"The nephew is young, and the property is naturally under the guardianship of the younger one, and the original amount will be returned when the nephew is an adult."

Lu Erlang replied very naturally.

The master next to him was busy explaining the background of the Lu family brothers to the two adults.

It turns out that the dead Lu Dalang, 32 years old this year, married his wife Wan, and only has a son under his knees who is 3 years old, Lu Erlang's also has a wife and children, because the old mother is still there, and the two brothers are separated from each other, each with a single household, and the property is not involved, but they are only supported by the old mother together, which is more common in the businessman's family. Lu Dalang is a well-known local silk merchant, with a lot of money, Lu Erlang's business is not as good as Dalang, running a small crude medicine shop, and often needs to be taken care of by his brother.

"What does Lord Niu think about this?"

Rensheng and Niu County Ling stepped sideways to study the matter.

"This matter is too strange, I'm afraid someone is making trouble behind it."

"The lower officials think so too."

Yangzhou is a big county, and the local county order is the same as Liansheng, a six-grade official, so the two are modest and call each other officials.

Lian Sheng's gaze swept over the crowd on the bank of the canal, and suddenly smiled: "Master Niu was born in the imperial examination, so he must be familiar with the scriptures, so he naturally knows about Ximen Leopard's rule of Ye." ”

"Master Gu is referring to the anecdote of marrying Uncle He in the "Historical Records and Funny Biography"?"

"Exactly, we might as well do it." The two of them discussed it properly and walked in front of Lu Erlang. Niu Xian Ling put on a generous elder and said: "Lu Erlang, this official was very moved when he saw your brotherly affection, and I believe that Hebo was also moved by your pure heart, so he returned Brother Ling's body." ”

Lu Erlang heard the magistrate praise himself. With a happy face, he couldn't help nodding and said: "Exactly, Hebo really understands righteousness, and is willing to return his brother's body and deliver the letter." ”

"This is very good, our people on both sides of the canal have suffered from floods all year round, and every time this official thinks about this, his heart is really miserable. Since Hebo is such a righteous person, why don't you send a letter to Hebo and ask if there will be any floods this year? ”

Lu Erlang was still laughing. As soon as he heard this, he immediately put away his smile. He bowed his head and said, "My lord, how can this Hebo accept the villain's letters?" ”

"Hey, since Uncle He can let Brother Ling receive the letter and return the body. That shows that Hebo is reasonable. Besides, Hebo is also familiar with you. It's better to send it to you personally. ”

Lian Sheng also followed on the side: "Lu Erlang, since you have obtained the blue eyes of Hebo, help the people along the canal." That's a great merit. ”

Lu Erlang trembled, and his voice began to tremble: "Big ...... My lord, I can't help it. ”

"Make, very much, this official will give a letter to Heboxiu, do you swim over by yourself or will I send someone to send you to the center of the river to put down?"

"This, this, my lord, the little one just sacrificed to the river on this bank yesterday, and threw the letter into the river, and did not deliver the letter himself."

"In this case, then sacrifice to Hebo now, and you throw my letter into the river, and we will wait here tomorrow for Hebo's reply."

Niu County ordered a long beard and was serious.

"Lord Niu, I think it is better to send someone to wait here all night, so that I can send Hebo's reply to the county government as soon as possible. If Hebo doesn't reply to the letter, you might as well send Lu Erlang to ask Hebo directly what he means. ”

"What Master Gu said is extremely true, a few of you will stay here today, waiting for Hebo's reply at any time."

Niu County Ling pointed to several officials and said.

Lu Erlang was so frightened that he was paralyzed, and finally couldn't help shouting: "Adult, the big and the small are guilty, and the small ones are guilty." ”

"Did you kill your brother?" Niu Zhixian's sentence was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, and everyone in the audience was stunned, and some people muttered on the side: No, this Lu Erlang is not a kind (a reckless person), how could he kill his brother.

