Li Zheng sighed: "Alas, this is all fate, this Lin Ruofan was originally from Two Trees Village in ten miles, and we all know his father and mother, when she was five or six years old, there was a plague in our area, her parents died of illness, she had nowhere to go, fortunately, Master Jinghui on the mountain took her in." Doing chores in the temple, she mentioned that she would become a monk, but Venerable Master Hui didn't agree. ”

Meng Tianchu said: "No wonder this woman is extraordinary, she grew up in a nunnery when she was a child. ”

"Yes, this Lin Ruofan rarely talks to people, but his temperament is very strong, the ruffians near the nunnery once went to harass and seduc, this Lin Ruofan desperately disobeyed, and injured a ruffian with scissors, and no one dared to disturb him again."

"Well, this Lin Ruofan is also admirable, how did she marry the Hai family."

"In the summer when she was fifteen years old, it rained heavily for several days, and one night half of the hillside behind the nunnery suddenly slipped down and buried the nunnery entirely. It happened that Hai Dashan rushed back from his relatives in the rain, passed by there, and hurried to rescue, thanks to this Lin Ruofan who was responsible for guarding the temple gate at the gate of the temple, which was the farthest away from the hillside, so it was buried shallow and dug out by Hai Dashan, and the rest of the nuns and Jinghui Shitai were buried in it and died. ”

Hearing this, Xia Fengyi and Feiyan felt heavy in their hearts, but they both breathed a sigh of relief, and they were both glad that Lin Ruofan had escaped this catastrophe.

Hai Li Zheng continued: "Hai Dashan carried Lin Ruofan home, Lin Ruofan was seriously injured, there was no way to treat Langzhong in the village, so Hai Dashan went into the city in the rain overnight to find Langzhong to treat Lin Ruofan's injuries. Lin Ruofan has been lying in bed for more than a month before he picked up his life. In order to treat Lin Ruofan's injuries, Hai Dashan spent all the money he had saved to treat his son Hai Zhuzi. For this reason, Hai Zhuzi also quarreled with his father, and in the end he almost fought, but I persuaded him to solve it. ”

"This sea pillar still dares to do something with his father?" Meng Tianchu said indignantly.

"Alas, Haizhuzi is also not a small man, and he has been playing single, and his father used the money he used to marry his daughter-in-law. Of course he was in a hurry, and no wonder. Seeing this scene, Lin Ruofan struggled to get out of bed and kowtow to Hai Dashan. said that he was willing to marry his son and repay him for saving his life. Such. Lin Ruofan married Hai Zhuzi. ”

Wang Yi sighed: "What a woman." Is. A flower is stuck in cow dung! ”

Meng Tianchu's heart was also heavy, a weak woman, apart from this method, what else could she repay for the life-saving kindness of others, and asked: "Is it okay for Lin Ruofan to live in the Hai family?" ”

"Okay, good.... Never mind. People are dead. Let's not talk about it..."

At this time, a gust of mountain wind blew. Xia Fengyi was smart, her nose was sore, and she couldn't help sneezing.

It's late autumn now, and when I came in the morning, I was in a hurry, so it was a little hot, and now I sat on the head of this village for a while, and I felt a little cold, Meng Tianchu said: "How is it?" Have you had any fun? It's time for us to go home, right? ”

Feiyan grinned: "Young Master, don't you go to the village to pay tribute to the sea pillar?" I'm afraid there won't be any good excuses in the future. ”

"Why should I..."Meng Tianchu said half of it, and suddenly recalled that Feiyan, the little girl, was joking that he was still thinking about the beautiful and otherworldly little daughter-in-law of the Hai family, snorted, folded the fan, and knocked lightly on Feiyan's head upside down: "Naughty ghost!" Let's go back! With that, he turned around and walked towards the entrance of the village.

Haili kept sending them out of the village, and then waved goodbye.

Walking slowly all the way, passing by the place where he met Lin Ruofan in the morning, Meng Tianchu couldn't help but look under the tree where Lin Ruofan had rested, and Lin Ruofan's sad and helpless expression appeared in front of him again. Yes, how can you be happy when you are forced to marry a man who is addicted to alcohol and hard work and treats himself very badly. The so-called men are afraid of entering the wrong industry, and women are afraid of marrying the wrong man. Now that this sea pillar is dead, I only hope that this can be the beginning of Lin Ruofan's new life.

