strange village

I'm here, so I won't be with you for the time being, it's up to you. "Chu Qing bid farewell to them, turned to another fork in the road, and left them separately.

Mo Tan also went to the courtyard with them.

"What do you think is going on here?" Mo Tan sat down on the sofa and asked.

Dongyue was feeling sorry for his unfinished breakfast, and the porridge and vegetables were obviously completely cold.

"Have some snacks, it's time for lunch later." Zhu Yao said, and handed him a snack plate.

"Hey, tell me, should we go to the scene to see it? Do you want to see it?" Mo Tan seemed very interested.

"If you don't go or not, it will affect your appetite." Dongyue said.

Mo Tan: "..."

Zhu Yao: "..."

"If you don't look at it, it will stink." Mo Tan laughed.

"Oh, you!" Dongyue gave her a white look.

"Hahaha, I really don't want to see it? Then I can go. After talking, he walked out.

"Aren't you going to eat lunch?" Dongyue called to stop her.

"It's too soon to be too late, good corpses don't wait for anyone, we'll eat when we get home, I'm leaving." Then he opened the door and went.

"What's so interesting about a corpse?" Dongyue said.

"Are you interested?" Zhu Yao asked him.

"To the corpse? No." Dongyue shook her head like a rattle.

"What about the death of the eldest wife?"

"We didn't do the left and right, let them make a fuss, why hasn't the meal come yet?" Dongyue looked at the door eagerly.

Seeing that Zhu Yao hesitated to speak, Dongyue asked again: "Then what do you think? Who do you think did it?"

"I don't know." Zhu Yao replied.

"I don't know you still say this..."

At this moment, the door rang twice, Dongyue got up from the sofa and opened the door, saying, "Here we come, the meal is here."

Several young boys lined up, holding food boxes in their hands, and brought up the meals one by one.

There are four dishes of cold dishes and six dishes of hot dishes. The vegetarian dishes are nuts mixed with spinach, golden three-color eggs, cold lotus root slices and green bamboo primrose, cucumber and red pepper mixed with chicken arranged in bamboo, and the hot dishes are white meat with garlic paste. , braised pork ribs, vegetarian croquettes, emerald white jade rolls, fresh mushrooms stuffed with flowers, and a crispy elbow, served with black fish tofu soup with white and green soup and shiny white japonica rice.

This is too rich, the food dishes here are too tempting, Dongyue didn't even have time to think about it, where did things like lotus root come from.

After everyone had quit, the two of them went to the table and sat opposite each other. Zhu Yao was at the side, filled him with soup, and said, "Eat slowly, drink some soup."

Dongyue swallowed the food in her mouth and said, "I think you are different from before."

Zhu Yao pursed his lips lightly and did not answer.

"Really, I used to think you hated me."

Zhu Yao smiled, and said, "You don't think it's wrong."

Dongyue's delicate and handsome face instantly collapsed.

"But that was a long time ago." Zhu Yao said lightly.

"How long? How long have I been here?"

"I'm just being more polite to you. It's you yourself. Whoever bullies you or makes fun of you, you will be more clinging to whoever you are."

"I'm not! I didn't!" Dongyue retorted in shame and indignation, her face was on fire, reddened to the base of her neck.

After being silent for a while, Zhu Yao said again: "I used to think that you were very afraid of me."

Dongyue was startled: "Since you found out, why don't you be so fierce to me?"

"It's not fierce."

Dongyue snorted twice, but did not refute.But he slandered in his heart: If you are not fierce, what are you?As for Huaixiu, just speak softly and let him lean on his chest, he doesn't speak when he sees me, he still stares at me, approaching your room, you look fierce, turn around and close the door loudly.

Zhu Yao sneered and stopped talking.

Dongyue knew in her heart that she felt different about him after getting along these days, maybe because of the unfamiliar environment, but as far as the result was concerned, Dongyue was quite happy.

☆、Who poisoned

Chu residence, in the courtyard of the eldest wife Jiang Qiaofeng.

The scene has been disturbed, the body of the eldest wife is lying flat on the bed in pajamas, her eyes are popping out, and the white eyeballs are covered with dark red bloodshots.

There was another person in the house, a young man, Kong Xiang, the assistant of Dr. Chong Shizhao, the resident doctor of the Chu family.I'm sweeping this thing with a small brush outside my wife's room.Beside him is a knee-high metal box containing various tools and reagents.

At the gate outside the courtyard, it was Mo Tan who came, standing there with his hands behind his back, dealing with the two guards at the gate.

