Chapter 189: Bandits

When the maids heard that another person from the Feng family had died, and that it was Mr. Feng whom they had just met during the day, they all panicked: "What's going on in the Feng family? People keep dying. Could it be that the Suihouzhu really has a curse?"

Ming Huashang's mind was surprisingly calm. She stood up and calmly said to Jinbao and the others, "Put away your things, put out the candles, lock the door, and then go back to the backyard. I'll go check on Feng's family."

The maids hurriedly said, "Madam, you can't do that. It's so dark now. It's too dangerous for you to go out alone without Erlang. Besides, one person dies in the Feng family every day. It's really too weird. Maybe there's really a curse. Why not wait until tomorrow when the Yang energy is strong and ask a few monks and Taoist priests to go over. You can't put yourself in danger."

Ming Huashang said, "It's all right. Even if there really are ghosts and gods who harmed people in Shangzhou, they must be punished. Since I am the wife of the governor, and the governor is not in the government office, it is my responsibility to come forward. Jinbao, you stay at the government office, Bian Kai, you call everyone and follow me to Fengzhai."

Ming Huashang was kind and cheerful on weekdays, but when she was serious, she was as firm as Li Huazhang in her words. Everyone tried to persuade her for a while, but Ming Huashang remained unmoved. The maids and guards had no choice but to do as Ming Huashang ordered.

Not long after leaving, the carriage of the governor's mansion stopped at the gate of Feng's mansion again. Feng's mansion was now in chaos. In just three days, the three male masters of the Feng family died, and the housekeeper was nowhere to be found. People were panicked for a while. Everyone thought that it must be because Old Lady Feng bought the Suihou Pearl and provoked something unclean, bringing a curse to the Feng family.

If this continues, the entire Feng family will die!

The servants were running around the house with their belongings, and they almost bumped into Ming Huashang several times. When Baozhu heard that Ming Huashang had arrived, she hurried over to greet her: "Your servant is here to see Princess Yong. It's so late, why are you here?"

"Another murder has occurred in the Feng family. How can the government just sit back and do nothing?" Ming Huashang asked, "Where is the person who reported the case?"

Baozhu sighed: "In the Zhaixing Building."

Baozhu led the way, and the guards cleared the way. Ming Huashang soon found the yamen runner left by Li Huazhang at Feng's house. He was the first to discover that Feng Dalang was dead. The yamen runner looked very scared. Li Huazhang ordered them to guard the crime scene. Tonight, when he was on duty, he vaguely heard voices upstairs. He took a knife and went upstairs to find out what was going on. He found that Feng Dalang Feng Kun was lying on the third floor with a hole in his neck and bleeding. The yamen runner did not dare to be careless and quickly asked his companions to go back to the government office to report to the governor.

Ming Huashang was standing on the third floor. Old Lady Feng's recliner was shaking alone, and there was another corpse on the ground.

Feng Dalang, who was so proud of himself a few hours ago, was lying on the floor, dead. His throat was cut by a knife, and dark red blood flowed from his neck to the ground, dripping down the wooden board. His eyes were wide open, and his hands were grasping upwards, as if he was fighting against the sky for something.

Ming Huashang asked: "Was he like this when you found him?"

"Yes. Seeing that another person had died, I did not dare to act on my own and hurried to call for help."

"Did anyone come near you during that time?"

"No." The yamen runner couldn't help but shudder after saying this, "Princess, there is something really weird about their family. I have been guarding downstairs, and no one approached the Zhaixing Tower all night. I don't know why Feng Dalang died in the building. Is there really a curse on the Feng family?"

The yamen runners were used to seeing life and death, but faced with this scene, they were all a little scared. Yes, if it wasn't a curse, how could Feng Dalang, who was sleeping soundly in his bedroom, suddenly appear in Zhaixing Tower and die inexplicably? When the yamen runners found the body, the blood was still hot, but they couldn't see the murderer at all.

Only a curse can explain this series of strange things happening in the Feng family.

