Warm fragrance cloud around

After all, she has been a mother for many years, when An mentioned Miss Qinglian's death, her tone was filled with sympathetic grief: "She should be in the same age as you, but she left like this unexpectedly, how sad Mrs. Xu would be, if it was replaced by Something happened to you or Ah Heng, I'm afraid I won't survive."

Lin Junnuan seemed to catch something, and hurriedly asked: "Miss Qinglian is dead, how did she die? Poisoned?"

"I don't know." Anshi covered her face and shook her head, "I slept soundly in the room at night, but found the body outside the next day. The girl who kept watch at night slept too hard, and the government didn't find anything. Just be honest during this time, don't let me worry about it, ah."

Sure enough, it was another deceased in the serial case!

Lin Junnuan wanted to continue asking, but when she saw the pain and exhaustion on An's face, she immediately stopped, leaned on her shoulder, and patted her on the back slowly: "Mother, don't worry, I won't If there is something to do, Chuntao is very capable, and your daughter is not bad either."

An Shi didn't say anything more, sighed, and stroked her daughter's hand repeatedly.

"Ouch, it's so disgusting!"

Young master Lin Junheng, who had just come back from a walk with his friends, saw the scene of mother and daughter loving each other as soon as he entered the door. He shook his shoulders exaggeratedly, and rushed to Uncle Chengyi, "Dad, do you think so?"

Uncle Chengyi slapped him on the forehead: "It's not big or small! What did you do today?"

"I didn't do anything, I rode horses with Mingyuan and the others for a while."

Lin Junheng moved closer to the mother and daughter again, and bowed to An's solemnly: "Mother looks really good today, is there any happy event?"

The siblings are both of the same virtue, and if they have no other skills, they will open their eyes and talk nonsense. An Shi gave Lin Junheng a reproachful look and said: "These days, you should be more honest and study hard with your master. Don't keep thinking about slipping away." Get out and fool around!"

"Ah? I don't take the scientific examination, what do I study hard for?!" Lin Junheng grumbled reluctantly.

"You have to study even if you don't take the exam, lest people outside say that our Chengyibo residence is full of rough people who can't read a single word!" As he said, An's glanced at Chengyibo meaningfully, while Ben was leisurely talking on the sidelines. Uncle Chengyi, who was watching An Shixunzi, shrank back uncomfortably.

"If your grandfather knows about it, he will punish you a few times."

An Shi spoke up, and wanted to continue to criticize Lin Junheng, but Lin Junnuan relieved them in time.

"Mother, tell me more about Xu Qinglian. After all, we met once. Tomorrow, I will go to Xu's mansion and offer incense sticks to her."

"There's nothing to say," An's straightened her daughter's temples, and said in a low voice, "It's not a happy funeral, and the funeral was not a big one. The family stayed behind for two nights before they were buried. Mrs. Xu was seriously ill. I just got out of bed two days ago, and Mrs. Chu said that she was going blind from crying, what a crime!"

"Has the murderer been found yet?"

"No," An's sighed, "even if the murderer is found, he can't come back anyway. To put it bluntly, if the murderer did something bad before the murder and was found out, clear Miss Lian still has to bear a stigma after her death, so it's better for her to go away quietly like this, alas."

"But if we can't find out the real culprit and bring him to justice, wouldn't Ms. Xu die with regret?"

"That's the reason, but... alas. It's good for you to go to the incense sticks, but the child is lonely and arrogant, and he doesn't have many close friends. Mother will go with you, so I can persuade Mrs. Xu."

"What are you talking about, who is dead?" Lin Junheng listened at the side, confused.

Uncle Chengyi stuffed a bowl of white rice into his hand: "It's none of your business, eat quietly, and go back to your room to study after eating!"

Lin Junheng looked blankly at his parents and sister while holding his job bowl, always feeling that he was being excluded in this family.

***

On the second day, Lin Junnuan changed into a plain white long dress, and when she walked out of the courtyard with Xiaochun, her maidservant Chuntao, An's had someone prepare a carriage and wait in front of the door.

Xu's mansion is only two cups of tea away from Chengyi Bo's mansion, and the two families don't have many personal relationships. Lin Junnuan also came here once a few years ago, when Mrs. Xu was on her birthday.Not long after An shi handed in the post, a haggard-looking nanny came out to welcome her.

"Mrs. Uncle came to the door. Madam should have come to greet her in person, but she felt powerless, so she sent servants here. I hope you will not take offense."

Anshi waved her hands again and again: "It's because we came here abruptly, we're bothering Mammy, who is Mammy?"

"The maidservant's surname is Cai, she is the eldest lady's nanny, and she is serving by Madam's side now."

The mother and daughter got out of the carriage, and when Nanny Cai saw Lin Junnuan behind her, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and she quickly covered it up with a handkerchief: "This is Miss Lin, she is really pretty. .”

Lin Junnuan smiled at her with her lips pursed, and took a step back from her mother, trying to weaken her sense of existence.Her appearance here at this time may not be a pleasant thing for people in the Xu family who really love Xu Qinglian, but in order not to miss any clues, she still has to go through this.

The entire Xu Mansion was shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere, and the maids and women on the side of the road seldom frolicked, and just concentrated on doing their own things.

Madam Cai led the mother and daughter into the side hall. Mrs. Xu was already sitting in the hall waiting. After seeing Mrs. An, Mrs. Xu wanted to get up to greet her, but before she stood up straight, her limp legs couldn't bear it. Holding back his strength, he sat down heavily again, and An Shi quickly reached out to support her.

"I made you laugh."

Mrs. Xu smiled weakly at An Shi, who patted her hand and sat down next to her.

