The place where Du Lingchun held the banquet was in a different garden on the outskirts of the city. Although it looked ordinary from the outside, when Gongsun Zhuoyu stepped out of the carriage and was led in by the maids, he realized that there was something special.
Inside, the eaves and waterside pavilions, pavilions and pavilions are all half-covered and hidden among the flowers and trees. The tens of meters long Chaoshou Veranda is located next to the lotus pond, passing through the rockery and flowing water, and finally leads directly to a lakeside pavilion.
The maid stopped when she led the way, and bowed to Gongsun Zhuoyu and said, "Sorry, forgive me, the company doesn't like others to serve you in close quarters, so I can only wait outside."
Gongsun Zhuoyu glanced at the veranda with only a short distance left, and at the end was a pavilion, surrounded by white curtains, and when the wind blew up, a faint figure could be seen. Nodding his head to show his understanding: "It's okay, I'll go by myself."
He was handsome and unassuming, and the maid's face would blushed if she looked at him too much, and she retreated with a smile on her lips.
Gongsun Zhuoyu went to the Huxin Pavilion, and when he got close, he found that Du Lingchun was reading a book, and he was a little fascinated. I thought it would be better not to disturb, so I stopped three steps away and waited.
There is a low table in the middle of the pavilion, filled with all kinds of precious melons and fruits, which are not often eaten by ordinary people. The floor was covered with a thick fleece blanket, which was worth a thousand dollars. Gongsun Zhuoyu looked at a plate of grapes and felt a little greedy.
Because Du Lingchun was in the mansion, he dressed more casually. Inky hair was loose on her shoulders. Wearing a wide-sleeved red shirt, the skin is as white as snow, and it is feminine to the core.
He held the scroll in his hand, and after reading the current poem, he put it aside, raised his eyes to look at Gongsun Zhuoyu, and laughed out loud: "Master Gongsun has the style of a gentleman. It's been a long time, please take a seat."
Gongsun Zhuoyu didn't stand for a long time. He knelt down and sat down on the opposite side: "Seeing that the company was so absorbed in reading the book, the lower official did not dare to disturb it."
After he finished speaking, he glanced at the poetry collection on the table, which happened to be the page of Li Bai's "Guests in Travel", and the sentence "Lanling wine tulips, jade bowls filled with amber light" came into his eyes.
Du Lingchun saw him looking at the poetry collection, raised his eyebrows, and suddenly waved his sleeves and swept aside: "This company doesn't like reading books."
Gongsun Zhuoyu thought that he didn't like to see you and still looked so energetic, but he was really moody, but he said, "It's okay not to love. The company is a big man, so naturally there is no need to waste time on these trivial matters."
"Trivial matter?" Du Lingchun suddenly laughed, "You are the first scholar to say such a thing."
Just as Gongsun Zhuoyu said, most of the poor people are poor in food and clothing, they can't afford to eat, and there is no money to study. Du Lingchun didn't like those rhetorical things. To him, books were as disgusting as the sourness of literati.
He got up lazily and walked to a fishing rod fixed by the fence. He didn't wear his boots, and a pair of fair and thin feet could be vaguely seen between the crimson hem of his clothes. Du Lingchun took the fishing rod, threw it at will, and suddenly said, "I thought Lord Gongsun would not come to the banquet today."
Gongsun Zhuoyu thought to himself why he didn't come, he had to come, he got up from his position, followed behind Du Lingchun, with a serious face: "Why did the company say such a thing?"
Du Lingchun looked at him sideways, the curvature of his lips seemed to be smiling: "Don't you all think this company is a rootless eunuch, eh?"
It is always quite shameful to mix with the corrupt officials of power and eunuchs. Anyone who maintains a reputation will avoid it.
Du Lingchun gave an example: "For example, who... Zhang Jiji, Zhang magistrate?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu's heart froze when he heard the words, Zhang Jiji's stinky mouth had long ago told him not to talk nonsense. This is good, the drunken slur was directly listened to by the righteous master, isn't it self-inflicted.
In the end, Gongsun Zhuoyu was more loyal, and said a little embarrassedly: "Master Zhang didn't mean it, but it was a drunken slip of the tongue. The company, Haihan, doesn't have to care about such a person."
