The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 345: Longsheng Old Store Mysterious Event [The Truth]

“Cries I originally lived in Cangzhou Prefecture. Five years ago, during the Dragon Boat Festival, I took his grandson to watch the lion dance on the street. Unexpectedly, I was provoked and stopped by those villains. I took advantage to argue with them and they kidnapped my good grandson.”

“I lost my grandson and didn't dare to go home to see my wife and children. So I wandered around for more than a year, but there was no news at all.”

"Later, I was seriously ill in the State of Tong and almost lost my life. It was all thanks to my friends in the temple who gave me medicine that I managed to survive. Since then, I have become a Monk."

“Although I became a monk, I... in my heart, I haven't forgotten my family for a day! Cries”

Sun Shaozong and others were waiting for Zhang Kai's wife and sister in the Longsheng Old Store. Upon inquiry, it was true that the only daughter of the Zhang Kai couple was also abducted four years ago.

In this way, three out of the five people have a common grudge, which was enough to prove the possibility of mutual shielding in their confessions.

So Sun Shaozong made a decisive decision and re-examined Zhou Bajin, Zhang Kai, and others. He first pointed out the suspicion that their memories were too profound and then revealed the hidden story of their relatives being kidnapped and sold.

Who knew that the mention of ”relatives being kidnapped” immediately turned the scene into a ”grievance gathering!”

Taoist Li couldn't control his emotions. Tears poured out of his past. Wang Ergou, a waiter in the restaurant over there, refused to be outdone. He banged his head against the ground and cried, "My Lord, Lord Qingtian! Although my family was hit by a disaster, there was still some money around me. I originally wanted to go back home to live in peace when the flood subsided."

“Who would have thought that those thieves taking advantage of me going out to buy food, forcibly took away my wife and daughter.”

“I chased them all the way to the State of Zhuo and heard that a woman had thrown herself into the river. Her appearance and physique resembled those of my wife, so I hurried over to identify her.”

“Cries It turned out to be my wife.”

“My wife used to be famous for her talent and appearance from all over the country, but... she was so tormented by them that she didn't have a good piece of meat all over her body, and... she was soaked in the river again... for three days and two nights, and she doesn’t even look human anymore.”

Listening to the two of them talking about each other being more and more tragic, let alone Zhang Kai, his wife, and Zhou Bajin, the three of them felt the same way. Even Shopkeeper Zhao on the side was also in tears.

Wei Ruolan stomped his feet several times and cursed, even saying that those six people were not enough to die, so it was cheap to just dig out their hearts.

Although Sun Shaozong and Private Advisor Qi also felt pity for them, they were both Senior Criminal Officials and had seen countless human tragedies, so they could barely hold onto it.

After the crowd suffered a bit and their emotions stabilized slightly, Sun Shaozong spoke up and said, "According to what you and others have just said, these evil thieves have not only kidnapped and sold young children multiple times but also committed homicides. If you discover their whereabouts, immediately report them to the government, and these evil thieves will surely die.”

As he spoke, he took a slight moment forward and asked in a deep voice, "You could have punished them openly, but why did you spend so much effort and kill them without permission?”

The five people knelt on the ground, looking at each other. Finally, Zhou Bajin angrily said, "Those evil thieves have someone behind them to support them. We ordinary people, without hard evidence in our hands, how can we sue them?”

“That's right.”

Zhang Kai replied, "I heard that many wealthy families love to buy beautiful boys and girls from their hands for... to provide... Cries My poor daughter...”

Sun Shaozong furrowed his brows and then asked, "Is there any evidence of your accusations?”

“Yes!”

Wei Ruolan continued to jump aside and said, "Speak up! Which bastard is their support? I will go and catch him now.”

Zhou Bajin and Zhang Kai both had some stuttering, obviously without evidence, but Zhang Kai still hesitated and said, "If they didn't have backstage support, how could they have been running rampant in Hebei and the Capital for several years without seeing the government capture them?”

“How dare you?!”

Private Advisor Qi glared at him from the side. “How do you know that the government hasn't captured him? Last year, while serving as a prisoner, Lord Sun cracked several kidnapping cases and saved nearly a hundred young children.”

Zhang Kai was now doing his utmost, disregarding how Zhang-Zhou was pulling beside him. He still stuck his neck out and said, "I don't care about others; I only know these evil thieves are very happy and carefree.”

