Chapter 34 Chapter 34 Li Erniu's face was more...
Li Erniu's complexion looked even worse than when he first entered, and he looked a bit sick.
"Sir, I have a candidate for the person you are talking about..."
"who."
Hezhou pinched his fingertips. It had not been too long since they talked about eavesdropping and the case, and he didn't know when Li Erniu came.
"Huang Xi, who sells herbal tea at the entrance of the village." Li Erniu bent down slightly, his eyes dull, no longer the honest and simple look he had at that time.
"She's a woman, and the herbs she buys are all picked cheaply from the mountains. The girls in the back alleys like to go to her for treatment and often ask her to come over..."
"This..." Xie Xunzhi looked at Hezhou hesitantly.
Hezhou shook his head. "Not necessarily. I haven't even seen the scene yet. Besides, Miss Huang doesn't seem like that kind of person. At least she doesn't have a motive."
"Not necessarily! The most taboo thing for sirs when handling cases is to act on emotion." Li Erniu raised his head and spoke in a cold tone, like a cold poisonous snake wrapped around his neck, spitting out its core and ready to bite down fiercely at any time.
"Conflicts are commonplace among people. The Chen family has previously stated their desire to unify the clinics. I'm afraid she might have heard that and harbored vengeance..."
"The Chen family is just a businessman, how can they unify the medical clinics?" There was an endless smile in Hezhou's eyes.
When he was investigating a case with Li Erniu before, he always called Miss Huang the virtuous one with great affection.
"That's hard to say... My Lord, this isn't like the capital... The mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so what's hard to do?"
Xie Xunzhi grabbed Hezhou, who was about to argue, and waved his hand helplessly: "It's possible. There are indeed many women in the back alley. Apart from the vegetable vendor and the Chen family servants, Miss Huang is the most suspicious."
"Yes, all the vegetables have been checked and there is no problem. They also have families to support. But Miss Huang is alone and has no husband at her age..." Li Erniu muttered to defend himself, with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"Sir, let's go. I'm free now..."
He changed his usual shouting demeanor and stared directly at the two of them, no longer dodging his oppressive gaze: "Sir, please take a look at those two poor women..."
Hezhou nodded and said half-jokingly: "I thought you were attracted to Miss Huang."
Li Erniu walked in front without looking back: "You are joking, sir, I have already started a family."
He turned his head and glanced over, then coughed for a while and said in a low voice, "Sir, don't take any risks next time. Master Chen has secret guards around him."
"Oh... did you see me?" Xie Xunzhi raised his eyebrows. He didn't think that this was a trap, at least not from what he heard.
Rather than temporarily changing his words with a glance, dealing with someone he despises, directly taking him down and then threatening Hezhou is more like Mr. Chen's style, which is conceited and arrogant.
Li Erniu pulled the corners of his mouth into a dry laugh: "It's just a glimpse. If we don't know what the master wants to do in advance, sooner or later there will be nothing left."
"Since my first day in the Chen Mansion, all I've encountered is someone saying something wrong and getting dragged away..."
"Then why don't you tell Mr. Chen?" Hezhou narrowed his eyes, walked forward with a slouch, and blocked Xie Xunzhi behind him.
"Your Excellency is joking..."
"Why aren't you afraid now that Master Chen will find out?"
Li Erniu's eyes sparkled. "I thought Master Xie had heard everything clearly. My Lord... I am indeed suffering from an illness, but you haven't been able to find the cause in three days. In fact, between you and me... it's not certain who will see the sun first."
"It's very interesting. Now you are not pretending anymore?" Xie Xunzhi smiled and gave Hezhou a look that showed that it was true.
"Please forgive me, sir. I am just an ordinary citizen. If there is anything wrong with my subordinates, the master will find out. I have no choice but to find you, sir. You will definitely get to the bottom of it." Li Erniu raised the corners of his mouth naively and mumbled out the words, as if they had been planned for a long time.
He knew in his heart that if he devoted even a little attention to the investigation, Master Chen would find out in the next second. But it was different now that Hezhou was involved. This matter had room for maneuver. All his thoughts turned into one sentence: "I failed the selection, and Hezhou refused to listen to my words or tricks. I was jealous and resorted to this desperate measure."
This is actually a huge trap, and Li Erniu is just like an innocent reckless man.
"It's rare that you think so carefully..." Xie Xunzhi's smile did not reach his eyes.
The road was deserted after the rain, with doors of houses locked tightly and voices coming from time to time. The back alley had been renovated, with stone bricks paved around the road. Rainwater accumulated on both sides and formed a circle of "alley protection river".
After the three of them finished chatting, they all tacitly kept silent. Hezhou just took Xie Xunzhi's hand and put the veil on him again.
He lowered his eyes to look at the slender white fingers and couldn't help but wrap his hands together. "Are you cold?"
Xie Xunzhi withdrew his gaze and shook his head: "It's not cold, but you are too cool to wear too little. Be careful not to catch a cold."
Hezhou sniffed, a warm smile playing on his lips: "I'm tough and I'm not afraid."
