Jing Mo took advantage of the stall where Li Wenchang and Nie Xiaoman were talking, borrowed the candlelight by himself, and observed it around. I saw that the side of the door was overgrown with weeds, and there was no trace of it, but ten zhang away, Jing Mo saw a low sinking pool along the wall.

Jing Mo took a closer look, and it was very humid, and the sewage along the wall collected and became a low-lying swamp.

Jing Mo was surprised and exclaimed: "Nie Xiaoman, look here, isn't there another footprint?" ”

Nie Xiaoman followed the direction of the light and said, "Not bad! The footprints came out of the low waterhole, through the weeds, and through the back door. But there is no trace of leaving, what is the reason? ”

Jingmo said: "In my opinion, when the snitch came, he couldn't see in the night, and accidentally stepped into this puddle, so he left a lot of marks, and then his shoes dried up and he escaped from the wild grass." ”

Nie Xiaoman pondered suspiciously, and said: "Jingmo, it's naturally good that you attach importance to footprints, but you can't just pay attention to footprints to find out the truth!" Saying that, Nie Xiaoman looked at Li Wenchang: "Are there any other convenient doors in Mr.'s house that can be entered and exited?" ”

Li Wenchang shook his head and said, "No, except for the front and back doors, there is no other passage. ”

Nie Xiaoman nodded. At this time, I suddenly saw a person who was a little staggering, limping towards the temple.

Li Wenchang asked, "Is it Li Crooked?" ”

When the man heard Li Wenchang's voice, he immediately stopped and replied, "Master Li, it's me." ”

Li Wenchang asked again: "Have you been released from the yamen?" ”

The man said, "Yes, Master Li, just now the messengers asked me if I heard a sound last night, and I replied that I had not heard it, they didn't believe it, and even threatened me. Later, Feng Ye went, and Uncle Li instructed him to advise the poor men not to implicate the innocent people, and finally released me and Ding Lao Butler, and now I want to thank Master Li! ”

When the man approached, Jing Mo looked at his face, his temples were white, his cheeks were deep, his back was hunched like a bow, and his shape was old and ugly.

Nie Xiaoman couldn't bear it, and comforted Wen Yan: "You were wronged. Please tell me what time I went to bed last night? Don't you really hear a sound at all? ”

Li Weisan also knows the face, looked at Xiaoman, and knew that most of them were people in the official face, so he naturally didn't dare to slack off, and said: "No, because I have nothing to do at night, I went to bed after the unitary hour." I slept so hard last night that I didn't hear anything. ”

"So in the last few days, have you noticed any suspicious people looking around here?"

Li Weisan stroked his chin with his hand, pondered for a while, and said, "Yes, the afternoon before yesterday, I saw a person wandering at the mouth of the alley. ”

"Really? Can you tell me about his physique? ”

"As soon as I saw this man, I thought he was short, but unfortunately I didn't see his appearance clearly."

Nie Xiaoman wanted to ask again, but suddenly a small servant ran out of the back door and reported to Feng Yunqi that he had brought the old housekeeper Ding home, and at the same time, there were also messengers from the yamen who came together. So Li Wenchang waved to everyone and went back to the house.

When I first saw this Feng Yunqi, he was about thirty or forty years old, with a tall and thick torso, strong arms, and heavy steps. And his eyes are bright and keen, and he seems to be a scheming person. He wears a camel-coloured, half-worn sheepskin robe and a gold ring on his right hand.

He was dressed differently from an ordinary servant, and needless to say, he must have been a close confidant and guest of his master. Jing Mo silently observed his appearance and admitted that Li Shicheng's words were not wrong, and he had a self-confidence and intelligence that ordinary people did not have.

Feng Yunqi was already waiting in the inner hall, and when everyone walked into the inner hall, he was already there, this person looked at Nie Xiaoman and Jing Mo and nodded in greeting. It seems that he already knows who Xiaoman and the other two are.

