Memory two

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It was inside, and the four of us looked around in the quiet room of the farmer.

It had not been ventilated for a long time, and it still smelled of dust and mold.

I wanted to push the window open, but the rain finally gave up.

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Li Yuanfeng walked quietly to the depths of the room and pushed open another window.

In this way, the interior of the room becomes quite bright.

Butler An Si told us that there was a door in the room that led to the study.

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This study, built decades ago, bears strong traces of time.

The roof slabs were blackened by the smoke of charcoal, and the cobwebbed corners of the walls were peeling in a few places. On the wall behind the desk is a wooden cabinet filled with hardcover books with thin jackets for thread binding.

In addition, the bookcases and the gaps between the books were also stuffed with ancient books.

Facing away from the wooden cabinet is a desk. Between the desk and the window are guest chairs, a small round table and two delicate chaise longues.

Or a scholar's room, which is not neat inside. Books that are halfway through reading and have taken a few pages are piled up on the desk and on the ground beside them, and on top of these books there are countless small words or notes with a few lines written on them, and old books that are no longer used are scattered.

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Li Yuanfeng turned to An Si and asked her, "Is there no oil in the candlestick in this house?" If that's the case, can I trouble you to get a new kerosene lamp or lantern? ”

Steward An Si put the handkerchief that had suppressed the corners of his eyes into his apron arms, "Yes, yes......... I'll go find out. There's another room behind this house, and I'm staying there, so wait a minute. ”

"Besides, aren't the farmer's friends here yet?"

"It's already here......... I'll send someone to the school to make sure. The old butler walked out of the room with heavy steps.

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After the door was closed, Li Yuanfeng looked at everyone and said encouragingly: "Then, when the light comes, we will start investigating." ”

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I looked at the bookcases full of books and the mountains of pages on the desk.

Then look at Nong's room, which is even messier than this.

Looking at the pile of old pages, I realized that it was a terrible thing to want to go through them all.

Seeing my timid appearance, Mr. Zhang finally laughed, "Master Li, where do we have to start?" ”

"When the farmer's friend comes, we should have an idea. It's easier that way. I think, let's start with the letters. ”

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Zhang Lao accompanied the hall and thought, "Then let's look for it separately!" Da Han and I are in charge of the study, and Mr. Zeng and Mr. Zeng are in charge of this room. ”

"Okay, that's it!" Li Yuanfeng nodded. Then, he held his chin with his right hand, and turned his head to Zeng Shi, who had been silent, "By the way, Brother Zengtai, have you found out Nong's net worth background?" ”

"Yes, of course." Zeng Suddenly, he took out a stack of pages from the burden he was holding, "Do you want me to read it, my lord?" ”

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I had moved to the window and looked for some light, "uh......... Nong's birthplace is Dexin County. His father was a wealthy merchant and his mother was the daughter of a village official. There are two older brothers and one sister, but all of them have long since died. Among the relatives, only the grandchildren of the cousins remained. ”

“……… His mother died at an early age, and from the age of seven he entered the academy. ”

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It was a stoppage.

Standing in front of the wooden cabinet, Zhang Lao pointed to a wall beside him, "This seems to be another farmer?" He's characteristic, isn't he? ”

On the wall hangs a large portrait of a farmer.

The paintings show him in a precarious posture. He was not tall and his cheeks were thin, so he was supposed to be quite a sharp man.

He has a wide forehead, and under his white eyebrows are a pair of dark, contoured black eyes.

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I walked to Mr. Zhang's hall and carefully examined the portrait. It can be seen that the farmer has an old-fashioned atmosphere.

Li Yuanfeng opened the side curtain and confirmed to Zeng Shi, "I asked you to find out the exact date of Nong's death, is it clear?" ”

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"Yes. I went to Kyoto and found the ......... of the hospital, who had passed away on May 22 of this year. Died in a medical center on the outskirts of Kyoto. The cause of death was tetanus caused by a fence cutting a wrist, as I said before. ”

“……… The doctor's medical record mentioned that in addition to his age, on the other hand, he had just recovered from the previous wind and cold, and his body was weak and lacking qi. ”

After Li Yuanfeng listened to this narrative, his expression became solemn for some reason.

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"What's wrong, sir?" Mr. Zhang asked in surprise.

"Ah........." Li Yuanfeng suddenly came back to his senses and looked at us in panic, "It seems that what I have been worried about seems to have come true." ”

"Worried? Do you think that the farmer was also murdered? Tetanus is not an accident? ”

"This is one of them." Li Yuanfeng replied vaguely, muttering with shining eyes, "From the other side, the murder of Nong's other party actually implies a terrible deception. ”

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Li Yuanfeng's words made me and Mr. Zhang confused and looked at each other.

