Tianchu whispered to the old man: "Old man, I am the famous master of the county government investigating this murder case, please retreat, and after I finish the inquest and determine the nature of the case, you will take back the body for the funeral, okay?" ”

Hai Dashan sobbed and nodded, stood up and stepped aside, still crying in a low voice.

Meng Tianchu squatted down, untied the deceased's clothes, and conducted a preliminary body surface examination of the corpse, and found that there was continuous white crab foam-like foam overflowing from the mouth and nose of the corpse, piled up at the mouth and nose, which was a common sign of drowning.

Meng Tianchu said to Hai Shaoqing: "In trouble, I am calling the person who first found the body, I have something to ask." ”

After Haili stepped forward to ask the onlookers, everyone looked at a little girl holding a cow, and the little girl handed the cow rope to a little friend next to her, and timidly stepped forward and said, "Master, I was the first to find out." ”

Hai Shaoqing kindly touched the girl's head: "Don't be afraid, the master has something to ask you, you just tell the master in detail, you know?" ”

The little girl nodded, her face pale, and she looked at Meng Tianchu in fear.

Meng Tianchu smiled and walked over to her and squatted down, and asked in as soft words as possible, "Little sister, what's your name?" ”

"Lu'er."

"Oh, Lu'er is brave, isn't she? You tell your uncle, how did you find this body? ”

At the mention of this, the little girl's body trembled slightly. Apparently not yet recovered from the fright, he hesitated for a moment before he said, "This morning, Lu'er led the cow to the outside of the village to release it. When I pass by the edge of the pond. Seeing a piece of clothing floating in the pond, Lu'er thought that someone had lost the clothes while washing them, so she found a branch and was ready to pick up the clothes to take a look, but she couldn't pick them up, so Aunt Liu came to the pond to wash the vegetables, and after hearing what Lu'er said, she helped to dig the clothes over. When she found out that it was a person, Lu'er was scared and cried..."

Aunt Liu, who was carrying a vegetable basket next to her, nodded: "Yes, Lu'er is right, that's right, after I found out that the clothes were actually a person, I was also frightened and yelled. When I checked it, I found that there was no snort. Only then did he send someone to report to Lizheng's house. ”

Meng Tianchu asked, "When was the body found?" ”

"Just before a stick of incense, I found it and reported it immediately."

It's three o'clock in the morning. Meng Tianchu asked, "Who else has been here before?" ”

Aunt Liu said: "I don't know. But. No one usually comes to the place so early. I usually come here first to wash vegetables, and my house is not far from the pond. ”

Meng Tianchu's heart moved. Asked, "Did you hear anything unusual last night?" ”

Aunt Liu lowered her head and thought for a moment, and said affirmatively: "I didn't hear anything, but I went to bed early last night, and I slept until dawn, and I didn't hear anything at night." ”

Meng Tianchu was a little disappointed and observed the surroundings of the pond. The village is relatively small, so the houses are scattered, and the nearest to the pond is dozens of paces away, and if you don't pay special attention, you really can't hear what is happening by the pond.

He didn't give up, and asked several families who lived nearby, and they all said that they had gone to bed early and didn't hear anything unusual.

This is the case in the countryside, when it gets dark, there is no other entertainment, so I usually go to bed early.

Without finding any clues, Meng Tianchu asked the deceased's father, Hai Dashan, again: "Uncle, does your son drink alcohol on weekdays?" ”

Nahai Dashan nodded, looking very sad: "I can't persuade him, he has no mother since he was a child, I pulled him up with a handful of and urine, a little doting, I didn't expect it to be too big but I couldn't listen to persuasion, and I often drank and didn't wake up." ”

Haili was saying on the side: "Yes, this kid is greedy for cups, no matter how you persuade him." It's okay not to drink, but once you drink, it's just... Alas~! ”

Meng Tianchu continued to ask Hai Dashan: "Please tell me what your son did last night." ”

"I don't know, I went to bed early."

"Did your son drink last night?"

"My son drinks almost every day, and he gets drunk. I don't listen to what I say. Alas! How can I be worthy of his dead mother! Although Hai Dashan hates this child indisputably, he is also his own flesh and blood in the end, and he can't help but cry when he talks about sadness.

At this moment, I suddenly heard the sound of a woman crying outside, the crowd got out of the way, and a young woman stepped in, glanced at the corpse on the bluestone slab, and knelt down with a bang, hiding her face and weeping.

Meng Tianchu saw this woman at a glance, his body shook suddenly, this girl turned out to be the melancholy young girl he met at the entrance of the village, and hurriedly asked Hai Lizheng: "Who is this woman?" ”

"It's the daughter-in-law of the deceased Haizhudi, who went to the mountains to hunt pigweed in the morning, and I sent someone to tell her, and I just got the news and rushed here."

Meng Tianchu waited for the woman's sad voice to stop for a while, and then said, "Little lady, contemptible."

