Nongmen Shenjue

Mu Qingyan wondered about Mother Tao's anomalies, such as what was hidden on her body when she left the Yang family?For example, the poisoning has already succeeded, why do you want to stay, just to hang people up and fake the cause of death?No, this one doesn't make sense.

He suddenly asked Yang Rusong: "Is there any loss of the bride's belongings?"

"I don't know." Yang Rusong smiled wearily, "When something like this happened, the house was in chaos, and I, I didn't think of anything else. Does it matter?"

"Let's take an inventory." This is just a guess, it's hard to say whether it's useful or not.

Yang Rusong called Caiju and asked her to take out the dowry list and check them one by one.

After checking, Caiju showed panic: "There are few things, jewelry, and the dowry gift from the Yang family included two sets of gold-faced noodles with twelve things. Uncle Liu prepared two sets of silver-faced noodles. The bride price was 160 six taels, and Uncle Liu added another 20 taels, all of which were used as money for the young mistress. These things are gone, only the empty box is left.”

Although Yang Rusong was angry when he heard this, he really didn't have that much energy to spend on the loss of property.

"The things are stored in the box without a lock?" Mu Qingyan confirmed.

Cai Ju looked ashamed: "There was a lock originally, but the eldest young mistress let me open it. She wanted to remove the headgear and prepare what I needed tomorrow. Then I made a mistake and forgot to lock it."

It seems that Mother Tao stole property after killing people.

Mother Tao's behavior is easy to understand. Her son Tao Peng is addicted to gambling, no matter how much money he makes, it is not enough to spend.Even if she was frightened after killing Liu Yunzhi, after killing someone, she would definitely not be able to resist the temptation when faced with the easy-to-get property.

Thinking of this, he asked Yang Rusong: "These things in the dowry should have been stolen by Tao's mother. Did the police find anything at Tao's house?"

Yang Rusong shook his head: "The case will be tried tomorrow, but I have inquired with the police, and I have never heard of any property."

"It's best to look for it." Mu Qingyan said again: "Does the head jewelry in the dowry have a special mark?"

"Yes." Yang Rusong nodded hurriedly, "I made head and face jewelry at Xiangruizhai in Fucheng. His family's craftsmanship is passed down from generation to generation, and the patterns are also unique and exquisite. After the jewelry is finished, it will be stamped with his family's logo, which is a piece of auspicious clouds. In addition , and also engraved a word 'Yang'."

"Look for it at Tao's house first, and if you don't have it, go to a pawnshop, gambling shop or other places to see if anyone has sold these jewelry." Seeing that the other party was puzzled, Mu Qingyan said: "You ask me to continue to investigate, and you also think There are a lot of unanswered questions, right? The police went to Tao’s house last night, but Tao’s mother and son were not there at that time. Butcher Liu later went to seek revenge, but mother and son were at home together. So, during this period of time, Tao’s mother and son Where?"

Yang Rusong let out a long breath, extremely exhausted: "Boss Jiang catcher also said this, but..."

Boss Jiang Buer told him that according to years of experience in handling cases, if there is a problem, it may be difficult to investigate it in depth, and it will take a lot of energy and time.Another point is that the county magistrate will not be willing, especially when the case can be perfectly closed in the future, that little doubt will be erased, and the county magistrate does not need to accumulate too many outstanding cases, which will affect the performance evaluation.

At this time, someone came to ask if there was a meal.

It was already dark and it was late for dinner.

Yang Rusong apologized, "Let's eat first, both of you."

"Just deliver the dinner to the guest room later. There is one more thing I want to ask you." Seeing that he looked tired, Mu Qingyan probably hasn't rested since yesterday's accident, so he didn't delay. "Before the wedding ceremony yesterday, when was the last time you saw Liu Yunzhi?"

"Five or six days ago. According to the customs here, new couples cannot meet before they get married, especially after the big engagement. Our two big engagements were completed a month and a half ago, but, I... I went to meet her secretly. It wasn't really a meeting, and I mostly talked to her through the wall. Ever since the two families got engaged, Yunzhi thought about the Yang family, so she no longer helped at the butcher's stall. Occasionally she went out, rarely , Caiju followed."

"Did she tell you anything? Or, did she experience any abnormal emotions? Anything that made her feel scared, strange, etc."

Yang Rusong hardly thought about it: "I haven't mentioned the fear thing, but I have mentioned the Tao family a few times, and I hate it very much. Yunzhi and I are engaged, and Tao Peng still doesn't let her go. Just verbal slander. Once Yunzhi couldn't bear it anymore, she took a bone chopper and chased Tao Peng to chop it all the way out of the town, but fell into a big pit, luckily she didn't get hurt."

"Big pit?"

"There is an old house in the south of the town. It belongs to the Zeng family. It only stores some sundries. The big pit is next to the old house. It seems that it used to be a cellar. It happened to be stepped on by Tao Peng that day. It collapsed. He fell down by himself, and grabbed Yunzhi with his backhand..."

"Is the pit not deep? Did they climb up by themselves?"

Yang Rusong frowned, mainly because he felt that the questions he was asking were a bit strange, at least he couldn't see that these questions had anything to do with deciphering the inside story of the murder.Fortunately, Yang Rusong has a good temper, and feels that being able to spread such a reputation is more or less due to some real skills. If you ask someone, you should at least give him a trust.

