Meng Tianchu waved his hand: "Life and death have a fate, wealth is in the sky, Ke Gongzi's life should be like this, that is also impossible, I just want to make sure, whether he has really come, so many flower boats, we don't know which one is good, I heard that the prefect's son often goes to a 'Yinyue' flower boat to drink and have fun, so he comes here." The place where his prefect and son used to play, it must be good. As for his bad luck, that's his business. ”

When the old bustard heard this, he immediately put his heart down: "I think so too, when Young Master Ke left after drinking here yesterday, it was still fine." Why did he die suddenly, we were also very frightened, for fear of affecting us, so I didn't say it just now, the Moon Flower Boat that the uncle said was us, Ke Gongzi has to come every three or five times, and sometimes he still lives here. ”

Meng Tianchu looked skeptical: "Is there really such a thing?" Tell me, who do he often come with? If you're right, I'll believe you. ”

"Gongzi Ke brought a lot of friends on the cruise, like Li Junzheng, Li Ruhan, the son of Li Dayuan, Chen Yikun, the son of Lord Chen of Hangzhou Yamen, and Leng Yunfeng, the son of Hangzhou Qianhu, there are a lot."

It's really like a gathering of things, and the people who often interact with this Ke Wei are all characters from some official eunuchs or big families. Meng Tianchu nodded: "What did they eat?" ”

This question is a little inexplicable. The old bustard glanced at Meng Tianchu suspiciously: "It's not all small dishes with wine, just like what you have for you today, come to the flower boat to play, a few of them are here to eat and taste, and they are not all for the girls, so there are not many varieties of wine and food on our flower boat, just these three or five dishes, you will serve them to the uncle." ”

Meng Tianchu thought to himself: There are quite a few people who come to play on this Yinyuehua boat, but as for Ke Wei who was poisoned and died, it is obvious that it should not be that the wine and food he sat on were poisonous, but that he was poisoned. Asked, "Did anyone bring food yesterday?" ”

"Hehe, uncle, look at what you said, how could anyone bring food to the flower boat to eat, hehehe."

"How long have they been on board?"

"Why does Meng Ye keep asking this?" The bustard seemed to be a little suspicious.

Wang Zhutou's eyes glared: "If you ask you, you will tell you honestly!" ”

The old bustard was taken aback: "I only stayed for less than an hour and left." ”

"When was that? Which girl did he find? Meng Tianchu asked the key, staring at the old bustard's eyes.

"After lunch, only he and Li Ruhan, the son of Li Dayuan's family, came. By the way, this Li Ruhan is Ke Gongzi's cousin. The one who ordered it was the girl who was with you now. I didn't ask for anyone else, drank for a while, and then left. ”

Meng Tianchu squinted at the girl beside him, hehe, what a coincidence. smiled: "Okay, it seems that you are really familiar with Gongzi Ke." Well, since this is where he's been, it shouldn't be bad. This brother of mine is not satisfied with the girl you are looking for, and wants to choose his own, so you can take him there. ”

The old bustard smiled and agreed.

When Wang Zhutou heard this, he hurriedly stood up. After thanking Meng Tianchu, he followed the old bustard out of the door.

Only Meng Tianchu and the little girl singing were left in the room, and Meng Tianchu asked, "What's your name?" ”

"Ripples of the concubine's name."

"Ripples? Ripples of the blue waves? Good name. Very interesting. You accompanied Ke Gongzi and them yesterday at noon, right? ”

Ripple nodded lightly: "I heard that he died last night..."

"yes, can you tell me about yesterday?"

"Hmm..."Ripple lowered his head, thought for a while, and then said: "After yesterday afternoon, Ke Gongzi and Li Gongzi came to our flower boat, they often came, and they were very familiar with their mothers, and they went directly to the private room next door. Gone in less than an hour. ”

"Did you hear what they said?"

"They went into the private room to speak, and they told me for a long time before they asked me to go, and I didn't hear what they said."

"This Li Gongzi is Ke Gongzi's cousin Li Ruhan?"

Ripple nodded.

After checking for a long time, the clues focused on this Li Ruhan again. Tomorrow after the funeral is completed, the investigation of the surname Li will begin immediately.

