Bo Ruoyou returned home and told Cheng Yunzhi about Huo Weilou's marriage proposal with the emperor. Cheng Yunzhi was writing a prescription for Huo Weilou to heal his old wounds, and immediately frowned upon hearing this.
"A marriage? Is it really going to be a marriage?"
Bo Ruoyou nodded: "Master Hou mentioned it once earlier, but he said that His Majesty is willing to work hard, and I'm afraid it will take a long time. Today, Lord Hou mentioned it again, saying that it might be soon."
The corners of Cheng Yunzhi's lips twitched a little, a little annoyed, and he thought that Huo Weilou's marriage proposal would make the marriage a certainty. Although he was not Bo Ruoyou's biological father, he compared himself to his own father, and although the marriage proposal was a split Outer honor, compared to the usual six rituals, seems too simple, but Bo Ruoyou's status will be settled by bestowing a marriage. He has a feeling that his daughter is going to marry soon.
After pondering for a while, Cheng Yunzhi said: "For his status and status, it's not uncommon for him to give you a marriage." He sighed, "As long as Marquis Wu Zhao treats you sincerely, the adoptive father won't say anything. Now it's fine just looking at it, but people's hearts are complicated. Changeable, if something goes wrong in the future, we father and daughter have no room to fight against him."
Bo Ruoyou was moved when he heard that, "The adoptive father is at ease, the daughter trusts Lord Hou, the adoptive father does not need to worry, if there is a day, what the daughter wants is not power and glory, at worst, the daughter wants to be reconciled, and then serve the adoptive father wholeheartedly. "
Cheng Yunzhi hurriedly said: "Don't say such things, it's unlucky." He thought again, "Wu Zhaohou has his own plan, as long as he is polite and doesn't wrong you, the foster father will naturally feel at ease, but... the foster father still thinks it's too fast." Some, and he made his own decision, and he never asked his adoptive father if he would marry you to him, which is really rude."
Huo Weilou is an aristocrat, and it is not easy to be courteous to Cheng Yun on weekdays. In matters of marriage, only those who want to marry Bo Ruoyou back home earlier have never thought of coming to ask for Cheng Yunzhi's approval. Bo Ruoyou immediately agreed with Cheng Yunzhi. , "What the righteous father said is reasonable, but the Hou Ye's temperament is indeed not familiar with the rules and etiquette."
Cheng Yunzhi snorted softly, knowing that he should not be too demanding on a person of Huo Weilou's status, and he is also a reasonable person, nothing more than being unwilling to let go of his insignificance is why he feels resentful. For the prescription written, with a flick of the pen, two more medicines were added, Bo Ruoyou read along the tip of his pen, and couldn't help laughing for a moment.
The two medicines added by Cheng Yunzhi have excellent medicinal properties, but they are both extremely bitter medicines. He usually prescribes prescriptions that take care of the patients' tastes, but right now it is difficult to say anything publicly, and he wants to make Huo Weilou suffer a little bit from the decoction. His thoughts were a little childish, but he didn't intend to change them. When he thought about the Lin family, he hesitated for a while, but he didn't mention it to Bo Ruoyou.
Early the next morning, Bo Ruoyou sent a new prescription to the Marquis' Mansion. Eunuch Fu took the prescription and looked at the ingredients on it, "Hey, today's prescription is quite different from before."
"Father-in-law said that Master Hou's old injury is almost healed, but this time the injury is serious and has damaged the vitality of the heart, and this prescription is mostly for warming and recuperating."
Eunuch Fu didn't suspect him, so he hurriedly went to make medicine for Huo Weilou, and Bo Ruoyou went to the study.
Although Huo Weilou didn't go to court, he still sent the official documents to the Hou's residence without any delay. He was writing something on the desk, when he heard footsteps, he knew that Bo Ruoyou had come.
Looking up, she saw Bo Ruoyou slowly walking into the door. The early morning light fell behind her, making her beautiful eyes shine like stars, making her look even more fairy-like. He stood up to greet her, "Didn't you go to the yamen this morning?"
Bo Ruoyou smiled and said, "Your foster father wrote you a new prescription. I'm here to deliver the prescription. Eunuch Fu has already gone to make the medicine."
"Thank you, Mr. Cheng."
Huo Weilou pulled Bo Ruoyou's hand to sit in front of the window, and served tea. Bo Ruoyou glanced at the book case, "What is Hou Ye busy with? Today's books seem to be more than the previous few days."