Suppressing his doubts, he said: "Yunzhi only said a few words about this matter. The big pit is a little deep, and they can't get up. Yunzhi didn't dare to call anyone. After all, she and Tao Peng are alone. Being seen by others, I don't know what kind of ugly words I have to say. Tao Peng didn't dare to say anything, Yunzhi has a bone-chopping knife in his hand."

When mentioning this past event, he probably thought of Liu Yunzhi's smug and pretty appearance. A nostalgic smile appeared on Yang Rusong's face, but it was fleeting: "Yunzhi said, they entered the Zeng's old house along the cellar and came out from the entrance. Don't worry." Yes, nothing more."

"Didn't you mention any other anomalies?"

Yang Rusong frowned in thought, and shook his head after a long time: "I really can't think of anything else, and I didn't find anything wrong with Yunzhi."

Mu Qingyan thought for a while, and then asked: "According to what you said just now, part of the Zeng's cellar is outside the courtyard?"

Yang Rusong nodded: "It's a bit strange, the cellars are generally within the house. However, the Zeng family is a big family, so there may be other considerations. There is a bamboo forest next to the old house, which originally belonged to the Zeng family, and there are Zeng family members in the bamboo forest. Ancestral grave."

"Can you remember the exact time?"

"...the day when he fell into the pit?" Yang Rusong became more and more confused, but he still responded cooperatively: "I remember, I remember the time when I went to find Yunzhi, and Yunzhi chased Tao Peng just two days ago."

Mu Qingyan nodded: "Master Yang should have a good night's rest."

Back in the guest room, the servants delivered a table of sumptuous meals.

Wen Jixue served him a bowl of white rice and asked, "Do you think there is something wrong with Zeng's old house?"

"I can't tell, I'll check it out tomorrow." The reason why he was so sensitive was because Liu Yunzhi and Tao Peng met each other, fell into the dirt pit together, and entered the old house of Zeng's family together. Now both of them died tragically. What happened that day Even if it is normal, it is doubtful.

Wen Jixue sat across from him, moved his favorite dish over, and talked about the case: "If someone really killed someone to hide a secret, then the secret must be big. I will ask Gao Tian to follow Chen Chen closely. sixteen."

Mu Qingyan sighed, "What kind of secrets does a small town hide?"

"There are secrets everywhere."

It's like the two people sitting opposite each other now.

After the meal, Mu Qingyan called the butler of the Yang family to inquire about the Zeng family in Shizhu Town.After that, the two went back to their rooms to rest.This time, the Yang family prepared two guest rooms, one with complete washing utensils, and Mu Qingyan even took a hot bath.

Wen Jixue felt a little pity.

Early the next morning, after breakfast, the two took a car to Shizhu Town.

The ancestors of Zeng's family lived here, and they were wealthy farmers and students in their early years.However, the family business was passed on to Mr. Zeng's father, but his father only knew how to study hard and had no ability to take care of common affairs. However, although Zeng's father's wife was the daughter of a country gentry, she only knew how to make a fortune.Over the past few years, the family business has shrunk, showing signs of decline.

Fortunately, Master Zeng was appreciated by others, changed his luck, and redeemed the family property.

There are many rumors about Mr. Zeng, because the housekeeper is considered an old man, so he knows a lot.

For example, Master Zeng, whose real name is Zeng He, is actually not very old, only 34-[-].More than ten years ago, he was just a poor young man studying hard. After the death of his parents, there were only a few old servants left, no land, and a dilapidated old house with no money to repair.

At that time, Zeng He was over twenty years old, but he couldn't talk about marriage.

It's not that no one is willing to marry him, but a common saying "you can't get high, you can't get low".No matter how poor the Zeng family was, outsiders would still call him "Master Zeng" when they saw him. He was also a literati who studied since he was a child.

Moreover, at that time, Zeng He still kept in mind his father's teachings, and wanted to honor his family with the imperial examination.He also felt that only by being an official through the imperial examination can he show his talents and have a bright future.

However, the imperial examination is not so easy.

Maybe it was due to the luck of the times, or the blessing of the ancestors. He went to take the exam again and stayed with a certain family on the way. The old couple of that family took a fancy to him and wanted to recruit him as a son-in-law.The family's surname is Du, and their family background is quite prosperous. There is only one only daughter, she is pretty, and she can read and write.Originally, they were reluctant to let their daughter marry elsewhere and planned to find a husband-in-law, but the daughter of the Du family took a fancy to Zeng He, and the exclusive couple also thought that Zeng He was a scholar with good looks and a promising future. Ordinary family, so they got married.

With the generous dowry brought by Mrs. Du and Mrs. Du's good management skills, the Zeng family slowly rose again.

In the first few years of their marriage, Zeng He insisted on taking the exam, but after the birth of his children, he took a rest.It was also heard that his wife fell ill after giving birth, her health was not good, and she couldn't leave her.

Hearing this story, Mu Qingyan was very familiar: "Sure enough, everything is inferior, only reading is high."

The ancients really envied, respected, and loved scholars, even if you have not yet achieved fame.