As soon as the summer solstice passes, the sun will be fierce day by day.

In the past few days, Yan's head disease has recurred. She frowned and lay on the couch, and the maid Ping'er was wiping her forehead with the well water she had just taken, but just wiped a few handfuls, she raised her hand and pushed it away, "Don't wipe it, it doesn't work." The borrowed child outside the window makes people's brains hurt! ”

"Madam, Master Fang has already led someone to take the sticky pole to the tree outside to stick the ...... Flying bugs. ”

Yan couldn't hear the cicadas on a summer afternoon, so Shen Zhu covered the cobwebs with bamboo bandages to make sticky poles for catching cicadas. Because cicadas and Chan have the same sound, the family calls cicadas borrowed or flying insects.

Yan pressed his temples with his hand and said in annoyance, "Hasn't Steward Li come back after inquiring about the news?" ”

"No, I don't. If there is news, he must have rushed to report to his wife. ”

"You go to the big grandmother's house and ask, is there a letter from the uncle?" Yan said again.

Ping'er put down the cloth towel in her hand and was about to go to the big grandmother's house, when she saw Shen Chan walking in with a jade ou.

"Mother thinks too many things, isn't it strange if she doesn't have a headache?" Shen Chan stepped forward and sat down in front of the couch, lifted the lid of the jade ou and handed it to the bottom of her nose, "This is a soothing incense blended with agarwood, jasmine, and yuanzhi, mother sniffs it to see if it can relieve the headache?" ”

Hearing this, Yan took a few deep sniffs of the jade ou, and the gentle and quiet fragrance made her brows gradually stretch a little.

"My brother sent a letter to my sister-in-law in the morning, everything is as usual on his side, and he will be back in half a month, so my mother doesn't have to worry." Shen Chan comforted.

Previously, in order to prevent people from linking the report letter with the Shen family, when Shen Yan handed the letter to Sun Qian, he specially told Sun Qian to submit it after he left for Minzhou on the second day. Therefore, these days, he has been inspecting the flood situation of the river in Minzhou.

"On my father's side, Steward Li has been waiting. I also asked Ping'er to go to Tianxianglou to investigate, and I heard that the officials who went with my father to assist in the case have not returned home yet......"

"Didn't your father say that this matter could not be covered by the light, why has it been several days without any movement?" Yan sighed.

"It's not that there's been movement." Shen Chan beckoned Ping'er to come over and take over the jade ou, she got up and went to the back of the couch, and while reaching out to rub her temples for her mother, she said softly, "I heard that there have been a lot of unfamiliar faces in Pingchang Lane these days, and I think it is the secret agent arranged by the above to spy on Zhao Bangyue." ”

"Yushitai is really slow to handle cases, it's always dragged like this, which makes people anxious......"

"After all, Zhao Bangyue is the prime minister of a country, and he is a relative of the emperor, so there can be no negligence in handling the case, and they will naturally investigate more thoroughly. Mother, relax. ”

"Hey......"

After another sigh, Yan slowly closed his eyes.

"Mother?" Shen Chan called lightly, but she couldn't respond, so she beckoned Ping'er to put down the jade ou, took a thin blanket for Yan's to put on her waist, and the two of them withdrew from the bedroom lightly.

"The sleeping incense that Miss blended is really amazing!" As soon as Ping'er left the room, she blurted out praise.

"This incense has medicinal herbs, and it can't be used often." Shen Chan shook her head.

Ping'er comforted: "When the matter of the master and the uncle is over, the lady will not have a headache, and there will be no need for this incense." ”

Shen Chan raised her eyes and looked at the pond not far away, Shen Zhi was taking two servants to flutter cicadas under the willow tree, and the waistcoat of the cyan summer shirt had already been covered with sweat stains, and she couldn't help frowning.

*********

"Your Highness, there is news from Anyuan, saying that Zhizhou Gu Zhun committed suicide."

"Gu Zhun?!" Ling Li was stunned when he heard this, and almost knocked over the tea in his hand.

