51 Visiting the Jiang Family
◎A family that accumulates good deeds will surely be blessed◎
Having been careful yesterday, Tian Nongxi already knew that the witness sisters were named Jiang Miaojue and Jiang Miaoyao.
Because she had met Jiang Miaoyao by chance on the street, she took Wen Tingluan to the place where they had met and asked people. Sure enough, she soon found out the location of the Jiang family's house from an old woman.
Looking in the direction of the old man's finger, the first thing that caught my eye was a small square courtyard.
The earthen walls were peeling off and in a mess, but there were no tiles in the corners or cracks. Anyone who saw it would have to praise the owner.
Carrying two boxes of pastries, Tian Nongxi knocked on the red-painted door.
A faint voice of "coming" came from inside the door, followed by the sound of brisk footsteps.
The one who opened the door was Jiang Miaoyao, the youngest sister of the Jiang family.
She was wearing a gray linen dress with the sleeves gathered to her forearms. She was holding a bamboo stick in her hand. Thin beads of sweat fell from the tip of her nose as she opened the door. When she looked up at people, her expression was happy.
Perhaps due to malnutrition, she was extremely thin and short, only as tall as Tian Nongxi's chest and waist.
Tian Nongxi looked at her from top to bottom, and when he saw the word "Sister" stuck in her throat, his eyes suddenly turned cold and he closed the door without saying a word.
"Wait." Tian Nongxi held out his hand to block the door and handed over two boxes of fragrant pastries. "We're not here to cause trouble."
The sweetness in the air was hard to ignore. Jiang Miaoyao swallowed, her tone still firm: "Don't even think about bribing me!"
"Well, no." Tian Nongxi loosened his grip and was about to drop the cake.
"Hey, you—" Jiang Miaoyao frantically caught it, "having no choice" to make way, "Come in."
The moment she opened the door, Tian Nongxi glanced over her head and glanced into the courtyard. Now that he had come in, he felt that the courtyard was even more messy than the corner he had just glimpsed.
There were all sorts of things piled up against the courtyard wall. At first glance, there were all kinds of small toys for children, as well as bamboo baskets, straw hats and other woven objects, which were almost as tall as a person.
Even if the Jiang family had 108 children, they wouldn't need so many.
There was a faint smell of medicine in the air, as if it was floating in from afar.
His eyes fell on the bamboo stick that Jiang Miaoyao threw in the corner of the wall. Tian Nongxi took the tea and smiled in return.
The Jiang family is not small. Although it only has one courtyard, it has four tiled houses. The main house in the middle is twice as big as the main house of the Tian family. It seems that they not only have a large family, but also have more than enough food and clothing.
In front of her, one of the only remaining young people in this once lively family was looking at her with a frown and a frown on his face.
Tian Nongxi took a sip of tea and put it down. The wooden table with broken bricks and tiles on its legs shook constantly due to her gentle movements. Amidst the violent creaking sounds, she curved her eyes and thanked him.
After the first contact that day, she realized that the two sisters had very different personalities. The elder sister was shy and introverted, speaking softly and not daring to look people in the eye; the younger sister was more lively and cheerful, not only speaking loudly but also looking people straight in the eye. Although she was young, she showed no fear at all.
When I visited him today, I felt that his impression was correct.
She just asked where Jiang Miaojue had gone, and the little girl in front of her, as small as a bean sprout, began to analyze her in detail, one sentence after another, and she couldn't even find a moment to say a word.
"My sister is not here, I don't know anything, and it's useless for you to come.
“Although you pulled me up before and prevented me from falling into the river, this is a different matter. You must be punished if you do something wrong.
"Uncle Fan lives next door, go find them. Hurry up, my sister will be angry if she sees me letting outsiders in when she comes back.
"Thank you for the cakes, but my sister won't let me eat outside food anymore. You should take them back with this brother. Why don't you say anything?"
Tian Nongxi came back to his senses and saw Jiang Miaoyao looking at him with her head tilted, her blinking eyes full of confusion.
She uttered an "oh," opened the cake on the table, pinched a piece into her mouth, and said after she finished it, "It's still warm, eat it. If you can't finish it, I'll take it back."
Seeing Jiang Miaoyao reluctantly picking up a piece, she continued, "We're here just to understand what happened."
Jiang Miaoyao paused chewing and said, "I've already told the officials sitting in the government office."
"No problem, please say it again."
Jiang Miaoyao had no choice but to tell the whole story again.
The rhetoric remained unchanged. Not only was it the same as what the Fan brothers said to the government, but not even a single word was changed.
Tian Nongxi nodded and asked casually, "You said the Fan family is next door, but I didn't see any white banners hanging at their door. Has the funeral been over?" According to the customs of the Yan Dynasty, when an elder in the family dies, a white banner should be hung at the door to observe mourning before the burial of the deceased.
The old woman from the Fan family had a stomachache the day before yesterday and passed away. She was buried yesterday morning. In the afternoon, I went to the restaurant to question her.
Being in such a hurry, it's obvious that there's something fishy going on.
Jiang Miaoyao nodded and said that the grandmother next door had always been in poor health and had prepared for her funeral early on.
"From what you said, she treats you very well."
Jiang Miaoyao nodded without hesitation.
Thinking of the old man's passing, she burst into tears and a layer of mist covered her eyes.
The other two people at the table looked at each other, with a mixture of laughter and tears in their eyes.
After this conversation, Tian Nongxi finally understood why Sister Jiang Miaoyao didn't allow her to communicate with them.
Emotions come too late.
The person sitting in front of her was the murderer who killed a good person, but she not only welcomed them in and made tea for them, but also answered all their questions. She was more obedient than a child who had just started kindergarten.
