Chapter IV

"Wei Guang, go and bring someone."

It was at this interval that the young master of the Qian family hurriedly knelt on the ground and saluted, and the Zhang family did not dare to cry and cry anymore. In fact, they never thought that the prince would come in person, after all, when they shouted grievances in the palace before, they only got a few words from the prince's orders, but they had never seen the face of a real person.

Fortunately, King Jing'an didn't care about the side, and because of the twists and turns in the case, he opened his mouth to let people be exempt from etiquette and did not allow people to go out to publicize, and this Wen Wanyuan's kowtow to ask for peace gradually fell. However, compared to the previous quiet, now the whole house is truly silent, and the maids in the courtyard do not dare to move at all.

King Jing'an, how is his prestige known to those high-ranking officials and dignitaries in the capital? Even a child in the market can also mention a few words. Since the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there is only one person who governs the Dali Temple, the Criminal Department and the Inner Court, and can privately raise secret guards without being feared by the emperor. There is only one person, who is obviously a pampered royal prince, but he is the best at criminal investigation, and he is respected as a blue sky and spurned as a cool official.

Anyway, whether it is torture in the inner court or the prison in Dali Temple, it is an existence that everyone fears.

Because of the intervention of King Jing'an, the shopkeeper came very quickly, lest he fall into the charge of disrespecting the royal family and neglecting the prince.

There are not 100 rouge shops in the county, but only Yunhai rouge shops are the best. Not to mention that it is an ordinary wealthy family, that is, many official female relatives like to go to Yunhai to buy rouge gouache, and the Zhang family and the Qian family have a thousand business dealings with Yunhai, and it is natural for the two female dependents to become their regular customers.

The shopkeeper bowed his head and knelt on the ground, holding the book in both hands and waiting for the prince to speak, but he didn't wait for the noble man in the upper position to make a move. Then he saw a pair of blue embroidered shoes stained with dust coming to his place, and stopped in front of him, and then with a light hand the booklet was taken away.

"On the third day of the ninth lunar month, Mrs. Qian really went to the shop, not only bought new peach blossom powder, but also added osmanthus head oil?" Even though Xu Chu doesn't dress up often, as a woman, she still knows a little about these things. If peach blossom powder and lip balm are precious things, then osmanthus head oil is too commonplace, but it is too ordinary to make people suspicious.

"What you said is that the young lady came in a hurry that day, and left in a hurry as soon as she had a few things, and she didn't even ask for the lipstick that she had asked the little one to help with before."

When Xu Chu heard this, her eyebrows stretched out, and her original solemn expression was slightly relaxed, and it was really as she thought. That's right, but to finalize the case, she still needs to determine a few things.

She looked around, and only before she reached the incense burner that had been extinguished for a long time did she ask casually: "The spices used by the young lady must be very expensive, and now that many days have passed, there is still a faint fragrance, but it is an elegant person." ”

"Ya Niang likes to fiddle with those incense and the like, and there are also those in the house, but they are not as good as her mind, so most of the incense in the house on weekdays is personally selected by her." Young Master Qian was in a trance, and only after a moment did he sigh again.

Xu Chu nodded, and rubbed the pattern on the incense burner again. It's too strange, if her conjecture is true, what is the motive? How did he hide from the eyes and ears of men?

At noon, for the autopsy and investigation of the case, everyone did not enter the water, and now the king of Jing'an deigned to come, neither the Qian family nor the Zhang family dared to wait slowly. So after watching Xu Chu check the scene, the county lord who heard the news, the old man of the Qian family, and his stepwife eagerly stepped forward to invite a few people to the largest Yanshui Hall in the mansion for dinner.

King Jing'an didn't care about eating and drinking, and since he cut the domain, he knew that he had made too many enemies, so he rarely ate out on weekdays. Just today...... He glanced at Xu Chu with a ghostly glance, and then nodded slightly and asked people to prepare first.

On the way to the water hall, Xu Chu looked at the tall King Jing'an who walked in the front, and said in his heart that the King of Jing'an, who cherishes words like gold, seems to be not as terrifying and terrifying as the rumors, at least in the case, he is not as perfunctory and sloppy as the county master.

But after thinking about it, she didn't think about it anymore, after all, such a noble person should have been stored in the book and rumors for herself. In addition, she has come through and has always lived a safe life for the people at the bottom of the society, but she has lost a little bit of the dignity and rules that people should have.

As the name suggests, the water hall is built according to the water, repaired on the largest pond of Qianfu, the winding path is deep, and there are green bamboos echoing each other, which is really elegant and noble.

"This yard is beautiful and has a unique style, so it should be the handiwork of a famous artist." Xu Chu was full of admiration, and sighed to a serving mother-in-law beside him.

"Hey, it's not, in order to please the young lady, the young master specially invited someone from Jiangnan to repair it. It's a pity that after the young lady gave birth, she never came again. The mother-in-law lamented, if the young lady had no miscarriage at that time, how could the house be so deserted now?

"The young lady is afraid that her heart is uncomfortable, but it can be better with Young Master Qian to accompany her." Xu Chu's pace slowed down a little, which made the woman unconsciously slow down.