Huo Weilou's phoenix eyes deepened slightly, "It's the official document of the Ministry of Officials. The case of the Ministry of Household Affairs has brought down many court officials above rank five. This time, the Ministry of Officials is planning to use a new list of officials, and there are quite a lot of candidates."
Bo Ruoyou suddenly realized that since she was appointed by an official, she didn't ask any more questions, but Huo Weilou continued: "You recognize two of them, one is Wu Yu, a member of the Ministry of Rites, who is transferred to the Ministry of Households this time, and may be the director The other person is Lin Zhao, who came out of the Hanlin Academy and worked as a guest in the Ministry of Accounts before, and will stay in the Ministry of Accounts this time."
Mr. Wu from the Ministry of Rites, Bo Ruoyou hadn't seen him since he returned to Beijing, and Lin Zhao, a young talent, had been trained in the Imperial Academy for two years, and was supposed to enter the sixth department. She nodded, not surprised, but remembered Another thing, "The Luozhou case has no clues in the capital, and Mr. Wu has not thought of anything in the past six months?"
The case of the Buddha bone relic in Famen Temple, although the murder case was solved, there is no trace of the Buddha bone relic so far. The clue to this case was found in Wang Qingfu, the Shaoqing of Taichang Temple, and Wu Yu and Wang Qingfu are friends, so it is the most likely to know the clue back then man of.
Huo Weilou shook his head, "Never, if he thought of something, he would come to me. The Buddha bone relic has been missing for ten years, and it is even more difficult to find now. Last time he came back from Luozhou, His Majesty almost gave up on finding the relic."
Bo Ruoyou felt a little regretful, after all, it was the treasure of Buddhism, and it had been living outside. If someone took advantage of it, the treasure of Buddhism would be used for evil.
After a slight pause, Huo Weilou shook Bo Ruoyou's hand and said, "Do you know that Lin Zhao is going to divorce your cousin?"
Bo Ruoyou opened her eyes slightly, "I don't know, I didn't hear from my adoptive father last night, why did you want to divorce?"
Huo Weilou said indifferently: "Bo's family wanted to get married earlier, but the Lin family didn't want to, so Mrs. Bo's wife made a fuss. There were a lot of twists and turns in the process. Lin Zhao didn't mean it at first, and somehow annoyed him, and then decided Thinking about retiring the engagement, Mrs. Bo went to the Lin family to make trouble in the past two days, causing a lot of gossip."
Bo Ruoyou didn't know about this at all, "Can you make trouble to the point of retiring the engagement?"
Looking at her expression, Huo Weilou knew that she didn't want to go elsewhere, so he squeezed her palm and said, "You said earlier that you came back to the capital and wanted to get back what belongs to you, what did you mean?"
Bo Ruoyou's eyes darkened when she heard the words, "At that time, I didn't want to go back to the Bo family, so I wanted to take out the tablets of my parents and set up a separate ancestral hall to worship, and I should also take back my mother's dowry and the family property of the third house, but When I returned to Beijing, I felt that there was no need to argue with the big house. My father is the son of the Bo family. If it is not in compliance with the rules to set up another ancestral hall, I will temporarily suppress this thought. Besides, I can't remember what happened to my younger brother back then. How Qing happened, maybe I can remember it after I come back."
Huo Weilou's eyes darkened when he heard the words, "Even if the property of Sanfang is not wanted, your mother's dowry should be taken back. As for your younger brother's accident, Mr. Cheng never told you?"
"The adoptive father was not around at that time. He only said that there was an accident when traveling with the family, and he didn't know the details. If the family went out, I should have been there, but I can't remember it." Bo Ruoyou's eyes were blurred. Darkness, "They said that I killed my younger brother. I don't believe it. He is only one year younger than me. I only remember that he should have had an accident around the Lantern Festival."
Huo Weilou suddenly remembered that when he was in Qingzhou, on the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Bo Ruoyou went to the bamboo forest alone to burn paper. At this moment, he understood, and couldn't help pity, "There is no such thing as unstoppable. If you feel worried, we can help you." Do a ritual ceremony and pray for your father, mother, and your brother."
Bo Ruoyou said casually: "The anniversary of the death of my father and mother is next month, and then I will go to Xiangguo Temple to perform a ceremony for them."
Huo Weilou heard the words and kept it in his heart, not long after, the freshly brewed decoction was delivered from outside, and as soon as the medicine was delivered to Huo Weilou, Bo Ruoyou smelled the bitterness in it, and when Huo Weilou entered, it was him who was not afraid of pain They all frowned, "Hiss, the medicine this time is extremely bitter—"
Bo Ruoyou covered her lips and smiled, "Good medicine tastes bitter, Lord Hou will be cured after using this prescription."
