"Which of the two of you is Shu Xuan and which is Mu..."
"Erlang has already started to ask the case? Why don't people let me know!"
Sun Shaozong was waiting to find out the identities of the two maids, and then asked further, which maid in the blue dress on the left, but something strange came to mind.
Unexpectedly, Wang Ren and Na Xing Zhong were transferred from the back hall 66.
The three people at the table were busy getting up to greet him, but Xue Tu and Sun Shaoxu greeted Wang Ren, but Sun Shaozong bowed to Xing Zhong, calling him 'Uncle Xing'.
Although there is no blood relationship, this Xing Zhong is Jia Yingchun's mother-in-law. Sun Shaozong obviously respects him, but in fact it is the face of Gu Quan's own 'sister-in-law'.
But this kind of courtesy that surpassed Wang Ren made Xing Zhong a little uncomfortable. Over the years, why have those wealthy relatives in Rongguo Mansion ever looked at him directly
As a result, I was at a loss for a while, forgetting how to deal with it.
"Jiro doesn't have to..."
When he finally managed to squeeze out a word, Wang Ren, who was sitting on the side with a golden knife, urged him: "Since Erlang has already started the trial, don't delay and solve this case sooner. , we brothers can also talk about candles at night!"
Xing Zhong blushed, but he didn't dare to complain. He just sat back in his seat sluggishly, with a innocent smile on his face.
Seeing Xing Zhong's unworthy face, Sun Shaozong couldn't help shaking his head secretly in his heart. No wonder this Uncle Xing, in the name of the in-laws of the Rongguo Mansion, has fallen to the point where he wants to go north to seek relatives.
When everyone was seated, Sun Shaozong asked again the names of the two maids, but it turned out that the maid in the blue dress was called Muqin, and the one next to her in the white dress was Shu Xuan, who was a good painter.
"You two, do you have anything to complain about?"
Sun Shaozong said 'two people', but his eyes fixed on Mu Qin.
Sure enough, this Muqin opened his mouth immediately and was about to say something.
However, when the words reached her throat, she swallowed them back, and asked hopefully: "If the servant said it, would there be a reward?"
tsk~
This girl doesn't know whether she is lacking in heart or being obsessed with money - even if she wants to reward her, she should never say it in front of her master.
Liu Changfeng and his son were a little unhappy on their faces, but they still promised in unison, saying that as long as she could remember something, there would be no shortage of rewards.
That Muqin was beaming with joy, but she never thought that this might be the last piece of money she received from Liu Mansion in her life
Just listen to her crisp voice: "Qingtian eldest master, after the slave and Shuxuan helped the eldest young master into the room, they took the fire book and came out to light the lamp, but found that the shadow of the screen on the south wall did not seem right. It's a little different from peacetime…”
"what?!"
When Liu Changfeng heard this, he almost jumped up from the ground with excitement, and turned around and scolded Na Muqin angrily: "Why didn't you say something so important earlier?!"
Saying that, he slammed his head on the ground again, and said excitedly: "Master Mingjian, this is obviously because a thief was hiding behind the screen long ago, and after the maids left, they waited for an opportunity to kill my daughter-in-law!"
slap~
"shut up!"
Sun Shaozong slapped the table with a slap and scolded: "Although this place is not a court, it is not your turn to teach this officer how to decide a case. If you dare to be disrespectful again, this officer will definitely not forgive me!"
The county magistrate of Jiangning was still a little smart, and when he stopped talking, he hurriedly called in a few yamen and told them to line up.
Although the water and fire sticks and Tang Wei were missing, the atmosphere in the hall was still quite awe-inspiring.
Liu Changfeng wanted to distinguish a few words at first, but when he met Sun Shaozong's cold eyes, he hurriedly crouched down as if he had been slapped in the head.
Only then did Sun Shaozong ask Na Muqin, "What is the difference between that shadow?"
"This… "
Mu Qin was a little timid when she saw that the master had eaten the first row, but when he heard Sun Shaozong's questioning, he panicked even more.
When he was at a loss for words, he heard Shu Xuan say loudly, "Sir, Mu Qin didn't really see it at the time. With a flick of his hand, he put out the fire book."
"That's right, that's what happened!"
Mu Qin nodded as if smashing garlic, and continued: "I just felt wrong, and the fire was extinguished. I really didn't see it clearly, and I don't know if it was a mistake. When we asked, the slaves didn't dare to talk nonsense."
Didn't see it for real
Sun Shaozong frowned and said, "Since you think something is wrong, why don't you ignite the fire certificate and confirm it?"
"Because slaves... slaves are afraid."
Muqin's voice couldn't help revealing some tremors: "Back then, Lu Yi was soaked in the well for a day and a night before he fished it out. At that time, it was really... Really..."
