Nongmen Shenjue

The sleet continued intermittently for a day or two. Due to the difficulty of the road, it was delayed for another two or three days, and finally we set off again.I was lucky in the second half of the journey, the weather gradually cleared up, and it was the end of November when I arrived at Tianning Mansion smoothly.

The magistrate Li He hosted a banquet to meet the wind.

Li He was nearly sixty years old, very fat, with gray and thinning hair, he treated Pang Zhong and Wen Mingyu very flattering and enthusiastic, and was also very kind to Chen Shiliu, but Chen Shiliu was very impatient with the way he treated his nephew in the next generation.As for the others, Li He didn't think he would be negligent, so he greeted everyone with a smiling face, and let the eldest son and the master go to be careful.

Listening to Li He and his son's conversation, they would talk about Concubine Li Gui in three or five sentences, which made people tired.

Sitting together with Lin Jia and Yuan Cheng, Mu Qingyan was not seen by the Li family, but he was clean.

After the banquet, Pang Zhong thanked the Li family for their accommodation, and led the team to Wanxia County.The county magistrate of Wanxia County has already received the news and is ready for the reception.This time they lived in no other place, but Honghua Villa, which was independent, had many rooms, and was convenient for investigation.

The houses are distributed one by one, which is more relaxed than last time.

Only Mu Qingyan and his entourage lived in the small courtyard, and each person lived in a room, which also benefited from Chen Shiliu's favor.Lin Jia and Yuan Cheng live in the small courtyard next door, and Wen Mingyu lives in the small courtyard on the right.The servants left behind in Honghua Villa were all gathered together, and the security of the courtyard was in charge of the imperial guards. Pang Zhong assigned tasks in the hall that night and summarized them every night.

As guessed, Mu Qingyan and Lin Jiayuan Cheng were separated into one place.

In fact, the investigation does not require so many people, at least not so many officials. The collection of various clues and evidence is coordinated by the local yamen.The task Pang Zhong gave them was simple and simple, and it might just take a little effort.Their task is to continue to investigate and visit the local area, to confirm the action trajectory of Li Ziying and others, and to find the insiders of Li Ziying and others' night travel.

As for Pang Zhong and others, they went to investigate the official road to find traces.

Wen Mingyu assigned half of the guards to follow Pang Zhong, and left with the rest.

Pang Zhong didn't care about it, and the others didn't dare to inquire about it no matter how curious they were.

Although Mu Qingyan and the others were assigned the same task, they still had a division of labor.Yuan Cheng went to the county town. Although Li Ziying didn't disappear in the county town, every time he entered the city, he would go to the brothel. There were prostitutes he knew, so maybe he could get some clues.Lin Jia then went to the nearest village to try to find someone who knew.Mu Qingyan stayed in the villa and questioned the servants in the villa again.

"I don't know what my cousin is doing." Chen Shiliu muttered softly.

Last night, Chen Shiliu ran to find Wen Mingyu. Although he came back after a long time, his expression was not happy.But he also knows that there are many things Wen Mingyu can't say, and he shouldn't ask, so even if he scratches his heart and lungs, after getting a look, he can only calm down.

Mu Qingyan asked casually: "How did your cousin join the God Detective Division?"

There are too many taboos involved in a place like Shenzhusi, even if there is no express regulation, but in fact, there are basically no official backgrounds, let alone the children of such a big family as the Chen family.Most of the people who entered the God Detective Division were orphans trained since childhood, or civilians and people from the world.These people have no ties, they handle things more neatly, and it is easier for the emperor to control them.

"Oh, this has something to do with my cousin's life experience. My cousin's mother is my grandmother's niece. His father was born in a poor family in the imperial examination. Many people in the officialdom, some people used Jianghu people to kill the Wen family, and my cousin escaped by chance. Originally, my parents wanted to take him home, but by chance, he paid homage to the previous young master of the Tianquan Department As a teacher, I directly entered the God Detective Division."

Wen Jixue understood Mu Qingyan's question, and explained: "There are some special cases like Wen Mingyu. Although he is related to the Chen family, they are too far apart, and he never grew up in the Chen family."

Indeed, Wen Mingyu called Mrs. Chen "Aunt and Grandma". The so-called married and followed her husband, the Wen family and the Chen family were separated by a natal family.In ancient times, transportation was inconvenient, and it was normal for such distant relatives not to see each other for a few years. Even if they moved around for the purpose of connecting with each other or benefiting, it would be too polite for them.

For the Chen family, there are many relatives like Wen Mingyu, and it is only because of Mrs. Chen's seniority that he is different.As for Chen Shiliu, his closeness to Wen Mingyu was purely because of his longing for the god arrester and the relationship he developed with Wen Mingyu indirectly.

The internal rules and regulations of the God Detective Division are very strict, but it is not uncommon to try to insert nails into the palace. It seems that many people still cannot resist the temptation to bury nails in the palace knowing that they cannot spy on the traces of the emperor.

The questioning of the servants went smoothly. These people have been questioned several times by the Li family and the county government.

"Tell me about Mr. Li's first time out at night."