Bo Ruoyou stayed in the Hou's mansion for half a day, because he had the case of the Bird Garden in mind, he left the Hou's mansion before noon to go to the yamen, and when he arrived at the yamen, Wu Xiang and the others still guarded in the warehouse and never came out.
When they were on official business, rain or shine did not make them cry, but this time the cat checked the files in the internal library, but it actually cost them half their lives. Since Bo Ruoyou arrived at the yamen, he also accompanied him to search. At this time, The dossier has been turned from the 19th year of Jianhe to the 18th year of Jianhe.
Wu Xiang said with a bitter face: "The master didn't give an accurate number. Although there have been several fires in and around the capital in the past two years, none of them were related to the zaju troupe. Many people have stayed in the Bird Garden these days. I'm afraid Go wrong again."
It is right to prevent the murderer from committing another murder, at least one or two lives can be saved, but if no clues can be found, the Yamen will not be able to withstand such tribulations, and other people in the capital will hardly be able to find out what happened eleven or twelve years ago. It's a needle in a haystack.
Bo Ruoyou flipped through the files and said, "Then let's search further, as long as the government has records, we will definitely find—"
Wu Xiang drank two sips of strong tea, then forced herself to search again.
Bo Ruoyou is good at reading. The pages of the book were flipped in her hands. She read quickly and carefully, never letting go of any part. At a certain moment, her eyes suddenly stopped on one of the pages, and her face turned. Reveal the color of surprise.
Wu Xiang saw it from the side, and leaned over suspiciously, "What did you see?"
As soon as the words fell, he also widened his eyes, "This Ming family, but the Zhengming family of Taiyuan Hospital?"
Bo Ruoyou should be, and she was also a little puzzled in her heart. What she saw now was the unexpected kidnapping case of Ming Guilan at the end of the seventeenth year of Jianhe.
Fourteen years later, the case file records are still complete. Ming Guilan left the capital on the ninth day of October in the seventeenth year of Jianhe. In an abandoned house...
What was said in the case file was all said by Ming Guilan himself and the servants who followed that day. Because Ming Guilan did not see the appearance of the assailant, and was tied up and covered his head and face in the middle, the description was incomplete. Later, the abandoned place was They found it, but it was just a dilapidated temple, the murderer did not leave any traces and disappeared.
The case thus became unsolved.
Thinking of Ming Guilan's broken legs, Bo Ruoyou read more than a hundred words back and forth several times, but without more witnesses and material evidence, she also had no clue. The only thing that was clear was that the murderer had sneaked into Dengshi Among them, he wears the monkey king mask that children like very much on his face, and holds a rattle in his hand, which is very good at teasing children.
Bo Ruoyou frowned. Evildoers who specialize in murdering children know how to make fun of them. Young children can't distinguish between good and evil. In addition, the wicked will do what they like, and nine out of ten they will succeed.
Wu Xiang said in a deep voice: "This case was not solved back then, and the son of the Ming family became disabled because of it."
Bo Ruoyou replied, "It's really difficult to trace the murderer based on these records alone, and it has been fourteen years since now, so I'm afraid it will remain an unsolved case."
Wu Xiang sighed, "There is nothing we can do about it. Even in the past two years, the Yamen has accumulated a lot of unsolved cases. In some cases, the perpetrators were very cautious. They missed the best time by accident and did not find strong physical evidence. , it will never be found out.”
Bo Ruoyou understood in her heart, and scrolled down again, Wu Xiang sat back to the original place, still a little bit sighing, "I came to be a policeman to make all the evildoers in the world be punished, but it's a pity that it's not enough."
Bo Ruoyou has been in the Yamen of the capital for half a year, so she knows how hard Wu Xiang worked when she was on business. Hearing what he said, I feel even more respectful. It was Hu Changqing whom I hadn't seen for a long time.
The poison of the golden ointment on his body has been curbed, and after two months of nourishment, his body has returned to his handsome and unruly attitude. Today, he came to the Yamen for an interview. When Wu Xiang saw him, he naturally dragged him to suffer together. Hu Changqing accepted with a smile. It's very dedicated.
In this way, at dusk, more than half of the files of the 17th year of Jianhe were searched, but nothing was found. The fire in Zhaojiaban seemed to have never happened. Wu Xiang even suspected that someone had overlooked it and went back to look for it. After such a toss, Bo Ruoyou left and went home when night fell.