"Hmm. After he committed suicide, his wife and daughter also took poison one after another. Cao Zhong relayed the news he heard one by one, saying that Emperor Chengde temporarily withheld the holy decree of destroying the family and raiding the family under Zhao Bangyue's repeated pleas that day. Later, because of the matter of Wang Yuming, the prince of the country, the imperial examination fraud case that shocked the court, Zhao Bangyue was too late to deal with it, and failed to investigate the ugly man, so the holy decree was re-sent to Anyuan after staying for three days, "Who knew that the holy decree had not arrived, but he committed suicide in fear of sin." ”

"It's only been a few days, and the news from Anyuan has come?" Ling Li was a little puzzled.

"It's not news from the post road." Cao Zhong lowered his voice and said, "Zhao Xiangye's son-in-law Tian Wei likes to raise pigeons, I heard that the pigeon is like a human spirit, and it will not get lost for thousands of miles......

Tian Wei likes to raise pigeons? Ling Li remembered that he had heard the kidnappers say in the cave, "Lord Gu received a message from the flying pigeon early in the morning, saying that the Privy Council had sent a secret agent to Anyuan", and he had a feeling of sudden realization in his heart: it turned out that it was Zhao Bangyue who reported to the Gu thief!

Thinking about this, Ling Li was a little glad, if it weren't for the fact that the imperial examination fraud case involved Zhao Bangyue's energy, he might really be able to help Gu thief clear his guilt within three days. It's just that Ling Li is a little strange, why didn't he feel satisfied with revenge when he heard the news of Gu Zhun's suicide?

There is a flying pigeon to pass the book, and it is not difficult to understand that Gu Thief chose to commit suicide before the arrival of the holy decree. It's just that Zhao Bangyue released carrier pigeons under the eyes of countless spies watching him, reminding Gu Zhun that the Holy Decree of Exterminating the Sect was about to be destroyed and quickly cut himself off, which seemed a bit unreasonable?

Ling Li's speculation was quickly confirmed in the next two days.

After learning the news that Gu Zhun's family of three committed suicide, the officials who assisted Yushitai in handling the case actually changed their tunes one after another, saying that the self-recommendation had nothing to do with the imperial examination, and even said that Zhao Xiangye was a noble and honest person, and that the theory of fraud in the imperial examination was purely slanderous and framing.

Knowing that his colleagues had changed their tunes, Shen Zhenghong, who had no choice, could only make a desperate bet.

Because his testimony remained unchanged, the other officials signed the corresponding pledge and left one after another, and he was still left in the mansion dedicated to the case of the Imperial Historical Observatory.

The summer was hot, several days of inquiring in turn, and he was restless in eating and sleeping, and Shen Zhenghong, who had always been in poor health, lost a lot of weight. That night he had a high fever, and he was shivering as if he were sifting chaff in bed.

After all, the case was personally supervised by the emperor, and Yu Shitai did not dare to let people leave casually. After Yu Shizhong visited him at his bedside, he noticed that he was seriously ill, so he went to Persimmon Lane to notify his family to visit.

At that time, Shen Yan had returned to the capital from Minzhou. After learning the news that his father was seriously ill, he brought a doctor who treated his father to visit the house where the case was handled by Yushitai. After some consultation, the doctor said that it was a pulmonary fever caused by emotional fatigue, and he only needed to take medicine to carefully regulate it for a few days.

The doctor prescribed the medicine for a few days, and the little official who handled the case went to the shop with him to pick up the medicine, took the medicine stove back, and handed it over to Shen Yan for torment. Shen Yan stayed in front of the bed and took care of him for three days without sleep, and then Shen Zhenghong subsided his fever and slowly woke up.

It is also miraculous to say that the imperial examination fraud case, which had not made a breakthrough before, quickly found a breakthrough point after Shen Zhenghong recovered from his illness. Yushitai found a key clue, a candidate from the same township as Zhou Jin had given him a rare ancient inkstone named "Wolongxi" when he submitted his paper, and this ancient inkstone is now in Zhao Bangyue's study.