Meng Tianchu asked, "Have you noticed where she went?" ”

Shopkeeper Wang replied: "Then I don't know, by the way, she asked, how to go to Cuiyun Villa." ”

"Cuiyun Villa?" Meng Tianchu was puzzled, it was the homestead of a local squire Fu Qingyun, in the west of the city, that squire was a famous figure here because his family had been merchants for generations, so what did this maid do with this Cuiyun Villa?

"Did you tell her?"

"I naturally said it, and I asked more questions at that time, asking if she was related to Master Fu."

"And what did she say?"

She just smiled, didn't say anything, and went in the direction I showed her.

When Meng Tianchu heard this, he was not in the mood to drink the tea, so he quickly got up, thanked Boss Wang, and led a few of them towards Cuiyun Villa.

By the time Meng Tianchu and the others rushed to Cuiyun Villa non-stop, the sun had already set in the west, and the weather had gradually cooled down, the breeze gently blew the flowers blooming on both sides of the road, and bursts of dark incense drifted by from time to time.

Cuiyun Villa is built under a mountain in the west of the city, leaning on the mountain and water, the scenery is very beautiful, just because it is nearly an hour away from the city, so few people come here, and this place is quiet.

Meng Tianchu and the others walked to the front of the villa, but found that the door was closed, Meng Tianchu motioned for Wang Yi to come forward and knock on the door, but no matter whether the voice was loud or small, no one inside responded.

Everyone was wondering, and suddenly saw a child leading a cow passing by, Murong Yuxue hurriedly stepped forward and stopped the child.

"Kid, do you know where the family has gone?" Murong Yuxue asked with a soft smile.

The kid looked like he was about ten years old. Now that the weather is cooler, he is only wearing a belly pocket, and his skin is tanned, but he looks quite well-behaved.

"Are you looking for Master Fu? The family went to the capital more than ten days ago. The boy replied.

"How do you know?" Meng Tianchu stepped forward and asked.

"Our family is a tenant of their family, so we naturally know that before they left, the housekeeper came to my house to tell us that the rent would be delayed this month, because Master Fu's son was going to the capital to take the exam."

Meng Tianchu thought to himself, this Master Fu seems to be still a kind person. If you are someone else, I am afraid that there is only a reason for early harvest and no late delivery.

"His son is going to take the exam? Then it won't be the whole family, right? Wang Yi looked at the locked door and asked a little puzzled. And with such a big house, there are more than a dozen maids and housekeepers.

I was asking. A peasant woman in her thirties walked over, looking very anxious, and as soon as she saw the child, she hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Bao'er, you scared your mother to death, let you go and feed the cows, where did you die?" ”

Meng Tianchu stepped forward: "This aunt is really embarrassed. It was here that we spoke a few words to your son. I think it's delaying him going home, it's too much. ”

Only then did the peasant woman discover these people around her. It should be from the city that he was dressed up, and now the child has been found, and others have apologized. Naturally, he didn't say anything, so he smiled and prepared to leave with the child named Bao'er.

Murong Yuxue stepped forward, took a bunch of money from her arms and handed it to the peasant woman, who was shocked: What are you doing here? “

Murong Yuxue said with a smile: "Auntie, we delayed your child's home, so let's buy a few candy people for the child to eat." ”

The peasant woman was a little embarrassed, and she didn't accept the money, and said no, Meng Tianchu saw that the peasant woman was also a simple person, so he stepped forward and said: "Auntie, we came from the county town to find Master Fu, and I just heard your Bao'er say that their family has gone to the capital, right?" ”

The peasant woman nodded, "Yes, it's been about ten days since I left." ”

"Then do you know that the Fu family has any other children besides a son?"

"The Fu family has only one son, who is a lone seedling, and Master Fu only got this son after he was forty years old, which is really a treasure."

"Then they went to the capital, why is there no one at home? What about stewards and servants? ”

"I also heard from the housekeeper that he had given a month's salary to all the servants in the house, and let them go home, leaving only a homeless old servant at home to look after the house. That Master Fu is really a good person. ”

Meng Tianchu nodded, it seems that this Fu Qingyun has a good reputation in the local area. Then he asked, "Then why didn't anyone answer the door when we knocked on the door just now?" ”

"The gatekeeper probably went up to the mountain to pick leaves, and usually didn't come back until it was almost dark."

"No one is looking at such a big house, aren't you afraid that people will go in and steal things?"

"Most of our villagers are tenants of the old man's land, he is good to us, and we naturally won't do these bad things. Besides, there are three wolf dogs in this house, which are very fierce, who dares to go. If you don't have anything to ask, I'm gone, and I'm going back to cook for my family. ”

"You keep this money as if we were talking about it." Murong Yuxue said, insisting on stuffing the hanging copper coin to the peasant woman.

"What more do you ask?" The peasant woman couldn't help it, but she still accepted it, and she was a little embarrassed to ask for so much money for such a thing, and hoped to help a little more.

"I want to ask, have you ever seen this woman come to the village today?" Meng Tianchu unfolded the portrait to the peasant woman.

When the peasant woman saw it, she smiled: "Why does this look so much like Uncle Fu's little girl in the east of our village?" ”

"Ahh Meng Tianchu and the others couldn't help but exclaim.

"Then where is the daughter of Uncle Fu you said now?" Meng Tianchu asked.

"When I was eight years old, because there was a famine in our village at that time, Uncle Fu's family had many children, and it was really impossible to support them, so I sold them to Master Fu's family as a maid."

"And what's the name of this kid?"

"Xiaolian, it seems to be."

