The night was like splashing ink, and a group of people set off from the gate of Wu Zhaohou's mansion and went straight to Guang'an Street in the east of the city.
The long night in the midsummer of April was still a bit chilly. Bo Ruoyou was sitting by the window, the cool wind rushed in from under the curtain, and she flinched a bit when it was blowing straight. Putting it on, Bo Ruoyou blinked. In the past, she would have rejected it, but now she accepts it calmly. She closed her skirt and raised the corners of her lips.
Huo Weilou held her hand again and felt that her hands were cold. He held her hand in his palm and said in a solemn voice, "If you have any thoughts in the future, please tell me first. Mocha doesn’t need you to run, if you run into someone bad, how can only Zhou Liang protect you?”
His serious face made Bo Ruoyou think of the elderly elders, her smile fell into her pupils, her brows and eyes were soft, "Master Hou has been busy investigating the gold ointment for the past two days, and I haven't If there is evidence, I always want to get some more clues to tell Hou Ye, Hou Ye can rest assured, I have a sense of propriety, and I will not do anything that involves danger."
Although Huo Weilou didn't completely agree with it, we can see that she looked at the gentle and kind words but she had a strong idea, so she had to bear with the rest of her words, "Today the Tai Hospital has been consulted in the south of the city, but there is still no way to detoxify, I told them the golden ointment It was made of Beauty's Laugh, but someone found the medicinal fruits and seeds of Beauty's Laugh in Da Nei Pharmacy, but most of them have never heard of the method of making up Beauty's Laugh, and it doesn't help much."
Bo Ruoyou's heart sank slightly, "How is the son today?"
Huo Weilou's eyes were slightly cold when he heard the words, "Although it's not as difficult as when the poison came out, but today I haven't eaten all day, and I was force-fed some porridge by Fu Gonggong in the evening, but I vomited it out in a short time. Difficult."
Bo Ruoyou had no choice but to appease Huo Weilou. Huo Weilou squeezed her palm and continued to talk about Song Yu's death, "The two people Song Yu met before his death were all related to the gold ointment. After two days of interrogation in the prison, Song Yu asked him A wealthy gentleman named Li who entered the mansion was the first person to sell gold ointment in the capital, and later the gold ointment spread, and he was also the one who contributed to the flames."
After a pause, Huo Weilou continued: "He has a lot of connections in the Southwest. Due to the lack of control, the several state capitals in the Southwest are now more severe than the capital. The imperial court has sent patrol envoys to the Southwest, but it will take half a month. You can only get there, and you have seen the person who sold this thing in the southwest, and guess who it is."
This is the first time that Huo Weilou has described this matter in such detail, and she never thought that she would have seen the person who sold this thing in the Southwest!
Being able to do such a business must not be an ordinary small business hawker, and when it comes to famous merchants and rich people, she doesn't recognize anyone. When this thought came out, Bo Ruoyou suddenly frowned, no, seeing her or seeing a of…
"Could it be... the Shen family?"
When returning to Beijing, he took the boat of the Shen family, and Shen Ya was the young master of the Shen family. After thinking about it, Bo Ruoyou found that only the Shen family was as rich as the Shen family who could control the flow of the gold ointment.
Huo Weilou's eyes showed affirmation, "It is the Shen family. The Shen family originally made their fortune in the south. They found this thing last year, and then bought it in the southwest, and then sold it privately. Now it is quite large. Years ago, the southwest The land has benefited a lot, so they moved the idea of transporting the goods to the capital, and the rich gentry surnamed Li who Song Yu invited to the mansion before his death was an old friend of the Shen family who relied heavily on the capital."
Bo Ruoyou's scalp tingled when he heard it. The Shen family is the richest family in the Zhou Dynasty. If they are selling this thing privately, one can imagine how many people in the southwest are taking it. "Could it be that Mr. Song is also involved in this matter?" middle?"
Huo Weilou spoke in a low voice, and then told her in more detail, "The corruption in Qinshui County can only be found in the household department, and it is difficult to move forward. Because of some errors in several key account books, we found Song Yu. Yu Yi had been aware of it for a long time, but at this moment, he was poisoned and killed. Once he died, the clues were cut off. Now that these people are all related to the gold ointment, we suspect that the corruption of the household department is also related to the gold ointment to some extent. related."