The carriage set off from the Yamen and headed all the way to Changshoufang. Halfway there, the lights of the entire imperial street were lit up one after another. When the bustling and bustling capital city was at its peak, Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but lift up the curtain to look out. look.
Originally, he was looking at the scenery on the street, but looking at it, Bo Ruoyou found that his carriage was followed by a carriage. You suddenly lifted his heart.
She felt a little uneasy, which made Zhou Liang speed up. At this time, the carriage was thrown away. She was a little suspicious, not sure if someone was really following her or she was too nervous. When she got out of the carriage at the door of the house, Bo Ruo You deliberately asked Zhou Liang to wait at the door for a while, but after waiting for a cup of tea, no stranger approached, so she felt relieved.
…
Lin Zhao went down to the Yamen and returned home. As soon as he walked outside the side door, he saw a carriage parked in the dark. Judging by the appearance, he had been waiting for a long time. He frowned, hesitated for a moment, but did not avoid it. Order the attendant to drive the carriage to the door.
The curtain of the parked carriage was lifted, revealing Bao Yixian's slightly relaxed face. Seeing Lin Zhao get off the carriage, she hurriedly jumped off, but Lin Zhao never entered the door, but stood at the door waiting for her.
The gate of the Lin Mansion was closed for many days, and Bao Yixian also felt that her mother was making trouble every day, so she naturally persuaded her for two days. She came here alone today because she wanted to plead with Lin Zhao.
"Brother Zhao, you finally stopped avoiding me."
Lin Zhao looked at Bao Yixian indifferently, "What's the matter with you?"
Bao Yixian's face turned pale, "Brother Zhao, I'm sorry, when my mother heard that the Lin family was going to divorce, she felt like the sky was falling. I couldn't persuade her no matter what, so she made trouble for two days. I'm sorry, Brother Zhao..."
Lin Zhaosi sighed, "It's a trouble, and it's considered a venting of my aunt's anger. This matter has damaged the reputation of the Bo family, and the Lin family will not explain a word about how the Lin family treacherous. In this case, the marriage contract will be fine. .”
Tears instantly filled Bao Yixian's eyes, "Brother Zhao, why on earth? Why on earth? You shouldn't be like this. We have been engaged for several years, and I have long regarded you as my future husband, and you have always treated me very well." Well, why are you so cruel? Is it my aunt who blames me? Or my uncle? I can do anything as long as I can calm them down."
Lin Zhao looked at her teary eyes, but there was no wave in his eyes, "It's not anyone who blames you, it's just that the two families have a trouble like this, even if you and I get married, it's not a happy marriage after all. You come from a family, and you were a talented girl since childhood In the name of the Lin family, now that we are retiring from the Lin family, it is best to choose another son-in-law—”
Seeing what Bao Yixian wanted to say, Lin Zhao said again: "The most important thing is, even if you and I get married, I will still lose to you. I have confirmed my marriage since I was a child, but now, I feel that you and I are married. If you are not in the same way, if you want to become a mate in the future, it is better to let you choose someone else earlier."
"Resentment? How come?" Bao Yixian stepped forward and pulled Lin Zhao's sleeve anxiously, "Brother Zhao, I am the most virtuous, I will do whatever you want me to do, I will not disobey you, you and I How can there be resentment?"
Hearing her words, Lin Zhao disapproved even more, "Why do you obey in everything? You are the daughter of the Bo family, you shouldn't be like this. As for me... I don't care about you, and I will definitely make you suffer in the future , why do you have to be persistent?"
It was the first time for Bao Yixian to hear Lin Zhao's blunt words. She felt a pain in her heart, and couldn't help asking: "Brother Zhao's heart is not on me, but on whom? Is it on the second sister?"
Lin Zhao narrowed his eyes and pupils, "Don't talk nonsense—"
After he finished speaking, he looked away, his eyes were slightly terrified, and even he couldn't tell what he was thinking. Seeing him like this, Bao Yixian became more and more sure of his doubts. Tears poured down his cheeks and he burst into anger, "I knew it! I knew it was her." ...Brother Zhao, I have already said that her mind is not on you. She relies on her beauty to get close to Wu Zhaohou, and now she is someone close to Wu Zhaohou. Why don't you believe me!"
Lin Zhao looked at her suddenly, "How can you speak like that? She is your sister, even if you are ruthless, you shouldn't criticize a little girl like this, how important a girl's reputation is!"
Bao Yixian laughed back angrily, "You don't believe it? Well, have you ever seen a girl who goes to the Marquis's mansion every day, and have you ever seen someone come and go in the same carriage with Wu Zhaohou? Wu Zhaohou is not going to court now. But you can accompany her to the Yamen in person, Brother Zhao, don’t you believe it? If she hadn’t become Marquis Wu Zhaohou’s housemate, how could Marquis Wu Zhao treat her like this?”
