Since Xu Laoba died in prison, Wang Zhutou has been worried in his heart, Xu Laoba is the only clue he has at present, as soon as a person dies, the clue is naturally broken, he is not sure what to say when facing Gongsun Shengyan again, although Gongsun Shengyan was very generous last time, and did not pursue his intentions, but if there is a fire in the silk village again...... Wang Zhutou didn't dare to continue thinking about it.

But after more than a month, no one from the Gongsun family came to inquire about the next progress of the case, and the matter of the silk village did not continue to deteriorate.

It's a blessing or a curse, and it's a disaster that can't be avoided. Wang Zhutou thought about it in his heart, but he still didn't understand a little, how could Gongsun Shengqiu, who originally didn't care about the case and didn't care about it, take the initiative to invite himself to drink tea in this matter, but Gongsun Shengyan seemed to have evaporated from the world, and there was no news since the last time Xu Laoba was seriously ill and met.

Wang Zhutou came to Gongsun's mansion with trepidation, Gongsun Shengqiu sat in the Taishi chair, with a tea set and tea in front of him, and when he saw him, he seemed to be enthusiastic and said: "I haven't seen you for a long time, Wang Zhutou is fine." That's no problem, but Gongsun Shengqiu never got up, just leaned on it obliquely, and didn't pay attention to the person at all.

"Thanks to you, it's not bad. Seeing that Gongsun Shengqiu didn't beckon him to sit down, Wang Zhutou had to stand. In terms of age, Gongsun Shengqiu was ten years younger than him, but he served in the yamen all the year round, and knew that in addition to the eldest and younger, there was also a distinction between respect and inferiority.

"Ah, I called you here today, that's it, sit, sit, don't stand," Gongsun Shengqiu pretended to remember the matter of asking to sit, pointed to the chair next to Wang Zhutou and said, "My younger brother Gongsun Shengyan, since the death of the second grandfather, has been very busy, no, I haven't been home for many days, so before I left last time, I specially asked you to ask how the arson of the silk village is going." ”

Wang Zhutou pulled the chair out and sat down, thinking in his heart, according to his arrangement with Gongsun Shengyan at that time, this case would definitely not be asked by Gongsun Shengqiu, no matter how busy Gongsun Shengyan was, he should also ask in person. He wasn't sure what Gongsun Shengqiu meant, so he replied according to the plan before he came: "Hey, brother, I'm not doing my job well, and I'm still investigating." ”

"How long will it take to investigate? The big man you caught in front of the teahouse last time, what did you ask?" At that time, Xu Laoba and Xu Laoliu were arrested, and the city was full of wind and rain, and the poster was almost glued to the Xiuchun Building, and Gongsun Shengqiu could know that it was Xu Laoba who fell into the hands of Wang Zhutou.

"Ah...... This ......" Wang Zhutou didn't expect Gongsun Shengqiu to ask Xu Laoba directly about it without saying a word, and he was so anxious that his back began to sweat for a while.

"Isn't it convenient to say, Wang Zhutou, didn't you ask anything, or can you only say it to my brother Shengyan in person?" Gongsun Shengqiu pressed step by step, "When it comes to the silk village, no matter who is in charge, in the final analysis, it is the property of the Gongsun family, and now my Gongsun Shengqiu is the head of the family, and it should be taken for granted if he has the heart to ask a few words, right?"

Wang Zhutou was so anxious that his brain was about to sweat, Gongsun Shengqiu's words, every sentence with a gun and a stick pointed to the point, if the answer didn't ask anything, then he Wang Zhutou was a casual eater, not to say, if Gongsun Shengqiu had to send someone to ask in person; if the answer could only tell Gongsun Shengyan, the meaning of the words was that this matter was hidden from Gongsun Shengqiu, and there was no way to end it.

He was heartbroken, and simply confessed the truth: "Young Master Shengqiu, ask, I asked some fragmentary clues, but then that Xu Laoba, that is, the big man caught in front of the teahouse, contracted the cold in prison and died, and he has been dead for many days. ”

"Dead?" Gongsun Shengqiu frowned, but he was happy in his heart, he was not worried about Xu Laoba being arrested, they had never met each other, and the only Yusheng he had seen was also a house slave, without his orders, he didn't even have a chance to show up outside. "What did you say before you died?"

"I asked the young man what he was like, but he couldn't answer, and then he tried it many times, and he came and went back and forth, and then he got caught the cold and died. "Wang Zhutou deliberately hid Xu Laoliu's matter of asking the ghost to repair Yang Fang, not that he felt that Gongsun Shengqiu was suspicious, but that he invited the ghost to repair the matter, there was no clue, if he shook it out in front of Gongsun Shengqiu, and was forced to find the ghost Xiu, he didn't have to do the work of catching the head.

"That's all?" Gongsun Shengqiu got up and picked up the teapot, filled a pot of tea in front of Wang Zhutou, and asked in a raised tone.

"That's all, that Xu Laoba, to put it bluntly, is a dumbfounder, admits that he burned the silk village, but says that he has never seen the master's house. ”

"Oh. Gongsun Shengqiu also poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip and said, "Then this thief can be regarded as caught." ”

"Caught caught, caught, caught. Wang Zhutou saw that Gongsun Shengqiu did not hold on to Xu Laoba's life and death, and hurriedly followed his words.

"If that's the case, isn't this case closed? I don't think there has been any similar thing in this time. Gongsun Shengqiu pretended to ask Wang Zhutou.

"Yes, yes, of course, of course. Wang Zhutou continued to smile at his words.

