Xia Qiu didn't pick up Mrs. Xia's stubble, but raised her hand to disturb the broken hair on her forehead to her ears, perfectly avoiding the calloused withered hands.

The Xia family is a human being and a ghost, and the people in the same village know it. In the past, they didn't treat Xia Qiu as a human being, and they were often beaten to death, but now they see that she has gained power and is busy climbing relatives and bringing her past, which is really shameless.

Mrs. Xia withdrew her hand, very unwillingly, and greeted Lu Tingxiu diligently, "Lord Zhixian, thank you for taking care of Xiao Jiu, our family is grateful and disrespectful......"

The people are old, but their hands and feet are quite sharp, and they are eager to climb the high branch of Chi County.

The Xia family didn't have good goods, the old lady's cloudy eyes flashed with a calculating light, and Lu Tingxiu was particularly disliked, so he turned sideways quietly.

Zhou Bantou drew his knife, glared and shouted angrily: "The county knows how to handle the case, and all idle people will be avoided." "Diao Min, who gave her the guts!

The cold knife shook to the eye.

Mrs. Xia had never seen this posture, so she was so frightened that her legs trembled, and she stumbled and sat on the ground.

Everyone couldn't hold back, laughing, and even some people in the crowd were damaged, "The magistrate doesn't know you, don't just climb up the pole." A bunch of people are old, and they are still engaged in this set of empty heads. ”

No one in the village knew that Xia Qiu, who was sold **, escaped death, and the Xia family didn't give up, and went to the county seat to arrest people, but was imprisoned by Xia Qiu's retaliation.

The whole village knows this joke.

If they want to kiss, it depends on whether Xia Qiu is happy or not.

The Xia family secretly scolded the wild seed for having no conscience, so they hurriedly helped Mrs. Xia up, and retreated to the side and didn't dare to make another attempt.

The official drove the crowd five zhang away, and led Lu Tingxiu and the others to walk in the direction of the corpse.

The deceased was a male, about 40 years old, about six and a half feet tall, with multiple marks of impact on his body, and no knife injuries were found.

Lu Tingxiu inspected the wound, and suddenly looked up and asked Xia Qiu, "What do you think?" ”

Since I like to join in the fun, I have to talk about it.

Xia Qiu ignored his ridicule, carefully investigated the wounds of the deceased, and pondered for a while before saying: "The many wounds on the deceased's body are different, some are round and blunt, some are sharp, and even scratched, the wound of the broken skin is not shrunk, and the wound is not deep, it should be drifting in the river after death, and was injured by branches, stones, etc." ”

Lu Tingxiu was stunned, he didn't expect this layman to be able to see some doorways.

However, she knows some medical skills, so it's not surprising to think about it.

Xia Qiu's words were agreed by the presumption, "What Miss Xia said is reasonable, judging from the appearance, most of this person lost his footing and drowned." ”

"I'm afraid it's not as simple as falling into the water." Lu Tingxiu looked at the corpse and said suspiciously: "A living person is drowning, even if he doesn't understand water, he will have a survival instinct, and his hands and feet will flutter and struggle, but the limbs of the deceased are relaxed, indicating that he did not struggle after falling into the water." ”

In other words, the deceased either fainted and fell into the water, or threw the body after death.

The deceased's clothes were shabby, his hands and feet were covered with calluses, and although his body was swollen, it could be judged that he was a thin person before his death.

Judging from the appearance, there is no doubt that he has been engaged in heavy labor for a long time.

Lu Tingxiu instructed the officials to visit the nearby villages and find out the identity of the deceased as soon as possible.

The officials went their separate ways, and at this time the first few people in the village came over curiously.

One of them, looking at the corpse for a while, muttered, "This person seems to be the second bear in Xiashui Village." ”

Xia Qiu glanced at him, this person was of medium stature and had a sharp beak and monkey cheeks, it was Liu Tong's cousin Liu Neng. Liu Neng is a lazy eater, wanders around the nearby villages all the year round, and knows a lot of people.