Meng Tianchu looked at the tree in a daze, thinking wildly, squinting his eyes, and seeing Xia Fengyi standing aside with a faint expression, he was immediately alert, his wife and beautiful concubine beside him were still thinking about this Lin Ruofan, what is this, but this kind of thing is better not to justify, otherwise the more it is described, the darker it will be, and people are just a little mustard, but this statement is hanging on to their hearts. Pretending not to see it at the moment, he smiled, shook the folding fan and walked forward.

Although I put this matter down on the surface, I responded to that sentence: I just frowned, but I couldn't forget it in my heart.

Fortunately, Feiyan was clever and seemed to know what Meng Tianchu was thinking, and always talked to them from time to time, so Meng Tianchu slowly forgot the concern in his heart.

Walking back along the way, I saw the beautiful mountains and rivers, and my mood gradually brightened. Meng Tianchu talked to Xia Fengyi from time to time, and after seeing countless beautiful scenery, Xia Fengyi gradually forgot the unhappiness just now.

The next day, Meng Tianchu was dealing with official business with Murong Zhenxue in the study, and suddenly heard the sound of drums in front of him, presumably there must be some big case. The two looked at each other, speculating in their hearts.

Meng Tianchu is a criminal master, and he can't take the case directly, so Cai Zhixian Shengtang will take the case and then send it to him for processing. If there is a big case such as a homicide, Cai Zhixian will find a place after a while. In this regard, Cai Zhixian is even more anxious than Meng Tianchu. If the homicide is not handled well, it will directly affect his political performance.

Sure enough, after a while, I heard hurried footsteps coming from the front hall. Immediately afterwards, Cai Zhixian's voice sounded outside the door of the study: "Master! Master Meng! ”

Meng Tianchu stood up and greeted him, Cai Zhixian was stepping in, and said, "Master, there is another life case in Lianwu Village!" ”

Yesterday when he came back from Lianwu Village, Meng Tianchu briefly told Cai Zhixian about the accidental drowning case that happened in Lianwu Village, so today, as soon as Cai Zhixian heard that the report was from Lianwu Village, he hurriedly ran to report to Meng Tianchu.

Meng Tianchu's heart moved, and when he heard the news, he felt inexplicably happy in his heart for no reason, could it be because he could see the otherworldly Lin Ruofan? Of course, Meng Tianchu didn't want to admit this, and asked, "Dong Weng, what's going on?" Don't worry, take your time. ”

Cai Zhixian took a few breaths, and then said: "I don't know the specific late life, but someone just came to report the case, saying that another corpse was found in the pond of Lianwu Village!" He is a villager in Lianwu Village. ”

Meng Tianchu frowned: It's a pond again, it can't be the same pond! If so, there are continuous deaths in this pond, is there a ghost in the pond?

Wang Yi and Wang Zhutou got the news and had already organized the catchers to wait outside the front hall. This kind of homicide investigation. It stands to reason that the county magistrate should personally come forward to investigate the scene, but Cai Zhixian didn't know anything about criminal affairs, and second, he came from the last time it happened. He delegated power to Meng Tianchu even more, and encountered a case. It's all what Meng Tianchu said to him. He will judge what he wants. This scene was also exempted, and it was all taught to Meng Tianchu.

Meng Tianchu and Xia Fengyi said that they were going to Lianwu Village to investigate a murder case soon, Xia Fengyi's expression was a little strange, of course, she just told her to be more careful, and Feiyan winked at Meng Tianchu with a grin. As if he already knew that Meng Tianchu would definitely fake the public and private interests this time.

Meng Tianchu didn't explain much. It's too late. At the moment, with Zhu Hao, and Murong Zhenxue. I went out of the house and came to the county hall.

Wang Zhutou had already prepared all the horses, and when he went to Lianwu Village, nearly half of them were rugged mountain roads, and there was no way to ride horses. Therefore, they first rode out of the city to the bottom of the mountain village, leaving one to catch the horses, and the rest climbed the mountain on foot, climbed the steep hillside, and then arrived at Lianwu Village.

—

When they arrived at the entrance of the village, the villager who came to report the case rushed back to the village to report first, and Haili was hurrying out of the village.

"What's going on?" Meng Tianchu asked.

