So sometimes, you really have to accept fate.
...
As soon as Gu Xin and Gu Si stepped out of the palace gate, they saw Lu Zheng leading his horse and waiting for someone.
"Brother Yuanyuan!" Gu Xin got off the carriage and ran forward, followed closely by Gu Si, who went over to greet Lu Zheng, "Brother Yuanyuan."
"Why are you so late? I've been waiting for ages." Lu Zheng patted Gu Xin's head and smiled. "We promised to take you horseback riding a few days ago, but it got dark by the time we got there."
"It's alright, it's alright. We can go now!" Gu Xin was just about to talk to Lu Zheng about the case when she turned to Gu Si and said, "Sisi, you go back first and tell your family I'll be back in an hour at most!"
"Alright! Third Sister, you need to come back soon, or Second Uncle will be angry." Gu Si nodded and instructed.
"Yes, I know." Gu Xin nodded.
After Gu Si left in the carriage, Gu Xin mounted Lu Zheng's horse. Lu Zheng led the horse along, saying, "Are you hungry? I'll take you to get something to eat. There's a really good noodle shop on East Street. And your favorite sweet fermented rice balls!"
Gu Xin nodded: "Okay! Let's go eat."
Lu Zheng didn't mount the horse; he just led it along.
The curfew in the capital city was in effect until after midnight, when it was still dark, so the streets and alleys were very lively.
Lu Zheng liked this feeling and hoped they could walk like this forever, to the very end, and never be separated.
Gu Xin told Lu Zheng about what happened today while on horseback. Lu Zheng had already gone to the Gu family to find Gu Xin after leaving his post, so he knew about it, but he still listened patiently to Gu Xin finish speaking.
He was shocked to hear Gu Xin say that the Emperor had entrusted her with the case of the massacre of a family in the suburbs.
Lu Zheng is currently working in the Ministry of War, and since the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Justice are located next to each other, he knows more about the case than Gu Xin has heard from others.
This case is somewhat tricky.
Wangcun, located on the outskirts of Beijing, is a relatively large village and also the closest village to the capital. Most of the villagers share the surname Wang, and because of its proximity to Beijing, as long as you're not lazy, your family generally lives quite well. Many families in the village are better off than those in some more remote county towns.
The family that died this time was one of the better-off families in Wang Village, a family of seventeen, spanning four generations. The family consisted of the old man and woman, three sons and three daughters-in-law, one daughter, five grandsons, two granddaughters, one granddaughter-in-law, and one great-grandson.
The old man farmed and raised pigs with his sons, while the old woman raised many chickens with her three daughters-in-law. All five grandsons were in school, and the eldest grandson even passed the imperial examination at the lowest level. He married his wife the year before last and had a great-grandson last December.
On the 29th day of the first lunar month, their door was never opened. The pigs in the pigsty were hungry, and the chickens in the chicken coop were also hungry. The pigs nudged the coop door, and the chickens flew out of the coop and ran to the neighbor's house, ruining their vegetable garden. The neighbor then came to complain.
The gate was closed. The neighbor knocked for a long time but no one answered. She stood at the door and cursed for a long time but no one responded. Even the dog didn't bark. She felt something was wrong, so she ran to find the village head. The village head then took it upon himself to have the neighbor break down the door. Their big yellow dog was lying in the yard, foaming at the mouth. The doors to the main room and the kitchen were closed from the inside, so the village head had someone break down the door again.
Then they discovered that all seventeen members of the family had died.
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