Bo Ruoyou opened her eyes, "Could it be that... the money that the person behind the scenes embezzled was used for the gold ointment business?"
Seeing her, Huo Weilou could tell, the corners of his lips were slightly curved, and his eyes revealed joy, "Now we are going back to the source with the clues of the golden ointment scattered in the capital, but if we can find the person who poisoned Song Yu right now, it will save us less time." A lot of work."
There are a lot of merchants selling gold ointment privately in the capital. Although the direct envoy is quick to act, it takes a lot of effort to trace the clues one by one. The case can be solved directly, and it can also be known whether the corruption of the Ministry of Finance has something to do with the gold ointment.
Huo Weilou looked at Bo Ruoyou with deep eyes, clearly showing a bit of eagerness, Bo Ruoyou was uncomfortable being watched by him, and said in a low voice: "It may not be possible to find the murderer this time—"
Huo Weilou's voice softened, "Whether you can find it or not, you have done an excellent job."
The enthusiasm of his words fell on her face, which immediately made her heart beat faster. He was first the superior person she admired, and now he is the person who holds her hand and looks at her with gentle eyes. She would be shy if someone praised her, let alone in such a situation, she felt a little short of breath, and the already cramped and dark compartment suddenly heated up.
"I... I have nothing to do... I wonder if I can do something..."
Bo Ruoyou leaned back, her voice was low and soft due to shyness, it was not as calm and indestructible as usual, Huo Weilou looked at her like this with more enthusiasm in his eyes, and when he spoke again, his voice Low and hoarse, as if his throat was scorched by strong alcohol, "You are like this, why do you do it?"
Bo Ruoyou blushed, "I'm the author, this should be..."
Huo Weilou squeezed her hand, "You haven't told the truth."
He looked at her earnestly, Bo Ruoyou retreated irrevocably, and seeing the hope in his eyes, she felt a tingling sensation on her back for no reason, she swallowed with difficulty, and was finally defeated, "I ... I want to make Master Hou run smoothly, but I'm weak and I don't know if I can help Master Hou, so I'm lucky today."
She has always been determined and calm, and she has never been ashamed even when she is underestimated and humbled by others, but after all, she has a lot of powerlessness in front of him who is in a high position. Huo Weilou understood it, the dim light in his eyes dimmed, and he leaned forward to leave her even more Get closer, "You are not Li Wei, you are the person who has the greatest influence on me in the world, and you have done more than many incumbents. You make me feel at ease and I can't control myself, and no one makes me—"
Bo Ruoyou's heart was fluctuating while listening, but his voice stopped abruptly, and he couldn't help asking: "What?"
Huo Weilou paused, his eyes burning, "It makes me want to do something inappropriate."
Bo Ruoyou didn't understand at first, and then her eyeballs moved, and her face slowly became ablaze. Although he didn't say it was very red, she also thought that it must be a very intimate matter between a man and a woman, and she held her breath. Suddenly, a thin layer of sweat burst out of the palm held by him, and the numbness spread from her heart. She wanted to stay away from him, but her heart beat like a drum and couldn't move.
After Huo Weilou said this, he took a deep breath, straightened up suddenly and backed away a little, his eyes were full of restraint and patience, but he was still reluctant to let go of her hand, "In short, I don't like you belittle yourself, even if you don't have anything I just do it right in front of my eyes, and I feel happy, and there is no difference between you and me."
She did say this, and Huo Weilou obviously remembered it, and Bo Ruoyou felt a little sore in her heart. She collected herself and knew that he would not be angry, so she retorted: "But Lord Hou and I do have different identities. .”
Huo Weilou twitched the corners of his lips helplessly, his face was hidden, but his tone contained resentment, "So what about the high position? I haven't seen you fulfill my wish."
Bo Ruoyou knew what he was talking about, and retorted: "Who made Hou Ye's wishes out of date..."
Huo Weilou was noncommittal, but also meaningfully agreed, "Well, yes, I do have a lot of untimely thoughts—"
His eyes seemed to be scalding, Bo Ruoyou's pupils trembled, and he didn't dare to refute him anymore.