When I was about to ask, "What the hell is it?" I heard footsteps in the hallway.

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Pushing open the door and walking in was Butler An Si, who held a lit kerosene lamp in each of her hands.

In addition, behind her stood a thin woodman, who looked like a scholar of about thirty years old.

The man's eye sockets were sunken and his front teeth were slightly protruding. Looking at Li Yuanfeng and me, he showed a surprised expression.

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"I've kept you waiting." The old butler's voice was full of exhaustion, "This is the old man's friend, Mr. Tongku." ”

After Steward An finished introducing him, the man stepped forward and bowed in a panic and uneasy, "Yes, yes." I heard that the adults told me to come. My name is Tongku, and I have known the farmer for many years. ”

After introducing each other, everyone will briefly explain.

Explain our purpose and what we are looking for to Tongku.

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During this period, Zhang Lao took the kerosene lamps from the hands of Steward An Si, and placed one of them on the candlestick, and the other on the desk——— he wanted to illuminate the whole room.

The orange light allowed us to finally see inside the room.

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"If you still have something to do with me, just pull the bell rope and it will be connected to my room." The old butler pointed to the striped rope on the edge of the bookcase, and then left the room.

Li Yuanfeng sat slightly crooked and said, "Brother Tai, just like I said just now." We want to know the words of the book that the farmer studied separately. Do you know anything about this? ”

"I......... Me? ”

"Yes. We wanted to search the house, but we didn't know where to start. I wonder if you can give us some hints? ”

Tong Ku swallowed a mouthful of saliva, "You should have to search the whole house!" As far as scholarship is concerned, all documents, in addition to being intricate like cobwebs, are also closely connected, and there is nothing that is not needed. In fact, it is often possible to find useful and important information from these seemingly unwanted piles of records! ”

"I know that." Li Yuanfeng said, "However, we are running out of time. Today, no matter what, we have to find some important clues. ”

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Tong Ku looked around the room and said slowly, "Well......... Uh........."

Li Yuanfeng continued to stare at him, "Brother Tai, how much do you know about Nong?" Are there any correspondences? ”

Uncomfortable, he put his hand in front of him, then put it behind him, "I don't know much about it......... Detailed. It's hard to get along with him, and he almost never lets anyone else read what he writes. Every time he read the letter, he would habitually put it in the lamp and burn it. ”

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Li Yuanfeng was unhesitant, and asked the next question, "I heard that Nong Yi has been preparing since last year, and it is an article called "——— Caiqin People". What was the content of that article? Where is the finished article now? ”

For some reason, Tong Ku seemed to be quite frightened, and his pupils dilated, "You......... Where did you hear that? ”

"Ten Mile City Academy." Li Yuanfeng prevaricated casually, "Let's take a look?" ”

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Tong Ku looked around, as if looking for a way out. But when he found out that we were covering the room, he had to give up and say, "Big ......... Probably in the study cabinet to the left drawer! I remember before I died, I still said with great pleasure that he was almost done. It seems so. ”

After listening to Tongku's words, we picked up the kerosene lamp and went into the study.

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There are also piles of old pages and books piled up on the ground. Li Yuanfeng walked to the wooden cabinet, a row of three drawers. Go to the drawer on the left and open it from top to bottom.

"Which one?" Li Yuanfeng turned around and asked with a solemn look.

"First, second." Tongku seemed to be frightened by Li Yuanfeng's expression, "There should be a big cloth bag inside." ”

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I didn't want Li Yuanfeng to suddenly grab both ends of the drawer with both hands and pull out the entire drawer.

This action took us by surprise.

He pulled out the drawer and tossed it aside on the table.

"Look, Brother Tai!" Li Yuanfeng, "There's nothing in the drawer." It's empty!! ”

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"How......... How? "It's really there!" ”

Immediately, he ran to the table, stared at the drawers, and pulled out all the other drawers of the wooden cabinet.

We gathered around the table and watched him move.

"Really......... It's empty! Tongku's face became pale and frightened, "This......... What's going on here? ”

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Li Yuanfeng turned his head sideways, "Brother Tai, is it possible that the other farmer put the article elsewhere or hid it somewhere before his death?" ”

Tong Ku wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, "No, it's impossible." A few days after I died, I saw ......... The article is in this drawer. ”

"What's going on?"

"After the funeral, I came to help tidy up the house. Remember......... It was quickly counted. I saw it then......... That article is in a drawer. ”

"Later, there was a dispute over the choice of the heir to the farmer's estate, and the two sides finally decided not to touch the things in this house, and even I forgot about this article."

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"When did you see the article?"

"Uh........." thought to Tongku, closing his eyes, "May 30." The funeral was held on the day after the body was brought back from Kyoto, on May 24........."

