Chapter 81
Butler Wen seemed to have given up this time and no longer wanted to drag others into the water to cover up for himself. He lowered his head and said, "Actually, I don't remember when I said this. I probably said it in anger."
"About two years ago, I did have an argument with my uncle about management. At that time, the uncle's house had just opened a new soy sauce shop. I thought my uncle would let me take charge of it, but he actually gave it to another person to manage."
Wen Li lowered his head and said, "I have always thought that I am the most important and respected person in Uncle's heart. When the soy sauce shop was not given to me, I was unhappy, so I went to ask Uncle."
"My uncle has always been cold and indifferent. He said that I had too many tasks and was too busy, so he handed it over to someone else. It's not that he doesn't trust me and told me not to think too much."
Wen Li paused and said, "How could I not think about it? I was really angry during that time. If I had drunk some wine at night, I might have said some nonsense to others, but I really don't remember it myself."
"My life and property are all in the Earl's Mansion. I will be fine only if the Earl is well. If the Earl's Mansion fails, where can I find this wealth and honor?"
Wen Li spoke very sincerely.
This is reasonable. Jiang Lingyao looked at Duan Nanqi, and Duan Nanqi said, "Housekeeper Wen, there has been a sudden murder in the mansion. No one in the mansion can leave the mansion. The task of seeing off the guests will be handed over to the Jinyi Guards. You should stay in your room quietly and not go anywhere. Do you understand?"
Wen Li frowned, and after a long while he said, "Yes, I understand."
After Wen Li left, Duan Nanqi called Zheng Feng to replace Chu Xiu Nian and ordered, "Tell someone to carefully investigate Wen Li's background. There must be something strange about him. Also have someone send the file of the wife of the Marquis of Zhengyang immediately. We must check it."
Chu Xiunian took the order and left, and the room became quiet for a while.
Although the main courtyard is not too far from the garden, due to its tall and solid walls and thick walls of the houses, no sound can be transmitted into the courtyard. The sounds of the bamboo in the garden are also blocked out and nothing can be heard.
The officials in the room looked at each other, and Jiang Lingyao said, "Master Duan, when will the Xue family's files arrive?"
Duan Nanqi said, "We'll be there in about a minute. Beizhen Fusi is not far from here. The files are all sorted and stored. We'll be there soon if we hurry."
Yao Yuan said nothing about the fact that the Jinyiwei had files on all the distinguished officials in Beijing, and Jiang Lingyao was used to it.
The Jinyiwei carefully examined all the officials, and Su Qingfengji was the emperor's eagle eye and the sharpest claw in his hand.
And Duan Nanqi is the one who controls this group of minions.
Sure enough, within a moment, the Xue family's files were delivered.
In fact, Duan Nanqi had seen this file before. It included general information such as background, relatives and friends, hobbies and specialties, and major events, but it was not so detailed.
Xue Dingshan's is more detailed, while Su Shuxian's volume is only five thin pages, and is mostly about her mother's family.
When the files were delivered, Duan Nanqi gave the files on Xue Yaozu and Meng Xinyue to Yao Yuan, and the files on Su Shuxian to Jiang Lingyao, while he himself only read the file on Xue Dingshan.
For a while, the only sound in the elegant room was the sound of flipping pages.
Jiang Lingyao carefully read Su Shuxian's past. She was born in the Su family of Yanjing. Her family had been officials in Yanjing for generations, and they were considered a family of scholars. The most amazing one was her grandfather, who was an official of the Ministry of Works, a fifth-rank official.
But her father was neither good at literature nor martial arts, so he was only appointed as the secretary of Guanglu Temple, a minor official of the seventh rank, which was also given to him because of her grandfather's retirement.
The rank of seventh may not be low in other places, but this is Yanjing. A brick thrown down can injure three vice ministers. The rank of seventh is really insignificant.
The Su family was neither high nor low, but they were a family of scholars. Xue Dingshan was just a poor Jinshi at the time, and his family was just a farming and reading family. No one knew what his future would be.
But even so, they could be considered a match made in heaven. Even if he went to the Hanlin Academy to edit books, he would be a seventh-rank editor, and he could often enter and leave the palace and be seen by the emperor, which was much better than watching wine in Guanglu Temple.
Generally speaking, if she had not married Xue Dingshan and Xue Dingshan had not been so "outstanding" later, she probably would not have appeared on the desk of the Jinyiwei.
Jiang Lingyao simply read through the first half of Su Shuxian's life, and then turned back the files to look again at Su Shuxian's past when she was in the Su family.
