The Fourteenth Year of Chenghua

Chapter 21

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After a while, A-Xia came out, holding the dishes in her hands and handing them over to A-Dong.

A-Dong took it and walked neatly towards the kitchen.

On the other end, A-Chun just finished eating and came out of the kitchen. When he saw A-Dong coming over, he hurriedly said, "Why are you here too? You can put away the dishes first, and there is no one around the wife, in case she has something to ask for. How to do?"

A-Dong smiled and said, "Don't worry, Sister A-Chun, Sister A-Xia has come back, and she is guarding at the wife's place!"

A-Chun frowned: "Didn't A-Xia say she's not feeling well? I even asked her to see a doctor for the past two days to get medicine."

A-Dong said: "Yes, sister A-Xia said that her childhood is here, and I think she is really uncomfortable walking!"

A Chun was surprised: "She came when she was young? Why didn't I see her riding cloth? Could it be that she just came today..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to realize that his words were inappropriate for an eight- or nine-year-old girl, so he hurriedly shut up.

"Okay, A-Dong, just go and rest. A-Xia and I are over there with your wife."

When A-Chun returned to Zhang's yard, she saw A-Xia just came out of it, she looked at it carefully for a while, and found that A-Xia's face was indeed pale, so she went up to meet him: "A-Xia, did you see the doctor today? "

A-Xia smiled and said, "Go, but there are too many people over there. I'm afraid that the lady here has something to order. You can't do it all by yourself. You can't wait to come back first."

A Chun said angrily: "Don't worry about my work, I asked you to rest, and then ran out to work, alright, go back and lie down, and I'll just come here, my wife!"

A-Xia made a silent gesture to her: "Madam just took a break."

A Chun nodded with a worried look on his face: "Is your wife still in a bad mood?"

A-Xia sighed: "Yes, I persuaded her a few words to let her rest early. She said she had a headache, so let's not go in and disturb her tonight."

A-Chun: "My wife sleeps in the back room, and I'm in the outside room, why not?"

A-Xia: "There is only one door between the inner room and the outer room. My wife asked us to go out. She probably didn't want us to wake her up when we turned over in the outer room in the middle of the night? You also know that my wife would sleep very lightly when she had a headache."

A Chun: "That's right, then I'll just spend the night outside."

A Xia: "I'll accompany you."

A Chun pushed her: "No, you go to rest, you look ugly like this."

A Xia said: "I should be on duty today, how can I leave you to rest, I will accompany you."

A-Chun: "Didn't A-Dong just say that your childhood is here?"

A-Xia: "Yeah, I just came here today, but it's much better now. It's not uncomfortable as long as I sit."

A Chun couldn't do anything about her, so the two sat down beside the stone table in the yard. Fortunately, it was the midsummer season, the weather was sultry, and the starry sky was visible when looking up, but it was cool in the yard.

The two of them talked one after the other, and in the second half of the night, they were both a little sleepy, their arms resting on their chins, dozing there.

A Chun yawned and stood up: "I'll go in to see how my wife is sleeping and whether the doors and windows are closed tightly, so as not to catch a cold."

A Xia also stood up: "I'll go!"

A Chun: "Okay, no need, do you need two people to close the window, just sit down!"

At this moment, there was a muffled sound in the house.

A-Chun and A-Xia looked at each other, and the two stepped forward. A-Chun knocked on the door and asked softly, "Madam?"

Seeing that there was no answer, A Chun pushed open the door and walked in.

The door to the inner room was still closed, but behind the screen in the outer room was a shadowy shadow, as if something was moving.

A-Chun's heart skipped a beat, and he walked over slowly, asking inquiringly, "Madam?"

When she went around behind the screen, she realized that the outside window was not closed tightly, and the branches outside were dancing in the breeze, the shadow of the tree reflected on the screen, and the clothes hanging on the hanger behind the screen, it was easy for people to misunderstand. .