The wind blew in from the window, and the fire shadows swayed rapidly on the floor. A yin energy attached to the bones. The exquisite and gorgeous vases, tables and chairs stood quietly, exuding a strange and cold feeling in the changing light and shadow, as if this was a house inhabited by ghosts. The yamen runners thought of the two deaths on this floor, and they were all sweating. One of the yamen runners swallowed his saliva and said cautiously: "Princess, it's almost midnight. I heard that the yin energy is the heaviest at midnight. Why don't we wait until dawn to come and see?"

The yamen runners present were all tall and strong. They looked around in fear and were not as calm as Ming Huashang. Ming Huashang did not believe that the curse would kill people. Suihou Pearl was a magical creature born from nature and nurtured by heaven. How could a family be destroyed because of a pearl?

Sui Houzhu would not be so evil. Only human hearts can be so vicious.

Ming Huashang did not reply to the yamen runner's words. She put aside all distracting thoughts and scanned the third floor inch by inch.

When she came to the third floor last time, the body of old lady Feng had been transported to the government office. Li Huazhang was afraid of destroying the scene, so he did not let anyone move the furnishings on the scene, but only put a seal on it. Everything was in the most comfortable place, the screens were arranged in an orderly manner, the furniture was clean and tidy, and the recliner was placed with a pillow that just fit the curve of the back. When sleeping on the recliner, you can get the teacup without getting up, and you can see the treasure box as soon as you look up. If you want to stand up, you can reach the crutches by raising your right hand.

But now, the position of the cane has changed. Before, the cane was placed on the right side of the recliner, but now it is on the left side of the recliner. The position of the screen has also changed, moving outward a few inches, there is mud on the ground, the keyhole of the box at the back is not closed, and the curtains are also messed up.

In the eyes of the yamen runners and others, nothing was missing on the third floor and there was clearly no change. However, in Ming Huashang's eyes, they were two completely different spaces.

Seeing that Ming Huashang remained silent for a long time, Baozhu asked tentatively, "Princess, is it too cold upstairs? I'll have someone bring you a brazier."

"No need." Ming Huashang refused. She took the torch from the yamen runner, slowly walked to Feng Kun's side, and used the firelight to illuminate the corpse.

Everyone was a little scared when they saw this scene. Baozhu asked tentatively, "Princess, what are you looking at?"

Ming Huashang remained silent. After a while, she suddenly spoke up: "Someone, pry open this piece of wood."

The bailiffs were confused and said, "Princess, these are wooden planks that can't be pried open."

"No, there is a secret passage here." Ming Huashang pointed to the bloodstains on the floor. "The blood is flowing everywhere else, but only on this wooden board is the blood flowing down. There must be something wrong here."

The guards were banging on the floor. Ming Huashang was bored waiting, so she picked up the dove stick and played with it. Suddenly, a frightened voice of the guard came from behind: "Princess, there is really something under here!"

Ming Huachang turned around and saw that a wooden board had actually been lifted up where Feng Kun was pointing, revealing a dark hole underneath. A high, narrow and steep staircase led to the hole, winding and twisting, and no one knew where it led to.

The bailiff looked down with a torch and felt an inexplicable chill: "Princess, what is this?"

"What is this? You have to ask the Feng family." Ming Huashang turned around and looked at Baozhu, "Miss Baozhu, why is there a secret passage in Zhaixing Tower? Where does it lead to?"

Baozhu's eyes widened, and she was also shocked by this secret passage: "Princess, please forgive me, I didn't know. I am just a maid in the inner courtyard, and I only take care of the old lady's room. I really don't know how there is a secret passage in the mansion."

Ming Huashang looked calm and said in an orderly manner: "Since there is a secret passage on the third floor, it means that there must be other entrances to Zhaixing Tower, and it is not necessary to go upstairs through the main gate. So even though the guards did not see anyone approaching, the murderer and Feng Kun had already gone upstairs through the secret passage. I don't know whether they had made a special appointment or met by accident, but they met on the third floor, and that was the voice heard by the gatekeeper. But the two may have had a conflict, and the murderer stabbed Feng Kun in the throat and escaped through the secret passage. When the guards came up, they only saw the corpse, so they thought Feng Kun appeared out of thin air."

