At the beginning of the third watch, Xu Zhiqiong ran all the way to Wang'an River with a sack on his back.
He had walked this route several times. The road was deserted and no pedestrians could be seen after the second watch.
It usually takes more than an hour for people to walk from Beiyuan to Wang'an River. Xu Zhiqiong ran with all his strength and arrived in more than half an hour.
There are also desolate places along the Wang'an River. There is a place called Jinzhi Bay downstream of the river. It has a nice name, but this is a place where dirty water is poured. Everyone knows what Jinzhi is.
When we arrived near Jinzhi Bay, we found the place we had chosen in advance and released Wang Shijie's body.
The soil here is the hardest and cannot leave any footprints.
If you don’t want to leave anything behind, you have to work hard and make adequate preparations.
After placing the corpse, Xu Zhiqiong collected the sack and ran away, running as fast as possible back to Beiyuan.
Xu Zhiqiong almost vomited while running. He first went to the White Peony Tea Shop to make a cup of tea, grabbed the proprietress's little face, kissed her, and asked, "What time is it now?"
The young lady smiled shyly: "Three more."
"Is it really past the third watch? I didn't hear the banging!"
The young lady said angrily: "I dared to deceive Mr. Lantern. It's been a while since the watch was over."
After drinking tea, Xu Zhiqiong had to light the lamp.
Only two of the twelve were ordered. In the past, it would have taken Xu Zhiqiong more than two hours to finish the order, but today there was not that much time. It took more than an hour to go from Beiyuan to Jinzhi Bay.
, he knew in his heart that it was almost halfway through the third watch.
After lighting five lanterns, Xu Zhiqiong went to Sister Lin's flower cake shop and bought a pound of flower cakes. He also kissed her on the cheek and said, "What time is it now?"
Second Sister Lin kissed her back and said, "It's just past the fourth watch."
"Is it really the fourth update?" Xu Zhiqiong kissed her again. Today's rouge is really good.
Flower cakes are also good.
"Seriously, the one who came to watch just left." Second Sister Lin was such a carefree woman. She hugged Xu Zhiqiong and kissed her again on the lips.
After eating the flower cake, Xu Zhiqiong climbed up and down, risking his life and running quickly to light up all the remaining lamps before the fifth watch.
This is not over yet, we still have to go shopping in Goulan.
When Xu Zhiqiong ran to the hook fence, his eyes turned black, but his face still had the same smile as before.
The Goulan clerk came forward and said with a smile: "Xu Denglang, please come in."
The private room has been cleaned, the wine has been simmered, and the dancer is waiting in the private room.
Xu Zhiqiong kissed the dancer on the cheek and asked: "What time is it now?"
The dancer said: "It's the fifth watch. Listen, there is the sound of clappers outside."
"Is it really a banging sound?"
"It's true, I heard you well, bitch."
Xu Zhiqiong ordered: "If you don't rub your shoulders or back today, I will rub your legs!"
"Which leg do you want to rub, Mr. Denglang?"
"I want both."
"Two good things to say!"
The dancer helped Xu Zhiqiong give him a good rub. Xu Zhiqiong calmed down and said to the dancer: "You go and have a rest first. I also want to take a nap. It's cold in this room. Ask someone to bring me a big one."
Here comes the brazier."
The dancer went, and not long after, the waiter brought a brazier. This basin was really big. It was several times bigger than the wooden basin Xu Zhiqiong used to wash his face. It was filled with charcoal. The waiter also gave Xu Zhiqiong a pot of wine.
, and left respectfully.
Xu Zhiqiong closed the curtain, took out the sack from his waist, and burned it together with the night clothes. These were specially made by Tong Qingqiu. They caught fire and did not smoke. Seeing that there was only black ash left in the charcoal stove, Xu Zhiqiong
Qiong closed his eyes, touched the four-inch horn in his arms, and slept peacefully for a while.
It was nearly six o'clock in the morning, that is, at five o'clock in the morning, Xu Zhiqiong walked out of the hook fence, carried a lantern, and returned to the Yamen.
We walked leisurely along the way, and when we arrived at the Yamen, we found that all the lantern-carrying men were gathered in the front hall, and there was a corpse on the ground. It was Wang Shijie.
Yang Wu stood next to the corpse, tears kept falling, not because he was sad, but because he was scared because he found the corpse.
Green Lantern Master Qiao Shungang was pacing back and forth in the front hall when another Green Lantern Master Xiao Songting came up and asked, "Where are you going? Tell me something!"
Qiao Shungang said angrily: "What should I say? Do I know what to do?"
Xiao Songting said: "This is your person. Who knows if you don't know?"
Qiao Shungang said: "The matter happened in your territory!"
Xiao Songting was furious: "You want me to take the blame?"
Qiao Shungang sighed: "Let's wait until Qianhu comes back!"
Last night Wu Xu took the red lantern man Chen Yuanzhong to the palace to meet the saint, but he has not come back yet. The red lantern man Yi Xulong was feeling unwell and went home to rest, and is now on his way here.
Xu Zhiqiong walked to Meng Shizhen and asked, "What happened?"
