Chapter 8787 Shi Mansion
The courtyard was overgrown with weeds, and the paths leading to the wing rooms were also covered with weeds. The stone slabs were arched, leaving almost no place to step.
There is a two-story building in the courtyard. After entering the door, there are long corridors around it, which are also dilapidated.
Shi Yanli said: "I seem to have been here before. My mother didn't let me look at it for long at that time. Later, I remembered that there was a person living here before. It seemed that he was the same as..."
Shi Yanli looked at Shi Yangui.
Shi Yangui frowned and said coldly, "I don't remember."
Shi Yanli felt strange.
Logically speaking, Shi Yangui should be more familiar with it than him. Now that he still has some memories, how could Shi Yangui not remember?
Liang Yi urged people to find Shi Pei and Ru Yunxin, as they were the ones who were most familiar with the Shi Mansion.
Su Yan walked to the door and asked, "Is there food? Is there anyone living here?"
There were two bowls placed in front of the door, one bowl contained steamed buns, and the other bowl contained the food that had been confiscated. Even the servants in the mansion would not eat such food.
But looking at the dust on the bowl, it seemed to have just been put down.
Su Yan squatted down and saw that there was another small door opened on the door. It was very small and only a bowl could pass through it.
Shi Yangui pulled Su Yan away, "Have you forgotten what I said?"
"Okay," Su Yan said, "someone may live here, come over."
Liang Yi was horrified. "Someone lives here? This place is clearly deserted. Is it really a ghost?"
Yu Xian said: "If it is a ghost, then there is no need to eat."
"Uh," Liang Yi was quick-witted and changed his mind, "Is someone raising a ghost?"
Yuxian: "..."
Shi Yanli thought of something else, "Could this be..."
Su Yan asked: "What?"
Shi Yanli said anxiously, "This seems to be someone's residence."
He looked at Shi Yangui again.
Su Yan understood that Shi Yanli did remember it, but because Shi Yangui was still there, he didn't dare to say it out loud.
Shi Yan returned to check the door.
The door was locked on both the top and the bottom, and all the windows were nailed shut, as if someone didn't want the people inside to come out.
There are too many locks and they are complicated and require keys.
Considering that breaking in might destroy evidence, Su Yan and his companions did not go in for the time being.
After a long time, Shi Pei came hurriedly, "What are you doing?"
"Fashion Book, you have to explain this. Isn't there anyone living here? What's going on with the food?"
Shi Pei was stunned for a while, and asked curiously: "Someone else is delivering food? This... I really don't know."
Su Yan asked: "Who lives here?"
Shi Pei also looked at Shi Yangui, "Second brother's concubine used to live here."
No wonder Shi Yanli didn't dare to say it.
"After my second brother left, my concubine also died suddenly. Logically, no one should be living here now."
"But the fact is that until now, there are still people delivering meals here on time."
Shi Pei shook his head, "I really don't know, I seldom come here."
Shi Pei didn't seem to be telling lies.
What's more, Shi Rong's concubine had nothing to do with him, so there was no need to tell lies.
Su Yan said: "Then call all the maids nearby. If someone delivers meals on time, every day, they will see something."
As for who lives in the room, we have to open the door and go in to see.
These locks were added later, and Shipei doesn't have the keys.
Shi Yangui found a window and ordered someone to remove the wooden board.
Entering through the door would be more convenient, but considering that the people in the house might often move around the door, in order not to destroy the evidence, they chose to open a window that was more remote.
Soon, the boards nailed to the windows were removed.
Su Yan picked up the wooden board and looked at it carefully, saying, "These boards are quite old, and the people inside have been locked in here for a long time."
Judging from the board, it's been there for more than ten years.
Liang Yi was afraid of ghosts just now, but now he is afraid of people. After hearing Su Yan's words, he was even more horrified, "Why did you lock someone up for more than ten years?"
Shi Pei was slightly embarrassed, "I really don't know about this."
If this matter were to spread out of the mansion, it would probably affect the reputation of the Shi Mansion.
Before defeating Zhao Mingde, the Shi family's reputation cannot have any problems.
He whispered, "Please keep this a secret."
Su Yan didn't care much about these things. Shi Yanli had already promised to find a portrait for her anyway. As for the twists and turns in the court, she just let them do whatever they wanted.
Shi Yangui jumped in first.
He looked around before saying, "No one's on the first floor."
Shi Yangui took Su Yan in.
There was nothing in the compartment.
There were no ornaments, no beds, only some hay piled in the corner.
The maid handed him the lantern, and Su Yan was able to see more clearly, and he was even more surprised.
There was excrement on the ground.
There are many of them, big and small, and the people who live here have no dignity at all.
I live on that bowl of stale rice every day.
The windows were sealed shut, and the only light came from near the door, but that little light wasn't of much use at all, as he lived in a place without sunlight.
"This..." Shi Pei's voice was trembling, "I really don't know this."
Su Yan said nothing. She held the lantern close to the ground and walked to the door.
There were only vegetable leaves with rice grains near the door.
I don’t know what year the leaves are from, they have already rotted.
Further in is the haystack. He comes here to eat every day, then goes back to sleep, over and over again.
Su Yan said: "The food outside the door was delivered recently. He didn't take it away, so he may have left a long time ago."
Yu Xian asked fearfully, "Is that the ghost I saw?"
"When did you meet him?"
"Three days ago."
Three days ago, I had enough time to poison the old lady.
Su Yan's heart was slightly moved, "The people who live here have been here for at least ten years. Are you sure that the second master's concubine has died suddenly?"
