Nongmen Shenjue

Mu Qingyan couldn't help frowning. Some anomalies in the Fan family and suspicious points about She's body made them think that the fire might be man-made, but they didn't know it was an accidental fire.On the contrary, the She family took advantage of Fan Lixuan's visit to the county seat and sent the two daughters to her natal family on purpose.Looking at the poison she secretly hid, she already had the desire to seek death.

Recalling that last letter, combined with She's situation in Fan's family, the first guess is that She gave birth to two daughters in a row, and then suffered a fetal injury, so she felt guilty and blamed herself. Maybe there was also a lot of external pressure. For a while, I got into a dead end.

He remembered the death of Zhu Han's wife, Tong Shi.

However, Tong's guilt is only secondary, the main reason is that she may no longer be able to bear children after being injured. Zhu Han treated her in every possible way, but she felt that she could not repay her, and her emotions collapsed after accumulating.

She and Tong are in a different situation. Even if She has two daughters, she is only 23 years old and has a harmonious relationship with Fan Lixuan. If she continues to conceive, she still has a good chance of having a child.Furthermore, it has been three years since Mrs. She gave birth to her next daughter. At that time, Mrs. She was criticized, but with Fan Lixuan's support, she survived and successfully conceived her third child.That is to say, the third child failed to give birth smoothly, and since then, the root cause of the disease has fallen, and the lingering illness has never been cured.

Could it be that the crux lies in the third child?

Seeing Fan Lixuan's sister-in-law in the kitchen alone, Mu Qingyan walked in.

"Mr. Mu, what do you want?" Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law seemed to be distracted, she was very restrained when she saw someone coming in, and hurriedly greeted her.

"I just want to ask something. Is She's lost baby a boy or a girl?" She lost it when she was five or six months pregnant. .Furthermore, after five or six months, the gender of the fetus can also be seen.

"This..." Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law took a look at him, sighed deeply, and said very sadly: "It's a boy, what a pity."

"It's been five or six months, how could something happen?"

"Who knows. I see that her fetal image is good, her complexion is good, she doesn't need to work, and she eats well. I don't know how enviable she is. She also has a good temper. Our family is close and we are close relatives." , frequent visits, I told her not to sit all the time, move more, and save effort during childbirth.

She has also given birth to two, and knows everything. She often walks in the yard, but she doesn't go to the village very much.The road in the village is uneven and there are many livestock, so it is naturally dirty. How can she get off her feet wearing such beautiful embroidered shoes?Besides, she is a lady from a squire's family after all, and she always feels that it is not good to go out with her belly out.Although it is exquisite, it doesn't hinder anything. She is kind and generous, and she is willing to associate with anyone. Often, sisters-in-law and daughters-in-law go to her to talk and do needlework when they are free. "

She wiped her tears as she said, "My cousin and daughter-in-law are really good people, why is God so hard-nosed? I also blame me, if I hadn't been nagging her all the time, she wouldn't have stumbled and fallen."

Mu Qingyan glanced at Fan's courtyard, and asked again: "This courtyard is very flat, why did she fall?"

When building a new house, the yards on both sides of the old and new were compacted, and the ground was very flat.In order to make it easier to walk in rainy days, green bricks were used to pave cross paths. There are small paths in front of the old and new houses, leading to the kitchen.The edges of the trails are also flawless, touching the compacted ground with only half an inch of drop.

Could it be that Mrs. She accidentally tripped over it?

But I heard Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law say: "I didn't fall in the courtyard. There were visitors at home that day, and the second uncle went to the neighboring village to buy meat. Bitao took two little nieces to my house to play, and brought me a few feet of silk cloth by the way. Yue Ying is a caring person. Once I heard that my little Xing'er was envious of the beauty of silk cloth, so she specially sent her a few feet of cut clothes.

Yueying is a woman, she is pregnant, and the guest can't make her tired, so Lixuan led the guest to the orchard.Yueying is not idle at home, thinking about cooking to entertain guests.It was autumn, and every household had a vegetable garden, which was rich in melons and fruits. There were also a few croissants planted in her garden, and the tender ones were picked for stir-frying, which were fresh and delicious.

Picking a croissant doesn't need to bend over, and it's not heavy. It's just a few steps away from the edge of the garden, and she went with the basket.Unexpectedly, she fell, she said she didn't see the road clearly and stepped on a stone, and the result was such a fall that the formed male fetus fell off.

Now, not only was she tired from crying, but my second cousin also had a gray face, and the first month or two at home was dull.Perhaps because of this, Yueying felt that it was her fault, she had a heart disease, she was born and hurt her body, she couldn't take care of it, sometimes it was mild and sometimes it was serious, and it hasn't healed until now. "

Speaking of this matter now, Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law is still full of regret.

It is conceivable that when She's accidental pregnancy, the family and the family were under a lot of pressure, and it is not difficult to understand the depression.

However, Fan Lixuan and his wife entertained the visitors solemnly, but Father Fan was so laborious that he went to buy the meat himself.

"Then who is the customer? How can I ask Old Man Fan to buy the meat himself?" As for running errands, it is reasonable for the younger generation to do it.

Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law said: "It's not my second cousin's attention. This is a distinguished guest. Lixuan originally proposed to buy meat, but the second uncle stopped him. He didn't know what to say to the customer, and it was awkward to sit with each other. Anyway, go There are not many roads in the neighboring village, and there happened to be an ox cart, so I went there in a sitting. The guest was a nobleman from Fucheng. Lixuan and his family built a new house, which was the money borrowed by the other party. Come and collect, the price is not low."

"The eldest son of the Qiu family in Fucheng?" Mu Qingyan remembered what Mu Lin had just mentioned.

"Yes, it's Mr. Qiu. He has a good relationship with Lixuan. He lives in Lixuan's house every year when he comes to collect fruit. Lixuan is studying in Fucheng. Mr. Qiu found the place for him." Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law was very impressed with Mr. Qiu. good.

According to this, Fan Lixuan and Mr. Qiu must not be ordinary friends, but a very close relationship.

He doesn't know the Qiu family in Fucheng, let alone what kind of person the eldest son of the Qiu family is.

With a thought in his heart, he asked casually: "Something happened to the Fan family, is Mr. Qiu here?"

Sister-in-law Fan Jiatang shook her head: "No, the people who came here were all Lixuan's friends in the county seat. They don't know how far away the prefecture is. Besides, Lixuan... Well, with his current state, he never thought of going outside to report a funeral. Friends from the county seat I heard about it nearby, otherwise who would know.”

It also makes sense.

Mu Qingyan was thinking about it, and unexpectedly saw Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law hesitate to speak.

"What does sister-in-law Fan want to ask?" Mu Qingyan took the initiative to ask, mainly because he found that the other party was very cooperative in answering the question.Generally speaking, people like to talk about gossip, but they are taboo about dead people's gossip, especially Mrs. She is her cousin and daughter-in-law, and they usually have a good relationship. For women and Taoists in ancient times, too much talk is a bad reputation. Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law has no reason , will not tell outsiders about the dead cousin and daughter-in-law.

It's the same even if it's a Yamen catcher.

Mu Qingyan guessed that Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law knew about "Mu Qingyan", so she must have a plan for how to cooperate.

Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law was a little nervous, hesitated for a moment, and asked in a low voice: "Yueying...I mean, my second cousin is an honest person, Lixuan is a scholar, Yueying is also good-tempered, and has never married anyone. Qiu, could this fire be set by Yueying herself? She is suffering in her heart, I know, maybe she can't think about it for a while..."

Although it is a fact that She's seeking death and the fire was an accident, as a relative of the deceased, Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law should not say it even if she has this idea in her heart.After all, it's just a guess. What if someone really set the fire on purpose?Wu Zuo's investigation results were already known, and anyone who heard it felt that She's death was strange, so member She also sadly asked the county government to track down the murderer and avenge her daughter.

Mu Qingyan asked back: "Does the Fan family think so?"

Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law quickly shook her head, a little flustered to explain: "No, no, this is my own idea. Mr. Mu, don't take it to heart, I'm just a woman, I don't understand the truth, it's nonsense."

"Second brother!" Mu Lin called him outside.

Mu Qingyan came out of the kitchen: "Brother, are you done asking?"

"Except for Fan Lixuan, everyone has finished asking. How is your observation? What did you find?" Mu Lin asked.

Mu Qingyan thought for a while, and told about She's pregnancy, and said: "Just now, Fan Jiatang's sister-in-law asked me if She would set herself on fire."

"Why does she think so?" Mu Lin frowned: "If she had guessed this way two days earlier, it would have been fine. Now who doesn't know She was burned alive."

After all, Wu Zuo's survey can't go wrong, burning after death and burning alive are two completely different results.

"It is estimated that the Fan family wants to close the case early, and it is best to close the case by accidental fire." Seeing that Mu Lin was puzzled, Mu Qingyan reminded: "Don't forget, Fan Lixuan is a scholar, a scholar, and the Fan family is counting on him to become an official in the future. , to shine on the lintel."

Mu Lin frowned deeper, then slowly relaxed, and sighed: "That's true."

This kind of thing is not difficult to understand.

The case has not been settled for a long time, and the matter of the Fan family will always be discussed by others, which will have a very bad influence.If Mrs. She died in an accidental fire, outsiders would only express their regret, but if Mrs. She was killed by someone, the nature is completely different.

People would suspect what the She family, or Fan Lixuan and even the Fan family had done to arouse such hatred.If the murderer hated the She family, the death of a young woman would inevitably be exaggerated and spread all kinds of false stories. If the murderer hated Fan Lixuan, it would have a great impact on him.Just looking at Fan Lixuan's distraught appearance, he might be greatly stimulated and devastated by She's death, how could the Fan family not be worried.

In this way, it is reasonable for the Fan family to want to close the case as soon as possible so that the impact of this incident will gradually fade away.

"Second brother, what do you think?" Mu Lin asked the She family father and son in detail. He asked a lot of miscellaneous questions, but he didn't get any valuable clues.

Mu Qingyan couldn't directly tell Mu Lin that the last letter left by the She family was burned in the fire, and based on the things he found, there was always the possibility of arson.

"It's hard to say. Brother, you might as well ask the maid, Bitao. She is the person who has been with She the longest and closest. Maybe she can provide some clues that outsiders don't know." The source of the "poison" hidden by Shi.

If this point is clarified, combined with She's experience, the case can be determined.