The guard said: "Miss Mo, this is the scene of the crime, you are not allowed to enter if you have nothing to do."

"I have something to do." Mo Tan said and stepped forward.

"Ah? Wait a minute." The guard hurriedly stretched out his hand to stop him.

"I have something to ask Dr. Chong." Mo Tan was stopped at the waist, but he was still trying to bend his neck.

"Doctor Chong has gone out." The guard said helplessly.

"It's okay, then I can find his apprentice, Xiao Xiangzi." After finishing speaking, he pulled his neck and was about to shout inward.

The guards were also afraid of her, but they didn't want to offend her, so they could only continue to persuade: "It's really impossible to enter, so don't make things difficult for us."

"Actually, your Young Master Qing asked me to come." Mo Tan continued to play sloppy.

The two guards looked at each other suspiciously for a moment, obviously not believing her sudden change of words.

Mo Tan couldn't help it, he had an idea, and said with a sudden thought: "Master Qing told me that the errands entrusted to you in the past few days have been done well, and you will be rewarded in the next few days, and you will be given bonuses."

She rubbed her thumb and index finger and looked at the two guards with a smile.

Seeing this, one of the guards immediately softened his attitude, but he was still hesitating and did not let him go immediately.

Mo Tan had no choice but to say again: "It's useless for you to stop me, it's your Young Master Qing's business that's being delayed, and you will look good at that time."

He played tricks with ease, and there was a hint of threat in his tone.

When the two guards heard this, they exchanged glances quickly, and immediately withdrew.

Mo Tan nodded and said, "Thank you both."

After speaking, he quickly flashed into the courtyard door.

The area of ​​the courtyard is not small, every plant and tree is elegant and stylish, there are flower beds, gazebos, and fish ponds, and from the fish ponds, one or two large carp would jump out from time to time to eat lotus petals, just like a pair of fish. Lotus figure.It seems that this fish will get tired of eating fish food every day. From time to time, they want to change some new ingredients. Although they have a virtuous wife, some people are still lonely, unwilling to be ordinary, and want to change their taste from time to time. In what dynasty and generation, what year and month, but it seems that there is not much difference from the present world.

As soon as Mo Tan stepped into the door, he saw Kong Xiang facing the door, lying on the floor, as if he was looking for something.

"Oh, Xiao Xiangzi, are you busy? You don't need to give such a big gift to my sister." After saying that, he smiled unnecessarily.

The man seemed to be startled by her, and he was stunned for a moment before reacting.

Quickly getting up from the ground, his cheeks were a little red perhaps because he stood up suddenly, and said, "Miss Mo, why are you here?"

"It's nothing, let's take a look. Where's your master?" She walked into the room while talking.

"You are here to find Master. He has been out for a while, and he confirmed that the cause of death was poisoning, so he went to inform Master Chu of the situation." Kong Xiang said, and then closed the lid of the tool box.

The eldest wife died in an uneasy state, but the silk pajamas on her body seemed to have been carefully tidied up, extraordinarily smooth and supple. At this moment, the body was lying neatly on the luxurious carved wooden bed.Mo Tan went up to take a closer look, and couldn't help but feel sad, there were still some vomit left on the bed and beside the bed.

"Is it like this when the body was found? Did Peng Hua touch the body?" Mo Tan asked.

"I don't know, she said she didn't move, that's what she saw when she got up early in the morning." Kong Xiang said.

Mo Tan carefully looked around the corpse, and asked again: "Is there no movement at night?"

Kong Xiang shook his head and said, "I'm not sure about this, you have to ask Penghua and Penghu about this."

"Lying neatly in my own room, could it be suicide?" Mo Tan said to himself.

"Why did the eldest lady commit suicide? No matter who commits suicide, she can't commit suicide. With such a big family business, except for Master Chu, who belongs to her, who doesn't listen to her? What else can I do? Life is not enough? Even if someone doesn't follow her wishes, he can be punished as he wants, and at worst, he will be kicked out and commit suicide? It's not a crime."

"That makes sense, Xiao Xiangzi." Mo Tan smiled at him, stretching out his hand as if wanting to pat his head.

Kong Xiang hurriedly avoided her hand, and hurriedly said, "You can't touch a man's head casually!"

"You can't touch me casually, I have touched it so many times." Mo Tan smiled, but did not insist anymore, and took his hand back.

It turned out that Kong Xiang was a young apprentice of Dr. Chong, and he grew up with his son Chong Mu, and Ah Xi often played with them, so Kong Xiang also called Sister Mo Tan with them, but in fact he was only younger than his son Chong Mu. Mo Tan was two months younger.

