This section of the river belongs to Zhenjiang Prefecture.

Cheng Shaoyu, the prefect of Zhenjiang, took people on board, and the officials confirmed the identities of the people on the boat one by one.

Qiu Xian had calmed down a lot at this time, and he would answer whatever the yamen asked.

Hearing that he was Qiu Min's son, Cheng Shaoyu said a few words of relief and looked at Wen Zifu again.

Wen Zifu said: "Under is the original Lin'an Tongzhi Wen Zifu, who went to Beijing to serve as Shuntian Tongzhi, met Qiu Gongzi yesterday, and heard the movement on the boat this morning, so he came over to take a look." ”

Cheng Shaoyu looked at Wen Zifu and asked, "Who is Wen Ziliang?" ”

Wen Zifu replied, "It's my brother." ”

Cheng Shaoyu raised his eyebrows and asked the people below to do things, only observing from his face, he couldn't see whether he and Wen Ziliang had a friendship in the end.

After what happened, Qiu Xian said very simply.

"I drank too much last night, I was so drunk that I drank with Lord Wen, and Lord Wen can testify." Qiu Xian said.

Wen Zifu nodded: "When I left, Qiu Gongzi looked very drunk. ”

Qiu Xian smiled, helpless: "It is worthy of the yamen to do things, and it is really cautious to speak." I don't look like I'm not lightly drunk, but I am really not lightly drunk.

I slept until the steward rushed in and said something had happened to Ara, and I was woken up.

I hurried up, and she ......"

The steward testified on the side: "At first, I only found something hooked on the rope, but after a closer look, I felt that it seemed to be a person, so I quickly salvaged it." I picked it up and found out that it was our girl, so I went to report it to our father. ”

It didn't sound inappropriate, and the steward took someone to Qiu Ran's room.

A female servant checked for Qiu Ran and said: "Drowned, the undershirt was broken by a rope, if it wasn't hooked, people would not be able to find it if they sank into the water." ”

Mother Feng had red eyes and said, "The girl has night wandering syndrome, I lock the door carefully every day, and I was negligent yesterday ......."

Cheng Shaoyu summed up everyone's words, patted Qiu Xian's shoulder, and said, "Sister Ling accidentally fell into the water, mourn." ”

Wen Zifu touched his beard.

Indeed, for now, it seems that this is an accident.

Qiu Xian just said that Qiu Ran was from the outer room, but this did not affect the relationship between their brother and sister.

All the subordinates of the Qiu family said that Qiu Xian was very good to his sister.

The clothes, jewelry, and utensils in Qiu Ran's room can also be seen that Qiu Xian has never treated her badly, and there is even no shortage of valuables.

Maybe he had a preconceived idea.

This is the case with the feelings of loved ones.

Bi Zhi'an's sister and brother suddenly heard the bad news, and they couldn't accept it for a while, so they suspected envy and human nature.

Wen Yan told him about Bi Zhi'an's actions, and it was normal for him to believe in Wen Yan to test his envy.

And Qiu Xian's performance after his sister fell into the water and died, he didn't see anything wrong.

Cheng Shaoyu was ready to take people away.

Before leaving, he said to Wen Zifu: "This period of congestion, it should be able to move forward slowly in another hour or two."

However, the farthest can only go to Linqing, and further north, the river is still frozen.

When entering Beijing to take up a post, it is better to prepare in advance to avoid delay. ”

Wen Zifu thanked him and said: "It's faster to take the official road now, but my mother is old and can't bear the bumps of the carriage, so I want the waterway to be more stable. ”

"Mrs. Hou also went north?" Cheng Shaoyu was surprised, "Then I'll go and say hello to Mrs. Hou, I used to be in Beijing, and I received a lot of tips from Brother Ziliang." ”

Wen Zifu said "polite", said goodbye to Qiu Xian, and wanted to lead Cheng Shaoyu over.

Qiu Xian asked suspiciously, "Mrs. Hou?" ”

Wen Zifu replied: "My mother is Mrs. Ding'anhou. ”

Qiu Xian became more and more puzzled: "Why didn't Lord Wen mention it before?" ”

"By the time my father arrived," Wen Zifu said, "there was nothing to mention." ”

Qiu Xian said: "Lord Wen is open-minded. ”

As he was talking, Wen Yan came in from the aisle and said to Qiu Xian: "Mother Feng has already mentioned that Sister Qiu has cleaned up, changed into a dress she likes very much, combed her hair, put on jewelry, and my sister is like falling asleep." ”

Qiu Xian listened, stood up, and thanked him solemnly.

