After leaving Song Mansion, Li Nuo and Wang County Lieutenant got into Butler Wu's carriage and went straight to the scene of the crime. County Lieutenant Wang kept Li Nuo's advice in mind. He came to him as soon as he heard that a murder had occurred. He didn't even have time to ask about the specific circumstances of the case. He sent a group of police officers to cordon off the scene and reported to Li Nuo himself. "Quick, faster!" Worried about missing the time, Li Nuo kept urging Butler Wu along the way. A moment later, somewhere in Chang'an City. A carriage stopped at the entrance of the square, and Li Nuo jumped out of the carriage in a hurry. From a distance, I could see a mass of people ahead, with many people gathered there. This is not the core area of Chang'an. The private houses in the square are low and dilapidated. The people living nearby, including the police officers of Chang'an County Government, were stopped outside a house. Several other figures in uniforms were guarding the door with knives.
The uniforms they wear are very similar to the uniforms of Chang'an County Government, but not exactly the same. The policemen and government servants in Chang'an County have the word "capture" or "yamen" written on their uniforms. On the chests of these people, there is the word "Xing" on their chests. County Lieutenant Wang was stunned when he saw this: "Why are the people from the Criminal Department here?" Li Nuo's heart sank, secretly thinking that it was not good, could it be that it was too late and someone had cut him off? He immediately walked through the crowd, but when he entered the courtyard, he was stopped by two officers from the Ministry of Justice. The two men crossed their swords and stopped in front of Li Nuo, saying coldly: "The Criminal Department is investigating the case, and everyone else is waiting to retreat!" An old catcher stepped forward and said to Li Nuo and Wang County Lieutenant: "Sir, sir, before we came, people from the Criminal Department had already arrived, and they wouldn't let us in..." Wang County Lieutenant came over, smiled and said to the two people from the Criminal Department: "Guys, I am the Chang'an County Lieutenant. I am here to investigate a human life case. Please let me go." Seeing County Lieutenant Wang, the two men's attitudes softened slightly, but their tone was still unquestionable: "The Criminal Department has taken over this case. It has nothing to do with your Chang'an County Government. Sir, please come back." County Lieutenant Wang looked at Li Nuo and expressed that he was powerless. Even though this is Chang'an County, Chang'an is also Daxia Chang'an. Jingzhao Mansion Office, the Ministry of Punishment, and Dali Temple are all considered their superior government offices. The Ministry of Punishment can't control anything else, but as long as the Ministry of Punishment directly intervenes in cases that occur in the county, they will indeed have nothing to do with them. Li Nuo looked at the two officials from the Ministry of Punishment and said: "This case involves human lives. Even if the Ministry of Punishment directly intervenes, the Chang'an County government has the right to know. I would like to ask you two for your convenience..." The two glanced at him, unmoved. It seems that it is impossible to reason with them. So Li Nuo looked at them and spoke again. "My father is Li Xuanjing." "Master, please." …
The two officials from the Ministry of Justice took the initiative to step aside, and Li Nuo led Butler Wu and Lieutenant Wang into the courtyard. There were still several officials from the Ministry of Justice in the courtyard. When they saw some idle people waiting to come in, the leader frowned and took a few steps forward. Just as he was about to speak, a figure ran in from the door and whispered a few words in his ear. The person's body trembled and he quickly backed away. Li Nuo looked at a pomegranate tree in the courtyard, and saw a figure hanging under the pomegranate tree. It was an elderly woman with a cyanotic complexion, eyes turned up, and tongue slightly protruding. At first glance, she looked a little scary. Speaking of corpses, Li Nuo had seen more terrifying ones. This time, his psychological quality was relatively good. Although his face was still a little pale, he was not scared to the point of holding on to the wall and vomiting like last time. A woman wearing a black Ministry of Justice uniform stood alone under the tree, looked at the body hanging on the tree, then lifted up the stool that had been kicked to the ground, and said lightly: "Both feet hang down naturally, the height of the stool is Appropriate. Except for the neck strangulation marks, there are no other injuries on the body. There are no traces of a second person at the scene. The surrounding neighbors did not hear shouting or fighting sounds. It is certain that the deceased hanged himself. The time of death should be within six hours..." She patted the dust on her hands and said regretfully: "It was a waste of time..." "Six hours, okay, okay..." Li Nuo breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the woman. She looked to be eighteen or nineteen years old, about the same height as her wife, and her appearance was very beautiful. Even her temperament was somewhat similar to her. The bright black hair was not carefully braided, but was tied back casually, exuding a valiant and heroic aura. However, although she is similar to the lady in many places, in terms of figure, the two are far apart. It's not that this woman is far behind, but that the lady is far behind. The ordinary uniform of the Ministry of Justice was forcibly seduced by her wearing it. Her breasts were raised high, her waist was slender, and her eyes continued to move