"Then what else did you discover?" Mo Tan asked.

"We are doctors, and we are not professionals. The one who can make a decision is the cause of death. He died of chamaejasma poisoning, and other things..." Kong Xiang hesitated to speak.

"How to say?" Mo Tan hurriedly continued to ask.

"This is not a conclusion that can be drawn casually." He said vaguely.

"Hey, what are you afraid of? I don't blame you, just tell me what you think. Oh, by the way, what were you doing lying on the ground just now?"

"Since it wasn't suicide, then someone poisoned it. The poisoning time should be late at night, and the maid slept in the side room. If someone forced the eldest wife to swallow the poison, then maybe the eldest wife would call for help, and the maid would be quarreled." Wake up, since no one found out when the crime happened, it means that the poison was not forcibly fed, but by some method, where it was deposited without anyone noticing."

"Oh, you mean someone sneaked in late at night to poison?"

"It is indeed possible. If you want to kill Wolfbane immediately, you need a relatively large dose. After taking it, you will soon have difficulty breathing, and you will not be able to call for help. But think about how such a large dose of Wolfbane is possible. Did the eldest lady eat it without anyone noticing? At least when she fell asleep, she should not have been poisoned, otherwise she and Peng Hua would have noticed it. So the poison was taken after they all fell asleep in the middle of the night. Someone came in, there might be some footprints or something on the ground."

"So you were looking for this!" Mo Tan suddenly realized, and then said: "Then did you find anything?"

"Yes, there are many and mixed footprints, but judging from the size, they should all be the footprints of women."

"So, what you mean is that the poisoner was a woman?" Mo Tan said.

"It is possible." Kong Xiang said, his words were still rigorous.

"There is some truth to it. Men often kill with violence, but women are different. They like to poison, and they are the most poisonous to women's hearts." Mo Tan said shaking his head.

"Sister, you are also a woman, are you so poisonous?" Kong Xiang said, as if thinking of something, he clapped his hands, and said: "Yes, yes, that time when Axi caused trouble, you carried the The stick chased him around, it seems that this statement is true, the ancients did not deceive me."

"Oh? What's the matter, you despise women, so are you going to marry a man in the future?" Mo Tan was extremely unconvinced.

"When did I say that? What about men? Do I have to get married?"

"Yo, marry a man? Let's see if your master won't break your leg!" Mo Tan sneered.

"Stop talking nonsense and I'll tell you!" Kong Xiang was already impatient.

"I'll just say it!" Mo Tan retorted.

"You talk nonsense again! I'll just..." Kong Xiang's face turned red from holding back, like a burning cloud.

"What about you? You still want to hit me?" Mo Tan took a step forward, as if waiting for him to strike.

But Kong Xiang turned off the fire, his head turned to the side, and he didn't look at her.

After a long while, he said: "Anyway, that's not the case, sister, you are not too young, can you not be so childish?"

☆, jellyfish

After lunch, both Dongyue and Zhuyao took a bath, feeling refreshed and lying down whenever they wanted, so they took a nap.Dongyue slept until the evening, when she heard someone knocking on the door, she was woken up.

It turned out that Chang Gui and Chu Qing, the housekeepers of the Chu family, came to inquire about last night's situation. They were busy from the morning until the sun went down, and they didn't visit them until evening.

The butler looked to be in his forties, not tall, but his body was quite straight, and his face looked a little old.

A few people were a little polite, and everyone found a seat to sit.

They sat down on the front feet, and a maid came to deliver refreshments on the back feet, and set up a table in a grand manner. Dongyue saw all kinds of fresh food, and her eyes lit up instantly, like a raccoon who found cat food.

Seeing him like this, Zhu Yao only sighed silently in his heart, but felt a little lucky, and his mood was a little complicated.

But the housekeeper and Chu Qing didn't seem to care, and sat down calmly.

"The two of you already know what's going on, so I'll get straight to the point." Chang Gui didn't exchange many pleasantries, and went straight to the point.

"Please tell me." Dongyue said.

"Okay, then I'm not going to be polite. Last night, after everyone gathered in the conference hall, where did you two go, who did you meet, and what did you hear?" Chang Gui said, Although his tone was polite, if he didn't answer this question, it would definitely arouse some doubts.

"Let me think about it. Yesterday... where could we go? We just came here, and we don't know where. The guard led us back. If we go shopping by ourselves, we might get lost. The guard called yesterday... seems to have forgotten. asked."

