Nongmen Shenjue

The two detectives left earlier were reporting to Mullin about the situation.

Mu Qingyan came to the dilapidated house by investigating the scene of the fire.

Today is April 28, and the fire happened on the night of the 25th——

The farmer eats dinner early, and as soon as it gets dark, the dishes and chopsticks in the kitchen are cleared away.The Fan family has a large courtyard and many houses, usually full of people, but now that Fan Lixuan has gone to the county town, his two daughters have gone to his grandfather's house, and there are three people left in the family, so it feels very empty.

There was only Bi Tao, a maidservant in the kitchen. After cleaning the dishes and tidying up the kitchen, she wanted to boil hot water for washing.

There are two stoves in the kitchen, one big and one small, and the stoves are connected. When cooking in the big pot, the small pot must be filled with water, otherwise the pot will be burned dry.Of course, the setting of the farmhouse is also to save trouble. The small pot usually cooks something, or directly uses hot water, and only needs to use the fire of a stove.

If it's another house, the hot water in a small pot is enough to wash hands, face and feet, but Bitao has to use a large pot to boil a pot of water every night.

After all, Mrs. She is a young lady of a squire's family. Regardless of food and clothing, she has to pay a lot of attention to her daily habits.Now that the weather is getting hotter, I have to bathe in hot water every day, and the water is not enough.

Bitao first brought hot water to Papa Fan.

Then Father Fan washed it himself, and didn't want Bitao to clean it up. He poured out the dirty water and put the wooden basin against the wall.

Just when he was about to enter the house, Father Fan seemed to have thought of something, walked outside the kitchen door and asked, "Is Madam Xuan better? How was the dinner? If it's really not good, don't be bored and just ask the doctor to come and have a look." .”

Bi Tao hurriedly came out and replied: "The lady is still sick, she only took a few mouthfuls of dinner, she just said she was lazy and upset. I asked the doctor to take a look, but the lady refused, saying that the medicine hadn't been taken before, and I would talk about it after I finished eating." .”

Father Fan sighed and went back to the house.

Because of these words, Bi Tao couldn't help sighing slightly when she thought of She's recent situation.Calculated, she is She's dowry maid, so the master and servant are naturally close, but in fact, her current position in the Fan family is a bit awkward.

She married into Fan's family at the age of 16, when Bitao was 13 years old, now seven years later, Bitao is 20 years old.

For a dowry maid like her, there are generally two ways out, either to be a concubine for the uncle, or to hire someone outside.If you want to hire outsiders, you should mention it two years earlier. A woman's flowering period does not wait for anyone. For a maid like her, it is two years later, and the latest is no more than 20 years old, otherwise it will be difficult to marry.

Bi Tao hasn't talked about marriage now, but she hasn't been a concubine either.

In the third year of She's entry, when she already had sister Xuan, She proposed to let Fan Lixuan take over Bitao's house.Fan Lixuan refused, saying that the farming family didn't have so many rules and only wanted the husband and wife to be together.She's naturally happy, the placement of Bitao was originally suggested by She's mother, so why is she willing in her heart.Seeing her husband rejecting her now, and speaking so clearly, she felt that she had married the right person.

However, three years ago, Fan Lixuan was selected as a scholar, and rumors arose in the village.

That year, the Fan family had a double happiness, not only Fan Lixuan was a scholar, but also got a daughter, but it was this second daughter who pushed the She family to the forefront.In the few years since she started her career, She has given birth to two children, both girls, so she has been talked about by others.If it was an ordinary peasant household, it was just talking, but the Fan family was different. Fan Lixuan was a scholar, and it was recognized that he would be an official in the future. He was also the only male in the Fan family, but he had no son for a long time.

For those who are jealous or good things, it is inevitable to say that Mrs. She is not virtuous. She clearly has a maid by her side, but she is jealous and refuses to take over the house.There were also rumors of non-existence, whether intentional or unintentional, which had a great impact on the She family.

Mrs. She had to mention Bitao's taking over the house again.

Fan Lixuan refused again, and said that he would marry Bi Tao so as not to delay her.

She felt touched and relieved, but also bitter and embarrassed.

At that time, the elders of the Fan family had approached her, including her mother's parents, and they all told her that Bitao was taken over for the sake of her children, and her reputation was good.He also said that in the future, Fan Lixuan will definitely be admitted to the Jinshi examination and become an official. It will be a matter of time before he accepts a concubine. Instead of having a strange woman, it is better to let Bitao take the position first. Heart.

Mrs. She also knew that Father Fan was looking forward to a grandson, and was very disappointed to have two granddaughters in succession.Father Fan is not good at talking about taking concubines. First, father-in-law is not good at interfering in the affairs of his son and daughter-in-law's house. Second, the She family is kind to the Fan family. Father Fan can't open his mouth. Third, he was born in a farming family. I have that thought in my heart, but I also feel that taking concubines is not the way of their ancestors.

It was also in this situation that Shi She was pregnant again, and now she couldn't do without Bitao.

After all, the fetus was not saved.

Since she lost her baby, Mrs. She has been losing weight day by day, her sick face is difficult to recover, and her mind is full of worries.

Bi Tao dared not say that she had no thoughts about Fan Lixuan, but after all these years, she understood that even if she really wanted to take a concubine in the future, Fan Lixuan would never choose her.Now she only hopes that Mrs. She will recover from her illness, find a kind and wealthy family for herself, and live in peace and stability.