Li Ziying and his party stayed in a small county town for two years. On weekdays, they either ate wine and had fun in the county town, or hunted in the Qulin. This was very unusual, so unusual.In terms of this kind of fun, how can there be any enjoyment in the capital? Why go to Wanxia County on purpose?Furthermore, they go out on horseback every month, choose to avoid people's eyes and ears at night, and don't know their whereabouts and purpose. I'm afraid this is the root cause of Li Ziying and others' reluctance to leave Wanxia County.

Pang Zhong and others went to the official road to investigate, also to investigate this.

Being idle is also idle, and Mu Qingyan is also somewhat interested. With his supernatural ability, maybe he can really spy out some of the truth.

The one who answered the question was the butler named Lai Xing, who was also sent by the Li family.

This is not the first time for Lai Xing to answer, and he replied in a very cooperative manner with his head bowed and solemn eyes: "The third young master came in the autumn of the year before last. At the beginning, he spent more time drinking and having fun in Fucheng County. The third young master has many friends, and it is very lively every day. At the beginning of October, that is, on the night of the ninth day of the lunar new year, there was a neighing sound from the stable, and many people were heard going out through the back door. During the day, the third young master sent someone to say that he would go out for a few days. I didn’t dare to inquire about it. The third young master has strict rules, and always holds a whip in his hand, even if the girl makes a mistake, he will not take it lightly. The third young master went away and didn't come back until the night of October 25."

Although Li Ziying is the eldest son, he is not the eldest son. He has two older brothers who were concubines.It can be seen from this that before Concubine Li was favored, the Li family's inner house was also a mess.

Mu Qingyan asked again: "How many people did Mr. Li bring?"

"The two guards and two entourages around the third young master have gone, and the other three young masters also brought two people with them, and there are ten nurses, a cook, and two handymen."

Mu Qingyan asked again: "When you come back, are there any people there? Are there any fewer people?"

Lai Xing's face changed slightly, and he squeezed out a little smile at the end, trying to hide his panic: "This...it seems not too much, and it's not too little. It's been too long, and I really don't remember clearly. Besides, the matter of the third young master , we are servants, we really dare not take care of it.”

Probably no one had asked this question before, and Lai Xing was caught off guard.

This person's behavior shows that he does know something.

Chen Shiliu sneered: "Butler Lai, you haven't figured out the situation yet, have you? Because your third young master is missing, the emperor even sent an imperial envoy here. Not to mention anything else, if the third young master can't find it, let alone If you are a servant, even the Li family will not be able to do well."

Lai Xing turned pale.

He has been in the Li family for many years, so he knows nothing about the situation of the Li family, so he knows that these words are not alarmist.

"Mr. Chen, I'm all confused! Let me tell you the truth, don't be as knowledgeable as I am." Lai Xing pleaded guilty, slapped himself, and said with an apologetic smile and a bitter face, "It's not true. I deliberately concealed it, no one asked about this matter, and it has been a long time, I don’t remember clearly, so I dare not answer vaguely.”

Chen Shiliu waved his hand: "Have you figured it out now?"

Lai Xing nodded again and again: "Think clearly, think clearly. That time when the third young master came back, he didn't feel that something was wrong at first, but later he found that two handymen were missing. I asked Liu Yishou, and Liu Yishou was the cook who went with him When Liu Yishou saw me asking, he seemed very scared and trembling all over. He said that the two handymen had dirty hands and feet and secretly hid the jade pendant of the third young master. The third young master wanted to punish them severely, so the two fled. It's the Li family's son, the third young master asked me to say hello to the master, and he just said that he would not pursue it, so the master appeased the handyman father and mother, and treated the two as escaped slaves."

Lai Xing felt something was wrong about this matter, and Li He definitely knew it was wrong, but they were unwilling to delve into it.No matter what happened to the two handymen, whether they were alive or dead, they were two lowly people whose lives were worthless. Is it worth offending Li Ziying?Even Li He, the father, had to rely on Concubine Li for benefits, and had to coax his own son.

"Where's Liu Yishou?"

Lai Xing sighed: "Every time the third young master goes out, he must take Liu Yishou with him, and this time is the same."

Therefore, Liu Yishou disappeared.

"In the past two years, Mr. Li has gone out a lot at night. Has the same thing happened again?"

Lai Xing understood what he meant, and he often murmured and guessed in his heart, only out of dangerous intuition, he dared not speak out, even if Mrs. Li asked, he would not take the initiative to mention these things.

"There have never been more people, but occasionally there will be fewer people." Lai Xing hesitated, and then said: "Those ten nursing homes occasionally come back with injuries. This is why I accidentally heard a nursing home complain, but they said it Very tight, never mentioned going out, and when they came back, their injuries should be healed, at least I didn’t see them using wound medicine, and there were no wounds. The nursing hospital calculated that there were less than five people, and five people were repaired The third young master said to the outside world that the five people were sent out by him on errands, and he gave a sum of money to the five people's families to appease them."

"Does Prefect Li know about this?"

"Master knows."

Mu Qingyan understood that since Li He knew, the Li family might not have investigated, but Li He didn't mention it at all during the reception banquet.Furthermore, as an imperial envoy, is Pang Zhong ignorant of this?And Wen Mingyu who disappeared...

I had already guessed that Li Ziying and the others did not do good things in Wanxia County, but obviously I still underestimated them.