downward, showing another full arc... Li Nuo took one look and stopped looking at her. No matter how good she looked or how wonderful her figure was, she was still a unique lady. No one could replace her in his heart. But strangely enough, although it was his first time meeting this woman, Li Nuo always felt that she was very kind. At this time, the woman seemed to feel something and turned to look at Li Nuo. The two looked at each other. There was a slight surprise in the woman's eyes. She walked over slowly and said, "It's rare to meet a Dharma practitioner, and she is about to enter the country. Unfortunately, she hanged herself, and your trip was in vain." …” Li Nuo knew where his affection for this woman came from. She is actually also a legal practitioner. Being able to see through his strength at a glance, she was probably at least at the second level of Legalism. This was the first fellow-minded person he had met. And she's still a woman. Like Confucianism, Legalism needs to enter the government, but women in Daxia cannot be officials. Among Legalism, women are extremely rare. Even if there are, most of them cannot reach a high level... Li Nuo doesn't know how she practices. Not to mention female Legalism, even female detectives are the first time he has seen them. When others take the initiative to talk to him, Li Nuo also nods slightly to her to show politeness, and then asks: "Who reported the case?" The woman said: "It was the neighbor of the deceased. She saw that the deceased did not go out all day yesterday. She was worried and went over the wall to check. As a result, she found that she had hanged herself in the yard." The first person to find the deceased was a neighbor, a peasant woman. Li Nuo called her over and asked a few questions. Although the honest woman stumbled, it was obviously because she was frightened and she had no suspicion.
This peasant woman is indeed not the murderer. Because the case happened less than a day ago, when she appeared within a ten-foot range around Li Nuo, there was no new portrait in the "Code of Law". At this time, the woman looked at Li Nuo and said, "Don't waste your energy. I have investigated countless cases and can still distinguish between suicide and homicide." Wang County Lieutenant also came over and whispered to Li Nuo, "Sir, based on my many years of experience in investigating cases, this old woman did hang herself." If the old woman really committed suicide, then Li Nuo really made a wasted trip. Without a criminal, there would be no one to try and no one to judge. But since he was here, Li Nuo had to at least ask the reason why she committed suicide. Was it because of life that forced her to seek relief, or was it because someone forced her to go to a dead end... If it was the latter, even if the other party did not do it directly, he would have to bear certain legal responsibilities. Li Nuo first asked someone to put down the old woman's body, move it into the house, and cover it with a white cloth. Afterwards, he asked Wang County Lieutenant to gather the old woman's neighbors and ask them about some things about the old woman's life. From the neighbors, I learned that she moved to Chang'an from other places many years ago. Her family was in financial difficulty, so she helped people wash clothes and weave cloth in exchange for some money. Because she was kind to others, her neighbors would occasionally help her. She had a son, and for more than ten years, the mother and son depended on each other. The old woman's son studied in a certain academy in Chang'an and didn't come home often. I heard from the old woman's neighbors that the old woman's son was doing well in school and had good grades. The old woman often showed off to the neighbors. After the incident, someone went to the academy to call him back. When mentioning this matter, these people sighed. "Ah, Aunt Zhang is such a good person, how could she be so depressed?" "Yes, Han Zhuo is studying in Qingfeng Academy, and his grades are very good. It is said that he may pass the imperial examination." "Even if he fails, he can be a private school teacher and make money..." "What a pity, if she holds on a little longer, good days will come soon..." "Maybe she doesn't want to burden her son. I remember Aunt Zhang said a few days ago that she seemed to be seriously ill. She probably didn't want to make her son worry, after all, he will take the imperial examination next year..." "Poor parents in the world..." ... Wang Xianwei found some good medicine in the main hall, which directly confirmed the neighbor's statement. So far, the case seems to be very clear. The old woman was seriously ill and didn't want to be a burden to her son who was studying in the academy, so she chose to end her life so that her son would stop worrying and prepare for the exam with peace of mind. Her death contains a great mother's passionate and strong love for her son. Everyone present, whether the onlookers or the officials from the county government and the Ministry of Justice, showed emotion. The woman turned her head and wiped her red eyes. The courtyard was silent. At a certain moment, a hurried sound of footsteps came from the door.
A scholar in a blue shirt, holding the hem of his shirt, ran into the courtyard quickly. He looked anxious and sweating. As soon as he ran in, he immediately looked at a woman and asked in a trembling voice: "Aunt Zhang, my mother, what happened to my mother?" Everyone had a complicated expression and didn't know how to start. But at this moment, Li Nuo's eyes condensed slightly. He raised his head and looked at the invisible code floating in the void. On the code, after a slight fluctuation, the fifth portrait appeared. A bright color portrait. There will be three more tomorrow.