It was the first snow of winter, but it was unusually heavy, and the streets were almost closed with small vendors, and many businesses were closed.

Meng Tianchu stood in the attic of the Miao family's compound, in the entire Hangzhou City, I am afraid that only this one is the most lively today.

Wang Yi walked to Meng Tianchu's side and saw that he was standing by the window looking out, he didn't bother, just looked at Murong Yuxue who was standing aside with a very serious expression, this girl wore a small red cotton coat with broken flowers when she went to the yamen in the morning, and now standing in this place, it is very out of tune with this scene, and it is very eye-catching.

Meng Tianchu put on his gloves, and the crowd outside the door had all been evacuated downstairs, and there were only three of them left in this room, no, there was a pair of children less than a year old, and a pair of twin baby boys. They were stripped naked and hung from the beams of the house with a rope in which the children's heads were tied with snaps at both ends of the ropes, and then one of the children was hung around the main beam in the middle of the house.

The scene is well protected, the first person to find has not woken up yet, it is the child's wet nurse, a woman about thirty years old, probably as soon as she pushed open the door and saw it, when the sound of her falling to the ground alarmed the people downstairs, a maid ran up and began to scream, and then the housekeeper immediately called someone to go to the yamen to report the case, and no one entered this room again.

Meng Tianchu had already carefully inspected the room, when they came in, the window was open, there were only the footprints of the nurse in the room, the cold wind penetrated through the window ragingly, and the bodies of the two children swayed in the wind. Meng Tianchu walked to the bottom of the child's hanging and looked at it, and the two chubby children thought that they had been dead for some time. The face is purple. Apparently was killed.

Meng Tianchu said: "Wang Yi, put them down." ”

Wang Yi brought a chair and was about to step on it. only to find that the chair had been loosened, and it was broken when Wang Yi's tall body stepped on it. Wang Yi looked around the house, brought a stool from the window, stepped on it, and found that the child was hanging too high on the ground, and he needed to lift his feet to untie the rope.

Meng Tianchu went over to help and came over to support Wang Yi's body. After all, the stool is not as tall as the chair, so he is not easy to master. Finally put the two children down, Meng Tianchu took the two children into his hands, and felt stiff.

Meng Tianchu examined the bodies of the two children and found that there was a little bleeding on the eyelids and face, and the neck groove was raised around the back of the ear, and the eight characters did not cross, in addition. There were no other wounds, and there were no foreign objects in the mouth.

When Meng Tianchu was about to dissect the corpse, Murong Yuxue said: "It's better to wait for the child's father and mother to come back and take a look at his son, if you do this, you will dissect it." When the child's father and mother came back, they couldn't even see the whole corpse. After speaking, Murong Yuxue's eyes moistened. Don't bend over to wipe tears from the corners of your eyes.

Meng Tianchu felt that what Murong Yuxue said was also reasonable, so he said, "Okay, when will their family go to inform the Miao family's master and wife?" ”

Wang Yi said: "When I came to report the case, I had already sent someone to inform them, saying that it was yesterday afternoon because it was the fiftieth birthday of Miao Zhe, that is, the fourth lady of the Miao family, so I rushed back, who knew that such a thing would happen." The place they went to was not far from here, in Qiaojiazhuang, in the west of the city, and it was less than an hour's journey, and they were about to return. ”

Meng Tianchu looked back at the two children on the bed again, Murong Yuxue had already covered them with a small quilt, his heart was as sad as everyone present, and he thought, who is so vicious that he doesn't even let go of this little child?

Murong Zhenxue said: "This is really a father and a mother, why don't you bring the child back?" ”

Wang Yi said: "I heard the family who came to report the case say that because the wind was too strong yesterday, I was afraid that the two young masters would not be able to bear it on the road, so I didn't bring it." ”

Meng Tianchu walked out of the door and saw that the downstairs was full of people, a woman in her fifties, dressed gorgeously, crying with a handful of snot and tears, let a little maid support her, seeing Meng Tianchu walk out of the door, she hurriedly took a few steps forward and said upstairs: "Official, you must help us find the murderer." Who is so deprived of conscience, my Miao family has always been kind to people, and I also burn incense every day to ask for Buddha, just hoping that our Miao family will be safe. ”

Meng Tianchu walked downstairs, everyone gathered around, and a man in his sixties stepped forward and said, "Master Meng, I am the housekeeper of the Miao family, you can call me the Miao housekeeper." The one just now is the eldest lady of my family. After speaking, he pointed to the two women beside the eldest lady, one in his forties and the other in his thirties, all dressed gorgeously, and said, "These two are the second and third ladies of my family." The fourth lady of my family went back to her parents' house with her husband yesterday and has not come back yet. The three women all saluted Meng Tianchu one by one, and Meng Tianchu also returned the salute.

The housekeeper welcomed everyone to the hall and sat down, Meng Tianchu drank tea and looked carefully at the three ladies sitting opposite him.