Meng Shizhen stood on the spot as if he had lost his soul, murmuring: "Something big happened, he was killed just now, why did he die!"
Xu Zhiqiong sniffed and asked again: "Who killed Wang Denglang?"
Meng Shizhen said nothing, and Wang Zhennan looked unhappy and said, "Wang Shijie is dead."
I almost forgot, he is also Wang Denglang.
Xu Zhiqiong asked again: "How did he die?"
Wang Zhennan frowned and said, "Who knows how he died? Let's wait until Qianhu comes back to deal with it. If this happens, we will be affected."
Wang Shijie was very unpopular. Wang Zhennan was not at all sad about his death, but he was really worried about being implicated this time.
Wang Shijie is Meng Shizhen's subordinate. He was supposed to go to Beiyuan with them last night for night patrol, but the guy said that his injury was not healed and went to Wang'an River.
Now that he died in Wang'an River, it is unclear what happened, not to mention that they did not go on patrol last night and spent the whole night at Zhu Skull Tea House.
Not long after, red light man Yixulu came to the Yamen, looked at Wang Shijie's body, turned to Yang Wu and asked: "Is this the body you saw?"
Yang Wu nodded and told what happened last night.
Last night Wang Shijie said he was going to light lanterns, so he left before the second watch, and had not come back by the fourth watch. Dong Qingshan, the green lantern man, was worried that he would knock out the bone marrow again, so he led everyone along the river to look upstream separately. As a result, Yang Wu was in Jin
Zhiwan saw Wang Shijie's body.
After hearing what happened, Yi Xulou immediately ordered the door of the yamen to be closed, and all the lantern holders gathered in the front hall.
Yi Xulou is over seventy years old. He has always been a steady red light man, but now he is a little panicked.
The lantern-carrying man was killed while on night watch. This was a rare vicious incident in Daxuan in recent years. Yi Xulou felt that something was wrong, and this incident might drag the entire lantern-carrying yamen into the abyss.
He first called Meng Shizhen over: "Wang Shijie is your subordinate, why did you go out with Dong Qingshan on patrol last night?"
Before Meng Shizhen could speak, Dong Qingshan spoke first, and he had to take himself out: "Yi Hongdeng, Wang Shijie's old injury last night has not healed, so he cannot walk far and cannot go to Beiyuan, so he will stay with me by the Wang'an River and patrol nearby."
Yi Xulu said angrily: "Can you make the decision?"
It is the green lantern man's responsibility to allocate manpower and land. According to the rules, the green lantern man should not make the decision.
But the lantern holder rarely enforces the rules seriously. He is used to changing shifts and places, so he doesn't pay attention to such trivial matters.
Green Lantern Master Qiao Shungang stepped forward and said, "This is a matter of humble duty and responsibility."
Yi Xulu said angrily: "Of course you are responsible. Since Wang Shijie has not recovered from his injuries, why are you allowed to go out on patrol at night?"
Qiao Shungang didn't dare to say anything.
Yi Xulu asked again: "The lantern man patrolling the night requires at least two people in a team. Why did Wang Shijie go to light the night lantern alone?"
Meng Shizhen didn't speak, it was not his responsibility.
Dong Qingshan trembled his lips and said: "This, this is not, after so many years..."
Yi Xulu said angrily: "But you are lazy and forget the rules!"
Looking at Wang Shijie's body, Yi Xulu was at a loss what to do.
It sounded like he was asking about insignificant things, but in fact, they were not, these things were very important.
A lantern-carrying man died unexpectedly. Wu Xu should be able to handle this matter.
But if we investigate further and find that the management of the entire Zhangdeng Yamen is lax, not only Wu Xu but also Zhong Shen will be punished.
"Have you checked the corpse?" Yi Xulou finally asked about the elements of the case.
There was a man in charge of the Deng Yamen who stepped forward and responded: "Wang Denglang died of a broken neck."
Dong Qingshan added: "There were no signs of fighting at the scene."
This is a doubtful point. Xu Zhiqiong thought of this doubtful point, but he had no way to deal with it. The traces of fighting are not easy to forge.
Shi Chuan added next to him: "There is still a lot of lamp oil in Wang Shijie's lantern."
Dong Qingshan glanced at Shi Chuan, this kid was a little unruly.
Dong Qingshan is Shi Chuan's boss. If he discovers the clues and doesn't tell the Green Lantern Man first, then he will show off to the Red Lantern Man. This kind of person will really attract hatred.
But if it was just to show off, Shi Chuan still had to reason next.
Not only does he attract hatred, he also attracts trouble.
"Deputy Qianhu, not only was there no shortage of lamp oil, but the medicine under the lamp holder was also untouched, which proves that Wang Shijie did not send a call for help when he died."
The lantern lantern's lantern can set off fireworks several feet high to send signals to the surrounding lantern lanterns, but Wang Shijie did not use this function when he was dying.
When Yi Xulou heard this, his blood pressure rose. Then he heard Shi Chuan say: "There are no signs of fighting at the scene. This may have been done by an acquaintance."