"After that, the family was a little unhappy. I heard that Lu Yi had turned into a ghost and wanted to... ask the young lady for her life!"
"So as soon as the fire was extinguished, the slaves panicked, and Shu Xuan was also afraid of not being able to be by the side. As soon as the two of us got together, we hurried out to find the young mistress."
When Sun Shaozong heard this, he couldn't help being disappointed.
I originally thought that this maid could provide first-hand evidence at the scene, but who would have thought such a vague clue.
The shadow of this southern wall...
Sun Shaozong took out the layout of the bedroom and scanned it, and then asked, "Where were you standing in the room when you were making a fire?"
"It's... almost in the middle of the room."
According to the complaint, the screen is five feet high [about 1 meter 55] and seven feet long [about 2 meters 17]. If someone deliberately hides behind it and lights it from the front, it should not reflect a shadow.
While thinking about it, he asked again: "How thick is the screen, can it transmit light and reflect the figures behind it?"
"This… "
Mu Qin hesitated for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed: "Ah! I remembered something was wrong, that screen usually sees light a little when I take a light on it, but it was pitch-dark that day, and it looked very oozing. Man, that's why I was taken aback!"
Was it translucent before
Was it opaque before the incident
Sun Shaozong was refreshed, and he seemed to have something in his mind.
At this moment, that Shuxuan suddenly interjected: "It's pitch black, that's right, because it was raining that day, after the young lady washed up in the afternoon, she didn't let anyone carry the tub out, there was a tub behind it. Block it, it looks naturally pitch-black."
As she said that, she shook her head speechlessly: "You couldn't tell why at the time. I really thought you saw something dirty, but it turned out to be..."
After these words, Mu Qin, who spoke directly, was speechless, and peeked at his master, obviously worried that the 'reward' would disappear.
The people around, including that Wang Ren, originally thought that some major case was about to be revealed, but now they found out that it was a misunderstanding, and they were all disappointed.
But Sun Shaozong was not disappointed this time, his bright eyes were directly locked on Shu Xuan, and he asked in a deep voice, "The statement recorded in Jiangning County only says that the two of you are going to find the Sun family together, but you don't know where you are here. Before, where were you all? Who was serving the Sun family?"
Muqin: "The servants are in the small kitchen, urging the cooks to make the cakes for August 15th, while the young lady is serving her sister Shuxuan."
Shu Xuan: "The slave servant was actually serving in front of the young lady, because the young lady was thinking about the little kitchen, so she sent the servant to ask the question. Later, due to some tricks, the two of us could not make up our minds, so we decided to ask the young lady. be in charge."
Sure enough!
One could be said to be a coincidence, but twice in a row, this Shu Xuan denied Mu Qin's remarks when everyone's suspicions arose.
This inevitably feels a little weird.
Especially with Liu Changfeng's remarks in front, everyone should know that if someone's hidden rhetoric behind the screen is true, it will undoubtedly be extremely beneficial to Liu Yiqing.
As the Liu family's eldest maid, it is not very reasonable to deny this possibility one after another.
In addition, she was already serving by Sun's side, so if she committed the crime in advance, she would have plenty of time!
As for why, Mu Qin didn't find a body when he went in before...
Sun Shaozong suddenly bowed his hands to Wang Ren and said, "Brother Wang, can someone bring some screens over? It's best to let light through - by the way, please prepare another tub."
When Wang Ren heard this, he also guessed that Sun Shaozong was trying to test something, and it was not difficult for him to be left or right. He immediately gave an order and asked the servant to follow Sun Shaozong's instructions to collect the screen, bathtub and other items.
Taking advantage of this moment, Sun Shaozong asked Shuxuan and Muqin a few more questions, such as where they went to find Sun, whether they separated on the way, and so on.
After learning that Shu Xuan had been to the toilet on the way to take a nap, and spent about half a cup of tea before and after [three to five minutes], the balance in Sun Shaozong's heart tilted towards her again.
But not long after that, several servants of the palace brought several large and small screens.
Sun Shaozong first asked Liu Yiqing and the two maids to select screens with slightly different sizes on both sides according to the degree of light transmission in their memory.
Then he ordered someone to carry the tub to the corner, and gradually turned off the nearby lights until the brightness of the murder scene was almost the same as that of the evening of the day, and the smaller screen was placed in front.
But I saw a pitch-black mass nearby, not to mention the tub at the back, and even the front screen, I could only see a faint outline.
"Muqin, stand at a distance similar to that of the day and try to light a fire stick."
Under Sun Shaozong's instructions, Namuqin stood about six feet [about 1 meter 86] away from the screen, and carefully lit the fire.
