As soon as Bo Ruoyou said this, everyone's expressions changed.
Huo Weilou was thinking about something, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but look up at her, but Liu Huiniang, who was standing in the hall, froze with determination, and looked at Bo Ruoyou in surprise, but soon, her eyebrows raised , smiled calmly and said: "Girl, don't talk nonsense without evidence. The folk girl was in the house that night and never went out. If it's not a folk girl singing, who else can sing?"
With a slight smile on Liu Huiniang's face, but she was still not afraid at all, Bo Ruoyou said, "The script of last night, but you burned it on the west tower?"
Liu Huiniang's smile was slightly stagnant, and only then did she understand why they knew about Chen Hanmo last night and knew that she could write stories, so she smiled, "The story book? What are the folk girls burning the story book for?"
Liu Huiniang obviously refused to enter, and Bo Ruoyou said with a little sigh: "Because the last story in the story book was continued by you, you wanted to burn it, and you thought it was Chen Hanmo's book, so you chose Li Yuchang. Burn it where it fell into the river, you are not worshiping Li Yuchang, you want to burn it to Chen Hanmo to tell him that you have avenged him."
Liu Huiniang blinked, "Does the girl know how to tell stories like this? Minnv really doesn't understand what you are talking about."
Bo Ruoyou was in a bit of trouble, and felt that there was nothing he could do about Liu Huiniang. Li Yuchang was dead, and there was no evidence of the murderer left on his body. Both Liu Huiniang and Song Meiniang were resolute, and they were not the ones who confessed easily.
"The one in your room must be Song Meiniang. She sang for you, making everyone think it was you. And you probably have an appointment with Li Yuchang. He went to the west tower first, and you followed behind, Song Meiniang. If you make an appointment with Lu Qing at Zishi, you will meet Li Yuchang before Zishi, so Lu Qing can still testify for Song Meiniang."
Bo Ruoyou hadn't spoken for a long time just because she thought it was possible, Song Meiniang pretended to be sick to deceive others, but she and Li Yuchang are not close now, and the two of them met on the rooftop at night, it's not like a concubine with Liu Huiniang, Moreover, Liu Huiniang had been drinking and talking with him first, and it was the time when Li Yuchang was in high spirits, so Liu Huiniang should be the best one to go to the building, and everyone knew that she had a bad relationship with Song Meiniang, and Song Meiniang fell into the river again and became seriously ill. Who would have thought that Song Meiniang would be singing for her
Liu Huiniang couldn't help laughing out, "Girl, you have such a clever idea. If that's the case, it's really a seamless situation, but can Song Meiniang still sing it now? If she can sing it, why is it that I am repeatedly Squeeze it down?"
Liu Huiniang's face was pale, and Huo Weilou rubbed the black jade on his knuckles and said: "Lu Qing has already said that it is not true that Song Meiniang's voice is down, but you were taught by Song Meiniang. There are similarities, and most of the operas are clear and bright, not to mention outsiders, even people in your troupe may find it difficult to distinguish them."
Liu Huiniang frowned, as if she didn't expect Lu Qing to reveal her flaws, but she was still calm and steady, "These are just the conjectures of Lord Hou and this girl, they are groundless, and these words are for Song Meiniang, only I'm afraid Song Meiniang won't agree, she's dying of illness, singing for a folk girl? It's really unbelievable."
Huo Weilou's eyes were stern, "This court emphasizes the original conviction, although there is no hard evidence, but now Li Yuchang's death is strange, and the two of you have a lot of strange behaviors, and the possibility of the most harmful, the government has the right to arrest and interrogate , you are all weak women, don’t you want to go to prison and experience the feeling of being tortured?”
This statement made Liu Huiniang's expression stagnate, and Huo Weilou said again: "You did not do this alone, you don't admit it, but Song Meiniang is not as safe as you, you should know why she wanted to kill Li Yuchang, Then you should also understand where her weakness lies."
Liu Huiniang couldn't laugh anymore, a trace of balance appeared in her eyes, she lowered her eyes and said, "Minnv doesn't know if she wants to harm Master, Minnv only knows that Minnv herself has never done anything harmful."
Huo Weilou stared at her for a moment, Liu Huiniang didn't dare to look at her, but she never showed timidity, and soon Huo Weilou ordered her to retreat.
Watching Liu Huiniang's back disappear, Bo Ruoyou sighed softly, "If she's only thinking about avenging Chen Hanmo, by now, she really has nothing to worry about, and such a person has no weaknesses to find."
