Chapter 95 Thinking of the Moon

When Ming Huashang appeared, everyone was stunned. Ming Huazhang was the first to react. He immediately walked in front of Ming Huashang, glared at her secretly, and stopped her without saying a word: "My sister is naughty. I am sorry to make the Duke and Jingzhao Yin laugh at me."

Duke Cheng frowned, looking unhappy. Who dared to provoke him now? Jingzhao Yin looked him up and down, asking, "Who is this?"

"This is..."

"I am the younger sister of Ming Shaoyin, the second lady of the Duke of Zhenguo." Ming Huashang rushed in front of Ming Huazhang, raised her voice to suppress his words, "I came to deliver food to my second brother, and accidentally ran into Jingzhao Yin solving a case. I didn't mean to disturb the government. But after hearing about what happened to Mrs. Cheng, I felt very uncomfortable. I knew her once, and I really couldn't bear to see her go away in such an unclear way. Duke Cheng, if you really care about her, would you have the heart to let her become a topic of conversation on the streets, and even be criticized after she is buried in the future? It is better to destroy before you build, find out everything, catch the murderer, and give Mrs. Cheng justice."

Previously, Jingzhao Yin had used personal connections, Ming Huachang had explained the situation to him, but Duke Cheng was unmoved. The dead were not their relatives, so they certainly had no worries when they stood and talked, but after Ming Huachang finished speaking, Duke Cheng fell silent.

When he heard the news, he rushed to pick up his granddaughter without even having time to eat. However, along the way, Duke Cheng still heard a lot of rumors. Some said that Sanniang eloped with someone, but the other party changed his mind and did not show up, so she was killed. Some said that she came to Tongjifang to have an affair. In a short time, even her "adulterer" was made up with details.

It was already a great sorrow for an old man to send off his young son, so how could Duke Cheng tolerate his granddaughter, whom he had doted on since childhood, being told such things? So he was very tough and did not allow anyone from Jingzhao Prefecture to disturb her peace. However, the young lady's words hit the mark and touched Duke Cheng's pain point.

He could issue a gag order to the people in the mansion, and put pressure on Jingzhao Prefecture and Jinwu Guard, but could he control the gossips in the streets? If this matter was not investigated thoroughly, Sanniang would always be accused of eloping or even adultery. How would the elders feel about this? And how would her younger sisters deal with it?

Ming Huashang saw that Duke Cheng was wavering, so she struck while the iron was hot and said, "Duke Cheng, don't worry, I can go to see Sanniang on behalf of the coroner. I will do whatever the coroner wants to see, and then pass the message to them. It will not affect Sanniang's reputation. If you are worried, you can send a servant to follow me, and I will never say no."

This seemed to be the best solution. Duke Cheng sighed and said solemnly, "Okay, I will trust you again for now. If the murderer still cannot be found..."

Without waiting for Jingzhao Yin to try to smooth things over, Ming Huazhang took the initiative to step forward and bowed to Duke Cheng: "This is my duty, and I will do my best. If the murderer is still not found, I will leave it to Duke Cheng and Your Majesty to decide."

Duke Cheng said nothing, but finally acquiesced. Ming Huazhang took Ming Huashang to Duke Cheng's mansion. It would be unacceptable for Jingzhao Yin to be a hands-off manager in such a serious case as the murder of the Duke's granddaughter, so he also went to the Duke's mansion.

In the mansion of Duke Cheng, the women were immersed in the bad news, and there were cries everywhere. When Lady Cheng saw a group of people in official uniforms coming, she looked alert. Jingzhao Yin was full of official rhetoric and stayed out of the matter. Ming Huazhang could only step forward and take the initiative to salute Lady Cheng: "I am Ming Huazhang, Junior Yin of Jingzhao Prefecture, and I pay my respects to Madam Cheng. We deeply sympathize with Madam Cheng's death, but her murderer has not been caught yet, and any woman in Chang'an could be the next victim. I hope Madam will cooperate and allow us to examine your daughter's body. To show respect, I will let my sister do it, and Madam can also send someone to watch."

