Tian Chu stood up, looked at these maids who were too cold, walked up and said, "Bring them a brazier, they are quite pitiful." ”

When the maid heard Meng Tianchu say this, she thanked Meng Tianchu gratefully again and again.

Meng Tianchu said: "If you think of something, tell me at any time, if it wasn't for your master, you can also go out early." ”

Those maids all nodded, Meng Tianchu walked to the door, suddenly turned back, and asked, "Which of you is the personal maid of the eldest lady?" ”

A maid of about fifteen years old stood up.

Meng Tianchu said: "You go with me, I have something to ask you." ”

The maid immediately took a step back and said in a panic, "I... I don't know anything, I beg you, master, don't lock me up alone, I'm scared at night. ”

Meng Tianchu smiled: "I won't let you be separated from your sisters, I just want to ask you some questions." ”

The maid still refused to step forward, looking very scared, and said in a trembling voice: "Master, you are a good person, if you take me away, I won't be able to speak clearly in the future, if you have anything to say, you can ask me in front of everyone." ”

When Meng Tianchu heard this, it turned out that this maid was worried about this problem, and it made sense to think about it, so he said, "Okay, I'll ask you here." ”

The maid looked at Meng Tianchu gratefully and said, "I know, I will definitely tell you." ”

Meng Tianchu said: "How many years have you been with the eldest lady?" ”

The maid said, "It's been three years." ”

Meng Tianchu said: "Then who served the eldest lady before?" ”

A maid who is nearly twenty years old. Standing up, tall and lean, she said, "It's me." ”

Meng Tianchu glanced at her and asked, "Then how long have you been by the side of the eldest lady?" ”

The maid said, "It's been eight years." ”

Meng Tianchu sighed, and then said, "Or I'll ask the two of you to go with me." That way you can testify for each other and don't have to worry about what others think of you. ”

The smaller maid was still a little embarrassed, but the older maid said very happily: "It's good to go, if Xiaohong doesn't dare to go, it's okay for me to go alone." "She's probably talking about the little maid.

The smaller maid was still hesitating, and the other maids were all talking nonsense.

One said: "You better go, you have also met Master Meng, if you change to someone else." Where can I discuss it with you, maybe I will be hit by the board a long time ago. ”

Another person also said: "That's it, besides, it's not like you won't go if you don't go, if you go to court one day, you don't want to go, just tell Master Meng what you know, and after speaking, he will naturally let you and Sister Xiaomei come back." ”

Xiaohong finally nodded and said, "Then I'll go with you." ”

The two maids followed behind Meng Tianchu. Murong Yuxue walked up to Meng Tianchu and asked, "Why are you asking them alone?" ”

Meng Tianchu said: "You'll know in a while." Then he turned his head and whispered an order to the jailer, who nodded and led the way.

Several people finally came out of the dimly lit prison, and the two maids, seeing that they had been brought out, had already walked to the gate where they had first entered, and had not seen outside for a long time. They all narrowed their eyes, unable to stand the irritation of the bright light outside.

The jailer took them to a room, which was supposed to be the place where the jailer was on duty and resting on weekdays, although the room was not large, it was quite clean, and there was a brazier in it, which was very warm.

Meng Tianchu found a chair to sit down on, and then asked the two maids who were standing on the side at a loss to sit down on a long bench opposite him. The two maids stood there timidly, and the bold maid named Xiaomei also stood aside and didn't dare to step forward.

Murong Zhenxue said: "Master has something to ask you, let you sit, you will sit." It's been a long time, aren't you worried about what other maids suspect? ”

As soon as they heard Murong Zhenxue say this, they still sat down, and when Murong Zhenxue saw them sit down, he also found a table to sit down, spread out the paper and pen he brought with him, and was ready to record at any time.

Meng Tianchu said, but you have to tell me these three questions, if you don't say any of them, I won't let you go back. Lie more

Allow. ”

When the two maids heard this, they only had a few questions, and quickly nodded.