Although the eldest lady is old, she looks kind and kind, holding a string of jade Buddha beads in her hand, this matter seems to have no effect on her, she still has words in her mouth, her eyes are slightly closed, and her expression is serene. Second husband

When she was definitely a beauty, she was holding a string of Buddhist beads that were not jade, but just ordinary sandalwood, and her expression was not sad, as if it had nothing to do with herself.

Meng Tianchu is not surprised when he thinks about it, a large family, most of the wives and concubines are incompatible, and in order to compete for favor, he is often fighting openly and secretly, he has become accustomed to it, and now that two sons have died in this family at once, it is too late for other ladies to be happy, where can they say anything sad.

The third lady is dressed a little differently from the first two ladies, today is a snowy day, but she is just wearing a thin jacket, the lower body is still an autumn skirt, the color is not bright, the dress is very elegant, and the appearance is also very beautiful, not the kind of woman who looks charming. She just sat on the side, playing with the sweat towel in her hand, Meng Tianchu looked at the sweat towel, and thought that it was a gadget embroidered by her daughter's family, and there were nothing more than some phoenixes and butterflies on it.

Meng Tianchu was thinking about it, when he heard a cry outside the door, Meng Tianchu knew that probably the child's father and mother had returned, and he looked at the three women opposite. Almost at the same time, he stood up and walked out. The third lady thought that she was wearing a long skirt, and she was in too much of a hurry, and she almost fell down when she went out. Fortunately, the second lady behind her held her, she turned around and looked at the second lady gratefully, and the three of them walked out of the door, followed by Meng Tianchu, Murong Zhenxue, and Wang Yi.

There was a man and a woman who came in, the man was about forty years old, and he was quite handsome. He thought he was a little old man, but he didn't expect to be much younger than the big lady. A girl in her early twenties beside her was very beautiful, Meng Tianchu felt that the beauty of the fourth lady and the third lady was demure and the other was domineering.

The woman rushed in crying, and when she reached the middle of the courtyard, she had a mink shawl on her body because of the heavy snowfall, and she accidentally fell to the ground. The man stepped forward to help her up, and she fainted without crying, and then the yard was even more chaotic.

Meng Tianchu stepped forward and was about to squat down to pinch the fourth lady's person. Unexpectedly, Miao Zhe had already reached over and held it down. Meng Tianchu then remembered that this Miao Zhe was the home of the wood business. Three generations of their Miao family have been Langzhong, so how to save people is naturally not a problem for him.

—

The fourth lady soon came to her senses, and when she saw herself lying in Miao Zhe's arms, she couldn't help crying again, and Miao Zhe also had a sad face, just gently patting his wife in his arms with his hand like coaxing a child.

Meng Tianchu stood next to him and didn't speak, he didn't know what to say at this time, the snow continued to fall, and the wind was a little lighter. At this time, the eldest lady stepped forward and said: "Such a big snow, let's hurry up to the house, Xue'er's body has always been very weak, where can I afford such a toss, master, you can carry Xue'er to the house, the local people in the yamen are also here, I'm afraid I have something to say." ”

Miao Zhe heard what the eldest lady said, and then raised his head and looked at the young man who was going to save people with him just now, Miao Zhe and Meng Tianchu glanced at each other, and said hello, now that someone is dead in the family, Meng Tianchu is also a reasonable person, so naturally he will not mind.

Miao Zhe gently picked up the fourth lady and walked quickly to the hall, all the people followed behind.

Meng Tianchu's personal guard Zhu Hao walked beside Meng Tianchu and said in a low voice: "This Miao family master thinks his skills are good, you see that he is holding a person of nearly 100 catties and is actually flying like an arrow, and his kung fu is amazing." ”

Meng Tianchu didn't speak, thinking to himself, he said that laymen look at the lively insiders, and other people's skills naturally can't escape the eyes of masters like Zhu Hao. However, even for the layman, it is not difficult to see that this Miao Zhe's body is very good, at least his body is very tough.

When he came to the hall, Miao Zhe gently put the fourth lady Xue'er on the chair, and the maid on the side was very intimate and immediately covered Xue'er's body with a very soft quilt, Xue'er seemed to have exhausted all her strength and lay weakly on the chair.

The second lady looked disdainful, walked in front of Xue'er, and said in a weird manner: "My sister is still important to her body, and the child can be reborn if she doesn't have it, if her body collapses, she won't be able to give birth if she wants to give birth again." ”

Xue'er, who was originally lying on the chair, stood up suddenly, the quilt fell to the ground, and the maid next to her was about to pick it up, when she heard a crisp snap, and the second lady's face had been imprinted with five finger prints. The whole hall fell silent all of a sudden, and the slap was exceptionally crisp.