The county criminal master, surnamed Meng, is in charge of the investigation of the case of your husband drowning in the pond, ask you. ”

The woman turned sideways and looked at Meng Tianchu with teary eyes, probably because she was overly sad and didn't react for a while. Hai Dashan on the side hurriedly said: "Daughter-in-law of the pillar, don't cry, Master Meng wants to ask you!" ”

Only then did the woman suppress her grief, knelt and kowtowed to Meng Tianchu, lowered her eyes and looked at the ground, waiting for Meng Tianchu to ask.

Meng Tianchu took a closer look at this woman, she was still as detached as a fairy from the earth, and couldn't help but sigh secretly, she couldn't imagine that there was such a woman in this secluded village, it was really amazing. Immediately asked, "What's your name?" ”

"The little woman Hailin clan, her name is Ruofan." The words are soft and elegant, although they have a crying voice, they are refreshing to listen to.

"Who are you?"

"The little woman's husband..."Speaking of this, the words were already a little choked up.

"Why did your husband die in the pond. Do you know? ”

Lin Ruofan shook his head slightly.

"And what was your husband doing last night?"

Lin Ruofan sobbed and said: "My husband went out for dinner last night, and I waited until the fourth watch late at night, and I didn't see him come back..."

"Do you know where he went?"

Lin Ruofan shook his head and said, "The little woman doesn't know, and her husband never tells me when he goes out." ”

It seems that the deceased was a machismo. This was commonplace in ancient times. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Meng Tianchu pondered for a moment, the deceased Haizhu was good at drinking and greedy for cups on weekdays, and vomit was found by the pond where he died, it seemed that he had gone out to drink, and returned after being drunk, passing by the pond, thirsty and wanted to drink water. Unexpectedly, his feet were unstable and he drowned in the pond.

Since there was no sign of his killing, Meng Tianchu asked Hai Dashan to bring his son's body back for burial.

Haili saw that Meng Tianchu had already dealt with the case, and it was not a homicide case, so he breathed a sigh of relief. accompanied Meng Tianchu back home.

As soon as the few of them arrived home, they smelled a pungent fragrance, Meng Tianchu was very familiar with this smell, and knew that it was probably from Feiyan's hand, it seemed that Xia Fengyi and Feiyan went to cook to help.

Hai Shaoqing and Meng Tianchu went straight to the kitchen, and sure enough, they saw Xia Fengyi and Feiyan were busy working. It seems that they are already very familiar with the female relatives of Haijiadi, everyone is talking and cooking in the kitchen, and when they see Meng Tianchu, they come back. Hurriedly greeted him.

Xia Fengyi asked, "Husband." What's going on? ”

"A villager was drunk. Passing by the pond, he fell into the pond and drowned. ”

"It's pathetic!" Xia Fengyi sighed. "Husband, we have made the lotus root soup, you go to the living room and sit, and bring it."

Hai Shaoqing saw that the wife of the famous master was cooking herself, so she was very reluctant to go, and hurriedly smiled: "Madam, didn't you kill the old man!" Please go to the living room to rest, there are rough girls in the house, these dead girls see someone working, naturally beg for leisure, steal lazy. Turning around, he looked at a middle-aged woman dressed gorgeously and complained, "Madam! How can you get guests from afar to work in the kitchen? ”

This middle-aged woman is Hai Lizheng's wife, Long, and said apologetically: "Master, Mrs. Meng, she has to cook, saying that she has to learn how to make this lotus root soup, and the concubine can't stop it..."

Feiyan interjected on the side: "Actually, it's not in the way, we disturb you like this, in fact, we don't want to go, anyway, we are idle and idle, and it's like this at home, there is no difference, so you don't have to mind." ”

"It's... How does this make! Haili was rubbing his hands together, not knowing what to do for a while.

Meng Tianchu said with a smile: "Okay, Li Zheng, my two ladies are cooking well, and Mr. Zhang will know later, and we will wait in the living room." With that, he pulled the sea back to the living room.

After a while, the fragrant lotus root soup was served, Meng Tianchu was feeling a little hungry, where could he still be polite, Xili drank several bowls in a row, and the soup juice was sticky to his nose and chin, which made the maids on the side purse their lips and smile.

Feiyan hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe off the soup juice for Meng Tianchu, and said with a smile: "Young master, look at you like this, my grandmother and I have already learned, anyway, this is not far from the city, if you like to eat, we often send someone to buy some and bring them back to make for you to eat." ”

Haili was also very happy to see that Meng Tianchu liked to eat, and stroked his beard and smiled: "Don't be so troublesome, Haiquan, this kid often comes back, I'll ask him to bring some to send to Master from time to time." We don't have anything else in this village, but this lotus root can have it. ”

Meng Tianchu said: "That's great, thank you Lizheng." ”

Xia Fengyi said: "Husband, since you have eaten and drunk enough, let's go and see the scenery here, as soon as we come, we will take care of the case, and we haven't had a good place to play." ”

"Exactly!" Meng Tianchu stood up, thanked Hai Lizheng, and took Xia Fengyi and them out to say goodbye.

Since Hai Li Zheng knew Meng Tianchu's identity, how could he let go of this opportunity to make a fool of himself, and volunteered to be a travel guide, recommending that there are several huge locust trees in the village, from which you can see the entire scenery under the mountain.

