A group of people went to Taoyuan Village again, and then did not bother the peasants who obviously did not want to discuss the rights and wrongs of others, and went deeper into the village for a while, but coincidentally met a Confucian who sat in the shade of the tree and shook his head to recite the "Book of Shang", they originally called themselves to travel around, and met the "people in the same way" to talk naturally without obstacles, after three or two sentences, I knew that the Confucian surname Fang Zhengzi Mo Qi, its ancestor was Xiucai, and he has now been admitted to the Tongsheng.

Fang Zheng warmly invited, and King Zhou agreed to go to the "classmate's" house for lunch.

Fang's father has passed away a long time ago, and Fang Zheng is now only dependent on his widowed mother.

Fang's mother is an extremely refreshing woman, and she can also see that she has a good house, although her son only reads sage books, and the two small courtyards are also cleaned up and tidy by Fang's mother, and the tea used to entertain guests is of medium and upper quality, as if it is not rich and noble, and the daily life is not poor, and the spring is due to men's clothing, and it is also inconvenient to have too much contact with Fang's mother at this time, but she has also been prepared, and today she took Qingping with her, Qingping helped Fang's mother cook lunch and led the topic to the person who set up the wine and invited guests the day before yesterday.

In contrast, the woman was indeed more talkative than the old farmer, and she talked about the incident: "The family's surname is Fei, speaking of which Fei Boss used to be a tenant farmer of my family, at that time he was diligent and honest and kind, married to his cousin's daughter, the husband and wife for many years of male farming and weaving, and finally put down ten acres of land, and raised a pair of children under their knees. Fei Boss didn't take long to continue the strings, the new marriage is a widow, the villagers call her Jing Peng, this Peng is with a girl to remarry, although it is also very diligent, but really good at calculation, not long after marrying Fei Boss he will be obedient, listen to Peng's lobbying, follow the merchants of Hangzhou City to run the boat, a pair of children born by Peng as slaves, Fei Boss actually knew nothing. ”

Fang's mother didn't put the cooked meal on the table with Qingping, and it was inconvenient for them to eat with the men, so they only pulled Qingping to set up another table in the backyard and continued to talk about the Fei family.

"Peng persuaded Fei Boss to go on a long voyage, playing the idea of making a windfall, how do you know that Fei Boss did not have such luck, not only did he make a fortune, but he also encountered a storm at sea, experienced nine deaths, but was injured in his lungs, and he could no longer do this kind of business, because he often had to ask for medical treatment, and he couldn't raise his head at home more and more, and then even if he saw Peng's mistreatment of his children, he was helpless."

Fang's mother sighed as she spoke: "Three years ago, the Peng family gave birth to a son to Fei Laoda, and the status of the head of the family was even more solid, and he actually wanted to sell the eldest son as a slave, but fortunately, the Fei family's mother's family was also in Taoyuan Village, and there was a fuss about this matter, Fei Laoda finally didn't listen to Peng's words, although he was now sick, fortunately, he also got acquainted with some people when he ran the boat, and found a way to send the eldest son Fei Cong to a commercial house in the county as a hired laborer, and Peng's family did not entangle again. ”

Qingping realized: "It turns out that Fei Cong and the girl who died were not born to Peng." ”

"Fei Cong's kid didn't take his name in vain, he was indeed smart and capable, but somehow he got into the eyes of the famous 'Brush Chen' in Lin'an City, and made an apprentice to 'Brush Chen'." When Fang Mu said this, she couldn't help but smack her tongue again and again.

"Who is this 'Brush Chen'?" Qingping said curiously.

"Actually, he is a craftsman who makes a living by painting walls, but he is also a real craftsman, saying that he paints the house by hand

There is no need for other furnishings in it, and people can feel as wonderful as ascending to heaven when they sit in the room empty. What's even more amazing is that when he brushes the pulp, he only wears a black coat, and after brushing in one room, there is never a white spot on the clothes, and his brush is not dipped in the pulp, but when the brush passes, it is immediately uniform and solid, and a drop of white pulp will not fall. It is precisely because of the "Brush Chen" that he has this unique skill, not only in Lin'an County, but also in Hangzhou Fucheng there is no shortage of high-ranking nobles who hire him to paint, and what is even more strange is that even the son of "Brush Chen" has not been able to inherit the stunt of being a father. ”

Qingping also sighed very emotionally when she heard this: "Everyone else is strange, in the opinion of the servant, it must be that this little brother Fei has suffered a lot of hardships that others can't bear, so that he can learn this stunt in a short time, how can he rely on the word talent?" ”

"That's right, girl." Fang's mother also bowed: "After all, Fei Cong can be self-sufficient in Lin'an City, and he will no longer be controlled by his stepmother." This child is still thinking about his sister, the reason why Xiaohui was selected to be hired by Lou's Silk Village is the way Fei Cong has traveled, Peng's eyes have been hot since the beginning, and he can't wait to let his daughter replace Xiaohui, but Fei Cong is no longer something she can control, she wants to stop it, and she is reluctant to give the deposit given by the Lou family, and she even intends to persuade my family to persuade Fei Cong, so that the Fei family is not only a girl A Hui, the way of the Lou family has been walked out, and it is true filial piety to bring her daughter to benefit Fei Cong. I was a woman who had a temper and despised such a cruel stepson the most, so angry that she almost didn't throw the salt shaker on Peng's body, and she didn't dare to entangle her anymore. ”

Speaking of this, Fang's mother sighed again: "Who knows that in a few days, Xiaohui didn't have time to pack up and go to the county seat, and suddenly said that he had an acute abdomen and died, the rules of our place, the death of an underage child is a big unlucky thing, and it needs to be burned immediately, when Fei Cong rushed back, Xiaohui was already a corpse, Fei Cong suspected that his sister was harmed by Peng's, and Peng's quarrel was not mentioned, I heard that he also went to the county government to sue the official, how did he know that the county lord heard that it was a humble child to sue the elder, not only did he not accept the complaint, I also scolded Fei Cong's child with a cane as a warning, I was upset for these two poor children, but when I asked my family Fangzheng, even he said that the law is statute that children should not sue their parents. ”

Qingping truthfully relayed what she heard from Fang's mother to the three kings of Zhou, and none of them thought it was unexpected.