Feng Yunqi walked in front of his master Li Wenchang first, and reported in pure Central Plains official dialect: "Old housekeeper Ding has gone home." At the beginning, the old man in the yamen insisted that the old housekeeper Ding must have heard the sound and forced him to tell the truth. However, the old butler Ding guarded the front door, and the thief came in through the back door, even if there was a sound, he might not be able to hear it. It would be even more unreasonable to say that he had taken bribes and colluded with thieves. Old Butler Ding has been serving here for nearly 20 years and has never behaved unruly. How could this be? ”

Nie Xiaoman listened to Feng Yunqi's words, nodded constantly, and said: "This is the way things are, it turns out that the yamen does not investigate, and it is reckless to send people to do things. ”

Feng Yunqi smiled slightly when he heard this, looked at Nie Xiaoman and said, "This class of errand people is investigating the case like this, even ordinary people can see their mistakes." Besides, Nie Dawei's eyes are deaf and his eyes are blazing, so he can naturally see through it at a glance! ”

Nie Xiaoman's face was a little red, and he seemed unwilling to accept such a commendation, but he didn't say it.

Feng Yunqi continued: "Master, there is someone from the yamen, and he is waiting outside, do you want to go out to meet?" ”

So everyone walked out of the hall and came to the wing, and saw a dignified historian wandering in the room. The name of this classic history is Pang Shangjiu, about 30 years old, wearing a scarf on his head, a suffix on the top, wearing a narrow-sleeved shirt with a disc collar, a webbing, and black boots.

This Pang Shangjiu looks very extraordinary. And he saw Jing Mo and Nie Xiaoman wearing trolling, and he didn't know what the origin was, so he glanced at it, and without saying hello, he walked over to talk to Wenchang.

"Master Li, let's look at the traces of this case, whether there are no gaps or not, it must have been done by experienced veterans. There is no doubt that the snitch must be "flying in the sky", but according to the situation at the scene, it is guessed that someone must respond to the internal response, so that the "flying in the sky" can enter and exit without hindrance. I asked the old housekeeper Ding just now, and he said that since you went out, you have been sitting and guarding the door and not sleeping, and no one has ever entered or left the front door, nor has he heard a sound, so he is a little surprised. The other servants still need to ask, can Master Li give permission? ”

Wen Chang frowned and was a little unhappy, but there seemed to be no reason to refuse this time, so he had to say, "If this case is beneficial, please." ”

Li Wenchang then ordered all the servants to be summoned. After a while, they all arrived, and there were a total of four servants, one was the old housekeeper Ding, who was about sixty years old, with gray hair, and he was from Huizhou when he heard his voice. The three servants, all of whom speak Jinling dialect and are locals, are the male chef Fei Liu, Wei Lao Mazi and the little scholar Runmo. When they saw the old man, they all trembled with fright, and they all lost color with fear.

Jing Mo didn't understand, these servants were guilty and afraid? Or is it that you are afraid of being falsely accused when you see the arrogance of the classics, and you are so frightened that you can't control yourself? There is a big difference between this, but there is no basis for it, and Jingmo does not dare to make judgments.

After a while, every servant was questioned by this Pang Dian Shi, and everyone replied that they didn't know, except for Ding Lao's housekeeper who slept at the entrance of the gate, Runmo and Fei Liu lived in the second courtyard, which was connected to Li Shicheng's outer room, and the room where the case occurred was a little farther away, and everyone said that they had gone to bed after Hai Shi. Only the bedroom of Old Mother Wei is the closest. Wei's mother is about thirty years old, her facial features are quite upright, and her clothes are plain.

This old mother Wei confessed that when she went to her aunt~ room to make the bed, her aunt embroidered in front of the desk and told Wei Lao Ma to sleep first. So after making the bed, Mrs. Wei returned to her bedroom, and fell asleep after a while. It wasn't until Li Wenchang called her that she jumped up from the bed.

Pang Dianshi asked Mrs. Wei again: "After you slept, did you wake up by accident?" ”

Old Mother Wei said, "No, I slept soundly last night. ”

"Do you wake up easily in your sleep? Or is it a consistent snooze? ”

"I know I'm not a snooze."

"So when you were asleep last night, did you hear your aunt's call?"

"I haven't heard anything!"

"Really? Would you wake up if there was a cry? ”

"My master's bedroom and I are only separated by a boarded wall, so I should be able to hear it."

Li Wenchang listened a little impatiently, and interjected: "You have already inquired in detail this morning, and all rooms have also been searched, and no suspicions can be found. ”