The Su family was a small family and not a large one. She was her father's eldest daughter and had several younger sisters. Her father had three concubines in total, one of whom had a line of small words marked under her name.
Jiang Lingyao took a closer look and saw that what was written on it was: Concubine Wang's family has all died, and the Su family is raising her nephew.
Seeing this, Jiang Lingyao suddenly remembered what Wen Li had just said.
It is said that the lady had a childhood sweetheart, a cousin, when she was in her natal family. Could this nephew of Wang be that cousin?
Jiang Lingyao circled and annotated on the file, then looked up at Duan Nanqi, only to see that Duan Nanqi's expression became increasingly gloomy.
"Master Yao, Master Duan, I have a clue."
Jiang Lingyao finished talking about Wang's nephew and asked, "Do you two have any clues?"
Yao Yuan patted the book in his hand and sighed, "Both the son and daughter-in-law of Lord Zhengyang have done nothing wrong. They are also young. The files can be read to the end at a glance. There are no clues."
Duan Nanqi raised his head and looked at the two of them: "Xue Dingshan is a little strange."
Duan Nanqi stood up and walked over to the two of them. He put the book on the table and pointed to a page and said, "Look here. In the second year of Tianyou, Xue Dingshan's ancestral home in Linzhou, his hometown, caught fire. Many of his family members were killed or injured, and only one in ten survived. At that time, he specifically asked the late emperor for permission, saying that his wife Su had just given birth to a child and both mother and child were weak. The journey from Yanjing to Linzhou was long, so he specially asked the mother and child to stay in Yanjing to observe mourning. The late emperor was very fond of him and granted his permission."
"Xue Dingshan returned to Linzhou. While taking care of household affairs, he also had to mourn for his parents. As a result, he became extremely thin and even fell seriously ill. This illness caused him to almost forget many things from his youth, and he also had difficulty remembering the presence of his family members."
"Because the late emperor loved him very much, he did not let him observe mourning for too long. In the third year of Tianyou, he was summoned back to the capital. However, he was much older and thinner by then, and was completely different from the high-spirited man he was before he left."
Although his appearance has not changed much, his whole spirit and demeanor are indeed quite different.
But such a tragic thing happened in his family, and anyone would have experienced the same thing, so it did not cause much commotion.
Duan Nanqi frowned and said, "When a person encounters a disaster, will he really lose his past memories? He will even forget the old servant who has served him for many years?"
"He didn't know those old servants, but he knew all the officials and families in Yanjing, and he had no problem making the prelude to the emperor's affairs. He even won the late emperor's favor more than before."
"Isn't that strange?"
Jiang Lingyao felt something flashed through her mind, but the flash was too fast and she didn't catch it quickly.
She frowned slightly and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
Duan Nanqi stopped turning the pages of the book and looked at her seriously.
Jiang Lingyao said: "I always feel that we have found the key to this case, but I can't put it into words."
Duan Nanqi said gently, "Don't worry, there are still a few people who have not been interrogated. Once they are all interrogated, more clues will emerge."
Jiang Lingyao's brows relaxed and she gave him a faint smile.
Yao Yuan, who was sitting next to him, drank his tea silently.
Yes, good tea.
The three of them discussed the case for a while, and Zheng Feng walked in quickly, saying, "Sir, after checking, it was found that Steward Wang did go out of the house after the night curfew to buy Yuye wine yesterday."
Duan Nanqi nodded and said, "Then let's keep him in the room and discuss the case again once the facts are clear."
By this time, the banquet outside was coming to an end.
Without the birthday star of the banquet, both the wife of the Earl of Zhengyang and the eldest son had sullen faces. The guests at the banquet also failed to make any noise. They just ate a few mouthfuls of food in a hurry and then left one after another.
The mother and her two children were also on their way back to the main courtyard.
Jiang Lingyao looked at the testimony in her hand and said, "If Master really died at this time, then none of the suspects in the mansion could be the murderer. This leaves two possibilities."
"One possibility is that these people used money and power to get other servants in the mansion to kill people on their behalf. The other possibility is that the murderer did it just for money. No matter which one it is, the murderer must be someone in the mansion and has some connection with the masters."
Duan Nanqi said: "Master Jiang is right."
Yao Yuan also spoke up at the right time: "Examiner Xu has never made a wrong judgment in all these years. We can conduct the interrogation according to the conclusion of the initial examination."
After some discussion, they decided to interrogate Meng Xinyue first.
Meng Xinyue obviously just realized that such a big thing had happened at home. Her eyes were red and she was at a loss. She even subconsciously called Jiang Lingyao after entering the elegant room: "Yaoyao."