Ming Huashang heard this and stepped out from behind Ming Huazhang, crossed her arms and said to Lady Chengguo in a very proper manner: "Madam, Madam, please accept my condolences. I, Ming Huashang, have met Lady Cheng several times before. I would like to send Lady Cheng off to seek justice for her and restore her reputation after her death."

When Lady Cheng saw the Duke was there, she knew that Duke Cheng had agreed. Her face was solemn, and she could not tell what she was thinking. She said, "Since you are Sanniang's friend, please come in and see her off. But Sanniang has not been buried yet, so I hope you will leave."

Ming Huazhang bowed and said, "Of course."

After saying that, Ming Huazhang led a group of officials from Jingzhao Prefecture out of the house and closed the doors and windows. Only the women were left in the hall. Since they were all women, they didn't have to be so cautious when talking. Ming Huachang asked, "Madam, can I see Sanniang?"

The Duke's wife sighed and said, "She's in there, from the old house, take her to see it."

A pale lady who almost fainted from crying came forward. Ming Huashang recognized that this was the wife of the prince of Chengguogong, and Cheng Siyue's mother. Ming Huashang hurriedly supported the prince's wife and walked into the inner room.

In the middle of the room stood a wooden board covered with a white cloth. Ming Huashang sighed, and after paying respects to Cheng Siyue, she asked, "Madam, after you brought the third lady back, did you wash her or change her clothes?"

The Crown Prince's wife sobbed and shook her head: "Not yet."

Ming Huashang heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the female relatives were still in grief and had not wiped Cheng Siyue's body. After obtaining the consent of the Crown Prince's wife, Ming Huashang stepped forward and undressed Cheng Siyue.

When she had just convinced Jingzhao Yin and Chengguo Gong, she said that the coroner would give remote instructions and she would do the work. In fact, Ming Huashang herself had learned some basic knowledge of autopsies, and as long as she didn't need to perform an operation, she had enough reserves. After she undressed, she couldn't help but take a breath of cool air.

Cheng Siyue's skin was covered in bruises and purples, and there was hardly any good flesh on her chest and back, and her legs were even more horrible. The wife of the prince could not bear it and turned her head away, sobbing. Ming Huashang felt uncomfortable listening to the crying, but she still held back and continued to examine Cheng Siyue's body.

There were no obvious external injuries on her body, but there were deep bloody marks on her wrists, and the wounds were stained with tiny hemp rope fragments, as if she had been tied up with ropes. Ming Huashang carefully picked out the fragments and put them in the evidence box. Ming Huashang opened Cheng Siyue's eyes and lips and noticed that there were punctate hemorrhages on her eyes.

Was it death from suffocation? Ming Huashang turned over her fingers and uttered a soft "hmm".

There were cyanotic marks on her fingernails, consistent with asphyxiation, but more importantly, the middle finger on her right hand was missing.

Ming Huashang hurriedly asked the Crown Prince's wife: "Madam, are Sanniang's hands normal?"

"Of course." The Crown Prince's wife said, "Her fingers are very beautiful, thin and long. She usually takes good care of her hands."

Was the finger broken accidentally or was it done by the murderer? Ming Huachang took a closer look and noticed that the cut on the broken finger was very clean, the tendons were cut, and the joints were neatly separated.

The joint was handled so cleanly, which meant that the murderer had taken it away on purpose. Ming Huashang suddenly thought of the neatly removed tibia in the Huang Caiwei case.

But why fingers? Why is the middle finger among fingers?

After a careful examination, Ming Huashang carefully helped Cheng Siyue put on her clothes. She went out to report the results to the coroner. In front of Duke Cheng and Ming Huazhang, the coroner did not dare to direct Ming Huashang. In fact, there was nothing to add. The coroner thanked her, "Mrs. Ming, you have examined very carefully. Nothing is missing. Thank you for your hard work."

"It's what I should do," Ming Huashang said. "This murderer is brutal and inhumane. Catching him is to rid the people of harm. I should do my part."

Ming Huazhang said, "After we return home, I will let my sister dictate the information and I will personally write the autopsy documents. Please rest assured, Jingzhao Yin and Cheng Guogong. I wonder if you can ask Cheng Guogong to be flexible and ask someone around Sanniang to come over for questioning?"

