Xia Fengyi was stunned, but it was not easy to ask.

Zuo Jiayin looked into the distance and said quietly: "My sister is not an outsider, so I won't hide it from you, sister, my sweetheart, has left me and will never see you again." Alas~! ”

Xia Fengyi listened quietly, after all, the relationship between the two was not close enough for her to have the courage to inquire about other people's privacy. Moreover, she also knew that since the conversation box was opened, Zuo Jiayin would continue to talk.

Zuo Jiayin really said slowly: "The first time I met him, I met by chance in the bazaar, I was not yet fourteen years old that year, he was three years older than me, although the two of us only met once, but it was love at first sight, he went back and let the matchmaker come to the house to propose marriage, only then did he know that his ancestors had also been officials in the court, and their family was also a prominent family. Later, although his father's generation was in a middle-class family, he did a lot of business. My mother was very satisfied and immediately agreed. ”

"And then?"

"Said that I would marry after I was fourteen years old, and their family agreed reasonably, and then according to our local customs, our two families set us a marriage, and after we got married, we had secretly met a few times, he was the first man I fell in love with, but I didn't expect it to become eternal ̄ ̄ Not long after, he died of a cold on the way to the capital to catch the exam."

"Ahh My sister is such a miserable person! Xia Fengyi's eyes turned red when she heard this.

Zuo Jiayin just pulled the corners of his mouth: "Actually, it's nothing, after all, I haven't officially married, and then my mother meant to withdraw from the marriage, but." But the people of their family disagreed. ”

"Why? People are already dead, who are you still marrying? Xia Fengyi didn't understand.

"At that time, my mother thought the same thing, but later I found out that she wanted to promise me to his younger brother."

"Isn't it? Given to the elder brother and married to the younger brother? ”

Zuo Jiayin stood up, a gust of wind blew, gently blowing the hair on her forehead, Xia Fengyi clearly saw the tears in the corners of the woman's eyes.

"Yes, my mother came back to discuss with me, and I also knew that my mother was in trouble. After all, if we orphans and widows want to live in this place, we can't ignore these things. I agreed. ”

"Is it Li Ruhan?" Xia Fengyi asked cautiously.

"Nothing escapes my sister's eyes. Yes, it's him. His brother is my sweetheart. His name is Li Ruxuan. Zuo Jiayin said quietly.

Xia Fengyi was still about to ask, Zuo Jiayin gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, and said with a forced smile: "Sister, let's go back, don't let Master Meng wait for a long time." Today, my sister and I personally cook a few good Hangzhou dishes for my sister. He turned his head to Di Feiyan, who was standing behind Xia Fengyi, and said, "Girl, if you want to learn, help me do it." ”

"Okay!" Feiyan clapped and laughed. She is now thinking about the taste of Meng Tianchudi's "Xizi Restaurant" well, this Zuo Jiayin Hangzhou cuisine is obviously guided by a famous teacher, it is very authentic, Feiyan has this opportunity, of course she is very happy.

returned to the living room of the villa and said hello to Meng Tianchu and Li Ruhan. Zuo Jiayin took Xia Fengyi and Feiyan down to the kitchen.

The first time I saw Zuo Jiayin rolling up her sleeves and cooking, Xia Fengyi's eyes on the side were straight, she herself is also a person who likes to cook. But I didn't expect that watching Zuo Jiayin cook was actually a pleasure. The wildflowers and weeds in the fields on weekdays let Zuo Jiayin move into the kitchen, and she explained to Xia Fengyi and Feiyan the purpose of each plant and what kind of taste and benefits it has when used as food, which made Xia Fengyi really eye-opening.

The three of them talked energetically in the kitchen, and the two listened attentively, and they didn't even notice that Meng Tianchu and Li Ruhan walked in.

The two men were silent, but stood aside tacitly and watched with interest, until the three women put the things on the plate and looked up to find the two men who had been standing aside for a long time.