"Are you sure?" Xia Qiu asked rhetorically.

"It looks a little similar, but he went to Yongding County to work in the spring of last year, how could he suddenly come back?"

"It's not like ah, this person is much older, and the second bear is not so dark."

"It's not like that, I've eaten at the same table with him, and I can't be wrong."

Xiashui Village is downstream of Xiajia Village, separated by two or three miles of road, Xiong Lao Er came back from Yongding County, and it is impossible to pass by Xiajia Village.

Lu Tingxiu called the official back and turned his head to invite Xiong Lao'er's family.

Xiong Lao's daughter-in-law was soon invited over, and when she saw the appearance of the deceased, she lifted his sleeve and saw the black mole on her left wrist, and immediately fell to the ground and cried, "You short-lived ghost, go out and do a good job, why did you die?" If you're dead, how can the family live......"

The daughter-in-law of the Xiong family lay on top of the deceased, crying breathlessly.

Seeing this, Zhou Bantou hurriedly appeased a few words.

The daughter-in-law of the Xiong family choked back tears, and suddenly knelt in front of Lu Tingxiu, heartbroken, "Lord Zhixian, the man in my family must have been murdered by someone for money, you have to be the master of the people's wife and seek justice for me." ”

Hearing what was said, Lu Tingxiu bent down to help her up and interrogated her carefully.

From the daughter-in-law of the Xiong family, I learned that at the beginning of spring last year, someone suddenly came to the village to recruit laborers, saying that they were going to Yongding County to build a reservoir and a river dam, and there were 300 yuan a month, and the construction period was about a year, and they could pay 20% of the salary in advance.

300 wen per month, more than 3 taels a year, which is undoubtedly a huge fortune for the farmers who rely on the land to plan, many people squeeze their heads to sign up, and even fight for the quota.

In that recruitment, a total of more than 100 strong laborers were selected, and everyone was gearing up to make a lot of money, come back to honor their parents and raise children, and even those who dreamed of making money to marry their daughters-in-law and build houses.

Yongding County is more than 100 miles away from Lin County, and it is in the downstream of Lin County, but Xiong Laoer's body appeared upstream, which is not logical.

In addition, the construction of reservoirs and river dams is generally built by the government, and local labor is mainly requisitioned, even if the fortifications are tight and the labor is insufficient, prisoners can also be requisitioned.

There is no shortage of people in Yongding County, why do you have to hire people in Lin County, which is more than 100 miles away?

Labor has always been cheap, heavy labor 200 wen per month is already a sky-high price, and 20% is paid in advance, the boss in charge is afraid that he has too much money to spend.

Lu Tingxiu's expression was stern, "Do you know who came to hire laborers?" ”

The daughter-in-law of the Xiong family thought for a long time, and said blankly: "We haven't seen each other, it's all the middleman who is passing the word." ”

"The middleman?" Lu Tingxiu groaned, "Who is it?" ”

"I ...... I don't know. The daughter-in-law of the Xiong family was so anxious that she cried again, and said helplessly: "I am a woman, and I didn't ask much at the time, so I listened to what my man said, and in order to get this quota, he also gave a gift to the middleman." ”

As soon as she said this, Xia Qiu suddenly remembered, and suddenly said, "My second uncle also went to Yongding County to repair the dam." ”

Not only Xia Laoer, but also more than a dozen strong laborers in the village.

Listening to their discussion, the village chief hurriedly ran over, "Lord Zhixian, I know something about Yongding County's hiring of laborers." ”

Lu Tingxiu said politely: "Village chief, please speak." ”

The village chief looked at Xia Qiu, and he wanted to stop talking, as if he was afraid.

Xia Qiuhu said suspiciously: "Could it be that this matter is still related to my family?" ”

The village chief nodded, "That's right, this middleman is your second uncle." ”