After the interrogation that should be inquired about, Meng Tianchu drank several glasses in a row. But a person who drinks wine has no taste, and asks Ripple: "Hey, do you know how to drink?" ”

The girl hurriedly shook her head, but seeing Meng Tianchu's disappointed face, she nodded slightly.

Meng Tian Chu said happily: "Okay, you can drink two glasses with me." I was tired of singing just now, so I took a break. ”

The girl nodded gratefully, put down the pipa, and sat down beside Meng Tianchu. He poured himself a glass of wine and said in a low voice: "Uncle, the concubine toasts you with a glass of wine." ”

"Good!" Meng Tianchu picked up the wine glass and touched her, but his neck was dry.

The girl drank the glass of wine and filled it for both of them.

Meng Tianchu stared at the girl drunkenly: "Hey, if you sit next to me, aren't you afraid that I will bully you?" You're a pure girl who doesn't sell your body. I can't even touch eighteen. ”

The girl smiled shyly: "Uncle is not that kind of person. ”

"Oh, how do you know? I'm a well-known pervert in Hangzhou! ”

The girl shook her head affirmatively: "Although the concubine has not been in the flower boat for a long time, but what kind of person is coming, the concubine can still be seen, just now the uncle asked the concubine to sing eighteen touches... That tune, in fact, was deliberately angry with the two girls just now, and it wasn't meant to be heard..."

Meng Tianchu's heart was sour, and he forced a smile: "Nonsense." What am I mad at them for doing - by the way, how do you know they're girls? As soon as the words came out, the answer came to mind, Xia Fengyi and Feiyan are both beauties. Especially Xia Fengyi, the shy flowers are closed, the country is fragrant, extremely beautiful, pretending to be a man, no matter how she dresses, she can't hide the softness of a woman, the old bustard can see it, and of course the little girl who sings the song can also see it.

The girl didn't answer, just pursed her lips and smiled. I toasted Meng Tianchu with another glass of wine. asked in a low voice, "Are the uncle and those two girls angry?" ”

"Don't talk about them, you play the pipa really well."

"Then Ripple will play another song for Uncle, okay?"

"Okay," Meng Tianchu glanced out of the window with the most hazy eyes. I saw a bright moon hanging obliquely in the sky, and the moonlight was scattered on the surface of the lake with silver light, and I thought of the blind man A Bing's Erquan reflecting the moon, and I couldn't help but feel a kind of sadness, and asked casually: "Do you know how to play the erhu?" ”

"Erhu?"

"It's Huqin."

"Oh, yes."

"Okay, I'll teach you a tune, you pull it and listen to it."

Ripple said happily: "Okay, the concubine went to get a pen and paper." ”

It is frequented by literati and ink writers on the flower boats. Many literati also liked to write lyrics and compose music for these geisha, so Ripple was not surprised, and quickly brought pen and paper, as well as a huqin.

The song "Erquan Reflecting the Moon" is Meng Tianchu's favorite erhu song when he was in college, and he listened to it occasionally after graduating from work, but this song was too long, and he only remembered part of it.

Because a considerable part of the guests who came to the flower boat to play, they were some vassals and elegant half-bottle vinegar, and the lyrics written in the composed songs were very bad, although Ripple had a good impression of Meng Tianchu, but he never thought that he could hum any good lyrics and songs, so when Ripples began to record, it was more out of politeness and politeness, and he didn't really take it seriously. But after listening to it for a while, the casual look on his face slowly disappeared, and it was replaced by surprise and even reverence.

Ripples memorized the tune that Meng Tianchu hummed. I hummed it in a low voice, and then picked up the erhu and slowly pulled it up while reading the score. At first, the sound of the piano was a little jerky, but then it gradually matured. According to the impression, Meng Tianchu knew that she adjusted her rhythm slowly, and after a while, she became proficient.

Meng Tianchu closed his eyes and admired this sad and touching erhu song, drinking cup by cup, and suddenly heard a faint cry outside the window.

Meng Tianchu was taken aback and shouted; "Who's out there?"

"It's... It's us! The door was pushed open, and Xia Fengyi stepped in. Behind him is Feiyan. The two were already crying with tears in their eyes.

"You... Didn't you go back? Meng Tian Chuqi said.