When Du Lingchun saw the fish mark floating, he raised the fishing rod and retracted the line. There was a lively carp hanging on it: "Really, but everyone else said that they tell the truth after drinking.
Gongsun Zhuoyu nodded and said, "There are people who talk nonsense after drinking."
Du Lingchun originally said it casually. He threw the fishing rod into the bucket, glanced at Gongsun Zhuoyu with a smile, wiped his hands with a handkerchief, and returned to his seat: "Well, for your sake, our company won't care about him."
If you change someone else, you will have to peel off your skin if you don't die. After all, there are very few people in high positions in this world who can talk about it at will.
Gongsun Zhuoyu felt slightly relieved when he heard the words, thinking that Du Lingchun was not as difficult to get along with as rumored, and then went back to his seat: "Has the company stopped fishing?"
Du Lingchun said: "That group of carp was fattened in the pond. If you lose your vigilance, you can catch a bunch of them with a single hook. It's not interesting. Besides, today is to entertain you, don't let other things disturb you. interest."
After saying that, he pulled the jade bell by his hand, and immediately the servants and servants filed in, took away the desserts, melons and fruits on the table, and placed delicious delicacies. Gongsun Zhuoyu quietly moved the plate of grapes to the side and ate a few of them as if nothing had happened. The maid was also very discerning and did not withdraw.
Du Lingchun noticed it and asked, "Do you like to eat grapes?"
Gongsun Zhuoyu said, "It made the company laugh, and the grapes are expensive and not often eaten."
Du Lingchun felt that he was magnanimous, and moved the grapes to his side: "If you like it, eat it. If it's not enough, bring some back home. When you're full, go with me to the prefectural garden to see the excitement."
Gongsun Zhuoyu paused: "Huh?"
Du Lingchun just smiled meaningfully: "Our company is very curious, what kind of tricks they can find out."
Thanks to Gongsun Zhuoyu's quick smearing of oil on the soles of his feet yesterday, the responsibility of investigating the corpse of the Gujing woman fell on Zhang Jiji. He stayed up all night, interrogated all the servants and servants in Bieyuan, and finally discussed with the prefect all night, barely finding out the "truth".
"Returning to the company, the lower official checked it last night. There was a maid named Dan Qiu in the other garden of the banquet yesterday. She disappeared three days ago.
Du Lingchun sat up high, and the corpse found last night was placed in the hall, covered with a white cloth. It was probably cleaned up. Although the corpse still stinks, it did not go straight to the forehead like last night. Hearing Zhang Jiji's words, he did not express his position: "Oh? How did you know that the body was Dan Qiu?"
Zhang Jiji was already prepared, and ordered the maid to present something, which was the wedding dress worn by the female corpse: "Although the corpse has been soaked in the well water for a long time, the clothing and jewelry are still in good condition. Several maids came to identify it, and they all recognized that the embroidery on this wedding dress was made by Dan Qiu, and the hairpin was often worn by her."
Sounds reasonable.
Gongsun Zhuoyu thought about Zhang Jiji, such a pervert, that he even ripped off the clothes of the corpse.
Du Lingchun picked up the teacup, lifted the lid, and skimmed the foam: "How did that person die? Why was he wearing a wedding dress when he died?"
Hearing this, Zhang Jiji glanced at the prefect without a trace, then quickly retracted his gaze, bowed and replied, "Dan Qiu and Bieyuan's deputy housekeeper Lei Quan have a marriage contract, and they will get married next month. , was later assassinated and pushed into the well, that's why this is the case."
After he finished speaking, he ordered a pink-clothed maid to be brought up, bound all over and stuffed in his mouth. He struggled non-stop, and tears made all the powders cry.
Zhang Jiji explained eloquently: "This maid's name is Ling Shuang. According to the people in the house, she has always admired the deputy housekeeper Lei Quan, but He Leiquan and Dan Qiu are in love with each other, and never lied to her. So Ling Shuang is jealous of Dan Qiu, and secretly rejects her."
"On the eve of Danqiu's last disappearance, some people in the mansion saw them pushing and shoving. I think it was because of the accumulation of resentment. Ling Shuang was annoyed for a while, so she pushed Danqiu into the well."