The carriage galloped all the way, and when it arrived at Guang'an Street, the lights of the entire long street were still dimmed brightly, and a group of people stopped directly in front of the Wei Family Tea Shop. After coming out, the attendants of the Hou's Mansion cleared away the guests in the teahouse first, and then Huo Weilou took Bo Ruoyou out of the carriage.
After entering the lobby of the tea shop, one can see that the decorations are elegant and elegant, and there are musicians and singers often present, which is much more interesting than ordinary tea shops. When Huo Weilou stood still in the hall on the first floor, the shopkeeper was already frightened. His complexion was slightly pale, and after he stepped forward to salute, he looked puzzled again, Huo Weilou glanced at the tea shop lightly, pointed to the back hall, "Go and search first."
The shopkeeper looked anxious, "Hou, Lord Hou, I don't know what mistake the shop made?"
Huo Weilou naturally wouldn't answer his question, the shopkeeper said again: "But for the matter of the gold ointment? Please be informed by Lord Hou, all the gold ointment in the small shop has been handed over to the government, and the villains take this as a warning, and dare not privately It's sold."
The attendants entered the back hall to search, and others went up to the second and third floors to search, Huo Weilou was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked: "Song Yu, servant of the household department, do you recognize him?"
The shopkeeper's eyes rolled, and he finally chose to nod, "I recognize you, Mr. Song is also a regular customer in our tea shop, and the little people naturally dare not not recognize it, but Mr. Song has been coming to the small shop for a few days, I don't know where the little people are. Thoughtful?"
"Seven days ago, did Song Yu come to your shop?"
"Seven...seven days ago... villain, I can't remember clearly for a while..." The shopkeeper first pretended to be thinking hard, and then smiled and said he couldn't remember clearly.
Huo Weilou furrowed his eyebrows, glanced at the attendant, and immediately someone separated the shop assistants standing on the side of the lobby and took them to other places for interrogation. Seeing this, the shopkeeper's face was dripping with cold sweat, and he glanced outside the door from time to time , as if waiting for someone.
Huo Weilou was not in a hurry, he chose a place to sit down after a while, and pointed to his side to let Bo Ruoyou sit down, Bo Ruoyou hesitated at first, and sat down with him after he stared at him dissatisfied.
Huo Weilou glanced at the shopkeeper, "Serve tea."
The shopkeeper immediately came forward respectfully. As the shopkeeper of this tea house, although he is not a waiter, his skills should not be bad. However, it poured out twice, and the hand holding the teacup visibly trembled.
Bo Ruoyou saw it in his eyes, and he was even more sure that there must be something tricky here.
The attendant who went to search the back hall came back quickly, "Master Hou, there is no abnormality in the back hall, and no trace of gold paste has been found, but the last few rooms are locked, and the subordinates have not broken the door."
Huo Weilou looked at the shopkeeper, and he smiled apologetically and said, "Master Hou, those rooms are where the tea leaves of the small shop are stored, because the tea leaves used in the shop are all precious, so the storehouses are usually locked, and you must ask for help. Search, the villain will go get the key and open the door."
Huo Weilou was noncommittal, the shopkeeper really went to get the key, and after a short while, he led the attendants to the backyard, Huo Weilou only held up a cup of tea, looking calm, as if he brought Bo Ruoyou to drink tea.
After half a stick of incense, the attendants came out with the shopkeeper, and they nodded towards Huo Weilou, "Master, it's true that they are all tea and things used in the shop."
Bo Ruoyou frowned, but Huo Weilou was not in a hurry, and he didn't say much. Not long after, a servant came out with a boy in a coarse gray shirt, "Master, this person said that he really saw you seven days ago. Mr. Song, the servant of the transfer department, came to the store for tea."
The shopkeeper's face changed slightly, "Ah, did you really come here? The villain really can't remember clearly, so I think he came here."
The boy said with a pale face and a trembling voice: "Master Song does come here often, and the little people must recognize and remember all the dignitaries. That day, Master Song came to ask for a pot of Biluochun tea, and... "
He paused, and glanced at the shopkeeper hesitantly. At this time, the servant of the Hou Mansion scolded him, and he hurriedly said: "He also said that he wanted to see our third master, and the third master is our boss. At that time, the villains had no choice , Then, I went to call shopkeeper He."
