the situation, went out to search for him.

"At the same time, out of hatred and fear for the Li people, Postmaster Wang Yuhui left a 'blood totem' on the wall to frame the people, fanning the flames and escalating the incident completely;"

"The two mysteries intertwined, leading to the 'Blood Totem' case, which shook the government and even caused unrest in Han and Li!"

(End of this chapter)