Chapter 414

Jin Ling, Tianjing Lane.

This is an old lane in Jin Ling city, only the width of three horses walking side by side; the road surface is paved with long blue stones with dense seams.

After countless years of stepping and friction, the convex places on the blue stones have been polished and faintly glowing.

After a night of rain last night, the blue stones on the road radiated a moist, dark, and cold light, adding a few points of unpredictable coldness to this old lane.

The entrance of the lane gathered some passers-by who were watching the excitement, but no one entered the lane to see what was going on, as if this Tianjing Lane had long been filled with bad luck, making them dare not step in.

Jia Cong squeezed through the crowd at the entrance of the lane and walked into the lane alone.

The whole lane was empty, and he saw people coming in and out of the entrance of a house in the middle of the lane from a distance.

There are indeed many deserted houses in this lane, with weeds growing on the eaves, paint marks on the doors, and seal strips of the government on the courtyard doors.

After the ravages of time and wind and rain, some seal strips fell off most of them, fluttering sadly in the wind.

There are still some residential houses in the lane, but they are all tightly closed, only occasionally flashing one or two vigilant and cold faces on the windows.

Several Embroidered Uniform Guards from the battalion passed by in the lane, and seeing Jia Cong, they stepped forward to ask about Jia Cong's identity, but they were all blocked by the token of the Zhongche Office managing supervisor on Jia Cong's body.

He walked to the front of the house and found two yamen runners from Yingtian Prefecture guarding the door.

This is also a deserted house, with withered grass growing on the eaves, the seal strip on the courtyard door torn open, and a broken lantern under the door head shaking creakily in the wind.

A "Cui" character could be vaguely seen on the lantern; this should be the surname of the Garrison Commander of the Water Supervision Office who lived here back then, and now it seems that he also had a bad end.

At this time, an Embroidered Uniform Guard came out of the door, and it was Liu Yong, a company commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guards who was familiar with Jia Cong.

Liu Yong saw Jia Cong and asked unexpectedly, "Lord Jia, why are you passing by here? It's not peaceful here today."

Jia Cong replied, "I passed by nearby and heard that a murder case happened here; I heard it was done by Shui Luo Sha under Liu Ao.

At present, Liu Ao is invading the coast of Songjiang, and the artillery training of the Firearm Office has not yet been prepared, and the artillery has not been transported to Songjiang to resist the enemy.

Now that the power of artillery is known to the whole country, Liu Ao's men are raiding the city at this time, and I don't know if there is any connection."

Liu Yong was a little enlightened: "No wonder the lord would come to see what's going on, but this murder case should have nothing to do with the artillery equipment; no matter how supernatural Shui Luo Sha is, she doesn't have the ability to hit the artillery's idea."

In fact, Jia Cong used artillery to talk about things, just to explore news from Liu Yong's mouth.

Liu Yong and Jia Cong are old acquaintances, and the Thousand-Commander is very appreciative of Jia Cong, so since he asked about this, Liu Yong revealed a few words.

"The victim is a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, tall and slim, in her prime, and should be just an ordinary person; it's really a sin.

The technique of killing is indeed from a Japanese warrior, but I don't know why Shui Luo Sha killed..."

Liu Yong said these words, and Jia Cong felt a slight shock in his heart; a fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl, tall figure, this description is a bit like Zou Min'er.

Zou Min'er has a tall figure, graceful and pretty, and is outstanding among the many singing performers in Qinyin Pavilion.

Jia Cong knows only her as such an outstanding figure among the women in Jin Ling.

He comforted himself in his heart that this might just be a coincidence.

But thinking that Zou Min'er was recognized a few days ago, and the Wu Sao who recognized her suddenly went missing for no reason, this already made Jia Cong raise his vigilance.

Now according to Liu Yong's description, the body of the girl found in Tianjing Lane is indeed similar to Zou Min'er's physical signs, although it cannot be confirmed, but his heartbeat is accelerating without knowing it.

He thought about rushing to Qinyin Pavilion to see what happened, but after calming down, he decided to figure out the things in front of him.

Jia Cong asked, "Brother Liu, can you make it convenient for me to see the female corpse?"

Liu Yong's expression was surprised; he didn't expect Jia Cong, an outsider, to suddenly want to see the corpse; this seemed a bit against the rules.

According to normal logic, the murder case in Jin Ling city belongs to the category of Yingtian Prefecture's disposal, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards have no duty to intervene.

