Chapter 70 Chapter 70 A pair of miserable mandarin ducks Dali Temple - Ancient style...
Early the next morning, Yuan Shenji prepared to go to the Dali Temple. Duan Zhiwei looked at him eagerly for a while and asked him if he could take her over as well.
What is Dali Temple? It is the most important judicial institution in ancient times, responsible for various difficult cases. None of these are important. The most important thing is that it is a must-visit location in ancient suspense novels, and Shaoqing of Dali Temple is one of the most common male protagonists in ancient novels.
She wants to see it too.
Yuan Shenji was a little hesitant. The Dali Temple was an important government area, and it might not be appropriate to bring his new bride there. Besides, this place was in charge of prisons and lawsuits, and he might encounter all kinds of prisoners in shackles, or corpses being transported back and forth.
I’m afraid she’ll be scared when she sees it.
Duan Zhiwei didn't care too much. He had seen the headless flying barbarians before, so the criminal was nothing to him.
In this dynasty, it is popular for women to dress as men. It is inconvenient for women to enter and leave the Dali Temple, so they can just change into men's clothes.
Duan Zhiwei ordered several sets of Hu clothing in the East Market. The narrow-sleeved clothes and slim-fitting trousers were very convenient for movement. He also tied a leather belt inlaid with wolf-patterned copper ornaments around his waist, which made his waist look even more slender.
Yuan Shenji was leading the horse in the stable. Duan Zhiwei changed her clothes and ran towards him. The two straps on her fu hat fluttered gently as she ran. Under the fu hat was a fair and bright face.
Yuan Shenji strode over and hugged her waist, lifted her up slightly, and kissed her on the face: "I really regret it. When I first saw you at dusk in Tongyifang, I should have acted like a playboy and snatched you back home."
He chose the most docile chestnut horse for Duan Zhiwei. In order to take care of her, the two of them did not walk fast. Fortunately, the Dali Temple was not far away and they arrived there in less than half an hour.
As a result, before he even entered the door, a coffin was carried into the Dali Temple by several people who looked like officials.
Yuan Shenji subconsciously protected her behind him, but Duan Zhiwei stared at the coffin curiously for a while with a normal expression.
The tigers in the mountains and the monsters in Chang'an would eat people, that would be scary, but what's so scary about this coffin?
Yuan Shenji was wearing a scarlet official uniform and a token tied around his waist. No one from the Dali Temple made things difficult for him. Finally, he walked to a house, where a minor official in a green robe came over to greet him and led them into the hall.
Li Heng, the Junior Official of the Dali Temple, looked young, but his manners showed sophistication. He exchanged greetings with Yuan Shenji, glanced at Duan Zhiwei with a sharp gaze, and then looked away: "Mr. Yuan is newly married, and he and his wife are quite affectionate. How dare he bring his new bride to such a shady place like the Dali Temple."
As expected, the Dali Temple, which is famous for solving cases, saw through Duan Zhiwei's disguise at a glance. She was secretly amazed.
Yuan Shenji had been an official for many years. With just a few words, he changed the topic and brought it to Chen Guifang's missing brother Chen Wei. When he mentioned the firework-shaped birthmark, the young Li Shaoqing's calm expression finally showed some ripples.
"Half a month ago, someone found a headless male corpse at the foot of Mount Zhongnan. It just fits the characteristics you described."
There were many bandits outside the city of Chang'an, and countless corpses were sent to the Dali Temple every day, not to mention those that were difficult to identify without their heads.
At this moment, Yuan and Duan looked at each other in surprise. Duan Zhiwei thought: "I'm afraid I have to ask Chen Guifang to come to the Dali Temple to identify the person..."
Chen Guifang soon stumbled into the Dali Temple's autopsy room after being summoned. Hearing that the body was buried very deep and was mostly rotten, Duan Zhiwei did not dare to go in and waited outside.
After a while, mournful cries were heard from the room.
Chen Guifang sat down on the ground dejectedly: "It's my brother. In addition to the birthmark on his leg, he once accidentally cut his arm while cutting bamboo to make a windmill. It was a big crescent-shaped cut. My brother studied hard and had calluses on his right hand. This is him."