"When did you come in?" Xia Fengyi said angrily, "Sneakily trying to scare people to death? ”

Meng Tianchu stepped forward with a smile: "The ancients often said, 'Beautiful and delicious, today I really understand the meaning." It turns out that not only is the woman edible, but the food made by this beautiful woman is so fragrant, but it is even more delicious! ”

Li Ruhan also stepped forward with a smile: "Brother Meng said that the earth is extreme, I am not afraid of Brother Meng laughing, and the younger brother is also the first time to see Jiayin cooking, before, I just heard that she is a good hand in the kitchen, and she has never had the opportunity to see her, and today is the light of Brother Meng and Mrs. Meng." ”

Oh? Meng Tianchu didn't hear the conversation between Zuo Jiayin and Xia Fengyi, of course he didn't know the reason, and he couldn't help but think that they were all married, hasn't this Zuo Jiayin cooked a meal for you, the future landlord?

Zuo Jiayin was a little embarrassed, and glanced at Meng Tianchu: "Meng Ye said that he laughed, Jiayin just learned cooking skills with his sister, whether it was delicious or not, let's talk about it." Okay, what else do the two uncles have to say, let's talk about it when we eat, if Jiayin keeps talking to you now, then I'm afraid this meal won't be finished. ”

Meng Tianchu and Li Ruhan retreated with a smile, and Jiayin closed the kitchen door behind them.

The two returned to the living room and sat down, they had been chatting at a close distance just now, and now, Meng Tianchu was ready to start investigating the poisoning case of Ke Chou.

How to speak Meng Tianchu had already thought about it, patted his thigh, and said very casually: "Brother Li, is there something you say is a coincidence?" ”

"Oh? What's up? ”

"I've long heard that the West Lake Flower Boat Geisha is famous all over the world, and last night on a whim, I took my disguised lady and little maid, and a good friend, to the West Lake Flower Boat, guess which flower boat we got on?"

"Which one?" An inexplicable uneasiness flashed in Li Ruhan's eyes.

"'Printing the moon, flower boat! Coincidental or not, you say? ”

"Oh, that's really a coincidence..."Li Ruhan replied casually, suddenly feeling that something was wrong with what he said, and it was too late to take it back.

"Ha, why does Brother Li think it's a coincidence?" Meng Tianchu grabbed this sentence, stared at Li Ruhan and asked with a smile.

"Coincidentally... This one... Why does Brother Meng think it's clever? Li Ruhan reacted very quickly. Asked rhetorically.

Meng Tianchu was stunned for a moment, and then laughed: "Brother Li is really interesting, hahaha, that's the case, after we went, we inadvertently talked about the funeral of Ke Chou, the prefect's son, 'Yin Yue, the old bustard of the flower boat interjected and said, Ke Chou and Brother Li went to the two of you the day before'Yin Yue, Hua Chuan, do you say this matter is a coincidence?' ”

"Hey, it's a coincidence. That's right. After noon on the first day, Ke Chou and I had been to the flower boat. So the younger brother also thinks it's a coincidence. ”

"I heard that Brother Li and Gongzi Ke are cousins, right?"

"yes!" Li Ruhan talked about it. was very proud, then his expression darkened, and he shook his head and sighed: "It's a pity, he died young." Alas~! ”

"Yes, it can be seen that you two brothers have a deep relationship."

"Yes, the first day we were eating, drinking, and listening to little songs together. In the blink of an eye, people are gone, the world is really impermanent! ”

"This matter is really sudden, I heard that Ke Chou is very healthy on weekdays, why did he die in a good manner? Could someone have poisoned him? Meng Tianchu said this, his eyes staring at Li Ruhan.

Li Ruhan exclaimed: "Won't it? After thinking about it, he nodded again: "Hmm." What the master said is also reasonable, and I am also wondering why my cousin died suddenly, I am afraid that someone really poisoned him. ”

"You know him so well. Who do you think could have poisoned? ”

Li Ruhan immediately shook his head and said: "I don't dare to talk nonsense, I only stayed with him for an hour that day, and after leaving the 'Yinyue, Flower Boat, we broke up." ”

"Oh, who might he be with?"

"It's not certain, his friend is gone, and I can't even recognize it."