A Chun breathed a sigh of relief, and then deliberately looked out.

There is a small garden attached to the outside. At this time, the bright moon is on the sky, and the grass and trees are clearly illuminated. The branches are gently swaying and rubbing, and a faint cat meow or two can be heard from the bushes.

A Chun shook his head and closed the doors and windows.

A-Chun walked around the screen and saw A-Xia walking out of the back room lightly.

"Is your wife still asleep?" she asked A-Xia in a low voice.

A-Xia nodded: "It seems that she was sleeping deeply. I didn't know what the sound was just now, so I couldn't wake her up."

A Chun: "Then let's go out. It's rare for my wife to sleep better these days. Don't wake her up."

The two exited the room, and A-Xia asked, "What is Fang's voice?"

A Chun: "Maybe the wild cat was naughty and hit the edge of the window when it went up. It happened before."

After being disturbed by this news, the two of them became more energetic, and they simply sat there chatting until it was dawn, and A Chun said, "Usually the wife should get up at this time, you go to fetch water first, and I will take a look. Is your wife awake?"

A Xia responded, and A Chun walked to Zhang's house.

This is something they are used to doing, and there is nothing novel to describe. A Chun walked into the house and knocked on the door of the back room: "Madam, it's time, do you want to get up?"

It was quiet inside, and no one answered.

Mrs. Zhang was originally a light sleeper, and she could be woken up by a little movement outside. Even if she slept well last night, it was impossible for her to shout like this and still not move. Could it be that she was sick

A-chun was surprised, she couldn't wait for Zhang to respond, and immediately opened the door.

As a result, this push made her see the most terrifying scene in her life!

There was a rope hanging from the beam, and Mrs. Zhang was hanging on the rope, her body was swaying. Looking up from A Chun's angle, you could see Mrs. Zhang's eyes wide open and staring at her blankly.

"what-!!!!!!"

If something like this happened to the Li family, it would be no different from the sky falling.

Just because the male master of the Li family has been doing business abroad for a long time, the ancestral house in the capital is guarded by the Zhang family. As the mistress of the house, she has to take care of the housework and take care of the family's daily life. Because the Zhang family cannot give birth, Li Man Later, he married two concubines, including the mother of Li Lin, the only son of the Li family.

Li Man has a child in middle age, and naturally loves Li Lin very much. Not only him, Zhang also treats Li Lin as his own son. Li Lin grew up by Zhang's side since he was a child, and he respects her very much. Not only did he not hide his background, but he also took care of his biological mother. Li Man's two concubines were also honest and could not cause any major storms. Therefore, although the male host was not at home all the year round, the Li family had Zhang's presence. , Over the years, it has been stable and peaceful.

At this time, as soon as Mrs Zhang died, the Li family lost the backbone, and Li Man hadn't come back yet.

For the past few days, Mrs. Zhang has been unhappy and unhappy because of the news that Li Man is about to bring back the concubine. , when Li Man was away, the Li family thought of Tang Fan first, and hurriedly sent the housekeeper, Lao Li, to Shuntian Mansion to find Tang Fan and beg him to decide.

It stands to reason that Tang Fan should not take care of this matter, because there are several counties under the jurisdiction of Shuntian Prefecture, and Wanping County should take care of the Li family. If this kind of thing happened, if the Li family suspected homicide Instead of committing suicide, if you want to sue the official, you must first go to the magistrate of Wanping. If Tang Fan is in charge, it will be called overreaching. It is a taboo in the officialdom, and Wanping County will definitely be very upset.

So Tang Fan was surprised, so he just comforted Old Li and promised to go to Li's house with him first. If he committed suicide, he didn't need to alert the government.

When Tang Fan followed Lao Li back to Li's house, he saw a strange man sitting in the hall feeling sad, with a beautiful woman standing beside him, Li Lin was standing there weeping, A Chun and A Xia were kneeling. in the hall.

Lao Li snorted, overjoyed, and hurried forward: "Master, Master, you are back!"

