In the early morning of Chang'an, the mist on the green lake has not yet dissipated.

The tranquil atmosphere on the green lake was shattered by the chattering voices of a group of young people. This is a group of teenagers living in the main area, who are barefoot, wearing shorts and shorts, carrying small wooden barrels and hanging poles, gathered in twos and threes by the green lake.

In the middle of July, it is the time when the red crabs in the green lake are plump, and the limbs nourished by these red crabs in the lake water are all white meat, and the peppercorns are fried in oil, which is simply a delicacy in the world. Although the rich and noble families did not like this, in the homes of the common people, it was a seasonal delicacy given by God.

What's more, these red crabs are very stupid and greedy, as long as a grasshopper or a skinned little earth frog is tied to the end of the long line of the boom, and the hanging line is hung into the water, these guys will smell the smell of food and will come automatically. They hold on to their food with their claws, and even when they are lifted out of the water, they don't let go of their claws until they are placed in a barrel and become a delicacy on the table.

Therefore, from the beginning of July, crab fishing is the time for them to add food to the table at home. The best time to fish for crabs is from early morning to after sunrise. After the morning, the sun scorches the lake, and the red crabs sink to the cool bottom of the lake, and they are reluctant to eat in the hot water on the lake's surface.

Wearing a moon-white short coat and a little ingot-hair, Ah Yang, a young man who is good at crab fishing, is dragging a wooden bucket to a small piece of water in the middle of the reeds and shallow grass on the east side of Qinghu. This is the secret place he discovered yesterday, and yesterday morning, he caught more than 30 red crabs in a small half bucket, so today he was the first to rush here and occupy this territory.

But today is a little strange, the cheers of the friends around the shore after hanging to the red crab are endless, the popping sound of the red crab falling into the barrel and the sound of rustling and crawling in the barrel can be heard, but Ah Yang has gained very little today. As time went by, the surrounding friends had a bumper harvest, and Ah Yang only hung seven or eight red crabs, which was less than a fraction of them.

The sun gradually dispelled the mist on the lake, and it was already a little hot on his body, and Ah Yang was also very anxious, and his small forehead and face were full of sweat. But no matter how anxious he is, the red crab just won't eat his bait.

Ah Yang was very angry, as the lake heats up, today's harvest will definitely not be satisfactory, before leaving, he slammed the reed water surface with a long bamboo pole to vent his dissatisfaction. The bamboo pole struck the reeds with a fluffy sound, as if they were striking on something.

Ah Yang heard the difference in the sound and the strange feel coming from the bamboo pole, and he felt that the bamboo pole seemed to hit something in the water at the root of the reed, and the fluffy sound was like hitting the back of a big fish. At this time, there are many blue mixed fish in the lake who covet the small fish in the reeds and will run into the shallow water to feed, and it is easy to get entangled in the aquatic weeds and can't get out.

Ah Yang is very excited, if he can catch a big green bastard fish and go home, his father and mother will be very happy. I also have face in front of my friends. Because the blue bastard is the most difficult to catch, and you can go to the market to exchange it for copper coins, although the red crab is delicious, no one will buy it.

Thinking of this, Ah Yang took off his short coat and wore shorts and quietly went into the water from the reeds on the shore, slowly moved his steps in the shallow water that did not pass his lower abdomen, separated the dense reed roots and entangled aquatic plants, and slowly touched the place where the bamboo pole made a sound just now. After sweeping away a small clump of reeds, he found a faintly swaying piece of snow-white object entangled in aquatic weeds. Experience had taught him that it was the white color of the fish's belly, and that once the entangled fish had its belly turned upside down, it would never be able to break free.

Ah Yang was full of strength, kicked hard under the water, his body passed through the reeds like a swimming fish, and his hands were like claws, accurately grasping the thick body of the fish. The imaginary struggle did not appear, and the feel was a little different, not the slippery feeling on the fish.

Surprised, Ah Yang dragged the thing he was holding out of the aquatic weed, and then he saw a swollen, blistering white hand not far away.

With a frightened cry, the round body of Mrs. Qiu Guo, who was found in the reeds, was found by a young man named Ah Yang. Only a moment later, the Fang Ding in the fang heard the news, and soon after, the officers of Jingzhao Mansion, the soldiers and horses of the Southern Ya Jin Wuwei Wuhou arrived one after another, and finally Yang Guozhong, the left minister, also arrived with Wang Jie, the secretary of the criminal department. The officials, soldiers, and horses surrounded the shore of Qinghu inside and out, and they were heavily guarded.

The body of Mrs. Qiu Guo was recovered, and she lay quietly on the riverbank covered with a white cloth, which could not be identified from her clothing, but a letter pressed on the wooden pier that led to the lake showed her identity.