Lu Erlang was frightened when he heard this, and he lay on the ground and kowtowed: "Lord Qingtian, it's all strange to be a little muddy chacha (confused), my brother really fell into the water, and Cheng Liu and others from the Cao Gang testified, and I really found my brother's body the day before yesterday." It's just that the little one thought that his brother's family wealth was going to be given to his sister-in-law and nephew, and he didn't feel hot (comfortable), so he begged Cheng Liu and the others to hide the matter of finding the corpse, and the little one hid the corpse, and prepared sacrifices to the riverside yesterday to worship, pretending to be a show, and today dragged the corpse out, with a letter in his hand. The younger one didn't murder his brother, he just wanted to force his sister-in-law away and steal his nephew's money. Ask the adults to learn from it! ”

Niu Zhixian glanced at Liansheng, and his eyes were full of admiration: this woman's punishment is indeed worthy of her reputation, with her strategy, after a little try, this Lu Erlang will show his feet.

In a quick decision, Niu Zhi County immediately summoned Cheng Liu and others from the Cao Gang. That Cheng Liu is a tall man dressed as a sailor, in the end, he is from the Cao Gang, he first stepped forward to greet Niu Zhixian and Lian Sheng, stood aside and said: "Little Cheng Liu, Cao Gang, has been running boats in this canal, I don't know why the master summoned the little one to come?" ”

"Cheng Liu, do you know how Lu Dalang stumbled?"

"Master, Lu Dalang came back from Xuzhou on a small boat, and he was about to arrive at the case, he was happy that day, and he pulled a bought girl to drink at the stern. The girl was also stubborn somehow, and tore up with him, saying that Lu Dalang had harmed her whole family, and now she had taken her body again, and when she arrived at Yangzhou Mansion, she dragged Lu Dalang to see the official. The little one saw the two tearing, thinking that it was just a woman coquettish, and didn't take it seriously. I didn't think that in the middle of the night, I made a fuss, and I only heard the tom tom and someone fell into the water. The little frightened sleepy was completely gone, and ran to the stern of the boat to see that the two were gone. Hurriedly Zhang Luo everyone got up and went into the water to find it, who knew that this section of the river was originally calm and calm, and there was a strong wind in an instant, although the small ones were good in water, it was also difficult to find people in this big wind and waves, and when they found people, Lu Dalang had no breath at all. The little one was helpless, and after landing on the shore, he sent someone to Lu's house to report the news. That Lu Erlang came to give Xiao 50 taels of silver, saying that he would help cover up, but he only said that he couldn't find the body, and he would talk about it when it was properly arranged, and the little one was greedy for a while and agreed. The little one said that everything was true, and he didn't dare to make a flower in front of the big man. ”

Cheng Liu finished speaking truthfully, and the crowd of onlookers booed. Just now, everyone was still praising Lu Erlang's brotherhood and deeply moved Hebo, but now they are starting to scold Lu Erlang for being wolf-hearted and dog-hearted, and he does not hesitate to pretend to be a ghost in order to occupy his nephew's property.

"Then you cooperated with Lu Erlang to hide the corpse, and after he finished sacrificing to Hebo, put the corpse on the shore and pretend to find it?" Liansheng asked.

"Yes, a few small people on the shore watched Lu Erlang pretend to be a ghost and laugh. But ......" Na Chengliu suddenly remembered something: "There was another incident yesterday about this sacrifice to Hebo, and the little one saw He Gui also throw an oily paper bag into the river, and the little one also asked him Lu Erlang to sacrifice Hebo, what are you doing with it." Then He Gui said that he had a good relationship with Da Lang, and when he saw that Erlang was not reluctant to bear it, he threw down a bag of sauce beef. When Cheng Liu said this, his mouth pouted: "What this person said is sixty-four (a serious book), according to the small one, he may not have any bad intentions, he is a flirtatious person (a person who likes to cause trouble), and the money in the oil pot has to be fished out and spent, and I don't know what to do with it." ”

Liansheng's eyes lit up, and he ordered the Jinyi guard to take out the oiled paper bag and ask, "What do you see but this?" ”

Cheng Liu stepped forward and took a closer look: "It's this color, but whether the bag is like this or not, I can't remember the small one." ”

Lian Sheng looked at Niu Xian Ling and said, "Lord Niu, I'm afraid that the owner of this paper bag is that He Gui." (To be continued......)