Chapter 130 Selling the Carriage to Him (Two Chapters in One)
Therefore, no matter whether what was written on the note was true or false, and no matter whether there was a trap ahead, Yan Xia had decided to find out.
Besides, even if the person in the accident was not his cousin but a stranger, Yan Xia would still go.
For him, being chivalrous and fighting for justice and protecting the good is not only his duty, but also his mission.
Yan Xia did not even go back to the Ministry of Justice to mobilize manpower. He only took the guards of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion and left the city to the manor of the Marquis of Baoqing located outside the city.
How could Zhao Shiqing miss such a big event? She, Lingbo and Jiang Han not only returned along the same route, but she also sent someone back to deliver a letter. Then Zhen Wuduo brought Niu Qiu and Xiu Xiu, along with several guards, and met Zhao Shiqing and others outside the city in triumph.
Yan Xia was in a hurry and had no idea that there was a group of people who were bored behind them.
Although it is just a small farm outside the city, you can't just enter it if you want, especially now, there is no master in the farm, and Nanny Niu specifically instructed when she left that it must be strictly guarded during this period. Except for the Marquis Baoqing and his son, the other masters and young masters in the mansion are not allowed to enter.
Therefore, Yan Xia was blocked outside the door.
Yan Xia's face was as gloomy as water, and he waved his hand: "Catch these scoundrels who rely on others' power!"
Yan Xia only brought a few people with him, but they were all servants of the Duke of Wei. They were not only loyal but also had good martial arts skills.
It took no effort to tie up all the evil slaves. When the people in the village heard the noise, they ran over to take a look. They saw Yan Xia and others holding swords and looking murderous. They were frightened and no one dared to step forward.
The manager of the manor rushed over upon hearing the noise: "I want to see who is so blind as to dare to cause trouble in the territory of the Marquis of Baoqing's mansion. I think they want to die."
Yan Xia whipped him with a horsewhip, and the steward fell to the ground. However, Yan Xia didn't want to let him go easily, so he pulled him up and said, "Take me to the firewood yard!"
The steward's father and mother were both Madam Wei's companions. It can be imagined that his status in the Baoqing Marquis' Mansion was even higher than the original servants in the manor. Since he came to the manor, he had the final say in this manor. When there was no master coming to the manor, he was the only one in charge of this manor.
Perhaps it was because he had lived a comfortable life for too long that even his ability to withstand pressure had deteriorated. When Yan Xia hit and pulled him, the manager was so scared that he peed his pants.
Yan Xia looked at the person in his hand with disgust. The guy's crotch was wet and dripping with water, which was disgusting.
Yan Xia put the knife to the steward's neck and said, "Hurry up and lead the way. If you dawdle any longer, I'll kill you!"
......
The village was not big, and Yan Xia and the others soon arrived at the small courtyard filled with dry firewood.
Yan Xia led his men to search the yard inside and out. The note only said that the body was buried in the firewood yard, but did not say where it was buried.
Although Chaiyuan is not big, it would be a big project to dig up the entire yard.
At this moment, a cat came out from nowhere, meowed at Yan Xia, and ran to the back of the house.
Yan Xia was stunned for a moment, then quickly followed.
The cat ran to a few old, rickety chairs, turned around, looked at Yan Xia, and said, "Meow~"
The cat stood in the shadow, its eyes like two pieces of amber washed by rain, and its pink little nose twitched as if it smelled something.
Yan Xia's heart moved. Was this cat telling him that this was where the body was buried?
First it was an eagle, and now a cat. This is amazing.
Yan Xia didn't have time to think deeply. He shouted to the guards behind him: "Come here, dig this up!"
......
A moment later, a body wrapped in a straw mat was dug out.
It was the corpse of a young woman. Although her clothes were neatly arranged, it was still difficult to hide the injuries she had suffered before her death. There were teeth marks of various sizes on her face and neck.
Yan Xia only took a glance and turned away: "Take him back to the Ministry of Justice!"
At the same time, everyone in the villa was taken back to the Ministry of Justice.
They came on horseback, and the body was placed horizontally on the horse's back. After they took a few steps, the straw mat loosened and a scarred arm hung down.
"Wait, wait a minute, the person in front!"
Hearing the sound, Yan Xia pulled the reins and turned to look. He saw a little girl trotting up to catch up with him. She looked up at Yan Xia and said, "My grandfather said we can sell you our carriage. She's a girl, so we should take her back in the carriage."
Yan Xia looked behind her and saw a carriage parked not far away. A fat old man was standing outside the carriage, looking at her with a smile.
Yan Xia said to the girl in front of him, "Okay, I'll buy it, but I came out in a hurry and I may not have enough money on me."
The little girl smiled and said, "Ten taels of silver, just ten taels of silver. You don't have even ten taels of silver, do you?"
