The Plow

"so little?"

In the iron box where Alan's savings were stored, there were only a dozen or so silver dollars here and there.

Yue Dingtang looked up at the housekeeper.

"How much is Alan's daily salary?"

The housekeeper didn't hesitate: "Three yuan a month, food and lodging are all at Yuan's house."

"How long has she been at Yuan's house?"

"It's been five or six years since I married my wife."

"She usually spends money lavishly?"

"Impossible. She has always been frugal. If the hair rope is broken, she will not buy a new one. She still connects the two ends and continues to use it."

"Since you are diligent and thrifty, after five or six years, how can you only have this little savings?"

The old butler naturally couldn't answer.

Fearing that Yue Dingtang might misunderstand, Shen Renjie hurriedly explained.

"Mr. Yue, we know that the higher authorities attach great importance to this case. After the Yuan family's things were confiscated, the brothers didn't dare to touch them at all. What was originally is what is now, no more and no less. These things were originally in the iron box. !"

Yue Dingtang hummed, and he also believed that the people in the house arrest had no guts to do something about it now, otherwise, if it affected the progress of the case, all these people would be overwhelmed and walk around.

Ling Shu picked up the iron box.

The candy advertisement is printed on the box, which is rusty and worn, and it can be seen that it is old.

But a cover was carefully woven with wool around the box to tightly cover the corners of the box. Although the wool cover was not very delicate and used the roughest and cheapest thread, considering Alan's living conditions, this It was already the best treasure she could think of.

This also shows how much she attaches importance to this box.

It must have stored the savings she has saved over the years. She has been wandering and helpless for half her life. The only thing that can give her a little comfort is the painstaking efforts gained from these labors. If someone wants to deprive her It must be more serious than killing her.

If neither the arresting house nor the old housekeeper took it privately, then there are only two situations.

"One is that Alan squandered all the money by herself, which must mean that she got more money, so that she no longer has to care about this little savings. The second is that Alan's relatives suddenly appeared, making her willing to spend the money on the other party."

Yue Dingtang suddenly said: "Why is it a relative, can't it be a lover?"

Ling Shu: "Where is the lover?"

But the next moment, Yue Dingtang's words silenced him completely.

"Hong Xiaoguang."

Ling Shu never associated Hong Xiaoguang with Alan.

Because in many people's descriptions, this young man is handsome and extraordinary. Although they found that Hong Xiaoguang was not as knowledgeable as others thought in the other party's temporary residence, as long as Du Yuning was willing to immerse himself in the beautiful dreams he wove, others would call him forever. Don't wake her up.

As for Alan, it was even easier to start.

This maid who can't speak and can't read can't even live without the Yuan family. She met the nobles of the Du family all her life, but the one who buried her in the end was also related to the Du family.

If there is someone who speaks softly to her, can communicate with her with proficient sign language, and gives her unprecedented care, let her feel the warmth that she has never felt in anyone, like a ray of sunshine shining into the perennially dark The prison cell, the people in the cell must feel as if they have been forgiven by heaven, and suddenly feel reborn.

Yue Dingtang's words opened a new door for him.

"Where is the key?" Yue Dingtang asked the old housekeeper, "Where is the key to the cellar entrance?"

"It's at the master's place. The key was made into a pendant. The master didn't know it was a pendant, so he gave it to the top dancer of my friend. When I found out, I hurriedly told my wife that it was a family treasure left by the old master. Madam just came forward to get the key back, and the key has been stored with Madam since then." The housekeeper looked tired, "But after Madam's accident, I never saw this key again."

All the details and trivial clues were connected in series, and Ling Shu faintly had a complete embryonic form.

Hong Xiaoguang and his behind-the-scenes staff learned about the Yuan family's underground gold vault through some means, so they took the opportunity to get close to the other party, and according to Du Yuning's preferences, they fabricated a person whose appearance, personality, hobbies, and talents were in line with her imagination, and captured her heart step by step. .

Perhaps in the process of getting along with the two, Hong Xiaoguang continued to brainwash Du Yuning, using the beauty of the future to compare the cruelty of reality, so that Du Yuning's thoughts of escaping from this gorgeous cage of the Yuan family became stronger day by day, and finally made up his mind to marry Hong Xiaoguang. elopement.

This is exactly why she came to Ling Shu, and as the number of times increased, she revealed more and more her desire to leave Yuan's house.

Ling Shu recalled that at that time, Du Yuning had been so disappointed in Yuan Bing, that she no longer cared about the luxurious clothes and the luxurious life, and her looks and behavior did not seem to be fake. She did not expect that the romance she pursued wholeheartedly would lead to death. Obstacles in the way.