Chen Guifang insisted that it must be the Wang and He families who harmed her brother. She once wandered around the gate of the He Mansion, wanting to go in and find He Qiongzhu to inquire about her brother's whereabouts.
Unexpectedly, He Qiongzhu's eldest brother saw her and sent two servants to drive her away. From then on, whenever she appeared near the He Mansion, she would be chased away by the servants with sticks.
She cried so hard that she couldn't make a sound. Duan Zhiwei hugged her, patted her back, and then turned to Li Heng: "Li Shaoqing, can't we arrest him and take him to the Dali Temple for interrogation?"
The Grand Historian and the Palace Attendant, one of whom is from the Wang family of Langya, and there is no evidence, so I am afraid there is no way to arrest anyone directly.
Li Heng asked about the whole story in detail, thought for a moment and turned to Duan Zhiwei: "Mrs. Yuan and Madam He have a history. I wonder if we can go into the He Mansion to find Madam He and ask her if she knows about Chen Wei's death."
Chen Guifang continued, "My brother is good at making windmills. When he was young, our family was very poor, so he made some windmills and sold them in the market. Madam Duan, you can take the windmill with you and see how He Qiongzhu reacts."
Li Heng seemed to think that this lady was quite smart and nodded approvingly.
Only Duan Zhiwei was left, disheveled in the wind. She was just a cook and had no hope of learning how to solve cases, but Chen Wei's body was still lying in the Dali Temple and Chen Guifang in front of her was still crying, so she had no choice but to nod.
It was inconvenient for Duan Zhiwei to go alone, so she brought A Pan with her to pretend to be her maid. The guard at the door of He Mansion was relatively polite. He took the invitation and went in, and did not come out for a long time.
Duan Zhiwei waited for a while, then stamped his feet in pretending to be angry: "This He Mansion is really a great honor. They made me wait for so long, and the demon-catching department didn't dare to neglect me like this. Ah Pan, let's go!"
The housekeeper guarding the door quickly apologized, went back in for a while, and then came out to welcome her in.
The He Mansion was much more luxurious than the Yuan Mansion, with a vermilion lacquered gate and a floor paved with black jade. Duan Zhiwei and A Pan were led by the housekeeper through the corridor, where they saw various precious peonies of bright color and rich fragrance in the courtyard, century-old ginkgo trees towering to the sky, and a few golden carps swimming leisurely in the colorful stone pond.
But the situation became increasingly grim the further they went inside. Several ferocious-looking servants, armed with strange swords, blocked the entrance to the garden and refused to move even when scolded by the housekeeper.
The servant said, "Butler Xu, please don't embarrass us. My husband said that even if a mosquito broke into my wife's embroidery building, we would be punished, not to mention that you wanted to bring someone in."
The housekeeper's face turned red with anger, and he said angrily: "Without the master's order, would I dare to bring people in?" Then he took out the token. The servant scratched his head and then let him in.
The housekeeper smiled at Duan Zhiwei and said, "Don't laugh at me, Madam Yuan. Our house was robbed a few days ago, so we are guarding it more strictly."
As soon as Duan Zhiwei stepped into the vermilion lacquered gate, he was met by five maids serving tea. In the garden, he met two gardeners tending to peonies. He thought the He Mansion was quite lively, but the more he walked, the fewer people there were, and the place became more and more deserted. When he saw the servants guarding the house, they looked like...
It was like He Qiongzhu was under house arrest.
Duan Zhiwei's guess was correct. The housekeeper led her to an embroidery building deep in the courtyard. There were two tall and burly servants holding Mo Dao standing at the door of the building.
After some further discussion, Duan Zhiwei was finally allowed to enter the room.
She was shocked when she saw He Qiongzhu.
