The next morning.
Wei Ming had breakfast at the manor.
Pei Jian, with eyes that had seen much of the world, looked back and forth between Wei Ming and Pei Xi Jun, then snorted coldly: "Old man has had his fill, off to court!"
Then he urged: "You young man, write a letter home as soon as possible, get the marriage settled."
"And if I find out you're bullying Xi Jun, I won't spare you!"
After Pei Jian stormed off, Pei Xi Jun stuck out her tongue, moved closer to Wei Ming, her voice filled with both nervousness and embarrassment: "Ming ge ge, did Father find out?"
Wei Ming smiled and nodded: "Everything in the Pei Manor, every move, how could it be hidden from your father-in-law?"
Wei Ming's "father-in-law" made Pei Xi Jun's face flush red, like two floating clouds.
"Ming ge ge, you're so annoying, I'm ignoring you, eat slowly."
Pei Xi Jun, with a happy skip in her step, ran to the flowerbeds in the backyard.
Seeing no one in the hall.
Wei Ming raised his hand slightly, and a soul body flew out.
This Dou Cong was born with a beautiful face and a graceful figure, dressed in a green robe with a sash, her hair neatly tied, her every frown and smile elegant and beautiful.
While the Dou family was not a prominent household, the daughters they raised were graceful and elegant, like noble ladies from prestigious families.
Compared to Pei Xi Jun, she was no less beautiful.
It's just that she wasn't the protagonist, her fate wasn't strong enough.
To say that this Dou Cong was truly unfortunate, even knowing that the Song family had fallen, she still fulfilled the marriage agreement, showing that she was a righteous and loyal woman.
Alas, she was attached to the wrong person, that Song Chai was nothing but a gambler, intending to marry Dou Cong and then sell her to pay off his gambling debts.
He was a complete scoundrel, a disgrace to the Tang Dynasty!
Dou Cong knew she was dead, but she couldn't bear it. She was about to get married and start a family, but in a flash, she was separated from her parents and family, unable to accept it for a while, she fell to her knees: "Sir, please avenge me, I died unjustly."
Wei Ming waved his hand: "Alright, stop crying, tell me what happened to you."
"The man who kidnapped me was called Yin Shi Lang, he was skilled in disguise and illusions, he took me to a stone cave and a secret chamber in the Ghost Market, a person called 'Immortal' drilled a hole in my head and bled me..."
After listening to Dou Cong's story, Wei Ming had a clearer and more accurate understanding of the timeline and location of the Chang'an Red Tea case.
"Do you remember the stone cave and the secret chamber where that 'Immortal' and Yin Shi Lang were?"
Dou Cong nodded: "This one remembers."
"Good, when I get to the Ghost Market, you lead the way."
After finishing his meal, Wei Ming left the Pei Manor and went to the Chang'an Public Office.
From afar, he could hear the noisy sounds from the door of the morgue, accompanied by cries and sobs.
"Daughter! My daughter!"
"How could you be so cruel, leaving your parents behind!"
As soon as Wei Ming arrived at the door of the Public Office, he released Dou Cong, but Dou Cong was in a spirit form, invisible and untouchable to anyone else.
"Father! Mother!"
Dou Cong rushed towards her parents, but passed right through their bodies.
"Sir, please, can you let me see my parents..."
Wei Ming ignored Dou Cong, but instead found Su Wu Ming: "Senior brother, I suggest we perform an autopsy again."
Su Wu Ming was startled: "What do you mean, junior brother?"
Wei Ming looked at Dou Cong's body in the morgue: "Her skin color is too pale, it doesn't match the time of death."
"Last night I felt something was wrong, after I went back, I thought about it and realized there's only one reason why the body could show signs of rigor mortis in such a short time."
"The deceased suffered excessive blood loss before her death!"
Su Wu Ming's heart sank, and he hurriedly called for the old servant, Su Qian: "Perform a new autopsy."
However, after a thorough examination, no wounds were found on the body.
Wei Ming pointed to the deceased's thick hair: "Look here."
Su Wu Ming parted the deceased's hair, his pupils constricted: "Junior brother, what is this?"
Wei Ming said calmly: "It seems I was right, the deceased must have suffered inhumane torture, someone drew a large amount of blood from her head, so she slowly died in despair and pain."
"Cruel, inhuman!" Su Wu Ming couldn't imagine the pain, the blood slowly draining, the countdown to death.
"One more thing, senior brother."
Wei Ming fanned the air under his nose: "Do you feel the deceased's scent, strong and lingering."