Although the two of them have never been on good terms with each other, they have known each other since childhood, so it is understandable that she would seek comfort from Jiang Lingyao.
This was a serious interrogation, so Jiang Lingyao couldn't say anything else. She just comforted her gently, "Xinyue, don't be afraid. I will interrogate you later. Just tell me what you know."
Meng Xinyue was obviously relieved. She nodded and said, "Ask."
Jiang Lingyao asked about some matters of the Xue family. Meng Xinyue had only been married for less than half a year and was not familiar with many matters of the Xue family. She only knew the basics and knew nothing else.
Jiang Lingyao paused and asked, "Xinyue, do you know that the Marquis of Zhengyang did not ask Xue Yaozu to be crowned as the Crown Prince? Does Xue Yaozu know about this?"
Meng Xinyue was stunned: "What? My father-in-law didn't invite Feng Yaozu? Did he lie to me?"
Jiang Lingyao sighed and said nothing.
Meng Xinyue slapped her thigh hard. She said, "No wonder. I told you that my father-in-law and mother-in-law don't get along well. He never said a word at home. How could he care about my husband?"
As she spoke, Meng Xinyue started crying again.
"Yaoyao, what should I do in the future?"
She was so panicked that she couldn't help but soften her face in front of Jiang Lingyao and was no longer as aggressive as before.
Jiang Lingyao didn't know who the murderer was, and she didn't know how to comfort her. She could only say, "Tell me everything you know. Let's find the murderer and restore peace to the Xue family."
Meng Xinyue wiped her tears and said, "My husband is definitely not the murderer. He didn't know anything about it. He was always smiling to me, saying that although my father looked serious, he still loved him in his heart and he was very happy."
"Sir, everything I said is true. If I lie, I will be struck by lightning."
From this point of view, Xue Yaozu should not be a big suspect, because in this case, if he murdered his own father, he would be suspicious only if he was named the crown prince.
Jiang Lingyao nodded and asked, "What's the matter between Madam Bo and Master Bo?"
Meng Xinyue wiped away her tears again and said, "My father-in-law usually only likes to go to Guiyin Temple to worship Buddha. He has never been to Changle Temple. Changle Temple is always visited by my mother-in-law. She usually stays there for ten days or half a month. When she comes back to the mansion, she only worships Buddha in Mingxin Hall and rarely goes back to the main courtyard."
"Normally, we should invite the abbot of Guiyin Temple to celebrate my father-in-law's birthday, but my mother-in-law insisted on inviting Master Kong, and they had a big fight over it."
"Finally, my father-in-law gave in."
"How good can they be?"
————
Meng Xinyue's testimony is quite interesting.
Jiang Lingyao asked, "You've never been to Changle Temple before?"
Meng Xinyue recalled carefully and shook her head.
"I didn't know this before I married into the Bo's mansion, but after I married, Bo Ye had indeed never been to Changle Temple. He only went to Guiyin Temple. He said that he had a good affinity with the abbot there and went there quite often."
Jiang Lingyao thought of the letter in the study. She asked, "Is it from the Master of Speculation?"
Meng Xinyue said: "That should be the case."
Jiang Lingyao nodded. She thought for a moment and asked, "Do you think it's possible that the lady of the uncle killed the uncle?"
Meng Xinyue was shocked, and then she said, "Although my mother-in-law and my father-in-law have a bad relationship and don't say a word to each other all day, I don't think they have any deep hatred. Even if there is, can't the Buddha save them from suffering?"
Jiang Lingyao glanced at Meng Xinyue in surprise, and seeing that she really knew nothing, she personally escorted her out of the elegant room and comforted her with a few words before coming back from outside.
Duan Nanqi had already ordered people to investigate Guiyin Temple. The two men glanced at each other briefly and then parted ways.
It seems that there is something wrong with this Guiyin Temple.
They could not wait and see anything about Xue Dingshan, and had to examine it carefully to find out the truth of that year.
Afterwards, they interrogated the nanny around Xue Yaozu and Su Shuxian, but none of them had any clues. The last person to be interrogated was Lady Su Shuxian.
Su Shuxian's face was very calm.
Except for the slight redness under her eyes, Jiang Lingyao could not find the slightest trace of sadness on her calm face. Even Meng Xinyue's sadness was more real than hers.
Su Shuxian sat quietly on the chair, looked up at everyone, and then took the initiative to speak: "I know that the adults already know that Xue Dingshan and I have a bad relationship, but I can swear to the Buddha that I did not kill him."
She had a pretty face. If she were younger, she would have been a beauty. However, she was very thin, and her eyes showed no sadness or joy, which suppressed her beauty by three points and made her look a little more detached.