Ming Huashang closed her eyelashes slightly and whispered, "It seems that after the midnight on the third day of the Lunar New Year, there might be someone going upstairs."

The people around were confused and asked, "Princess, what does this mean?"

Ming Huashang paused and said, "There's no rush to think about this. Someone, bring some cigarettes and see where this secret passage leads to. Gather all the people in Feng Mansion. If anyone refuses to come, they will be treated as suspects."

Ming Huashang was calm and composed when giving orders, which was very shocking, and everyone hurriedly followed his orders. The officers and soldiers smoked the secret passages upstairs, Baozhu went to each courtyard to summon the masters and servants of the Feng Mansion, and Ming Huashang went to the main hall for the gathering. However, the stairs of the Zhaixing Building were too steep, so Ming Huashang could only hold the old lady Feng's cane and go downstairs carefully.

Madam Feng Da and Madam Feng Er were frightened by the curse, and suddenly heard that Princess Yong had come and asked everyone to go to the main hall. They didn't understand why, but they had to do it anyway. When they changed their clothes and put on makeup, and brought many maids and servants to the place, the servants from other courtyards had already gathered.

Ming Huashang sat in the main seat, and Mrs. Feng Da and Mrs. Feng Er sat on the left and right, and Baozhu stood at the side with her hands hanging down. Mrs. Feng Er's eyes were swollen, and she asked: "Princess Yong, it's so late, why did you call us here?"

Ming Huashang glanced at the crowd and said to Mrs. Feng, who was sitting aside and wiping her tears, "Madam, please accept my condolences. We originally left guards for Feng Dalang, but Dalang said that the servants of the Feng Mansion were enough to protect him and there was no need for soldiers to follow him, so we did not force it. Unexpectedly, a tragedy still happened. Madam, when did Feng Dalang go out?"

Mrs. Feng was still rejoicing yesterday that Mrs. Feng had become a widow early, but she didn't expect that it would be her turn in the blink of an eye. She wiped her tears with a handkerchief and said, "I don't know. I was sleeping soundly, and was suddenly woken up by the maid, who said that Dalang had died. Then I realized that Dalang had disappeared at some point. How could this happen? Dalang was fine when he came back at night. He was in high spirits, drank two glasses of wine, and told me that he wanted to rest early today. Who knew..."

Mrs. Feng Er sat aside with her hands hanging down and laughed coldly. Feng Dalang was so happy to drink after Feng Erlang died. He deserved to be stabbed to death!

Ming Huashang nodded and asked, "Does your courtyard lock the door at night? Who has the key?"

“鑰匙在看門婆子……哎呀。”封大太太皺眉，這才意識到，“今夜好像沒鎖門。大郎說他會照應，讓我們不用管了，我就沒再問。”

封大郎不讓人鎖門，入夜後沒驚動封大太太就不見了，看來他是計劃好了主動出去的。明華裳問：“你可知封大郎今夜去和誰見面？”

封大太太搖頭，同樣一片茫然。明華裳轉頭問寶珠：“府裏人都叫來了嗎？”

“各處我都派人去叫了。”寶珠彎腰，低聲和明華裳說，“但外院臨時招募的護院屋裏是黑的，地上被翻得亂七八糟，人都不見了。”

“什麽？”明華裳面色嚴肅起來，問，“他們是哪裏招募來的？”

寶珠搖頭：“不知道，是老太爺和管家找的人。”

明華裳派兩個衙役去外院檢查，沒一會人回來了，對明華裳說：“王妃，屬下去問過了，那群人為首的叫董海，他們行事乖張，封府的人不敢靠近他們，沒人知道他們的底細。他們不知道什麽時候不見了，但屋裏很多東西沒收拾好，應當是倉促離開的。屬下還在角落裏找到了這個。”