Bitao scooped the hot water from the cauldron into a clean wooden barrel, carried it through the grape trellis, and entered the main room.

The main room is one bright and two dark, with the hall in the middle, Fan Lixuan's study on the east, and the bedroom on the west.

"Miss, the hot water is here." Bi Tao said, pushing open the door and entering.

The door was originally hung with a bamboo curtain, it is hot in summer, it is cooler to use the bamboo curtain to ventilate, not to mention there is a door outside, it is safe and sound.In the past, bamboo curtains were used in summer, but since last year, Mrs. She has made sure to close the door of the room tightly, thinking that the bamboo curtains are not private enough.

From Bitao's point of view, the She family has changed a bit in the past two years. For example, things like bamboo curtains are trivial things, but they are just weird.

There is a screen in the room, and there is a bathtub behind the screen. Bi Tao mixed the hot and cold water, prepared the bath towels and other things, and then closed the door and went out.In the past, Mrs. She asked her to wipe her back, but now she has changed it, and she is not required to be in the room at all when taking a bath.And every time I take a bath, I can wash for half an hour, and the water is cold.

At the beginning, Bi Tao had to urge her three or five times, but later she simply prepared more hot water and asked Mrs. She to add water by herself.

Half an hour later, Mrs. She called her in the house, and Bi Tao went in to clean the bathtub.

It was another half an hour after Bi Tao finished her work and lay down on the bed.

There are two wing rooms on the right, one is where sister Xuan lives, and the other is where Bitao brings her little sister Zhi.Bi Tao is constantly busy every day, and she is really tired. The two little girls are not here, so she is relieved.

Lying on the bed, Bi Tao fell asleep in a short while.

The lights on Father Fan's side had long since gone out, only the light on the window of She's bedroom was still on.

After taking a bath, Mrs. She didn't go to sleep, instead she was dressed neatly and came out of the bedroom holding the lamp.She went to the study room, put the lamp on the desk, spread out a piece of paper, ground and dipped the pen, and wrote the word "Husband", the tip of the pen hovered and did not move for a long time, but a few tears fell on the paper unexpectedly.

She regained her senses, crumpled the paper into a ball, and wrote it again, but still only wrote the word "Husband"...

She was sobbing at her desk, she didn't dare to cry out loud, she cried in a suppressed way, but the night was extremely quiet, the crying could be heard clearly.However, Fan's family lived far away, Father Fan was in the old house, and Bi Tao was sleeping soundly again, no one noticed.

After a long time, She spread out the paper again, and this time the writing went smoothly, almost in one go.

——Yueying has a shame, Yueying has a loss, she has no face to see her husband, and she has no face to live anymore.I hope that my husband will take good care of her, so that she can raise sister Xuan and sister Zhi to adults, and fulfill Yueying's filial piety to her parents. In the future, my husband will go to high school and marry a virtuous and good wife.Yueying's masterpiece!

This last letter was not long, but it did not explain specific things, but it could see She's true emotions.

Pressing the last letter on the table with a ruler, She held up the lamp and returned to the bedroom.

There is a round table in the bedroom, covered with a simple and elegant tablecloth, and a tea tray on it.Before going to bed, Bitao brings a pot of hot tea in case She's thirsty at night.Mrs. She took a teacup and poured a cup of boiled water. She didn't put tea leaves in the tea at night, for fear of affecting her sleep.

While the water was still hot, She went to the dressing table, opened the small dowry drawer, and took out a wrapped silk handkerchief. When she opened it, she found a piece of something that looked like wood but not wood, which looked like medicinal materials, and it cost about half a dollar.

She threw the thing into the teacup, sat there, and stared at it quietly.

After an unknown amount of time, the tea changed color. She picked up the teacup and drank it all in one gulp. Finally, she picked up the unknown medicinal material, raised her neck, put it into her mouth and swallowed forcefully.Probably very uncomfortable, She wanted to vomit, but covered her mouth desperately, poured tea again, and drank two cups in a row.

She lay down on the bed, arranged her clothes and hair, covered the quilt, and closed her eyes.

Not long after, she got up and lay down beside the bed, vomiting out the dirt.She clutched her heart, her face turned pale, her breathing was short, and she fell on her back on the bed, tears streaming down her face in pain.At first she rolled over on the bed, but soon became immobile, with occasional twitches that suggested she was still alive.

The candles on the table had burned to the end, and there was only a little residual wax left, but the wax wick was quite long, and it fell down after burning.The table was covered with a tablecloth, and it caught fire when it caught fire...

The fire gradually grew bigger, the table was not far from the bed, and soon burned to the bed curtain, and the flames rushed quickly.

How can She care about the changes in the outside world, although people are not dead, they are not far from death.

She's bed was a canopy bed brought in as a dowry, and when the flames sprang up, the bed frame became a fire cage.There were quilts, pillows and other things on the bed, all of which were extremely burnt, and quickly engulfed She Shi...

She did not cry out, and was burned to death in a coma.

Originally, she should have committed suicide by taking poison, but for some unknown reason, she vomited most of the medicine she swallowed, which may have reduced the dose of the medicine, delayed the death time, or slowed down the toxicity.Because I don't know what kind of medicine she took, and how strong the toxicity is, but the fire was indeed an accident, and in the end She did indeed die due to the fire.

When the fire swept through the three rooms of the main house, Father Fan seemed to wake up at night and found that the window was extraordinarily bright.When I came out in amazement, I found that the new house was on fire and shouted.

For She Shi, it was too late.