"This is really the stepmother who does not allow the yuan to match the children, and all the strange things can be explained, but the deceased has even burned the bones, and it is in line with the customs and conventions here, I am afraid that even if the government is alarmed, it will be difficult to find out the truth." King Zhou Dajue's case is extremely tricky.

"It's not like there's nothing else to think of." Lan Ting said: "But we need to go to Fei's house first to test the Peng family, we must find out whether she is suspected of committing murder, and what her scheming is, so that we can make a detailed plan." ”

"But just came to the door for no reason, and opened her mouth to mention the big girl, if it was really Peng's murder, wouldn't it startle the snake?" King Zhou was a little hesitant.

"In this matter, I have to rely on the second brother to charge forward." Lan Ting smiled and entrusted him with a heavy task.

"Why do you have to rely on me?" King Zhou intuitively felt that his arm was ill-intentioned.

"The third brother is inconvenient to open his mouth, and I am not very good at dealing with strangers, especially women, but the second brother is more approachable, as long as he gives full play to his past three points, it is enough to dispel Peng's guard, of course, the second brother is out of the interview to find out." Lan Ting did not hesitate to compliment

, praising His Royal Highness the King of Zhou's ability to please women.

But His Royal Highness King Zhou didn't feel that he was being complimented at all.

He pointed at Lan Ting for a few breaths, and in the end he had to shake his head: "That's it, it is a life, and I have to make it difficult, but you have to think about it for me, otherwise you will be exposed and seen through by the Peng family, and you can't complain about me." ”

Is King Zhou really willing to be distracted at the important juncture of the competition for the crown prince, whether Gu Yijie and the civilian girl were killed? If he really has this chivalrous heart, he doesn't look like a villain who will do anything for the sake of power-Chungui thought silently.

But in terms of King Zhou's understanding of Lan Ting, he should understand that no matter whether he is willing to intervene in the murder case in Taoyuan Village or not, Lan Ting will definitely not ignore it after noticing the strangeness, maybe this positive enthusiasm is also to paralyze Lan Ting, in short, it cannot prove that King Zhou must not be the scourge tyrant in the mouth of Yuyang Zhenjun.

After a brief discussion, the three of them inquired all the way to Fei's house.

It is said that this Taoyuan Village is located on the north bank of Tongxi, backed by a hill, the village relies on a ditch chiseled from Tongxi to irrigate the fields, and the ditch surrounds most of the village, and finally merges into a depression pond, many villagers will gather in the depression pond Huanyi, and some children simply jump into the water to play, so the depression pond has become the most lively place in the whole Taoyuan Village, and the Fei family's house is located two or three hundred steps away from the east side of the depression pond.

The enthusiastic peasant woman pointed to the tiled houses surrounded by bamboo fences, and then to the one who was surrounded by many girls under the peach tree: "Look at her, it is the youngest daughter of the Fei family, Liniang." ”

Chungui followed the guide and looked over, and saw the girl sitting on a bench under the peach tree, but it was as big as "Boo", even taller than "Boo", and her complexion was whiter than the girls around her, with a double bun, a red ribbon on the bun, a pink shirt and an emerald green long skirt, the dress was new at a glance, her face was full of spring breeze, the corners of her lips were raised high, and she was taking the mountain plum fruit handed to her by her playmate, and she was biting in a big way.

Chun Hui didn't rush to Fei's house first, but approached the group of girls to hear what they were saying.

Although there is a significant difference between the dress of King Zhou and the villagers, it naturally has attracted the attention of many people, but most of these eleven or twelve-year-old children in ordinary farmers do not know how to read clothes and know people, if they change to another unfamiliar environment, they should feel cramped in the face of strangers, but since they are in their own village, and now they are focused on talking and having fun, they did not pay special attention to the approach of a few strangers, and continued their own topic.

The girl who had just offered the mountain plum fruit to Li Niang naturally stood close to the bench, and when she saw that Li Niang ate the wild fruit with relish, she became more and more proud.

Chungui heard her say: "Liniang went to Lou's house in the county seat, and I must remember to praise me more with the Lou family's steward, and when I also go to Lou's house as a hired laborer, I can be with Liniang." ”

But he was met with a blank eye from Li Niang: "You go to the pond to take care of it first, how can you be favored by the Lou family steward with your appearance?" If you stretch out your hand to show everyone that you have such a rough palm, you have to hang a hole in the silk when you touch it, and you still want to weave silk? You're going to spoil silk. ”

It caused a lot of ridicule.

King Zhou took a beating to the side of Chungui, and whispered: "This is Peng's daughter?" It's really enough for no one to see. ”

Suddenly, I saw another girl and pulled Liniang's arm: "Look, your cousin is coming this way." ”

Chungui saw that the girl was pointing in her direction, and quickly turned his head.