eighth story

Perhaps it was because Young Master Yang hadn't passed her first seven days, Rou'er only wore a very simple white shirt on her body, two black braids neatly hung on her chest, and only a small white flower was pinned at the end of her hair. There are no other decorations.After bumping into someone, she first looked up in a little panic, but quickly lowered her head, and said softly: "Catch the head cold!" Flickering, as if not daring to look him in the eye.

Of course, Wu Qinyang didn't forget that she was Young Master Yang's personal maid, but he always felt that the little girl seemed to have something on his mind, so he was always timid in front of him, and dared not speak, but he didn't choose to leave.Wu Qinyang had a thought, thinking that the bowl of closed door soup he had just eaten at the door of Yang's house might be returned intact, so he bent down, looked into Rou'er's eyes and said, "Rou'er, do you have something to say? Want to talk to me?"

Classmate Wu may never be as good as his uncle in dealing with people, but at least he has another advantage, that is, he can make others feel that he is sincere.Rou'er's face turned a little red when he looked at her like this. She was originally a girl of fourteen or fifteen years old, and Leng Yunfeng was not ugly, and wearing a police uniform brought a reliable sense of security.Rou'er bit her lips slowly, shook her head first, then nodded lightly after a while, held Wu Qinyang's clothes corner with one hand, and whispered: "I...I'm very scared, cold Headhunter, I..."

Wu Qinyang quickly comforted: "Don't be afraid, I'm here." He pointed to a small shop on the street and said, "May I treat you to red bean glutinous rice balls?" Clenching the corners tightly, he said softly: "Okay!" Wu Qinyang led her into the small shop selling glutinous rice balls, bought a steaming bowl of red bean glutinous rice balls and put them in front of her.

Seeing that he only bought a bowl of glutinous rice balls, Rou'er didn't dare to move, and asked cautiously, "Leng Butou, don't you want to eat?"

Wu Qinyang said: "This is what you girls like to eat, so I won't eat it." As he spoke, he handed over the spoon, and didn't rush to ask her about the Yang family, but urged, "Eat it quickly." Come on, or it will be cold in a while."

Rou'er was stunned for a moment when he heard his concern, and said in a low voice: "Leng Butou, you are really a good person." At this moment, her voice became a little choked, and she scooped up a glutinous rice ball with a spoon and ate it slowly, laughing She said, "It's so sweet!" But a tear fell into the bowl in front of her.Wu Qinyang didn't know how to comfort her, after all, this has never been his strong point.Rou'er just cried quietly for a while, until Wu Qinyang patted her shoulder lightly, and then stuffed a handkerchief into her palm. This action undoubtedly gave her a lot of strength, Rou'er stopped Wept, and said in a low voice that only Wu Qinyang could hear: "Leng Butou, Mu Xiang... she is dead, I... I'm so afraid that I will be like her..."

Wu Qin asked, "Who is Mu Xiang?"

Rou'er said: "She was the personal servant girl in Miss's room. One day three months ago, she suddenly threw herself into a well and died. But I..." She bit her lips lightly when she said this, "But I always suspected that it was the eldest Madam killed her! Da Madam must have forced her... That's why she jumped into the well!"

Wu Qinyang said: "Why do you say that?"

Rou'er said: "My relationship with Mu Xiang has always been very good...Her mother is seriously ill, and she has a younger brother who has to go to school at home, so it is impossible for her to commit suicide! I know she will never! She will die because The eldest lady asked her to keep a secret, and she had been restless for the past few days, and then she secretly told me about it... As a result, she jumped into the well the next night and died! It must be that the eldest lady did not treat her well. Don't worry, so I just forced her to death." The terrified expression appeared on her face again, "The lady doesn't know that Mu Xiang has told me this secret, but I'm very scared... she will know sooner or later , when the time comes, I will be like Mu Xiang... Leng Butou, save me! I don't want to die yet! Now the young master is dead too, and the eldest lady..."

Wu Qinyang said: "Rou'er, don't be afraid, I will find someone to protect you."

Rou'er opened her eyes wide and said, "Really?"

Wu Qinyang nodded, and said again: "Then can you tell me the secret first?"

Rou'er said: "This matter...wasn't a big deal at first, but later...the more I thought about it, the more I felt it was wrong..." She hesitated, but finally revealed the secret, "On the night when the troupe had an accident, The young lady was not in the room, and she came back from the outside in a panic until midnight, and asked Mu Xiang to accompany her to find the eldest lady. At that time, the eldest lady was already asleep, and the young lady ran out secretly to hide Madam, I don’t know why I went to look for her again in the middle of the night. Later, Da Furen blocked Mu Xiang from the door, and I don’t know what they said. When the young lady came out of Da Madam’s room, Da Madam and Mu Xiang Xiang said that from now on, no matter who asks about what happened tonight, they will say that the young lady has been sleeping in the room, and nothing happened. The young lady seemed to be frightened, and she didn't fall asleep when she returned to the room, so Mu Xiang accompanied her. She stayed overnight until Ye Butou and the others came to the door the next morning, and Mu Xiang didn't know that something happened to the theater troupe last night, and that Sister Wen who sang Tsing Yi was killed!"