His blood pressure reached its peak in an instant, and what Yi Xulou was most worried about happened.
The old red lamp sat on the chair with a dejected expression.
Dong Qingshan glared at Shi Chuan and said, "Why do you talk so much today?"
Yes, why does he talk so much?
Shi Chuan's thinking was very quick, and Xu Zhiqiong was alert and ready to take the attack.
Meng Shizhen looked a little more relaxed. Although Wang Shijie was his, the focus of the conflict was not on him, but on Dong Qingshan.
Shi Chuan said to Dong Qingshan: "Dong Qingdeng, you know my relationship with Wang Denglang. I think his death is strange."
Dong Qingshan said angrily: "It's not strange, is it up to you to talk nonsense?"
"Okay, I'm talking nonsense, Dong Qingdeng, if you don't let me say it, I won't say it." Shi Chuan cupped his hands and stepped aside.
Yi Xulu's blood pressure dropped a little, and he looked at everyone and said, "Who has Wang Shijie had a grudge against recently?"
As he finished speaking, there was faint laughter.
Yi Xulu said angrily: "Why are you laughing?"
Everyone was silent. Shi Chuan seemed to have something to say. He looked at Dong Qingshan and looked like he was hesitant to speak.
This was done for Yi Xulu, who said to Shi Chuan: "What do you want to say? Just say it."
Shi Chuan said: "I'm afraid Dong Qingdeng won't let me say it."
Dong Qingshan said angrily, "Did I block your mouth when you bullied me?"
Shi Chuan then took a step forward and said: "Deputy Qianhu, Wang Shijie has a bad temper, a vicious mouth, a greedy hand, and a cruel heart. He often bullies newcomers, often beats and scolds, and extorts money. There are many people who have grudges against him, but
If we only talk about recent days, the one who has the deepest grudge against him is newcomer Xu Zhiqiong."
Such clever words, which did not cover up Wang Shijie's bad habits, but brought Xu Zhiqiong out very naturally.
Wang Shijie bullied the newcomer, and Xu Zhiqiong killed someone in anger. What a reasonable motive!
Why is this guy targeting me?
Because of the previous quarrel?
Obviously not. Just because of that little dispute, he would definitely not be allowed to talk in front of the red light man.
Someone was instigating him behind his back.
But even if someone instigated it, how did he know that someone would die last night? Why was he so well prepared?
Was the murder exposed?
No, you can't think randomly. If you think wrong, you will fall into your opponent's trap.
Shi Chuan has long wanted to plot against me and will take every opportunity to plot against me!
He wanted to plot against me through the living Wang Shijie before, and now he wants to plot against me through the dead Wang Shijie. He has always wanted to seize every opportunity to plot against me.
In fact, his preparation was not sufficient, but he was smart and had a sharp tongue.
I was much more prepared than he was, so I didn’t need to be afraid of him at all.
Yang Wu was shocked: "This, this is impossible!"
Chu He was shocked, but didn't say anything. He thought about what he would do if Xu Zhiqiong really did it.
Don’t admit it, don’t admit it!
Meng Shizhen, who had just relaxed, almost jumped up and killed each other under his men. This crime was enough to send him to prison.
Meng Shizhen pointed at Shi Chuan's nose and said, "What the hell are you talking about? Wang Shijie and Xu Zhiqiong are both mine!"
Shi Chuandao: "So I say, the two of them have the deepest grudge."
Meng Shizhen shouted: "Fuck your mother! I'm going to show you..."
Yi Xulu shouted: "Shizhen, shut up! Xu Zhiqiong, where were you last night?"
Before Xu Zhiqiong could speak, Meng Shizhen said: "Xu Zhiqiong was patrolling Beiyuan with us last night. The twelve lamps in Beiyuan can prove it. Yi Hongdeng, if you don't believe me, go and see for yourself. If the lamp poles are
One mark is missing, you cut off my head!"
Yi Xulu thought for a moment and said, "How many of you are going to watch the night?"
Meng Shizhen said: "Ma Guangli, Li Pu'an, Wang Zhennan, Xu Zhiqiong, plus me, there are five people in total."
Shi Chuan said from the side: "Five people go on patrol at night, not counting Xu Zhiqiong. Four people light lamps, and each person can only light three lamps. It is not tiring at all."
Meng Shizhen shouted: "Why don't you count Xu Zhiqiong?"
Shi Chuan pursed his lips and said, "I'm not saying what happened to Xu Zhiqiong. I'm just making a guess. What if Xu Zhiqiong was not in Beiyuan last night? What if he went to Wang'an River?"
Meng Shizhen was furious: "His surname is Shi. I went to Beiyuan with Xu Zhiqiong in person. Am I so blind? I can't see where he went?"
Shi Chuan put on a fearful expression: "Meng Qingdeng, please calm down. I just said it casually. Who doesn't know that you cherish your subordinates the most in Qingdeng?"
"What the hell..." Meng Shizhen felt tightness in her chest and waves of dizziness.
what to do?
According to Shi Chuan's opinion, Meng Shizhen's subordinates killed each other, and Meng Shizhen protected them. This matter is completely unclear.