He paused for a moment, then leaned close to his ear and said, "Xunzhi, I'm a little scared. You have to protect me."
"What are you afraid of? Ghosts? Don't be afraid, I haven't done anything wrong..." Xie Xunzhi was already used to it. When Hezhou suddenly leaned close to his ear and spoke, a red spot appeared behind his ear. He resisted the itch and moved closer.
Hezhou burst out laughing. He looked up and saw that Li Erniu didn't react before continuing, "I'm not afraid of that. I'm afraid of corpses... Did you forget Xunzhi? The first time I saw it, I was so scared that I vomited bitterly."
"What am I supposed to be?"
"The master is here." Li Erniu looked back at them and led them towards the gate of a back alley.
Although it's called a back alley, it's essentially a small residence not far from the Chen Mansion. Li Erniu stood in front of the door and knocked: "It's usually locked inside. After all, they are all girls..."
"I remember there were some empty rooms in the Chen Mansion. Why did they drive everyone here?"
"Yes, but those places were occupied before. The servants that the madam brought from home lived there. The last time the madam went home, those people did not come back with her." Li Erniu turned around and started coughing violently.
After a while, he half-bent over, his eyes fixed on Xie Xunzhi: "In fact, the Madam vaguely mentioned it the last time she came back. There was a fight between the bigwigs in the court, and the winds of change were blowing in Madam's family's favor. She had to go back to take charge of the situation... She couldn't sit thousands of miles away."
"Sir, I'm not a bad person. I'm just doing this for the good of the county. Without the Chen family, the county might not be able to get up. Sir, I can pay you a little reward first. My wife once said that Sir Xie looks familiar."
Hezhou's eyelids twitched, and the look he gave Li Erniu was terrifyingly deep for a moment. He blocked his gaze as he did before.
Xie Xunzhi gently tugged at the corner of his clothes: "Thank you very much, but I don't think the lady looks familiar."
"Why did you come here from the capital..."
The door to the back alley opened, and a girl in light yellow clothes stood in front of the door. She didn't look very old, but she was wearing a veil and covering her chest with one hand, with a sad look on her face.
Hezhou Mingrui smelled a fragrance, similar to the one in the Third Madam's room before: "Why is it so fragrant?"
"Hahaha, the Third Madam always feels that the back alley has an earthy smell. Plus, she buys spices there, so she treats it as a welfare benefit and gives her some every month." Li Erniu smiled awkwardly.
"Brother Erniu..." The girl's voice was soft, and her gestures were also sickly: "Can you give us a few more days? Qing'er has been sick again recently, and the girls are all scared."
She took out her purse which contained scattered copper coins and said, "Brother Erniu..."
Li Erniu pushed away the girl who was about to come forward, as if he was shaking off something unclean: "Stay away, I'm not here for this today. The master said that a caravan will be coming to open a market in a few days. You...take care of it yourselves."
"Brother Erniu, you know how hard it is for us. It's just that we girls broke off contact with our families early. If you find someone else, can you let us stay for a few more days?" She took out another purse from her bosom, which had mandarin ducks embroidered on it.
"He's really very sick..."
"What's going on?" Hezhou frowned.
Li Erniu shook his head with a bitter face: "Sir, the Chen family can't raise freeloaders, right?"
He pushed the girl away again and said in a bad tone: "I'm not here to discuss this with you today. This is Master He who is here to investigate the case. Master He said that the case will be solved in three days. If the case is solved, you still have time to wait. Get well and continue to work. Don't waste time here."
A hint of expectation flashed in the girl's dull eyes: "Master He!"
"You! You!" Hezhou couldn't help but slap Li Erniu's neck, cursing him as a beast in his heart.
"Don't be so flattering, this is a normal investigation."
Xie Xunzhi was also a little annoyed.
Many girls came out of the yard one after another and looked at them. They all looked sick and pale, and some of the older ones were supported out.
Pairs of eyes looked out smartly, with an indescribable sense of sadness.
"Where is the crime scene?" Hezhou asked.
The girl first looked at Li Erniu, and when she saw him nod, she replied, "Master, please follow me, this way."
She led Hezhou to the side, and the first house was there.
The door was blocked by a wooden chair, wheat bran was scattered in front of the door, and yellow characters were pasted on the chair. The girl stared at the gazes of several people, and recited a long paragraph with her head held high before moving the chair away and carefully peeling off the talisman paper to stick it on the door.
There is a lot of space inside, and the beds are all made of wood. At first glance, it doesn't look like a room for servants, but that's not the point.
As the door opened, a fragrance mixed with the smell of rotten blood hit me in the face. The scene inside was even more shocking. A smiling girl was lying in front of the table.
She put one hand into the basin, which had already turned into blood. There was another person hanging next to it. When the door opened, the rope brushed against the beam and swayed with a "creaky, creaky" sound.
Hezhou took a deep breath. This impact was even more shocking than the last time. The last time was simply scary, but this one was weird.
He suddenly felt a chill and his scalp went numb, and he subconsciously wanted to pull Xie Xunzhi and run away together.
Xie Xunzhi placed a hand on his waist: "Both of them died in agony, how could they both smile?"
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