“You…”

Private Advisor Qi angrily shook his sleeve and said, "It's really a forceful argument! This Capital has more than a million people. Even if Lord Sun's eyes are as sharp as lightning, there will inevitably be a few missed fish.”

Unexpectedly, before he could finish speaking, ZhangvKai argued again, "Why does it have to be someone else who was missed out, but these few beasts?”

“You, you, you...”

“Enough!”

Sun Shaozong waved his hand to signal that Private Advisor Qi should stay calm and not be impatient. Zhang Kai was clearly at the tip of an ox's horn, and even if he spoke to the heavens, he also believed that the traffickers were colluding with the powerful officials of the dynasty.

But…

This accusation might not necessarily be groundless.

Who could guarantee that among the maids and servants bought by various families at present, none have been kidnapped and sold by human traffickers?

Not to mention others; Xiangling was the best proof!

Therefore, Sun Shaozong had no intention of continuing to entangle himself with this issue. Instead, he asked directly, "Let me ask again, how did you connect and lure these kidnappers here, and how did you take their lives?”

A few people looked at each other for a moment, and then Zhang Kai was the first to pat his chest and said, "It was me who started killing them. Spit~ It was me who killed these lesser brutes.”

“No!”

Zhou Bajin quickly said, "I killed the people. Brother Zhang is just responsible for digging out their hearts.”

However, Taoists Li and Wang Ergou didn’t have the courage and responsibility to do so, and they knelt on the ground silently beside them.

Seeing these two people vying to plead guilty, Sun Shaozong named them again and said, "Zhou Bajin, for now, start from scratch and explain to me carefully.”

“Half a month ago, I suddenly heard that these six evil thieves were coming to our Longsheng Old Store to rest. So I called everyone together in advance and prepared some pills.”

It turned out that those six people had just arrived at the store and stayed for a while when Zhou Bajin used pills to confuse them.

Zhang Kai crossed the wall at night and tied them up with ropes. Together with his wife, Zhou Bajin, Taoist Li, Wang Ergou, and others, they transported their clothes and luggage overnight to prevent anyone from discovering their true identity afterward.

Then, Zhang Kai and Zhou Bajin took turns interrogating them, hoping to force them to tell where the family members who had been kidnapped had been sold.

As a result, apart from Wang Ergou's wife and daughter, the six of them still had some impressions, for the other young children, they only remembered the approximate prefecture and county, forgetting even the buyer's surname, making it impossible to find them at all.

Zhou Bajin was furious for a moment, and according to the original plan, he stabbed them one by one through their hearts with a dagger. Then, Zhang Kai, who had once been a butcher, pulled out the six black hearts.

Afterward, Wang Ergou self-directed and performed a play about ordering meals and brought the wine and vegetables to the courtyard. He also took out six hearts in a food box and fed them to nearby wild dogs.

To add to the illusion that the six were still alive, Zhang Kai and his wife sang a double reed while pretending to be bothered by the noise coming from the adjacent room.

Finally, Taoist Li came up with another trick and turned this case into a ”supernatural event!”

When Zhou Bajin mentioned this, Sun Shaozong sneered and said, "So, you are the mastermind of this case? Then let me ask you, how did you know they were coming to settle in Longsheng Old Store? As a senior shop waiter, how did you go out of the Capital to contact people without being discovered by the Shopkeeper?”

“Your Excellency.”

Shopkeeper Zhao quickly chimed in and said, "Zhou Bajin is definitely not the mastermind. He has never been out of the Capital recently, and I dare to guarantee me life for this.”

“Shopkeeper! You... You…”

“He is indeed not the mastermind!”

Zhou Bajin exclaimed anxiously, while Zhang Kai beside him proudly said, "I am the real mastermind. Everything is planned by me, and you can't imagine how happy it was when I personally took out the hearts of those beasts! Hahaha!”

“It's not my husband!”

Unexpectedly, Zhang Kai was laughing uncontrollably, but Zhang-Zhou screamed again, "It's a masked man, a tall masked man. He came to us and tried to lure those six evil thieves into the inn! All of this is his idea; he's the real mastermind.”

“You scumbag, how dare you bite the hand that feeds you?!”

Zhang Kai was furious when he heard that his wife had told the truth, and he was about to go up and fight while cursing. But several ground-level government officials had him securely restrained.

“A tall masked person?!”

Sun Shaozong and Private Advisor Qi looked at each other, but at the same time, they thought of the masked man who had just appeared in the ”Youth Outage Case!”

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