Xia Jiangying died.

Died on the night of the ninth day of October, just as Xia Mingming had dreamed before, he was killed by someone who jumped into the room from the back window, stabbed him in the heart, and died on the spot.

Xia Mingming was brought into the women's hall where the crime occurred by the official, saw the maids and guards who followed Xia Jiangying, and was told of Xia Jiangying's death without warning.

"Four sisters, four sisters!"

Yu Shu was by her side from beginning to end, seeing Xia Jiangying who had become a corpse, she couldn't bear to look back, and her heart was cold, this was the second time she saw a dead person, the first time was on a merchant ship, the water bandits committed murder, and the corpse was on the ship.

Xia Mingming's cry was miserable, she and Xia Jiangying's sisters had relatives and grievances over the years, and they were only released yesterday, and before they had time to make up for the sisterhood they had missed over the years, they became yin and yang.

Xia Mingming had nothing to rely on, turned his head to see Yu Shu behind him, threw himself into her arms, fell on her shoulder and sobbed, "Ah Shu, my fourth sister, my fourth sister, her"

Yu Shu didn't know how to persuade her, so she could only silently raise her hand and hug her back, patting her on the shoulder to give a little comfort.

In the flower hall of the women's pavilion, Xue Rui was asking Ji Xingxuan about the case, and the two heard the crying in the garden one after another, stopped talking, Xue Rui stood up and walked to the door, and asked the subordinates:

"What's going on? Who's crying? ”

The subordinate replied, "Go back to your lordship." It's Miss Xia Jiang's sister, and someone has already identified her. ”

"Sister?" Xue Rui's face was puzzled, about the Xia Jiang family. He heard a lot that Miss Xia Jiangsi, who was killed, went to Beijing to study alone. When did a sister pop up.

Ji Xingxuan walked up from behind him and said with a tired expression: "It should be Xia Jiangmin, the fifth lady of the Xia Jiang family." A few days ago, she came to the library to find Sister Ying, and I met once. ”

Xue Rui's eyes flashed, and he grasped the point: "How can this fifth young lady be in Anling, is there anyone else in the Xia Jiang family in the capital?" ”

Ji Xingxuan shook her head: "I don't know why she came to Anling, but I heard Sister Ying say that Xia Jiangmin went to Beijing alone, and her family didn't know." ”

Xue Rui pondered for a moment. walked towards the room where the accident occurred, and Ji Xingxuan hesitated in place for a moment, keeping up with his footsteps.

Dali Temple is Chu Yufang to the front hall to check the women's hall that was gathered in the morning, there is only one official guard at the door of the house, as soon as Xue Rui enters the door, he turns his eyes to the inner room, only to see Xia Jiangying's corpse parked, two figures hugging in one place, crying endlessly, and the listener is sad.

A soft sigh came from behind him. Xue Rui turned his head and saw that Ji Xingxuan had tears in his eyes again, and he almost fainted considering that she had just fainted, so he said:

"Miss Ji will go next door to rest first."

Same time. A human voice also sounded in the room: "Mingming, don't cry, what's the use of you crying at this moment, you should figure out what is going on." ”

Inside and outside the house, hearing a familiar voice, the two turned their heads, Yu Shu saw Xue Rui, and Xue Rui saw Yu Shu, on this occasion, it was both surprise and surprise.

"How are you-" Yu Shu was about to speak, his gaze shifted to the left, moving to the girl beside Xue Rui, a little sluggish, he recognized this woman, that face had never been seen before, but the body shape and hairstyle were the same as Ji Xingxuan she saw in the teahouse a few days ago.

It's not surprising that Ji Xingxuan would be here, looking at Xue Rui's vermilion official uniform, could it be that he is the official in charge of this case?

Encountering these two people at the same time was really a headache, Yu Shu swallowed back the words that came to his mouth, and looked at Xue Rui, which was a bit tacit.

