Nie Xiaoman shook his head and said, "Alas, Jingmo, you said it so easily! At that time, we were separated by layers of obstacles, and I didn't really have the ability to see through the sky, let alone "'unpredictable prophet', how could I think of it?" Since I know that they have a secret act of stealing mourning, I suspect that they must have seduced someone who is angry. I then assumed that the black-faced man peeping outside the back door should be Lai's complicity, or at least one of them. Since this person was only bumped into by Shang Yuanji once by chance, he disappeared without a trace, and it was naturally difficult to start for a while. Naturally, I put him aside for a while and find a more well-founded clue to proceed. ”

Jing Mo listened to this explanation and nodded frequently.

Xiaoman continued: "Later, the more we investigated, the more we realized the inconsistencies, which made no sense. According to the results of our investigation in various aspects, there seems to be no doubt that the Qin clan died of natural illness, and the suspicious things Shang Yuanji said were not fabricated. Because the first half of this matter is reasonable, but the second half has so many branches. This was naturally inconsistent, and it wasn't until I saw the corpse of the Qin clan with my own eyes that I finally figured out this verse. There was no blood on the man's neck, and it was clear that it had not been cut off before his death. I thought they were guilty of mutilation. But on second thought, I don't know why they cut off the body, and why this head was found like this, and the contradiction is still not completely resolved. Later, I found the drawing of the gambling game from Chongming's bedroom, and I guessed that it was seven or eight points, knowing the function of cutting the corpse's head, so I prayed for the superstition of beating the horse and hanging the dream. But I also mistakenly thought that the person who cut off his head was Chongming. ”

After a pause, Xiao Man continued: "And the human head appeared automatically later, and I still can't explain it clearly. It wasn't until I followed Feng Zizhou's text message that I knew that Chongming had always been locked up, and since he had been arrested, he naturally couldn't return his mother's head, and if he stole the body, he would never go directly to the casino. So I think it's another contradiction. But apart from Chongming, there were no other suspicious people. Therefore, I thought that there must be another unrelated person in this who also secretly cut off the head with the purpose of beating horses and praying for dreams. The man happened to steal the head of the man at dawn, when there was no one in the hall after the monks left. I took a step further and remembered this black-faced pockmark who had been bumped into by Shang Yuanji. ”

"But how can it be so easy for you to find out this solution later?"

"It's not that hard. In addition to his black-faced pockmarked appearance, I have three other grounds: First, this man is a gambler who fights horses. Second, since this person was doing it when there was no one in the front hall of the morning, he must have been a person who was accustomed to getting up early or doing night work. Therefore, I assume that the theft of the corpse must have been just before dawn when the monks had just left, and in addition, it would inevitably cause all kinds of inconveniences. Third, he must still have to live nearby. With these three conditions, it is naturally not difficult to identify the people on the street. Later, I went to No. 32, West Fourth Lane to check, and Xie Lao Wu's neighbors really saw that he took an official suitcase out of the house yesterday when he was in charge of the lamp, so I was even more convinced that Xie Lao Wu was the one who cut off his head. ”

Jing Mo smiled lightly: "In retrospect, the cracking of this strange case can be regarded as a complete fluke. If that Xie Lao Wu didn't go to Shang's house to snoop, or although he had snooped but was not bumped into by Shang Yuanji, or if that Xie Lao Wu casually threw the corpse into the wilderness, then there is no evidence, where do you go to find it? ”

Nie Xiaoman replied: "That's not it, it won't take too much effort, and it will never be a day when there will be no water." For example, if we ask for an open coffin for inspection because of various doubts, the loss of head will also be revealed. Or wait until the truth of Shang Chongming's detention is revealed, and then ask to understand, we will naturally assume that it is an outsider who cut off his head. The whereabouts of this person can still be traced in accordance with the three conditions I have drawn up. In this way, we will spend a day or two at most to prevent Xie Lao Wu from continuing to go unpunished. ”

Jing Mo couldn't help but nodded and said, "So, is that scholar Tang Anguo also involved in covering up the secret of losing his head?" ”

Nie Xiaoman responded: "That's natural, he must be an insider." But he only knew the news of the loss of his head, and he had never seen the headless corpse. Because after Lai's mother and daughter put the body in the coffin and nailed the lid, Jin Chuan sent the fire-burning worker Qiangdong to inform Tang Anguo. Therefore, in this case, his actual role was limited to the arrangement of the funeral, employing four servants, including the fourth child, giving money to Cheng Ji and Jin Yuan in the Xianhe Gate hired by Shang Chongming, and later going to the Yeshan Daoyuan to deal with affairs, and hiding Chunlan in his own home. This is all his dedication to his future mother-in-law. However, when he said these things about the four servants who hired the Tuas Tea Pavilion, it was a big loophole. ”

Jing Mo said: "Yes, but I think that they have changed another batch of servants, which is almost a superfluous move." Because of this move, they revealed the truth. ”

"Nope. You're taking their intentions too lightly. You know the local custom of Jinling, the coffin must be carried out by a servant. If they still asked Cheng Ji and Jin Yuan to carry the coffin out, they must wonder why they didn't ask them to put the body in the coffin. If they talk about this matter outside, since it is close at hand, wouldn't the secret of Lai's mother and daughter be exposed? So they dismissed the old one, gave money as usual, and said that there was another familiar servant to take care of the second half of the matter, and the Chengji people naturally would not be suspicious. For the newly hired fourth and others, it is natural to make up that the affairs of decorating the funeral were handled by the previously hired servants, and because of the price issue, there was an opinion, so the new people were hired, and the fourth and other people were naturally not suspicious. Besides, they are far away, so it is naturally safer to keep secrets. ”

After listening to this explanation, Jing Mo had to admit that his previous estimate of the complexity of the case was indeed too low. At this time, Jing Mo's fingers unexpectedly touched the jute paper in his pocket, and took it out again.

Jing Mo thought for a while, and then said: "Xiaoman, you said yesterday that Lai's poison was taken because of this piece of paper. I couldn't think of a connection at the time. At this time, it seems to me that this drawing was originally a character in the horse tag, and Lai suspected that Chongming had cut off his mother's head because of the superstition of playing horse hanging and praying for dreams, but at that time she heard you say that it was impossible for Jin Chuan to hold his head, and she knew that you had seen through their secret. She originally thought that her son was guilty, and in a hurry, she planned to commit suicide by taking poison, but at this moment, it was just a misunderstanding. However, there are eight words behind this picture, 'I stand on the city tower and watch the mountain view', and I am still at a loss for what it means. ”

Nie Xiaoman said: "These eight words can be regarded as out-and-out nonsense. This picture is on page 20 of the so-called "Gambling Classic" pseudo-book, the horse tag is forty for a pair, and the forty cards are divided into four doors, "cross door", "10,000 character door", "suo word door", "Wenqian door". In the above commentary, it is said that if you dream of 'Zhuge Liang singing the empty city plan', you should hit the four ropes, that is, you should play like a double bead ring. I guess it's because Zhuge Liang's 'Zhu' and the 'bead' character of the double bead ring are homophonic. This is just the ignorance and superstition of gamblers, there is nothing in life, and there is no money in the end, and you can't win money by gambling in any dream. ”

That Shang Chongming occasionally fulfilled this door, so he drew this picture down and wrote these eight words, maybe it is a commemoration, maybe it is a superstition. After Xiao Man finished speaking, he sighed softly, and looked at Jing Mo in a daze.