Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 62: Solve the murder mystery with the princess (Second update, please subscribe first!)

"Lingshan County Magistrate... Hepu Rebellion... Governor Lin... Portuguese..."

Hai Yue never drags his feet in doing things, let alone this serious case of deception involving a high-ranking official who could be silenced at any time. Without even waiting for the night, he returned to Fang's house before curfew and told Lu Bing about the progress of the case.

Lu Bing's face looked ugly for the first time.

After all, he was not the Jinyiwei commander who was feared by the court and the public in history. In terms of official position, Jinyiwei Sheren was the son of a Jinyiwei officer who had not officially inherited the position and did not even have a rank. It would be unreasonable for him to confront the Governor of Guangdong and Guangxi, no matter how powerful his background was, there was no such thing in the officialdom.

“There must be evidence!”

"But if the pearls they stole were really sold to those Portuguese devils, we, the Jinyiwei, would be powerless to stop them!"

"Looks like we have to look for evidence from below!"

Lu Bing was always decisive: "I'm going to send people to Hepu County and Lingshan County!"

Haiyue nodded. Instead of having vague suspicions, it would be better to go to the pearl-diving site and investigate directly.

Did Lingshan County Magistrate Zong Chengxue embezzle the pearls from Hepu?
Are the people of Hepu who beat up the neighboring county magistrate, killed local villagers, and looted pearls real people?
This group of people became bandits, and when they were later suppressed, why did the stolen goods mysteriously disappear?
In fact, there is already an answer in people's hearts for all these questions.

But since it involved high-ranking officials and the stability of Guangdong and Guangxi, even the Jinyiwei had to have evidence.

However, when it comes to investigating, I'm afraid that I might need more manpower...

Lu Bing also thought of this and suddenly looked over with a strange look in his eyes: "Are you familiar with that Princess Fanglian?"

Hai Yue immediately reacted: "Is Sheren Lu planning to mobilize the people over there?"

"Not bad!"

Lu Bing smiled and said, "By bringing the princess here, the Jinyiwei will have more manpower to investigate this heinous case. Am I being clever?"

The main mission of the Jinyiwei in coming to Guangdong this time was the Annan delegation.

After the dispute between the envoys and the assassins spread to the capital, Emperor Jiajing attached great importance to it and immediately ordered the Jinyiwei to go south. At that time, the safety of the envoy Li Weining was still unknown and they still had the hope of returning to the group. Now that it is confirmed that Li Weining is dead, only Princess Fanglian Li Yuying is left. The Jinyiwei naturally shouldered the responsibility of protecting her.

At this time, outside the courtyard where Li Yuying was, there were more than 30 Jinyiwei guards guarding her. Lu Bing was now preparing to transfer them to track down the stolen pearls.

Of course, the protected princess cannot stay where she is, she has to be taken over and protected closely.

"That's it!"

Lu Bing was young and passionate, and he worked quickly. He quickly conveyed the order, and his men rode fast horses and disappeared into the night.

More than an hour later, as a carriage arrived at Fang's house, Li Yuying walked in with a look of panic on her face.

Obviously, he had heard of the great reputation of the Ming Dynasty's Jinyiwei. Although it was unlikely, he was still a little panicked.

It wasn't until he saw Haiyue that his expression noticeably relaxed.

Seeing this, Lu Bing raised his eyebrows and stepped forward to salute: "I am Lu Bing, the Jinyiwei. Due to an urgent matter, I would like to ask Princess Li to move aside. I hope you can forgive me for any inconvenience!"

Li Yuying knew that the Jinyiwei were the trusted confidants of the Ming emperor. As a vassal state seeking aid, she had no right to show them disdain. She quickly bowed and said gently, "Mr. Lu, you are too kind. I will need your careful protection along the way. Now that we have arrived in Guangzhou, the security here is stable, and I think there will be no danger. If you have any urgent matters, please go ahead and handle them. There is no need to be distracted by me."

"The princess is indeed very reasonable!"

Lu Bing was quite delighted and laughed heartily, pointing at Hai Yue: "I know that Princess Li and Hai Shisanlang are familiar with each other and have shared hardships together. Let him protect you. Farewell!"

After saying that, he winked at Haiyue, turned around and left gracefully.

Li Yuying's eyes flickered. When Lu Bing's back disappeared, she hurried over and exhaled sweetly, "What's going on?"

Hai Yue took her aside and whispered, "It's the same thing from last time. The nightmare at night. The village shrouded in fog was called 'Hidden Mist Village'. The owner of this place just died in Nightmare Town..."

"Hey!"

Li Yuying shuddered and almost fainted.

She had almost forgotten the horrible legend, but now she was brought directly to the murder scene?
Hai Yue continued, "But that's all fake. There was no murder in Nightmare Town. The real motive was related to the tribute Nanzhu!"

It is said to be Hepu pearls, but the princess, who is from Annan, may not know about it. However, Hepu pearls are also called South Pearls. "Hepu pearls are called South Pearls. Those from Europe and the West are called West Pearls, and those from the East are called East Pearls." "Western Pearls are not as good as East Pearls, and East Pearls are not as good as South Pearls." I believe that this explanation will make the other party understand.

Li Yuying, however, didn't care about anything else. She clenched her fists, wanting to hit him hard: "You have to talk and breathe heavily, do you want to cut it off?"

Haiyue laughed: "Don't be afraid, I knew it was fake from the beginning. The murderer must have used a weird story to do it!"

"Ha~!"

