The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

The murder case in Liushuli, which occurred on the eighth day of the seventh lunar month, was initially investigated by the village official and patrol officers of Yushui Township, with assistance from the county clerk. The focus of the investigation was on the husband of the deceased "Weihua", a hunter. Patrol officer Shuwu believed that the hunter must have returned home and found his wife having an affair with someone, and killed the two in anger.

So the government urgently ordered the local pavilion chief and village head to arrest the hunter. One day later, his traces were found in the forest where the hunter hunted...

The hunter's name was "Diao", and he was in his thirties. When the village pavilion chief led people to find him, he was squatting on the ground setting animal traps. He didn't understand what was going on, and was suddenly pressed to the ground. He could only subconsciously cry out that he was wronged!

"It's too late to cry out for injustice now!"

Diao was immediately taken to the township governor's office. In front of his wife's body, he was struck by lightning. When he heard that his wife was killed while committing adultery with others, he couldn't accept it for a while. He couldn't stand steadily and sat on the ground.

Youjiao Shuwu believed that the hunter was the murderer, so he repeatedly questioned him, but the hunter denied it and insisted that he didn't kill anyone!

Shuwu was so angry that he was going to torture him, but was stopped by Lingshi Nu.

"Youjiao, the law says that it is better to get a confession without flogging, and flogging is worse. Let me ask first."

In Nu's opinion, Diao, as the first suspect, did have a motive for committing the crime. But the premise is that he knew about his wife's adultery in advance. Judging from his reaction, it seems that he had never known about it before. Alas, he is really a dull and honest man.

Moreover, when Diao was captured, he was still setting traps at the place where he hunted. Unless he killed someone first and then calmly returned to the hunting spot, pretending that nothing had happened, but is this possible? Generally speaking, after killing someone, one should immediately flee.

Angrily summoned several woodcutters. They had lived with Diao for the past few days and could testify that Diao was still in the mountains when the case occurred. It was impossible for him to suddenly jump over ten miles of mountain roads and return home to kill people.

In this way, Diao's suspicion of murder was basically ruled out, and Youjiao had to let him go reluctantly.

When Diao returned to the willow tree with the prey he had hunted these days, he looked at the house still surrounded by ropes and white ash, and the pools of blood that had long dried up, and felt dizzy and didn't know what to do...

...

After excluding the possibility of love killing, the investigation of the case had to start looking for a new direction.

Unfortunately, there was not much evidence left by the murderer at the scene. In addition to the very common short knife, there was only the Jing Coupon found in the bushes outside the door...

It was very common for Qin men to wear swords, so relying on a knife alone to identify the murderer was like looking for a needle in a haystack, so Shuwu tended to start with the Jing Coupon.

Jing Coupon is a contract used by merchants for trade. It is named because the teeth on it are like the thorns on the thorns. Qin law stipulates that any transaction exceeding one hundred coins must be issued with a contract, as the saying goes, "The purpose of a separate contract is to be trustworthy." After the transaction is reached, the seller must write down the transaction items and prices on a wooden board, and then saw it in half, with the buyer and seller each holding half.

Moreover, depending on the different trade items, the materials used to make the coupons are also different, including bamboo and wood, and mulberry wood. As for which material corresponds to which goods, only the officials who specialize in managing the market and those merchants can tell clearly.

Shuwu immediately sent people to the township market to find the city clerk and ask what the Jing ticket was used for, what industry it was used for, and how much it was worth.

Soon the result came out. The city clerk replied that this was a Jing ticket used in the silk trade, and there were eleven coupon teeth on the bamboo ticket. According to the rules of the silk trade, each piece of silk was worth 180, so each tooth was equivalent to 180 coins, so the value of this bamboo ticket was equivalent to 1,980 coins...

"The murderer must be a merchant!" Shuwu seemed to have found a new direction, and said with a sharp look.

Angry but hesitant: "Why did he leave this Jingqi in the grass by the ditch outside the door?"

Jingqi is a very important token. If the number of items, money and coupons sold by merchants does not match, they will also be punished by the market officials, so merchants are particularly careful to protect it, not to mention throwing it away.

