Chapter 369 Wanting to Overturn the Case
The direct descendants of the Gu family have long lived in the capital. Since their master is not around, there are not many servants in the old house in Huzhou. However, the flowers, plants and trees in the old house have always been carefully taken care of. Each courtyard is regularly cleaned and maintained by servants, so it is not very dirty. The maid quickly tidied up the courtyard.
After more than half a month on the boat, everyone was a little tired, so they went back to their lodgings to rest. Zhou Yun and Yu Chuan stayed in the front yard, while Qing Qiu and Chan'er stayed in Qin Ya Xuan in the back yard with Meng Jinyao and her husband, serving Meng Jinyao personally.
Qinyaxuan is elegantly laid out, with lush flowers and trees in the courtyard, and various flowers blooming, emitting a faint fragrance. A bluestone path meanders through it, graceful and elegant.
The furniture inside is all made of pear wood. Antique porcelain is displayed on a display shelf to the side, and a blue and white porcelain vase is placed on a round table in the middle of the room, filled with fresh flowers.
The curtains, made of light gauze, swayed gently in the breeze, reflecting dappled sunlight.
After taking a bath, Meng Jinyao lay down on the bed and fell asleep immediately. Although her schedule was regular on the boat and there were no waves on the canal, there was still the sound of water outside the boat and the boat rocked slightly. The bed was small and the bed board was hard. She hadn't slept well for the past half month and her back ached. Now that she finally had a comfortable bed, she naturally wanted to get a good night's sleep.
Gu Jingxi also took a bath. Seeing that his wife had fallen asleep, and having no other plans for the time being, he lay down on the bed to rest.
The couple slept until dusk before getting up, washing their faces, getting dressed, and going out to prepare dinner.
Butler Liu was unaware of Meng Jinyao's dietary preferences, so he specifically asked Qingqiu before deciding on the dinner menu. Fearing that she might not be used to the local flavors of Huzhou, he also had the chef prepare three special dishes from the capital, as well as Huzhou specialties: steamed Taihu whitefish, Deqing braised mutton, and Taihu stir-fried white shrimp.
Meng Jinyao was never a picky eater. She could accept any flavor, whether it was sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, or salty. She liked anything that tasted good. Looking at this table of dishes, she was immediately tempted. In addition, she had been on the ship for more than half a month, and the food on the ship was just average. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't delicious either. Now that she had such a delicious meal, she ate an extra bowl of rice and ended up feeling stuffed.
Gu Jingxi initially didn't stop her from eating heartily, but when he saw that she was full, he ordered the kitchen to make some plum juice to aid digestion, and then took her outside for a walk to help her digest.
After standing up, Gu Jingxi noticed that her lower abdomen was protruding a bit, and couldn't help but reach out and touch it, laughing out loud: "Ayao, take it easy next time. People who don't know better might think I've been mistreating you and haven't fed you enough before."
Meng Jinyao slapped his hand away in embarrassment and annoyance: "Isn't it because we haven't had anything good to eat in a long time?"
Gu Jingxi said gently, "It was my oversight. When we return to the capital, I will have the maid prepare some food that keeps well and buy some snacks to eat on the way."
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It was past midnight, and I was already quite late, but I had taken a nap in the afternoon and wasn't sleepy at all.
Meng Jinyao rolled around on the bed and suddenly remembered Gu Xiuming's parents. She asked, "By the way, husband, I heard that Xiuming's biological father was an official in this area of our hometown. Which county under the jurisdiction of Huzhou Prefecture was he an official in?"
Gu Jingxi was slightly taken aback, then replied, "He is not in Huzhou Prefecture, but only close to his ancestral home. He is the magistrate of Tongxiang County in Jiaxing Prefecture, which is next to Huzhou Prefecture. Tongxiang County is very close to Huzhou."
Meng Jinyao nodded, then asked, "Husband, you said that two attendants set off for Huzhou ahead of time. Why haven't we seen them today? They couldn't have arrived later than us, could they?"
Gu Jingxi replied, "They arrived earlier than us, but I instructed them to investigate some things secretly, so they haven't returned yet."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao nodded knowingly, then asked, "Husband, what case are you investigating this time?"
Gu Jingxi didn't hide anything from her and said slowly, "The magistrate of Deqing County, a county under the jurisdiction of Huzhou Prefecture, died suddenly from an acute illness. Later, a new magistrate was sent to Deqing County to take office. However, this new magistrate died suddenly not long after taking office. But the coroner found nothing wrong with the autopsy. Later, rumors spread that the Deqing County government office was haunted and that the magistrate was scared to death."
"Therefore, the imperial court sent people to investigate the case. The official in charge of the case also died in the county government office of Deqing County. It is said that the servant that day really encountered a ghost and was so frightened that he fainted. The ghost story was spread in great detail, and even the jailer guarding the prison had encountered it. Later, the imperial court sent people to investigate the matter again, but found nothing unusual. They only invited a master to perform a ritual. To this day, there have been no more ghost stories in the county government office of Deqing County, and the case was closed."
Upon hearing this, Meng Jinyao's expression turned serious: "Husband, I don't think this is a ghost story. Someone is behind it all, using the ghost story to cover up the crime of murdering an official of the court."
Gu Jingxi nodded and said, "That's why I'm going to investigate this case and, by the way, overturn it."
Meng Jinyao's expression grew increasingly solemn. Two county magistrates had died, and even the people sent by the imperial court to investigate the case had died. Only the second group sent survived. Those who survived proved that they hadn't found anything, while those who died proved that they knew something or had some evidence, which would pose a threat to certain people, so they were eliminated.
Thinking of this, Meng Jinyao suddenly worried about her husband. The officials who knew something had all met with misfortune. If her husband found any evidence that was detrimental to certain people, he would probably be silenced by those people. Although her husband's trip was ostensibly to worship his ancestors, it was also quite dangerous.
Seeing her frowning and looking serious, Gu Jingxi gently comforted her, "Don't worry, Yao, it's just investigating a case. The cases I've investigated before were much more dangerous than this."
Meng Jinyao cautioned, "Then husband, you must be careful."
Gu Jingxi replied, "I will, don't worry, Ayao."
After a moment, Meng Jinyao asked again, "Husband, do you have any leads on this case?"
Gu Jingxi said, "We have suspects, but no evidence. We'll have to wait for a covert investigation to find out what's going on."
Afraid that Ayao would worry and start overthinking, he quickly changed the subject: "It's getting late, let's go to sleep first. Tomorrow morning, we'll go out for a stroll. We didn't bring much with us when we left Beijing, so let's see if there's anything we need to buy tomorrow."
Meng Jinyao responded, nestled in his arms to find a comfortable position, and closed her eyes to drift off to sleep without saying anything more.
The next morning.
After having breakfast, Meng Jinyao and Gu Jingxi went out for a stroll and bought some things, including seasonal clothes, jewelry, rouge and face powder, and some interesting trinkets.
For three days in a row, the couple just played around and didn't do anything.
To outsiders, the couple seemed to be simply returning to their hometown to pay respects to their ancestors and take the opportunity to enjoy the scenery.
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