Chu Nanzhi and Lin Jinshu asked in a hurry, almost in unison.
"Du Jiuzhen, the groom at Lord Tingwei's side."
Tingwei Shi concluded: "Every time I saw him driving a carriage, I would whip the horse with my left hand. I was even teased by my colleagues in Tingwei Mansion for this."
"groom?"
Chu Nanzhi looked puzzled: "Since he was driving horses for Lord Tingwei, and he was also a loyal servant beside him, why would he assassinate Lord Tingwei?"
She really couldn't figure it out.
"Capture the groom Du Jiuzhen immediately."
Seeing that he had a clue, Lin Jinshu did not dare to delay, and immediately ordered people to bring the groom for interrogation.
The emperor had to solve the case within three days, and the time was very tight. However, Chu Nanzhi was still unable to connect the death of the groom and Lord Tingwei, and she seemed a little hesitant.
Even, I felt a little panicked.
Because if it is really the groom who did it, then the matter is very likely to involve an old case from that year.
She quickly looked at Mrs. Tingwei and asked, "Madam, is this the only left-handed person in the house?"
Mrs. Tingwei squinted her eyes and thought for a long time, but she couldn't recall that there was anyone else in her family who met this condition, so she could only shake her head blankly.
"Then where does this groom come from?"
Chu Nanzhi continued to ask.
"This person was rewarded to me by the palace more than twenty years ago, and he has been serving me all these years."
Thinking of the groom's usual honest and honest appearance, Mrs. Tingwei felt that he would not kill her husband. She tried her best to protect her and said: "Princess, you may have guessed wrong. It is impossible for Mr. Du to kill the humble husband. He
But I have been with my stupid husband for so many years."
"You don't need to ask any more questions."
Chu Nanzhi felt a little confused, and her tone of voice became a little more urgent: "Madam, please tell me in what year exactly did the groom enter the Tingwei Mansion?"
Mrs. Tingwei thought for a while: "It was twenty-two years ago, in the early years of Mingzhen."
"Twenty-two years ago?"
Lin Jinshu said in surprise: "Isn't that the year when Shangguan Rou was sentenced to death? At that time, many people in her palace were either punished or sent out of the palace and were rewarded by their ancestors to their ministers."
"Jin Shu, I want all the detailed files related to this person."
Chu Nanzhi felt vaguely uneasy.
He turned out to be an old friend from Weilan Palace again.
From the regular attendant Feng Yue to the disguised maid, and now the groom.
Moreover, she remembered that the woman who knew how to disguise herself also pretended to be a groom, but her method was unusual.
Lin Jinshu noticed from her face that this was something serious, and immediately went to find out the details of this person.
Chu Nanzhi then ordered Tingwei Shi: "Master Tan will stay to help take care of the old Tingwei's affairs, and protect the scene to collect evidence at any time."
After a pause, she looked at Mrs. Tingwei and comforted her with kind words: "Madam, please be at ease. I will send Qian Xiaoniang and Zhang Wulang's mother and son back to the mansion as soon as possible."
After saying that, he took Lin Jinshu and asked someone to pack up the evidence and hurried out.
Mrs. Tingwei looked confused and couldn't figure out what tricks this woman was playing.
Lin Jinshu was also very nervous. When he got out of the yard, he couldn't wait to ask: "Nan Zhi, why are you so anxious? But what's wrong with this?"
Chu Nanzhi did not answer, but carefully observed the guarded footprints in the snow, and asked someone to bring Zhang Wulang and Qian Xiaoniang over.
"If it is true that the groom is the only one in this house who is left-handed, Jin Shu might have guessed why he would assassinate Lord Tingwei?"
Chu Nanzhi looked at her and asked softly.
"Is it true that as our ancestors feared, someone noticed that Old Tingwei was thoroughly investigating what happened back then?"
Lin Jinshu's mind was spinning rapidly, and suddenly he thought of the origin of the groom she had just asked, and asked in a voiceless voice: "Could this person be related to an old case?"
"I'm not sure either."
Chu Nanzhi narrowed his eyes slightly: "But I always feel that the people from Weilan Palace are not simple."
The two of them were suspicious when they saw the guards bringing up the groom Du Jiuzhen.
Chu Nanzhi took a closer look, and saw that this man was skinny, wearing thick cotton clothes, very simple, and he looked really ordinary.
"I wonder why you nobles have called me here?"
Du Jiuzhen asked calmly: "Such a shocking thing happened in the house. The mistress is not here, the young lady is in prison again, the horses in the stable are unattended, and the old slave has to take care of the horses."
"It's nothing serious."
Chu Nanzhi asked with a smile: "I just want to ask Mr. Du whether he came to Lord Tingwei's yard last night?"
"The noble man is joking. An old slave who works as a handyman cannot enter the master's yard at will."
Du Jiuzhen also responded with a warm smile.
"That's true."
Chu Nanzhi casually looked at his left arm.
Du Jiuzhen subconsciously pulled her sleeves down. Lin Jinshu saw this scene very clearly, and then forcefully demanded: "Please roll up your sleeves, old man."
"What do you mean by this, noble sir?"
Du Jiuzhen asked in confusion.
"No need to ask any more questions, just do as I tell you."
Lin Jinshu scolded in a sharp voice.
Du Jiuzhen looked helpless and had no choice but to roll up her left sleeve as instructed. She didn't find anything unusual up to her shoulders.
Lin Jinshu glanced at Chu Nanzhi angrily.
Chu Nanzhi discovered that when he rolled up his sleeves, he deliberately covered his right hand with the cuff.
This made Chu Nanzhi very confused, but she pretended not to know and asked with a smile: "I would like to confirm again that Mr. Du did not come to Lord Tingwei's yard last night?"
"Absolutely true."
Du Jiuzhen replied calmly: "I rested after nightfall last night and didn't wake up until dawn. I learned that Mr. Tingwei was killed by my mother. Although I felt heartbroken, I couldn't do anything to help, so I had to take care of him.
The horses in the good house are silently praying that the murderer will be brought to justice soon."
"Uncle Du is really loyal."
Chu Nanzhi smiled indifferently, then slowly walked into the surrounded footprints, and compared the size of the footprints one by one, he found four footprints with different lengths and depths.
She looked at the guards beside her and asked, "How many people have entered Lord Tingwei's yard from last night to before the incident?"
"Reporting to the princess, there are two of them."
The guard replied meticulously: "Yesterday, heavy snow fell in Jinling City in the evening. According to Qian Xiaoniang, the snow had just stopped when she came out of Master Tingwei's study, so her footprints remained on the ground. This morning Qian
My wife and her personal maid came to help Mr. Tingwei get up. When he found out that Mr. Tingwei died tragically, he immediately sent someone to report the case."
After saying that, he immediately added: "Qian Xiaoniang has been with Mr. Tingwei for so many years. She is very smart and calm in times of crisis. She takes good care of the yard from the outside to the inside. She didn't come out until I arrived.
This yard."
"Really calm."
Chu Nanzhi took advantage of the situation and echoed.
After all, he had served Lao Tingwei, so he was immersed in it, and he was able to learn more or less how to protect the scene of the crime.
The officer only knew that Qian Xiaoniang and her personal maid had been in the courtyard, but Chu Nanzhi had four targets in mind at this time, and the other two were naturally the sheltered Zhang Wulang and the perpetrator.