The Chu residence is not only big, but the passages in the yard are also carefully repaired. The roads are not divided evenly in the traditional south and north directions, but are like a maze. Even with an extraordinary memory, it is difficult to remember clearly, because the walls here are really They are so similar, if someone who is not familiar with them can't distinguish the details of the buildings and layout of the courtyards, it is really difficult to distinguish the difference.The two of them are in this Chu house, and their level of knowing the way is not much better than that of a five-year-old child. If they are pointed to the wrong way by a bad-hearted person, they will definitely live up to expectations and get lost immediately.

This is true, but the housekeeper Chang Gui didn't seem to believe it, after all, he didn't know the origin of the two of them, and then asked: "After returning to the residence, what did you do, did you go out again? "

Dongyue thought for a while and said: "After going back, eat, take a bath, and go to bed, what else can I do? Ah yes, I had a snack before going to bed." She looked at Zhu Yao again, seeking affirmation.

Zhu Yao also nodded, and the two can prove each other.

Then Dongyue told the butler that the food in their family was really delicious, not only the food was well cooked, but also the desserts were exquisite.The housekeeper could only nod with a smirk.

"If you think it's inappropriate for the two of us to testify against each other, you can ask the guards nearby. We didn't go out that night." Zhu Yao said, and this got to the point.

If you haven't been outside, you can't poison the eldest wife's yard. This conclusion seems to be valid.

Chang Gui couldn't find anything wrong for a while, so he said again: "Did the two of you find anything suspicious yesterday?"

"I don't seem to have met anyone before," Dongyue seemed to be recalling, and then, as if suddenly thinking of something, she said, "When we came back together, we heard movement in the Fourth Wife's courtyard, as if we were being punished." ?”

Chang Gui's expression changed suddenly, and he said: "So that's the case, I didn't expect to make the two guests laugh."

"Butler Chang is not surprised, it seems that he is used to this kind of thing?" Dongyue wondered in her heart, did no one else mention such a bad thing?

"To tell you the truth, although the Fourth Madam is not a bad person, she has no one to depend on, no one to rely on. In this Chu family, the only person she can count on is the master. The master has not seen her very much these years. There is no hope." Chang Gui said, there seemed to be some pity in his eyes.

"If you don't like her, just let her go, that's all. Divorce."

"Oh, you can't talk nonsense, our master's women are not like this." A little sweat had already appeared on Chang Gui's forehead, and he raised his arm to wipe it.

"Overbearing president?" Dongyue couldn't help blurting out.

The butler was taken aback, as if he didn't understand what it meant. It seemed that they didn't have such a saying here, but Zhu Yao gave Dongyue a meaningful look.

Dongyue has no prejudice against different customs. If it is voluntary, then it is fine, but if it is not, he cannot understand Chu Yunfan's behavior.

"I think you have made this trip in vain. Not only did we not know the way, but we also didn't know the eldest wife. Therefore, there is no reason or possibility to poison her. You will understand when you think about it." Dongyue said Then, obviously no intention of cooperating, his eyes have already started to glance at the snacks on the table.

Chang Gui hurriedly said: "You two are young master Qing's guests, I didn't want to doubt you two, but this process still has to go, you two must not be offended."

Chu Qing said: "I don't think it will be you, and your location is relatively remote, farthest from the eldest wife. If you go out, many people will have seen it, so it doesn't make sense."

Zhu Yao nodded, this Chu Qing seemed to be a sensible person.

"Okay, then let's stop here and disturb the two of you to rest. If you think of anything about last night, you can find me at any time."

Although as long as the murderer is not caught, it is impossible to completely rule out other people's suspicions, but it seems that Chu Qing believes them, but what the housekeeper thinks is unknown.

"Let's go sit in the pavilion!" Dongyue suggested.

"..."

After sending Chu Qing and the housekeeper away, it was already dark, and the two decided to sit in the courtyard.There is also a small gazebo in this yard, and a glass curtain can also be lowered by pressing the button. Moreover, the curtain here seems to be even more amazing than that of Mo Tan's house. Look like a jellyfish glowing on the bottom of the sea.

The night was cold, but after the curtain was drawn, the pavilion was still relatively warm. Dongyue picked out some of his favorite snacks and brought them together, and placed soft cushions on the seats in the pavilion to make them more comfortable. of.

Seeing him busy, Zhu Yao followed him in and sat down without making a sound.

"What do you think is going on?" Dongyue leaned comfortably on the cushion and started the conversation.

"What do you think is the reason for people to commit such an act of killing?"