Huo Weilou was not in a hurry, "She has no weaknesses to find, but Song Meiniang is not."
Lu Ke heard the words and came forward, "Master Hou, do you want to use some means?"
Bo Ruoyou hurriedly looked at Huo Weilou when she heard the words, the embroiderer's method was also heard in the market, if Huo Weilou was willing, not to mention Song Meiniang, even Liu Huiniang couldn't stand the trial.
Huo Weilou shook his head lightly, "It's not necessary." He tapped his knuckles on the arm of the chair twice, "Song Meiniang's request is actually very simple, just wait a day, this Marquis will see her in person tonight, you will immediately Send people ashore and order people from the Chuzhou government to settle the case tomorrow morning."
Changfeng Ferry is on the border of Chuzhou, if this case is in other places, Huo Weilou might not even ask about it, and naturally it will be handed over to the local government to decide the case. As soon as Lu Ke heard this, he felt that Huo Weilou had everything under control, so he immediately responded and go.
Bo Ruoyou looked at Huo Weilou, but didn't know what his plan was. Sensing her gaze, Huo Weilou stood up, walked out and said, "Song Meiniang hasn't resisted for many years, she said she was asking for redemption, but Lu Qing knew She will not leave the theatre, she has the intention of killing to protect her daughter, what she wants is her daughter's safety."
Bo Ruoyou followed Huo Weilou to the railing, the boat had stopped not far from the ferry, the river wind lifted their robes, although they were a step away from each other, Huo Weilou's robes were in line with her skirt. After a while, Bo Ruoyou understood Huo Weilou's meaning after thinking about it.
Eunuch Fu said, what is a dead contract is not a dead contract, as long as Huo Weilou opens his mouth, everyone can be free.
She felt that it was quite frustrating that it was hard to find evidence in this case, and that it was a bit of a torture to go to the next step of torture, but if Song Meiniang or Liu Huiniang could confess themselves, it would make a big difference.
Song Meiniang paced back and forth restlessly in the cabin all day long, the food brought to her was already cold, but she had no appetite, the second floor was guarded by the embroidered clothes envoy, and Yueniang was taken away in the morning until sunset Before being brought back, what happened to Yueniang
The method of harming people on the building, and still leaving no evidence, is a foolproof method, but no one thought that there would be such a nobleman as Wu Zhaohou on the Shen family's building, and no matter how status Song Meiniang was She is humble, but she also knows the prestige of Wu Zhaohou. What will her daughter, who is not yet twelve years old, experience in the hands of the murderous embroiderer
Song Meiniang simply lived like a year.
As the night fell, the only lamp in her cabin was only a faint fire. She stood in the room and went to the door several times to inquire, but the embroidered clothes she guarded made her look cold, and she would not answer her a word. In this situation, Song Meiniang became more and more frightened, she had the courage to kill people, she just wanted to protect her daughter, but now she is implicating her daughter
Just when Song Meiniang was impatient, Lu Ke arrived.
"Song Meiniang, Lord Hou has a call."
Song Meiniang's eyes brightened. She should have been afraid to see Wu Zhaohou, but at this moment she finally got to see the person in charge, but it made her hopeful. As soon as she went out, she couldn't help but grabbed Lu Ke, "My lord, dare to ask my lord?" , where is Yueniang?"
She was very anxious, and her voice was no more hoarse than last night, but as if she had just recovered from a serious illness in a day. Lu Ke broke away from her hand, his eyes were cold and oppressive, and he still said nothing, Song Meiniang A heart suddenly sank into the valley, and when she went downstairs, she fell down twice in a row because her legs and feet were weak.
When he stumbled to the hall on the first floor, he saw Huo Weilou in a black robe sitting on the main seat, and everyone around him treated each other coldly. Although it was not an official court, it was more nervous and frightening than being in the court.
Song Meiniang stepped forward to salute respectfully, but she couldn't help but look around, but no matter how she looked at it, the doors and rooms on the left and right of the hall were closed, she didn't know where Yueniang was at all.
Huo Weilou was calm, "Are you looking for Yueniang?"
Song Meiniang was very restrained, but anxiety still showed from her brows and eyes. Although she was pretending to be sick, she didn't know how to treat herself harshly. At this moment, her lips were chapped and her complexion was pale. Pretending to be low-key, "Yue Niang is young, no matter what happens, it has nothing to do with her."
