How can a dead person kill someone?

Deng Xu said lightly: "Zhang Ping, just tell me what you think is the real murderer. If there is evidence, list them one by one. There is no need to make a mystery in the court."

Zhang Ping turned around and pointed at his side: "This is the murderer who killed Ma Lian."

Zhang Ping pointed at the person next to Chen Chou.

Another scholar who was drinking by the lake with Chen Chou that day, Lu Zhonghe.

Everyone in the hall changed color again. Chen Chou looked surprised and opened his mouth half open. Deng Xu said, "Zhang Ping, the court where the three officials are to be tried is not just a random point to the murderer. You said Lu Sheng is the murderer, what credentials do you have? You said that the murderer is a dead person. Are you suggesting that this temple and the other two adults have another identity?"

Zhang Ping lowered his eyelids again: "The student is not good at speaking. The case is too complicated. I don't know where to start. The adults can take someone to Lu Zhonghe's residence to investigate. The clothes and other evidence he wore when he committed the crime that night should be in his home to prove that the student's words are true. In fact, Lu Zhonghe is the murderer who killed Ma Lian, and it should have been very easy to find out. It was just because Lord Wang was too wise and the murderer miscalculated a few people that the situation today would be the case."

Wang Yan's face was green, and Deng Xu immediately ordered someone to go to Lu Zhonghe's residence and said, "Zhang Ping, although you have the emperor's consent, you cannot tolerate you in the court to ridicule Wang like this."

Zhang Ping looked up at Deng Xu and Wang Yan, with a straight face: "The student is telling the truth and did not ridicule Lord Wang. The murderer hopes to be caught by the government as soon as possible, and deliberately leaves many clues in Ma Lian's home... The student is ashamed and cannot speak."

Wang Yan's face became more and more colorful, and Bu Yifan smoothed out and said, "It's okay, you don't have to be nervous, just talk slowly."

Zhang Ping paused, sorted out the order in his mind, and then continued: "When the students were imprisoned, they told each other about the reasons for being suspicious. I found that there was a flaw in Brother Lu's words. He and Ma Lian may not have any grudges. Ma Lian did not mock him, and the playbook that ridiculed him was not written by Ma Lian."

After Ma Lian became famous, major opera troupes asked him to write too many books. In addition, in order to prepare for the imperial examination, Ma Lian mostly paid for the money, especially in the past six months.

Deng Xu said: "Ma Lian asked someone to write for him, of course he wouldn't say it explicitly. How do you know if the play was written by him? Why did Lu Zhonghe say such a lie that was not good for him?"

Zhang Ping said: "Brother Lu said that he came to the capital in the twelfth lunar month last year and met a woman. When he talked about marriage, he was ridiculed by Ma Lian in writing a book. The marriage was broken. No matter how you speculate at this time, the student didn't understand why Brother Lu wanted to lie like this."

If Lu Zhonghe has no grudge against Ma Lian, then he is not a suspect in killing Ma Lian. Generally, criminals lie to evade themselves, but why did Lu Zhonghe tell a lie that he was suspected of murder?

So at first, Zhang Ping thought he was wrong, so he went to see Ma Lian’s mansion and the trial stage, and became more and more confused.

"After checking at Ma Lian's home, the student found an open and a hidden line. These two lines could find two completely different murderers. But there should be only one person who killed Ma Lian."

The clear line was that Ma Lian drowned in a bathtub. Before his death, he was injured by a knife. The murderer abandoned the murderer on the spot. The valuable things from Ma Lian's family were not stolen. Such cruel methods show that the murderer had a grudge against Ma Lian. He sneaked in while Ma Lian was bathing and killed him.

"The wall and door bolt of Ma Lian's bedroom were scraped by. It was scratched by the Ministry of Justice when he was taking the evidence. Students guessed that there should be mud marks on the wall?"

Wang Yan nodded expressionlessly: "Yes, there are grass chips mixed in the dry mud, which may be the ones that the murderer rubs. In addition, there are dry phlegm stains on the ground, mixed with food residue, alcohol, or spitting by Ma Lian."

The mud marks can prove that the murderer may have come from a wet place with grass, while the dry phlegm stains indicate that the murderer may have drunk alcohol.

The night when Ma Lian was killed, he drank wine in a humid place. The biggest suspicion was Chen Chou, Lu Zhonghe and Han Weijuan, three scholars who drank by Chen Zishang's ancestral hall.

Wang Yan took his hand and glanced at the hall: "The lower official also stated these doubts in the file handed over to Dali Temple, but Lord Deng has always turned a blind eye."

Deng Xu's brows jumped and he said kindly: "Zhang Ping, continue talking."