But because the Yingtian Prefecture coroner inspected the corpse and found that the technique of killing was similar to that of a Japanese warrior, involving the female bandit Shui Luo Sha who sneaked into Jin Ling city recently, the Embroidered Uniform Guards would intervene.

If there were only his Embroidered Uniform Guard people at the scene, plus Liu Yong had always had a private friendship with Jia Cong, he wouldn't mind doing a favor.

But now there are people from the Yingtian Prefecture at the scene of the inspection, and under the eyes of everyone, letting an outsider view the corpse will definitely leave people with gossip.

Therefore, it is human nature for Liu Yong to hesitate.

Jia Cong said, "To tell you the truth, Brother Liu, a friend of mine hasn't been very peaceful lately and might encounter risks.

I just heard your description of the victim's appearance, which is similar to my friend, so I wanted to see the corpse to confirm; I hope Brother Liu will make it convenient."

Liu Yong was also shocked when he heard this; he saw Jia Cong's solemn expression and deep worry in his eyebrows, and he knew that the matter was unusual.

Since Jia Cong suspected that the victim was his friend, it was understandable to look at the corpse.

Liu Yong said, "Since the lord has this concern, of course, you can view it, but the humble servant reminds the lord that the victim's face was slashed, and the state of death is a bit miserable."

Jia Cong heard this, and his hair stood up all over, and his face turned iron blue.

He suppressed his mind and asked, "Why would it be like this!"

Liu Yong sighed, "It must be that the murderer didn't want people to recognize who she was; the humble servant hopes that it has nothing to do with the person the lord knows."

Jia Cong took a deep breath and followed Liu Yong into the old house; in the main hall of the courtyard, there was a corpse covered with a white cloth.

One could vaguely see the delicate and slender figure of the female corpse, and Jia Cong's heart was pulled again.

The two walked to the side of the corpse; perhaps after the rain, the bloody smell on the corpse was very faint.

Liu Yong glanced at Jia Cong; this was to remind him that he was about to uncover the corpse cloth; after all, the victim was disfigured, and ordinary people would definitely feel uncomfortable.

Jia Cong nodded silently, watching Liu Yong slowly uncover the white cloth covering the corpse.

Jia Cong only felt a chill rushing to the spirit, and the face of the female corpse was covered with knife marks, the skin and flesh were turned, which was unbearable to look at, and the original appearance could not be seen at all.

Jia Cong just looked at that face slightly, then turned his gaze away and carefully looked at the female corpse's figure.

There was a knife wound on the female corpse's chest, a knife pierced through the chest and abdomen, slanted downward, the knife mouth was narrow, and the incision was flat.

Liu Yong, who was on the side, saw Jia Cong observing the knife wound and said, "According to the coroner's inspection, such a knife mouth is unusual, and it is very likely to be caused by the rib difference of a Japanese warrior."

Jia Cong didn't answer Liu Yong's words, but looked at the corpse extremely carefully, even grabbing the female corpse's palm to look at it.

Liu Yong is in the Embroidered Uniform Guards and often contacts danger; in the Embroidered Uniform Guard prison, torture is dense, and he can be considered a person who has seen blood.

But like this kind of deliberate disfigurement, unrecognizable, it is also the first time to see it, which is really strange and terrifying.

He saw Jia Cong just nervous at the beginning, should be worried about the victim, is his acquaintance.

But after he uncovered the corpse cloth, facing such a terrifying scene, this youth was fearless, even squatting down to carefully look at the corpse.

This courage and calmness made Liu Yong admire him.

He thought that Jia Cong had fought with the Jurchens in Liaodong, and this person who came out of the battle formation was indeed extraordinary.

Jia Cong carefully checked the corpse and then breathed a sigh of relief.

The face of this female corpse was slashed, and it was impossible to identify.

Although the figure is tall, similar to Zou Min'er's figure, the figure is relatively thin, and it seems to come from a poor family.

Although Zou Min'er has a tall figure, her figure is graceful and slender without losing fullness, which is very different from this victim.

Jia Cong and Zou Min'er have been frequent in these days; in order to cover up, every time they are alone in the private room, Zou Min'er often plays pipa music for him.

So Jia Cong pays much attention to Zou Min'er's hands; her hands are very beautiful, ten fingers are slender, soft and white, like jade-carved onion tubes, which makes people unforgettable at first sight.

And this victim's ten fingers are dry and rough, should be often doing rough work, grinding hard fingers and tendons, which cannot be compared with Zou Min'er's beautiful jade hands that are good at adjusting pipa.