"It's hard for your loving mother." At this time, Huo Weilou was able to avoid even fraudulent confession because he was confident.
Song Meiniang raised her head in shock, but Huo Weilou didn't give her a chance to speak, "Both you and Yueniang are forbidden to eat chestnuts, when you were injured in an opera, and you were raised for a year or so, Yueniang was at that time Born, and then Yueniang was sent to the theater, you treated her as if you were your own, and Li Yuchang also agreed to this, if you say that you and Yueniang are just master and apprentice, who would believe it?"
There are quite a lot of people in the Yuchun class on the Louchuan, Song Meiniang knows that those old things cannot be hidden, but she doesn't want to simply admit it.
Seeing her pursed lips, Huo Weilou said again: "You conspired with Liu Huiniang to continue "Resurrection" by Liu Huiniang, and coaxed Li Yuchang to sing and perform the last twist with her. If Li Yuchang died in the theater, it would definitely attract attention. There was an uproar, you knew this trip to the north early in the morning, and you planned to commit murder on the high-rise boat. The boat was traveling fast and temporarily isolated from the shore. If you were lucky, you would be judged to be an accidental death right away. Unfortunately, your luck is bad After a while, I met Benhou."
Song Meiniang's hands in front of her clenched into fists, she was just worried about Yueniang, now that Huo Weilou exposed her, she was even more frightened, but Huo Weilou continued: "That night you sang in the room instead of Song Meiniang, and seduced Li Yuchang The person who fell off the building was Liu Huiniang."
Song Meiniang swayed, and looked up at Huo Weilou in disbelief, this was the most subtle trick in their conspiracy, she could never imagine how Huo Weilou discovered it.
Huo Weilou looked at her calmly, "You have an affair with Lu Qing, and you also care about Yueniang. It is impossible to die, but you jumped into the river in front of everyone. The boat was going slowly that night, and the boatmen were all watching the show outside. , you know, if you jump down, someone will save you immediately, so you took a risk, and everyone expected to get seriously ill afterwards, but in fact you were just pretending to be sick."
Song Meiniang stared blankly at Huo Weilou, the composure in her eyes had cracks like broken mirrors, Huo Weilou simply said: "The medicine Miss Bo gave you is for clearing away heat and clearing the orifices, but some of the medicines But it is poisonous, if you are sick, it is a cure, but if you pretend to be sick, the medicine will make you vomit."
Song Meiniang immediately understood where she had exposed her flaws. She clenched her cuffs anxiously, her eyes flickered slightly, as if she was planning something very quickly. As a witness, if you have to delay, it is not impossible, but now that the situation has been broken, it is futile for you to cover up, and this Marquis disdains to impose severe punishment on you weak women, and there is a lot of inside information here. Many, when it comes to the three words of reason, reason and law, you also have some reason, so I will give you a little bit of mercy."
He paused for a moment, looked at Bo Ruoyou from his side, and saw Huo Weilou said: "If you confess truthfully, I will count you as guilty pleaders, and I will forgive you, and you can be exempted from the death penalty and commuted to a second-class sentence, Yue Niang She is still young, and she is not the main culprit. This Marquis can absolve her of her crimes and release her from slavery. If everything goes well, you will still have a chance to reunite in the future."
Song Meiniang's gloomy eyes suddenly lit up.
Huo Weilou said again, "I will only give you a cup of tea, if you don't invite me, I will—"
Before Huo Weilou finished speaking, Song Meiniang knelt down with a "plop".
Huo Weilou stopped talking, and looked at her leisurely. Song Meiniang was breathing rapidly, her eyes were half hesitant, and her eyes were half moved.
"Master Hou, Minnv is willing to confess."
The hanging hearts of the people in the room fell to the ground at this moment.
Huo Weilou said lightly: "Say."
Song Meiniang raised her head, her face was wet with tears, and when she spoke, her voice returned to the usual clear and gentle voice.
"Minnv entered the theater when she was seven years old. The master at that time saw that Minnv was a good seedling, so he poured out money to teach Minnv. Both of Minnv's parents died when she was young, and she came from a humble background. She was originally a maidservant for a wealthy family. Although I am also a slave this time, I am able to practice Nanxi opera singing and acting. I feel that it is a blessing from my previous life. At that time, the women were grateful to the master, so later the master asked the women to commit themselves, and the women did not complain at all. , and think about it, the master also loves the folk girls a lot, and the folk girls will be by the master's side in this life."