Now shopkeeper He couldn't get away from the relationship at all, and wiped his sweat while saying: "It's true, the villain remembered it, Mr. Song wanted to see our boss, and it happened that our boss was often in the shop in those few days. So I went to Yage at the back and asked the owner to come out, the two met and talked happily, but Mr. Song seemed to have something to do, so he left after a while."
Song Yu did meet someone, as to whether they had a pleasant conversation, it was naturally not that simple, Huo Weilou played with the teacup in his hand without saying a word, his face was cold and unpredictable, inexplicably uneasy.
The tea made by the shopkeeper is also top-grade Biluochun. This tea seems to be the signature in their shop, and because the tea soup is green, the tea cup is a set of Youzhou white porcelain tea set. At this moment, the green tea soup is circulating among the white porcelain. Even the fragrance of tea seems to be a bit more fragrant.
Seeing that Huo Weilou was silent, the shopkeeper continued: "Master Song comes here a lot, and we are all acquaintances with our boss, so it is not uncommon to say hello and talk to the boss when we arrive at the store, so the villain remembers it from time to time. not sure."
"Your boss is Wei Shangshu's cousin?"
The shopkeeper's cold sweat became worse for a while, "Yes, we are of the same family as Wei Shangshu, with a single name of 'Quan', and they are called Wei Sanye."
Huo Weilou nodded, and turned to look at Bo Ruoyou, Bo Ruoyou had a thought in his heart, and when he saw him, he whispered to him, but there were so many people in the store, her words were not easy to hear, so she almost Whisper with Huo Weilou.
She said: "Master Hou, if the seeds of the beauty's smile were really stuck on the tape here, there must be some leftovers. I want to go to the backyard to have a look."
The seeds of Beauty's Smile are valuable medicinal materials, so naturally they would not spread them everywhere, and they suspected that Song Yu was stained with the seeds of Beauty's Smile because of the golden ointment, and they would not be in the lobby, and that Beauty's Smile The seeds are tiny, and maybe there are still some leftovers today.
Huo Weilou understood what she meant, so he nodded, got up again and went to the backyard with her, the shopkeeper wanted to follow, but he ordered the shopkeeper to stay in the lobby, and ordered the boy who told the truth to follow behind Church.
After entering the back hall, you can see that the tea shop is really spacious. There is a three-storey main building in front, and a continuous courtyard behind. There are several independent accords, the doors of these accords are all open at the moment, and the candles inside are brightly lit, and they have been searched once by the attendants.
Going further, after passing through a moon gate, you will find the storeroom that the attendants said. The houses here are all places for storing the materials needed in the store. Bo Ruoyou was suspicious, so he searched here. After a while, the warehouse seemed to have been cleaned again. Although there were cobweb dust on the window lattices, the floor was spotless.
The attendant brought the young man in, and the young man said: "On weekdays, only the owner and the shopkeeper can enter this important warehouse. The villain doesn't know if there are other things in it, but four or five days ago, this place was indeed used. I cleaned it once, in previous years it was only cleaned at the end of the year, this year is a bit weird, but there are many rats and cotton worms in the warehouse, maybe it is because of these, I don’t know.”
The boy was frightened, he was afraid of Huo Weilou's reprimand and negligence, and he was afraid of making mistakes and telling falsehoods, so he was still cautious in his words. After listening to Huo Weilou, he looked at the piled up sacks and cages, knowing that even if there were omissions, they would be cleaned up up.
Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but asked the boy, "Did Mr. Song really have a good chat with your boss on the day he came?"
The little servant hesitated for a moment and said: "I don't know whether to count or not. Mr. Song first sat down in the Yage Pavilion on the first floor when he came, and then he said to see the owner. I don't know what to say, so the two of them went to the backyard. There is no one in the backyard during the day. The villain didn't know what they said, but after only a cup of tea, the villain saw Mr. Song come out, there was no smile on his face, but he didn't look angry either."
"Then does he look uncomfortable?" Bo Ruoyou asked again.
The boy tried his best to recall for a while, his face was a little dazed, "I can't remember, I just remember that it was after noon, there were other guests at that time, I didn't pay attention..."