Liu Yong saw Jia Cong stand up and hurriedly asked, "Lord Jia, is this woman your acquaintance?"

Jia Cong said, "Fortunately, it is not someone I know; thank you Liu Yong for your accommodation, I will leave first."

Liu Yong saw Jia Cong's words just finished, then hurried out of the old house, as if rushing to some place.

Jia Cong walked quickly out of Tianjing Lane, the wind at the entrance of the lane blew, and the cold sweat on his forehead was cool.

If that female corpse was Zou Min'er, he didn't know how to face it.

He walked quickly to Qinyin Pavilion all the way, and the plain and gentle expressions on the faces of the pedestrians coming and going on the road made Jia Cong's originally chaotic mood gradually calm down.

Not long after leaving Tianjing Lane, passing by a fish market, there are precious seafood sent from near the sea in Songjiang, and there is a faint fishy smell in the air.

The workers carrying fish baskets, the bosses shouting and directing, are full of the fireworks of the small people, making his heart that was a little stiff just now relax little by little.

When he saw the gate of Qinyin Pavilion, he walked quickly into the pavilion.

First went to the door at the bottom of the main hall, which leads to the backyard where the singing performers live.

He gave the strong woman guarding the door a piece of broken silver and asked her to pass a message to Zou Min'er that he wanted to see her.

Immediately after, he went to the third floor of Qinyin Pavilion, when he walked step by step to the private room where he met Zou Min'er.

Jia Cong felt his heartbeat accelerating, and for seeing Zou Min'er immediately, he had an inexplicable joy, a feeling he had never had before.

Perhaps it was the female corpse with a broken face in Tianjing Lane that impacted his mind, making him a little eager to see Zou Min'er.

When he pushed open the door of the third-floor private room, he found that Zou Min'er was already sitting there, as if she knew he was coming in advance.

Jia Cong looked surprised, a feeling of relief rose in his heart, and he couldn't help staring at her.

Black hair like clouds, moist and beautiful face.

The earlobes in the shape of ingots are snow-white and flawless, reflecting the pale pink blood, wearing pearl earrings on the earlobes, flashing with soft light, adding a lot of beauty.

Wearing a pine-smoke green jacket with plum branches, inside is a round-collared snow-white thin silk inner garment, which sets off her slender and graceful, yet full figure, making her look very moving.

Zou Min'er looked at him curiously, feeling that today's Jia Cong was a little different.

He stared at her like this, his eyes full of unusual heat and joy; he had never looked at her with such eyes before...

Zou Min'er felt a fever on her face and avoided Jia Cong's gaze.

Jia Cong smiled and asked, "Why are you here?"

Zou Min'er replied, "You haven't come for the past two days, I have been staying in the backyard; today we received a letter from Songjiang, so I came out to sit for a while; I didn't expect you to really come."

Zou Min'er asked Jia Cong with a puzzled face: "What's wrong with you today, strange?"

Jia Cong smiled: "Nothing, it's fine that you are safe; what did the letter from Songjiang say?"

Zou Min'er heard Jia Cong say that it was fine that she was safe, a brainless sentence, but she also heard that he cared about her, and joy rose in her heart, but she didn't want to think too much.

"The letter from Songjiang said that hundreds of Japanese pirates under the East Sea giant pirate Liu Ao recently raided the coast of Songjiang and have already fought several times with the Songjiang Guard."

This news, Jia Cong had already learned from the Embroidered Uniform Guards in the past two days, which was not surprising.

Zou Min'er continued: "The newly drawn portrait of Zhou Zhengyang has been sent to our people in various places, and they are searching for traces in various places according to the new image; as long as he hasn't gone to sea, he will be found sooner or later."

Zou Min'er finished speaking, seeing Jia Cong a little absent-minded, her eyebrows slightly frowned, and confusion arose in her heart.

But heard Jia Cong say: "The letter said that the Japanese pirates under Liu Ao raided the Songjiang Guard, and the matter is not just that; a fierce bandit named Shui Luo Sha under his command also sneaked into Jin Ling recently.

Last time you were recognized by Wu Sao, and after that, Wu Sao went missing for no reason and is still missing; this matter has always made me worried.

A female corpse was found in Tianjing Lane early this morning; according to the inspection of the Embroidered Uniform Guards, the murderer might be that Shui Luo Sha under Liu Ao.

