The day after arriving in Jingzhou, Zhao Yanping formally interrogated Wei Zhicheng, and based on Wei Zhicheng's testimony, the members of the Wei family, neighbors and several familiar workers who were carrying goods at the dock, confirming that Wei Zhicheng had at least three impossible evidence of the crime in the corpse burning case in the previous seven years. It was concluded that there was another person who actually committed the seven corpse burning cases.

Prefect Lu was not very happy, but he should cooperate with Zhao Yanping, so he asked the government office to cooperate.

Zhao Yanping spent a few more days at seven corpses and seven crime sites. At night, he used the lamp to read all the files related to fire recorded in the government office within fifteen years. The boxes of files were filled with dust, because no one had been taking care of them all year round, some were worms, and some were damp and blurred their handwriting. Zhao Yanping took Dai Chang and Li Yan with him, and saw the Zi Shi every night.

It took ten nights to read the file. During the day, Zhao Yanping took the two of them to ask about the parties who were harmed for the noticeable arson case, but they found nothing.

"Sir, why don't you go to visit the families of the three known victims first?" Dai Chang asked tiredly again after returning empty-handed.

Zhao Yanping explained: "I have read all their statements. Most of the things I asked directly from here are still those things. I learned about other news first, and maybe I could find some new clues."

Dai Chang and Li Yan looked at each other, feeling that Lord Zhao’s words made sense, but also felt mysterious. Could it be that Lord Zhao had already remembered everything he had seen in the past ten days?

Another new day, Zhao Yanping asked Li Yan to sort out the four subsequent corpse burning cases that occurred in the Jingzhou Government that year, especially the missing people who occurred before and after the corpse burning case. He took Dai Chang to investigate the families of the first three victims.

The first victim was Zhang Fu. He was twenty-seven years old when he died. The old mother had passed away, leaving only his father, his wife Yang, and a ten-year-old son.

Old man Zhang is in his fifties. Because his family is poor, he has to go to the mountains to chop firewood every day. Yang also took on some work of washing clothes for others. Her hardworking days made her look older than her actual age. She was haggard. Both her father-in-law and daughter-in-law were very diligent, but she raised her children well, looked very strong and sensible.

Old man Zhang was not at home and mentioned Zhang Fu's death. His son was still young. Although Yang saw Zhao Yanping a little restrained, he was honest and answered whatever he asked and said, which was similar to the statement he said at the time of the incident. He said that Zhang Fu loved to drink and sometimes he often went out for a day or two before returning. She and her father-in-law were used to it. Until the government office found a burnt body for people who were missing in the family to identify it, his father-in-law went to see it and recognized Zhang Fu's back as it was not burned because it was next to the ground.

I don’t know if it’s because of the time that has passed or what, Yang just narrated it in a low voice, without any sadness.

Zhao Yanping asked Dai Chang to stay and wait for Old Man Zhang to come back. He walked out of the Zhang family and walked around the street. When he saw an old man, he stopped and asked the old man about Zhang Fu's character.

Almost everyone in Jingzhou knew about the corpse burning case. When they learned that another Beijing official had come to investigate, the old man said a lot excitedly. Zhang Fu had no prospects and liked to beat his wife when he was drunk. His mother was pushed to death by him when he was persuaded to fight. Yang was honest and suffered a lot of grievances. When Zhang Fu died, the government suspected that it was Yang's work, but Yang had been taking care of the children at home, and his family had evidence that he had not left the city. Later, when other corpse burning cases were discovered, Yang completely washed away the suspicion.

Zhao Yanping frowned. The document in the Fucheng did not mention that Zhang Fu had the bad habit of beating his wife.

I asked other neighbors again, and almost all of them said the same thing, Zhao Yanping went to the second house alone.

The second deceased was an old lady, whose husband's surname was Cao. He died in his early fifties and was able to confirm his identity because he left a purse. Now the old lady's wife is dead. She has three sons and three daughters-in-law in the family, all of whom are both children. According to the three sons of the Cao family, the old lady has never made enemies with others, so for some reason she suffered this arbitrary disaster. Of course, the son would not say that his mother was wrong. Zhao Yanping asked the three daughters-in-law, and the three daughters-in-law were exactly the same.