"It's nothing more than fame, wealth, and sex, or is it just for revenge? Thinking about it, it seems like that." Dongyue completely confided her thinking process from her mouth.

Zhu Yao stared into his eyes and said: "It's not always true. People's thoughts about life and death are often just a thought. For some people, there is no need for any deep motivation. Maybe it's just a momentary anger, a momentary fear , or inexplicable malice, that's all."

"This is not an idea that normal people would have. Is it mentally abnormal? Maliciousness and goodwill also exist in everyone's heart, but normal people will not develop to the point of taking action."

Then he said: "The method of poisoning does not seem to be a whim. You always have to prepare poison in advance. Poison should not be something you can get casually, and it can enter the eldest lady herself without leaving a trace." house. Is this possible without careful planning in advance?"

"What you said is very reasonable. If it is an assassination, strangulation and other violent acts, it is likely to be a murder of passion, but poisoning is generally not, because the poison must be obtained in advance, so it is generally planned in advance, but The possibility of improvisation cannot be completely ruled out." Zhu Yao was very cautious.

"We know too few clues. After the death of the eldest wife, who will benefit the most?" Dongyue took a bite of her snack and said.

"Since she has no children, who can benefit from her death? Generally speaking, it is her husband and successors. But Chu Yunfan doesn't look like that. She seems really sad." Dongyue said .

"Is it really sad, or is he secretly proud? If you can easily see these, how can he be the head of the family?"

Dongyue choked on these words: "What you said makes sense, but I'm speechless." Then, she wanted to get another piece of snack.

"Save some stomach for dinner." Saying that, Zhu Yao raised his hand and slapped the back of his hand.

He immediately pursed his mouth, aggrieved. "Do you have to be so fierce when you eat something?"

Zhu Yao's slap was not heavy, but it still made the skin on the back of his hand feel hot.

"Motivation, let me tell you, Mrs. Six, that girl is young, beautiful, and strong. If the eldest wife dies, will she have a great chance?"

Zhu Yao shook his head.

"Then who do you think it is?" Dongyue said.

"There is too little information, so I can't guess," he paused and said, "Speaking of these women, although the sixth wife is young and beautiful, in terms of qualifications and abilities, after the death of the first wife, it will not be her turn to be the head of the family. Although she looks sick and weak, she seems to be in a very deep city. As for the fourth wife, she has been bullied by the eldest wife all year round. She has the most motives. Although the fifth wife is the most supportive of the eldest wife, she has a strong mentality. This kind of person has the desire to fight for power. And stronger."

Dongyue seemed a little dumbfounded after hearing his words.

"I hope to catch someone sooner, so that we can meet Miss Axuan and leave here sooner." Dongyue murmured.

Zhu Yao frowned and said, "Don't you like eating and drinking here?"

"Like is like."

"Bored with me?"

"I don't think so."

"Then why are you leaving in such a hurry, just for a blonde woman?"

An inexplicable sour smell overflowed.

Dongyue didn't notice it at all, and continued: "The sooner you catch the murderer, the earlier you can start the blind date."

Zhu Yao's face darkened again.

"The earlier the blind date, the sooner Miss Axuan can find a suitable person, so she can leave here sooner. If she leaves here successfully, Chu Qing can feel at ease, and will be able to help us find a way to go home."

When the last part of these words reached Zhu Yao's ears, the anxiety in his heart was blown away in an instant, his complexion softened a lot, his lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't move from that. Any sound from the lips.

"In this case, let's cooperate to catch the bad guys!" Dongyue became excited for no reason.

"Didn't you want to cooperate with Ganqing at the beginning?"

"No support, no opposition, no resistance, but no cooperation, this is the best."

"What's this called?" Zhu Yao was puzzled.

"They locked us here!" Dongyue patted the table excitedly.

"Aren't you happy being locked up?" Zhu Yao quickly glanced at his lips, which seemed to be covered with crumbs of food, which made him feel as if he was being scratched slightly.

He hesitated for a while, wondering if he should reach out to help him wipe the debris off his mouth, but the other party kept looking at him, but Zhu Yao couldn't do it for a long time, he was in a dilemma, and finally didn't stretch out his hands.Instead, he raised his right hand and pointed to the corner of his mouth, signaling that Dongyue had something on his mouth.

Seeing his movements, Dongyue showed embarrassment at first, but she quickly understood. She quickly stretched out her pink tongue, licked the corner of her mouth with the reddish tip of her tongue, rolled the debris into her mouth, and gave him a shy smile in return. smile.

"I can't leave for a while, so let's do it first."

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