But Tian Nongxi's speculation before leaving was also overturned.
She originally thought that the Jiang sisters had been deceived and that it was Hao Zhailai's dishes that had harmed the elderly and herself, but now she no longer thinks so.
Jiang Miaoyao's behavior made her realize that there was something fishy going on. The Jiang sisters knew the truth and chose to be accomplices.
The little girl in front of him was sobbing uncontrollably. After Tian Nongxi tried to comfort Wen Tingluan with his eyes but to no avail, he had no choice but to step in himself. "Are you okay? Stop crying. The dead cannot be brought back to life."
The little girl who tilted her head to wipe her tears suddenly shook off Tian Nongxi's hand that was holding the handkerchief, and sobbed as she asked them to leave.
Tian Nongxi stood up, but did not leave, just to make it easier for himself to get his things.
She placed the purse she had taken out on the table, which shook under the weight.
The sobbing stopped for a moment, and Jiang Miaoyao stared blankly at the purse that looked heavy.
Tian Nongxi bent down to look her in the eye. "You're short of money, right? How much did the Fan family give you? One or two taels, or a few dozen strings of cash? Take my money and tell me the truth. Then you won't have to suffer from the remorse of your conscience, and your sister won't have to set up a stall anymore."
Jiang Miaoyao had tears on her face. She looked up at Tian Nongxi with a bewildered expression. Her lips moved for a long time, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by Tian Nongxi's action.
The slender hand casually picked up the purse and weighed it, then untied the string and poured out the contents. The sound of tinkling suddenly exploded in his ears.
The bright yellow was too eye-catching, and Jiang Miaoyao couldn't recover for a long time.
I thought it was silver, but it turned out to be gold!
She had never seen gold.
He completely forgot what he was about to say and stammered, "T-that's so much?"
"A family that accumulates good will surely have good fortune." Tian Nongxi lowered his eyes and looked at the piles of gold pieces on the table, without any emotion in his heart.
She earned a lot of money, but had a low desire to buy. In addition, there was not much to buy in this dynasty. When she thought about it carefully, she realized that she had not spent anything except money to make money.
Jiang Miaoyao didn't understand what she said. She swallowed and said that she couldn't make a decision and had to wait for her sister to come back.
Although she did not mean so, these words did define the matter. Tian Nongxi turned her head and smiled for a moment, which caught the eyes of Wen Tingluan who was sitting beside her.
She raised an eyebrow at him with a sly expression.
Sitting back in his seat, he looked at the bewildered Jiang Miaoyao and asked, "When will your sister be back?"
Jiang Miaoyao stared at the table legs and shook her head, her voice low and soft: "If business is good, I'll come back early. If business is bad, I'll wait until dark."
Before the last syllable had faded away, a few coughs were heard from the tightly closed door next door.
Although it was urgent and low, it was clearly a man's voice.
Tian Nongxi's heart was in his throat and he quickly glanced at Jiang Miaoyao.
The latter stood up suddenly, without even saying a word, and hurriedly pushed the door open and walked in.
Don't forget to close the door tightly.
With a "click", the main house returned to peace.
Hearing the faint sound of conversation in the next room, Tian Nongxi's heartbeat gradually returned to normal.
When she heard the man's voice, her first reaction was Brother Fanshi.
But seeing Jiang Miaoyao looking nervous and stumbling into the house, most of the suspicion was dispelled.
"There are no male heirs in the Jiang family." Wen Tingluan said indifferently.
Tian Nongxi glanced at him and thought, "So you can speak now," but he didn't say anything and just nodded.
She stood up and clapped her hands, "Let's go."
After saying this, he waited for Wen Tingluan to stand up and then crossed the threshold with him.
Neither of them took the half-eaten cakes and purses on the table, and faced the scorching sun empty-handed.
Tian Nongxi squinted his eyes because of the brightness, stretched out his hand to block the light, then walked to the corner and walked to the side along the wall.
There are windows on the left and right of the Jiang family's main house. The one on the right is another room they did not enter.
She walked quickly to the window, and when it was still a hand's distance away, she took a few steps into the yard.
Blocking the sunlight and looking back, she saw Wen Tingluan still standing at the door, looking at her with a half-smile, and she chuckled.
He could see that she wasn't going to leave, and she hadn't even moved a foot.
Withdrawing his gaze, Tian Nongxi walked forward with his head held high and chest puffed out, pretending to glance inside the house casually.
She had a good idea. With just one glance, she wouldn't appear abrupt and attract attention, and at the same time, she could clearly see whether the people in the room were the Fan brothers.
But before she could look away, she froze in place, her pupils trembling violently, as if she had seen ghosts and monsters.
Jiang Miaoyao was the first to discover that someone was peeping. She was afraid of disturbing the peace of the person in front of her, so she quietly retreated.
As soon as he walked out of the room, Tian Nongxi stepped into the main house and said in a deep voice that he wanted to go in.
Seeing this man peeking, Jiang Miaoyao was already angry, but she didn't even bother pretending and wanted to push the door open.
She put her hands on her hips to stop her and refused to let her in.
Tian Nongxi stretched out his hand over her head and lightly pushed open the door with a small gap.
The people in the house looked at Tian Nongxi.
With a "clang", the earthenware bowl was broken into pieces, and the steaming thick medicine gurgled in protest.
The air seemed to freeze. Jiang Miaoyao instinctively felt that something was wrong. The anger on her face turned into stunned silence. Before she could speak, her sister in front of her suddenly spoke.
Tian Nongxi's heart was in turmoil, and he asked in surprise: "Brother?"
【Author’s words】
A family that accumulates good will surely be blessed—The Book of Changes
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