"Thank you Xue Gongzi for your kindness, I'm fine," Ji Xingxuan turned his head to look at the two people in the room, and actually walked past Xue Rui and stepped forward, without looking at Yu Shu much, and said softly to Xia Mingming, who was in pain:

"Don't cry first, Lord Xue of Dali Temple is here, and it is important to find out who your sister was victimized by."

Xia Mingming rubbed his teary eyes, saw the person in front of him clearly, and called in a dumb voice: "Sister Ji." ”

Listening to what she said again, he turned his head with tears in his eyes, and found Xue Rui standing outside the door, stunned for a moment, "It's you?" ”

When Yu Shu heard this, he said bad things in his heart, and then he remembered that Xia Mingming had seen Xue Rui, it was she who went to gamble last month and was arrested, Xue Rui sent her back, and that time on Huixing Street, Xia Mingming asked afterwards, she replied that she was a friend, and she was chanted by her all day because of this matter.

Xia Mingming recognized Xue Rui here, and Yu Shu was worried that Ji Xingxuan would see something, and suddenly felt that his head hurt even more.

Xue Rui's face was calm, and he nodded at Xia Mingming, "Please move outside, Miss Xia Jiang, this official has something to ask." ”

Xia Mingming was only concerned about sadness at this time, looked back at Yu Shu, didn't ask much, nodded and followed Xue Rui to the next door to talk.

***

Xue Rui, Ji Xingxuan and Xia Mingming moved next door, Yu Shu didn't go in, and stood at the door alone, leaning against the door frame, listening to what was being said inside.

"I heard that Miss Xia Jiang went to Beijing alone?" Xue Rui asked.

"Yes, it's hiding it from my family." So far, Xia Mingming has nothing to say.

"When did you see Xia Jiangying last night?"

"In the evening, my fourth sister and I had dinner in Fengyuan Building, and she went back to the library as soon as it was dark." Xia Mingming's expression was gloomy, he cried a lot just now, and his mood was much more stable, so he was able to answer Xue Rui's questions normally.

"It's rare for your sisters to reunite, why doesn't she live with you and go back to the library for the night?"

"The Dayan exam is imminent, my fourth sister specializes in astrology, and she will go to the stargazing platform to watch the night when it gets dark."

Xue Rui turned his head and asked Ji Xingxuan: "Is that so?" ”

Ji Xingxuan nodded and said, "Sister Ying has worked harder than many people, and she has to go back to the room every night in the stargazing platform every night. ”

"When?" Xue Rui questioned impartially: "Why do you know the Tao so clearly? ”

Ji Xingxuan said: "I occasionally stay at the stargazing platform with Sister Ying until the night, and in addition, she lives next door to me, I sleep lightly, and I can hear the movement when she enters and exits the door and closes the door." ”

"Oh? You live next door to her? ”

Ji Xingxuan: "Well, Sister Ying lives in the first room in the East Pavilion. I stayed in the second room. ”

Xue Rui frowned, when he came, he saw the layout of the garden clearly, the room where Xia Jiangying died. It is clearly the second room from the east, why did Ji Xingxuan say that she lived in the second room.

He voiced his doubts. Ji Xingxuan did not hide it, and confessed: "That's the case." The day before yesterday, Sister Ying told me that she was a rat in her room and was going to buy some rat poison to put on, so she offered to change rooms with me, she lived in my room, and I went back to the mansion. Because I had classes in the morning, I went out of my house before dawn to go back to the women's hall to get two. Knocking on the door and not opening, the guard guarding the door found that something was wrong, and after knocking the door open, Sister Ying had been-"

Speaking of this, Ji Xingxuan didn't say any more, because Xia Mingming, who was sitting opposite, cried in a low voice again.

Yu Shu touched his chin outside the door, it seemed that Xia Jiangying didn't tell Ji Xingxuan the inside story, but found another excuse to change rooms with her, could it be that Xia Jiang's family's ability to dream can't be known by others? But it clearly didn't rain last night, why did Xia Jiangying sleep in Ji Xingxuan's room. Or is it dead?