Li Yuying glanced at him, pursed her lips, and didn't expose the truth. She turned back to the case: "Is it related to the rolling beads? They are indeed top-grade. I have a string of them in Annan Palace. They are smooth and round, gorgeous and colorful. Each bead shone and rolled on the plate. I still remember them!" Rolling beads are another name for Hepu pearls. They mean that if you put them on the plate and move them slightly, they will roll freely. At this point, Li Yuying felt something was wrong: "If the nightmare town in Yinwu Village is fake, what about Zong Chengxue's suicide note?"

The first person killed in Yinwu Village was Zong Chengxue, who entrusted his old servant to leave a suicide note for Wu Lin, which described how he was haunted by nightmares and committed suicide in pain before his death.

However, after asking this question, Li Yuying answered it herself: "Either the murderer killed Zong Chengxue and then forged his handwriting to write this suicide note, or the murderer forced Zong Chengxue to write the suicide note and then murdered him? Am I correct?"

Haiyue sighed for a moment and nodded: "These are indeed two ways to disguise a suicide note."

Li Yuying said, "It's a pity that Zong Chengxue's body has been transported back to his hometown for burial. Unless it's absolutely necessary, I'm sure you wouldn't open the coffin and perform an autopsy, disturbing the deceased, right?"

Haiyue said: "No."

Li Yuying frowned slightly. "So now we have to crack the second victim, Fang Wei's, method of killing?"

Hai Yue became serious. "Censor Zhou Neitai has examined the body. There are no signs of homicide. However, it is almost impossible for someone like Fang Wei, who suddenly acquired a huge amount of wealth and indulged in extravagance, to commit suicide. He must have been killed by the murderer in some way!"

Li Yuying hesitated for a moment, then looked towards the inner chamber where candles were burning not far away. "Which room?"

Haiyue asked, "Aren't you afraid?"

"Ghosts are scary, but why should we be afraid of murderers?"

Li Yuying curled her lips. "This person uses such a complicated method to kill people, so he must not have any real ability. Besides, he still has the young master to protect him. It was the order of that Jinyiwei big shot!"

These words were quite cute and innocent, and Haiyue also smiled: "I will definitely protect you! Let's go!"

The two of them walked one after the other into the inner house of the Fang Mansion and arrived at the house where Fang Wei died.

Li Yuying was tough in words, but when she actually arrived at the scene, her body went limp and she subconsciously moved closer to Haiyue. A fragrance that was more pleasant than agarwood wafted over and dispelled the lingering stench in the room.

Hai Yue slowed down her pace, first coming to the middle of the ground covered with white cloth and looking at it, then looking up at the beams. "Fang Wei hanged himself here. Neither the body nor the traces at the scene show any signs of homicide. The question now is how the murderer allowed him to hang on the rope without any resistance, and finally to die by hanging..."

Li Yuying came to his side, but quickly stepped back a few steps and fanned her nose: "What's that smell?"

Haiyue also found it extremely offensive: "There is no dignity after death, especially when it comes to hanging."

“But this stinks!”

Li Yuying frowned: "Is this my illusion? This smell seems a little off..."

Haiyue knew that her sense of smell was extremely sharp. She had previously discovered the Annan thieves' lair by following the scent of Nha Trang incense and locking onto the coffin shop. Her skills were simply amazing. Haiyue did not question it at all, but instead immediately confirmed it: "There must be something wrong when things are out of the ordinary. You have to believe in yourself and smell it carefully!"

Li Yuying made a bitter face as she slowly moved over. She sniffed carefully and gradually revealed her conviction: "It's definitely not right! There's a faint smell of... a hint of grass and trees in this stench!"

'Wow! '

Hai Yue was amazed and cheered up: "In other words, someone used some kind of herb on the corpse? What could be the effect?"

Li Yuying said slowly, "This plant seems to be the source of the lingering stench, but it's mixed with the stench of the corpse, making it difficult for ordinary people to distinguish it!"

Haiyue was puzzled: "Why do you do this?"

"Fight!"

Li Yuying was at a loss at first, but then with a determined look in her eyes, she went out to take a breath, and returned with a fearless look, sniffing around the room: "Hmm! There's another smell! Very faint... but the fragrance... is covered up!
"Using one scent to cover up another?"

Haiyue's eyes lit up and she immediately reacted: "Use the stench to cover up the incense!"

Li Yuying suddenly realized, "No wonder the scholar who shared the bed with me woke up early in the morning only to find the deceased hanging. Shouldn't he have been awakened by such a stench? The murderer must have used a drug to make both of them unconscious, then calmly moved the deceased over, put the neck into a rope, and then used a second type of stinking herbal medicine to stimulate him to wake up. The deceased struggled to hang himself, and the stench spread, covering up the fragrance in the room and erasing all traces of the drug!"

The autopsy could only determine whether the deceased died of asphyxiation and whether the traces at the scene were consistent with voluntary hanging.

The purpose of this method of killing is to blur the line between active suicide and passive suicide.

The key point is that the stench of incontinence caused by suicide by hanging was cleverly concealed, making the murderer's traces almost flawless.

"Hoo! Hoo!"

After analyzing the situation, Haiyue and Li Yuying couldn't help but rush out, breathing in big gulps of fresh air.

But when they looked at each other, they all smiled, feeling full of a sense of accomplishment.

With the help of the legend of Nightmare Town in Hidden Mist Village, the mystery of how homicide was disguised as suicide was solved!

(End of this chapter)