Self-help guide for non-professional young masters

On the days when Jun Ziyou was unconscious, Xiao Beicheng and Liu Steward took on the important task of thoroughly investigating the yin marriage case, much like Jun Sanwen and Jiang Sizheng in the past.

Steward Liu often complained for himself, "If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have gone out with you for this trip, and I always felt like I fell into some kind of trap."

From what he said, he still did his best when he was doing things, which shows that he is notorious for his sharp mouth and tofu heart.

Thanks to Wen Chu's coordination, the Ning family cooperated very much with the government's investigation, and even the head of the family, Mr. Ning, was willing to personally accept King Jin's questioning. It can be seen that Jiangling's folk customs are simple and not as aggressive as in Gusu.

This Lord Ning, named Daren, started from scratch by selling silk fabrics. As his name suggests, he is benevolent and honest. He often helps poor villagers and also contributes to the construction of temples. He is a well-known benevolent person in ten miles and eight villages. Taxation, never scheming for cheap, is also a rare good citizen for the government.

Ning Daren has been very careful in his life, and only made mistakes when he was bewitched by others about his beloved son, which is also understandable, so when he saw this gray-haired father, Xiao Beicheng couldn't help but feel soft-hearted.

When he came to plead guilty, Ning Daren was wearing plain clothes, followed by his wife whose eyes were red from crying, and when he entered the door, he knelt down and kowtowed three times.

"Grassman Ning Daren, I don't know what the prince is doing, and offended the prince by colliding, I implore the prince to forgive me."

Facing a couple who had just lost their son, Xiao Beicheng couldn't say anything serious, so he offered him a seat and made the maid serve tea.

He and Steward Liu sat in the upper seat, and gave the latter enough space. In this way, Wen Chu sat in the guest seat with him, watching Mrs. Ning crying, feeling sad in his heart.

Xiao Beicheng asked: "It's cruel to remind your husband and wife of the pain of losing a child, but this time the victim is someone very important to me, so please tell the truth."

Ning Daren nodded repeatedly, "Excuse me, my lord, the grassroots absolutely dare not hide anything."

"How did your youngest son... die?"

Hearing his question, Mrs. Ning cried even more fiercely, sobbing out of breath, and could vaguely distinguish a few words from her crying: "My son... my miserable son , He is only seven years old... He has always been fine, and there is no problem with his body. He is much stronger than children of the same age. Half a month ago, the second brother of the child took him out to swim in the lake. He stayed well on the boat. Why did I faint, and fell headlong into the water..."

Ning Daren was heartbroken, he put his arms around his crying wife, wiped away tears for her, and when her mood stabilized a bit, he said: "My lord, the one who passed away was the youngest son of Cao Min, named Yuan Bao. I was afraid of touching it in the palm of my hand, and fearing it would melt if I held it in my mouth. I have been raising him carefully, and I am very afraid that something will happen to him. I have always given him the best food, the best clothes, and the best use since I was a child. He is also very competitive. I have been in good health, so there will be no symptoms."

"I don't have any symptoms, but I fell into the water while swimming in the lake. The weather is cool in late autumn, but I don't suffer from heat stroke. Have you checked the cause?"

Wen Chu put down the teacup, cleared his throat, and said in a low voice: "On the day this happened, the Ning family reported the case, and the government sent people to investigate. There was no trace of fighting on the cruise ship that the two brothers took that day. It is unlikely that Ning Yuanbao was pushed into the water."

Butler Liu thought about it carefully, and figured out the contradiction in Ning Daren's words just now, "Wait a minute, you said that you are old, but Ning Yuanbao is your third son, this is not quite right."

The other party was deeply panicked, and quickly explained to others: "Master, I am not lying. Yuanbao is indeed my flesh and blood with my wife Fa when I was over 50 years old. I have three sons under my knees, the eldest and the second are both born to concubines. , only Yuan Bao is the eldest son."

What he said was true. Steward Liu felt guilty for scaring him, so he offered him a cup of hot tea and advised him not to panic.

But this also leads to another problem. If the second brother who took Ning Yuanbao out on the day of the incident was not his brother from the same mother, it is not impossible to attack his younger brother out of jealousy.

Xiao Beicheng thought about it for a while, and chose his words carefully, "Then, how is your second son's relationship with Ning Yuanbao on weekdays? Is there any discord?"

"No, no, the lord doesn't know. My second son is Jiaozi. He is 12 years old this year. He was born to my concubine Liu. She passed away after giving birth to Jiaozi, so Jiaozi was a He was raised by his wife, and his wife treats him like her own son, she has never wronged him, Jiaozi is also very sensible, and has always loved Yuanbao, so it is impossible for him to do anything to Yuanbao!"

Xiao Beicheng played with the teaspoon in his hand, tapping the table repeatedly, thinking about the relationship of this family.

According to this statement, Ning's eldest son should also come from the concubine's room, and Ning Jiaozi is the second eldest son. Even if Ning Yuanbao, the eldest son who is in the way, is removed, when Ning Daren dies in a hundred years, the family business should also fall to the eldest son. Therefore, the possibility of him killing Ning Yuanbao is not great.

Unless...he even planned to get rid of the eldest son.

But would a 12-year-old child have such vicious thoughts?

"My lord, my lord?"