Wu Qinyang said: "You mean..." Now even Ms. Yang is suspicious, "Then when did your miss come back?"

Rou'er said: "Probably around the fourth watch, because there was the sound of more drums, so Mu Xiang remembers it very clearly."

Wu Qinyang felt that something was wrong again. It was around three o'clock in the middle of the night around the fourth watch, and Wen Yingying was killed after three o'clock. At this time, Ms. Yang had already returned home, and it was unlikely that Wen Yingying was killed in terms of time. The real murderer of Yingying.Wu Qinyang rested his chin and thought for a while, and felt that what Rou'er provided should be a very important clue, but he hadn't figured out the connection.But in any case, Mu Xiang's death is likely to be inseparable from this matter. After all, from the perspective of keeping secrets, the dead are always more reliable than the living.

Rou'er told the secret, and finally let go of the big rock in her heart, blinked her eyes, quietly looked at Wu Qinyang who was lost in thought, and when Wu Qinyang came back to her senses, she lowered her head shyly down.Wu Qinyang didn't notice the thoughts of little girls like Rou'er, all he was thinking about was the case, and felt that there were a lot of clues he had so far, and only one line was missing to connect them reasonably, so he said softly to Rou'er: " Can you tell me about the Yang family again?"

Rou'er asked suspiciously: "The Yang family's... what's the matter?"

Wu Qinyang said: "Anything is fine, you can say whatever you want, and I will listen carefully, okay?"

Rou'er's face turned red again, and she whispered: "I... I don't know what to say. I'm an orphan. I used to do odd jobs in the garden. It was Da Furen who gave me a bite of food, so I didn't come here. Starved to death in the garden. Later, the eldest lady asked me to serve the young master personally, just because she wanted someone to deliver her news... The eldest lady didn't like the second concubine and the young master very much. I am not beautiful, and the young master didn't like it I... In the eyes of the second aunt, I belong to the eldest lady, so she also hates me... But others say that I am the personal servant girl of the young master, so..." She finally felt sad, "I am in Yang My family is having a bad time, but others think I should be doing well. Mu Xiang is willing to be wronged because she has a seriously ill mother at home, but I... When Mu Xiang dies, I wish I could die for her! Later, the eldest lady gave Mu Xiang's family a large sum of money... Leng Butou, you are the first person to be so kind to me... I don't want to go back, the eldest young master is dead, the eldest lady must think that I am useless... ..."

Wu Qinyang originally wanted her to talk about the Yang family's family affairs, but he didn't want to hear her say such a self-revealing story, and seeing Rou'er's eye circles red, he couldn't help feeling a little pity for her.Classmate Wu grew up in a honey pot, and he may never feel the bitterness of being under the fence in his life, but now he understands a little bit.He sighed softly, and comforted him: "If you don't want to, don't go back to Yang's house until this matter is resolved, I will find a way to help you find another job... No one is born You have to serve others. If your parents were still alive, they would definitely not have the heart to see you suffer these grievances."

Rou'er wiped her tears and said: "Leng Butou, if you can listen to me say these words, I am already very grateful to you."

Even with Zhu Mingyue's lessons learned, Wu Qinyang still didn't know how to deal with the girl's heartfelt gratitude, so he changed the subject and said, "You just said that the lady gave Mu Xiang's family a large sum of money?"

Rou'er nodded and said: "Yes... If I were Mu Xiang, seeing such a large sum of money in front of me, and thinking about my mother's illness and my younger brother's study... I think I might also go to dance Well."

Wu Qinyang said: "What about Master Yang and Da Furen? How is the relationship between them?"

Rou'er said: "The relationship between Master and Madam is actually not very good, but on the surface they are still very harmonious. Master's younger brother is a high-ranking official in other places, but it is said that he has the opportunity to become an official because of the financial support from Madam's natal family, so Over the years, the master has always been very polite to his wife, and the reason why he accepted the second concubine at the beginning was because the wife has never had children, I heard all this from the old man in the mansion."

Wu Qinyang said: "What about the others? What about their relationship?"

