"This is the biggest possibility." Zhen Shicheng did not say anything definite, and the focus of the investigation was exactly on this group of people.

The wealthy families all had rules and regulations, and the servants in the front yard were not allowed to come to the back yard unless there were extremely special circumstances. And the courtyard where the mistress lived was crowded with people, so if someone wanted to hide there after sunset, this person must be someone who would not be surprised if he appeared in the main courtyard.

In this case, the scope can actually be narrowed down a bit, and the people in the main courtyard are more likely to be suspects.

"Why don't you ask the steward of the Bo's Mansion to take out the backyard roster and check with everyone to see who is not in the mansion now, and have everyone who is left gather in the courtyard and wait for your inquiry at any time."

Zhen Shicheng smiled slightly: "That's exactly what I meant."

There were quite a few people in the rear quarters of the Yongchang Marquis's Mansion, and it would take quite a while to count and check them, so this was naturally done by a few stewards in the mansion. Zhen Shicheng took a copy of the list and read it from top to bottom.

The roster clearly listed the names of the people in each courtyard of the rear house, what jobs they did, how much monthly wages they received, and some even recorded the supervisors. For example, a maid named Hongxiu was specifically mentioned as being able to comb hair.

From such a list, one can see how good the mistress of the house is at managing the household.

Zhen Shicheng read the list twice, his eyes falling on the two names at the top.

Those were the two concubines of Earl Yongchang.

The population of the Yongchang Earl's Mansion is simple. Apart from the Yongchang Earl and his wife and their son and daughter, the only ones who can be considered half-masters are these two concubines.

After taking a look at Xie Yinlou and his sister, Zhen Shicheng pointed to the door and said, "Uncle, let's go in and talk for a while."

Yongchang Bo followed Zhen Shicheng into the house in silence. Looking at the familiar furnishings, he felt a blockage in his heart and sighed, "Master Zhen, please ask whatever you want."

"Do your two aunts have any children?"

The master of the mansion was not included in the list, so Zhen Shicheng decided to find out.

Yongchang Bo smiled bitterly: "Not really."

Zhen Shicheng continued to ask: "Can you tell me the reason?"

"Reason?" Earl Yongchang was stunned by the question.

"You two aunts have been with your uncle for many years, right? It seems a little strange that you don't have any sons or daughters."

"I understand what Lord Zhen means." Earl Yongchang frowned subconsciously, with a hint of annoyance and embarrassment.

This anger was not directed at Zhen Shicheng, but was caused by the fact that Zhen Shicheng's questions made him suspicious of the two concubines.

"One of them was taken in as a concubine when the eldest son was born, and the other was taken in as a concubine when the daughter was born. I didn't want to give birth to illegitimate sons and daughters and make the Bo's mansion become full of smog, so I let them take contraceptive soup all the time."

Zhen Shicheng thought for a moment and asked, "So the two concubines have never gotten pregnant unexpectedly?"

Yongchang Bo was silent for a moment, then said, "Chao Yun was pregnant three years ago, but I didn't agree to keep her."

At that time, he had hesitated. After all, his two legitimate children were grown up, and having a half brother or half sister would not affect him much. However,

Zhen Shicheng was very perceptive. He immediately noticed something strange in Earl Yongchang's expression and asked, "After all, she is your blood. If something unexpected happened, why didn't you stay?"

The Earl of Yongchang was hesitant.

Zhen Shicheng advised: "Master, you must speak out what you want to say. The murderer has not yet appeared. If you keep it secret, you will unintentionally help the murderer."

“My wife was ill at the time.”

As soon as Earl Yongchang said this, Zhen Shicheng immediately understood.

The Yongchang Earl and his wife loved each other very much. After the concubine became pregnant, the wife fell ill, so of course she would not let the concubine keep the child.

"My wife is really sick. She's not doing it for me because she's angry that Chaoyun is pregnant." Earl Yongchang explained hurriedly.

He didn't want to say it because he didn't want people to misunderstand that his wife was an intolerant woman.

Zhen Shicheng looked at the Earl of Yongchang and sighed: "My Lord, you know my wife well and know that she was indeed ill at that time. So what about my aunt?"

Yongchang Bo was stunned for a moment, his face turned grim: "Lord Zhen, are you saying that Chaoyun is very likely to hate my wife because of the abortion, and thinks that my wife pretended to be sick and caused her to lose the child?"

"Your son and daughter are both grown up now. Since your uncle took in two concubines one after the other when they were born, I guess they were not considered young three years ago, right?"

“Well, they were in their early thirties at the time.”

Zhen Shicheng smiled and said, "Master, don't underestimate the pain of a woman who has been childless for many years and suddenly becomes pregnant and is forced to have an abortion. This kind of pain is enough to make people hate her to the extreme."

"Did Chaoyun harm my wife?" Earl Yongchang's face turned ashen.

Although he felt a little guilty when he ordered Chaoyun to have an abortion, he knew in his heart that how could she get pregnant while drinking the contraceptive soup? It was obvious what was going on.

After all, Chao Yun had been with him for many years. No matter what means she used to get pregnant, since the child was gone, he was unwilling to pursue the matter. Instead, he gave her many gifts out of pity.

Could it be that she thought her wife didn't keep the child because she couldn't tolerate it, and she has been hating her ever since, and finally waited for the opportunity to kill her?

The more Yongchang Bo thought about it, the uglier his face became.

"Don't be too excited, Master. This only proves that Ming Chaoyun had the motive to kill Madam, but it doesn't mean that she is the murderer. Everything still needs evidence. What I have to do is to find the suspects one by one, and then eliminate or find evidence of whether they are the murderer."

Yongchang Bo was still unable to calm down and punched the table.

"After Chaoyun lost her child, did Uncle not notice anything unusual when they were together again?"

Earl Yongchang shook his head: "It is not pleasant to strangle one's own flesh and blood. Since then, I have hardly ever stepped into the courtyards of the two concubines, so it is hard for me to know if there is anything abnormal about her."

Zhen Shicheng stood up and said, "How about this, call the two concubines to ask them first, and Uncle must keep calm."

Earl Yongchang nodded reluctantly.

As soon as the two men walked out, Earl Yongchang immediately ordered someone to invite the two concubines.

Soon, two middle-aged women came over one after the other. The woman in front was slightly plump. Although she looked nervous, the curves of her eyebrows and eyes made her look gentle.

The woman behind was very thin, with droopy eyelids, an unhealthy pale complexion, and her hair was somewhat gray.

Zhen Shicheng couldn't help but think of the two strands of hair he found in the closet.

"The one in front is Chunmei, and the one in the back is Chaoyun." Earl Yongchang tried to speak in a calm tone.

At this moment, he looked coldly at the two concubines coming over. He actually felt a little strange. Thinking carefully, he realized that he had not been to their place for a long time.

When the people in the courtyard saw that the two old concubines of the uncle were called over, although they did not dare to speak, they communicated with each other through eye contact.

Oh my God, could it be that the one who killed the lady was the uncle’s concubine?

Jiang Si's attention was originally focused on the crowd that was gradually gathering in the yard. When he saw Zhen Shicheng calling two concubines, he quietly walked over.

She thought of a key point, which could almost determine who the murderer was, so let her first check whether the two concubines were innocent.