The maid who spoke was Xia Yu, one of the four big maids. Zhen Shicheng's attitude gave her courage and said, "The maid entered the house at noon the day before yesterday to serve the lady, and unexpectedly found Qiu Lu's eyes red, as if she had cried..."
"So, perhaps Madam Uncle reprimanded Qiu Lu?" Zhen Shicheng guessed.
"Impossible!" Xie Qingyao was quite excited, "My mother has always been kind to them, and I have never seen my mother get angry with them!"
Hearing what Xie Qingyao said, Xia Yu hurriedly lowered his head and did not dare to say a word.
Zhen Shicheng was rather helpless: "Miss Xie, you'd better not intervene when this official is questioning. Your emotions will affect them. There is nothing more important than finding out the truth right now, do you think?"
Xie Qingyao bit his lip, and the circles around his eyes gradually turned red.
Her mother died so tragically, and she is likely to carry the reputation of being harsh on the next person, how can she not be annoyed? But Lord Zhen is right, the truth is the most important thing. Only the truth will stop outsiders' random speculation about the mother.
"Xia Yu, do you think Madam Uncle will reprimand Qiu Lu?" Zhen Shicheng asked again.
Xia Yu hesitated.
Zhen Shicheng glanced at Xie Qingyao.
Xie Qingyao understood and said warmly, "Xia Yu, as long as what you say is true, no one will blame you."
Xia Yu raised his head, looking a little blank: "As the eldest girl said, Madam has always been kind to us, and hardly spoke to us in a loud voice. But the day before yesterday—"
Xia Yu hesitated for a moment, and said: "Looking at Qiu Lu the day before yesterday, it seems that he was really trained—"
"After you went in, did Mrs. Uncle say anything to Qiu Lu?"
"Madam let Qiu Lu go down."
"How is the tone different from before?"
"Madam was a little cold at the time, and Qiu Lu lowered her head and hurried out."
Zhen Shicheng stroked his beard.
Will the scolded maid hold a grudge and kill the master mistress? After murdering, knowing that he could not escape the death penalty, he threw himself in a lotus pond
The female servant came to report: "Sir, the deceased has sand in his mouth and nose. The preliminary judgment is that he drowned, not that he fell into the water after death..."
Zhen Shicheng nodded and said to Yongchang Bo: "At present, there are two possibilities, Qiu Lu threw herself into the water, or was pushed into the water. I don't think the lotus pond is very far from where people live. People pushed into the water and screamed for help should be heard."
"Any of you heard the movement in the garden last night?" Yong Changbo asked the servants in the backyard.
At night, the door from the front yard to the backyard will be locked, and only people in the backyard can hear the movement.
No one answered Yong Changbo's words.
These people may not have heard the movement, or they may have heard it but don't want to cause trouble. Even the head of the family can't pry open everyone's mouth.
"Master Zhen, if Qiu Lu was already unconscious when she fell into the water, would she not be able to make a cry for help?" Jiang Si said.
Zhen Shicheng glanced at the girl.
The woman said, "There are also sand and water plants in the nails of the deceased. From this, it can be judged that the deceased struggled after falling into the water. She should be awake at the time."
Jiang Si took a serious look at the girl.
The female female is about the same age as her, with black hair wrapped in a plain cloth towel, she is a beautiful and neat girl.
Seeing Jiang Shi looking over, the female buddha gave her a slight smile.
Jiang Si was instantly impressed.
She admires all women who rely on their ability to make a living. Although the work is a lowly job in the eyes of the world, it is admirable for a girl to do such a good job.
Jiang Xiang smiled back.
As if she didn't expect that the girl from Xun Gui's family didn't show the strange look she was used to, she was stunned for a moment and lowered her eyes.
"Who else is in Qiu Lu's family?"
"There is an old lady, a brother and a sister-in-law, and a sister." The steward said.
The doorman suddenly said: "Yesterday Bairi Qiulu's sister came to find Qiulu, and then Qiulu hurried out with her sister."
"Uh, how long have you been out?"
The doorman thought for a while and said, "Just over half an hour. Qiu Lu is a family, and their family lives in the alley to the north of Bo's Mansion."
"Is there any difference when Qiu Lu comes back?"
"With a calm face, I don't seem to be in a good mood." The doorman said.
"Since Qiu Lu is a family child, her brother-in-law and sister are all working in the mansion, right?" Zhen Shicheng asked again.
The steward hurriedly said: "Qiu Lu's brother is a loafer. Earlier in the mansion, it was too hard and too tiring to do things. Her sister-in-law gave birth to three children and couldn't come out to work. Her sister was a second-class maid in the mansion because my mother I was sick and took leave to serve my mother. Alas, Qiu Lu is the most prosperous in this family..."
Zhen Shicheng understood, it turned out that the whole family of Qiu Lu depended on Qiu Lu for a living.
"Uncle, ask someone to notify Qiu Lu's family to come over."
Before Yongchangbo sent someone to shout, the high-pitched cries came from far and near.
"Qiu Lu, why did you leave so cruelly—" Several people quickly approached, and the one who cried the loudest was a woman in her thirties.
The steward reminded Zhen Shicheng in a low voice, "That's Qiu Lu's sister-in-law."
"Uncle, Qiu Lu has been serving the lady, but she can't just leave in such a miserable way." The woman cried to Uncle Yongchang.
Uncle Yongchang became annoyed and shouted, "Shut up!"
The servants shook their heads secretly, and whispered to the person closest to the woman, "The lady has passed away."
The woman shuddered and looked at Yong Chang Bo with a frightened face.
Killing Qiandao went out to gamble with money early in the morning. She was so busy taking care of her three children that she didn't even have time to go out. If someone hadn't run away and said that the sister-in-law was gone, she wouldn't know anything.
Madam, how could she be gone
It was really unfortunate. I thought that if Qiu Lu was gone, I would be able to ask for some money from my wife, but now there is nothing...
"Sister Qiu Lu, what did Qiu Lu do when she went home yesterday?" Zhen Shicheng asked.
The woman looked at Zhen Shicheng.
"This is Lord Yin Zhen of Shuntian Prefecture, you can say whatever the Lord asks you!" said Yongchang Bo.
"Oh, why do you ask such a question? We Qiu Lu have not been—"
Zhen Shicheng is very experienced and knows that he can't be polite to such a woman, so he said with a stern face: "Mrs. Bo was killed by someone, and Qiu Lu was supposed to be on duty last night, but was found dead in the lotus pond. If If you don't make it clear, then Qiu Lu is likely to be the murderer who killed the uncle's wife and committed suicide, by then—"
The woman was so frightened that her legs went weak: "Sir, it's impossible for Qiu Lu to kill the lady. Yesterday... Yesterday, my mother-in-law was going to die, so the women asked Caizhu to come and find Qiulu to go back."
Said the woman, she pulled the girl who was standing not far away and pushed it to Zhen Shicheng: "Caizhu, tell this eldest man, is this the case?"
The girl named Caizhu looked at her only thirteen or fourteen years old. At this moment, her eyes were red with tears in the corners of her eyes. She was pushed and shoved by the woman and fell to the ground.
The girl didn't cry in pain, and didn't rush to get up, but raised her head slightly to look at Zhen Shicheng, bit her lip and said, "My sister won't kill anyone, she, she was forced to death by my brother and sister-in-law!"