Butler Liu shook his hand in front of him before he regained his senses, and reminded him: "My lord, I heard that the prefect said that Ning Yuanbao's body was not sent to the government office for autopsy."

"Why is this?"

Speaking of this, Madam Ning began to cry again, "My son died a miserable death. If someone touches him, he would have to disembowel him and saw off his head. How can he be buried if he is torn apart... "

Wen Chu also showed embarrassment, "My lord, the truth is indeed so, because at that time there was no ironclad evidence that Ning Yuanbao was murdered by others, the case was supposed to be closed as an accident, and the family of the deceased insisted on refusing to accept it." Autopsy, the government can't force it."

"You are too emotional..."

After a few words, Xiao Beicheng quickly realized that something was wrong, "Mrs. Ning, how did you know that the autopsy will destroy the body?"

"On the second day after Yuan Bao left, the white woman who was a matchmaker came to the door and told me about it. I was scared when I heard it. I thought that Jiaozi was brought up by me, and it was absolutely impossible to harm Yuan Bao, so I let Bao'er go away in peace. Well, that's why I didn't agree..."

"It's really time for this white lady to come. Ning Yuanbao came to matchmaking the day after he passed away. Don't you think it's strange?"

Ning Daren clutched his clothes uneasily, becoming more and more nervous, "It's true... I feel that there is a problem, but there are many things in Jiangling that match the dead relatives with shady marriages, thinking that there are some unmarried dead people in the hands of the white lady. It's normal. Besides, Yuan Bao's death hit us too hard, so we didn't have too many scruples at the time, thinking that it would be good for someone to be with him and take care of him more, that's how parents think..."

As he spoke, he burst into tears, crying with his wife in their arms, Xiao Beicheng felt very uncomfortable watching it.

Wen Chu was not very comfortable, and said: "My lord, I can understand the feelings of Master Ning and Madam Ning."

"You feel the same way."

"To be honest, Xiaguan also has a son. Although he is not his own son, he is always thinking of him. I am afraid that something will happen to him, so..."

"Forget it. In the final analysis, the Ning family is also a victim of being deceived. Take the two of them back and resettle them temporarily. Yu Qing, you can accompany me to the scene of the incident."

After saying this, he immediately thought of Junziyou who was still sleeping in the room. He didn't want to leave him alone, and he was worried that it would be even more difficult to find hard evidence if it took too long.

Steward Liu saw his embarrassment, and persuaded him: "Jiangling lacks the talents to handle the case. If we can find out the clues, the matter will not be delayed until now. I am afraid that the prince should confirm the details. I will arrange for the details on the side. A few reliable people will take care of him, and if he wakes up, he will be notified immediately."

"Okay, then you remember to find some sensible maids to serve him, don't be clumsy, remember to tuck him up, don't catch cold, feed him some warm soup every half hour, and hold a candle in his hand, he is a little Afraid of the dark..."

Steward Liu couldn't listen anymore, and finally interrupted him, "My lord, the people below will do these things, so don't worry about it, he will definitely take care of him, don't worry."

"Alright..."

Xiao Beicheng drank his last sip of tea, let Wen Chu lead the way, and drove the boat to the place where the incident happened.

Wen Chu introduced: "My lord, this lake is called Xieyang Lake. It is surrounded by mountains on three sides. Only when the sun faces west in the afternoon, can there be sunlight. , It looks like the afterglow of the setting sun, so it got this name. The water of Xieyang Lake is drawn from the tributaries of the Yangtze River. Alive, people often come here to enjoy the scenery.”

Steward Liu helped Xiao Beicheng out of the cabin, as he said, there is a kind of red climbing vine growing by the lake and on the mountain, it is indeed a pleasing sight.

In order to facilitate Xiao Beicheng's questioning, Wen Chu specially found the boatman who was driving the boat with the two young masters of the Ning family to do work, and asked the boat to stop at the place where the accident happened.

The boatman saw that this man's clothes and demeanor were different from others, guessed that he was an extraordinary person, so he flattered him, and took the initiative to talk about the day Ning Yuanbao fell into the water.

"Master Guan, you don't know. You have to be watched by adults when swimming in the lake. The eldest of the two children is only in his teens. I'm afraid they are too naughty and I can't afford to pay for what happened. Ah, don't let them board the boat. But the young master who came together said it was all right, his two younger brothers were obedient, so he went out for a walk, no problem, and gave me some extra money, I was a little blinded by money , and took them out."

"Eldest young master? But master Ning and his wife never mentioned that the eldest son was involved in this matter."

Hearing Steward Liu's question, the boatman squeezed his eyes, "That's what I dare not tell them. Before boarding the boat that day, I asked the young master why he didn't go with him. He said he was afraid of water and was seasick. , I was also worried about my brother’s accident, and told me not to row too far, so I came here. Look, it’s not far from the shore, the water is not deep, and you can see people waving on the shore.”

"You idiot, you are not deep for adults, but he is only a seven-year-old child."

Xiao Beicheng really wanted to slap the boatman, took the pole from his hand, measured the height of an adult, plunged it into the water, but did not touch the bottom of the lake.

After confirming, he was even more angry in his heart. He stared coldly at the boatman who was talking nonsense, raised his foot, and kicked him into the water.