Chang’an County, Morgue—
When Zheng Qing arrived, he could hear the sound of wailing from a distance.
“My daughter! My poor daughter!”
A middle-aged couple were crying their hearts out, supported by servants.
Upon seeing Zheng Qing, the surrounding people were about to bow and greet him. Zheng Qing waved his hand, signaling them to comfort the family first.
Just then, Su Wu Ming arrived, and the old servant hurriedly ran out from inside.
Ignoring Zheng Qing, he directly addressed Su Wu Ming:
“County Lieutenant, the deceased is Dou Cong, who married yesterday!
The groom lives in a town fifteen miles outside the Mingde Gate. Yesterday, the carriage that Dou Cong was riding in was on its way there, but then the horse bolted, and she disappeared!”
Su Wu Ming then bowed to Zheng Qing:
“Greetings, Imperial Censor Zheng.”
Su Wu Ming smiled, “I must thank the Imperial Censor for getting me out of that predicament. Otherwise, I would have really had to trouble Sir Pei and the others.”
“It’s nothing. I was just being casual. If I said anything wrong, please don’t blame me, County Lieutenant.”
Zheng Qing smiled, then waved his hand:
“We can talk about those things later. Right now, the most important thing is to get to the bottom of this case.”
Su Wu Ming nodded, then asked the old servant, Su Qian:
“Have you identified the body?”
Su Qian nodded.
“Although the face is unrecognizable, the red mole behind the ear and the birthmark on the waist match!”
Su Wu Ming nodded.
Dou Cong’s father hurried over, weeping uncontrollably:
“Are you the new County Lieutenant?”
Su Wu Ming nodded: “I am.”
“You must avenge my daughter! You must get justice for her!” He then knelt before Su Wu Ming.
“Old sir, please get up.” Su Wu Ming helped the old man up.
Just then, a young man in white rushed out, shouting:
“Song Chai is the murderer!”
Su Wu Ming looked at the indignant young man, curious and asked:
“Who is this?”
“My son, Dou Yu Lin.”
Zheng Qing chuckled to himself. He thought, “These people seem to be genuinely emotional, but actually, they’re all acting! ”
This Dou Yu Lin, it could be said, had personally killed his own sister.
Zheng Qing was curious: “You say Song Chai is the murderer? Do you have any evidence?”
Dou Yu Lin retorted angrily: “Who are you?”
Dou Cong’s father also looked at him with confusion.
Su Wu Ming explained: “This is the Imperial Censor of Surveillance, Zheng Qing from the Zheng family of Xingyang.”
Zheng Qing stopped the elder Dou Cong from bowing.
Dou Yu Lin’s arrogance lessened by a third, after all, although the Imperial Censor of Surveillance was not of high rank, his position was special. If he wished, he could easily make them suffer a terrible fate with just a single word!
“Anyway, Song Chai is the murderer!”
Zheng Qing frowned, he didn’t have a good impression of the young man in front of him, and said flatly: “All talk must be backed by evidence! You say Song Chai is the murderer, but do you have any evidence?”
Dou Yu Lin immediately replied: “Of course I do! We just need to go to Song Chai’s house together to confront him, he won’t dare to deny it!”
They set off on horseback, and along the way, Dou Yu Lin kept saying:
“The Song family is already ruined, I didn’t approve of my sister marrying Song Chai, but my sister insisted on it, and my father, I don’t know what kind of spell was cast on him, he actually agreed!
I didn’t expect it to harm my sister, I really regret it!”
After half an hour, they arrived at Song Chai’s house, but the dilapidated state of the place made them all gasp in surprise.
Dou Yu Lin was even more furious, and rushed into the house, grabbing Song Chai by the collar.
“It’s all your fault! If you hadn’t left my sister and gone ahead, how could she have died like this?!”
Song Chai was stunned, but when he realized he was being questioned, he immediately said:
“This is a custom of our Great Tang Dynasty!”
Dou Yu Lin slapped his hand away violently: “What custom! It must be your trickery!”
“You…”
Zheng Qing stepped in and stopped their argument.