The body had been examined, and there was no reason to refuse the interrogation, so Duke Cheng waved his hand and agreed. After all, Duke Cheng was old, and after a whole morning of hard work, his face showed obvious fatigue. Seeing this, everyone asked Duke Cheng to take a break. Jingzhao Yin accompanied Duke Cheng to the study, leaving the hard and trivial errands of interrogation to Ming Huazhang.

Ming Huazhang did not show any resentment or anger on his face. He was calm and composed. He first divided the yamen runners into groups, and then assigned different tasks according to their abilities. The time, location, and content were clearly explained in an orderly manner. The officials took orders and left one by one. Finally, Ming Huachang came up and asked expectantly, "Second brother, what about me?"

Ming Huazhang glanced at her calmly and said, "I want you to go home, what do you think?"

Ming Huashang blinked, staring at him with her big eyes, without saying anything. Ming Huazhang sighed helplessly: "Okay, you stay here and talk to Madam Cheng. There's no need to deliberately ask about anything, just follow your heart and comfort them."

Ming Huashang agreed and said sincerely, "Second brother, you really know how to appoint people to the right positions."

Ming Huazhang glanced at her coldly: "There's no one here, so don't flatter me."

Ming Huashang pouted and snorted softly: "They are obviously praising you sincerely, but they don't know how to be kind."

Jingzhao Prefecture was investigating a case, but Ming Huashang followed along, which was very conspicuous and eye-catching in the eyes of outsiders. Ming Huashang always refused to come to deliver food to her brother, and happened to run into a murder case of someone she knew. She couldn't bear to see the lady of the Cheng family get hurt and wanted to share her brother's worries, so she followed to take a look.

The outside world has long known that the two of them are a perfect match, so it is understandable that they are inseparable. No one would make things difficult for a young lady like her. After Ming Huazhang told Zhaocai to stay with Ming Huashang, he went to do his own thing. Ming Huashang returned to the main hall and continued to talk with the wife of Duke Cheng and the wife of the Crown Prince.

The wife of Duke Chengguo went to the back hall to rest because she was exhausted. The wife of the Crown Prince had powder on her face, and it was obvious that she had just cried again. Ming Huashang had never seen her mother since she was born. When she saw the Crown Prince's wife, she couldn't help but wonder if her mother was the same?

這般代入後，明華裳心裏更難過了。她幹巴巴說着節哀順變，但她心裏知道，沒有哪個母親可以對慘死的女兒節哀。她靜靜陪世子夫人坐着，等對方情緒穩定一點後，明華裳才問：“夫人，昨日三娘子因何出門？”

說起這個世子夫人又是恨又是氣，道：“沒人讓她出門，是她自己偷跑出去的！”

明華裳挑眉，十分意外：“偷跑？”

“沒錯。”世子夫人說道，“她借口要習字，将所有丫鬟都趕出去，不知什麽時候偷跑了。還是等晚上吃飯時我才發現不對，我逼問丫鬟才知，她竟然上午就不見了。我趕緊讓人找，折騰了一宿沒睡，結果第二日卻聽說……”

世子夫人又勾起了傷心事，掩面哭泣。明華裳嘆息，問：“那伺候三娘子的丫鬟呢？”

“還在院裏跪着呢。”世子夫人氣得咬牙，“要不是她們伺候不力，隐瞞不報，月兒怎麽會出事？”

明華裳對此不好評價，她頓了頓，輕聲問：“夫人，可否允我去見見她們？”

明華裳進入程思月生前的院落，一排丫鬟跪在石板上，這麽冷的天氣，她們在外面跪了一天一夜，凍得瑟瑟發抖，有些都已經暈過去了。

丫鬟們見到有人進來，抖得越發厲害，以為夫人要發賣她們。明華裳暗暗嘆氣，說：“你們不用緊張，我奉京兆府少尹所托，來和你們問問話。”