Su Wu Ming sniffed, his brow furrowed: "From yesterday's death to today, it's been ten hours, and the scent not only doesn't dissipate, it doesn't have the slightest bit of decay!"
Wei Ming reminded him: "Take another look at the skin color, there's no sign of lividity."
Su Wu Ming suddenly realized, surprised: "Preservative fragrance!"
At this moment, Dou Fu and Dou Mu fell to their knees before Su Wu Ming.
"Su County Magistrate, please avenge my daughter."
Su Wu Ming took off his gloves, helped Dou Fu up, just as he was about to comfort him, Dou Yu Lin at the door stormed in angrily: "The murderer is Song Chai!"
Wei Ming suddenly said: "We'll go question Song Chai, but can you explain what happened to the crazed horse?"
Dou Yu Lin's eyes darted: "I, I..."
Then he gritted his teeth: "Yes, it was me who put something in the horse's water, I never wanted my sister to marry that good-for-nothing, so I went to the Ghost Market and paid a lot of money to hire Yin Shi Lang to kidnap my sister..."
As he spoke, he slapped himself repeatedly: "It's all my fault, I killed my sister!"
Dou Cong, in her spirit form, looked at her brother with tearful eyes, and shook her head: "It's not your fault, Sister doesn't blame you."
"I just don't understand why you all didn't want me to marry Song Chai, he's a good person, he's nice to me, is it just because his parents are dead and his family is poor?"
Wei Ming shook his head, signaling Dou Cong to be patient and watch.
What you see is what others want you to see, hearts are a mystery!
Wei Ming didn't pity Dou Yu Lin, from a certain angle, Dou Cong's death was inseparable from Dou Yu Lin.
Su Wu Ming had a name, Yin Shi Lang of the Ghost Market!
This Yin Shi Lang was a major suspect in the case.
Su Wu Ming, Wei Ming, and the others, with the constables, found Song Chai.
Upon seeing Song Chai, Dou Cong couldn't help but want to say something, Wei Ming waved his hand, signaling Dou Cong to be patient and observe.
Song Chai was surprised when he heard of Dou Cong's death, but there was also a trace of panic in his expression.
After questioning Song Chai, Su Wu Ming noticed the calluses on his fingers as he left.
He glanced at the bare and empty home, a faint guess forming in his mind, and he turned and left without a trace of emotion.
Before leaving, Wei Ming glanced at the wall, nodded, and smiled.
The people on the wall, Lu Ling Feng and the others, looked at each other in bewilderment.
Were they discovered?
How is that possible?
Isn't Wei Ming just a scholar?
Lu Ling Feng's eyes narrowed: "It seems this Wei Yu Shi is truly extraordinary!"
Guo Zhuang beside him snorted: "So what? Two disciples of Di Gong still let the murderer go, two idiots!"
Lu Ling Feng glared at Guo Zhuang: "Su Wu Ming might be an idiot, but Wei Ming definitely isn't."
"General, should we apprehend them?"
"No hurry, we'll catch him red-handed tonight!"
...
Leaving the Song family.
Su Wu Ming assigned several constables to closely monitor Song Chai: "This Song Chai is a gambler, what a gambler says cannot be trusted!"
Then Su Wu Ming bowed to Wei Ming: "Junior brother's sharp eyes, I'm truly in awe, you found the strange things about the deceased's body, leading to the two clues of blood loss and preservative fragrance."
"But there is one thing I'd like to ask you."
Wei Ming smiled faintly: "Senior brother wants to know how I discovered that Dou Yu Lin poisoned the horse, right?"
Su Wu Ming nodded: "Please enlighten me."
"It's actually very simple." Wei Ming explained: "Dou Yu Lin and Dou Cong were deeply attached, the thunder caused the carriage to lose control, Dou Yu Lin didn't go looking for his sister, instead he went to the tavern to drink, does that make sense?"
The two exchanged questions and answers, Su Wu Ming was filled with admiration: "Compared to junior brother, I'm just a coroner at best."
"Senior brother is too modest."
After a short chat, Su Wu Ming led his team away, he still had to investigate the preservative fragrance and Yin Shi Lang, those two leads.
Furthermore, he felt that the matter of drawing blood from the head was also not simple.
After Su Wu Ming and the others left.
Dou Cong held back her tears: "Sir, Song Lang is a good person."
Wei Ming said calmly: "From now on, you will follow Song Chai, trust me, you will see something different."
Wei Ming used a technique called "遣将之法", (lit. sending a general, a technique for summoning a spirit) to seal Dou Cong in Song Chai's body.