“…… For a long time, the concubine has suffered from a dark disease, and since last winter, the dark disease has intensified, and the body is itchy and dripping, ulcerating and sore, which does not heal for a long time, and the pain is unstoppable. Every night I have a splitting headache, a lot of nightmares in my mind, and terrifying claws, which makes my life worse than death. Although I secretly asked a famous doctor for treatment, there was no cure for this disease, and it was difficult to return to heaven. One day last month, I saw my late husband in a dream, and my late husband accused me of not keeping the way of women, saying that the disease I was born was retribution, and that I would suffer from this disease for the rest ......of my life until my face festered into a ghost, and I was rejected by everyone in the world, and suffered from all kinds of torture. ”

“…… Thinking about my Yang Yuyao's life of flowers and moons, everyone envies me, how can I be willing to finally fester, and become a terrible ghost that everyone hates and fears. I thought hard for days and nights, and finally accepted my fate. Rather than being tortured to death, it is better for me to end my life and leave a decent appearance in the world. Today is the fifteenth day of July, the ghost door is wide open, and the fantasy of the late husband is viciously shouting in my mind, I simply go to death today, so that he can be fateful, relieve his anger, and respond to the underworld There is someone to rely on ....... The eldest sister, the eighth sister, the younger sister, say goodbye, Yang Yuyao is unique. ”

This is part of the content of the letter that was discovered, when the fangding found this letter, the fang fang was looking at the first line and did not dare to read it again, and the officials of Jingzhao Mansion did not dare to read it after they came, until Yang Guozhong and Wang Jie, the secretary of the Criminal Department, rushed to arrive, and Yang Guozhong personally read the letter, and then hid the content of the letter and told Wang Jie.

The meaning of this letter is that Mrs. Qiu Guo has a dark disease, which, according to the characteristics of the disease she describes, is the flower willow disease. And willow disease is the most terrible disease at the moment. It is an incurable disease, and as the disease worsens, not only the lower body will ulcerate, but it will also cause sores and ulcers on the mouth, nose, ears and eyes, and finally the whole face will ulcerate and become ugly like the devil. Yang Yuyao, the wife of the Kingdom of Qiu, was suffering from this disease and felt that it could not be cured, so she chose to commit suicide by keeping her current beauty and throwing herself into the lake while the disease had not spread to her face.

Yang Guozhong's face was solemn, and the three sisters of the Yang family were all favored by His Majesty, although Mrs. Qiu Guo did not care about the future of the Yang family, and she also made trouble from time to time, causing many passive situations. But as the most intimate relationship between the three sisters of the Yang family and the concubine, in many things, Mrs. Qiu Guo needs to exert influence on the concubine. And the attitude of the concubine can indirectly affect His Majesty's decision. Now Mrs. Qiu Guo actually committed suicide, and it was such an undignified way of death, on the one hand, it was unexpected by Yang Guozhong, and on the other hand, it also made the Yang family extremely embarrassed.

Moreover, in his bones, Yang Guozhong felt that this matter was a little too abrupt, and before that, there had never been any indication that Mrs. Qiu Guo was suffering from the pain of Hualiu disease, and she had not seen her mention it in a word, let alone have the idea of suicide.

At the suggestion of Wang Jie, Yang Guozhong mobilized manpower to block the Mansion of Mrs. Qiuguo, and Mrs. Qiuguo went out in the middle of the night and threw herself into the lake and died. Wang Ji was also well-behaved, he did not rush out to investigate this matter, but asked Yang Guozhong to investigate it himself, so as not to touch some things that the Yang family did not want outsiders to know, so as not to cause unnecessary trouble.

When Cui Tong and the other maidservants described the situation last night, Yang Guozhong felt even more incredible. According to their account, Mrs. Qiu Guo drugged the wine last night, charmed dozens of servants and maids in the back house, and then took the key to the small gate of the back garden and ran to Qinghu to commit suicide. Before that, he also used a wine jar to smash to death a mother-in-law who kept the key in the back garden. This kind of behavior seems so unreasonable.

However, after Yang Guozhong personally led people to torture them, the testimony of these maidservants did not look like the result of large-scale collusion.

When secretly asked these subordinates whether they knew that Mrs. had a secret disease, Cui Tong and the others, who were close to her, did not know anything, saying that they had never seen Mrs. have any secret disease, and they had never even heard of it.

After further investigating Mrs. Qiu's behavior and the people she had interacted with in recent months, it was found that Mrs. Qiu Guo maintained an abnormal relationship with several teenagers from the prince's family in Beijing at the same time. When Yang Guozhong heard that Wang Yuan was also on the list of these people, his brows suddenly twisted into a pimple.

The maidservants confessed that the third lady was fighting with Wang Yuan in the past few days, and she was still fighting in the back garden a few days ago. On the afternoon of 14 July, Wang Yuan also visited, and had a very pleasant conversation with Mrs. Qiuguo, and had a good relationship with honey and oil. This made Yang Guozhong's face pale.

He had already heard about Wang Yuan and Mrs. Qin Guo, and Yang Guozhong also turned a blind eye. Yang Guozhong didn't want to take care of Mrs. Qin's affairs, and even Yang Guozhong hoped that Mrs. Qin Guo would envelop Wang Yuan through this means, so that Wang Yuan would be more loyal to the Yang family.

But Wang Yuan and Mrs. Qiu Guo also got involved, which is very strange. Wang Yuan didn't have a good impression of Mrs. Qiuguo, which Yang Guozhong could always feel. And Mrs. Qin Guo would never allow him to do this. Why did Wang Yuan risk offending Mrs. Qin Guo to do this? Isn't he afraid of Qin Guofu, so he will turn his face with him? You must know that Mrs. Qin Guo is strong-willed, once she annoys her, Wang Yuan will basically not be able to gain a foothold in the Yang family, even if he can't protect himself.

And Wang Yuan actually met Mrs. Qiu Guo the day before she committed suicide, which made Yang Guozhong feel even more suspicious. Does the death of the third lady have something to do with Wang Yuan? It's worth exploring.