Wang Bingchen had a home in the Jinjuan Academy, but he didn't live here every day, and when he heard that Li Mao was going to see Wang Bingchen, Qin Zaomian immediately arranged for two capable Shushi to accompany him. The curfew in Chang'an is extremely strict, and there is no book history to accompany it, so I am afraid that I will be blocked on the road.

Wang Bingchen's mansion in Fengdafang covers an area of about two acres, and it can be regarded as an authentic mansion in Chang'an City, where every inch of land is valuable. There were seven servants who kept the door. Wang Bingchen was holding a ** Ji enjoying the song and dance, hearing Li Mao's visit, he hurriedly went out to greet him, and when Li Mao entered the inner hall, the song and dance were still the same.

The hall was warm, even a little hot, Wang Bingchen explained: "The weather is getting colder, and my rheumatic leg has frequent attacks. If you don't burn warmer, you can't bear it, and you young people can't compare to it. ”

After greeting a few sentences, Li Mao made it clear that Wang Bingchen had a lot of effort to hire Zhang Ji, and this time he was a little eyebrows, Li Mao was unwilling to be greedy, so he asked Wang Bingchen to go together.

Wang Bingchen happily agreed. Leave Li Mao to drink in the house, enjoy singing and dancing, dance fan three changes, Wang Bingchen's wine the more he drinks, the more bold people become, the big bowl invites Li Mao to drink, Li Mao is afraid of getting drunk and making mistakes, and repeatedly advises, Wang Bingchen does not listen at all, and if he can't pour Li Mao, he will pour the ** Ji in his arms, and when he reaches the proud place, a pair of big hands hold ** Ji's chest and knead it repeatedly, and the painful ** Ji screams repeatedly.

Wang Bingchen didn't care, but laughed.

Li Mao probably counted, there were about forty dancing girls outside the corridor of the hall, plus musicians and slaves, there were no less than 100 people serving this banquet, and his heart was speechless. If you think about it, it's actually nothing, because of the special status of the Shangdu Jinjuan Academy, the funds allocated by Ziqing are very generous, and there are many industries under its name, which are very profitable.

Wang Bingchen has been a magistrate for many years, and there is nothing to say about his family background.

In recent years, the local government was tyrannical and tyrannical, the wars were endless, coupled with the invasion of floods and droughts, and the ruined families and property were everywhere, so the price of slaves and maids in Chang'an fell again and again, and Li Mao's grasp of the situation was that a sturdy man over the age of 15 and under the age of 30 could buy it for ten times, and a young woman around the age of 20 could take it home for six or seven times. (Baidu search to the literature network is the fastest and most stable update)

Therefore, don't say that officials with real power like Wang Bingchen have more slaves and maids in ordinary people's homes.

Li Mao thought of himself again, since Su Qing passed the door, there have been more than a dozen slaves and maids in the family, such as Xiaoru, Zhu Wan'er, and Aunt Meng, strictly speaking, they are also slaves and maids.

When the banquet was dispersed, it was nearly a watch, considering that he would leave the city early in the morning of the second day, Li Mao did not refuse Wang Bingchen's retention, and stayed in the king's house that night.

I slept until dawn, and when I woke up, the sun was shining outside the window.

Li Mao was taken aback, Wang Ling had told him, saying that Zhang Ji was arrogant and not very close to people, and asked him to visit Zhang Ji in the morning, so as not to tell the truth. How do you sleep until three o'clock in the morning? Look at the time when the hour is approaching, at this moment, go out of the city and hurry to the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, I am afraid that it will also be past noon.

Li Mao was remorseful, and hurriedly opened the door, the yard was quiet, the sunlight reflected back on the tiles, very dazzling, Li Mao rubbed his eyes, but muttered in his heart, the silence here is a little abnormal, talking about everyone like Wang Bingchen, how can there not be one or two waiters in front of their door?

With this doubt, Li Mao pushed open the courtyard door, and the aisles and verandahs outside were also deserted and there was no one in sight. Li Mao was vigilant, and subconsciously touched his waist, he visited Wang Bingchen last night, and he didn't have a saber with him, Li Mao smiled self-deprecatingly, sure enough, someone wanted to plot against him, there was no need to bother with it.

Besides, he has no enemies in Chang'an, who will harm him.

A burst of mourning music suddenly sounded from the front hall, and Li Mao sighed in his heart, did any old man in the palace pass away overnight? Looking for the sound, a black crowd suddenly appeared in front of him, and the family members and servants of the Wang family gathered in front of Wang Bingchen's bedroom.