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Accompanied by the ground, Meng Tianchu and his party walked towards the mountain.

This Lianwu Village is really a village as its name suggests, it is almost noon, and it is still cloudy. The whole village is not really seen in the clouds, and the huge locust trees on the top of the village also appear and disappear in the clouds and mist, making people feel like they have arrived in a fairyland.

Meng Tianchu shook the folding fan. While discussing the scenery along the way with Xia Fengyi and Feiyan, he walked towards the locust tree on the top of the village.

When I came to the locust tree, I found that there were several rows of long wooden benches, which were said to be wooden benches. In fact, it was just a long log that broke. Plus the bracket only, but there is also some mountain village wild interest, the scenery here is very good, but it is not a traffic artery, and it is relatively secluded, repair this long wooden bench, obviously not for resting. It is for the people of the village to cool off in the summer, or for the young boys and girls in the village to have a tryst and talk about their love.

Meng Tianchu and the others sat down on the stool, looking at the ethereal countryside under the mountain, only to feel that all the hustle and bustle of the world was far away, and they felt a kind of ethereal spirit from the dust.

At this moment, there was a burst of firecrackers in the village, followed by the sound of suona, which played the mournful music of white things, and in it, there were occasional cries.

Haili was standing up and looking. said: "It seems that Hai Dashan and their family may have invited a hand to start doing white things." ”

When it came to the morning's incident, Meng Tianchu immediately thought of not that case. It's the otherworldly little daughter-in-law Lin Ruofan. That handsome face. That plaintive look. That does not eat the purity of the fireworks of the world. I really can't imagine that there will be such a fairy-like girl in this ravine.

Thinking of Lin Ruofan, Meng Tianchu couldn't help but be a little stupid. He said to himself, "This woman is really confused..."

"Woman? Who is it? Xia Fengyi asked.

"Oh, the villager's daughter-in-law who fell into the pond drunk and drowned this morning."

Xia Fengyi glanced at Meng Tianchu's unyielding appearance, and asked softly, "This girl must be extremely beautiful, right?" ”

"Hmm..."Meng Tianchu nodded thoughtfully, then came to his senses, and shook his head with a smile, "No, I can't talk about it, if you want to talk about beauty, she is far worse than my lady." Hey! ”

Feiyan smiled on the side: "Young Master, look at your expression just now, the blind man can also see that you appreciate this girl very much, so ah, hehe, it's good that you don't explain, young master, this explanation really makes people feel a little fake." ”

"I'm telling the truth," Meng Tianchu looked very aggrieved, and turned his head to Hai Li Zhengdao, "Lord Li Zheng, tell me, how is the Hailin clan better than my wife?" Isn't it far off? ”

Hai Li Zheng laughed and said: "That's nature, this Hailin clan is just a mountain and wild village woman, how can it be compared with the ladies of the master and wife." ”

Meng Tianchu's face sank: "I didn't let you say her background, can you tell me about her appearance, can she compare with my lady?" ”

"Hehe, then it's even more incomparable, that Hailin clan has a hideous face, rough hands and feet, and a loud voice, how can it be compared with the master and wife who are shy of the moon."

Meng Tianchu smiled proudly at Xia Fengyi: "How is it?" I didn't lie to you. ”

I didn't expect that Wang Yi Wang on the side was a straight person, so he didn't want to think about it, so he said: "No, that Hailin clan is indeed outstanding, and it can't be compared to the hideous and rough hands and feet!" ”

Meng Tianchu was so angry that he really wanted to kick it over, and glared at him fiercely.

Wang Zhutou Wu didn't know that he was wrong, and when he saw Meng Tianchu glaring at him, he scratched his head: "Master, before at the entrance of the village, didn't you always look at that girl..."

Feiyan suddenly realized: "Oh? Husband, it turns out that this little daughter-in-law is the girl you secretly looked at at at the entrance of the village? Turning his head and winking at Xia Fengyi, "It's a pity that we only saw a back at that time, and we didn't see how good it was." ”

Xia Fengyi's expression was indifferent, this is natural, no girl will be indifferent when she hears that her beloved man admires another girl.

Meng Tianchu hugged Xia Fengyi's slender waist and said in a low voice: "Lady, I..."

Xia Fengyi turned her head and smiled slightly: "It's okay, girls are beautiful, men will take a few more looks, cheap concubines are not stingy people, they won't care." That being said, there was still a bit of vinegar in his tone.

Meng Tianchu laughed dryly, wanting to change the topic, but he couldn't find a suitable one for a while, so he casually asked Hai Lizheng: "How does the drowned sea pillar behave in the village on weekdays?" ”

"Well... It's not very restful anyway. ”

"Not very restful? What's the Restless Law?

"The pillars of the sea are all dead, and it's not easy to say too much, so let's put it this way, the work in the field is usually done by his old father, and he, who travels all day long, often does some petty theft. He was so angry that the people in the village hid when they saw him. ”

"Oh, how could such a person marry Lin Ruofan? It seems that this sea pillar family is not very wealthy. The implication is that this Lin Ruofan is as extraordinary as a fairy, how could he marry such a gangster.