Hou Men Splendid

Chapter 123 The Most Poisonous Brother
Shao Ziyu rushed to the north of the city early in the morning, and the fire there was extinguished in the early morning. Except for the unrecognizable house in the middle, four or five households were affected by the fire.

At this time, some people who escaped were busy carrying things out of their burnt homes. There were valuable things, usable tables and chairs, and the alleys on both sides were full of things. When Shao Ziyu and the others passed by, these people were too late. Dealing with the carbon black on my body, just focusing on counting things, can reduce a little loss.

There are too many onlookers, and the courtyard where the fire broke out in the middle has been surrounded by people from the government, otherwise this place will definitely be rummaged by others.

Shao Ziyu stepped on the charred wood, and there was a crushing sound from the soles of his feet. White smoke was still rising from the ground and the two walls, and the temperature was much higher than outside.

The two clerks were carefully looking for the burnt people on the ashes-burned bed. The smell in the air was strange. Shao Ziyu asked Eleven, who had arrived early, "How about the casualties?"

"The family that caught fire consisted of a husband and wife and two children. His younger brother, who was away in business, came back and lived here for a while. Several people around were injured, but none of them were killed." In other words, the fire broke out. The family, including the younger brother who returned from running a business, were all buried in the flames.

There were indeed five corpses found, and the place where the fire started was probably the kitchen. The younger brother who was closest to the house was burnt with only some charred internal organs left.

The neighbors all saw the family coming in and out, and they all knew each other. Wu Zuo collected the corpses and immediately transported them back to the yamen. Shao Ziyu walked to the back of the house. The fire started in the middle of the night, and they should all be asleep by now. , How could there be a fire suddenly in the kitchen.

"My lord, if you cook on the stove, you will suppress the fire, and you can start the fire and cook directly when you wake up the next morning. There will be a lot of firewood piled up around the stove. If there are sparks in it that jump out and fall on the firewood, It will burn soon." Ah Jiu fiddled with the burning black kitchen stove, beside which were burnt firewood traces and ashes from some flammable branches.

"How strong is the wind to blow up these sparks." Shao Ziyu glanced at where the doors and windows should have been. If the doors and windows were open, the wind would have to be strong. "The wind last night was fine, Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many houses left here.”

Get out of the kitchen and walk into the room where the younger brother of the family sleeps. The body was not found on the bed, but by the table next to the bed. It is likely that it was smoked after waking up, and the couple and child, They were all lying in bed, maybe they passed out and passed away without a chance to wake up.

The unrecognizable house really can't find any other clues. It is only a guess that the fire started in the kitchen. It may be possible from this house. Shao Ziyu walked out of the ruins to see the victims of the nearby houses. Those family members are surrounding the door. , Originally, this is, your house caught fire and hurt my house, you should pay me, but your family is buried in the sea of ​​fire, what to do with their losses, you can only ask the government to find out the old things in the ruins It is also possible, gold and silver things will not be burned.

"Don't be impatient, everyone. After you have been enthroned, the government will have an explanation." Shao Ziyu ordered the two of them to stay. It is not a solution to keep these things piled up in the alley. There will be a lot of destruction, and they will be placed in the yards of nearby people for the time being, so that it will be convenient for the government to handle affairs at that time.

After returning to the Ministry of Criminal Justice, Shao Ziyu went to Zhang Shangshu to report the situation. After he came out, he showed Shao Ziyu the situation of the family who had the accident. The family had no other relatives, only his sister-in-law and a nephew were dozens of miles away. road in town.

"Send someone to bring them here for identification." Shao Ziyu asked Eleven to send someone to the town to pick them up, and the result in the autopsy room was also very simple, that is, he was fainted by the smoke and failed to escape when he fell asleep after the fire .

"My lord, the Xu family still has a few acres of land in the countryside, and there is a shop on West Street." Eleven continued to report.

"Notify the clerk that the shop is closed, and wait for the family to come." Shao Ziyu ordered one by one. It was already afternoon, and he was too busy to have lunch. When he walked into the hall, he saw Guanyan waiting there with a food box. When he came, he quickly took out the food from the food box, "Madam asked the little one to deliver it, saying that you forgot the time and didn't remember to eat in a hurry."

Lin Qingran asked Guanyan to bring a few light dishes and a jar of soup, and asked Guanyan to drink it under supervision.

"Master, you have to drink all the soup. This is the soup that Madam cooked for you early in the morning." Guan Yan started to add a bowl, "Madam said that it is hot and very spicy, and the old duck soup I made for you, you Drink more."

Shao Ziyu looked up at him, Guanyan didn't realize it, but continued to mutter, "You always go to that place, it's very dirty, and when you go back at night, the younger one prepared a brazier for you, last time the young master let the unclean Come back, you have to be careful."