Wen Yan was introduced by Wen Zifu and greeted Cheng Shaoyu, and several people planned to go back to the Wen family's boat.

Qiu Xian sent them all the way to the deck.

Wen Yan walked at the end, and when he stepped on the plank, he turned his head to look at Qiu Xian.

It was already out of the sun, and the light was a little dazzling, Qiu Xian turned sideways, looked at the side of the boat, and the steward said that it was the location where Qiu Ran fell into the water.

"Gongzi Qiu," Wen Yan suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked, "Sister Qiu said that we are preparing to enter Beijing, and now that my sister has an accident, does Gongzi want to go back to Yuanzhou to bury my sister?" ”

Qiu Xian's gaze fell on Wen Yan, as if he didn't understand why she asked that.

Wen Yan said: "Although it is January, but the south is gradually spring, this is a long way to go to Yuanzhou, and I also ask Qiu Gongzi to prepare early." Zhenjiang is also a big city, there must be a good coffin shop, if the son is not familiar with the place, you can ask Lord Cheng. ”

Cheng Shaoyu was already standing on the Wen family's boat, and when he heard this conversation, he turned his eyes and looked over.

Wen Yan saw that Qiu Xian was silent, and chased and asked, "Qiu Gongzi?" ”

Qiu Xian came to his senses, shook his head, and said, "No need, I promised to take Ah Ran into Beijing, and I will definitely take her to the capital." ”

"But this weather ......," Wen Yanwan questioned.

Qiu Xian smiled and said, "I'll arrange it, Ah Ran is my sister, I won't treat her badly." ”

In this way, Wen Yan could not be tempted any longer, stepped on the plank, and returned to his own deck.

Wen Zifu naturally heard the intention of Wen Yan's conversation.

After Cheng Shaoyu met with Mrs. Gui, Wen Zifu invited people aside and said, "There is something to trouble Master Cheng." ”

Cheng Shaoyu motioned for Wen Zifu to speak.

"Can you ask Master Cheng to send someone to watch over Qiu Gongzi," Wen Zifu said, "I suspect that the arrangement he said is to burn Miss Qiu's body to ashes." ”

Cheng Shaoyu's brows furrowed: "It's not suitable, right?" Qiu Xian is the elder brother, he has the final say on what to do in the future, and the cremation does not violate the law, and the yamen does not look for it. ”

"Yuanzhou does not promote cremation." Wen Zifu said.

"The enemy himself doesn't mind, it's fine." Cheng Shaoyu said.

"That's the case," Wen Zifu thought for a while and said, "Master Cheng doesn't know, Qiu Xian's original wife died unexpectedly in Yuanzhou a few years ago, and what Qiu Xian brought to the Yue family was a porcelain jar of ashes, and the Yue family still can't accept it, and feels that the cause of death is suspicious." ”

"The family doesn't accept it a lot," Cheng Shaoyu said so, but after thinking about it seriously, he said, "Who is the Yue family?" ”

Wen Zifu said: "His wife is the niece of Lord Bi of Shuntian Mansion. ”

"I see," Cheng Shaoyu chuckled, "This is Lord Wen's letter of nomination to Lord Bi?" Okay, I'll have people stare at him to see if he's buried or burned. ”

Wen Zifu thanked him.

"No thanks, if it weren't for the lack of manpower and the rush to enter Beijing, I would have let people watch me," Cheng Shaoyu said, "I'm also for myself, Miss Qiu's death is not a problem on the surface, but if something is found in the future, I will investigate the case unfavorably, and I may be unlucky, I will still do my part and do my best, and I will have a statement in the future." ”

In the afternoon, the river was able to move slowly.

The enemy's ship was still on their side, and when it came the next day, it disappeared from view.

Three days later, Cheng Shaoyu asked people to bring a message to Wen Zifu, Qiu Xian landed that night and burned Qiu Ran in a county town under the jurisdiction of Zhenjiang.

He lit the fire with his own hands, and wailed and cried beside the raging fire.