The Famous Detective of the Red Mansion

Chapter 141: Wenxin Pavilion Falling Incident [Part 2]

When listening to the story, the most unbearable part was probably the most exciting part, but suddenly there was no follow-up.

This kind of behavior was called a ”Fragment dog” in modern times.

Although there was no such statement in the Zhou Dynasty, the listeners who were stopped outside the Wenxin Pavilion after hearing half of the reasoning were just as itchy and hungry for details.

Although no one dared to attack the warning line set by the Yamen Runners, various complaints come and go.

There was also a group of ”father fighting party” inside, shouting slogans such as ”My father is Li Gang, the chief of the Ministry of Punishment,” ”My father is Wailang Li Erjiang, a ministry councilor of the Ministry of War,” and “My brother is Li Zongrui, the education officer of the Entertainment Department,” intending to have the gatekeeper to let them pass.

Not to mention how chaotic the following was.

After Sun Shaozong entered the door, he asked the room where the deceased had been, and the waiter led him to the third floor.

Lin Delu had been waiting at the entrance of the stairs for a long time. He leaned over to flatter him and led Sun Shaozong to the victim's room. He reported, "Your Honor, the dead man is Su Kunmao, born in the Capital, and he was the 126th in the Imperial Examination this time."

"In addition, there are seventy-two people in the inn. During the Autumn Examination, the guest rooms are charged according to the number of guests, so the guests live alone without servants."

Because there were always some poor scholars before, to get a touch of the seniors' knowledge, they collectively pooled their wallets to get a guest room, and then a group or even dozens of people ate dry food on the floor.

The inns near the Imperial Examination Hall were very hectic, so they set the rule of charging per head during the Autumn Examination.

"Don't worry about others."

Sun Shaozong stopped, stretched out his hand, and rowed from east to west. He ordered, "Call all the guests in these rooms, and remember to ask them to bring the round tables of the rooms with them."

The third floor of Wenxin Pavilion was a standard L-shaped building with a north-south corridor and an east-west corridor.

The staircase was located at the south end of the north-south corridor, while the east-west corridor was connected with the north end of the north-south corridor.

As for Su Maokun's room, it was located at the end of the east-west corridor and the whole Wenxin Pavilion, which was the most suitable room for a bird's-eye view of the Imperial Examination Court.

Sun Shaozong's plan covers nearly 12 rooms in the entire East-West corridor.

"Let them bring their round tables?"

Lin Delu said in surprise, "Why is this, My Lord?"

"Because the round table is the most important material evidence for this case. Remember, they must move them here themselves!"

Sun Shaozong's face did not change, and then he walked into Su Maokun's room.

This guest room was not very spacious. It was also divided into two rooms inside and outside by a wooden lattice, which made it even more narrow. It was estimated that Su Maokun might not have been used to living in such a place if it had not been for the ”civility” bonus.

On the round table in the center of the outer room, there was a remnant table. There were four wine glasses in total, but the food was hardly touched.

Seeing that he was looking at the table, Lin Delu quickly explained, "After Su Maokun passed the Imperial Exam, he immediately set up a banquet and invited his familiar classmates to celebrate. But he didn't have a few drinks and made a mockery of three people. Thus, the banquet naturally ended in displeasure."

"Do any of the three people live in this corridor?"

"One of them lives diagonally opposite. His name seems to be Liu Xianglian!"

Liu Xianglian?

He didn’t know how his parents came up with this womanish name.

During the conversation, seven guests living in the east and west corridors successively carried tables to the door. Most of them were panting, and some simply dragged and hugged.

The only one left in the room was a student with natural-colored cheeks, who was holding a table in his hand without any hesitation.

Sun Shaozong's eyes rested on the man for a moment, and he bowed alertly and said, "Liu Xianglian, a student, greetings to the Inspector."

It really matches the name!

But looking at him, he seemed to have some martial arts skills.

Sun Shaozong had more doubts about him, but he still said, with no expression, "Please raise the tables for me to see."

In addition to Liu Xianglian, most of these people were weak scholars. Even if they tried their best, only two of them succeeded in lifting the folding round table above their heads.

Sun Shaozong went to the four losers first and carefully observed them until they were all looking pale. He then waved, "You four should step aside first."

Then, he turned to the other three and asked, "You three, tell me what you were doing when the crime was committed."

Liu Xianglian was the first to say, "After quarreling with Su Kunmao, I went and had a few cups of wine by myself and sang some songs for fun alone."

Generally, even if he was not the murderer, he didn’t wish to reveal information that was unfavorable to himself. However, Liu Xianglian did not hide the contradiction with Su Kunmao.

This made Sun Shaozong take another look at it.

"Report to Your Excellency."

.

The second man said dejectedly, "Because the student fell behind, I hid in the room and felt sad. I didn't do anything special."

"Your Excellency."

The third man was elated and said, "I was lucky. I was writing a letter in my room to inform my father, who was a prefect."

"So you two haven't drunk?"

After hearing this, Sun Shaozong immediately ordered, "Come on, give me a careful sniff, and see if these two people have alcohol in their hands!"

The scholar who lost the title was a little confused, but the man who won the title changed his expression and hurriedly explained, "What do you mean, Your Excellency? I did have a few drinks outside, but what does this have to do with Su Kunmao's death?"

"Really?"

Sun Shaozong sneered, "Then open your mouth and let my Yamen Runner smell it. The smell of wine on your hands has not dissipated even though you smooth the ink and write letters to your family. The smell of wine in your mouth will not disappear first, will it?"

The scholar was even more flustered but still tried to argue, "Even so, what can it prove? You can't say that I killed Su Kunmao for such ridiculous reasons?!"

"This alone will not work, but you will give yourself away."

Sun Shaozong continued to sneer, "First of all, when I went upstairs, I asked the waiter. He was cleaning near the stairway before and after the crime. He didn't see anyone coming in and going out of the east-west corridor, so the murderer must be among you seven."

"Secondly, to make sure that the deceased was drunk and fell out of the window, he spilled some wine on the collar of the corpse. It was probably because of his hurry that some wine spilled on the pot handle, which naturally wetted the murderer's hand."

As Sun Shaozong said, he picked up the wine pot and showed the slightly reflective water stains on the handle.

He then pointed to the window of the room and said, "What's more, the window here is close to four feet high. It takes a lot of effort to throw the corpulent dead out, and my test earlier..."

"Your Honor!"

The scholar suddenly interrupted Sun Shaozong's inference, pointing to Liu Xianglian, and said, "Isn't he consistent with these three things? Besides, he is so powerful that it is as easy as a palm to throw Su Kunmao away!"

"I did suspect him at first…"

Sun Shaozong said, "However, in his testimony just now, there is one sentence that can prove his innocence."

The scholar immediately roared again, "What sentence? Why didn't I hear them? Besides, he clearly didn't say anything special!"

This was a very stubborn person.

Sun Shaozong walked to the wooden wall somewhat reluctantly, bent his finger, knocked gently, and said, "The guest rooms here have been transformed, and the sound insulation effect of the wooden wall added behind is quite poor. If someone sings a song in the room, do you think it will spread to the next room?"

"Yes!"

As soon as Sun Shaozong finished his speech, a scholar who had been excluded immediately said, "I did hear Brother Liu singing a song in the next room, and it seems that he still sings..."

A person beside him said, "It's the ”West Chamber,” and it's Cui Yingying's lyrics!"

"Look."

Sun Shaozong applauded the new imperial examinee. "Now, you are the only one who meets all the conditions for suspicion."