Chapter 12: A Strange Fragrance
Although Meng Yun was gentle, she would not let outsiders bully her daughter, and when she walked in front of the Wang family, her whole body was full of fierce aura.
"Sister-in-law, you said that you are jealous, you are really laughing and generous. Xiangxiang admired Gu Xiang, and the patriarch proposed to change the bride before, but we did not refuse. If the younger brother and sister are not mistaken, Gu Xiang said it himself here, he decided that He Ling'er was his fiancΓ©e, and the patriarch, eldest brother and sister-in-law were all present at that time! β
"Although there were women in the Great Zhou Dynasty who started from scratch, most people still think that a woman marrying well is the best destination in her life, and you don't deny it!"
"The Gu family is a famous family, and Gu Xiang is a recognized good match for women in Luoyang's boudoir, and now Gu Xiang recognizes Ling'er, and if you want to be jealous, others are jealous of Ling'er."
Meng Yun's voice landed, Jiang Cailing heard this, and couldn't help but look at Meng Yun differently, originally she thought that Meng Yun was a woman who always abides by women's appearance and morality, and she actually has such a sharp side.
Everyone didn't seem to have seen Meng Yun like this, and they were all so shocked that they couldn't speak.
Seeing that He Mingshan's family had changed their good temper in the past, the patriarch got up and said busily, "Meng, the patriarch doesn't believe that the fifth girl will frame the sixth girl, but the person did disappear after seeing it. β
"Then you should report to the official, why did the patriarch come to Ling'er?" Jiang Cailing still looks innocent.
"If it's a family matter, isn't that a scandal?"
"So the patriarch is sure that the person who made the sixth sister disappear is Ling'er? If you really want to find the sixth sister, the eldest uncle and eldest aunt should report to the official as soon as possible, instead of messing around here, what if the sixth sister really encounters any danger? β
Jiang Cailing carefully looked at the expressions of everyone present as she spoke, and she insisted on reporting to the official just to see if the disappearance of He Xiangxiang was a ghost by the He family or someone else.
If the He family is a ghost, they naturally don't dare to report to the official, and their purpose should be to ruin He Ling'er's reputation and let He Xiangxiang marry Gu Jiming instead of He Ling'er.
If someone else is a ghost, then she will follow the vine and catch the thief and the king.
"Report to the official, report to the official!"
After letting the subordinates inform the government, it didn't take long for the government to catch the head, named Hao Zheng, a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes, wearing a blue official uniform with a jujube red belt, and he was dignified.
After a brief understanding of the situation, the head catcher will go to He Xiangxiang's boudoir to have a look.
He Xiangxiang's boudoir is like his person, quiet and elegant, a hardwood carved cave moon-style shelf bed, with mahogany inlaid marble makeup table, pineapple wood table with pen, ink, paper and inkstone, not far away on the piano rack put a guqin, the famous Danqing ink hanging on both sides of the wall, at a glance you know that the owner of the room is good at piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, is a talented woman.
Jiang Cailing smelled a strange fragrance before she walked into the room, and after entering the room, the fragrance gradually became stronger, this smell she had smelled on He Xiangxiang's body, the taste was sweet and greasy, but it was far from being so strong.
Hao Zhutou also noticed the rich fragrance and asked He Xiangxiang's personal maid, "Has your young lady always used such a strong spice?" β
"No, our young lady doesn't like this exaggerated taste. Since a few days ago, there has been this smell in the young lady's room, and the slave maid saw that the young lady was in a bad mood at that time, so she didn't dare to ask more. β
"In a bad mood? Because of what? β
"Because ......" The maid glanced at He Minghai and Wang's, and saw that the two were sad and ignored her before she whispered, "Miss admires Gu Xiang, but Gu Xiang is engaged to Miss Five, our young lady will write a log when she is in a bad mood, and the slave maid is not very literate. β
Hearing this, Jiang Cailing knew that He Xiangxiang's appointment to meet her at Jiuquqiao yesterday was completely deliberate.
Hao Zhutou's gaze swept over Jiang Cailing, Jiang Cailing met his gaze, the corners of his lips pulled weakly, it was a polite smile, but it looked very sad, obviously sad about the disappearance of his sister.
Hao Zhutou has encountered many cases, among which it is not uncommon for brothers and sisters of the same clan to make trouble because of marriage, so he asked, "Miss Five, did you ask Miss Six to meet on the bridge?" β
"To be honest, in fact, Ling'er didn't know that the sixth sister also went to the Thousand Lantern Festival. The bridge is obviously in the distance, if I really want to ask my sister to meet so far away? β
"Our Xiang'er's invitation to participate in the Thousand Lantern Festival was sent by Gu Jiming's father, Gu Lao, everyone knows it, why don't you know?" Wang immediately retorted.
"Auntie, Ling'er really doesn't know, dare to ask when Elder Gu sent it?"
"Later in the day you receive the invitation."
After careful consideration, Jiang Cailing's thoughts suddenly became clearer. Gu Jiming's father, Gu Guozhong, she has some understanding, and her official residence is from Sanpin Guanglu Temple. Gu Guozhong was originally a poor scholar who was a little poor, but he was good-looking and was taken in by the daughter of a wealthy businessman in the capital, so he began to take a turn for the better.
The two have a son, that is, Gu Jiming, Gu Jiming has been talented since he was a child, he was literate at the age of three, wrote poems at the age of five, practiced martial arts at the age of eight, was named Luoyang at the age of fifteen, and worshiped the prime minister at the age of twenty-five, making the He family a prominent family.