"The young master is very good to the young lady, and he personally feeds the young lady medicine every day. It's just that later, the business in the house became busy, and the young master had too many places to take care of, so he ignored the young lady a little. It is also thanks to the step-wife and the master that they often think about the young lady, and often explain it, so that the young lady does not complain. ”

As a few people spoke, they arrived at Yanshui Hall, and Xu Chu was no longer entangled in the small talk just now, but just glanced thoughtfully at the respectful Qian family father and son in the hall.

said that it was eating, but in fact, how could the Qian family and the Zhang family dare to move chopsticks in front of the prince? Especially looking at King Jing'an, even if he rubbed the tea cup and didn't mention it, they naturally became nervous and restrained.

On the contrary, Xu Chu didn't have so many worries in her heart, she was in a hurry, she was dizzy from hunger after working for most of the day, and now the dishes on the table were sumptuous, it would be a pity if she didn't fill her stomach.

So King Jing'an, who was on the top of the table, looked at the tea cup in his hand without any fluctuation on his face, and occasionally looked up at Xu Chu, who was enjoying eating, with a faint expression. And the Qian family and the Zhang family, even if they were given the gift to sit down, they didn't dare to really get down. As for the county magistrate, he was even more like a pins and needles, and he was afraid that he would make a perfunctory decision for a while, worried that King Jing'an would find out something. Then he was worried about what kind of friendship King Jing'an had with Xu Chu, which made King Jing'an angry at his neglect and contempt for Xu Chu. So the atmosphere is quite strange.

Since coming to the Qian family, King Jing'an has not opened his mouth much, even if he thinks it is interesting in his heart now, he just looks at Xu Chu a few more times. But even if it's just a few glances, it's enough to make people think about it, at least in the next actions of the Qian Mansion, Xu Chu didn't suffer any more trouble.

After three rounds of dinner, I saw Wei Guanglai report that there was an official document from the capital, which was read by King Jing'an himself, so King Jing'an and his party got up and left temporarily. As for the next case, he didn't ask about it at all.

However, anyone with a discerning eye can see that King Jing'an is willing to let Xu Chu continue to investigate the case. As for what purpose, no one else knows.

Leaving Yanshui Hall, Xu Chu only let the mother-in-law who had just served guide the way, and the rest of the people were busy with their own work. After all, the death of the young lady in the family, whether it is a funeral or not, is a great thing, and when the time comes, it is not buried, how can the Qian family and the Zhang family have to give an explanation to their relatives and friends.

At this moment, the mother-in-law led Xu Chu to walk around the places where the young lady frequented, and the two of them were talking, and before they passed the arch of the second courtyard, Xu Chu heard the mother-in-law sigh strangely.

"What's wrong with my mother-in-law?"

"Ah, it's okay, it's okay, it's probably because people are old and useless, some old eyes are dizzy, and I just seem to see the young master's side of the elder Sui Ah Sheng flashing in front of the door." The woman shook her head and said wistfully, "Since the young lady had a miscarriage, a strange thing has happened in the house from time to time. First of all, a wild cat raised by the backyard maids in turn screamed at night, and the next few days were very irritable, and the maids said that the wild cat saw the soul of the little young master in evil, but according to me, it seems to be in heat. ”

As she was talking, the mother-in-law suddenly realized that Xu Chu seemed to be still a girl, so she hurriedly stretched out her hand and slapped herself in the mouth, and said with a smile: "Don't be surprised, girl, the old woman is noisy when she gets older, and she is a little open-mouthed today." ”

"My mother-in-law is not taboo and I am willing to show me the way, how can I think my mother-in-law is noisy?" Xu Chu is good-tempered, and said with a smile, "When my mother-in-law is talking, it makes me feel a little less cold in the yard." ”

"It's not lonely, I don't know what the young master thinks, the more I don't like to go home, the young lady went to invite him three or four times when she was alive, and I didn't see him come back. Even if he came back, he rarely stayed in the young lady's room, and mostly handled affairs in the study. That mother-in-law is really a person who likes to talk, and seeing that Xu Chu is not impatient but listens to it well, she can't help but feel a little conceited. Outsiders don't know about these things, even other mothers-in-law and maids in the Qian Mansion may not be able to know so much detail. If it weren't for the fact that she had been in the house for a long time, I am afraid she would not know.

"That means that Young Lady Qian and Young Master Qian haven't been together for a long time?" Xu Chu was surprised, can a man with strong blood not perform the Zhou Gong ceremony with his wife?

"It's not, otherwise the young lady would have had a little young master long ago." The woman sighed. "Otherwise, a woman still has to have a child, otherwise no matter how good the relationship between husband and wife is, it will be empty, and there is no hope."

"Earlier, Mrs. step-sister had invited the troupe to sing in the house, and the young master and young lady were also there at that time. I don't know why, the troupe is singing well, you don't know that the girl who dresses up as Xuanjiang looks so good, and the old woman is tempted to see it. Who knew that the big guys were looking at it energetically, and the young master somehow suddenly got angry, smashed the table in the garden, and then left angrily. "The mother-in-law said regretfully, if it weren't for the young master's sudden tantrum, the big guy might be able to watch the play, I heard that it was newly choreographed, and the corners were all very guys." But later, I heard that it was the step-wife who deliberately took that play as a concubine for the young master, which made the young master unhappy......"