Chapter 142 Split up

Chapter 142 Split up

Chapter 142 Split up
"Evidence found?"

In the hall, Zhao Duan, who had been dozing off in the armchair, suddenly sat up, his sleepiness gone.

Zhang Han shook his head and said, "To be precise, it's the location of the evidence."

Next to her, Haitang turned around and walked back to the table.

In the middle of the mountain of old booklets, the lamp oil was almost exhausted, with only a tiny flame jumping around.

"Zhang Han and I searched all night and finally found the two pieces of evidence that are most likely to kill Zhou Cheng."

Haitang handed him two yellowed papers:
"His name is Zhang Zhu. He was a judge under Xue Lin back then. He was the one who proposed the late emperor's divine judgment. He was also implicated back then and was later demoted and sent back home."

“The second one is the descendant of Censor Pan who was falsely accused of deceiving the emperor in the Censorate.

Of these two people, the first one should still be alive and was an eyewitness to the incident, while the second one tried to overturn the case and used the connections of Censor Pan to copy and carry away many of the files from that year. "

Haitang said excitedly:

"According to our argument, as long as we can get one of these two key pieces of evidence, combined with other scattered evidence, it is possible to reopen the investigation of this old case. If we can get both pieces of evidence, it will be enough to prove that Zhou Cheng has dirty hands."

Zhao Duan didn't understand the twists and turns of investigating cases and the law, but he believed in the professional qualities of his two colleagues and smiled:
"well done!"

overnight.

It only took one night to make a breakthrough, which is a terrifying speed.

Of course, if Yuan Li hadn’t taken action, it would have taken them an untold amount of time.

"However, the only drawback is that these two key witnesses are not in the capital."

Zhang Han frowned and said:
"Fortunately, they are not too far away. One is in Luan County, west of the capital. The other is further north, at the border of Tieguan Road. If we set out now, and everything goes well, it will take half a month to go back and forth."

Haitang suddenly shook her head. The female head of the Narcissus Hall walked over to the table with her long legs, took out the map, spread it out, estimated it, and spoke quickly:
"You are talking about the normal way of traveling. If a martial artist rides a fast horse from the army, traveling day and night, the journey can be shortened to at least seven days."

A journey of a thousand miles takes seven days?

Zhao Duan thought for a moment and said:

"With so many files and information about related people gathered together, it is impossible to conceal it no matter how careful we are. More than half a month is too long. Even if Mr. Yuan covers it up, with Zhou Cheng's eyes and ears, it is enough for him to react. Once he is prepared, it will be very difficult to deal with."

Haitang nodded, agreeing with this view:
“So, we don’t have much time left.

So, I have a case in the Narcissus Hall that is heading to Luan County, which was originally assigned to a lieutenant. In this case... I will go there, using the excuse of a business trip as a cover, and leave the team alone to shorten the time to the greatest extent."

So positive? Zhao Duan looked at her in surprise.

I vaguely guess that at this point, Haitang is no longer just assisting him in fulfilling his mission as the empress.

Perhaps, her real purpose is to redress the grievances of the Xue family and the innocent souls who died during the Zhengtong period.

Sitting in the position of a police inspector, she is still so righteous? Oh, by the way, she doesn't seem to have climbed up from the bottom... The second generation has not experienced the cruelty of the workplace, so it is always easier to maintain kindness...

By the way, which family is behind Haitang? I have never heard of it, and it seems to be quite mysterious...

Zhao Duan looked admiring:
"That's great, but the Tieguan Road route is still in need of a trustworthy person."

After saying that, the two of them stared at Zhang Han tacitly, without saying anything, just staring at him.

"..." Zhang Han's paralyzed face twitched slightly, and he sighed helplessly:
"Okay, another piece of evidence, I'll go get it."

perfect!

Zhao Du applauded and smiled:
"Today, Zhao has the help of Crouching Dragon and Phoenix, and great things can be accomplished."