Gongsun Shengqiu put down the teacup in his hand, and seemed to be very bored with his fingers dipped in some tea and circled back and forth on the table: "Wang Zhutou, I am a common people, and I don't know the rules of investigating cases and taking thieves, so I just asked about this matter casually, and I hope it will not bring unnecessary trouble to your work." ”

Wang Zhutou has long been tortured by this matter, he doesn't know how to continue, and he doesn't know how to deal with the yamen and the Gongsun family, today Gongsun Shengqiu said this, of course he couldn't ask for it, and immediately followed Gongsun Shengqiu's meaning to ensure the closure of the case, and patted his chest and boasted that his brothers were aware of everything and regarded the safety of the people as their own responsibility. Gongsun Shengqiu listened with a smile and did not comment. He first killed the majesty of Wang Zhutou, and then gave Wang Zhutou face, and he killed and made a handful of melons ripe, and effortlessly achieved his goal, so he naturally listened to Wang Zhutou's cowhide as a book. Wang Zhutou cowhide was almost blown, and seeing that the cowhide was about to explode if he continued to talk about it, he got up to say goodbye, and Gongsun Shengqiu waved his hand, and he was the right to send off the guest.

Looking at the back of Wang Zhutou leaving, Gongsun Shengqiu proudly crossed Erlang's legs, lay back in the Taishi chair, and took out a handkerchief from his arms, which was embroidered with a pair of mandarin ducks playing in the water, vivid and vivid, and it could be seen that it took a lot of thought and effort.

He dipped his mouth with a handkerchief, unfolded the handkerchief in front of him again, looked at the word "snow" in the small seal font in the lower right corner, snorted contemptuously, and said to himself: "Lang Qing concubine, it's a pity, it's a pity, the mandarin duck was beaten with a stick, and the forest bird flew alone, it's a pity!" After speaking, he put the handkerchief back in his arms, got up and swayed out of the room.

Mr. Zhou originally thought that Gongsun's family had changed one after another, and as a person surnamed Zhou, he was really not good to bother, coupled with the death of Gongsun Guangxiao, although he couldn't get rid of Gongsun Shengyan, there were many doubts in it, at least from a reasonable point of view. Last time, after Zhou Xue came back from Gongsun's house crying, she locked herself in her room, stayed for more than ten days, no one knocked on the door and didn't open it, the food was handed in through the window, and she could only see her when she went to the toilet and took a bath. It's a pity that I finally met, but Zhou Xue didn't speak, as long as Mr. Zhou mentioned the word Gongsun, he didn't need to say one more word, Zhou Xue's tears would fall like beads with broken threads, which made him tremble, so he simply shut up, and told everyone that he must not mention these two words in front of Zhou Xue, and no one is allowed to take the initiative to go to Gongsun's house.

Finally waited for the day when Zhou Xue was willing to take the initiative to walk out of the door, Mr. Zhou felt pity for this child in his heart, the affairs of the Gongsun family had brought her so much trouble, Zhou Xue looked pale and thin, and her eye sockets were sunken, far less mellow and porcelain white than before. Mr. Zhou wanted to take his daughter out for a few days, to relax, and to stay in the room every day, not seeing the outside world, which also hurt the whole person's emotions. But before he brought up the matter of distraction, Zhou Xue took the initiative to say that he wanted to marry, and he wanted to marry Gongsun Shengqiu of the Gongsun family.

Mr. Zhou was unprepared when he heard this, and he opened his mouth wide for a while and didn't know how to react. According to his speculation, Zhou Xue would not like Gongsun Shengqiu, let alone marry him. But this girl locked herself in the room for more than ten days, and when she came out and opened her mouth, she was about to marry Gongsun Shengqiu, was she too sad and started talking nonsense. He didn't dare to agree, he just said that marriage is a lifelong event, and it can't be regarded as child's play, so it's better to think about it again, and there is no need to think about it in a hurry, the Gongsun family has a lot of miscellaneous things recently, even if people are willing to get married, it won't work if it doesn't take three or two years to see this situation. Mr. Zhou deliberately emphasized the various cumbersome etiquette and preparations for getting married, which meant that Zhou Xue calmed down and then said, who expected that Zhou Xue lowered his head and listened to his preaching, so he could only drop a sentence weakly that he was going to marry anyway, marry early and worry about it early, and Gongsun Shengqiu is also quite in love with himself, there is no need to procrastinate, just do it simply. When he said this, he was like a bitter woman who saw through Hongchen and committed herself at will, and when he heard it, Mr. Zhou's heart felt like a large piece had been dug away, empty and almost desperate.

In fact, all of this was arranged by Gongsun Shengqiu. After forcibly seizing Zhou Xue's body that day, Gongsun Shengqiu looked at Zhou Xue who was limp on the bed, like a broken rag that had just been scrubbed, and didn't reach out to cover her in any way, just picked up a square towel at the head of the bed and wiped himself, and threw it in front of Zhou Xue, asking her to wipe the bloodstains. Zhou Xue was afraid of melting in Mr. Zhou's mouth since she was a child, and she was afraid of freezing in her hands, where did she suffer such humiliation, she was discouraged at that time, looking at the ceiling with blank eyes, and couldn't say a word. She was like a puppet who had been toyed with and stepped into the mud, her body numb and she couldn't feel pain. Gongsun Shengqiu brazenly pulled her hair, pulled her head over, and whispered in her ear: "Your brother Shengyan won't want you anymore." After saying that, he laughed, as if he was a bloodthirsty knife soldier after breaking through the city and entering a massacre.

"Tell others about today's events, the more people know that you are a broken shoe, the better. If you don't want to say it, marry into the Gongsun family as soon as possible, so that I can treat you carefully. After Gongsun Shengqiu finished speaking, he dressed up, and didn't care about Zhou Xue, who was sluggish on the bed, bent down to pick up the handkerchief that Zhou Xue had embroidered for Gongsun Shengyan, put it in front of his nose and smelled it, pushed the door and left.