Jiang Lingyao looked carefully and found that she had a jade Buddha hanging on her collar and Buddhist beads on her hands. She looked very pious indeed.
Thinking of this, Jiang Lingyao felt moved again.
Xue Dingshan appeared to be so pious, but in fact there were not many Buddhist statues and treasures in his study. There was only a gilded Guanyin on the bookshelf, looking at the people in the world calmly.
There were no Buddhist beads on his body, on the table, or on the ground.
Jiang Lingyao looked up at Su Shuxian and believed her about 50%.
Duan Nanqi tilted his head and whispered a few words in her ear, and Jiang Lingyao said directly to Su Shuxian: "Madam, according to the testimony of housekeeper Wen, you had a childhood sweetheart cousin before you got married. Is that true?"
Su Shuxian's calm eyes suddenly became like a storm, and bits of starlight flashed through her eyes, lighting up her gloomy face.
Su Shuxian gently turned the Buddhist beads and chanted Amitabha.
"Yes," Su Shuxian said, "but so what?"
"My cousin and I were both unmarried at the time, and we thought our marriage was destined by heaven, but fate played tricks on us, and I ended up marrying Xue Dingshan."
"When I first married him, I lived a very good life. At that time, Xue Dingshan was still caring and had some sympathy for me. Later, when I had a difficult birth, Xue Dingshan was even more sad. He even asked for an imperial decree to prevent me from returning to Linzhou to observe mourning."
"It's a pity that he became a different person after he came back."
"He didn't talk to me, didn't sleep with me, and even ignored my child. Yaozu looked up to him so much when he was little, but he wouldn't even hug his own flesh and blood."
"Why should I ask him about his well-being?"
"He doesn't treat me as his wife, and I don't have to treat him as my husband. We are just passers-by living together in the Zhengyang Marquis's Mansion. He lives his life and I live mine. Isn't that wonderful?"
Jiang Lingyao was quite surprised.
She also knew the wife of the Marquis of Zhengyang. She had only thought that she was gentle, taciturn, and an ordinary lady from a noble family. But after hearing her words today, she seemed quite heroic.
If it wasn't about a murder case, but they were just in a normal teahouse or wine shop, Jiang Lingyao would probably offer her a glass of wine.
After Su Shuxian finished speaking, the room fell into silence. Even Jiang Lingyao did not come back to her senses. She was just carefully recalling every word she said.
Suddenly, Jiang Lingyao asked, "Madam, you said that Master changed when he came back from Linzhou?"
"What's wrong with him?"
Su Shuxian lowered her eyes, rolled up the Buddhist beads in her hands, and then slowly spoke.
"He is not close to me or Yaozu. He even specially changed his study room. Whenever he comes back from work, he works in the study room. Other than that, his personality and daily habits have not changed. Even his favorite dishes are the same as before."
Su Shuxian said calmly: "It may be that there was a disaster in his hometown that made him sick here."
Su Shuxian pointed to her heart and said, "When the heart is sick, the person will also change."
Jiang Lingyao nodded thoughtfully, then looked at Duan Nanqi.
Duan Nanqi asked, "Madam, was it you who ordered Master Liaokong to give a lecture yesterday? Did anyone in the mansion know about it beforehand?"
When Su Shuxian heard Kong's name, her hands holding the Buddhist beads paused for a moment, and then she said, "That's not the case. Originally, there was no such lecture, but after practicing Buddhism with my uncle yesterday, Master Liaokong felt that he had a sudden enlightenment, so he held a lecture in the evening."
"I felt that Master Kong's lectures were very valuable, so I asked my son, daughter-in-law, and other family members to listen to them. This is very helpful for my own practice."
Judging from the behavior of the wife of the Marquis of Zhengyang, she is indeed extremely pious.
But no one expected that this lecture would be held at the last minute and would be given by Master Liaokong.
Su Shuxian said everything she needed to say. Seeing that the superiors were silent, she asked Duan Nanqi directly, "Master Duan, our uncle is dead. No matter how he died, the Marquis of Zhengyang is no longer alive. Yaozu has not been named the crown prince yet. When this case is concluded, we will probably not be able to live in the Marquis of Zhengyang's mansion. If the court wants to expel us at that time, could you please show mercy to us, Master Duan, and let us move out on our own?"
Everyone in Yanjing knows how the title of Marquis Zhengyang came about. If Marquis Zhengyang had done his job well in the Xuanhua Dynasty, it would have been fine if he had had some friendship with Your Majesty, but he knew that Emperor Xuanhua was different from the previous emperor, so he only tried to build a relationship with Yang Ge Lao.
