Ke Zhifu said: "The night before yesterday the dog came back very late, drunk, yesterday morning at home to sleep, until noon the house came back, he got up, washed and went out, when he went out was still good, when he came back it was already dark, about a more than a watch, the dog looked not normal, his mother called him to eat, he said that he had eaten outside, said that he was very sleepy, and went back to sleep. His mother and I were worried, so I went to see him in the room, he said dizzy, nauseous and wanted to vomit, pale, black lips, weak limbs, groggy and asleep, we saw that he was not right like this, so we invited a few Langzhong, Langzhong took the pulse and said that he had a fast pulse, fearing danger, opened the soup, but could not take it, and then he has been asleep, breathing slowly, and later, the breathing is even more intermittent, and the whole body is cold. Survive until the second half of the night, just... and died..."

Meng Tianchu listened attentively to Ke Zhifu's account of the onset and death of his son Ke Wei, and the symptoms described by Ke Zhifu were not typical, so there was no way to judge what kind of poison he had been poisoned.

No matter what kind of poison it is, there is a possibility of homicide, suicide and accident in the poisoning death. Meng Tianchu said apologetically: "After the autopsy, the contemptible people can confirm that Ling Lang died of poisoning, but whether it was a homicide, an accident or a suicide, the corpse alone cannot be answered, and the necessary investigation needs to be conducted." Could Ling Lang have suicidal tendencies during his lifetime? ”

"Suicide? No, no, it's impossible, the dog is alive and well, and he was still happy when he went out yesterday, it's impossible to think of suicide, why did he commit suicide! Never. Governor Ke shook his head again and again.

"Did he accidentally eat any poisonous substances before he died? Have you ever taken it when you are sick? ”

Governor Ke thought carefully for a while and shook his head: "There should be no suits." During this time, he has not been sick in love with you, nor has he seen Langzhong, but the dog has a wide range of friends and often calls friends to eat and drink outside. Whether it was poisoned food or something like eating it outside by mistake, the government does not know. ”

"And does he have any enemies? I mean, the kind of enemy who could have poisoned Ling Lang? ”

Governor Ke hesitated for a moment: "There shouldn't be... This government is busy with official business, and I don't pay much attention to these things like dogs, so I can't say for sure. ”

It seems that Governor Ke doesn't know much about his son. Although the cause of death has been clarified, it is uncertain whether it was a homicide. At the moment, we can only conduct a dragnet investigation to see if we can find out where the poison was in Ke Wei and who was present at that time. In order to find something suspicious.

According to what he learned, Ke Wei is likely to be a disciple who eats, drinks, prostitutes, and gambles. I'm afraid I'm fooling around outside most of the time, if that's the case, then it's troublesome, how to check it?

Meng Tianchu thought about it for a while, Ke Zhifu is the dignified prefect of Hangzhou, although there are many servants in the family, but it is estimated that they have all been carefully investigated, and even have guarantees, the possibility of the murderer coming from the inside is smaller than that of the outside, or focus on the outside first, first determine Ke Wei's interpersonal relationships, and delineate the focus of the investigation.

Meng Tianchu said: "Lord Prefect, do you know where Ling Lang often goes outside?" ”

There was a slight embarrassment on Governor Ke's face: "There is no way to teach children in this house, and the dogs often make some fox friends and dog friends, and the most frequent thing to go in and out of Fireworks Willow Lane is the flower boat on the West Lake." ”

The flower boat is actually a floating mobile brothel on the lake, but unlike ordinary brothels, the flower boat is more of a geisha who sells their art and does not sell their bodies, so it is also a place where literati and elegant guests like to go. casually asked: "Lord Prefect, do you know which flower boats Ling Lang often goes to West Lake?" ”

"I used to hear him talk about a flower boat called 'Printing the Moon'."

"And with whom did he associate with him?"

Governor Ke shook his head: "The dog is already an adult, and the people he interacts with... I don't really know, and he rarely talks about his friends in front of us. ”

"Oh? He always has one or two people who hang out regularly, right? Did the prefect hear him? ”

"If you want to talk about it, I'm afraid it's his form Li Ruhan. They are often together, and if you ask Li Ruhan, you should know who they are often with. ”

"Well, where is this Li Ruhan now?"

"I'm here today to help with the funeral, and I saw him in the front hall when I came in just now."