When I saw her a few days ago, He Qiongzhu looked a little haggard, but she still looked like a noble lady when she put on her fine clothes. Now she is as thin as Lin Daiyu, leaning against the bed. When she saw Duan Zhiwei, she only bowed to her weakly and smiled reluctantly: "Mrs. Yuan is too polite. I just gave her a wedding dress, but you came to the He Mansion to visit me."
Duan Zhiwei pondered for a moment and asked, "A newlywed woman should be happy, but the last time I saw Madam He, she did not look very happy, so I felt uneasy. Today I came to the He Mansion to check... Madam He seemed to be even more haggard than last time."
He Qiongzhu didn't want to say more, she just said: "I caught a cold by chance, my parents and brothers felt sorry for me and didn't allow me to go out and have fun anymore."
It seems that this Madam He is not going to tell her the truth.
Duan Zhiwei could only use her last trick. She called A Pan behind her and opened the food box.
After all, Duan Zhiwei was the wife of a fourth-rank official, so it was not easy for the He family to search her. Or perhaps they thought that the two of them should have little in common, so they let her in.
In the box was a plate of flower-shaped glutinous rice cakes. This dessert requires high-quality glutinous rice to be pounded into glutinous rice cakes, stuffed with red bean paste, and then pinched into flower shapes.
Duan Zhiwei doesn't know how to make this dessert because it is too difficult to shape the soft glutinous rice cake into the specified flower shape. This dessert was made by Chen Guifang.
When cooking the red bean paste, she also adds dried tangerine peel and pine nuts, which is very personal.
Chen Guifang said that He Qiongzhu loved desserts, and her favorite was Touhuaci. Whenever Chen Wei made money, he would buy the best Wuxing rice, come back and ask his sister to make one, and then send it to her.
When He Qiongzhu saw the flower-penetrating glutinous rice cake, her expression immediately darkened and she was about to shed tears. Then she said softly, "I'm sorry, Madam Duan. I'm not well yet. I really can't eat such sticky food."
Duan Zhiwei was at a loss. The original plan was to let He Qiongzhu eat the touhuaci. She should be able to taste that this dessert was made by Chen Guifang, but the girl was saddened by the scene and refused to eat it.
You can't stuff it in her mouth.
Duan Zhiwei had no choice but to open the second layer of the food box, where there was a paper windmill. The person who made this windmill was very thoughtful. He ground the bamboo strips finely, removed the thorns to make the frame, pasted colored paper on it, and painted butterflies on it.
Another ingenious way is to tie clay drums in circles behind the wind wheel. When the wind wheel rotates, the paddles will hit the drum surface, making a crisp sound.
When He Qiongzhu saw the windmill for the first time, she was so frightened that her face turned pale. She calmed down a little and said to the maid standing behind her, "Look at me, Madam Yuan brought such an expensive gift, but I only served a bowl of yogurt. It's so rude. Caixia, go to the kitchen and see if there are any snacks to serve."
Duan Zhiwei immediately responded: "I want to eat crab shell yellow."
She smiled shyly after she finished speaking: "I ate it once at Minister Du's place last time, and I couldn't forget it. I went back to Yuan's house and asked our own cooks, but no one knew how to make it. I hope Madam He won't think I'm being rude, I just wanted to eat that dessert so much." She thought for a moment and added: "You don't need too much, just one portion of sweet filling and one portion of scallion oil filling."
This guest was quite a good eater. The maid Caixia pouted, but she didn't want to neglect the guest, so she just bowed and left.
Crab Shell Yellow is a flat, round snack that looks like a crab shell, with the surface covered with fragrant sesame seeds and a crispy outer shell. If the filling is sweet, it is the sweetness of white sugar and the mellow lard mixed together during baking; if it is salty, it is the combination of scallion oil and crispy skin that has been stir-fried for half a day, with a rich scallion aroma and a salty and delicious taste.
The most important thing is that making crab shell yellow requires a lot of skill and takes a while. I guess Caixia won’t be back so soon.
Seeing Caixia leave the door, He Qiongzhu could no longer hold on. She held onto the windmill tightly with one hand and grasped the corner of Duan Zhiwei's clothes with the other hand: "Where is Chen Lang? Is he okay?"
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