Lu Jinping looked at the wall and said to the widow, "Is there a ladder?" ”

The widow shook her head and said, "I don't have a ladder in my house, so what does the lord want to do with the ladder?" ”

"I'm going to go to the wall to see if anyone has crossed the wall."

The widow hurriedly said, "Then I'll go next door and borrow a ladder, they have it." ”

With that, the widow hurried out, and soon carried a ladder back and set it up on the back wall. Lu Jinping climbed up and took a closer look, this wall should have been built for many years, there was a lot of soil on it, and there was some grass growing on it, which grew well, and the soil on it had not been pressed or wiped by someone who had crossed it.

Lu Jinping got down the ladder and said to Widow Chang: "Pang Yan was in your wine shop that night, did he fight with anyone?" ”

Widow Chang shook her head and said: "No, how is it possible, drinking in my place, although sometimes drunk, but it is absolutely impossible to move your fists, the old lady is not a person who gives it for nothing, who dares to make trouble in me, he can't eat and walk around!" Besides, Pang Yan is the son-in-law of Master Zhou, and he doesn't look at the face of the monk to see the face of the Buddha, even if someone is at odds with Pang Yan, he doesn't dare to fight him, there is still Master Zhou behind him. How could Master Zhou be the one who could casually let others beat his son-in-law? ”

With a handful of these words, Zhou Yuanwai was very useful, shook his head triumphantly, and looked at the widow. The widow hurriedly smiled and threw a wink.

Lu Jinping turned his head and asked Zhou Yuanwai and said, "I remember you said earlier that your son-in-law went out after dinner in the evening of the previous night, right?" ”

Zhou Yuanwai nodded and said, "That's right, he went out after having dinner at home, saying that he was drinking." ”

Lu Jinping looked back at Widow Chang and said, "You just said that he went to your winery in the evening and started drinking, which means that he should have gone directly to your winery after leaving home, and didn't go anywhere else, right?" ”

"That's how it should be."

"But what happened when we examined his body and found that he had a broken rib on the right side? You said that he had been drinking at your liquor shop and had not gone out in between, so how did his injuries come from if he was not beaten at your liquor shop? ”

Widow Chang blushed, glanced at Zhou Yuanwai, lowered her head and said, "I'm damned, I didn't tell the truth." He's in a fight. It's just that I thought that since everyone was dead, there was no need to talk about others, so I didn't say it. ”

"I warn you, you must tell the truth, otherwise, you can't afford to interfere with the Yamen's handling of the case!"

"Yes, yes! The slave family understood, and the slave family no longer dared to hide it. ”

"Who did he fight with?"

"A man nicknamed the calf."

"What the hell is going on?"

"That night, we were drinking, and the calf came in and sat down to drink. I don't know why, after drinking for a while, they didn't like each other and quarreled, and they were going to fight, so I got angry, my wine shop will never let people fight here, so I took a stick out and let them out, to fight outside. So the two of them left, and after a while, Pang Yan came back and sat down with his hands on his waist. I asked him what was wrong? He said the calf kicked. But he didn't let the calf reap the benefits, he pressed the calf to the ground and beat it severely, and then the calf ran home, and he returned. Pang Yan is fat and fat, he is not a loss when fighting, he is the son-in-law of Master Zhou, and no one usually dares to provoke him, and the calf doesn't know which tendon has a problem, but he wants to provoke it, but he was beaten violently, his nose and face are swollen, he really deserves it. ”

Lu Jinping asked, "Didn't you ask him how his injuries were?" ”

"I asked, he said it was a little painful, but it didn't matter, just wait for tomorrow to find a Lang Zhong to get some bruising medicine to wipe it, so continue drinking."

"Who's that calf?"

"It's a bachelor in the town, surnamed Niu, because he is stunned, so he is called a calf."

Lu Jinping instructed Xiong Zhutou and Zhou Yuanwai to say: "Send two catchers and ask Zhou Yuanwai to send someone to lead and bring this calf." ”

Xiong Zhutou told the two catchers to follow the servants outside Zhou Yuan and lead people.