Bo Ruoyou knew that this young man had said so much, so he wouldn't lie on such a small point, so he didn't ask any more questions. At this time, a servant came quickly outside, "Master Wei, come here!" Already!"
It was less than half an hour since they came here, but the third master Wei came quickly, which showed that he was very anxious, Huo Weilou looked at Bo Ruoyou, and Bo Ruoyou hurriedly said: "Master Hou, let's go, I want to take another look. "
Huo Weilou ordered others to stay behind as guardians, and went to the front yard to meet Wei San.
After Huo Weilou left, Bo Ruoyou stood alone in the warehouse and pondered for a moment, then asked, "Where is the Accord where your third master usually stays?"
There are quite a lot of accordions in the backyard, some are prepared for the guests, and some are prepared for the owner. The young man hurriedly led the way. The group left the warehouse and returned along the original road. After a while, they arrived at the north of the atrium. The young man pointed to the One room, "If the owner is here, it is here."
Bo Ruoyou nodded, and walked in with his attendants. This place has been searched, and when he entered the house, he saw that the house was furnished comfortably and luxuriously, with a lot of calligraphy, paintings, antiques, etc., and many exquisite tea sets. Here, however, the window is bright and clean, and Bo Ruoyou knows that it is difficult to find direct evidence, so she is a little disappointed.
Thinking that Mr. Wei had arrived, she didn't stay too long. When she turned around and came out, she saw two attendants who were in charge of searching other places walking over from the west of the backyard with strange expressions. When they saw Bo Ruoyou, they stopped in their tracks. .
Bo Ruoyou stepped forward and asked, "What's the matter? Did you find anything?"
An attendant said: "I didn't find anything related to the golden ointment, but I found some unlucky things."
Bo Ruoyou stared, "What is it?"
The attendant hesitated and said, "I found two dead cats in the backyard of their kitchen."
The body of a dead cat? !
Bo Ruoyou tensed up suddenly, "Take me to see!"
Naturally, these two attendants did not dare to be disrespectful, they turned around and led the way. Although this place is a tea house, it also sells pastries, so there is a special kitchen yard. When Bo Ruoyou entered the gate, he saw several cooks Standing a little uneasy in the yard, seeing more people coming, he became even more frightened for a while.
The Hou's servant pointed to the direction of the back cover of the kitchen, "It's the dead cat body found in the corner over there."
Bo Ruoyou walked towards the back room. A cook probably saw that she was a woman, so she boldly stepped forward and said in fear, "Girls, my fellow servants, these dead cats came from the dog's hole in the back." The stray cats that got in from there ate something and died, so it has nothing to do with us."
When Bo Ruoyou heard it, it was even more strange. When he walked quickly to the back room, he saw several buckets of slops outside the back room, and there were other kitchen wastes piled up beside the buckets, because now The weather was getting warmer, and a sour stench filled the air.
Bo Ruoyou asked: "Usually all the things in your kitchen are dumped here?"
The cook nodded, and Bo Ruoyou's expression became more serious. Ordinary wild cats have extremely strong vitality. Under normal circumstances, they will not die of poisoning due to eating raw, cold and rotten food. Either someone killed the cat on purpose, or they ate it. Something poisonous.
Bo Ruoyou took two steps in, and saw the corpses of two raccoon cats lying deep in the corner. This was a dead corner, and there were some weeds and moss on the ground, which were not conspicuous. The cook saw The statement continued: "It's strange to say that more than one cat has died here in the past two days. We are very busy on weekdays, and these buckets are too late to collect. I didn't expect another dead cat today..."
Bo Ruoyou stepped forward, took a closer look at the two cats' corpses, frowned slightly, then got up and asked her, "When was the first dead cat's corpse?"
The cook looked at the dead cat corpse in the corner with some disgust, and recalled for a moment with a bitter face, "It was six days ago."
Bo Ruoyou's eyes trembled slightly, and he hurriedly asked, "Except for the things in the kitchen, is the tea in your restaurant poured here?"
The cook nodded, "Because the cups and cups have to be washed here, the leftover tea will also be poured together."
When Bo Ruoyou heard this, his expression suddenly became serious.