衙役将一塊髒兮兮的紅巾遞上來，上面還凝着黑褐色的不明痕跡。明華裳擱着帕子接過，來回看了看，問：“你們可認得這是什麽？”

堂中衆女眷都搖頭，顯然對粗人的東西興趣寥寥。唯有寶珠臉色變了變，遲疑道：“王妃，奴婢記得聽人說過，黃龍山有一群土匪，占山為王，無惡不作，經常劫掠往來商隊。他們會在左臂上系一條紅布巾來區別身份，每次他們下山，只要胳膊上沒有紅布的人，無論老少婦孺，全都殺了，一個不留。老太爺招募的那群江湖游俠，莫非……其實是土匪？”

寶珠的話說完，堂中一片驚嘩，女眷們吓得面無血色，封二太太想到什麽，忙問：“那老太爺、二郎的死，是不是就是他們做的？”

封大太太想到丫鬟說封大郎是被割斷喉嚨死的，悲上心頭：“大郎啊，你的命怎麽這麽苦。爹在世的時候偏心弟弟，好不容易拿回家産，才過了一天舒心日子，就被爹和弟弟引進來的狼害死了。你就這麽去了，讓我們怎麽辦……”

三天前封大太太和封二太太還能裝出妯娌和睦的模樣，但随着封老太爺、封二郎、封大郎接連死去，大房二房的矛盾不斷激化，如今，她們兩人連面子情都維持不住了。封大太太當着全府人的面罵二房，封二太太不甘示弱，也凄凄切切哭了起來。

一時間正堂哭聲連天，哀切不絕。明華裳沒空聽她們哭喪，起身說：“兩位太太情緒激動，不适合議事，我們改日再談吧。寶珠，府裏可有筆墨，我給王爺傳信，讓他調兵剿匪。”

寶珠一聽忙道：“有，王妃請随奴婢這邊來。”

·

夜幕下，一襲人馬逆着霜雪飛馳，一直沒入山影深處。李華章在一個山坳處下馬，守在路口的人忙上前，給李華章行禮：“雍王殿下。”

李華章淡淡揮手，快步走向山坡：“管家人在何處？”

“在山坡底下。他的馬不知怎麽驚了，拖着他一直跑到這裏，這個山坳路險，他沒抓住缰繩，從坡上滾下去了。”

衙役一邊說一邊給李華章比劃，李華章朝黑洞洞的山坡下看了看，伸手：“火折子。”

衙役們忙吹亮火折子遞過來，道：“雍王小心，剛下了雪，下面的路不好走。”

李華章拿着火折子，在山路上如履平地，沒一會就和衙役們拉開距離。山坡上的碎石有滾落痕跡，有些尖角上還挂着血跡，李華章循着血痕，在腦中還原現場。

結合封家和城門守衛的說法，午時封锟找管家商事後，管家就悄悄離開封宅，騎着馬出城了。出城後他沒有走官道，而是專往僻靜人少的小路走，走到這一帶時他的馬驚了，這裏正巧是個陡坡，他沒抓穩從坡頂滾下來，被石頭撞斷了骨頭。

李華章停在一大攤鮮血前，血上落了雪，鮮紅和雪白摻和在一起，邊緣還有拖拽的痕跡，幽幽地十分瘆人。李華章環顧四周，看來這就是管家摔下來的地方了。他剛摔下來的時候應該還沒死，但他斷了骨頭，無法移動，只能拖着腿在地上爬行。李華章順着血跡走，很快看到一具面朝下趴着的身體，正是昨日才和他們說過話的管家。

李華章蹲身，試了試管家的鼻息，毫不意外地收回手。仵作還沒來，無法判斷管家死因，但李華章初步推斷他是骨折後試圖爬到山路上呼救，結果因為失血過多昏迷。而他的運氣也很不好，一直沒有人經過這條路，兼之天公不作美，降下近年來最冷的一個冬天，他就在昏迷中被凍死了。

