"Madam, please go in." The maid helped Yin Yin back into the hall.
Zhao Cheng, Wang Quan, Wu Guang and Sun Peng entered the courtyard, closed the gate, guarded all entrances and exits, and acted in a low-key and quiet manner.
Fu Mingrui saw that the old slave should be the one in charge, so he looked at the old slave and asked, "Who are you, Lord Wang Yi?"
"I am the steward of my master. You gave me the name Wang Fugui, and I have followed you for twenty years." The old slave Wang gave a brief self-introduction.
Fu Mingrui nodded: "When did your master disappear? Where did he disappear? Does your master have an enemy or a mistress? Do you know?"
Wang Laonu frowned and said, "My master... disappeared five days ago, and was..." Wang Laonu hesitated to speak.
Fu Mingrui saw the clue and asked, "Is there something inconvenient to talk about?"
Wang Lao Nu shook his head and said, "My Lord, my Lord's disappearance is strange. I am afraid to say it because I am afraid that my Lord will not believe it."
What kind of people has Fu Mingrui not seen? Indeed, some people feel that they have seen incredible things and dare not speak out, fearing that they will be laughed at or disbelieved by others. For example, someone once said that he saw a person flying in the sky, but Fu Mingrui checked and found that it was a tornado that carried him up.
Therefore, Fu Mingrui has seen a lot of things, and now, there is really nothing that can make him feel unbelievable.
"Just tell me. Be bold." Fu Mingrui asked Wang Laonu to speak boldly.
Wang Laonu nodded slightly and said, "My master came to Beijing to work a month ago, so he has no enemies, acts very low-key, and has no mistress. In the past month, my master has not even been to a brothel. But... since he bought that painting... he has become strange. He often looks at that painting, just for one night..."
"Yes, yes, my lord, he used to dote on me very much. But ever since he bought that painting, he would look at it whenever he had time. It has been a long time since we have slept together..." Yin Yin raised her eyes and looked at Fu Mingrui aggrievedly, her cheeks rosy and her eyes full of spring.
Fu Mingrui frowned slightly and didn't look at Yinyin. He had been investigating cases until now, and this kind of situation often happened: when he was investigating, the young woman of the family began to make eye contact with him.
The four people standing outside, including Zhao Cheng, saw this and smiled without saying anything. They had seen this scene countless times. Some even came to propose marriage after solving the case. After all, their father was one of the top three handsome men in the capital, the lover in the hearts of thousands of girls.
"On the night that Master disappeared, Master was looking at that painting in the room. I remember it clearly..." said Old Slave Wang, recalling, "Because Master's ginseng soup was delivered by me every night, I delivered it to Master as usual. It should have been 15:30 at night. Master... just sat in front of that painting, staring at it. I called out to him, but he couldn't hear me. I came out, closed the door, and then patrolled the house. Then when I went to wake him up in the morning, Master was gone!"
When Wang Laonu said these words, the servants all looked frightened as if they were possessed by evil spirits, and they all touched their arms.
After hearing this, Fu Mingrui looked thoughtful and looked towards the gate: "When you woke up the next day, did you find the gate open?"
The old servant sighed, "I understand what you mean, sir. I think you may have gone out in the middle of the night. But when I got up the next day, the gate was clearly locked from the inside. If you went out in the middle of the night, it would be impossible for you to lock the door from the inside. So, I searched all over, and the front and back doors were all closed, but you were missing. I found it very strange.
"Then why didn't you report the case that day?" Fu Mingrui looked at Wang Laonu solemnly.
Wang Laonu frowned, showing a trace of timidity of a commoner: "Because I am not sure what happened. Although I feel strange, I dare not report to the authorities just because you are not at home this morning. If you really went out to do something, wouldn't I be making a fuss? I will be punished by you."
Fu Mingrui's brows were furrowed. Ordinary people were afraid to take responsibility. This was something he often encountered when solving cases. Many ordinary people were afraid to take responsibility and did not want to cause trouble, which often delayed some cases and even caused key clues to be lost.
But, this is human nature, and he can't do anything about it.
Moreover, the Qian Dynasty was very strict about hierarchy, and the master's affairs were not something that servants could interfere in. The reason why the old slave Wang did not dare to report the case was precisely because of the strict hierarchy. Logically, it should have been Wang Yi's wife who reported the case. Unfortunately, Wang Yi did not bring his wife, but only a concubine, and the status of this concubine was sometimes not as good as that of the old slave who had been loyal to the housekeeper for twenty years.
In the end, it was Lin Zhengying who reported the case.
Fu Mingrui felt that he could not get any more information from him here, so he stood up and said, "I want to see your master's room."
"Yes, please follow me." Old slave Wang led Fu Mingrui into the backyard.
The small courtyard has two yards in front and back and eight rooms, all of which are clear and distinct.
Wang Laonu pushed open the door of Wang Yi's bedroom and said, "This is the master's bedroom. The painting is hanging on the wall." Wang Laonu specifically pointed to the painting on the wall.
Fu Mingrui looked at him and asked, "Do you think... your master's disappearance is related to that painting?" After all, this old servant was close to Wang Yi and must be very familiar with Wang Yi's living habits, otherwise Wang Yi would not have let him come to Beijing to be a housekeeper. The person who entrusted the family must be a very trusted person.
If a person's habits suddenly change, there must be something wrong, and many clues can be deduced from this.
Wang Lao Nu seemed to be hesitant to speak, and from time to time he secretly glanced at the painting, with an expression on his face as if he was looking at an evil thing: "My lord, there are some things that I dare not say. But it is true that after buying the painting, my lord has changed a lot, as if... he was possessed by an evil spirit. He stares at the painting every day, and sometimes even talks to himself. He is very cautious..." At the end of what he said, Wang Lao Nu did not dare to look at the painting anymore and lowered his head.
If it were in the past, Fu Mingrui would not have believed it and would have thought that it was just ignorant people who were imagining things and making weird assumptions.
But since so many things happened and he saw ghosts in the underworld, some weird things will now be included in Fu Mingrui's suspicions.
Fu Mingrui stood outside the bedroom. The bedroom was very clean, but for some reason, there was a faint smell of blood in the air. Their Eight Doors handled criminal cases, so the places they visited most often were naturally the crime scenes. Therefore, he was very familiar with the smell of blood.
It was this bloody smell that made him suspicious. How could there be a bloody smell in a clean room
He looked at Wang Laonu and said, "Butler Wang, have you ever entered this room since your master disappeared?"
Wang Laonu shook his head repeatedly: "Of course not, the master is not here, his bedroom cannot be entered casually."
Fu Mingrui believed what Wang said. The relationship between master and servant was full of formalities. If the master was not at home, the servant would be punished if he entered the master's room at will. (To be continued)