Gu Guozhong made his fortune by marrying a wife, so he wanted his son to marry Jin Zhi, but who knew that Gu Jiming's maternal grandfather actually privately ordered him the daughter of the He family, although the He family is a scholarly family, but it is by no means his ideal daughter-in-law background.
Gu Guozhong's heart of wanting to climb the dragon and attach the phoenix faded, but after he knew that in addition to He Ling'er and He Xiangxiang's choice, he immediately felt that He Xiangxiang was one of the twelve noble girls, which was better than the little-known He Ling'er.
Therefore, it is not surprising that Gu Guozhong gave He Xiangxiang a request for Han later.
But Jiang Cailing didn't understand a little, if it was really according to what Wang said, He Xiangxiang and she received an invitation on the same day, then how could the lantern be explained? The lantern that He Xiangxiang took to the Thousand Lantern Festival could not be prepared in a short time, so if it was prepared in advance, how did He Xiangxiang know that she could participate in this year's Thousand Lantern Festival?
Jiang Cailing seems to have entered a dead loop, and she now has too little evidence.
"Why, why don't you speak!" The eldest aunt thought that Jiang Cailing's heart was empty, and said loudly.
Jiang Cailing ignored the Wang family, walked to the side of the maid just now, and asked, "You said that your young lady wrote a log, do you know where to put it?" β
Hao Zhutou saw that Jiang Cailing was so young that she was calm and sober-minded, and he couldn't help but look at Jiang Cailing a little differently.
"...... here," the little maid hurriedly took out a thick drop of rice paper from the bookcase.
Hao Zhutou took it and spread it on the table, the first one on it was written yesterday's date, and it was neatly written in small plum blossom characters:
"Tomorrow is the day of the Thousand Lantern Festival, thanks to the invitation of Master Gu, I can have the opportunity to go. When Ling'er learned that I was also participating in the Thousand Lantern Festival, she thought that I still had thoughts about Gu Xiang, so she was very angry, and asked me to meet me on the bridge tomorrow, but I don't know if I should go. β
The handwriting on it is exactly the same as before, it is He Xiangxiang's handwriting.
Seeing the log, Wang grabbed Jiang Cailing's placket and cried: "Sure enough, you got my daughter, where did you say you got Xiangxiang!" β
Then, the whole person did not calm down, and rushed up to choke Jiang Cailing's throat.
Jiang Cailing hid, she was not surprised to see this log. Now that all the evidence against her has surfaced, she is just in time to consolidate her thoughts.
All the spearheads of He Xiangxiang's whole thing are pointed at her, and it is almost certain that she has an inseparable relationship with this matter, Jiang Cailing had thought about whether He Xiangxiang was deliberately hiding, but quickly denied this answer, the daughter of a good family who does not return all night is the most likely to be criticized, and the people who talk about it will not pay attention to why you did not return all night, and will only guess all kinds of obscene ideas.
People are terrible, and the girl's name is bad.
She and He Xiangxiang are far from having such a big enmity, so she will not hesitate to destroy herself to destroy her.
"Hao Zhutou, do you think I'm suspicious?"
Hao Zhutou looked at the log, frowned, and said, "There is no way to determine He Ling'er's culpability based on a single log, the government is looking for the sixth lady of your mansion in the whole city, if there is any progress, I will tell you as soon as possible." β
Wang pointed at He Ling'er angrily, "Hao Zhutou, we have both human and physical evidence, this is obviously done by He Ling'er, this girl, are you covering her!" β
Hao Zhutou shook his head helplessly, "I'm sorry, we won't let go of a bad person, but we won't arrest a good person in vain, the government is doing its best to find the whereabouts of Miss Six, and at the same time, it will also search for more evidence." β
After Hao Zhutou left, Jiang Cailing's family went back, and she naturally knew that this matter would not end like this, and there would be worse evidence for her later.
However, what surprised her was that He Mingshan and Meng Yun didn't ask half a word about He Xiangxiang, and such trust warmed her heart. She was sold into the palace in Luoyang by her parents, and she never experienced the warmth from her relatives.
Jiang Cailing and Meng Yun were sitting in a sedan chair, Meng Yun didn't mention what happened just now, but took her hand and asked, "What do you want to eat for dinner?" β
Jiang Cailing didn't expect Meng Yun to talk to her about what to eat for dinner today at this time, so she smiled and said, "Then let Mother Guo make braised pork, the braised pork she makes is fat but not greasy, and Ling'er likes to eat it." β
"It's okay, Guo's mother is leaving tomorrow, I heard that her daughter's family is coming to Luoyang, and Guo's mother wants to help take care of the child."
Jiang Cailing smiled lightly, like a little girl and Meng Yun coquettishly said, "If Ling'er wants to eat braised pork, can you go to Mother Guo's house?" β
Meng Yun was amused by Jiang Cailing's appearance, and lightly touched her forehead with the tip of her finger, "They are all people who are going to get married, why are they still as coquettish as when they were children, don't say that they are my Meng Yun's daughter in the future." β
There was a lot of laughter along the way, full of warmth.
The autumn wind blows the curtain of the carriage, at this time it is the setting sun, Jiang Cailing looks out of the window, the sky is high and the clouds are light, and the afterglow is thousands of miles, illuminating the fiery red and golden trees all the way more gorgeous, like a bride wearing a phoenix crown.
Jiang Cailing gently leaned her head against the window frame, enjoying the beautiful scenery at the moment. After the investigation of this matter is clear and the mastermind behind the scenes is caught, she will be a rice worm with peace of mind, and she will not carry anyone's pot.