As for Ling Shu, at that time he thought that Du Yuning still had old feelings for him, and he avoided it for fear of breaking the relationship with the married woman, but he didn't expect that Du Yuning was just using him as a cover to set up a trick.

If Du Yuning and Hong Xiaoguang really eloped at that time, the testimony of several appointments with Du Yuning would be enough to make Ling Shu fall into the quagmire, and Du Yuning had already escaped from his shell, and he did not know where he was happy.

But all of the above are Du Yuning's wishful thinking.

She failed to elope successfully, but instead ruined Qingqing's life.

And Ling Shu was indeed dragged into the trap set by her, but now he became the person who helped her track down the real culprit.

The old butler had worked hard for the Yuan family all his life, but now he couldn't even fulfill his master's dying entrustment.

"I can take you to the lower entrance of the cellar, but the key, I really don't know where it is."

"It's not too late, let's start now." Ling Shu said.

Ye Chang has many dreams, and Yue Dingtang also thinks so.

But the two of them plus the old housekeeper were obviously weak.

If they meet the murderer from last time again, I'm afraid both of them will have to quit.

Yue Dingtang looked at Shen Renjie.

Before he could speak, the latter said knowingly: "Mr. Yue, I can go with you. Do you think you need to bring two more brothers?"

According to what the old housekeeper said, the basement floor is full of gold, and there is no guarantee that someone will be unable to control it. Yue Dingtang understands the virtues of most people in the patrol room in the concession. There are also a lot of cheap people who mislead the overall situation. There are also many foreign arresters who, relying on their skin color, claim to be superior to others.

In contrast, Shen Renjie is more reliable.

"No, give me a gun when you turn around, I want to take self-defense, get ready first, we will set off in half an hour."

Shen Renjie stood at attention: "Yes! I'll get ready right away!"

While Shen Renjie went to get the gun, Ling Shu seized the time to question the old housekeeper.

He could see that the latter was out of energy, and his thoughts had begun to wander. If it was later, he might not be able to answer the question.

"Did Alan follow your wife when she went out?"

"Sometimes follow, sometimes not."

"When to follow and when not to follow?"

"Let's think about it... When Madam went out to dinner, she didn't let Alan follow her. I heard her tell others that Alan couldn't speak, and she was afraid that she would be rude and be laughed at by the wives. In the early years, there was a Qing in the Yuan family. She has a good command of the written word and is also clever in speaking, Madam loves to take her with her when she goes out, but then the Yuan family deteriorated day by day, and the master smoked opium and ruined it all, Ah Qing is free, so she left the Yuan family."

As expected, the old housekeeper was getting old, and when he talked about it, it was easy to digress.

Ling Shu had to remind him: "You haven't said, when will Madam bring Alan?"

The old housekeeper: "Madam sometimes needs someone to help carry things when she goes out to buy things, such as going to a department store, or meeting friends, and she will bring Alan with her."

Ling Shu: "What friend did she date, do you remember?"

The old housekeeper: "I don't dare to ask these questions, but one time she had a quarrel with the master, and the master said something ugly, saying that she didn't have any friends at all, and it was all an excuse to meet her adulterer and have an affair."

Ling Shu: "Then how did your wife answer?"

The old housekeeper smiled wryly: "Madam said that the master is not benevolent, so she doesn't have to be chaste. Even if she has an affair, it is forced by the master. But in my opinion, these are all angry words. After all, the master still misses the old lady. Yingying Yanyan has never been broken, and the master has never thought of marrying another new man. It's just that the master's temperament... hey! I can't tell. !"

Yue Dingtang said indifferently: "When your old man is still alive, he can't control him well. Even if he is alive, he is old, so what can he do? When I was young, I thought he was the only son, so it was inevitable that I would love him more, even if he made some small mistakes. It can also be tolerated, and over time, small mistakes become big mistakes, and the tolerance level also increases, and in the end it hurts others and oneself."

Yuan Bingdao is not a good person. When he was in Sichuan, he never did a good thing for the people of Sichuan. Instead, he used his power to seize a lot of local wealth. He didn't even think about the gold that fell from the sky. Take it out to do good deeds, except for a small portion distributed to his subordinates, all the rest will be filled in private pockets, so it will be the due reward for the Yuan family to be ruined and killed today.

It's just that Yue Dingtang didn't say these unfinished words when facing the old housekeeper.

The butler himself knew it in his heart, but he just didn't want to admit it and faced the reality.

When the two were relatively silent, Ling Shu broke the silence.

"When was the last time your wife took Alan out, do you remember?"

The butler thought hard and said uncertainly, "It seems to be the 23rd."