明華裳在屋裏緩慢踱步，仔細查看程思月的用具。一個丫鬟模樣的人站在牆邊，她渾身打擺，站都站不穩，卻還戰戰兢兢給明華裳行禮：“奴婢給大人請安。”

明華裳嘆道：“不用叫我大人，我只是随便問問。三娘子生前喜歡在這裏寫字嗎？”

丫鬟聽到“生前”兩個字，面容凄苦，點頭道：“是。”

“昨日她為什麽要打發你們出去？”

丫鬟同樣茫然：“奴婢也不知，三娘子以前也常常關起門練字，奴婢只以為和往常一樣，并不知娘子會溜走。若奴婢知道三娘子要出門，絕對不敢隐瞞夫人。”

類似的事明華裳也幹過，她知道這種事只要當事人願意，丫鬟就算三頭六臂也看不住。明華裳問：“你們可知她為何出門？”

丫鬟搖頭，顯然是怕明華裳遷怒，眼神瑟縮無措。明華裳換了個問法，又道：“這幾天，她可有什麽異樣？”

“異樣？”丫鬟茫然思索了良久，遲疑說，“前天娘子去花園裏走了一趟，回來後便很高興，一晚上都在試衣服。若說其他的，似乎就沒了。”

試衣服？明華裳仿佛感覺到什麽，問：“三娘子今年多大，可曾定親？”

“娘子今年十六虛，親事尚未說定。”

“她有心儀的郎君嗎？”

丫鬟面露難色，道：“明娘子，我們三娘子是最溫吞聽話的性子，不會私定終身的。”

明華裳知道這種事大家族都很避諱，她沒再執着這個話題，找補道：“我就是随便問問。那她有關系要好，近期來往很頻繁的朋友嗎？”

丫鬟還是搖頭：“三娘子性子溫柔乖巧，手帕交雖有，但也僅限于宴會上說說話，私底下沒多少來往，遠不如和大郎君親近。”

明華裳捕捉到一個新名字：“大郎君是……”

“是三娘子的嫡親兄長，如今在國子監求學。”

明華裳正要詳細問程府大郎的情況，突然外面傳來敲門聲：“明娘子，少尹來了。”

二兄來了？明華裳忙推門出去，她開門時，看到樹梢上一只鴿子展翅飛走。明華裳心中奇怪，程思月養鳥嗎？似乎沒在她屋裏看到鳥食。

但明華章已等在門外，明華裳轉瞬就抛開這個念頭，快步朝他奔去：“二兄！”

明華章負手站在院門外，寒意蕭索，他像是天地間唯一的亮色。明華章拉住她手腕，邊走邊道：“我們要走了，我這就送你回府。”

明華裳驚訝：“你們要去哪裏？”

“國子監。”明華章簡單扼要說，“剛才成國公派人把程大郎君從國子監內叫回來，我們這才得知，昨日程思月去了國子監。程大郎說他是中午散課時看到程思月的，他明明雇人将她送回府，不知為何她卻中途失蹤了。現在我們要去國子監問話，無暇照顧你，我先送你回去。”

明華裳一聽，立刻道：“這麽重要的線索，還磨蹭什麽，你趕緊去忙國子監那邊，我自己帶着招財他們回去就行。”

“不行。”明華章斷然否決，“程三娘子就是在回家中途失蹤的，現在兇徒還沒找到，你讓我如何放心？我親自送你回去。”

程思月死前去了國子監，可以說這是接手案件以來最重大的收獲，說不定兇手就在國子監內。京兆尹、成國公都盯着，如果明華章在這種關頭不奔赴現場，反而忙着送妹妹回家，那他之前付出的努力就白費了，更甚者會影響他的官名，被禦史彈劾。

兩人誰都不肯讓步，對峙了片刻後，明華裳想出一個折中的法子：“二兄，不如這樣，你去國子監，我就留在成國公府，陪夫人聊聊天，順便打聽程思月的事。等你忙完了，來成國公府接我怎麽樣？”

明華章一怔，皺眉道：“你從前和程家不算熟，留你一個人在程府……”

“沒事。”明華裳豪氣沖天地揮手，“人和人都是處熟的，待一會就認識了。”