"Yueniang was conceived more than a year after Minnv debuted on the stage. Although Minnv won a lot of praise on the stage, she was very happy when she found out that she was pregnant, but the master was furious. He was pregnant, so he couldn't be on stage for a year. This really ruined his plan. He likes southern opera, and he prefers to make his opera troupe the best in the south of the Yangtze River. Minnv, who was his pillar, suddenly disappeared for a year. How could he bear it? ?”
"Minnv's heart was chilled at that time. He had prepared a miscarriage medicine for Minnv, but it was Minnv's life and death that saved the child. He probably felt that Minnv's singing was really good. That's right, after Yueniang was born, Minnv raised her body for two months, and then waited for the stage again, and since then, Minnv has made a lot of money for him..."
"Later, more young children came to the theater. At that time, the Minnv was heartbroken and knew that he would not give the Minnen a title, so she devoted herself to raising Yueniang and took in many apprentices. The Minnv first learned Opera is only for making a living, but later, I realized the beauty of Southern Opera. All the talented women in the opera troupe would give them all their money. I only hope that more and more people will sing and listen to Southern Opera. In these years, all the actresses who appeared on the stage were taken by him, but they were all nameless, and some of them were given away by him to sell."
"Men girls are humble, and the people they see around them are also poor people. These are nothing, but in the middle of last year, after Yueniang tried to sing "Magpie Bridge Meeting", the folk girls unexpectedly See, he showed such a look to Yueniang..."
Tears were falling like rain, and Song Meiniang's face was full of grief and resentment, which only made the onlookers look vivid.
"That's his own daughter. He doesn't like the daughter of an opera actor. He never has the intention of recognizing Yueniang. Minnen dare not think about it. Minnv can only be Yueniang's sister and master for the rest of her life. Minnv would also like to let Yueniang have no father for the rest of her life, so what if she has no father and no mother, we poor and lowly people have exhausted our efforts just to survive, so what else do we dare to ask for?"
"But girl, no matter what, you can't let that beast touch Yueniang!" Song Meiniang's eyes were red, and her voice became stern. Coveting the Moon Mother..."
"Minnv can't be mistaken, it's the man's lustful eyes, and the minnv knew at the time that that beast would occupy Yueniang sooner or later." Song Meiniang seemed to recall the scene at that time, with resentment and despair mixed together, crying The sound became more and more sad.
But suddenly, her crying stopped, her teeth were clenched, and a ruthless look appeared in her eyes, "But Yueniang is not without a mother. Her mother is with her every day, but she doesn't know it. My mother's love for her is like any mother in this world, who can risk her life for her - and only when Li Yuchang is dead, can she and I truly feel at ease forever."
After saying this, Song Meiniang seemed to think that Li Yuchang was dead, her eyes showed a bit of joy, and she raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her face, "Huiniang is the best apprentice I have ever taught, and she has never disrespected her master. Said, it was me, I said that my voice was down because I didn't want to sing anymore, and later I found out that if I had a bad relationship with her, Li Yuchang would praise her even more, so we simply pretended to be at odds."
"She is the same as me. At first she thought that Li Yuchang really loved her, but after watching it a lot, she gave up. Then she met Chen Hanmo. Chen Hanmo could have dragged on for a few years. It was Li Yuchang who was angry at him for treating Hui Mother thought about it, asking the doctor to prescribe medicine was just a show. After Chen Hanmo was moved out of the theater, he cut off his medicine and food. Chen Hanmo almost starved to death in a serious illness... "
"We started planning before the Chinese New Year. Hui Niang and Chen Hanmo learned a good handwriting. She continued to write the playbook and gave it to Li Yuchang. Li Yuchang was like a treasure, and we rehearsed the repertoire. A play can be sung thousands of times. Every hand, eye, body and footstep will eventually become a habit engraved in my bones. I can perform the whole scene with my eyes closed. There are a few accidents because I didn’t look at the place and only focused on my steps. , I can have such an accident, so can Li Yuchang."
"Of course he was very happy that the play had not been staged yet, but he was addicted to it, but we dared not let him die in our own theater, where there are all his confidants, and the local government officials are also familiar with his family. After all, we were afraid, so when we knew we were going north to take the waterway years ago, we wanted to kill him on the boat."
"I grew up in a fishing village by the river, and I am familiar with water skills. Coupled with the dexterity I have cultivated for many years, I am not afraid of falling into the river at all. However, Li Yuchang is very old, and he accidentally fell into the river after drinking. This is very common. That's right, it's just that we didn't expect that there would be Lord Marquis on this boat, so many officials, and this doctor who can examine dead bodies..."