"You're married and you don't talk to your wife, do you?" Shao Ziyu put down the spoon, still talking so much.

Guan Yan was startled, Shao Ziyu told him to pack up his things and go back, and went into the room where the files were read

The case progressed smoothly. Four days later, the Xu family's sister-in-law brought the child. The child was still young, so she didn't dare to let him come to the Ministry of Criminal Justice. The Xu family's sister-in-law burst into tears not long after arriving in the autopsy room. Shao Ziyu went in to have a look. , she was leaning against the bed where the Xu family brother's little internal organs were left, and soon her eyes were crying pink.

"Xu Sheng's wife." Shao Ziyu called her, she looked up at Shao Ziyu, and said in a low voice, "Yes."

"Do you know this is your husband?" Shao Ziyu pointed to those lumps of internal organs, one without bones and no body, how could he recognize who it was.

"When I came in, the elder brother of the official said, this is my husband." Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law muttered, and then said with joy, "My lord, isn't this my husband, Xu Sheng is not dead?"

"The neighbors of Xu Qiang's family testified that your husband lived at his elder brother's house the night the fire caught fire. Do you recognize Xu Qiang, his wife and these two children?" It is cruel to recognize relatives like this, but no matter how cruel it is, it must be recognized.

Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law stood up and went to the side where Xu Qiang and his wife were placed. There was some fear in her eyes. Can there be anyone else from the Xu family?"

The parents of the two brothers of the Xu family died, and they had no relatives in the countryside. Xu Qiang's wife was the only daughter in the family, and the two elderly people also passed away early. In this way, only these two are related, and the remaining few mu The shop on Tianhe West Street was no accident, it was reserved for Xu Sheng's wife and the children she brought.

"Ah Jiu, take her out to sign and draw a pledge." Shao Ziyu asked Ah Jiu to take Xu Sheng's wife out, and the latter asked worriedly, "My lord, what are you going to sign for?"

"Since you are their relatives, you must sign the identification document, otherwise, how can the yamen prove that they are the ones who died?" Shao Ziyu looked back at her, she let out a low voice, and followed Ah Jiu out .

After they had walked for a while, Shao Ziyu asked the guard officer, "Why did she ask you when she came in?"

"He came in in a panic and asked me which one was Xu Sheng. I just showed her, and she rushed over and cried."

"Crying on this bed?"

"No, she was kneeling beside the board and crying." Even if she didn't touch the cloth covering the board, she didn't pay attention to Xu Qiang's family of four.

"It seems that the relationship is not deep." Shao Ziyu just said so, went outside, and heard Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law, who had already signed, asking Ah Jiu about the sale of the shop's fields.

"I'm a woman, and I don't know how to farm or run a shop. Our family doesn't live here, so we sold the shop." Xu Sheng's wife asked Ah Jiu how to sell the shop here.

"Mrs. Xu, I'm afraid you won't be able to sell this shop for the time being." Seeing them approaching, Shao Ziyu said flatly, "The case is not closed yet, and these people haven't been buried yet."

"My lord, I'm just asking." Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law said angrily, "Of course I will bury my husband and uncle's family well."

"Xu Sheng is a businessman. Mrs. Xu doesn't know how to manage a shop at all. The business of Xu Qiang's shop is good." It's a pity to sell it.

"My lord, it's not wrong for my Xu Sheng to run a business, but I don't understand anything. If we are far away, the business will be good or bad." Xu Sheng's wife shook her head. Shao Ziyu didn't keep her and let her go.

Eleven brought people back here, and all the valuables in the ruins have been searched. Since all the things are going to be handed over to Xu Sheng's wife, she will naturally pay the compensation for these neighbors.

"My lord, do you want to call her back again?"

"Call these neighbors and Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law together tomorrow, and discuss face to face." Shao Ziyu waved his hand and walked out of the punishment department
The next day, Xu Sheng's wife and the five families whose houses were damaged came over and figured out how much they should pay, including the gold and silver dug up from the ruins of the Xu family's burnt couch, some of the current silver from the shop, and how much money they had left. The contract of Mutian and the shop was handed over to Xu Sheng's wife, including Xu Qiang's family and Xu Sheng, who had to take it back to hold a funeral before burying it.

Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law lost all the silver for those who hurt other people's houses, and there is not much silver left on hand. It is necessary to sell these gold and silver jewelry to bury a few people. Shao Ziyu asked Shi Shi to carry Xu's family with him Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law went back.

Even if this case is over.

It was already afternoon, the sky was a little dark, the wind blew up and the leaves that fell on the road were swept into the air, it seemed that it was going to rain, Shao Ziyu wanted to go back earlier, Guanyan drove over to pick him up, Shao Ziyu got into the carriage, it was pouring rain It fell down.