Wonderful, really wonderful. Gongsun Zhuoyu quietly took a sip of tea beside him, thinking that it would be a pity for Zhang Jiji not to tell stories, and at the same time glanced at the corpse without a trace—
Because only half of the bones are left, the white cloth is covered on it, and the outline of the body can be vaguely seen.
Gongsun Zhuoyu's fingertips paused slightly, his brows furrowed, as if he had discovered something, but he thought it was none of his business, so he suppressed it for the time being.
Du Lingchun had nothing to do anyway. Hearing this, he looked at the bound maid and said, "Has she confessed her guilt?"
The prefect interjected: "This lowly maid refuses to admit her guilt, but adults don't have to worry, as long as she is tortured for a few days, she will confess her guilt."
As soon as he said this, Ling Shuang didn't know where the strength came from, but he rushed forward with all his strength, spat out the cloth ball in his mouth, and cried out in a shrill voice: "Sir! Although I had a few arguments with her that day, I would definitely not kill anyone because of it, please enlighten me! Please enlighten me!"
With her hands tied behind her back, she knelt on the ground and kowtowed forcefully. Her hair was messed up, she was really embarrassed, and she cried with tears like rain: "There is an old mother in the slave's house. She has inconvenience in her legs and feet, so she can only rely on the slave to support her. If I die, how will she live, please enlighten me!"
The maid who was standing beside her was also unbearable when she saw this, and the prefect said angrily, "Could it be that just because your old mother has inconvenient legs and feet, can you clear the guilt for this? Come on, take this lowly servant down quickly!"
Immediately, the yamen forcefully dragged her down. Ling Shuang struggled and refused to leave. She kept kowtowing and kowtowing, crying and choking, "Sir, my mother really has inconvenience in her legs and feet, and she can't even walk. please... please..."
There was a splash of blood on the bluestone brick floor, and the head knocked on it with a dull sound, and finally was forcibly dragged and pulled out a bloodstain.
Seeing this, Gongsun Zhuoyu looked away unnaturally and remained silent. Who would have thought that the system would pop up again at some point, hugging his shoulders with his wings and weeping: [Uuuuuu is so pitiful, so pitiful She must not be the murderer] Gongsun Zhuoyu thought that the prefect made it clear that he was just looking for an excuse to quell the matter, who would care if it was the murderer, and pulled the system off with a little disgust: "You graduated from Notre Dame de Paris, every day. I have pity on others, and I haven't seen you pity me."
The system wiped away tears: [I am an honor student who graduated from the Big Star Scum Boy Transformation Academy.]
Gongsun Zhuoyu: "..."
The system continued to wipe away tears: [As a parental official, if you do not clear up the grievances of the people, you are a foolish official]
The fainted officer was punished by electric shock.
Seeing that Ling Shuang was forcibly dragged down, everyone saw that at this moment, Gongsun Zhuoyu, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said, "Lord Prefect, the lower official thinks this case is not that simple."
The prefect was anxious: "Gongsun Zhuoyu, you..."
Du Lingchun raised his hand to stop, and turned to look at Gongsun Zhuoyu: "Master Gongsun, do you think there is any problem?"
There is a problem for sure, and the truth is found out overnight, and everyone knows that there must be grievances. But all the people here are elites, and no one will rashly stand up for a lowly maid and use her meager life to quell Du Lingchun's anger.
Gongsun Zhuoyu bit his head and said, "Xiaguan just has a question."
Du Lingchun's attitude towards him has always been very gentle: "But it doesn't matter."
Gongsun Zhuoyu glanced at the prefect, and then at Zhang Jiji's coward: "According to Mr. Zhang, Danqiu has only been missing for three days, but the corpse recovered from the well was severely corrupted, and it has already turned into bones, and the time of death No less than fifteen days."
Zhang Jiji thought for a moment, "Jizhongshengzhi": "The well water is wet and it is possible that it rots quickly."
Gongsun Zhuoyu said: "No, even if the well water can affect the degree of decay of the body, it is impossible to rot to this extent in just three days, and..."
He measured the height of the skeleton next to him: "This skeleton is most likely a man, not a woman."
As soon as this statement came out, there was an uproar.