NOVEL NEXT Chapter 49
The old man dodged his gaze, and it was obvious that he seemed to be struggling in his heart.
No one knew why he was struggling, and Di Renjie and his party stood there patiently waiting for his answer.
The old man sighed heavily, turned back to his room, and left a sentence: "Come with me."
After entering the door, the old man first asked his son to get a few cakes to greet the guests, and then poured a cup of spring water for each of the three people. This was picked by Gao Laoer every morning on the mountain, clean and pollution-free.
"Thank you." Song Zhen stood up and took it with both hands.
After doing all this, the old man found a small stool to sit down.
He looked into the distance, revealing a look of reminiscence, and told the story.
"That year, I was still a small vendor, and of course I am still one now, selling glutinous rice cakes for a living."
"I set up a stall in the market in the south of the city, and a family often came to patronize them. They said they liked the cakes I made."
"That's not all. The kind-hearted family also invited relatives and friends to come and support my business."
"Over time, we became familiar with each other."
"Their surname is Gao. People in the market saw that they often chatted with me and thought they were relatives and friends, so they started calling me Lao Gao. This was the first time I had a name."
"They like to eat the most. Every time I made glutinous rice cakes, they would buy two or three pounds to take home, saying that there were many people at home and they could eat them.
"To thank them, I would take the initiative to deliver them to his house the next morning. "
Song Zhen interrupted at this time: "Father-in-law, I have a question."
"Tell me."
"How many people are there in their family? What are their genders?"
The old man raised his head and recalled for a while and said: "Six people, Gao Gong has one wife, two concubines, and two yellow-mouthed children."
Song Zhen's face changed. He recalled that the bones dug out that day seemed to have such a configuration.
Could it be that...
He quickly got up and planned to go back to confirm it again.
"Huaiying, I'll go back first."
"Okay."
The old man took a sip of water and continued: "Mr. Gao often came to teach me, such as wrapping some bean paste or green vegetables in the glutinous rice cake to increase the flavor. Or, make some rice balls and fried food."
"Under Mr. Gao's advice, my cakes are becoming more and more diverse, and the number of customers patronizing them is gradually increasing, so I have a little money to build this thatched house."
"Mr. Gao always likes to give a few more coins when paying, saying that it is not easy for me to get up early and work late to do a small business, and he has money, so it doesn't matter if he gives more. I don't agree, and he always forces it into my pocket."
"Mr. Gao not only helps me, but also helps other small vendors. Everyone is grateful for his kindness."
Di Renjie got a key piece of information from his father-in-law's description.
The original owner of the house is kind-hearted and likes to help weak vendors.
At this time, the old man changed the subject and his expression became horrified.
"But I don't remember from which day, Mr. Gao never came to the market again."
"One morning, I went to deliver glutinous rice cakes as usual, but I smelled a foul smell. I walked in carefully, but saw blood on the threshold!"
"I was very scared at the time, so I ran out."
"Later, I never saw Mr. Gao's family again. I only knew that the house had a new owner."
"I asked the new owner, and they only said that Mr. Gao's family moved away and went to another place."
After listening, Di Renjie roughly understood what happened, but he had two doubts. First, what kind of work did that family do?
Second, do you remember when the blood was found.
The old man replied: "It is said that Mr. Gao's family is working in the government, and they are all officials."
Di Renjie's eyes lit up. This information is of great importance in confirming the identity of the deceased.
"I don't remember the exact date, it seems to be a few days after the Lantern Festival."
"Anything else?"
"No. My mind is fuzzy, I only remember these."
Di Renjie stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you, old man."
The old man's heart suddenly became nervous, and he asked timidly, "Sir, did something happen to Gao Gong's family?"
Di Renjie said in a deep voice, "I don't know, we have to verify it again."
The old man turned his head away, and unknowingly, turbid tears overflowed from his eyes. He staggered to the door and shouted, "Sir, if Gao Gong was really killed, please tell me where he is buried."
"I, I have been indebted to Gao Gong all my life, and I have no way to repay him."
"I can only pay for the repair of his tomb and burn incense."
Di Renjie paused, and he turned back and replied, "Don't worry, I will."
......
The first thing Di Renjie did when he returned to the government office was to take out the county annals from Lu, the governor, and check them.
His eyes,I noticed at once that in the ninth year of Zhenguan, the prefect of Fengqiu County was a man named Gao Li.
"In the eleventh year of Zhenguan, after the Lantern Festival, Zhao Youguang succeeded and Gao Li was transferred to Junyi County."
"Junyi County?" Di Renjie tapped the table with a deep look in his eyes, and he called a clerk in.
"Go to Junyi County once and ask the prefect there whether Gao Li has ever been there to take office."
"Yes."
On the other side, the underground charity cemetery.
Song Zhen lifted the white cloth and laid out six skeletons on the ground.
Due to the unprofessional excavation work, the skeletons were broken, and he took a long time to piece together this complete appearance.
When Di Renjie arrived, he noticed Song Zhen who was stroking his chin in thought.
"How is it?"
"It is exactly as my father-in-law said, one adult male, three adult females, and two children."
Di Renjie walked to the skeleton and asked curiously, "How do you tell the gender?"
Song Zhen squatted down, holding a bone and pointed to the pelvis of the skeleton.
"There are many ways to distinguish the gender of the skeleton. The simplest way is to look at the pelvis. The male pelvis is thinner and looks like an inverted round table."
"And because women have to bear the task of childbearing, their pelvis is naturally wider, like a round barrel."
Di Renjie followed Song Zhen's instructions and nodded. So that's it. I learned it.
In fact, these skeletons can be recognized as male or female at a glance, because men are much taller than women.
"Can you find out how they died from the bones?"
"Blade wounds."
Song Zhen took a man's rib in his hand, pointed to the scratches on it and said, "Look, it's very obvious."
"This." Song Zhen picked up a woman's skull, "The skull was broken and the head was hit hard."
"And here..."
Di Renjie was more and more shocked as he listened. The cause of death of each corpse was different. The most distressing thing was a child.
His leg bones were neatly cut off, and the fractures at the shoulder joints of both hands were violently twisted.
It can be seen that the murderer's methods were cruel.
Di Renjie's eyes seemed to be on fire, and his fists were clenched tightly.
......