Yan Xia was stunned. The horse was strong and the carriage was brand new, and it was only sold for ten taels of silver?
This carriage costs at least a hundred taels of silver.
This is not a sale, it's clearly a giveaway.
Yan Xia took out three taels of silver from his pocket and pooled it with a few guards, and together they came up with ten taels.
Yan Xia handed the silver to the girl and said, "I would like to thank you. Please leave your address and I will send a new carriage."
The little girl shook her head: "We just met by chance, no need to be polite, please go first, sir."
I don't want to tell you the address.
Yan Xia thought so too. Judging from the girl's accent, she didn't sound like a native of the capital. She probably didn't have a fixed address in the capital. Forget it, she might as well leave her address.
"Then please come to my house to get it. I live in the Duke of Wei's Mansion in Jingui Hutong. When you arrive, just mention what happened today."
After saying this, he clasped his fists towards the fat old man not far away, thanked the little girl again, and ordered his men to put the female corpse into the carriage, climbed on the horse, and the group set off again.
Zhao Shiqing and Ling Bo whispered to each other. They took out all the silver notes and loose change from their purses and handed them to Zhen Wuduo along with the ten taels given by Yan Xia. "This is the hundred taels for the carriage. I'm sorry, Grandpa, you have to ride back with us."
Zhen Wuduo took the pile of silver. He was very satisfied that his beloved granddaughter wanted to give the dead girl the last dignity. However, what made him even more satisfied was that his beloved granddaughter did not use her money generously. In fact, as long as Zhao Shiqing asked for it, Zhen Wuduo would give it to her for free, just a carriage.
But Zhao Shiqing did not let him give it away for free. Instead, he paid out of his own pocket to make up the money from selling the carriage.
Just for this reason, my granddaughter is better than many people.
Zhen Wuduo rode happily on his horse and returned to the capital.
Two flowers bloom, each showing its own beauty.
Yan Xia was not so relaxed. He and his group rode at full speed and returned to the capital. They sent someone to report to the Duke of Weiguo's mansion, and he then took the body and went straight to the Ministry of Justice.
When they arrived at the Ministry of Justice, the office had already been closed, and Yan Xia asked someone to invite a midwife.
There were no female coroners in Dayong, and all those who performed autopsies on women were midwives.
There are two midwives in the capital who are good at autopsies. They have worked for the government for many years, and no one in the capital has asked them to deliver babies anymore. They bear the title of midwives, but they have jobs in the government. When they are not performing autopsies, they work in the women's prison.
Of these two midwives, one was in Jingzhao Prefecture, and the other was Aunt Wen from the Ministry of Justice.
Aunt Wen was preparing dinner, chopping meat and chatting with her daughter-in-law. If Zhao Shiqing was here, he would recognize at a glance that Aunt Wen's daughter-in-law was Sister Aping, the new female waitress in Su Ji Tea Shop.
There was a knock on the door. The little grandson ran to open it. The person standing at the door shouted, "Is Aunt Wen home? Master Yan, please return to the yamen to perform an autopsy."
Aunt Wen agreed and said to Sister Ping, "The meat filling is ready. Let's go and do the autopsy. We'll make dumplings when we come back."
Sister Aping agreed with a smile and helped Aunt Wen pick up the autopsy tools. Aunt Wen put down the meat-cleaving knife, and the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law left the house and went to the yamen.
As soon as Aunt Wen and Sister Aping arrived at the yamen, people from the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion arrived.
The people who came were a guard sent by Yan Xia to deliver a letter, and a maid.
This maidservant was from the old aunt's side, and she watched my cousin grow up.
Yan Xia asked her to identify the body.
She had seen the corpse before Aunt Wen. After just one look, she cried out in shock and then burst into tears: "Girl, my good girl, how did you become like this? Who hurt you, my poor girl!"
Yan Xia asked, "Are you sure this is your girl?"
The maid nodded: "I am sure."
Yan Xia asked again, "What mark is on your daughter's body?"
The maid thought for a moment and said, "The little finger on your left hand has one more joint than the average person's."
Yan Xia looked at Aunt Wen who had just come over and said, "Go and take a look."
Aunt Wen walked over and picked up the woman's left hand from under the shroud. Sure enough, there was an extra joint on the little finger.
She nodded to Yan Xia, who pointed at the maid who was still crying and said to the guard, "Send her back."
There are differences between men and women. When Aunt Wen and Sister Aping started the autopsy, Yan Xia walked out.
While waiting for the autopsy, he mobilized all the yamen runners on duty in the Ministry of Justice. He thought that by now, the Baoqing Marquisate would have received the news, so it would be easy. They could just go and arrest the person.
In addition, he also interrogated those who were captured from the village.
