In the dark inn room, four corpses were placed on the bed, and the death was so miserable that it was extremely ferocious.

It is difficult for Chen Ji to associate this scene with the carefree and even a little silly prince.

If a person can disguise himself so thoroughly, how terrifying would the face under this disguise be?

Chen Ji whispered to Xifeng: "Go and ask the residents on the second floor if anyone has heard the sound of fighting or howling."

"yes."

Xifeng left with his fists and led several secret spies to knock on the door one by one.

A moment later, Xifeng came back and whispered: "Sir, it's a bit strange. No one has ever heard the wailing. They should have been killed in an instant and stripped of their faces? So there was no time to wail."

Chen Ji refused to answer, but just bent down to examine the body carefully. He pushed open the eyelids of the deceased and accidentally found that there were two copper nails nails on the pupils of the deceased, and the eyeballs next to the copper nails were bright red.

After a while, he stood up and said, "These four people were skinned and brassed with copper nails before their death, and tortured them for a long time."

Xifeng was stunned: "The skin peeled off during his lifetime?"

As he said that, he took out a handkerchief from his arms and handed it to Chen Ji: "Sir, wipe the blood on his hands."

While wiping his hands, Chen Ji calmly analyzed: "If the facial skin is peeled after death, they will not have so much blood flowed out of their faces, and their eyes will not be so congested as severely... It's strange. Since they were tortured alive, why can't they make any noise?"

In the strange tranquility, the spies held the hilt of the waist tightly with their palms.

Even these secret spies who are used to murder scenes could not help but feel a little nervous and solemn. These four people did not seem to be killed by someone, but more like they were robbed of their souls by ghosts.

Someone whispered: "There are face-eating women in the mountains in my hometown. Legend has it that they like to eat dead people's faces and continue their lives as dead people."

Xifeng sneered and said with a solemn expression: "As a secret spy, you are talking about ghosts? How could I be afraid of such dirty things by the officials of my Ning Dynasty!"

Someone murmured in a low voice: "Will that be the official who drove the ghost to do it?"

Xifeng kicked him: "It must be the killer who killed someone and silenced him!"

Most people in this era believe in superstitious things that cannot be explained clearly can be attributed to ghosts and gods. Even secret spies who kill people without blinking will believe in this kind of thing.

Chen Ji said calmly: "It's not what the ghosts do, it's a human being. I guess the killer's skills are very strange. He can control these people to be punished alive but cannot struggle."

What he didn't say is that according to the criminal's psychological profile, the killer should have suffered similar physiological and psychological damage, which will lead to a distorted desire for abuse.

Chen Ji looked at Xifeng: "Who can do this in the official ways recorded by the Secret Spy Department?"

"Some warlocks who are indifferent or sects may be able to do it." Xifeng frowned and said, "Sir, you have to check the document library in the capital, and at least it can be seen in the document library area that can only be entered at the Haidongqing level. This type of official official is usually more hidden and rarely opposes the government. If we have an official position, it will greatly reduce their 'skills'."

"Oh?" Chen Ji was surprised.

This was the second time he heard this statement.

Last time, Lin Chaoqing said to Jiaotu in Liu Shiyu's mansion, "I have the fourth-rank official in Daning, so I should not use it out to embarrass you if you are just a little trick."

At that time, Chen Ji didn't understand the official, so he didn't take this sentence to heart.

But now, based on what Xifeng said, he suddenly realized something: Ning Chao's official position itself is like a way to act in an official position. The higher the official position, the less you have to be afraid of magic.

Xifeng looked at Chen Ji: "Sir, what should I do now? The clue is broken."

Chen Ji was silent. Before he came, he hoped that the clue would be cut, but now the clues were cut, but he didn't know whether he should be happy or worried.

Should you continue to investigate or give up?

Seeing that he didn't answer, Xifeng became confused and asked again: "Sir?"

Chen Ji turned around and walked out of the room: "Take me to the inner prison document library, I want to check a file."

He vaguely remembered that when he helped Jiaotu and Yunyang investigate the Liu family case, he glanced at similar punishment methods in the file, but he couldn't remember it clearly, so he had to take a look again.

In addition, he can take away a portion of the ice stream.

Before leaving, Chen Ji suddenly added: "Be buried with these four corpses and be buried. Be sure to act secretly and not let go of the news."

...

...

On Luoyi Street, Dongshi City under the dark night, a carriage was quietly parked on the side of the road. The tall and strong horses sniffed in the cold wind, spraying out tidal-like white mist.

Xifeng stood behind Chen Ji, covering Chen Ji's eyes with a layer of black cloth.

While he tied a black cloth, he explained: "Sir, please forgive me, because the prison in Luocheng was infiltrated before, and now the qualification to enter and exit the prison must be specially approved by Lord Jinzhu. The rest of the people will be blinded by the eyes when entering and exiting."

"Understand," Chen Ji helped him into the carriage. When the wheels rolled slowly, he asked with his eyes closed, "How long have you been following Lord Jinzhu?"

The west wind recalled: "Seven years."

Chen Ji said, "Then he has been following Lord Jinzhu for a long time. Do you often see Tianma?"