There were a lot of people running to hide from the rain on the street, and they passed by the carriage quickly. Shao Ziyu was thinking about something in the carriage. I have been missing for six days, and I have searched all over but can't find anyone, so I came to report to the police.

Shao Ziyu told the carriage to turn back. Originally, this matter was not reported here first, but everyone came here, and it was raining heavily, so it is possible to drive them out.

After returning to the yamen, there were two crying mother and daughter sitting in the hall. When they saw Shao Ziyu coming in, they immediately knelt down, "My lord, my Ashi has been missing for five days, and I can't find it everywhere. If you want to see a dead body, you can't just disappear in such a vague way."

"You guys get up first, I'll ask you." The crying was louder than talking, how could they ask clearly, Shao Ziyu asked them to get up, while the officials were keeping records, Shao Ziyu asked them, "When did you disappear?"

"Five days ago, he said that he would go out to meet a friend, drink some wine, and come back later."

"I've been missing for five days, why did I report it now?"

"My lord, my husband is a heavy drinker. It's possible that he won't come after drinking at someone's house for a few days. He has done it before, but this time he didn't come back after three days. Our mother and I will go to him." Friends I knew looked for him, but they couldn’t find anyone, and they all said they hadn’t been there.” After searching for two days, they couldn’t find anyone, so they got anxious.

"I didn't tell you which house I went to before I went out."

The woman shook her head, she didn't know anything about the question, except that she knew the time to go out, Shao Ziyu had someone take her to paint a portrait, even if she was drunk in the streets and alleys, she should be sober after a few days.

They sent people out to inquire again, and the result was somewhat beyond Shao Ziyu's expectations. This man named A Shi was seen near Xu's house, and there was a person beside him. It's dark, and I can't see clearly with my head down.

He had been around Xu's house at night, and he couldn't find anyone after that. Xu's house also caught fire that night. Is there any connection between the two.

The Xu family has no enmity with this Ah Shi's family, so it is impossible to deliberately set fire to burn the whole family to death. There is no shortage of gold or silver in the family, and it is not a robbery. people.

Shao Ziyu always felt that there was something wrong with Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law crying, she was crying very sad, and she looked very sad, but Shao Ziyu just felt that something was wrong. After inquiring from there, the neighbors said that Xu Sheng and his wife had a very good relationship. Husband, there is no despair at all, just let the sadness be over, and I am in a hurry to sell the shop and the field.

"Xu Sheng's daughter-in-law is supposed to bury the Xu family in the past few days. You send someone to follow her, follow her back to the town, see who she contacts, and then send someone to inquire over there first, Xu Sheng. "Shao Ziyu was a little confused. It was useless to call Xu Sheng's wife back now. She was so burnt that she couldn't recognize her.
Six days later, Ah Jiu caught the man who was reunited with Xu Sheng's wife about ten miles outside Luodu City.

The result of the interrogation was even more unexpected. The man who reunited with Xu Sheng's wife was none other than Xu Sheng himself. Going out, the turnover is not working well, and the buyer's money can't be paid, and they are facing debt collection.

After coming to Luodu City, he saw that his brother's family was running a good shop, so he made up his mind about this shop. The so-called family ugliness should not be publicized. There was a dispute in the family, and Xu Qiang didn't drive his brother out, but Xu Sheng had evil intentions. , In addition, I met a new drinking buddy here, A Shi, Xu Sheng had an idea in his heart, so he wrote a letter to his wife at home, and then passed A Shi here, got him drunk, and brought him to Xu's house in the dead of night. He lay down on the table and started a fire in the kitchen. He was afraid that it would not burn through, so he overturned the candlestick in the room where Ah Shi was lying on his stomach. After burning Ah Shi, only some internal organs were left. not come out.

Xu Sheng went out of the city overnight and hid outside the city, waiting for his daughter-in-law to arrive in Luodu City, and waiting for the funeral to be over. He sold the shop to get money and went home. He came out for a reunion halfway. He began to think about going with his family. Where he knew, he could pretend to be a fool and lose his memory, deceiving his identity, but he didn't expect to be arrested when he came out.

The most ruthless brother is not afraid of thieves outside, steal some money and know not to wake up the master, so that the master will not find out, my relatives want some money, but they will die immediately.

After the whole case was exposed, those in the north of the city who were acquainted with Xu Qiang's family on weekdays were all surprised. Others can see how good this family is to their own brother.

For some reason, some rumors spread, and they even got involved with the Shao family. There was a younger brother who killed innocent people and his elder brother’s family for money, and there was a father-in-law who went out to fight robbers for a noble title. Cooperation kills people.

(End of this chapter)