Seeing that the old lady's two grandchildren were fifteen or sixteen years old, and one granddaughter was thirteen years old, Zhao Yanping called the three children to the yard alone to ask questions, asking them to recall who the old lady had offended or what resentful things she might have done.

The eldest and second grandsons of the Cao family said they did not. The thirteen-year-old granddaughter Fang Jieer seemed to have thought of something, but she wanted to say something but stopped.

Zhao Yanping asked the Cao family's two grandsons to go back to the house, and he encouraged Sister Fang in a tempting manner.

Seeing that he was handsome and gentle, Fang Jie'er pinched the hem of the skirt and said, "Grandma is partial. If there is meat at home, only father, uncle, brother and younger brother are allowed to eat it. We don't allow it to eat it. She also likes to scold my third aunt. At that time, the third aunt could not give birth to children. Grandma tinkered with various folk remedies every day for Aunt San to eat it. Several times, Aunt San was scolded by her to cry."

Zhao Yanping looked at the Cao family's house.

Fang Jie'er seemed to know what he was looking at and said, "My cousin was born after my grandmother died."

Zhao Yanping thought something.

When Fang Jie'er saw him looking into the room again, she hurriedly begged him: "Sir, don't ask me my third aunt, don't ask anyone, otherwise my father and mother will definitely hit me if I'm talking nonsense!"

The little girl was pitiful, and Zhao Yanping agreed. After leaving the Cao family, he went to the neighbors here to verify, and it was soon confirmed.

Zhao Yanping went to the home of the third victim again.

The third boy who was burned to death was only eleven years old. He was the only son of the family. His father Zheng Yong was 46. Because he weaved rattan mats all year round, his back was slightly hunched, and his temples were dyed gray. His wife Liang remarried to another place after his son died and never came back. The file also said that Zheng Yong had been imprisoned for theft. After being released from prison, he married Ni. After many years of marriage, he had no son. Ni could not bear to be beaten by Zheng Yong and committed suicide by jumping into the river. Later, Zheng Yong married Liang again and finally gave birth to a son. Zheng Yong was overjoyed. Since then, he has changed his past and never offended anyone.

Adults may make enemies, and children who are only eleven years old are unlikely to arouse hatred for burning corpses. The government later wrote the situation of the Zheng family in such detail, so that it was to prove that the murderer was killing people at will. Wei Zhicheng, who had nothing to do with the three victims and had confessed, was undoubtedly the real murderer.

According to the file, there was no particular concern in Zhao Yanping's eyes. After learning that the first victim, Zhang Fu, had the bad habit of beating his wife before his death, and after learning that the second victim, the old lady, had once been mean to have a daughter-in-law who could not give birth to a child, Zheng Yong's family had a lot of things worth checking.

The door of the Zheng family was open. Zheng Yong, who was sitting in the yard, was old and looked old. With only one side, no one could tell that he would have been jailed for theft when he was young, and beat his wife to the point of not being able to survive. He would rather jump into the river and commit suicide.

When Zhao Yanping reported his origin, Zheng Yong only threw away Zhao Yanping a small stool. He continued to lower his head and weave mats, and his old hand movements were skillful and flexible.

Zhao Yanping asked some questions as usual, such as whether Zheng Yong and his wife have any enemies, and whether Zheng Yong's son has bullied other people's children.

Zheng Yong just shook his head, but when he mentioned his tragic death son, Zheng Yong looked at Zhao Yanping quietly: "If your government is useless and cannot catch the murderer, can you return my son's body to me? He is still young and alone in the sky. Become a safe place to settle down early and be reincarnated early."

At this moment, a trace of unconcealed pain finally appeared in Zheng Yong's old eyes.

Zhao Yanping suddenly asked him: "Your ex-wife, Ni, said in the file that she jumped into the river and committed suicide. Has the body been retrieved?"