Meng Tianchu thought to himself, since this Li Ruhan is Ke Wei's form, that is, Ke Zhifu's nephew, that is, the son of Ke Zhifu's sister, there is such a maternal uncle as Ke Zhifu, this Li Ruhan must be a disciple, this kind of son has been pampered since he was a child, and he never puts others in his eyes, if he uses the method of direct inquiry, most of them will not get the answer they want to know, and there is no evidence to prove that he poisoned Ke Wei, and it is not even certain that Ke Wei died of murder, it is best to integrate into his life, check slowly, and see if there is any clue.

Thinking of this, Meng Tianchu told Ke Zhifu and Cai Zhixian his thoughts, saying that he wanted to get married to Li Ruhan and investigate from the side.

Of course, Governor Ke agreed with Meng Tianchu's idea, of course he didn't believe that his nephew Li Ruhan would murder his cousin, and he didn't want to make this matter bigger, so Meng Tianchu proposed to investigate from the side, which was deep in Governor Ke's heart. nodded immediately and said: "This is very good, it just so happens that he also came to help with the funeral today, and the house respects that he called to introduce you to each other." ”

Governor Ke asked the squad leader to go to the mourning hall to call Li Ruhan.

After a while, Li Ruhan came in, glanced at Meng Tianchu, and then gave a salute to Ke Zhifu and Cai Zhixian: "The little nephew has seen his uncle, and he has seen Lord Cai!" ”

Meng Tianchu felt the difference slightly, he couldn't see any arrogance from his eyes, listening to his conversation, he was also elegant, it seemed that he still had to pay attention to this experience.

Governor Ke said: "Lord Cai brought Master Meng to condole, and talked about you while talking, so I called you to talk." Master Meng is proficient in criminal names, young talents, you should be more close. ”

Li Ruhan hurriedly turned around and saluted Meng Tianchu deeply: "It turns out that Brother Tai is Master Meng, I have long heard that Renhe County has come to a criminal master who solves cases like a god, and even solved strange cases, I only got to see Brother Tai today, I am really lucky." Please advise me in the future. ”

Meng Tianchu hurriedly returned the salute: "Brother Tai is too modest, and the brother Tai who got it from the prefect is very good, especially the amount of alcohol is very good, and he admires it very much, and he is also an indiscriminate drunkard in Xia, I hope I can have the honor to conspire with Brother Tai to get drunk." ”

Meng Tianchu's words suddenly shortened the distance between the two, and Li Ruhan was no longer so restrained, and said with a smile: "Brother Meng is really bold, but unfortunately today is the day of my cousin's death, it is not appropriate to drink, and when the funeral is over, the younger brother will definitely invite Brother Meng to the cold house for a drink!" ”

"Good! That's a foregone conclusion. ”

After speaking, Li Ruhan retreated to the front hall and continued to be busy.

After Governor Ke waited for him to leave, he clapped his palms, and walked in with the squad leader, holding a brass tray in his hand, covered with red silk, and walked to Meng Tianchu and knelt down.

Governor Ke gently uncovered the red silk and said in a low voice; "Sir, you are the master of Cai Zhi County, now this government asks you to help solve the mysterious death case of the dog, it will take extra hard work, Mr. can't work hard in vain, this government has prepared a little remuneration, please Mr. Smile, and when the case is solved, this government will also thank you."

Meng Tianchu looked at the tray, and there were five small ingots of silver neatly arranged, each ingot was ten taels, a total of fifty taels.

No way! Fifty taels, 50,000 yuan, Meng Tianchu thought to himself, that is his salary for two years! And there is still a reward for solving the case, I'm afraid it's even more than now.

Just now, Governor Ke has made it very clear that he is the master of Cai Zhixian, not the master invited by his Governor Ke, of course, he has to give additional money to help him solve the case, not to mention the mysterious death of his son's poisoning. Of course, Governor Ke wants to find out, so he spares no expense.

This is a labor fee, so of course it will be charged. Meng Tianchu's principle is that you don't want any money that shouldn't be taken, but you don't want to take the money you should take, and he deeply understands the importance of money to his own people in ancient times hundreds of years ago.

"Thank you, Lord Prefect, for your generous kindness." Meng Tianchu arched his hand. After thinking about it, it's better not to advance and retreat first. couldn't say enough words, and said: "Lord Prefect, the words have to be said in front, although the contemptible people have cracked some cases, they don't dare to guarantee that every case can be solved, so..."