However, when the fire light came on, the middle of the screen was still pitch-black, but some light was faintly penetrating through the sides.
Sun Shaozong asked at the right time: "What did you see that day, but this kind of situation?"
Mu Qin shook her head without hesitation, just as she was about to say something, Shu Xuan, who was beside her, couldn't help but interrupt, "Sir, she only glanced at it, how can she remember..."
"shut up!"
Sun Shaozong scolded, and encouraged Mu Qin to say: "You just need to tell the truth, not only will your master be rewarded, but my Sun family will not treat you badly!"
Na Muqin was a little hesitant when she was told by Shu Xuan, but when she heard that the reward was doubled, she immediately shook her head and said, "That's not true. When I looked behind the screen, it was clearly pitch black, with no light on both sides!"
When Sun Shaozong heard this, he immediately ordered the slightly larger screen to be lifted and placed in front of the previous screen, about a foot [31.1 cm] away.
This time there was no need for Mu Qin to speak, and everyone immediately noticed the difference—the places on both sides that had some light penetration also became dark.
Although it was carefully identified, the degree of darkness was still somewhat different from that in the middle, but at first glance, it could be said to be completely pitch-black.
"That's right, that's it, that's how it was at the time!"
While Muqin shouted happily, Wang Ren couldn't help but wonder in his heart, and asked in confusion, "Erlang, what's going on here? You let people set it up for a long time, what did you try?"
Sun Shaozong smiled slightly, pointed at the two screens and said, "I heard someone say just now that there is a bathtub behind the screen, so it is not transparent, so I feel a little strange - since it is a screen prepared for bathing, it is naturally better than The tub is much bigger, otherwise how can it cover the tub behind?"
"Similarly, because the tub is much smaller than the screen, and it is an ellipse with a curvature, it is almost impossible to cover up all the light leakage from the screen!"
"So I assumed that there might be something else in front of and behind that screen—say, another screen!"
"If my guess is correct, when the two maids entered the door that day, there were also two screens in the room - as for the purpose, I'm afraid it's not to cover up the living, but to cover up the corpse of my niece!"
"what?!"
Wang Ren was shocked and said incredulously: "You mean, when Liu Yiqing returned home, the Sun family was already dead?!"
"This... is this impossible?!"
Sun Shaoxu was even more stunned by the side, and blurted out, "Who is the murderer? Why do you want to... come up with such a trick?"
Sun Shaozong smiled slightly: "The murderer made such a trick, of course, to create an alibi, and at the same time put the crime on Liu Yiqing."
After speaking, he turned around slowly, fixed his eyes on Shuxuan, and sneered, "Miss Shuxuan, but I don't know what this official's inference is, what's wrong?"
At this time, there was not much light in the surroundings, only the Huo Zhezi in Mu Qin's hands reflected Shu Xuan's pale and bloodless face.
She was obviously flustered, but she forced a smile, shook her head and said, "What does the eldest master mean? The servants really don't understand."
"do not understand?"
Sun Shaozong snorted and said: "If this official's inference is not wrong, there is a chance to kill Sun in advance, and then wait for the opportunity to withdraw from the office, and the body of Sun's body is exposed, I am afraid that you are the only maidservant who is close to you. !"
"Master!"
Shu Xuan fell to her knees and shouted injustice, "The slave servant is the dowry maid of the young mistress, and has always been used by the young mistress and the eldest young master. How could... how could she do such a rebellious thing?!"
Sun Shaozong spread his hands: "Indeed, I haven't figured out your motive until now, but it should have something to do with that Lu Yi affair."
Seeing that Sun Shaozong still believed that he was the murderer, Shu Xuan suddenly raised her head and asked through gritted teeth, "Sir, you said that only slaves can commit this case, but I don't know where the slaves found the second screen, and how to use it afterwards. Move somewhere else?!"
"It needs to be known that slaves are only weak females, and they are not strong generals in the army like the eldest master. Not to mention that there is not enough time, even if there is enough time, I am afraid that it will be difficult to carry the screen elsewhere independently!"
Everyone had already followed Sun Shaozong's rhythm and began to doubt this Shu Xuan.
But after hearing her rebuttal, she couldn't help shaking.
There may be a way to move the screen over there.
But afterward, Shu Xuan was always with Mu Qin, and only left half a cup of tea in the middle. How could he have the opportunity to remove the screen
Everyone was suspicious, but heard Sun Shaozong sneer: "If it is a real screen, it is naturally difficult to move, but what if it is an incomplete screen?"
With that said, he strode to the round table in the middle, held the topographic maps in his hands, and showed them to everyone: "Don't forget, everyone, this girl Shuxuan is the best at calligraphy and painting!"