When the two were young, they were handkerchief handkerchiefs who had a close relationship. After they both got married, there was little contact between the husband's family, and the relationship gradually faded away. The goodbye at this time can be regarded as the reunion of old friends.

"You also know that I've always been too lazy to go out. I just found out about your family yesterday. Oh, please be sad and take care of your health."

Mrs. Xu just nodded in silence, and when she saw Lin Junnuan behind her, her smile showed a hint of astringency: "Ah Nuan is here too, sit down quickly."

Lin Junnuan hurriedly gave her a standard salute, and said, "I want... to put incense on Qinglian first."

Mrs. Xu was stunned for a moment, and didn't ask any further questions, she only called out Nanny Cai to lead Lin Junnuan.

After the funeral, the mourning hall was withdrawn. Mrs. Xu missed her daughter, so she ordered someone to set up a small Buddhist hall in the yard, and burned incense and prayed for her every day.

Lin Junnuan was enjoying the incense in the small Buddhist hall, and pulled Nanny Cai and said, "Mammy, can you let me go and have a look in Qinglian's yard? I have heard that Miss Qinglian is both talented and talented, but it is a pity that I have not been able to make a deep friendship. It would be great if I could take a look at her residence."

Cai Momo thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "Miss Lin, wait a moment, the servant will take you there after explaining to Madam."

Probably because she was afraid that Lin Junnuan's presence would only cause sadness, Mrs. Xu didn't object, so she asked Nanny Cai to take her to Xu Qinglian's yard.

The courtyard is called Qinglianju, and the name is very funny. Lin Junnuan didn't have much desire to complain at the moment. He stood by the lotus pond outside the courtyard for a while, and then walked into the wing where Xu Qinglian lived.

The decoration of the room is elegant and elegant, which is very in line with Miss Qinglian's personality and taste. The overall room is relatively large, and there is a small study room separated by a screen on the south side. In it are all the poems, books and paintings that Xu Qinglian often reads, and some of her own work.Because it is cleaned regularly, the whole house is spotless, as if the owner has never left.

Mammy Cai ordered a maid to entertain Lin Junnuan and left in a hurry. Lin Junnuan walked around the house, and finally sat down on the couch by the window, and the maid hurriedly served her tea.

Lin Junnuan didn't study the tea ceremony, and couldn't tell the difference between the rainy day and the bright day. She took a sip, and besides the bitter tea flavor, there was also a faint lotus scent.

"Is this tea smoked with lotus flowers?"

"Yes."

The maid nodded and replied, "Master likes to drink tea, and he also loves lotus flowers. Every year, I smoked some for myself to drink. Last year's batch of smoked is almost used up."

Lin Junnuan held the teacup and took another sip, the faint fragrance of lotus permeated his mouth and nose, and the image of passing Xu Qinglian on the street at the end of last year could not help appearing in his mind.Although she didn't like Xu Qinglian's noble and elegant temperament very much, when she thought that there was no such person in the world, she couldn't help feeling a little sad in her heart.

"Qing Lian... the night before her death, who was the watchman?"

"It's the servant girl."

"Did anything unusual happen that night?"

"No," the servant girl nodded her eyes with her sleeves, and tremblingly said: "Your servant should be damned, she slept too deeply that night and failed to take good care of the master, until she woke up the next day to find that the master was gone, and then someone came to the door The notification said that the master's... body was found outside."

The night guard maid fell asleep, most likely she was smeared with incense, Lin Junnuan pretended to casually look at the window, and sure enough, a hole the size of a soybean was poked in the window paper at the lower right corner of the window near Babu's bed , because the location is concealed, it can't be found at a glance.

Lin Junnuan leaned over and sniffed it. There was a faint fragrance near the small hole, which was completely different from the fragrance in Xu Qinglian's boudoir. It was a bit like the scent of toilet rouge used by women.

This scent should be left by the murderer when he inserted the scented incense into the window paper. Could it be that the murderer was a woman?

It is difficult to draw a conclusion based on this little clue, Lin Junnuan went to the small study in the south again, and quietly flipped through Xu Qinglian's calligraphy and painting works at the desk.

"This Nan Gezi is Qing Lian's work last year. At the Hundred Flowers Festival, Miss Qing Lian overwhelmed everyone with this song and became the leader of the day. It's amazing."

"Yes, the master even made a picture for this poem, hey, where did it go... ah!"

The maid stood on tiptoe and rummaged through the side bookshelf, her foot slipped suddenly, and the back of her head almost hit the corner of the table. Lin Junnuan held her up, and her body was also carried sideways. After the tip of her nose almost brushed square walls.

"Hey, has this been empty before? Have there been any calligraphy and paintings hanging there?" Lin Junnuan's eyes suddenly lit up.

The maid frowned puzzledly and said, "No, there should be a portrait of the master hanging here. I haven't noticed it for the past two days. Why is it gone? Could it be put away?"

"Portrait? What kind of portrait, did she draw it herself?"

"No, it's the work of a well-known painter in the capital. My master admires the artist's talent and specially asked him to do it for me."

Lin Junnuan was slightly stunned: "The famous painter in the capital, could it be Mo Shubai from Danqing Pavilion?"

"It's Mr. Mo Shubai."

Lin Junnuan frowned and nodded. Until now, the first similarity between the two deceased finally appeared.

When she approached the wall just now, she clearly smelled a scent similar to the ink on Hua Niang's fingers, the oily ink contained a faint fragrance of bamboo leaves.

The author has something to say:

About the origin of the heroine's name: the grandfather was still alive when the heroine was born, and Uncle Lao Cheng loved this eldest granddaughter very much, so he named her according to the man's generation number.It was the cold winter at that time, and the capital was hit by a blizzard. The word "nuan" also entrusted the good vision of the old sincere uncle.