A black curtain hung high on the dormitory, and several servants were hanging a black curtain on the door with a ladder. Several of Wang Bingchen's concubines and concubines wore linen and filial piety, knelt under the hall and wept. Li Mao saw the slender Qin Zaomian at a glance, and Qin Zaimian also saw him.

"The old gentleman drank too much last night, and the third watch passed away suddenly."

Li Mao's heart tightened, and then sadness began in his heart, Wang Bingchen also drank with himself last night, enjoyed singing and dancing, but when he woke up, he became a person separated by yin and yang, the fragility of life, the impermanence of fate, it was so far.

Li Mao wore a filial piety medal, bowed three times to Wang Bingchen in front of the spirit, and turned around to comfort his concubines and children. Wang Bingchen's posthumous affairs are taken care of by several of his students, the eldest son who is an official in Xiangzhou, and the second son in Hongzhou will also rush back one after another.

On the afternoon of the day of the incident, Zhao Jinjiu, the judicial assistant of Chang'an County, came to the Shangjuan with several officials to ask about some of Wang Bingchen's circumstances before his death, and Li Mao felt a little surprised. Zhao Jinjiu explained: "Someone in the Wang family reported to the county that the doctor had died, and insisted that if he didn't inquire about it, he would go to Jingzhao Mansion to complain. Xue Shaofu thinks that the matter is serious, so he sent me to come and ask about it. ”

Li Mao said: "Before Dr. Wang died, he had a banquet overnight, and when the banquet was over, ......"

Speaking of this, Li Mao suddenly stopped, Zhao Jinjiu has been eating this dinner for twenty years, Li Mao's hesitation naturally did not escape his eyes, but he was scheming and endured without asking. After asking the question as usual, Zhao Jinjiu said: "Where you are disturbed, please serve Yu Haihan, and set up wine to make amends for your sins another day." Li Mao said: "It's all official business, it doesn't have to be like this." ”

Seeing everyone leave, Qingmo said to Li Mao mysteriously, "Do you know how he died?" Li Mao said: "Life and death, blessings and misfortunes, what is there to say." Qingmo said: "Otherwise, this old gentleman died on **shang**." Li Mao said: "Nonsense! I don't have to say that again. ”

Li Mao suddenly became so angry, but it was beyond Qingmo's expectations, and he was stunned for a while, and he couldn't figure out where Li Mao's evil aura came from.

Li Mao has another feeling in his heart at the moment, thinking about it carefully, there is indeed something unreasonable about this matter, Wang Bingchen's demeanor last night was completely different from the steady and steady on weekdays, especially in front of him and ** Ji Daxiu affection, which made him feel unbelievable.

At the time, I just thought that his wine was promiscuous, but now that I think about it, it is very suspicious.

A Wang Bingchen has been in the officialdom for a long time, **** drinking, practicing a strange amount of alcohol, is a famous good drink in the Shangjuan Academy, Li Mao has no chance of winning with him alone, when he visited last night, there was no one else in his house, drinking alone at home, is it necessary to get drunk? This is one of them.

People say that drunkenness is clear in their hearts, and drinking too much alcohol does have a paralyzing effect on the nerves, but what can be done and what cannot be done can still be grasped more or less, unless it is drunk.

Last night, when Wang Bingchen was on ** Ji, he could still talk and laugh with Li Mao, and he was not necessarily very drunk, with his steady character, when he was not drunk and unconscious, why did he make such an abnormal move, and let himself be despised in vain? This is the second one.

The third point that Li Mao suspected was that after Wang Bingchen's death, it was not his most trusted students and assistants who appeared in the palace, but Qin Zaomian.

Qin Zaomian can naturally be regarded as his confidant, but his status in the Shangjuan is not high, and the resources to mobilize to deal with Wang Bingchen's aftermath are limited, and although he is Wang Bingchen's quasi-son-in-law, he is not necessarily more trusted by Wang Bingchen than his fellow acquaintances Zhang Henian, judges Zhong Jian and Chen Ru.

He will soon be Wang Bingchen's son-in-law, in this era of etiquette and great defense, the prospective old man dies suddenly, and the prospective son-in-law comes to worship to follow a certain etiquette, which is to come if he wants to.

In other words, if Qin Zaomian was not Wang Bingchen's quasi-son-in-law, after Wang Bingchen's sudden death, he would be a little less suspicious.

Finally, Li Mao has carefully observed, he has not seen the beautiful ** Ji who was pinched by his chest in front of Wang Bingchen's spiritual seat, where is she now? What is the real identity?

Everything is a mystery. (Dissertation College)