Ling Shu: "Don't act as if, think about it carefully."

Butler: "I remembered, it was indeed the 23rd, because Alan came to me that day and said that he wanted to go out with his wife and buy something for the New Year for himself, so he took a leave of absence from me and came back later. She has spent so many years Come on, I didn't say I would buy something for myself during the Chinese New Year, I looked at her pitifully, so I agreed."

January 23, two days before the New Year's Eve.

That day was the last time Ling Shu and Du Yuning met.

But he didn't see Alan.

Maybe Alan had already asked for leave and left at that time, maybe Du Yuning didn't want her to be by the side, so he sent her away with an excuse.

There are many coincidences in this world, if all the things happen to be coincidences, then it is not accidental, but inevitable.

While talking, Shen Renjie came back.

He handed Yue Dingtang a handful of huakouzi.

This is the most commonly used police pistol nowadays, and its official name is Browning M1910. Although it is larger than the palm mine, it is also more practical than the palm mine.

"The bullets inside are full. I just tried it. Don't worry! I have already called two other brothers to go there together and let them guard outside the Yuan mansion. If there is any movement, let's shout inside and they will immediately will rush over.”

Shen Renjie is very considerate and has planned everything.

Yue Dingtang nodded, and put the gun and holster under his coat.

Ling Shu had a half-smile: "Old Yue, you are a teacher, and you are so proficient in loading a gun, you are not ambiguous at all!"

Yue Dingtang asked strangely, "Didn't you let it go like this?"

Ling Shu: "I'm a policeman."

Yue Dingtang nodded: "The learning ability of a genius is better than that of a policeman just waiting to die, right?"

Ling Shu: ...

Yue Dingtang patted him on the shoulder: "Don't be jealous, if you want to learn how chic I am, I can teach you the secret when you come back."

Ling Shu twitched the corner of his mouth, really wanted to chop off his hand, and thought to himself, don't fall into my hands later, or I will definitely cheat you to death!

……

Yuan mansion.

The two small buildings that once flourished were dark and quiet under the thick night.

The houses in this area are already expensive, even if there were still people living next door, after several murders happened, those who could move out had already moved out, and those who couldn't, all went to live with relatives and friends temporarily. Come back when the storm is over.

Originally, the servants of Yuan's family were locked up in the front and rear buildings, and there were still some lights after nightfall, but after they were taken away and imprisoned, there was an even more lifeless silence here, which seemed quite bluffing at first glance.

"Before the dinner, I asked people to come back to watch, why is there no one there?" Yue Dingtang frowned.

Shen Renjie could hear the dissatisfaction in his tone, and said with a quick smile: "They must be idling away, and I will report to my superiors to punish these people severely later, don't be as knowledgeable as them!"

Yue Dingtang didn't speak.

Ling Shu found that his hands were in his pockets, which were right where the gun holster was.

The old butler led them into the small building in front.

Ling Shu noticed that he was walking towards the servant's room where Alan was alive.

"Where is the cellar entrance?"

"Yes, it's under the bed." The butler pointed to the bed that Alan slept in before his death. "Open the bed, and the entrance to the cellar is below."

Ling Shu asked Shen Renjie: "Has anyone searched here before?"

Shen Renjie: "Yes, we have searched everything. The cellar is not a secret. There are many pickles underneath, but we did not find the entrance to the lower level."

The old butler: "Although the Yuan family has a cook, Alan does all the pickling in the house, and the entrance happens to be in her room, so it is very convenient for her to come in and out, but the entrance to the secret vault is very hidden, and she cannot find it. "

Ling Shu didn't believe the old housekeeper's words. After all, the other party was old and easily lost his normal judgment ability.

Like Alan, who doesn't even have a friend to talk to in Yuan's house, he must focus on the repetitive tasks day after day, such as making pickles.

Being lonely and bored, she may have explored every corner of the cellar for a long time, and it is not unusual to find the entrance to the secret vault.

The so-called impossible is only within the scope of the old butler's cognition.

Ling Shu's injuries were still unhealed, and he "run away" from the hospital. Shen Renjie couldn't let Yue Dingtang do it himself, so he took the initiative to lift up the bedding plank, and there was a stone step below.

"I went down once, and I followed the steward. Mr. Yue, you are the last ones. Steward, please lead the way."

The old butler leaned on a cane and walked in front, still muttering.

"Here, I haven't been here for a long time. All the pickled vegetables in the past were taken out by Alan and sent directly to the kitchen..."

The lamp in Shen Renjie's hand swayed with his steps, moving forward in the darkness little by little.

From Ling Shu's point of view, the darkness below is more like a huge monster, ready to swallow up the remaining light at any time.