Almost all the maids and old women in the farm knew that their prince Zhu Yu had brought back a beautiful woman from outside a few days ago. The beautiful woman had never come out of the house since she entered, and Zhu Yu had been hanging out with the woman in the house.
Zhu Yu used to often bring women here, and the people in the village had long been accustomed to it.
However, when Zhu Yu brought the woman back, he lived in Baicui Garden. As for when the woman was sent to Chaiyuan this time, no one knew.
Yan Xia observed the expressions of several maids and found that their eyes were flickering, so he had them separated and interrogated individually.
After some soft and hard tactics, a maid said, "The woman actually ran away. She tried to escape from Bai Cui Garden, but was caught again. The prince stripped her naked and hung her in the corridor..."
Another maidservant said cautiously, "I didn't see it this time, but I did see it once."
Yan Xia asked, "What did you see?"
The maid said, "Of course I saw the prince carrying someone to the firewood courtyard. It was a little girl, only five or six years old. The prince even asked me to take her to take a bath. That night, I was in Bai Cui Garden the whole time and saw with my own eyes that the prince had the little girl carried to the firewood courtyard."
Yan Xia turned around and went out, called a few yamen runners, and asked the guards who had been to the farm in the afternoon to go with them and dig the ground three feet deep in the firewood yard.
At this time, Aunt Wen and Sister Aping finished examining the body and handed over the body box.
Yan Xia looked carefully and said to the remaining yamen runners, "Let's go and arrest him!"
......
Baoqing Marquis Mansion, Chunhui Hall.
It was a rare opportunity for her precious grandson to stay in the house, so Old Lady Wei was very happy. She asked the kitchen to prepare dinner according to Zhu Yu's taste and asked Zhu Yu to come and have dinner with her.
Nanny Niu has returned and told Madam Wei that the matter has been settled and asked her to rest assured.
Old Madam Wei breathed a sigh of relief. She would have a good talk with Yu'er when she came over. This child was simple and often thoughtless, just like this time, she almost caused a disaster.
That little bitch was so vicious that she even wanted to escape. After being caught, she moved out of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion. Did she think that if she said that she was a relative of the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion, Yu'er would let her go?
If you are too clever, you will die!
Yu'er brought her to the farm just because she was pretty. She cried and made a fuss, trying to commit suicide. Why didn't she mention the Duke of Wei's Mansion at that time?
You have to wait until you are caught after escaping before telling him, isn't that asking for death?
If she hadn't mentioned the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion, at most she would have waited until Yu'er got tired of playing with her and then given her some silver to send her away. But she was so vicious that she thought that if she mentioned the Duke of Weiguo's Mansion, the Marquis of Baoqing's Mansion would let her go.
Joke, so ridiculous!
Nanny Niu served the chicken soup, and Madam Wei personally brought it to Zhu Yu: "I've been cooking this chicken soup all afternoon. Drink an extra bowl to nourish your body."
Zhu Yu took the chicken soup and said with a smile, "Grandson thanks grandma."
Old Madam Wei was beaming with joy, her eldest grandson was so filial.
It’s no wonder that among all her grandchildren, she loves Zhu Yu the most.
At this moment, a maid came in hurriedly and whispered a few words into Nanny Niu's ear.
Madam Wei saw it and frowned: "What's wrong?"
Niu Ma Ma whispered, "Someone came to the manor and said that the prince of Weiguo brought people to the manor this afternoon. They..."
Madam Wei frowned and shouted, "What did they do?"
Niu Ma Ma fell to her knees with a thud: "Old Madam, it was because I didn't do my job well. The body was dug out and taken away by the Prince of Weiguo!"
Madam Wei slammed the table and stood up. "They're rebelling! They're completely rebellious! They don't take the Marquis of Baoqing seriously. Who the hell is Yan Xia? He just got a job as an errand boy in the Ministry of Justice, but he's taking it for granted and even dares to break into the manor of the Marquis of Baoqing. What's his intention?"
Zhu Yu was stunned. After meeting Madam Wei, he had forgotten about that incident and that woman. As for the fact that Madam Wei sent Nanny Niu to clean up the aftermath, he had no idea about it and didn't care.
He looked out the window and saw that it was already dark. He definitely couldn't enter the palace at this time.
"It's okay, Grandmother. Just go to the palace tomorrow and tell Concubine Li. What if Yan Xia found the body? Does he still want to pay her with her life? Besides, she was still alive when I left."
As he spoke, he glanced at Nanny Niu with a half-smile.
Nanny Niu looked as pale as death. The prince was right. When she went there, the girl was still alive, hanging on to her breath, staring at her, which made her feel scared.
She and her daughter strangled the woman with a rope.
Even the woman's clothes were put on after her death.
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