明華章無言以對，再一次對明華裳的社交能力感到恐怖。他嘆氣道：“那好吧。要叨擾成國公府這麽久，太麻煩人家了，你随我去國公夫人那邊，和夫人說一聲。”

成國公夫人沒想到那位年輕俊朗的少尹走了沒多久，竟然又回來了。這次他身邊帶着妹妹，鄭重給她行晚輩禮：“夫人，我要去國子監問話，無法照顧舍妹，有勞夫人幫我照看她一會，等那邊事了，我立刻來接她。有勞夫人了。”

成國公夫人有些驚訝，成國公府這麽多丫鬟仆婦，照看一個娘子不過順手的事，但明華章如此鄭重地來說，可謂給足了禮數。

成國公夫人目露贊許，早就聽聞明家這一代出了個好苗子，如今看來，鎮國公确實把兒子教養的很好。難怪他多年不再續娶，一心一意撲在獨子上。

這樣芝蘭玉樹、踏實沉穩，遇強權不畏威，遇小節不失禮的郎君，确實值得傾全族之力培養，至于有沒有其他兒子，根本不重要了。

明華章的年紀和她的孫子一般大，成國公夫人越看越滿意，說道：“你一心一意幫三娘查案，是老身該感謝你才是。我那幾個不成器的孫女成天抱怨悶，正好二娘子來了，讓她們姑娘家說說話。你放心去吧，有老身看顧二娘子，不會讓她受委屈的。”

明華章這就放心了，再次行禮說：“多謝夫人。晚輩還有一事，懇請夫人在我來之前，無論如何不要讓她出門，即便她自己提出回家也不行。”

成國公夫人心中了然，長安接二連三鬧出命案，如今府裏有小娘子的人家都人心惶惶，明華裳的年紀和程思月差不多大，難怪明華章放心不下。

對外不卑不亢寸步不讓，對家裏人卻能細心相待，這種郎君實在太罕見了。他們府上的大郎是出名的疼妹妹，可是昨日看到妹妹偷跑出來，也不過是雇車送她回去。

當然，這也不能說程大郎不對，畢竟個人前程最重要，他要忙自己的事，怎麽可能對妹妹親力親為？

由此，才越發顯現明華章的可貴。成國公夫人不禁嘆道：“你們兄妹感情真好，聽說你們還是龍鳳胎？難怪。”

明華裳從進門後就安安靜靜當挂件，聽到成國公夫人說龍鳳胎，她心虛，不由用餘光掃了眼明華章。

他斂下眸子，面容平靜到漠然，看不出在想什麽。他再次對成國公夫人道謝，轉身對明華裳說：“等我來接你。”

明華裳乖巧點頭，他最後看了明華裳一眼，就大步流星往外走去。

他走後，成國公夫人贊道：“君子讷于言而敏于行，他說得少，做得多，便是很多大男人都比不上他有擔當。他當真只有十六歲嗎？”

明華裳與有榮焉，低眸輕輕笑了：“當然。他是天底下最好的人。”

可惜再好也是別人家的郎君，程家如今死了女娘，沒法靠說親來下注，成國公夫人十分遺憾，道：“明娘子就像在自己家一樣，不必拘束。老身派人去鎮國公府通傳一聲，這個關口，別讓你家中長輩誤會。”

其實明華裳出門的時候給家裏留了信，她見到明華章時，明華章立刻就派人回府，告知明華裳和他在一起，鎮國公府并不會不知她的去向。但這終究是成國公夫人的好意，明華裳沒有推辭，笑着道謝。

Ming Huashang's smile was sweet and sticky, like sunshine shining into people's hearts, which greatly comforted the wife of Duke Cheng's granddaughter. Ming Huashang talked with the wife of Duke Cheng, and then went to see the wife of the prince, Cheng Siyue's sisters, and even the maids in the inner house. She fully utilized her advantages of being beautiful and smiling sweetly. In just one afternoon, she got along well with the Cheng family and integrated perfectly, almost ready to move in.

Even Zhaocai couldn't help but sigh, fortunately their wife is lazy, otherwise, the whole Chang'an would be her fish pond.