Although he held a high position, he had not accomplished anything. Xue Yaozu had never served in office for a single day. With the departure of Xue Dingshan's men, the Zhengyang Marquis's Mansion was about to fall into disrepair.
The court had taken back the title, so he had to be summoned back to the Earl's Mansion. However, the Xue family had a foundation of more than 20 years, so they would not starve to death. What would happen in the future depended on whether Xue Yaozu had greater luck.
Su Shuxian was very smart. She went straight to Duan Nanqi and asked for help with great accuracy.
Duan Nanqi looked at Jiang Lingyao, then at Su Shuxian, and said calmly, "Madam, you are worrying too much. The Jinyiwei always enforces the law impartially. The Jinyiwei knows what to do."
After hearing his words, Su Shuxian actually felt relieved.
Finally, she raised her head and looked at everyone: "If you want to find out how Master died, I think the study is the key."
She naturally doesn't know what Xue Dingshan does, but Xue Dingshan cares so much about that study room, staring at it more closely than his son, there must be a secret hidden by Xue Dingshan there.
After Su Shuxian left the room, Jiang Lingyao said, "Combining everyone's testimonies, except Xue Yaozu and Meng Xinyue, I always feel that everyone is a suspect, but no one has the time to commit the crime."
"Could it be...could it be that the problem lies in the study?"
Yao Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Master Duan, Master Jiang, I will go back to Shuntian Prefecture and monitor the autopsy. If there is any progress, I will have someone report it to the Imperial Guard immediately. In addition, this case may involve robbery and murder, so the whole city needs to be patrolled and guarded. I have to go back to arrange personnel."
Jiang Lingyao and Duan Nanqi hurriedly stood up and escorted the sweaty Lord Yao out the door: "Lord Yao, you have worked hard."
Yao Yuan smiled and waved his hand, saying, "You guys have worked hard. If this case can be solved, Lord Duan will treat me to a drink."
After he left, Jiang Lingyao looked at Duan Nanqi and said, "Let's go to the study again."
After entering the study and looking at the mess on the floor, Jiang Lingyao suddenly slapped her head.
"Oh, Master Duan, I just forgot," Jiang Lingyao said, "Do you think we should interrogate Master Kong?"
Master Liaokong was a high-ranking Buddhist monk and a famous master in Yanjing. Even the Emperor and the Concubine liked to discuss Buddhism with him.
It was indeed inappropriate and disrespectful to interrogate him suddenly.
Duan Nanqi saw that her forehead suddenly turned red, and he shook his head and said, "Master Liaokong is still in the Bo's house. After we check the study, we will go and discuss Buddhism with him."
Jiang Lingyao looked at Duan Nanqi's determined expression and smiled slightly.
At this time, they were the only two people in the study, and Jiang Lingyao said, "I always feel that there is something wrong with this study."
Duan Nanqi asked, "What's wrong?"
Jiang Lingyao looked left and right, but couldn't say anything. She just said, "Let's search again."
Because the iceberg in the house had melted, the Royal Guards cleaned it out, leaving only the water stains and the gold plate on the ground.
After the two of them walked around the desk, Jiang Lingyao pointed at the armchair.
"Just now, Xue Dingshan was sitting here stiffly, his back leaning against the back of the armchair, his legs stretched straight."
Duan Nanqi followed her hand and his eyes slid down, finally landing on the interior of the desk.
The interior of Xue Dingshan's desk is not very spacious, and there is a baffle in the front to block people's view.
And looking inside, there were also scattered things on the ground.
Duan Nanqi found a clean place, knelt on the ground and looked inside. He saw a burnt tinder inside the desk, a tinder cover scattered on the side, some dust stuck to the ground by the flow of ice and water, and a brush.
It looked very messy and strange to have so many things lying all over the floor.
Duan Nanqi marked the positions of these things with the pen he carried with him, and then took them out from under the table.
Jiang Lingyao was a little surprised: "Why is there still a fire stick?"
Duan Nanqi carefully looked at the gray tinderbox and found that it was covered with ashes from burning, so he wrapped it with a handkerchief.
The tinder had burned out and the lid had fallen off. Jiang Lingyao picked up the small lid and took a look at it, her eyes suddenly widened.
"Duan Nanqi, there is wax on this."
The two men went over to take a look, and saw that there was a lot of wax on one side of the tube and the lid of the tinderbox, and they didn't know whether it was rubbed or stuck on.
Jiang Lingyao frowned and muttered to herself, "I remember there was also a wax stain under Xue Dingshan's feet, but the wax had been burned and melted, and it had become a flat piece."
Is there any connection between the two?
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