Su Wu Ming glanced at Zheng Qing, then asked: “Dou Yu Lin, your servants said that the bride’s horse bolted, but you didn’t go after her, so where did you go?”
Song Chai was surprised to hear this, and stared at Dou Yu Lin.
The latter was still filled with anger, and coldly replied:
“It has nothing to do with my sister’s death!”
Su Wu Ming’s eyes narrowed:
“Answer this official!”
Dou Yu Lin said coldly: “I went to drink myself silly!”
Su Wu Ming stood with his hands behind his back, and said in a puzzled tone: “You were unhappy about your sister marrying Song Chai?”
The words seemed to strike a chord with Dou Yu Lin. He angrily retorted:
“Of course! It’s all my father’s fault! My sister shouldn’t have married this scoundrel!”
Song Chai shouted angrily: “You…”
Dou Yu Lin seemed to come to his senses, bowed and said: “Imperial Censor Zheng, County Lieutenant Su, even if Song Chai isn’t the direct murderer, he must be involved in my sister’s death!
Please investigate thoroughly!”
Song Chai glared at him angrily, but he found he couldn’t get a word in edgewise!
Su Wu Ming glanced at Zheng Qing, as if asking for his opinion.
Zheng Qing smiled: “County Lieutenant Su is the main player this time, do as you please.”
Su Wu Ming nodded, then looked at Dou Yu Lin: “You go out first.”
The latter coldly glared at Song Chai, snorted, and strode out.
Song Chai felt insulted, and took two steps forward: “You…”
Then he quickly stepped forward, looking at Su Wu Ming: “County Lieutenant Su, Cong’er, Cong’er, is she really dead?”
Su Wu Ming nodded, and replied with a single syllable: “Yes.”
Song Chai’s voice trembled slightly: “Cong’er didn’t come, I thought it was Dou Yu Lin interfering! He took his sister back!”
Zheng Qing asked curiously: “Why would you think that?”
Suddenly, Song Chai appeared as if he had been wronged: “My parents died, and my family’s fortunes declined, the Dou family had already intended to break off the engagement! Especially Dou Yu Lin! He often insulted me, if it wasn’t for my father-in-law’s decision, and Cong’er’s true love for me, how could there have been a wedding yesterday?
Imperial Censor Zheng, County Lieutenant Su, you must catch the murderer! Avenge my wife!”
After saying that, he knelt down and refused to get up.
Su Wu Ming looked at Zheng Qing, the latter just shook his head.
“Alright, this official understands.”
The two walked directly out.
As they left, Song Chai even held the door curtain open for them.
The old servant Su Qian hurriedly stepped forward and said: “Imperial Censor, County Lieutenant.”
Su Wu Ming said: “Order Song Chai to report to the County Office every day at the time of the Chen hour, to report his whereabouts.”
Su Qian was puzzled: “You… why?”
Su Wu Ming said calmly: “I’m afraid he’ll flee after committing the crime.”
The old servant Su Qian was taken aback: “How could that be? He’s the groom.”
Su Wu Ming said lightly: “This man is a gambler, he can’t be trusted.”
He then walked away, Su Qian received the order and led the people to guard the place.
When they reached a secluded spot, Su Wu Ming looked at Zheng Qing with a faint smile: “I wonder, Imperial Censor, did you notice anything when we went to Song Chai’s house just now?”
Zheng Qing smiled: “County Lieutenant Su is worthy of being a disciple of Di Gong, your observation skills are very sharp. This Song Chai has thick calluses on his hands, he is undoubtedly a gambler.
As for what truly made me suspicious, it was actually his words just now.”
Su Wu Ming was startled, and was also shocked by Zheng Qing’s keen observation skills.
“What words?” Su Wu Ming asked.
“As the groom, and the bride was already on her way, she even left Chang’an Gate, naturally there was no reason to turn back. This Song Chai, judging from his appearance, was once a scholar, how could he not understand this?
If it were anyone else, they would have gone to find her in person after several hours, wouldn’t they?”
…
This is the fifth chapter for today!
Thanks to reader 1609… for your urge to update!