Zheng Yong's eyelids twitched twice quickly and asked Zhao Yanping blankly: "Why did you suddenly ask her?"

Zhao Yanping stared at him and said, "If the body was not found, she might have survived accidentally after jumping into the river, and she held a grudge against you for many years and came back to take revenge when she learned that you had given birth to a son."

Zheng Yong held the strips in his hand tightly and said with a calm face: "It's impossible. I buried her with my own hands, but even if she is still alive, it's impossible that she burned Luzi to death. She is timid and can't do such a thing..."

"If a person hates him to the extreme, he can do anything." Zhao Yanping interrupted him.

Zheng Yong suddenly jumped up, threw the strips in his hand on the ground, pointed at Zhao Yanping and cursed: "If I said it wasn't her, it wasn't her! You useless trash, you can easily suspect others if you can't find the murderer. Even if Ni hates me, even if Brother Lu was burned to death, why did she still burn so many people? How could she have such courage? "

Speaking of this, Zheng Yong's face suddenly changed drastically. He looked at Zhao Yanping, then turned around and glanced at his empty home, and said tremblingly: "Has she turned into a ghost? She turned into a ghost, so she was brave and dared to kill anyone? No, it's impossible. She really has that ability. The first one to kill is me, and it must not be her!"

After talking to himself, Zheng Yong fell to the ground, gasping for breath, panting, and found that Zhao Yanping was standing opposite him staring at him. Zheng Yong's breathing stopped, his eyes turned rapidly, and slowly he returned to his previous lifeless appearance.

"I have said that I know, you go." Zheng Yong picked up the strips he threw on the ground, and said weakly.

Zhao Yanping glanced at him and walked out of the Zheng family.

Dai Chang ran over from the other end of the alley. It turned out that Old Man Zhang, who had gone to the mountains to chop wood, had returned. His statement was the same as stated in the file, and there was no difference.

"Sir, how are you doing here?" Dai Chang asked while wiping his sweat.

Zhao Yanping looked solemn and ordered: "Follow me to the morgue."

Dai Chang's face collapsed, and he really didn't want to look at those charred corpses again.

If you don’t look at it, you have to look at it. Zhao Yanping asked him to push open the coffin board of the seven-mouth coffin one by one, revealing the situation inside.

In addition to corpses in the coffin in front, there were also objects in the box that could confirm the identity of the three people. Zhang Fu left behind a piece of cloth that had not been burned behind him, the old lady left behind a dark green purse that was lost near the corpse, and the Zheng family's son left behind a piece of silver long-lived lock that was lost near the corpse.

The four behind were bare and nothing.

Zhao Yanping stood in front of the coffin of the Zheng family's son and asked Dai Chang: "If you are the murderer and you killed someone, will you pay attention to whether the government has discovered this person and whether the government can find out the identity of that person?"

Dai Chang nodded: "It must be, I can't sleep anymore."

Zhao Yanping continued, "If you learn that the first deceased actually had a piece of clothes that were not burned and killed someone next time, what would you do?"

Dai Chang thought for a while and said, "Then I must be watching for a long time and make sure that all my clothes are burned."

Zhao Yanping pointed to the old lady's coffin: "What would you do when you learn that the second deceased actually dropped his purse nearby and killed the third person?"

Dai Chang: "Of course I will check it carefully..."

Halfway through, Dai Chang suddenly reacted, pointed to the long-lived lock left by the Zheng family's son, and said in shock: "Is this long-lived lock left by the murderer on purpose?"

Zhao Yanping nodded and said in a deep voice: "The murderer is very smart. Look at the four people behind him were burned clean without leaving any clues. When he killed the son of the Zheng family, he left such obvious objects. He made the same mistake as in the second case, which shows that he deliberately left the long-lived lock and deliberately made Zheng Yong recognize that the dead was his son."

Dai Chang clapped his hands suddenly: "The murderer has a grudge against the Zheng family!"
Chapter completed!