Feiyan said: "We didn't leave at all, grandma is worried that you are drunk and no one will take care of you." We are waiting for you outside, we heard what you said just now, grandma, young master, why are you deliberately angry with grandma? ”

"What gas? What are you talking about, why don't I understand? ”

Xia Fengyi walked up to them and said in a low voice, "I... I misunderstood you, so you came to check..."

She was about to say that you were here to investigate the case, but halfway through speaking, she saw Meng Tianchu shaking her head slightly, and quickly choked her words. After a pause, he continued apologetically: "I'm sorry, I was wrong, you are really a decent gentleman..."

"Hah! Come less! Meng Tianchu waved his hand and said: "Spare this kind of words to trick me, when I meet the right girl, I will be tempted." ”

Feiyan said angrily: "What are you still pretending!" If you are really that kind of person, we were not here just now, and Wang Zhutou was not there, you would have done it a long time ago. ”

"A man looking for a girl is not necessarily a bad person, the big word man Liu Yong is still often fooling around in Fireworks Willow Lane, people are not a hundred years old, besides, bad people may not be looking for girls."

"Crooked!" Feiyan muttered, but her expression was quite happy.

Meng Tianchu was also very happy to see them come back, and he didn't want to choke them anymore. Then he said: "Okay, since you're back, sit down and have a drink." ”

Xia Fengyi held a small square handkerchief and gently wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. personally poured a glass of wine for Meng Tianchu, picked it up and said, "Cheap concubine... A cup of husband..."

Xia Fengyi and Feiyan have been eavesdropping outside the window. already knew that Ripple recognized the two of them as women just now, and there were no outsiders in the room, so he no longer concealed his identity.

Meng Tianchu smiled and took the wine glass and drank it all, accompanied by Xia Fengyi and Feiyan.

Meng Tianchu stretched out his sleeve to wipe away the tears from the corners of Xia Fengyi's eyes: "Silly girl, why are you crying?" ”

"The concubine just listened to the song that Xianggong taught this girl to play the huqin, it was very desolate and miserable, and she was sad, that's it..."

Feiyan also said: "Young master, I didn't expect the song you hummed casually to be so poignant, I thought you would break it... Hee-hee. ”

Meng Tianchu was reluctant to plunder the beauty of people, and shook his head: "I didn't compose this tune, I heard a blind pianist play it in my early years and memorized it." ”

Ripple had been listening to them quietly, and at this moment couldn't help asking, "What about the blind luthier?" ”

Meng Tianchu thought to himself, in a few hundred years, he would be able to see him by this West Lake. He sighed and shook his head.

Suddenly, Meng Tianchu sniffed, and he smelled a faint fragrance. The kind of fragrance he smelled from Zuo Jiayin in the morning, he stood up and looked around.

Xia Fengyi saw Meng Tianchu's appearance, thinking that he was looking for something, so she stood up and looked around, and through the window, she suddenly saw a very handsome young man looking at her under the boat, and his appearance was very familiar. But I don't know where I've seen it.

Meng Tianchu didn't notice it, and asked, "Lady, do you smell anything?" ”

Xia Fengyi's expression was undecided: "No... No, what... What does it taste like? ”

"Very fragrant smell. You really don't smell it, do you? "The breeze blows, the scent comes downstream, a very unique scent.

As he was talking, the handsome man got on the boat, passed by where Meng Tianchu and the others were sitting, glanced at Xia Fengyi, smiled lightly, and covered his face with a wave of his fan. Glancing at Meng Tianchu again, he walked forward.

Meng Tianchu also found out, he looked at Xia Fengyi suspiciously, and suddenly laughed, Xia Fengyi looked at Meng Tianchu incomprehensibly: "What are you laughing at?" ”

"Nothing, nothing!"

Meng Tianchu kept watching the man walk past his private room and go up to the second floor.

The second floor is a singing theater, and the sound of musical instruments can be heard at this moment. Meng Tianchu smiled: "Let's go, let's go up and take a look." He stepped out of the private room and went up the stairs to the top floor.

There were already some tourists sitting on it, most of them scholars shaking folding fans.

Meng Tianchu saw the young man just now, sitting in the first row in front of the half-height stage, followed by two big men with big shoulders and round waists.