What is the story behind this? Zhang Han was puzzled.

Who do you say is a chick? Haitang's eyebrows are raised.

The three of them discussed the details, and in order to save time, "Wolong" and "Fengchu" left and returned to their own halls.

He was preparing to leave the city on the pretext of going on a business trip to handle a case.

Zhao Duan was alone, wearing a coat, holding up the extinguished candlestick, pushing the door and walking into the courtyard.

At this moment, the sky was dark and there was a faint paleness on the horizon. On the big pear tree in the yard, the pears were gradually ripening.

Perhaps, in a few days, it will be available for everyone in the hall to enjoy.

……

"Wake up, little lazy pig, don't sleep anymore."

Zhao Duan walked to the duty room next door and saw the new girl Jinyi sleeping on the table. He called out to her softly.

"what!"

Qian Kerou woke up with a start and stood up in a panic. Half of her round face, which was full of collagen, was covered with red marks, and there was crystal blood flowing from the corners of her mouth:
"Big... lord!"

Zhao Duan put on his clothes and hugged the black iron candlestick: "Go to my room and sleep."

Qian Kerou acted as a gatekeeper last night, constantly opening the door for the servants of Yuan Mansion. Now her head was pounding:

"Oh!"

"Wait," Zhao Duan remembered something:
"I asked you to send someone to look for Qin Qiu. Hasn't he been brought here yet?"

Qian Kerou shook her head blankly, indicating no.

Zhao Duan frowned, feeling uneasy. Could it be that Qin Qu was fooling around outside last night and didn't come home? That's why he couldn't be found?
At this time, outside the cold Lihua Hall, footsteps were heard, and an attendant of Qian Kerou came in with a tired look on his face and said unexpectedly:

"Sir? You're here so early?"

I didn’t leave at all… Zhao Duan had a blank expression on his face.

Qian Kerou's eyes lit up: "Where is the person I asked you to find? Lord Jisi wants to see him."

The follower said with a bitter face:

"Sir, I followed the address to the Qin family and learned that Qin Qiu was not there. His family said that they didn't know where he was hanging out and he didn't come home the night before. They only told me a few places he might be.

Thinking about what you have instructed me to do, I did not dare to delay and simply went to several entertainment places that the Qin family told me about.

Finally, they found out that Qin Qiu stayed at the Jiaofangsi the night before yesterday, but left yesterday morning. As for where he went, the women in the Jiaofangsi didn't know...

I thought that in such a huge city like Beijing, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, so I simply went back to Qin's house to wait, but I didn't see anyone until the middle of the night, so I had to come back to report. "The person is missing?

Zhao Duan's heart sank, and his feeling of uneasiness grew. He took out a silver ingot from his waist bag and threw it over:

"You've worked hard, go and have a rest."

The follower was overjoyed, thanked him and left.

"Sir, are you looking for him in a hurry?" Qian Kerou asked softly when she saw that he was frowning.

Zhao Duan waved his hand without explaining, threw the candlestick to the secretary, and returned to the hall full of documents alone.

With Qin Qiu's personality, he hangs out with many playboys all day long, so it's not unusual for him to be missing for two days.

But at this critical juncture, Zhao Duan will not let go of anything wrong.

He reached into his arms and took out the storage magic weapon "Taixu Huijuan". With a light shake, a small antique jade mirror fell out. It was the "Feng Yue Baojian".

Zhao Duan held the mirror tightly and silently recalled Qin Qiu's appearance in his mind.

The mirror surface trembled, and gradually, a scene emerged in the mirror.

It was a dim prison. In the light of the fire, Qin Qiu was beaten with a bruised face and blood all over his silk clothes. He was clinging to the railing and tapping it gently.

"He's in jail?"

Zhao Duan was stunned and tried to zoom out the picture. Gradually, through the landmarks, he recognized that this was the prison of Dali Temple!
Dali Temple...Qin Qu...

