Ming Dynasty Detective 1546

Chapter 9 The murderer was caught?

As the prefect of Qiongzhou, Gu Shanjie theoretically had the entire Hainan Island under his jurisdiction.

But in fact, he was a temporary official, and he came to Hainan, a place where there were vacancies for officials and clerks were passed down from generation to generation, so the situation was very complicated.

On the surface, officials are clearly divided into high and low levels, but in reality, the real ruling power is in the hands of those officials who cannot pass the imperial examinations. If they really want to confront each other, those people have plenty of ways to make it difficult for the officials to take any step.

Upon hearing the tragic news that the foreign envoy died in Qiongzhou Prefecture, Gu Shanjie hurried back and went to the academy, where he saw that the group of detectives were lazy and not concentrating on investigating the case.

He was worried that with this attitude, he would never find the murderer. When he learned that Guard Annan had already identified a suspect, he could not wait to come to the government office and demanded a trial and a quick closure of the case.

Unexpectedly, this suspect is not an ordinary student!
If the pressure is really too severe, not to mention whether this person will fight to the death, will Yinglue Society pick up sticks, bring a group of martial arts apprentices to surround him, and beat him to death with sticks in anger?
Thinking of this, Gu Shanjie's tone softened completely: "It's easy to abuse the common people, but it's hard to deceive God. Even a commoner like this with no achievements should not be wronged at will. We must get to the bottom of the case!"

"I will remember this!"

Shao Jing pressed his lips together and agreed.

"Um……"

After giving his instructions, Gu Shanjie turned around with some boredom and walked away in square steps.

Shao Jing looked at Hai Yue who was still practicing shooting, then turned and left.

"Hey!"

Haiyue had actually noticed the onlookers a long time ago, and her momentum just now was somewhat deliberate, and she had prepared a backup plan for this.

As it turned out, the Qiongzhou prefect was even more cowardly than expected. He left in disgrace without even being questioned, and he felt relieved.

At this time, he did not stop, but danced with the spear with full concentration, feeling the blood surging in his body, and understanding the subtle changes in strength.

My father Haihao once said that swords, guns, sticks and clubs are external skills, and no matter how exquisite the moves are, they will never become secrets.

The real secret of martial artists is the internal training method.

For example, the internal training method he practiced since childhood, "Chan Zhi Long", aims to clear the mind and eliminate unnecessary desires and distractions.

When one reaches a high level of cultivation, every force released in every move contains three levels of strength: one level of strength to break the body, one level of strength to suppress, and the last level of strength to defeat the enemy.

Haiyue's predecessor had a strong physique, but he was too young and had not been deeply immersed in it. However, when he came to this era, he broke through the barriers one after another and comprehended the first two levels of momentum and inch power.

Although he was never able to master the third level, which was the most powerful, Hai Hao, who taught him this method, was already amazing, and his future was estimated to be limitless.

Haiyue herself didn't feel very excited.

When it comes to martial arts, it’s more of an interest rather than a pursuit of being the best in the world.

He had inquired about it and learned that in this era there were no martial arts sects or top masters. Martial arts training was more about self-defense and self-protection, as well as the ability to cause blood to splatter within five steps at critical moments.

Therefore, over the past two years, Haiyue has not deliberately pursued improvement in martial arts.

Until today.

Haiyue had no confidence that the case could be solved or the murderer could be caught.

He is confident that if someone sets their sights on him because they can't catch the real culprit, he will never sit idly by and wait for death!
At worst, I can just fight my way out and become a wandering knight to see if I can create another world for myself!
After finishing a set of spear techniques, Hai Yue felt her energy flowing through her body and her strength flowing freely. She finished her moves and felt extremely refreshed. Then she heard hurried footsteps.

This time the visitor entered the courtyard, revealing a shrewd, thin face: "Thirteenth Master!"

Haiyue recognized him. He was a fast-track constable from the government office, a man named Lin Xiaoliu. He had inherited his father's business and had already been in the job for several years before turning twenty. He was a smooth and sophisticated person, and was a little surprised by the title. "Constable Lin is here, I don't deserve that title!"

"Oh! Well-deserved! Well-deserved!" Lin Xiaoliu smiled brightly: "Thirteenth Master may not know that Eighth Master has helped my family!"

Haiyue suddenly realized.

Hai Hao has three sons, Hai Yue is the youngest, and he has two older brothers, ranking second and fourth in the same generation in the clan.

The second brother Haimin is strong and powerful. Not only is he good at riding and shooting, but he can also wield a steel whip with great skill, which is very impressive.

Fourth brother Haizhen fell ill when he was young and became weak, so he did not like martial arts. Fortunately, he had a calm and resolute personality and did not show his emotions on his face, so he was able to inherit the family business. In just a few years under his leadership, Yinglue Society grew significantly.

As brothers of the same generation, mynah brother Haiqi is the one with the widest connections both inside and outside the clan. He is very good at networking and is praised by all parties, with the greatest reputation.

Not to mention the brothers' unity, Haiyue is now involved in the murder of Prince Annan. If he is finally found to be a suspect without clear reason, not only will his own future be ruined, but it will also affect his brothers of the same clan.