"Did someone come and take it away?"

"No way. No one knew that article existed. Unless........."

Li Yuanfeng turned his head to look at Zeng Shi, who was standing by the door, "Brother Zeng, thank you, you call Butler An Si to come over for a while." ”

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I once returned to the study and pulled the bell rope hard.

Spin down the aisle.

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Li Yuanfeng explained the incident to Steward Ansi.

The old butler also denied it with a look of surprise, "No. I don't know anything. I don't know anything about the master's article. ”

I don't think Steward An Si is telling a lie.

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Li Yuanfeng walked to the candlestick in the study and said, "Who cleaned this candlestick?" ”

"It's me, and I'm going to sweep the dust every day." Butler An Si replied inexplicably.

Li Yuanfeng pointed to the candlestick, "There are a lot of ashes here?" ”

When I looked after Li Yuanfeng pointed it out, I found that there was really a pile of black ashes there. Appears to be burnt paper.

"Yes."

"Did you burn it?"

"No, it's not. Why is this happening......... I don't remember .........."

"When was the last time you cleaned?"

"The day my lord left for Kyoto."

"So, did you also put the stack of unopened letters on your desk?"

"Yes......... Yes. Those were all sent after the death of the master. Any questions? ”

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"Alright. That's all my question. Li Yuanfeng made the old butler with an uneasy face leave.

Mr. Zhang immediately asked, "What's wrong with the candlestick?" ”

"No, nothing." Li Yuanfeng said vaguely, and Xuan proposed again, "Then, let's start with letters!" Look for the article again. ”

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We split into two teams.

A team confirmed with Tongku.

A team rummaged through the study and its ancient books and drawers.

Although I found many letters and articles, they all had nothing to do with "The Caiqin People of Penglai Island".

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Li Yuanfeng scratched his hair back and forth anxiously, "Brother Tai, why do you know why Nongren is interested in the old story of "The Caiqin Man of Penglai Island"? ”

Tong Ku dragged his tired body and shook his head, "I don't know. Want......... Or maybe it just happened to be found. ”

Li Yuanfeng nodded, "Yes." So, please confirm all the ancient books in the cabinet and the study? ”

"All......... All of them? Tong Ku looked up at the bookcase that was half a foot taller than him, and said timidly.

Li Yuanfeng showed a smiling expression, "Not bad." That's all. We're going to have to take out the books one by one, and all you have to do is tell us what the title is. ”

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It took us nearly two hours to read all the titles once.

After the unitary hour, it was already dark outside the window.

Darkness hit the room, and the orange light of the kerosene lamp became our only reliance.

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The study and cabinets contain a variety of ancient books and historical records.

It includes documents describing ancient times, the struggle of a hundred years ago, and inventions that have emerged in recent years.

However, these are of no use to us.

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Exhausted, we each found a chair to sit on.

Only Li Yuanfeng was still violated, shuttling back and forth between the two messy rooms, inspecting again and again.

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"Yes, brother Tai, you know......... What was the situation when Nongasu was at the Kyoto Medical Center? As if remembering something, Li Yuanfeng suddenly stopped and asked abruptly.

Tong Ku, who was sitting on the sofa, nodded hesitantly, "Yes, I'll go with you." ”

"Really?" Li Yuanfeng's eyes radiated brilliance, "Then, tell us about the situation at that time." Did you hear that you got tetanus because you scratched your arm on the fence of the cattle pen? ”

"Yes."

"I heard it was scraped by a nail protruding from the plank?"

"Not bad. There are several! It's serious. ”

"How did he get hurt?"

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"It's a well-known cattle farm in the neighborhood, and it's about three to five hundred heads. I was watching along the path next to the fence when a man with a small box approached us. ”

“……… The man accidentally bumped into it. As soon as he stepped into the air, he crashed into the fence and was injured. The nails were very old and rusty, and they had something very grease on them. In fact, the farmer's wound was not serious, and we immediately went back to the inn to bandage it. ”

"The person who hit him was a doctor. He told us that he was also here to go on a trip. ”

“……… He used the contents of the medicine box to rub and bandage the farmer's arm. He also confessed that he had to go to a nearby medical center for a check-up as soon as possible. But the farmer insisted that it was only a minor injury. ”

"Later, from this evening onwards, he began to have a fever, and by the time I rushed him to the hospital, it was too late. He fell ill with fever in the hospital for three days and finally died unconscious. His death was unbelievably light........." Tongkun choked up as he said this.

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"What kind of person is the doctor?"

Li Yuanfeng did not leave the other party sad to spare.

Just looking at his serious eyes, I also felt that the murder of Nong Yi seemed to be a ruse.

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