As soon as these two key words appeared, Zhao Duan's face suddenly darkened, realizing that something was wrong:
"Qin Qiu has always been smooth and knows how to behave, and he has been associated with many powerful people. How could he go to the Dali Temple without making any noise? Especially at this critical moment, could it be..."

Many clues were running around in Zhao Duan's mind, and he had a bad feeling.

He lowered his eyes to observe the engraving on the bronze lens of the magic weapon, estimating that the magic power inside could still support one more observation.

He hesitated for a moment, gave up spying on Zhou Cheng, and instead tried his best to recall the face of "Wang Shan" that had appeared in his memory.

The scene in the mirror shattered, then slowly rippled, forming a new scene.

The purpose of his spying this time was not to determine Wang Shan's condition, but to stimulate his brain and activate the dusty memories related to him by "seeing" him.

After about ten breaths, a new picture appeared in the mirror:
In a bedroom, on a silk-covered bed, a man and a woman were sleeping soundly.

The man was about forty or fifty years old, and looked like he had albinism. He had only a few light beards on his chin, was fat, and had ordinary facial features.

At this moment, he was lying on his back like a fat pig, holding a piece of white and beautiful meat in his arms.

It turned out to be a pretty concubine, who was sleeping soundly with her arms around the middle-aged man. She seemed extremely tired, with spots of wax and whip marks on her body.

And the messy bed tells of the madness of last night.

Zhao Duan was fine. He looked at the small whip and other tools discarded by the window and stared at the middle-aged man's face. His mind began to ache and memories emerged bit by bit.

Wang's House...

Qin Qu and myself...

Wang Shan...

Beautiful woman...bedroom...

boom!
It was as if glass was shattered in his mind, and memories rushed out in a stream, vivid and clear. Zhao Duan closed his eyes and "observed", his face changing from gloomy to bright.

In the small mirror in his hand, the picture slowly shattered.

After a long while, Zhao Duan opened his eyelids, exhaled heavily, looked at the documents piled on the table, suddenly chuckled, and whispered to himself:

"That's how you play, right..."

After a little thought, Zhao Duan eliminated several possible solutions that came to his mind.

Finally, he took out the silver scroll again, put the bronze mirror back, and fished out a stick of yellow incense.

Surprisingly, it was the communication tool left for him by Jin Jian to summon himself.

"It's not even dawn yet, so you should be still awake..."

Zhao Duan stood up, lit the yellow incense with a fire stick and fixed it on the table.

The incense head was bright red, as if burning a hole in the night sky, and the curling green smoke rose straight up, passing through the beams and roof ridges...

After a while, there was a sudden wind and the green smoke shook violently.

The air twisted, and a female priest wearing a black priest robe, with a delicate face, slightly curled hair and divergent eyes slowly emerged.

She lowered her eyes and stared at him, expressionless and grumpy, as if wanting an explanation.

Zhao Duan looked up, looked at the girl floating above the pile of documents, and smiled slightly.

……

The sky gradually brightened, and as one Jinyi official after another went to work, the imperial court became bustling.

"Didn't you sleep last night?"

When Hou Renmeng, Shen Juan and Old Man Zheng stepped into Lihua Hall, they were shocked when they saw Qian Kerou holding the "punch-in book".

"I'm sleeping...yawn..."

Qian Kerou's eyelids drooped, and she was about to answer when she suddenly heard the closed door of the hall behind her being pushed open from the inside.

Zhao Duan, dressed in an official robe and looking energetic, walked out with his hands behind his back.

"Sir!" The four of them bowed hurriedly.

Zhao Duan glanced at his men, and a dangerous arc appeared at the corner of his mouth:

"Go have breakfast first, and when the brothers are all here, follow me."

Qian Kerou was at a loss: "What?"

Zhao Duan showed his white teeth and uttered two words:
"Arrests!"

(End of this chapter)