Governor Ke hurriedly said: "Mr. is not too worried, as long as Mr. does his best, this government is grateful." ”

"That's good. Rest assured, the prefect, the contemptible people will do their best to solve this case. If Ling Lang dies of murder, the contemptible people will definitely arrest the real murderer! ”

Meng Tianchu's words came from the bottom of his heart, this case is not only related to the issue of fifty taels of silver or more, but if it is done well, it can expand its influence. Anyway, I don't know anything about the four books and five classics, so I don't have to think about it to be an official in the imperial examination, or use the ability to solve cases to make more money and live a rich life is the right way. Of course, if you want to be an official by chance, you will not shirk it.

"Thank you so much!" Governor Ke arched his hand.

Considering that everyone is very busy today, it is impossible to investigate and visit quietly, so it is better to wait until the funeral is over, and the day of the burial will be the next day. So Meng Tianchu decided to investigate the next day. Before this, the first thing to investigate was the 'Printing the Moon' flower boat on the West Lake that Ke Wei often visited.

Meng Tianchu asked Murong Yuxue to go home directly, and he left the prefect's yamen in a sedan chair with fifty taels of silver and Cai Zhixian to return to the county government of Renhe County.

When Meng Tianchu put the silver on the table in his living room, Feiyan's happy face lit up, and Xia Fengyi was also very happy for Meng Tianchu, and said: "Husband, it seems that even if there is no 'Xizi Restaurant', it is very easy for you to make money." ”

Meng Tianchu said triumphantly: "Of course! I've said before, you treat me as a grass, others can treat me as a treasure, and the person who treats me as a treasure is not necessarily a woman. Isn't that all there now? Hehe, how to raise, some regrets, right? ”

Xia Fengyi smiled faintly, "It's a good thing that you can make money, and I will be relieved when I leave in the future." ”

Meng Tianchu seemed to have been hit on the head, and suddenly flew out of the nine clouds with joy, Tie Qing looked at Feiyan with a blue face, and then looked at Xia Fengyi, and suddenly said: "It's still early, I want to go to the West Lake to drink on the flower boat, you can accompany me!" "Words are non-negotiable.

Xia Fengyi's face changed, and she said in a low voice: "Husband, the flower boat... With a concubine... I'm afraid it's not very easy to handle. ”

Meng Tianchu didn't notice that Xia Fengyi's face was different, and he still craned his neck and said: "What's wrong, anyway, the two of us are fake couples, there is no problem of jealousy, and besides, I said it before, we will be together in the future, and everything will be up to me, what, do you want to regret it?" ”

Feiyan bit her lip and said in a low voice: "Young master, the slave maid will accompany you, grandma is tired after a busy day, so she should rest early at home." ”

Meng Tianchu ignored Feiyan's stubble, still looking at Xia Fengyi, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.

Xia Fengyi raised her eyes slightly and looked at Meng Tianchu, her expression was quite indifferent, and she said in a low voice: "Okay, the concubine will accompany her husband to the flower boat." ”

Meng Tianchu heard Xia Fengyi mention leaving again just now, he didn't have to keep Xia Fengyi, but a beautiful girl insisted on breaking up with him, which was a blow to Meng Tianchu's self-esteem, and in anger, he blurted out that he would accompany him to the flower boat without thinking about it, originally deliberately making things difficult for her, but he didn't expect Xia Fengyi to agree.

At this time, Meng Tianchu also found that Xia Fengyi's face was wrong, and only then did he remember that Meng Tianchu before he came over was a person who ate, drank, prostitutes, gambled and had no ability, and it was precisely because of this that he was looked down upon by Xia Fengyi.

Thinking of this, Meng Tianchu was about to explain that he was actually going to Huachuan to investigate the case, but he could see Xia Fengyi's faint expression and sarcastic smile, which stimulated his arrogance, thinking, why should Lao Tzu consider your thoughts, anyway, no matter what Lao Tzu does, you will leave in half a year, it doesn't matter if Lao Tzu finds a woman or not, so why explain.

Besides, didn't the ancient times pay attention to the three obedience and four virtues, and the wife basically didn't dare to say two words to her husband when he was looking for flowers and willows outside (except for a very few stubborn Hedong lion roars). Lao Tzu was afraid of wolves and tigers, so he was too unmanly, so he snorted and said: "You and Feiyan change into men's clothes, come with me, and accompany me to the flower boat to take care of the flower girl!" ”