So when Hai Rui was about to ask these three brothers for help, Hai Yue certainly didn't feel embarrassed at all.

Brothers united in purpose can overcome any obstacle. Lin Xiaoliu had come here at the request of Eighth Brother: "Eighth Master asked me to tell Thirteenth Master a message: the murderer has been found. Second Master personally took action and captured a thief from Annan who was spying outside the academy. The case is about to be solved!"

"what?"

Hai Yue was stunned. She was overjoyed at first, then shocked: "They caught him so quickly?"

He had only been in the government office for three days.

Considering that Hai Rui first had to visit each family and ask a few of his brothers for help, and then search for traces of suspicious persons in the vicinity centered on Dongpo Academy, three days was just the beginning.

It was unexpected that they got it so quickly. Haiyue asked, "How did they catch it?"

Lin Xiaoliu laughed and said, "The thief was spying outside the academy and even asking a Liren vendor for information. He was generous and didn't seem like a local. The vendor took notice and, after the thief left, he secretly followed him all the way! The Eighth Master learned where he lived and sent the Second Master with the heroes of the Yinglue Society to take action, and they captured the thief in one fell swoop!"

The Li people in Hainan are divided into raw Li and cooked Li. The raw Li live in the mountains and have little contact with the outside world, while the cooked Li can be seen everywhere. Most of the women hawking on the streets are spies, who are quite eager for money and are very good ears and eyes.

Hai Yue had no doubts about this and then asked, "How is your martial arts? Is there any resistance?"

Lin Xiaoliu said, "How can we resist? Second Master's whip is so powerful. That thief is just a weak woman. She couldn't withstand even one blow and was knocked down!"

Hai Yue asked curiously, "Is the thief a woman?"

"Yes!"

Lin Xiaoliu had obviously seen the thief's face and subconsciously revealed a lewd smile: "She's even more beautiful than the beauty in Qingyan Tower! The Eighth Master said that she must have used a beauty trap to collude with an insider to poison Prince Annan!"

"A honey trap?"

Haiyue murmured.

He had previously made a preliminary analysis of the motive. If the murderer was an Annan assassin, then the purpose was not only to kill, but also to pin the suspicion on the students of the academy, thereby provoking the relationship between the orthodox Le Dynasty and the suzerain Ming Dynasty, and destroying the mission of the diplomatic corps once and for all.

But the assassin from Annan could not poison Li Weining from a distance, so he could only let the students from the academy who were attending the banquet do it. Not to mention the method of poisoning, what was the motive of this person's cooperation?
Is it for money? Or is it because the other party has leverage over you?
Now there are new possibilities.

Beauty temptation.

But Hai Yue thought about it carefully and shook her head. "That's not right! Li Weining stayed at the academy for six days and was poisoned on the sixth night. He came to the academy on a whim. How could a beauty trap make a stranger obey his orders in just a few days? Risking his own life to poison a foreign envoy? Daji?"

Lin Xiaoliu was very confused after hearing this and hesitated to speak.

Now that the real culprit has been apprehended, shouldn't you, the wrongly accused suspect, be overjoyed? Why bother with all this?

Hai Yue wanted to intervene: "Catch the murderer, my fourteenth brother must be there, what would he say?"

Lin Xiaoliu was a little confused: "Fourteenth Master?"

Hai Yue described her brother Hai Rui's appearance, and Lin Xiaoliu suddenly realized: "It's that young master, he... he..."

Seeing that the constable was hesitant, Hai Yue's expression became serious: "Speak!"

Lin Xiaoliu was stared at by his scorching gaze, and his heart trembled. He dared not hide it. "Ever since she was captured, this woman has been crying foul and speaking very strangely. That young master... uh, Fourteenth Master saw her and said that we can't make a conclusion too early. We have to find out exactly how the poison was carried out..."

Haiyue nodded heavily: "That's exactly the point!"

The fourth brother had the best relationship with him since childhood, while the eighth brother cared most about his reputation. In order to rescue him, these two of them couldn't wait to convict him.

Only Hai Rui is the most fair. He will not lose his principles even for his brothers.

Haiyue herself couldn't bear to implicate an innocent person, so she said in a deep voice, "Only by getting to the bottom of the case can we completely resolve this matter. If we're too impatient to arrest another suspect and send him to the yamen, what if he turns out not to be the real murderer? Wouldn't that only increase my suspicion? Inspector Lin, please tell these words to the brothers!"

"what?"

Lin Xiaoliu's face turned bitter. "Thirteenth Master, it's not that I don't want to pass on the message, but that Annan thief has just been sent to the government office, and Master Gu and Magistrate Shao have begun interrogating her..."

"Is it too late?"

Hai Yue frowned, then thought for a moment and asked, "You just said that after being arrested, this woman kept crying foul and spoke in strange ways. What strange things did she say?"

"I said a lot...it was all messed up..."

Lin Xiaoliu scratched his head and exclaimed, "I remember now. The phrase this thief kept repeating the most was, 'Prince Annan was not murdered!'"

(End of this chapter)