Rou'er said: "The second aunt and madam have been at odds. It's no secret in the mansion. The second aunt thinks that she gave birth to a son, and the wife only gave birth to a daughter. The young lady always wants to marry off, so she I have always wanted the young master to be a legitimate heir, not just the son of a concubine, but the master will not allow it. Madam has a lot of status in the mansion, and she arranged me to be next to the young master...in fact, she just wanted to know when the young master Mistakes. But the young master's reputation is very bad... It's better at home than outside. Although the master keeps scolding him, he still treats him better than the young lady. After the young lady went to school, she seemed to be a different person. Mu Xiang and the young lady Get along day and night, the lady will teach her how to write, who knows... But the lady loves the lady very much, so she is particularly opposed to the lady participating in any school activities. The lady thinks that if this continues, something will happen sooner or later, but the lady doesn't listen to her and often sneaks out. Go to the street with those classmates to distribute leaflets."

The content of Rou'er's narration is roughly consistent with the news that Xuan Jue inquired about, and the conflict between the eldest lady and the second concubine is also basically clear, so Wu Qinyang quickly changed his mind and continued to ask: "Then do you remember the theater troupe?" During the two days when the accident happened, what were the people in the mansion doing? Or is there anything that makes you feel abnormal?"

Rou'er said: "The two days when the troupe had an accident?"

Wu Qinyang said: "Yes, not necessarily after the incident, you should think about it carefully."

Rou'er thought for a while and said: "Actually, it can't be said to be abnormal, but a few things happened. The young master likes Sister Wen who sings Tsing Yi in the Wen family class very much, so he often sends her some gold and silver jewelry, some of which are big The young master bought it with his own money, and some took it directly from the dressing table of the second aunt, but Sister Wen kept ignoring the young master, and the young master was not angry, and continued to give her things. Later, the young master said it was his own The gift was not good enough, so Sister Wen kept ignoring him. When the master was not at home, she sneaked into the master's room and stole the bracelet from the family. The day before the accident, she went to the theater troupe and gave it to Wen. Sister, but Sister Wen still ignores him."

Wu Qinyang thought to himself that this is the so-called "what you can't get is the best", women's rejection seems to make men more likely to have the desire to conquer, if Wen Yingying obeyed Young Master Yang from the beginning, some would only It is the story of a dandy and a heartless man, and it will never be related to this confusing murder case.Wu Qinyang sighed in his heart, and continued: "What happened that night? Do you remember?"

Rou'er said: "That evening, the master found that the bracelet was missing, and asked the housekeeper to know that the young master had been here before, so he kept holding back his anger and waited for the young master to come back. After the young master came back, he called him directly to the study. After that, the two of them Then a quarrel broke out. The master was furious and ordered the young master to be locked up in the firewood room in the backyard, saying that no one should release him privately, otherwise he would be locked up with the young master. The master knew that my wife had arranged for the young master to serve me. I didn’t make things difficult for me, and then I took a group of people to the troupe. As soon as the master left, someone went to the firewood room to report to the young master, and the young master asked someone to unlock it for him. He ran out of the mansion before the master came back. I went to the theatrical troupe. The master went there for less than an hour, and he didn’t seem very happy after he came back. He didn’t ask about the young master, so he went back to his room to rest. It wasn’t until the young master was sent back by the people in the tavern early the next morning that the master didn’t know Last night, the young master ran out of the firewood room and immediately started the family law, and then Ye Butou and the others came."

Wu Qinyang said, "What about Miss Yang?"

Rou'er said: "Miss went to bed very early that day, saying that she was not feeling well, and later Mu Xiang told me that it was Miss who told her to say that, that Miss suddenly decided to go out quietly and asked Mu Xiang to help her hide it. Mu Xiang thought she was going out to meet those classmates again, so she didn't say anything until Miss Midnight ran back in a panic, plus what happened during the day the next day..."

Wu Qinyang felt that he suddenly thought of something, and quickly interrupted her: "Then does she know about your young master stealing the bracelet?"

Rou'er said: "You mean Miss?" Seeing Wu Qinyang nodded, he replied, "You should know, the master got very angry that day, and the lady only said that she was uncomfortable later. We all thought The lady wanted to hide from the master, but the master was always angry with the young master, and he didn't care about the lady at all."

Wu Qinyang finally figured out what he hadn't been able to understand. A very bold and practical conjecture emerged in his mind, which can be said to be the most reasonable explanation he can think of so far.He looked into Rou'er's eyes, his expression suddenly became a little serious, Rou'er was frightened by his eyes, subconsciously bit her lips, and said hesitantly: "Leng Butou, what's wrong with you?"

Wu Qinyang said: "It's nothing." I still feel that I have to ask something.He said slowly: "Then let me ask you one last question. Did the eldest lady tell you that no matter who asks you, you must link the eldest young master's abnormality with Wen Yingying's matter?"

Rou'er was surprised when she heard the words: "You...how did you know?!"