Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

Yang Xueshi held his chopsticks and said: "Among the eight people, Xu Yingwen, Agui, Ada, Zhao Xiangli, Akuan, and Zhao Tianci are men. Considering Xiuying's relatively strong strength, only Agui is left who can strangle her to death." , Ah Da, Ah Kuan, and Zhao Tianci. When Xiuying died, Ah Da and Zhao Xiangli were still in the side hall, and Ah Kuan and Zhao Tianci were together. If this counts, only the one who has the chance to kill Xiuying Only Agui is left. It's a pity that Agui was killed by Akuan again..."

He talked a lot, and seeing Zhaoran stunned, he couldn't help saying: "Hey, I'm talking to you!"

Zhao Ran raised his head and said, "Why did Ah Gui kill Xiuying? He neither raped her nor killed Zhao Jing. If it was to provide a place to have an affair or to conceal Ah Kuan's crimes, then he would kill someone. Far-fetched. The person who hates Xiuying the most has Zhao Min'er in the front and Zhao Yingwen in the back, and it will never be his turn, Agui."

"Agui is greedy, maybe he was bribed by Akuan to kill Xiuying, and then Akuan waited for an opportunity to get rid of Agui."

"Xiuying was actually pinched and raped by someone. She said that she saw Zhao Jing because she was instigated by the Wu family and Ah Kuan later. The only person who can directly threaten Ah Kuan is Ah Gui. No matter how stupid Agui is, it is impossible not to know that if Akuan can kill Xiuying, he can kill him. If Akuan does this, he will probably be forced to confess him earlier. Akuan is bold and careful, he cannot did that."

"Then only Zhao Tianci was left, but when he arrived at Xiu Niang's courtyard, Xiuying was already dead." Yang Xueshi said, "Could it be that the people of the Zhao family removed Xiuying in order to cover up Zhao Tianci's crimes?" .”

"If the Zhao Mansion was such a place, Zhao Min'er wouldn't have hatred for Zhao Tianci alone, and Ji Niang had been treated differently by Dangyu Village for three or four years, and she didn't have any complaints about Zhao Yongbo. It can be seen that Zhao Yong Bob's fairness, at least on the surface, is beyond reproach."

Yang Xueshi nodded and said: "That should be the case, otherwise the emperor will not let the son-in-law Wang Zeng come to visit the Zhao family."

Zhao Ran asked: "Why does the current emperor suddenly think of asking the son-in-law Wang Zeng to visit the Zhao family?"

Yang Xueshi looked around and said a little reservedly: "You didn't know originally."

Zhao Ran suppressed a smile and said, "That's why Xiaomin is lucky to know Mr. Yang."

Yang Xueshicai said: "The government official here reported to the court that the Zhao family educated the fishermen, making the local folk customs simple and honest, and no bad things happened on the road for more than ten years, which brought a good teaching effect to the ruler. The emperor was overjoyed when he heard this, and asked his son-in-law Wang Zeng to bring a decree to the Zhao family on the way, remembering the loyalty and integrity of the Zhao family through the ages, rewarding a memorial archway for meritorious deeds, and all officials below the seventh rank need to get off the sedan chair and walk."

"I haven't heard of such a decree!"

Yang Xueshi said: "As soon as the son-in-law arrived in Dangyu Village, Zhao Min'er stopped the sedan chair for his elder brother and called for grievances. Of course, the son-in-law's will cannot be announced."

"So Wang Zeng should still stay nearby."

"Of course, this matter is not over, how can he leave so easily."

Zhaoran was absent-minded for a long time, and suddenly laughed twice.

Yang Xueshi frowned and looked at him, "What are you laughing at?"

Zhao Ran looked at him and said, "I finally know where my fault is."

"Where?" Yang Xueshi still wanted to ask, but said plainly: "Eat, let's go to the ancestral hall after dinner."

----

After he finished talking, Yang Xueshi didn't have any appetite at first, so he ate a little, and told the people in Zhao's mansion to go for a walk to digest food, so he ordered a lantern and went out.

Zhao Ran stood at the door and said, "Wu Shi, Zhao Xiangli, and Ah Da, where are the three now?"

"Ms. Wu woke up. Because she committed such a thing, I ordered her to be guarded in the firewood hut in the kitchen. Ah Da and Zhao Xiangli are still living in the overturned hut of the gatehouse. I also sent someone to guard her."

Zhao Ran said with a smile: "It seems to be very difficult tonight, the second master should be more careful."

Zhao Zhongbo's expression was a little embarrassed, he answered "yes" repeatedly, and then asked: "Do you want me to send a servant to show you the way?"

Yang Xueshi replied: "We are just walking casually, so we don't need to find someone to follow."

"well."

When he was so sensitive, he made many mistakes, maybe the censor wanted to visit privately, and they would make people think that they had ghosts in their hearts, so after Zhao Zhongbo said politely, he let them go.

----

They made a big circle, and there were several murders in Dang Fishing Village, but the village was very peaceful, and there was no noise at all. In the twilight, you could faintly see green smoke curling up. The sound of water loops back and forth, creating a scene of paradise.