Meng Tianchu's heart was cold, he thought that the scope would be relatively small, if what Li Ruhan said was true, then it would be troublesome to determine the scope of the suspect. Then he asked, "When you were together, did you notice anything wrong with him?" ”

Li Ruhan glanced at Meng Tianchu: "Brother Meng, is my uncle asking you to investigate this case?" ”

You are not stupid, Meng Tianchu saw that his words had been clarified, and this Li Ruhan was still cooperative, unlike the kind of invincible disciple he had guessed at the beginning, Meng Tianchu smiled and nodded: "Yes, let's be honest, Governor Ke entrusted the younger brother to investigate this case, because now there is clear evidence that Ke Chou was poisoned to death." Presumably, the poisoning was on the first day, around the time of your cruise. ”

Li Ruhan stood up with a scream: "I didn't poison Ke Chou!" He's my cousin, why should I kill him? ”

Meng Tianchu beckoned him to sit down: "If I think you are a murderer, I will not tell you directly, but will collect evidence from the side and arrest you." I'm just asking you to help me think about whether it's possible that Ke Wei took the poison by mistake, or who could have poisoned and killed Ke Chou? ”

Li Ruhan breathed a sigh of relief and smiled reluctantly: "Thank you Brother Meng for your insight!" Sitting back in his chair, he lowered his head and thought about it, and shook his head again: "Who could have poisoned him, I'm really not sure, he has too many friends, many women, and spends all day drinking, who knows where he was poisoned." ”

"No matter how many friends he has, he can't meet them at the same time, right? Now we just need to clarify who he was with on the first day of his death. The two of you know each other very well, you can help me think about it. ”

Li Ruhan frowned and pondered, and said slowly: "The first night we drank together, and said that we would go on a cruise on the flower boat the next day, but we played late the first night, and I got up late the next morning, it was almost noon, I went to the teahouse outside the prefect's yamen to wait for him, that was the old place where we met, he was used to drinking a pot of tea there in the morning, and then going out to play." He also woke up late that day, and he hadn't come when I got to the teahouse. ”

Meng Tianchu asked, "Did he get up so late before?" ”

"Almost, if you play late on the first day, you won't get up until about noon the next day."

These disciples who only know how to eat, drink and be merry are all virtuous, who do not sleep at night and do not get up in the morning. Meng Tianchu said: "What happened later? ”

"I waited for a while and he came, the two of us drank a pot of tea, drank too much wine the first night, and didn't want to eat big fish and meat, so I asked the proprietress to make two bowls of clear soup noodles, after eating, the spirit recovered, we went to the West Lake 'Yinyue, the flower boat drank wine and listened to music."

"Just the two of you?"

"Yes, I originally proposed to call a few more, but he said that he would have something to do later, so he didn't call."

Meng Tianchu's heart moved: "Something?" What's the matter? ”

"He didn't say it, and I didn't ask, but looking at his happy expression, it seemed like something was happy."

"Happy event? What do you think he'll be happy about? ”

"It's hard to say, maybe somewhere to find a beautiful little lady. However, if this is the case, there is no reason for him not to tell me that when he meets a beautiful little lady before, he will call me to the ground. Maybe it's because I have a date with someone else, so it's inconvenient to take me. ”

Appointment? Quite possibly! Meng Tianchu pondered, according to what Ke Zhifu said, Ke Chou slept at home all morning and went out at noon, which was consistent with what Li Ruhan said, and about an hour after noon, that is, before that, Ke Chou was on the West Lake Moon Flower Boat with Li Ruhan, during this period, except for the old bustard and the geisha Ripple, no one else approached, and it was unlikely that he would be poisoned. Ke Chou returned home around the first watch in the evening, and the time when he was most likely to be poisoned should be between the time after the time and the first watch in the evening (four o'clock in the afternoon to eight o'clock in the evening).

Ke Chou was found to be poisoned in the stomach, and it should have been poisoned in the food (or poisoned by mistake), so it is most likely that he was poisoned during dinner at night, and now it must be found out that Ke Chou had dinner with whoever he had dinner with, this person is the biggest suspect!

Meng Tianchu asked, "Gongzi Li, think about it again, who might Ke Chou date?" ”

Li Ruhan tilted his head and thought about it for a long time, but he still shook his head: "I really can't remember who he is dating and it's inconvenient to take me there." On weekdays, we are almost inseparable when looking for women. ”

Meng Tianchu heard him say that looking for a woman was very natural, just like eating and walking, and thought, Zuo Jiayin is arrogant by nature, just your virtue of looking for flowers everywhere and asking willows, no wonder she ignores you, you know, no matter how reasonable a woman is, she will not ask her husband to ask Liu indifferently, I dare not say that it is one thing, and it is another thing to be unhappy.