Xue'er looked at the second lady who had been slapped by herself hatefully, and the second lady didn't react at once, but just covered her beaten face with her hand, and only cried for a while. Miao Zhe stepped forward and shouted: "Shut up for me!" ”

This sound really worked, she immediately stopped crying, and said: "Master, why did she beat people?" ”

Xue'er said viciously: "I don't know who wanted to kill my pair of miserable sons, if I knew, I'm afraid that that person would die without a body." This slap should have been done a long time ago, and the two children who had beaten me earlier would not have died. After speaking, there was a dizziness in front of him, and he almost fainted, Miao Zhe hurriedly hugged him in his arms, the second husband

I didn't get a favor, but I was beaten, and I saw that the lord had seen the embarrassing things about the fourth lady and outsiders, so he was very shameless, stomped his sleeves and cried and left.

The third lady walked up to Xue'er and said softly: "Sister, I'll help you go back to the room to rest, although there is a fire here, but after all, the door is open, and you are facing the wind, so you can't stand it." ”

Na Xue'er thought that she had no ill will towards the third lady, and when she saw the third lady say this, she shed tears. looked at Miao Zhe. Miao Zhe said: "Yes, you should go back to your house and rest, and let the maid give you the heat of the ground." It's time for you to eat it. I have spoken to the people of the Yamen, and I have come to see you. ”

Xue'er said, "Master, I'm going to see my child." ”

When Miao Zhe heard this, he shook his head painfully and said, "Good, don't do it." I'll come back and tell you later. You eat it obediently, and then let Xiaoxiao accompany you. ”

Xue'er nodded, the two maids supported her, the third lady Xiaoxiao followed behind, walked to Meng Tianchu's side, and Xiao Shili said: "We will retire first, please don't be embarrassed." ”

Meng Tianchu hurriedly said, "Madam, please, don't worry about our land." ”

Wait for Cher to leave. Miao Zhe motioned for all his subordinates to retreat, leaving only himself and the eldest lady to accompany Meng Tianchu and them in the hall.

After Miao Zhe and Meng Tianchu introduced each other, Miao Zhe said, "Master Meng, can I go and see my child now?" ”

Meng Tianchu nodded. He said, "Yes, then we'll talk while we go." ”

Miao Zhe, Meng Tianchu and the others walked out of the door. The eldest lady did not follow, but stood in the doorway and watched them go to the attic opposite.

Meng Tianchu asked, "How many children does Master Miao have?" ”

Miao Zhe said: "Originally, there were four, but now...alas! ”

Meng Tianchu then asked, "Then which lady are the other two children?" ”

Miao Zhe said: "The eldest lady has been to my family as a child daughter-in-law since she was a child, ten years older than me, her life is also very hard, she has not given birth, my father also wanted me to divorce her, but I think that although she can't give birth, but after all, she grew up with me, and my sister, if she is divorced by me, the future will be sad." Later, I married Ling'er, that is, my second wife, we are the same age, and gave birth to a daughter after a year of marriage, and now this daughter has been married and married to Qiantang County. Later, Ling'er gave birth to another son for me, who is exactly 10 years old this year. ”

Meng Tianchu said: "Then how long has it been since the third lady of your family passed the door?" ”

Miao Zhe said: "After this year, it will be five years." I don't know why, I haven't been able to get pregnant, I'm a Langzhong myself, and I've seen it, there's no problem, her body has always been very good, and I don't know why. My family Xue'er gave birth to a pair of twin sons in less than two years, and I didn't expect it....

While speaking, everyone had already come to the attic, and Meng Tianchu asked, "Are you ladies a small building for one person?" ”

Miao Zhe said: "No, the eldest lady and the third lady live in a small building in the east, when the second lady entered the door, I built a small courtyard for her in the south, she likes the exclusive courtyard, and then Xue'er entered the door, I built this small building for her in the west, she generally likes to live upstairs, saying that the downstairs is damp, and her health has been bad, so I am also very accommodating to her, downstairs are all people living in the house, upstairs in addition to her room, next door is the nurse with two children to live." ”

When he came to the door, Miao Zhe stopped, he lowered his head and put his hand on the door frame, Meng Tianchu knew that he had taken that step very much, after all, it was his own flesh and blood. Meng Tianchu walked to the fence of the corridor and turned his back to Miao Zhe, no one should disturb this sad person at this time.

Meng Tianchu played with a carving in front of the fence with his hand, which was carved with a dragon and phoenix auspicious pattern, and suddenly, Meng Tianchu found a blood stain on the fence, as if it had only been stained for a short time, the color was still very fresh, and the area of the blood stain was not very large.

Carefully look at the bloodstains, which are splashed in a radial shape, just like the traces formed by an inkwell falling from a high place on the concrete floor, Meng Tianchu took a step back and looked at it, the height of the bloodstains was close to his chin, if this bloodstain was human blood, and this person was a woman or a man of short stature, it was likely to be formed by a head impact, of course, it could also be formed by a fist smash.

This bloodstain appeared at the scene of the murder, and it was very fresh, indicating that it may be related to the murderer, which is an important clue to solve the case.

There are patterns on the surface of the fence, so if you can extract and examine the hair or epithelial tissue that is attached to the contact area, you can determine what kind of blood was left. Of course, it can also be further checked for blood type, whether the bleeding person is a man or a woman, and even to determine whether the bleeding person has certain diseases. So as to provide a basis for individual identification.