Song Meiniang smiled wryly, "I taught Hui Niang, and our singing and articulation are exactly the same, but now I am a few years older and less clear-eyed, but I am familiar with the techniques, and it is almost easy to imitate her singing for a while." Strength, I cover for her, Yueniang covers for me, we are foolproof... "
At this point, Song Meiniang suddenly changed her expression slightly and said: "But Yueniang doesn't know so much insider information, Yueniang can see that Li Yuchang has impure thoughts about her, she is just afraid, she treats me like a real sister, what do I ask her to do? Just do whatever you want, she is young, she doesn't dare to kill, everything is my fault, I taught her, "
Song Meiniang kowtowed to the ground, "everything Minnv said is true, please don't lie to Minnv, Lord Hou, as long as you can get Yueniang out of slavery and give her hope for the rest of her life, then don't let Minnv get rid of it." There is no complaint or regret for a civilian woman who is punished."
Huo Weilou looked at Song Meiniang without saying a word for a moment, his eyes were dark, as if he thought of someone else through Song Meiniang, Eunuch Fu couldn't help calling out: "Master Hou—"
Only then did Huo Weilou come back to his senses, "Write down exactly what you said just now, how you conspired, how you discussed, and how you acted that night, the more detailed the better." Looking at him, Huo Weilou said again: "This Marquis will do what he says."
Song Meiniang breathed a sigh of relief, and kowtowed again to thank her. Huo Weilou saw her like this, and said again: "Liu Huiniang doesn't want to admit it, I want you to persuade her, are you willing?"
Song Meiniang showed shame at first, then nodded, Huo Weilou ordered Lu Ke to do something, and Lu Ke took Song Meiniang to write down the evidence, signed and pledged, and then went to see Liu Huiniang.
The two met and talked for half an hour. When Song Meiniang came out, Liu Huiniang had changed her previous attitude and was willing to confess. Huo Weilou didn't interrogate her, but only asked her to write down the evidence until around midnight. The testimonies of the two were sent to Huo Weilou's case.
Lu Ke said: "Both Song Meiniang's testimonies state that Song Meiniang is the principal offender, and the other two are accomplices. Yueniang's guilt is negligible."
Huo Weilou glanced at it for a while and then put down the testimony, "There is no need to investigate carefully. It is difficult to judge who is more guilty and who is less guilty. She and the two of them have reached a consensus, and they will be handed over to the Chuzhou government tomorrow. Let's go to trial."
Lu Ke responded, seeing that it was late, he left with the evidence, Huo Weilou raised his hand and rubbed the center of his brows, and was about to get up, but heard a slight sound of footsteps coming from outside the door, the footsteps were passing by his door , but went to the next door without stopping, Huo Weilou said immediately, "Bo Ruoyou—"
Bo Ruoyou, who was carrying the teapot outside the door, stamped her feet abruptly, looked at the closed door of Huo Weilou, thought she was hallucinating, she hesitated for a moment, stepped forward and knocked on the door, "Master Hou is calling the people female?"
The door was quickly opened, Huo Weilou stood inside the door, and asked condescendingly: "Can you write the inspection certificate?"
Bo Ruoyou was taken aback, "Ah, check..."
She rolled her eyes, as if she wanted to find an excuse, but she didn't think about how to say it, so a guilty conscience appeared on her face, "Mr. Hou has not ordered, and the daughter of the people has not... not written..."
The autopsy in the early morning of that day did not reveal traces of man-made murder, and later it was not treated as a homicide case, and these few cases were unusual cases, and the autopsy was written only when the case was finalized. After today's interrogation, Huo Weilou only asked Song Meiniang to write Evidence, she really forgot.
However, since it was a murder case, it was her duty to write the inspection form.
Seeing that Huo Weilou narrowed his eyes and thin Ruoyou, he felt that something was wrong, and his cherry lips moved slightly, wanting to apologize, but before she opened her mouth, she heard Huo Weilou's cool voice: "Then you come in and write, Ben Hou will read it." I write for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, Huo Weilou turned around and entered the room. Looking at his tall back, Bo Ruoyou felt flustered from being judged by the master in the school, and it was not the master at the moment, but Wu Zhao who was in charge of her future and destiny. Hou.
Bo Ruoyou showed a bitter expression, and entered the door with difficulty.