"Old Li, where have you been!" Li Man's face was full of grief and tears were shining. Although he took a concubine, he still had feelings for his wife, and his eyes fell on Tang Fan next to Lao Li. "Who is this?"

Old Li hurriedly said: "Master, this is Master Tang of Shuntian Mansion. Because of such a change in the family suddenly, Master, you are no longer there, and the little one went out on his own initiative and invited Master Tang to come and have a look!"

Li Man stood up and greeted: "It turned out to be Master Tang, the villain is rude! I don't know about Master Tang and my family...?"

When Tang Fan rented the yard next door, Li Man had already gone out and had never seen Tang Fan at all, so it was no wonder he had such doubts.

Old Li explained: "Master Tang rented the yard next door. He has helped the Li family a few times, and he is kind to us. You are not here, sir, and the little one has no masters. If something like this happens, the first one thinks of it. Looking for Master Tang!"

Li Man nodded and cupped his hands: "So that's the case, I thanked Master Tang on behalf of the Li family first!"

Tang Fan said, "You're welcome, but Mrs. Li is so good, why did she hang herself?"

As soon as these words came out, not only Lao Li, but also A Chun and others did not make a sound, and the atmosphere was a little stagnant for a while.

After a while, Li Man said, "Old Li, why don't you answer what Master Tang is asking you?"

Old Li sighed: "Back to the words of the master, this matter is always in the outer courtyard, and I didn't see his wife yesterday, so it's not good to talk nonsense, let A Chun and the others talk about it!"

Li Man said, "A-Chun, A-Xia, say it!"

A Chun's face was full of panic. She was the first to discover Zhang's body. The impact of the body hanging on the beam was too great, and she has not recovered until now.

Li Man had to ask A-Xia to speak, A-Xia glanced at Li Man and the woman beside him, and said timidly: "A few days ago, my wife heard that the master is going to bring someone back from outside, and because she has not been out for many years, I felt a little depressed, and we comforted me. Later, last night, my wife said she wanted to rest and wouldn't let us in. A Chun and I stayed outside until it was almost dawn before I went in and called my wife to wake up. Who knows As soon as Ah Chun entered, he saw his wife..."

Hearing this, Li Man deplored and said: "I have a relationship with her husband and wife, and we have a deep relationship. How can I ever complain about her! How can she be so incapable of thinking about it!"

The beautiful woman said sadly, "I came back with the master to see my wife. Why did my wife suspect me at this point, and she didn't even let me see you!"

Tang Fan shook his head, this kind of private affairs in the house, a woman's mind, is really inappropriate for outsiders, and it is not convenient for him to intervene, but out of the neighbor's affection, he still said: "If it is convenient, please take me to see it. Your wife, to be sure if she really committed suicide."

Li Man cupped his hands: "Thank you for your kindness, Lord Tang, but after all, Zhuojing is a female family member, and men and women are not married, not to mention that the deceased is a big one. , why don't you wait for the villain to finish cooking the funeral of Zhuojing first, and then come to the door to thank you, what does Master Tang think?"

Tang Fan gave him a deep look: "What if I have to watch it?"

Li Man was stunned: "Master Tang, as a court official, how can he ignore the court's laws and the wishes of his family? The deceased is a big one.

Tang Fan said: "Yes, but since Mrs. Li may have committed suicide or murdered, I naturally have the right to inspect the body."

Li Man's face sank: "As far as I know, even if the government investigates, it should be sent by Wanping County to investigate. Although Master Tang is affiliated with Shuntian Prefecture, he is wrong after all. Is this illegal?"

The ancestor of the Li family was an official, and Li Man used to be a scholar in the past, but now he is doing business all over the world and has a wide range of contacts. Naturally, he is not as easy to fool as ordinary people, and what he said is indeed true.

Tang Fan had no choice but to say, "Then it's alright for me to take a walk around your wife's living room?"