Xifeng smiled and said, "It is difficult for us to see the dragon when he sees his head but not his tail. However, every year during the Lantern Festival, Lord Jinzhu will reward his subordinates with the banquet, and he will come to attend the banquet whenever he is in the capital."

The spacious carriage swayed, and the gaps between the cotton curtains blew into the cold wind from time to time.

Xifeng took out a fire inch strip in the carriage, carefully lit a copper hand stove and stuffed it into Chen Ji's arms: "Sir, warm your hands."

"Thank you," Chen Ji touched and took the copper hand stove and asked again: "Have you ever seen the White Dragon?"

Xifeng closed the fire inch strip and said, "Lord Bailong has seen fewer people. His whereabouts are very mysterious. You can only see him on very important occasions. Lord Bailong will also wear a mask when he appears. I am afraid that only the inner minister will know what he looks like."

Chen Ji was silent for a moment: "Where is the sick tiger?"

Xifeng was stunned for a moment: "No one has seen a sick tiger. This adult has no presence like a ghost. Only when the inner minister occasionally says, 'Leave this matter to the sick tiger to handle' will everyone remember that there is such a person in the Secretariat Division."

“Never appeared?!”

"It has never appeared," Xifeng recalled carefully: "At least I have never seen him since I joined the Mission Division. Six years ago, when the Emperor Long Lived the Southern Tour, all the zodiac signs were guarding the left and right, but there was still no sign of the sick tiger... It may also be hidden in the crowd, but we don't know."

Chen Ji asked: "What should I do if the inner minister usually tells the sick tiger to do? Is it an assassination or inquire about intelligence?"

Xifeng looked at Chen Ji in surprise. He always felt that Chen Ji seemed particularly interested in Yanhu: "Sir, have you heard that Yanhu is going to abdicate? But this position is too far away from us and there are too many people fighting for him. Even if you have the help of Lord Jinzhu, it will not work."

The carriage came to the gate of the inner prison. Xifeng jumped out of the car first and helped Chen Ji walk into the narrow downward stairs of the inner prison.

The blindfolded black cloth was removed, and the flames of the Bagua array lamps on the walls on both sides of the stone path swayed. The inner prison at night became even more gloomy, as if he was about to walk into hell.

"Sir, what files do you want to read?" Xifeng asked.

Chen Ji tried hard to recall the files he had read: "In the seventh year of Jianing, the A-sized file."

When the prison guard brought a large box, he quickly looked through each page of the file and swept it across ten lines at a glance.

Time passed by minute by minute, but he never found what he wanted.

Chen Ji looked up: "No, I'll carry the eighth year of Jianing and nine years of A-shaped file. You can also find it together. As long as the deceased has something nailed on the body, I will find it for me."

He had read too many files before, but he only vaguely remembered similar cases, but he couldn't remember which file he put.

However, some jailer said: "Sir, we cannot read..."

"I can't read?" Chen Ji was stunned.

He knew that the literacy rate was low in this era, but he did not expect that the prison guards of the secret spy department could not read. Civilian officials monopolized the industry of paper and books, and monopolized knowledge. Ordinary people may not be able to find a way to learn to read, let alone participate in the imperial examination.

Xifeng said, "Sir, I'll help you find it."

"OK."

The two sat in front of the oil lamp to look through the file. The prison guard burned water and brewed strong tea for them. Until their eyes were sore, Xifeng suddenly said: "Sir, is this what you are looking for? In the ninth year of Jianing, the Wu family in Kaifeng Prefecture was destroyed in Kaifeng Prefecture!"

Chen Ji took the file and saw that the file records the case of the 17-year-old Wu Zhuo family of the supervisor of the silver farm in Kaifeng Prefecture, 22 years ago, when the Wu family mistress died, her mouth, nose, eyes and ears were all nailed with wooden nails. The wooden nails were used to seal the coffin shop.

Not only that, the mistress of the Wu family was also brutally cut off her lower body.

He looked carefully, but suddenly felt something was wrong: "The Wu family's household registration should be recorded in the file, and one more survived."

Xifeng came over and looked at it: "There are people from the 24th yamen of our Silijian. The officials who can supervise the silver market all have a huge background. There must be people above, and they are big fat. But it's a bit strange. Our Silijian has always protected his shortcomings. His own people were killed, but he didn't catch the murderer?"

Chen Ji thought to himself: "Maybe the murderer did not leave any clues?"

"Then I won't leave the file alone," Xifeng explained: "The rule of our Silijian is that even if the murderer was not caught back then, we have to check the file again every year to see if we can "combined" with other cases. If we haven't caught the murderer for a day, we will never give up in a day. But sir, this file is in the bottom of the box..."

Chen Ji said softly: "Unless the murderer is a big shot in the Silijian."

Xifeng was stunned and subconsciously took a step back, leaving the file a little further away.

Chen Ji was a little confused. The murderer in this case was very similar to the killer tonight. But if the murderer was really a big shot in the Silijian, why did the other party help the prince kill someone to silence him?

...

There is another chapter later

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Chapter completed!