"Do you think Mr. Luo was not harmed by that concubine?" Su Yizhao asked.
"Yes, there are doubts about this case!" Kang Shiwen nodded.
"You've also read the dossier, what do you think?" He suddenly looked up at Su Yizhao and asked.
Su Yizhao pondered for a moment, "Xiaoguan feels the same way."
"At that time, all the officials searched the Luo Mansion and found no trace of the oleander. However, it was only found buried in the bamboo forest half a month later."
Su Yizhao opened the file, then pointed to a certain place and said: "Please read, sir, the file records that according to the concubine's account, the oleander was buried that day just to avoid investigation. But the court went to search for physical evidence.
At that time, the petals of the oleander were still particularly bright, and the soil renovation on them seemed to have happened recently."
"The person who reported the report was the shopkeeper who sold flowers in the market. Then why didn't he tell the story when he was checking the whereabouts of the people in the house? This person's previous confession is completely inconsistent with what he later said. If the shopkeeper has nothing to do with this matter, then why?
Why did you hide it for that concubine? Doesn’t he know the seriousness of the matter? "
Kang Shiwen nodded with satisfaction, "I interrogated the shopkeeper at that time and said he was afraid of trouble and didn't want to cause trouble."
"Do you think it's credible? Aren't ordinary shopkeepers afraid of getting into trouble, so they tell everything they know? Don't they have to prove their innocence?"
Kang Shiwen nodded, "That's true. However, since he swears by it, there are witnesses, and the concubine has been brought to justice, the matter can only be closed."
"But the concubine's confession was full of loopholes." Su Yizhao said with certainty.
"Oh? Tell me, what's wrong?" Kang Shiwen suddenly became more energetic. Finally, someone felt that there was something suspicious about this murder case.
Su Yizhao opened the notes she had just taken and said, "She said that that day she took the porridge to the study room and poisoned it to death."
"But the confession of Luo Zheng's wife mentioned that Luo Zheng had been in the study for the first half of the month. I don't know if he encountered some difficult things. He was busy until midnight every day, and the wife of the inner house was not allowed to look for him in the study."
Su Yizhao said and turned to a certain page in the volume, "Look at the confession here. His wife Zhai said that she was concerned about her husband's health. During this period, she went to the study to persuade her, but Luo Zheng kicked her out and severely criticized the inner house.
The woman was not allowed to step into the study outside the front yard, and her attendants would be scolded."
Kang Shiwen didn't find it strange, because that was just the way he was.
"Luo Zheng comes from a scholarly family and abides by family etiquette in his conduct. The outer study is where the men in the family discuss important matters. How can a woman in the inner room break in at will?"
Su Yizhao sighed in his heart, these old feudal people.
However, it also proves that Luo Zheng is a standard scholar-official and will not easily violate his principles.
"But the concubine said that she went into the outer study room and watched Luo Zheng drink the porridge."
Kang Shiwen pondered for a while, "But if the concubine is favored, she may really be allowed in, but there is no guarantee!"
"Let's just say this is a doubtful point, and then there will be another doubtful point."
Su Yizhao stood with his hands behind his hands, "According to Madam Zhai's cry, if he had known that my concubine Ping'er was having an affair with another servant, he would never have accepted her as a concubine, and the master would have lost his life in vain."
"That is to say, Luo Zheng and his wife didn't know that Ping'er had a crush on him. At that time, Ping'er's mother was thinking about glory and wealth, so she agreed for Ping'er. Do you think Ping'er would hate Luo Zheng so much?"
Kang Shiwen pondered for a moment and said: "Ms. Zhai said that the Luo family had not many heirs and she was in poor health. It was her idea to fight for Luo's concubines, and she wanted to fight for Luo. Before that, she had
I asked Ping'er's mother, but her mother didn't say that Ping'er has a sweetheart."
"After taking Ping'er in, the couple treated Ping'er very well. Ping'er was a little depressed at first, but later she calmed down. Ms. Zhai thought that Ping'er was at an age when she minded Luo Zheng at first, so she was able to persuade her.
So." Kang Shiwen continued.
Su Yizhao was secretly complaining, wasn't she? She was only twenty-eight years old, but she was dating a man in his forties, who was too old to be her father.
"Her motive for killing is indeed not enough. She should hate her mother. Therefore, I feel that there must be something fishy in it."
Kang Shiwen flipped through the file again, trying to find other omissions.
"It's a pity that Ping'er bit her tongue and committed suicide in prison. I just wanted to pursue the case again, but the clues were interrupted." Kang Shiwen sighed.
"If these are not enough to prove that this case is suspicious, then do you think this is enough?"
Su Yizhao pointed to the place in the file where the emperor ordered the court to recover the armaments.
Kang Shiwen looked at Su Yizhao with some confusion. He couldn't help but look at it carefully twice, but still didn't see anything.
"Don't you think this date is right? The batch of armaments left the capital on September 27th. When the incident occurred, they had already been gone for more than half a month.
You know the weather in the North. If you set out late and encounter heavy snowfall, it will be difficult to go on the road with light equipment, not to mention carrying armaments."
"The soldiers at the border are still waiting for something to keep out the cold. The imperial court has set a deadline."
As Su Yizhao spoke, she took a piece of parchment from beside her. When she unfolded it, Kang Shiwen discovered that it was a map.
"According to the route at that time, it would take at least half a month to get here, and we would have already crossed the Jinghe River." Su Yizhao pointed to a place on the map.
"However, when the imperial court led people to chase them, they had only reached Yunhai County. There was a distance of more than 500 miles. Don't you find it strange?"
Kang Shiwen made a hissing sound and looked at the map carefully.
"According to this calculation, it is indeed the case. What do you mean? Did something happen to them that delayed them? Or are they just waiting for the emperor to recall them?"
Su Yizhao chuckled, "Yes! No!"
Kang Shiwen was a little confused, "How do you say this?"
Su Yizhao turned around and took out another file from the bookshelf behind him, "This is the file that the official found when he went to Zhaomo. You should understand it after reading this."
Kang Shiwen took it and took a look and found that it recorded that the bandits were wiped out.
"Oh! What are you talking about? This case is a case of exterminating mountain bandits. What is the name of that bandit? He is a very vicious person.
Before he became a bandit, he had been robbing homes and houses. Later, when he was wanted by the court, he fled to the border and attracted some people who were also reckless and became a roadblock."
Kang Shiwen sighed, "In the past, merchants all suffered greatly. Unexpectedly, they were suddenly wiped out by a group of people three years ago. When they were discovered, their bodies were all scattered in the fields.
There are also people who put He Da’s head on his neck at the gate of the county government office in Hezhong County, which is regarded as eliminating harm for the people!”
After he finished speaking, he remembered, "But how does this matter relate to this case?"
"When you look at the day, do you think of anything?"
"October 15th?" Kang Shiwen suddenly seemed to understand something, but felt that he didn't understand it.
"It was the day before Luo Zheng was killed, and this road was the only way for the imperial court to transport armaments."
Su Yizhao's eyes flashed sharply, and his tone became stern.