Lin Zhao was overwhelmed when he heard it, "You... why did you know?"
With teardrops all over her face, Bao Yixian let out a miserable laugh, "Because I know that brother Zhao is also bewitched by her appearance, that's why he is so cruel to me. I want brother Zhao to know how self-willed and humble she is, and she loves Wu Zhaohou's mansion. I would rather be a concubine for Marquis Wu Zhao than for you, Brother Zhao—”
Lin Zhao didn't believe it at first, but Bo Yixian's words were true, which made him hesitate, "She...she's not that kind of person..."
Seeing Lin Zhao's hesitation, Bao Yixian wiped the tears from her face, "Brother Zhao doesn't believe me, he can go to Wu Zhaohou's mansion a few more times, and he will always meet his second sister, or he can go to Cheng's house, and he will always see Wu Zhaohou coming to the door." " She sobbed, "I know that Mrs. Bo did something wrong this time, but I don't want Brother Zhao to be deceived. You will know after you go to see it."
Lin Zhao couldn't hear what Bao Yixian said next. He thought of Bo Ruoyou following Huo Weilou to solve the case and autopsy. Huo Weilou had extraordinary trust in her, and she worked hard without complaint. The mansion was indeed very close to the people in the mansion, the more he thought about it, the more weird he felt, and when he raised his eyes, he saw that Bao Yixian had already bid farewell and got into the carriage.
He walked towards the main courtyard very quickly, and when he reached the gate of the main courtyard, he hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether he came to pay his respects, or for something else, Bao Yixian's words echoed in his ears, and he didn't want to believe Bo Yixian. If Youhui is so self-deprecating, when she thinks that Bo Ruoyou will become a concubine in the Marquis Mansion, she will feel even more ashamed and guilty. If the marriage that was made back then remains unchanged, why would Bo Ruoyou become a concubine
He hesitated for a moment but did not enter the door, turned around and went to his courtyard.
At dusk on the second day, Lin Zhao left the yamen from his post. He was supposed to return home, but he ordered the carriage to drive to the yamen in Jingzhaoyi. The sky was spreading, but his heart was full of gloom, he got off the carriage and entered the yamen, and asked if Bo Ruoyou was in the yamen.
This morning, Bo Ruoyou did not go to the Hou's Mansion, but arrived at the Yamen early in the morning. Because Wu Xiang wanted to review the previous files, she was busy in the Yamen all day. Hearing what the Yamen said, Lin Zhao felt a little bit in his heart. Song, he hesitated for a moment, he didn't enter the yamen after all, but turned back to his carriage, feeling a little apprehensive, but he didn't leave, he didn't know what he was waiting for.
After two hours of incense sticks, Bo Ruoyou came out of the yamen. She got into her carriage alone, and then went to Changshoufang. Lin Zhao's heart was pounding, and the coachman followed her carriage, Walking all the way through Yujie Fuxiang, when he saw Bo Ruoyou's carriage entering Changshoufang, his high hanging heart fell to the ground.
Bo Ruoyou returned to Changshoufang instead of going to Lanzhengfang, which made him heave a sigh of relief. Thinking of this, Lin Zhao felt guilty. He used to be a man of ethics, but now he secretly followed a woman like this, but he didn't It is possible to ask Bo Ruoyou, but it is also impossible to go to Marquis Wuzhao's mansion. Such sneaky behavior is the most outrageous thing he can do.
Lin Zhao didn't dare to follow for too long, seeing Bo Ruoyou's carriage driving towards Cheng Zhai, he wanted to tell the driver to turn around and go home, but at this moment, he saw Bo Ruoyou's carriage stopped suddenly, and he Suspicious in his heart, he made his coachman go forward a few feet, and at this moment, he saw another two-horse carriage covered in vermilion lacquer.
The carriage had been waiting here for an unknown amount of time, as if it had been waiting for Bo Ruoyou, but soon, he saw Bo Ruoyou get off his carriage, and ran briskly towards the pair of steeds, and saw the curtain again. The curtain was lifted, and a person leaned out from under the curtain, pulling Bo Ruoyou up, and after the curtain fell, Bo Ruoyou's figure also disappeared.
Although it was only for a split second, Lin Zhao could still see the figure of the man clearly, the man in the carriage was Huo Weilou!
Lin Zhao was stunned as if struck by lightning, speechless for a long time.