Shi Pei said: "This matter was handled by my second sister-in-law. I don't know much about it, but my second sister-in-law has already gone to bed. I'm afraid I have to wait until tomorrow to ask her."
Su Yan said: "If it's not that concubine, could it be someone else imprisoned here, such as..."
For example, Shi Lin who eloped.
Su Yan cares about this person very much.
The jade pendants of other people in the Shi Mansion are still there, the only one that is missing is his.
Shi Pei laughed, "That's impossible. No one would lock up Fourth Brother."
Su Yan was unwilling to give up. "Didn't he elope with someone? Eloping doesn't sound good, does it?"
Shi Pei said: "Only a few people know about this, and we will never tell anyone. Mother loves our fourth brother the most, and although he is... we will not be so cruel as to lock him up."
"How about it though?"
Shi Pei said nothing.
Su Yan looked at Shi Yangui, and Shi Yangui said, "There is no need to hide it now."
"Well," Shi Pei said, "Back then... before His Majesty ascended the throne, the late emperor's empress had a general in her mother's family."
The empress of the previous emperor should be the current empress dowager, but Shi Pei did not address her as such. Apparently something happened to the empress.
"At that time, Zhao Mingde was extremely powerful, and the eunuchs controlled the government, which was even more rampant than it is now. Almost no one could compete with them. Now many of Zhao Mingde's followers have been eliminated, and it is no longer comparable to the past."
Zhao Mingde's current power cannot be underestimated, and it is enough to imagine his power back then.
"The Empress's maternal family, the Yan clan, attempted to exterminate the eunuchs. General Yan formulated a plan to clean up the eunuchs in the palace, and many officials participated. However, the news leaked out during the process, and Zhao Mingde prepared in advance. General Yan was beheaded, and all the other officials who participated were also executed. It is said that at that time, the capital was full of blood, and no one dared to go out even in broad daylight."
Liang Yi asked: "Is this related to Shi Lin?"
Shi Pei nodded, "Fourth brother and the Queen's sister were childhood sweethearts. The Yan family was executed, so naturally she couldn't escape. Fourth brother left with her."
No wonder the Shi family never dared to mention this matter.
When it comes to Shi Lin, he is also vague.
If this were to get out, Shi Fu would indeed be doomed.
But now that I sometimes come back late, the situation is very different.
"We only told the public that our fourth brother had died of illness. A few servants in the mansion still knew about this, but their indentures were all in the mansion, and they were death indentures. So the person here cannot be our fourth brother, and we will not treat him like this."
The Yan family was liquidated because they failed to eliminate the eunuchs. Their purpose is basically the same as the current purpose of the Shi family.
For some people, the Yan family was exterminated for justice.
After hearing this, Su Yan felt inexplicably nervous.
Shi Yangui looked at Su Yan for a moment and said, "Since it's not the fourth uncle, it can only be the mother."
Shi Pei nodded. "In fact, this place has always been managed by my second sister-in-law. We have never interfered. My second sister-in-law told us that this yard should be kept as it is and not moved. It's just a yard. There is no reason to refuse."
They had to search the entire yard before daybreak.
Shi Pei called a servant to place oil lamps in various places in the small building, so that there was more light.
Several people searched the room carefully.
The gate was open. Yan Zheng heard the noise and rushed over with his men. After seeing the situation in the room, he frowned and covered his mouth, "What is this?"
Su Yan said: "Captain Yan has arrived at the right time, let's go together."
Yan Zheng: “…”
I shouldn’t have come here if I had known.
Liang Yi suddenly shouted: "Su Yan, come and take a look, there seem to be traces of burning here."
Liang Yi held the lantern so that Su Yan could see more clearly.
The area around the burn marks has been cleaned up, and some unburned hay foam can be vaguely seen.
"It seems like here..." Su Yan used a thin branch to stir the ashes, and a tiny silver ball rolled out.
"It's mercury."
Liang Yi: “Ah?”
Su Yan said: "A panacea."
Liang Yi understood, it was the poisonous thing.
"The murderer is the person who lives here?"
Su Yan was puzzled and asked, "But logically speaking, the people here are locked up. If they are locked up, where can they find the mercury and where did they get out?"
That person is not in the yard now.
The discovery of mercury in the room could only mean that he had most likely already escaped from the courtyard.
Su Yan said: "Yu Xian heard a strange noise before, there may be a passage out here, let's look for it."
Su Yan held the candle and focused on looking near the door and windows.
Shi Yanli walked to Su Yan and whispered, "Miss Su, if the murderer is someone who lives here, Miss Su should not investigate."
Su Yan said: "I am just a coroner. I am doing what Captain Yan told me to do."
Shi Yanli looked at Shi Yangui who was also looking for a way out, and lowered his voice, "Or you can discuss it with your second brother first. You two have a close relationship, so it won't go wrong to discuss it first."
Su Yan asked: "Is the person living here related to Chen Lian?"
Shi Yanli didn't expect that she saw everything, and said awkwardly: "It must be my aunt who locked him in here."
Su Yan had already thought of it.
She asked, "Is she the second master's concubine?"
Shi Yanli nodded, "Back then, they said he died suddenly, but no one saw the body, and she didn't allow us to get close to this place. I think my parents and mother should have figured it out."
It makes sense that the imprisoned concubine escaped and killed the old lady in revenge.
Su Yan said: "I think you should worry about something else."
Shi Yanli: “?”
"If it was really the concubine's revenge, who would she want to take revenge on the most?"
Shi Yanli was stunned for a moment, "Could it be..."
Su Yan said: "Instead of worrying about this place, it is better to send someone to invite the second lady over so that she can be better protected."
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