"Perhaps the murderer was in a hurry when he went out, and threw the Jing Coupon out of his arms."

Although this situation was too coincidental, the stubborn Shu Wu had set a new tone for the case and would not allow others to question it.

So in the next few days, he sent all his men in the township to search the township market and look for those who were registered in the city, especially those who sold silk, who became the main suspects.

Unfortunately, after three or four days of tossing and turning, nothing was found. Those merchants who sold silk almost all had proof of alibi, and the city clerks searched through the trade records of the past year, but could not find the right half of the Jing Coupon...

Not only that, the originally bustling township market also became deserted because of the investigation.

The case had happened for several days, but the township patrols responsible for the investigation were in vain. Not only were the people panicked by the murder, but the normal trade in the township market was even disrupted, which caused dissatisfaction among the county magistrate and county lieutenant.

…

"You are incompetent and are a burden to me!"

County Right Lieutenant Du Xian was the most furious. According to the news from above, he might be transferred from Anlu at the end of the year, and whether he would be promoted or transferred would depend on this year's performance evaluation.

This year, Anlu has solved tomb robbery and kidnapping cases, which is particularly eye-catching among the 18 counties in Nanjun. But if this blatant murder case cannot be solved as soon as possible and spread to the county, Du Xian's performance evaluation this year will probably be greatly reduced.

So the Right Lieutenant was ruthless and sent a letter to the township, saying that since the patrol officer was incompetent and could not solve the case, he should quickly submit the case to the county, and the county would organize some capable officials to solve it together...

This time, the patrol officer Shuwu lost more than he gained. He thought it was a simple case, but it turned out to be a difficult case, which led him to a dead end.

At this point, he knew that he could not solve the case with his own ability, so he had to go to the county to plead guilty, kowtowed in front of the county lieutenant, and asked for forgiveness.

"I shouldn't have believed you, a mediocre person!"

County Right Lieutenant Du Xian threw the pen holder in front of Shu Wu and said angrily: "Well, since you yourself said that you are unable to solve the case, then I will find someone to solve the case!"

After that, Du Xian shouted to the outside: "Let Huyang Pavilion Chief come in!"

"The county lieutenant summoned Huyang Pavilion Chief!" The lieutenant's clerk immediately spread the word.

"Heifu, the head of Huyang Pavilion?"

Shuwu was shocked. He turned around and saw Heifu had already strode in. He bowed to the county's right lieutenant: "I pay my respects to the county lieutenant."

Du Xian stroked his beard and said: "Heifu, the clerk Nu strongly recommended you to me, saying that you are not only the first official to arrive at the scene of the crime, but also have a deep understanding of the clerk's skills, are meticulous and good at reasoning. I suggest that you participate in solving the case together. What do you think?"

"I have been ordered by the superiors. Heifu dare not have any ideas. Since the clerk trusts me and the county lieutenant has the responsibility, I will do my best."

"It's not enough to just do my best."

Du Xian said with a stern face: "If the murderer is not captured one day, people will panic. Time is running out. I can only give you half a month. If you succeed in capturing the murderer, I will definitely ask the county magistrate and the county government for rewards. If not, all of you who solve the case will be punished!"

As he spoke, he pointed at Shuwu and used him as a negative example to warn Heifu: "You will be impeached like him and be evaluated as dereliction of duty and incompetent. When the report is completed in October, I am afraid that this position of patrol officer will not be kept!"

Shuwu was sweating coldly, but Heifu smiled and said: "Please rest assured, County Lieutenant, I have not been idle these days. Every night, I have been deducing this case by myself. I have already had a plan in my mind..."

Du Xian was overjoyed: "Oh, tell me!"

Heifu hesitated and looked at Shuwu. The meaning was obvious. Since this person had nothing to do with the case, he should not be allowed to listen.

Du Xian waved his sleeves impatiently: "Shuwu, you leave."

Although Shuwu cursed in his heart, he could do nothing but leave reluctantly, and his expression was downcast when he left.

After he walked out of the hall, Hei Fu stepped forward and said, "In my opinion, the direction of this case was wrong from the beginning! We shouldn't start from the Jing ticket. The Jing ticket was probably left by the murderer to confuse us!"

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