Meng Tianchu said: "The first question is to ask Xiao Meidi, you have been by the side of the eldest lady for so many years, what do you think of this person of the eldest lady?" ”

Xiaomei thought for a while and said: "People are very fierce, and they are not good to our subordinates, they often beat or scold us, and sometimes they even deduct our wages, if you don't believe it, you can ask Xiaohong." ”

—

Meng Tianchu looked at Xiaohong and saw that she nodded, so he then asked Xiaomei: "Why didn't you let you follow her for so long by the side of the eldest lady?" ”

Xiaomei said: "I don't know either. ”

Meng Tianchu said: "Then who are you following now?" ”

Xiaomei said: "No one followed, in the kitchen." ”

Meng Tianchu thought it was wrong, how could he suddenly fall from the sky to the earth? So he asked, "You must have done something wrong to drive you to the kitchen, didn't you?" ”

Xiaomei shook her head and said, "I really don't know, suddenly she told me to let me go to the kitchen to help, and my salary has been reduced a lot." ”

Meng Tianchu said: "Before I drove you to the kitchen, was anything going on at home?" ”

Xiaomei thought about it and shook her head, the little red elephant on the side had something to say, and when Meng Tianchu saw it, he let Xiaohong speak.

Xiaohong said: "Before Sister Xiaomei went to the kitchen, I had only been to Miao's house for less than a month, and at that time I followed the third lady, the third lady was actually very good to me, and I was much happier than the sisters in other rooms, so I knew that I wanted to go with the eldest lady, so I didn't want to go, and then I heard the sisters say in private, saying that Xiaomei went to send food to the second lady one day, and let the eldest lady see it, and the eldest lady said that Sister Xiaomei is eating inside and out, and it is better not to follow herself." ”

Meng Tianchu said: "It's just such a small matter, it won't be serious enough to let Xiaomei go to the kitchen." ”

When Xiaomei heard this, she pouted and said: "Actually, it's not surprising, I've heard such things before, but I thought it was okay to go to the kitchen anyway and not be angry with her, and the second lady was in charge of the kitchen, she was not as mean as the eldest lady, although the salary was less, but when she was beaten, it was a lot less." Besides, the eldest lady is a person who is very easy to hold grudges, once, the second lady and the third lady were talking under the corridor, probably did not see the eldest lady passing by, did not say hello, and then the eldest lady also sued in front of the lord, saying that the two ladies had no one in their eyes, let the lord punish them well, the lord and the third lady were in good shape at that time, naturally just listened, the eldest lady after a few days, or in front of a lot of maids poured a bowl of lotus seed soup on the second lady, saying that the second lady wanted to burn herself. ”

When Meng Tianchu saw Xiaomei say this, he really reacquainted himself with the eldest lady who was holding Buddhist beads and chanting Amitabha Buddha in her mouth all day long.

Meng Tianchu continued to ask: "On the night of the accident with the two children of the fourth lady, did you see the eldest lady leave her room? ”

Xiaohong said: "That night, the eldest lady thought that the fourth lady was missing, and she was in a good mood, so she asked me to go to the second lady, and the third lady and the nurse went to her room to play horse hanging, and I was always waiting by my side, until they left like the second watch, and I went back to my room to sleep." ”

Meng Tianchu said, "How far is your room from the eldest lady's room?" ”

Xiaohong said: "It's next door, just to greet me." ”

Meng Tianchu nodded and said, "Then didn't you see the eldest lady leave that night, or hear the cry of the fourth lady's child upstairs?" ”

Xiaohong shook her head and said: "When they were playing, the eldest lady went out twice, and I accompanied her, it was to go to Gong, and then after they left, the eldest lady never called me again, and I fell asleep quickly, and I didn't hear the child's cry." ”

Meng Tianchu said: "Under normal circumstances, if the child upstairs of the fourth lady is crying, can you hear it?" ”

Xiaohong said: "Yes, and it is very clear, because the eldest lady's house is just diagonally opposite the fourth lady, and it is not a child who cries, the two young masters often cry together and stop together."

Xiaomei said: "The night they played, because they drank and guessed the dishes that needed to be drunk, I happened to be on duty that night, so I stayed until they dispersed and cleaned up the kitchen before going to rest, but when I went to sleep, I saw the eldest lady go out." ”