Yu Shu's heart was full of suspicion.

Xue Rui felt strange at this time, "Are there rats in the room?" ”

He called the subordinate who came in at the door and sent someone to check on Xia Jiangying's original room, and half a cup of tea was reported later:

"Lord Qiyu. No rat poison was found in Xia Jiangying's room, and there were no other suspicious traces. ”

There is no rat poison, so either Xia Jiangying is lying, or Ji Xingxuan is talking nonsense.

Xue Rui raised his eyebrows slightly, turned his head to look at Ji Xingxuan, and when she explained, Ji Xingxuan didn't know what was going on, so he had to say confusedly: "Sister Ying told me that." ”

"It's none of her business," Xia Mingming suddenly said at this time, "It's true that my fourth sister wants to change rooms with Miss Ji to sleep, and the fourth sister mentioned it to me." ”

Xue Rui moved his gaze to her and examined, "Then did she tell you, why did she suddenly change rooms and sleep?" ”

Xia Mingming bit his lip lightly: "She, she, didn't say it." ”

Xue Rui knew that Xia Ming had something to hide, but this was not a public court, so it was inconvenient for him to ask, so he pressed his suspicions, got up and said, "So both of them should go back first, and wait for the court trial another day." ”

Xia Mingming hurriedly said: "Then my fourth sister's body has been parked here?" ”

"To be verified in detail, it will be sent to Yizhuang for the time being, and the government has sent a letter to the south to inform your mansion that it is a funeral or a stop, you need to make your own decisions, and please ask Miss Xiajiang to mourn." Xue Rui got up and nodded at Ji Xingxuan and left first.

Xue Rui walked to the door, turned his head and saw Yu Shu standing against the door with his arms in his hands, his chin raised towards her, and motioned for her to go with him.

Yu Shu glanced inside at Xia Mingming, and saw that she was talking to Ji Xingxuan, and he couldn't notice her for a while, so he followed him a few steps away, and walked out of the women's pavilion, and the two came to the mirror lake, Xue Rui looked around and saw that there was no one, and then turned his head and asked:

"How did you get acquainted with the young lady of the Xia Jiang family?"

"It's a long story," Yu Shu didn't explain in detail, but asked rhetorically: "Are you working in Dali Temple now, and how do you plan to try this murder case?" ”

In official affairs, it stands to reason that Xue Rui should not talk about it more with people outside the same hall, but he didn't have that scruple about Yu Shu, and even leaked a trace of distress:

"This case is not trivial, now that Dayan will be examined, the young lady of the Xia Jiang family in the south was killed in the Taishi Academy, if this matter spreads, it will cause a commotion, the criminal department received a report this morning, and it was submitted to Dali Temple, because of this case, if you can catch the real murderer, if you can't catch it, I am afraid that it will cause suspicion from all sides."

At this point, he asked casually: "You are familiar with Xia Jiangmin, do you know how their sisterhood is?" ”

Yu Shu raised his head and squinted at him, but he didn't smile: "Are you suspicious of Xia Jiangmin?" ”

was told that he was thinking about it, Xue Rui actually generously admitted it: "I think she is weird, with all due respect, she happened to appear before the deceased was killed, and she had contact with the deceased." Xia Jiangying's death, even if it was not caused by her, is inseparable from her. ”

Yu Shu was silent for a while, and said in a low voice:

"Then why don't you guess, maybe Xia Jiangying lived in the wrong room and died?"

Xue Rui's face changed suddenly, he took a step forward and approached Yu Shu, staring at her directly: "You mean?" ”

Yu Shu did not change color under Xue Rui's gaze, stepped back with his hands behind his back, and shook his head at him:

"I didn't say anything - let's go, you can investigate this case carefully, I hope you can catch the murderer soon."

Seeing that she was about to slip away, Xue Rui didn't hold back, looking at her back thoughtfully, thinking about the little reminder she had just made. (