Meng Tianchu didn't expect that this hanging money could ask for such news, and it was worth it.

"Then is this Xiaolian still in the Fu family now?"

"It's gone, it seems like it was four years ago. A friend of Master Fu in the capital came to visit and brought the girl to the capital. ”

Meng Tianchu nodded, thinking to himself, if this girl is the one they are looking for, then how could this Lian'er not know where Cuiyun Villa is? Did you forget? So when she came back, why didn't she go to see her father and mother first, but to find the owner's home? The more Meng Tianchu thought about it, the more confused he became, and he always felt that something was wrong. He asked, "Then have you seen this girl come to the village today?" ”

The peasant woman shook her head, and when she saw that Meng Tianchu and they were fine, she took her child and left.

"Master. What do we do now? Wang Yi asked.

"Since we're here, we're going to ask the village again. Maybe someone else saw her come back. ”

They nodded, and followed the peasant woman into the village.

"Why don't we go to Na Lian'er's house and have a look. Maybe she's coming home. Murong Xue said.

Everyone was about to agree, but the peasant woman didn't go far just now, but when she heard this, she turned around and said, "That girl doesn't think she will go home." When the girl was sold to the Fu family, we all knew that it was actually her father who couldn't support a family of seven, and their family had four sons, so Lian'er was a daughter. Her father thought she was a girl. You can only eat, not make. So she was only sold, and although she was only eight years old at the time, she had two younger brothers under her. The youngest was only three years old, and she begged her father not to sell her, but her father was unwilling and finally sold her. She hates her father! ”

"How do you know she hates her father? That's her dad after all. Murong Xue said.

"That girl has a high spirit, she has been very smart since she was a child, and when she arrived at the Fu family, because she was about the same age as the son of the Fu family, Master Fu liked her, and almost didn't treat her as a maid, and asked her and her son to ask Mr. to teach them to read. Later, Master Fu asked her to go home to see her father, and she said that it was not her home, and the person who sold her was not a person, so think about it, how could she go back to that home. ”

Meng Tianchu heard the peasant woman say this, and felt that it made sense, it seemed that this Lian'er really had a lot of thoughts about her father.

Several people came to the village and asked many people, but they all said that they didn't see it, seeing that it was about to get dark, Meng Tianchu thought to himself, probably this Lian'er only went to Cuiyun Villa outside the village, and did not return to the village, so he hurried back to talk about it.

When they returned to the city, it was completely dark.

Meng Tianchu and the others ate a little bit at a small restaurant outside the yamen, and before they finished eating, the girl Xi came in the morning.

It was still the same as if everyone owed her money, looked at the sky, and said coldly: "I waited for you in the inn for a day, and you actually ate and drank here, and you were very idle!" ”

Meng Tianchu was already tired to death, and when he heard this, he suddenly became angry: "Hey! How do you know we didn't look for it, you're chilling in the inn, we've been looking outside for a day, it's easy to sit down here and have something to eat, are you trying to starve us to death? If you don't believe us, have you brought so many people to eat dry rice? Look for it yourself, we won't look for it! ”

Murong Zhenxue didn't expect Meng Tianchu to be so angry, she was really startled, everyone put down their chopsticks, and no one dared to eat.

The girl was also startled, she didn't expect that a small county master would dare to yell at her, and she was stunned.

The guards on the side saw Meng Tianchu yelling at his master like this, scolded, and went up to punch Meng Tianchu. Zhu Hao, the personal guard on the side, raised his hand, shook the guard back a few steps, and sat on the ground, but Zhu Hao didn't even shake his body.

The guard was ashamed and angry, and he pulled out his waist knife and was about to go up, but he also knew that the old man's martial arts just now were superb, and even if he took a few more knives, he would not be able to take advantage of the slightest, and when he was hesitating, Miss Xi snorted heavily in her nostrils: "Roll me down, isn't it shameful enough?" ”

The guard then stupidly accepted the single knife and retreated.

Miss Xi looked at Meng Tianchu and sat on a chair next to her: "You are so bold, aren't you afraid that I will kill you?" ”

Meng Tianchu smiled coldly: "Kill, you eunuchs and young ladies have always been so arrogant and domineering, killing someone is not as easy as us stepping on an ant, you can kill if you want." ”

"You're not afraid of death?"

"To be ridiculed and wronged like this, it is better to let that dog stab me to death with a sword."

The girl thought that she was a subordinate who had always been obedient to her words, and she was used to coming and going, and suddenly someone spoke to her like this, and she hadn't adapted yet, seeing Meng Tianchu say this, she thought about it for a while, and actually smiled: "Then you eat first, after eating, I want to hear the results of your investigation today." ”

Murong Yuxue thought they had heard it wrong, and looked at Meng Tianchu, Meng Tianchu looked very natural, turned around and stepped on the bench with one leg, and found that they still didn't move their chopsticks, so they said, "Eat, it's already cold, what are you waiting for?" ”

After eating, Meng Tianchu took Zhu Hao and the girl to the inn where she lived, and the others went back to rest.

When he arrived at the inn room, Zhu Hao rushed in to inspect it, and saw that there was no danger, so he retreated and stood outside the door to wait.

The girl instructed her subordinates to make Meng Tianchu a pot of fine Biluochun, and then brought a few plates of exquisite pastries, which made the subordinates retreat.

Meng Tianchu didn't expect that he would have such courtesy, they all said that people who don't slap smiling faces, he was naturally a lot more humble, everyone changed their attitudes, and he had no reason to go to others to show them again.

The girl's expression was still blank, but her tone was much calmer: "Okay, you can say it." ”