Chapter 133 Breakthrough

After Zhao Ji and Di Renjie settled Uncle Pang Jiu, they went to the homes of the two dead and Uncle Pang Jiu to check.

The places where these three people lived were far away from each other. Under the guidance of villagers and yamen runners, Zhao Ji, Di Renjie and his party took some trouble to find these houses one by one.

The crime scene seemed to have been handled by someone, and there were no valuable clues. The only strange thing was the horseshoe prints.

Horse hoof prints appeared in every corner of Enji Manor. The headless general did not seem to be familiar with the locations of several old men such as Uncle Pang Jiu.

This aroused Di Renjie's vigilance. He pointed at the horse hoof prints and asked, "Chengyuan, do you think those horse hoof prints are a bit strange?"

Zhao Ji looked at the bowl-sized horse hoof prints and said, "It's very strange that the murderer wanted to kill three people. According to common thinking, after killing one person, he should take the shortest route to the next house and commit the next murder."

"But this headless general didn't play by the rules. He didn't take the shortest way but the longest way. He walked all over the village, going around and around."

Li Yuanfang couldn't help but wonder: "Why is this?"

Zhao did not keep the secret and explained directly: "Because the headless general is not familiar with Enji Village, it is naturally very difficult for him to find these three families. He has to walk all over the village."

Li Yuanfang understood a little, but then he had another question: "That's not right. Since he is not familiar with Enji Manor, how can he find the residence of the three old people even if he walks all over the manor?"

Di Renjie smiled and explained, "Of course someone marked him."

Zhao Ji continued, "Yes, the headless general traveled all over Zhuangzi just to find those marks."

Li Yuanfang was shocked and asked, "Are you saying that the Headless General has helpers?"

Di Renjie walked over and continued, "Of course, it takes more than one or two people to complete such a complicated case."

"I am sure that this headless general is just a murder weapon. There is someone else behind him. That person is the real culprit."

Zhao Ji followed Di Renjie's footsteps and agreed, "Your Excellency is right. Judging from the murder last night, someone must have found Uncle Pang Jiu's home in advance and marked it."

"Then, they informed the Headless General of the mark and guided him to commit the crime. After the crime, they cleaned up the scene and eliminated any traces at the crime scene that were unfavorable to them."

"Is that so..." Li Yuanfang seemed to be thinking about something, and then asked, "Who are the people who left the mark? If they know where Uncle Pang Jiu and the other two live, could they be villagers from Enji Village?"

Hearing this question, Di Renjie and Zhao Ji smiled at each other.

Di Renjie stroked his beard and denied Li Yuanfang's guess: "It can't be a villager. The murderer must have a motive. Think about it, why did the murderer want to kill Uncle Pang Jiu?"

Li Yuanfang frowned, thought for a moment and shook his head: "Could it be because of Uncle Pang Jiu and the others' identities as the survivors of Jiangjiazhuang?"

Di Renjie smiled with satisfaction: "You hit the nail on the head. The murderer killed the two old men just to continue to create the illusion of revenge by the evil spirit."

"Uncle Pang Jiu and his men revealed their identities because of their conversation with us, which means there was a traitor among us who leaked the information, leading to the tragic murder of the two elderly people."

Li Yuanfang's expression froze and he fell into deep thought. After a long while, his pupils shrank slightly and he asked in surprise, "Are you talking about He Yun?"

Di Renjie nodded heavily: "It could be He Yun, or it could be that Zeng Tai's subordinates overheard the news."

Zhao Ji added: "Perhaps both were involved. He Yun heard the news, and the yamen runners were responsible for sending Uncle Pang Jiu and his men home, and they happened to know their address."

"And the yamen runners could enter and leave the crime scene with impunity, and they might have erased the evidence that was unfavorable to them without realizing it."

Li Yuanfang clenched his right fist and slammed his left palm hard: "No wonder we can't find any strong evidence and have been led by the nose. It turns out that the enemy has been lurking around us." Zhao Ji was not as excited as Li Yuanfang. He asked calmly: "Sir, we now have a guess about the whole incident. Now is the time to find evidence to confirm this guess?"

Di Renjie smiled and nodded: "I have sent Zeng Tai to check some things, and there should be results soon."

Speak of Cao Cao, Cao Cao will appear, Zeng Tai ran over from a distance.
"Master, I found what you asked me to look for." Zeng Tai said happily.

Di Renjie asked hurriedly: "What did you find? Tell me quickly."

Zeng Tai quickly handed over the two files and replied, "According to my mentor's instructions, I went back to the county government to check the old files on the Jiangjiazhuang bloodbath and found two suspicious points."

"The first point is that in the tenth year of Zhenguan, a group of Youwei officers came to Henan County and asked the local palace to help them track down Jiang Xiaolang's whereabouts. At that time, they were received by Gao Rujin, the county magistrate."

"Secondly, four months after the bloodbath at Jiang's compound, another group of Right Guard officers came to Henan County to look for the whereabouts of the previous group of officers and Jiang Xiaolang, but they also came to no avail. Students believe that these two things are extremely inappropriate."

"What's even more strange is that, as you suggested, I went to Qitai to check the old files of Right Guard General Jiang Xiaolang, and found that he did not retire from the army, but disappeared suddenly. However, the part recording the reason for his disappearance was torn off."

Di Renjie was still browsing the files in his hand. When he heard what Zeng Tai said, he was suddenly startled: "It was torn off?"

Zeng Tai was a little annoyed: "Master, I was a step too late, otherwise such a crucial clue would not have been destroyed by the bad guys."

Zhao Ji laughed: "It's just that the more you try to hide it, the more obvious it becomes."

Di Renjie also smiled: "Gao Rujin... I remember that Gao Rujin was nearly a hundred years old. It was from this person that the county magistrate learned about the Jiangjiazhuang bloodbath."

Zeng Tai immediately responded: "My mentor has a really good memory. It is Gao Rujin."

Di Renjie nodded and said, "Okay, Chengyuan, you will immediately send a team of Qianniu Guards to follow Zeng Tai and arrest Gao Rujin here!"

Zeng Tai was still a little confused: "Master, why do you want to arrest Gao Rujin? He is nearly a hundred years old, and the old man can't stand the bumps and bruises. Isn't it a bit inhumane to arrest him and take him to Enji Village?"

Di Renjie pretended to smile mysteriously: "This person is not a good man or a believer. He is a breakthrough in the case. You just need to arrest him."

Seeing that Di Renjie was so persistent, Zeng Tai stopped asking questions and left Enji Manor with the Qianniu Guards.

Di Renjie said to Zhao Ji and Li Yuanfang, "Let's go and see Uncle Pang Jiu again to see if that headless general dares to come again."
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While Di Renjie and Zhao Ji were busy dealing with the headless ghost, the evil ghosts in the palace had already been subdued.

Wu Zetian went to bed last night and slept until the afternoon, waking up near dusk.

When she woke up, she felt hungry, so she shouted, "Someone come!"

Chunxiang and other palace maids hurried forward and responded: "Your Majesty."

Wu Zetian took off the copper cover on her head and said: "I am hungry, please serve me food. How long have I slept so far?"

Chunxiang replied, "Your Majesty, you have slept since last night, and it is already the afternoon of the next day."

Wu Zetian was delighted, but still a little incredulous: "I slept for so long? Didn't I have a nightmare?"

She looked at the copper shield in her hand in amazement, turned it over and over, and praised: "The national teacher's magic weapon is really useful. The evil spirit really disappeared."

"Congratulations, Your Majesty. Congratulations, Your Majesty." The palace servants around him couldn't help but kneel down and praise.

(End of this chapter)