Zhang Ping continued: "The murderer originally thought that the evidence was so clear that the Ministry of Justice would definitely catch the three of them. All three of them had a grudge against Ma Lian and were suspected. They had to eliminate the illusion and find the real murderer. According to the general case handling method, they were to first search the homes of several of them and find evidence at Lu Zhonghe's residence, so that the case could be closed and convicted. If you don't believe in the students, you can find the evidence and I will continue."

Lu Zhonghe's house is quite far away from Dali Temple. Even if he rides a fast horse back and forth, it will take at least one hour to search. Deng Xu said, "Well, you continue. You said there are two lines and two different murderers, so what's going on?"

Zhang Ping said: "The student just said that the murderer miscalculated several people, and the first one was wrong. Lord Wang. Lord Wang noticed the flaws and did not follow his guesses to search the house. Instead, he first collected evidence and speculated, because the people involved in this case were too complicated and he failed to solve the case."

Wang Yan said with a dark face: "Our department checked the bathtub and found that there was something strange about the blood. It was not like Ma Lian was attacked while in the bathtub. But after being attacked, he dragged it into the bathtub and drowned. So he felt that this case was not simple, and the evidence could not be regarded as direct evidence, so he did not rashly investigate it, but just detained the suspect."

Zhang Ping said: "The dark thread the students saw is consistent with Lord Wang's inference."

Wang Yan glanced at him from the corner of his eyes: "I dare not, I dare not, the founder of the department is not the real murderer. How can I compare with you? In the court, please go around less circles and just talk."

Lan Jue kept listening and thought the situation in front of him was quite interesting.

He was confused when he heard this case, but he knew that Zhang Ping was right. Because Lu Zhonghe had been silent since the moment Zhang Ping pointed out to him, he had been kneeling down and unable to see any expression. This was equivalent to pleading guilty.

Zhang Ping said: "That dark thread is actually very simple. The murderer is an acquaintance of Ma Lian. Their relationship is very close. Ma Lian personally invited him to the room to talk. The murderer sneaked into the bedroom and then fed water, pressed him into a bathtub and drowned, pretending that he was attacked while bathing."

But the murderer did not expect that Ma Lian usually took a bath in the yard.

"In fact, as long as this is determined, it is easy to infer the identity of the murderer. Ma Lian is a cautious person. He has a secret, afraid that someone will find out, and even the old woman who is washing clothes cannot enter his room. Who can get close to him and enter his bedroom directly?"

The atmosphere in the court suddenly became hot and weird, and the eyes of several adults were a bit meaningful.

Bu Yifan twisted his beard: "That... only lover..."

Zhang Ping said solemnly: "It must be not a lover. If it were a lover, it would be impossible not to know that Ma Lian was taking a bath in the yard."

Bu Yifan was stunned: "Who could it be?"

Zhang Ping said: "You can know the identity of this person by judging from Ma Lian's experience. Ma Lian's family is poor. In five or six years, he has the title of Donghu lay Buddhist and has been attached to the Taishi. If he can try the fraud, someone will definitely support him."

Who is the person who supports Ma Lian?

When Ma Lian pieced together Feng Ruoqi's article, who supported him? Ma Lian was insidious but could stand firm. Who was his backer?

"Teacher Cui initially promoted Ma Lian, but for so many years, it was Sixian Bookstore who has been supporting Ma Lian."

Wang Yan's eyebrows were tighter, and he also paid attention to Sixian Bookstore, but unlike Zhang Ping's inference, he kept his mind on Xian Bookstore because of the words of Gong Qinchuan and Feng Ruoqi.

Cui's head coach valued profit, and Ma Lian's original play was written for him, and it was understandable that he supported Ma Lian. However, Sixian Bookstore was a large bookstore in the capital. Feng Ruoqi was a higher reputation than Ma Lian at that time. Why would Sixian Bookstore offend a scholar with some reputation to praise Ma Lian who was unknown and copied articles?

"Sixian Bookstore is a large bookstore in the capital. It is not surprising that Ma Lianpan has joined the Grand Master Wang. The student went to Sixian Bookstore to check it out. In the bookstore, the second shopkeeper was responsible for Ma Lian's playbook."

The big shopkeeper of Sixian Bookstore has not appeared for many years, and the second shopkeeper has always been in charge. There are rumors that the big shopkeeper has long died, and the bookstore is equivalent to the second shopkeeper. However, few people have seen this second shopkeeper.

Ma Lian’s residence was rented by Sixian Bookstore for him. His relationship with the second shopkeeper must be very close.

"The student speculated that this case should be like this - the murderer knocked on the door of Ma Lian's house, and Ma Lian treated him. Ma Lian initially was in the study with him. He went to the bedroom to pick up something, and then died. The student guessed that it might be tea or teapots."