從現場看，沒有發現其他人的蹤跡，看起來完全是意外墜馬。巧了，繼封老太爺意外中毒、封二郎意外落水後，封府管家也意外墜馬而亡。

意外未免太鐘愛封家了。

這時候衙役們才陸續爬下坡，深一腳淺一腳走到李華章身後。李華章問：“他的馬在哪裏？”

“在前面。他的馬比他好運一點，雖然摔斷了腿，但我們來的時候還活着。看它看着好像不太舒服，一直在叫，我們就是聽到馬鳴聲才找過來的。”

李華章順着衙役指的方向，走了許久才看到一匹馬。馬被寒冷和疼痛折磨良久，已經力竭，看到有人靠近連擡頭的力氣都沒有，垂在地上低低悲鳴。

李華章回頭望向來路，有些意外。管家墜馬後，馬又跑了這麽遠？看這匹馬皮毛油亮，應當是勤于打理、訓練良好的家馬，按理不會犯将人甩下去自己跑的錯誤。

李華章讓人拿着火把照明，他蹲身，輕輕撫摸馬的鬃毛，等馬不再抗拒他後，才仔細檢查馬全身上下。

馬蹄裏并未發現尖刺，鬃毛也清洗得很幹淨，沒有病蟲。李華章注意到他檢查馬背上的毛發時，馬會輕輕抽搐，李華章返回去查看馬背，他目光掃到馬鞍，試着擡起，馬立刻做出強烈反應，悲鳴不斷。李華章意識到問題就出在馬鞍上，忽然他目光一凝，對衙役道：“拿火來。”

衙役忙将火把湊近，借着火光，一道銀光閃過，衙役再一定睛，看到李華章竟然從馬鞍下抽出一根針來。

衙役們倒抽一口冷氣，紛紛道：“馬背上怎麽會有針？是誰這麽不小心。”

“不是不小心。”李華章起身，冷冷道，“有人故意将針藏在馬鞍下，管家剛上馬時，馬沒有異樣，但随着管家騎馬發力，針漸漸從馬鞍紮到馬肉裏。馬被紮痛了就會發狂，管家越用力勒馬，針就紮得越深，馬反而跑得越快，最後管家拽不住缰繩被甩到山坡下，看起來像是意外墜馬。而馬被疼痛刺激，一直跑出去很遠，在這裏摔倒了才停下。”

衙役聽後嘩然：“這是誰幹的，這麽陰毒，簡直防不勝防！”

“會不會是養馬的？只有他們才能接觸到馬。”

衆人各抒所見，李華章欲要說什麽，忽然一怔，腦中飛快閃過一道靈光。

針？

李華章終于意識到困擾他許久的症結是什麽了，霎間豁然開朗。他立刻轉身，手指放在唇邊，倏地吹響馬哨，頭也不回對衙役們道：“回府衙。”

李華章走得極快，他本來預料戰馬會在中途與他會和，沒想到率先到來的不是他的馬，而是一只白鴿。

李華章拆開信箋，字是他最熟悉不過的筆跡，但內容卻用了密語。衙役們氣喘籲籲跑過來，問：“刺史，現在回衙門嗎？”

李華章收起信箋，神色肅然，沉聲道：“不，先去城門。”

·

城門。

守衛在城門口走來走去，不斷往手上呵氣。忽然他眼睛一眯，看到寒風中一夥人朝着城門跑來，他冷着臉，喝道：“停下。來者何人？”

為首的人遠遠停在陰影處，說：“我們奉雍王之命出城。”

“雍王？”守衛上下打量他們，問，“雍王什麽時候下的令？”

“剛才。雍王要查案，讓我們出城尋找證據。”

剛才？守衛下意識往城外看了一眼，雍王半個時辰前剛出城，現在還沒回來，怎麽會吩咐人出城尋證據？他猛地反應過來，正要喊人支援，為首的人感受到不對，已經拔刀朝他捅來。

守衛被一刀捅住腹部，鮮血湧出，張嘴卻說不出話來。來人看起來卻很興奮，他用力抽回刀，看都不看倒下的守衛，高聲對身後的人喊道：“弟兄們，殺出去，幹完這一票，下半輩子我們就發了！”