In short, Jin Ling city is not very peaceful recently; it is best for Miss Zou to be more cautious when going out; perhaps it will be safer to settle down with me back to the old residence in Xinglong Fang."

Today, the terrifying female corpse in Tianjing Lane made Jia Cong have lingering fears; this was the second time he proposed to let Zou Min'er go back to the old residence in Xinglong Fang with him.

Perhaps it was Jia Cong's unusual gaze at her today, which touched Zou Min'er's heart, she could clearly feel the worry in Jia Cong's eyes, and a heart softened slightly.

Just thinking for a while, she said: "I will go back and pack up today, and I will go back to the old residence in Xinglong Fang with you tomorrow."

Jia Cong was happy in his heart and smiled: "I will come to pick you up early tomorrow morning."

The two went through the letters sent back from various prefectures along the river carefully, and Jia Cong said goodbye and left.

Just as he pushed open the door of the private room and walked out, he happened to bump into a maid passing by the door.

The maid was bumped back a few steps, the tray in her hand overturned to the ground, and the cups and wine in the tray were spilled all over the floor.

Jia Cong saw that the maid was tall and slim, and seemed a little familiar.

Suddenly thinking that when he came to Qinyin Pavilion the day before yesterday, he vaguely saw this maid in the corridor, and she even saluted him.

The maid bumped into Jia Cong, her expression seemed a little flustered, and she lowered her head to apologize to Jia Cong.

It was Jia Cong who felt a little embarrassed; if it weren't for his sudden exit, he wouldn't have bumped into others.

He apologized and squatted down to pick up the tray on the ground.

The maid also lowered her head to organize the scattered wine utensils on the ground.

Maybe the two were close, Jia Cong unintentionally saw the maid's back of the hand covered with powder, feeling strange in his heart; don't women apply powder on their faces?

Jia Cong found it funny; it is really that as long as they are women, they have an irresistible love for beauty, even if they are maids doing chores, it is no exception.

At this time, the maid reached out to pick up the wine glass on the ground, unintentionally revealing the entire back of her right hand.

Jia Cong saw the powder on her wrist, which had been washed away by the spilled wine, revealing a strange scar.

When the two stood up at the same time, they almost touched each other, and the other party's hair almost brushed Jia Cong's face, making him subconsciously fan his nose.

Jia Cong handed the picked-up tray to her, and the maid saluted and thanked him, saying: "Thank you, young master."

The voice was slightly hoarse, with a strange magnetism.

When Zou Min'er came out, seeing that Jia Cong just bumped into someone, it was not a big deal; after she said goodbye to Jia Cong, she returned to the inner courtyard alone.

That maid was a very polite person; when she finished cleaning up and left, she bowed to Jia Cong and went down the stairs to the main hall.

Qinyin Pavilion can enjoy a reputation in Jin Ling and become a place where literati and elegant guests gather in Jin Ling city, which is not without reason.

That Du Qingniang manages Qinyin Pavilion very methodically, not only cultivating singing and dancing performers with outstanding skills in the pavilion.

Even a maid who serves tea and wine in the pavilion is so clever and meticulous, paying attention to etiquette, making people feel at home.

Jia Cong left Qinyin Pavilion, Jiang Liu had been ordered by him in advance, sent Ling Guan back to the Jia mansion, and had been waiting outside the pavilion with a carriage.

After the carriage traveled for a long distance, it passed the road he passed when he came to the fish market.

A strange smell permeated the air.

Jia Cong was born in a small coastal town in the southeast in his previous life, and he was most familiar with the customs of the coast; he suddenly thought that it was the fishy smell of seawater.

It was this unintentional thought that flashed through his mind, making Jia Cong suddenly frown!

He suddenly shouted: "Jiang Liu, stop the carriage!"

Jiang Liu, who was driving, hurriedly pulled the horse, turned around and lifted the carriage curtain, asking: "Third Master, what's the matter, why stop suddenly?"

Jia Cong didn't answer Jiang Liu's words; the fishy smell of seawater in the fish market just now touched his heart like a spark.

Many chaotic scenes flashed through his mind quickly, and his face soon became solemn.

A pair of palms couldn't help but hold together tightly, as if to grasp the fleeting inspiration in his mind.

Almost in an instant, his thoughts were penetrated, and all those chaotic thoughts immediately revealed a complete context.

Jia Cong's face changed greatly, and he shouted sharply: "Jiang Liu, return to Qinyin Pavilion immediately, be fast!" (End of chapter)