Zhang Ping went to the kitchen to check and found that Ma Lian had boiled water and brewed tea before his death. The teapot was in the study. The murderer took away a cup and left only another cup of water, but there was no tea cup in Ma Lian's bedroom.

"When the murderer came, of course, he did not bring a knife. The murder was taken from the study. On the white wall facing the incense burner, there should be a knife hanging. There was iron on the scabbard, so there were signs of wear on the wall. If the Ministry of Justice discovered that the murderer was not brought by the murderer, he might suspect that Ma Lian was not attacked while taking a bath, so he specially brought a half-old character to hang it on the hanging knife to cover it. Unfortunately, there was an omission. In such an old character, there was no dust on the top of the scroll and the lanyard. The murderer went to the table to pick up the knife and accidentally knocked over the incense burner. The incense ash in the incense burner mixed with the caramel below."

Deng Xu said: "It makes sense to hear you say this, but why do you say that the murderer was Lu Zhonghe? Isn't it the real murderer who blamed Lu Zhonghe?"

Zhang Ping said: "The student was in prison with Brother Lu and found that there were traces of burnt incense ash on his calves. The murderer killed Ma Lian. After the arrangement was completed, he cleaned up the study room, changed into blood clothes, wrapped it up, and tidied up his appearance. He left Ma Lian's home, so he left the same evidence."

Deng Xu frowned: "What evidence?"

Zhang Ping said: "Ma Lian's comb and Lu Zhonghe's head are probably due to the weather...some inflammation...there was ointment on the comb. Maybe it was because of the ointment. Brother Lu missed it and did not clean the comb, or maybe it was done on purpose so that the government could catch Lu Zhonghe as soon as possible."

Lu Zhonghe, who had been hanging his head, slowly raised his head, with a strange light flashing in his eyes.

The left and right yamen runners stepped forward and lifted his trousers. Sure enough, they saw a little burn mark on the calf on his right leg.

Tao Zhoufeng shook his head and said, "It's really incredible... If Lu Zhonghe was the second shopkeeper of Sixian Bookstore, he would turn himself into two people, kill Ma Lian, and ask the government to think it's him, but not him, wouldn't it be very contradictory? At present, the young people's thoughts are getting less and less clear about the head office."

Deng Xu said: "Lu Zhonghe is the murderer, which is reasonable now, but he is the second shopkeeper of Sixian Bookstore. Or you imagine it out of thin air, less than empirical evidence. Lord Tao is right, why did he have to go back and forth like this?"

Zhang Ping lifted his eyelids to look at Deng Xu: "Sixian Bookstore has booked ointments from Jishitang all year round to treat scalp. In addition, there are still several people who have met the second shopkeeper. Before this case, the second shopkeeper had to sell the bookkeeper, and the contract was established, so the adults could go and verify it. The student could not understand why Brother Lu did this at first, but later because of one thing, he found out another truth. Then he realized that the reason why Brother Lu did this was because he was a law-abiding person. The murderer paid his life. He had long been

He had planned to kill Ma Lian, and he had already planned to repay it with his life. He didn't want others to know the real reason for killing Ma Lian, so he created another identity. But in addition to the Minister Wang, he miscalculated two people, one was Chen Chou. He did not expect that Chen Chou was actually Chen Zishang's younger brother. Lord Wang focused on investigating Chen Chou and did not doubt the others. The other person he miscalculated was Ma Lian, and he didn't know Ma Lian's real secret. Ma Lian's secret attracted the attention of Dali Temple, so he was safe."

Zhang Ping looked at Lu Zhonghe with a hint of sadness in his expression: "Brother Lu, Ma Lian did not surrender to Taifu Yun and Taishi Wang. He didn't know the truth, he wanted to take revenge."

Lu Zhonghe was stunned.

Zhang Ping turned his gaze again and continued to go to the hall, "Brother Lu's secret is--"

Lu Zhonghe suddenly spoke, "Zhang Ping, I beg you, don't say it."

Zhang Ping paused and looked at him again. Lu Zhonghe's face was calm and he looked at Zhang Ping with a steady look: "I killed someone, I will pay my life. All the damn people are dead. If you know the truth, you can understand. I beg you, don't say it."

Zhang Ping was silent for a moment and said solemnly: "If I consider the reputation of the real murderer, in two cases, the wronged souls of the three dead will not be at peace."

Lu Zhonghe's expression finally turned into despair. He suddenly closed his eyes and hit the pillar next to him. The yamen runner next to him quickly pressed him down with his eyes and hand, pierced his jaw and stuffed a ball of cloth into his mouth.
Chapter completed!