Lu Jinping looked at Widow Chang and said, "Let me ask you, Zhou Yuanwai's son-in-law Pang Yan, did you take off your pants on the night you drank here?" You think about it clearly. ”

Zhang Yuechang's widow blushed, gave Lu Jinping a pretty white eye, and said delicately: "Who does the lord think of the slave family?" The slave family said that the slave family is a wine seller, not a kiln sister at the party, how can I let the guests take off their pants here with me? Then what have I become? ”

"You answer my question directly, did he take it off?"

The widow shook her head and said, "No, absolutely not!" Liu Lao Er and I carried him to bed, he slept there, we went back to sleep in each room, and we didn't take off his pants, but I don't know if he took them off by himself after we left! ”

"He's so drunk, can he take off his pants by himself?"

Widow Chang smiled lightly: "Men are cowardly, what can't they do?" ”

Speaking of this, Widow Chang felt a little embarrassed again, changed the topic, and said to Zhou Yuanwai: "Master Zhou, your son-in-law Pang Yan owes a lot of money for drinking with me, and people can't die in debt, you have pity on me, settle the account, right?" There are thousands of accounts, all of them are recorded in my book, and he signed them, and he originally said that he would settle the accounts for me in the next few days, but he didn't expect to die. I won't rely on you, because you were doing a funeral a few days ago, so I can't mention it, now we meet, by the way, I'm open to do business, this money is a drop in the bucket for you, it's a big deal for me, I owe a lot of debt, I can't do this business. ”

Zhou Yuanwai snorted heavily in his nostrils and said, "You are looking for me to settle accounts?" I haven't settled accounts with you yet, but where is the jade pendant that my son-in-law carried? That's worth thousands. Don't say you didn't see it, he kept bringing it to his body, the day he died, I went to your house and saw that he didn't have that jade pendant on him. I also asked you, and you said to look for it. Did you find it? ”

Widow Chang's pretty face was cold: "Master, are you insulting me with all your heart?" I said that day that he didn't bring the jade pendant, I really can't remember, and I didn't pay attention to it, besides, the jade pendant he has always been sandwiched in the belt, and he usually doesn't show it out, and he can't notice it. I said look for it, but I just said to see if it has left me here. I looked for it, but it didn't. I swear, I've been in the wine shop business for so many years, and many customers have dropped things at my place, and I never said that I sold and swallowed their things, I just put them away and waited for them to come back and get them. If it was really Pang Yan's thing that fell on me, it would be a small jade pendant, even a mountain of gold and silver, and I wouldn't be tempted. It's true that I want to make money for a living, but if it's not mine, I will never ask for it, even if it is in front of me, I will not take it! ”

Zhou Yuanwai snorted and didn't speak.

Lu Jinping asked Zhou Yuanwai: "Is the jade pendant on your son-in-law missing?" ”

"Yes, the jade pendant was given to him by him when he was rich, and it was a gift from him to our Zhou family, and I spent 1,000 and 2 to buy it from the Jinjia jade store in Tongzhou. Pang Yan has always carried the jade pendant on his body, of course, he did hide the jade pendant on the belt around his waist, and sometimes it was revealed, but I am sure that he has never left his body, because it was given to him by this master, and he did not dare not bring it. Besides, if he doesn't bring such valuable things with him, how can he show that my Zhou family is a big business? Did he come to my Zhou family to enjoy the blessings? That's the proof. He knew my temper and didn't dare not take it. So it's definitely lost. ”

It turned out that this jade pendant was given to his son-in-law by this Zhou Yuanwai to show off outside, Lu Jinping was a little funny, but for a businessman like Zhou Yuanwai, his social status was so low, except for showing off his wealth, there was really nothing that could satisfy his vanity.

Lu Jinping said to Zhou Yuanwai: "One yard is one yard, your son-in-law's jade pendant is gone, if there is no evidence to prove that it was Chang Widow who took it, then it can't affect you to pay back the account for your son-in-law." He is your son-in-law, and this account should naturally be repaid by your Zhou family. Right? ”

Zhou Yuanwai hurriedly smiled and said, "Yes, yes, I will return it immediately." ”

The widow Chang was overjoyed, and hurriedly went into the back room to bring the account book, and showed it to Steward Zhou, it was indeed the handwriting of Pang Yan, Zhou's son-in-law, and immediately went back to get the copper money to settle the account. Widow Chang thanked Lu Jinping repeatedly.