There is no road behind the ancestral hall. Down the slope is the lake next to Dang Fishing Village. You can clearly look at the bottom of the cliff, and then turn your head to look at the ancestral hall surrounded by high walls.

Yang Xueshi asked, "Why do you say that Ada should be the first to die?"

Zhao Ran turned his head: "Because I thought it was a conspiracy, but I didn't know it was a simple matter."

"Simple, how can it be so simple? It is not even known how Xiuying died or who killed her."

Zhao Ran raised his head and said, "The whole thing seems a bit incomprehensible, but if you can figure out why a person would do that, you can roughly understand how they killed people."

The two of them haven't elaborated yet, they only heard someone shouting hurriedly in the distance: "Master Yang, old madam."

"Not good." Zhao Ran and Yang Xueshi turned around and ran away.

He ran close and said clearly, "Who died again?"

"It's Wu, Mrs. Wu, she hanged herself in the woodshed, the second master told us to come and find the lord and the old lady." The servant said.

----

When Zhao Ran and Yang Xueshi walked into the firewood room, Mrs. Wu had already been put down. There were some scattered firewood piles on the ground, and Zhao Zhongbo sat on the side wearily.

Yang Xueshi checked Wu's chest and asked, "Who guarded her?"

The other two cooks nearby said, "It's us."

Zhao Ran said, "How did you find out?"

The cook replied: "We have been standing outside the door until the second master came to open the door, only to find that Mrs. Wu committed suicide by stepping on the woodpile with her own belt inside."

"Apart from the second master, has anyone else come in?"

The cooks looked at each other, and then murmured: "Zhao Jiamin came here once, but we didn't let her in. She scolded Mrs. Wu through the door and left. Could it be that Mrs. Wu told her to scold her?" Suicide after a meal?"

Zhao Ran pointed to Wu Shi's sleeve and said, "What is Wu Shi holding in his hand?"

The cooks hurriedly pulled up Wu's sleeves, and sure enough, Wu's hands were clenched into fists, and it took a while to unfold, revealing a silver peanut inside.

"What is this?" Zhao Zhongbo asked.

Zhao Ran picked up the silver peanut and said with some emotion, "It's an ornament on the wrist of Wu's grandson."

Yang Xueshi was shocked: "What about the child?"

Zhao Zhongbo said: "Just now Wu's son and daughter-in-law came to pick up Wu, and I have asked them to take them back." He said thoughtfully, "Could it be that Wu is guilty of sorry for his family, so he hanged himself? "

When he said this, he couldn't help looking at Zhaoran, but Zhaoran asked, "Is Zhao Xiangli and Ada guarded?"

"Of course, how can I not be more careful when this happens?"

"Is Zhao Xiangli safe and sound after being wounded by the knife?"

"Uncle Zhao is getting old and was wounded by a knife again, so he has been resting in his room all the time."

Clearly said: "Look and go."

----

Before the few people had gone far, they heard someone shouting loudly in front: "There's a fire, there's a fire, put out the fire!"

"Where is the fire?" Zhao Zhongbo hurriedly asked the servant who was carrying water in front.

"Second Master, the sedan courtyard is haunted. Someone saw Xiuying, and then the sedan courtyard caught fire."

Before Zhao Ran finished listening to what he said, he went straight to the front yard. The fire in the sedan chair courtyard was fierce, and half of the sky was red with tongues of flames. Almost all the people in the mansion were mobilized, those who carried water, those who put out the fire, were extremely busy Happy.

As soon as Zhao Zhongbo saw the two ashen-faced nurses coming out of the sedan chair courtyard, he hurriedly ran to open Zhao Xiangli's door, and said in a low voice, "Where is Zhao Xiangli, he's gone!"

Zhao Ran entered the room, quickly touched the bed and said, "It's still hot, did anyone see Zhao Xiangli?"

Zhao Zhongbo roared at the door: "Has anyone seen Uncle Zhao at the door?"

"No."

"Didn't see it."

Yang Xueshi said: "There was a fire in the sedan chair courtyard, and there were many people coming out of the inner courtyard. If they were going to the inner courtyard, they would definitely be seen. The only possible direction is that someone held Zhao Xiangli out of the gate, which is next to the gate. It is possible that no one will notice when I go out. Since the bed is hot, it may be that the moment the car courtyard caught fire just now, he ran away while the nursing courtyard was running to investigate the fire, so we should chase after him quickly."

Zhao Zhongbo had to focus on putting out the fire at one end, and chased after Zhao Xiangli at the other. He was so anxious that he was sweating profusely, so he had to grab a lantern by himself, and chased him out with a nurse.

Yang Xueshi also chased after him. After running for a while, he suddenly stopped.

"Why did you stop!"

Zhao Ran said: "If he was taken hostage and Zhao Xiangli was injured, we should have caught up with him."

Yang Xueshi said anxiously: "Could it be that he is walking in the direction of the ancestral hall, but that is a dead end!"

Zhao Ran raised his head and suddenly realized: "We have been fooled."