Hai Rizheng smiled bitterly: "It's really strange! After the death of Haizhu in that pond yesterday, the people of the village stopped going to that pond and went to the sweet water well pond a little farther above to carry water or wash things. Early this morning, Aunt Liu, the same Aunt Liu who found the corpse of the sea pillar yesterday with Lu'er, carried the vegetable basket to the sweet water well pond above to wash vegetables, passing by the pond where the sea pillar drowned yesterday, and glanced at it, and found that there was a corpse floating in the pond, so frightened that Aunt Liu's vegetable basket was thrown away, and she collapsed on the ground and shouted. When the crowd heard the noise, they rushed and dragged the corpse up from the pond, only to find that it was the village leper four. ”

"Leper four?"

"That's right, the surname is Hai, the fourth in line, and he has a leper head, so they all call him the fourth leprosy head."

"Is the site protected?"

Hai Li Zheng looked a little embarrassed: "The people in the village heard that two people were drowned in this pond in a row, and they all hid far away, and this scene should not be destroyed." The body was placed on a bluestone slab by the pond, and I called two people to watch it. ”

Yesterday, he came to investigate the scene, of course Meng Tianchu knew the location of the pond, and he didn't need to be led, so he walked along the stone road in the village through the village to the pond.

Turning a corner, suddenly, his footsteps stopped, and he saw a white banner hanging in front of a wooden house in front of him, and a few old and young people wearing white filial piety were sitting or standing, talking at the door. A few drummers sat on a small wooden bench in front of the living room door, as if they were tired of blowing, and were sitting there resting. Hai Dashan, the father of the sea pillar, also sat on the side with a low stool, looking at the clouds and mist in the distance in a daze, not knowing what he was thinking.

In the living room of the wooden house, there was a thin black wooden coffin. On the straw mat next to the incense desk in front of the coffin, a young ** was kneeling, burning paper money.

This ** is Lin Ruofan, who is as pure as a lotus flower in a lotus pond.

Meng Tianchu felt his heart beat faster, and even his throat involuntarily became dry, as if he was about to burst into flames, he looked at her stupidly, and forgot to move his steps.

At this time, Lin Ruofan was dressed in white filial piety, which was even more impressive, revealing half of his face from under the snow-white filial piety hat, as white as the bright moon. The slender plain hand, holding a few pieces of paper money, slowly put it in the small fire in front of the incense case. The indescribable faint sorrow enveloped her body, and people couldn't help but rise up with infinite love.

Meng Tianchu's appearance seemed to disturb her, Lin Ruofan turned his face sideways, raised his eyes to see Meng Tianchu and them, when his eyes swept over Meng Tianchu, he showed a trace of panicked shyness, and quickly lowered his eyes, turned around and turned sideways, knelt straight, and continued to burn paper money.

Hai Dashan saw Meng Tianchu and his party, hurriedly stood up, and smiled at them with his waist bent, which was regarded as a greeting.

Meng Tianchu came back to his senses at this time, nodded towards Hai Dashan, and glanced at Lin Ruofan who was kneeling in front of the coffin to burn paper money, then he withdrew his eyes, walked along the stone road, bypassed Hai Dashan's house, and walked forward.

Bypassing a terraced hill, I saw the pond at the edge of the village where two people were drowned.

Meng Tianchu looked back at the house in Wanghai Dashan, which was blocked by the terraced fields, and only one corner of the house was exposed.

The body of the leper head four was lying on the bluestone slab where the sea pillar had been lying yesterday, and even the posture of lying was the same, which made people feel indescribably weird.

An old woman, hunched up, sat helplessly beside the corpse, whimpering and sobbing, wiping her tears from time to time with her withered hands as thin as dead tree bark.

Yesterday the pond was full of onlookers and lively people, but today there were villagers drowned in the same place, and the villagers said that the pond was haunted, so basically no one came to watch today, except for a few little hairy children with snot, squatting on the ridge in the distance, flashing black eyes and looking at them without saying a word.

Meng Tianchu asked Hai Lizheng with a pouting at the old woman next to the corpse, "Who is this?" ”

"It's the old lady of the fourth leper head, He's."

Meng Tianchu stepped forward and whispered, "Old man! Is it your son who died? ”

The old woman didn't seem to hear, but still whimpered and wept.

Haili was walking up and leaning over the old woman's ear and shouted, "He! Master Meng asked you! Then he smiled at Meng Tianchu and said, "This old woman has some ears back, so she has to speak louder." ”