Sui Zhou really didn't know what expression to use to face Master Tang.
You say that a person who has the talent of the top scholar, although he failed to become the top scholar in the end, is also the fourth in the country, and he has been commended by the sage. It can be regarded as applying what you have learned, and you have to return to it, but what is the purpose of running to write those romantic stories now
Master Tang smiled, not ashamed, but proud: "The salary is low, you can earn some money, Guangchuan doesn't need to be so surprised, anyway, no one except you knows that it was written by me, but this book was sold by the bookseller. A thousand copies have been printed, which is considered a very good sale."
Sui Zhou was completely intrigued, he took out the book alone: "I will read it."
Tang Fan: "That's great, I have received my book, and I have something to trouble you."
Sui Zhou raised his eyebrows to express his doubts.
Tang Fan felt that the other party accepted his book, so he could trouble the other party to do a small thing: "How about you help me pick off those acacia leaves outside?"
Suizhou: "..."
Did he think it was a human exchange
Dare to make trouble for a long time, the other party has not given up eating cold noodles
It is the number one foodie in the world!
Of course Master Tang would not think so. He felt that a person as rich in life as himself was born to save the wood of Suizhou. Look, after adding yourself, the other party's life is immediately full of sunshine.
But until the end, the locust leaf Tao that he was thinking about couldn't be eaten.
Because Sui Zhou directly took the two to an outside restaurant to have a meal.
There is no locust leaf to wash the cold noodles, but there are crab stuffed orange and steamed shrimp. The shrimp is just caught from the river. It is not as sweet as the sea shrimp, but it is not bad. The soy sauce is sprinkled with sesame oil and chopped garlic. , Peel the shell of the shrimp and dip it in a mouthful, it is the enjoyment of the world.
Master Tang was satisfied after eating a book, and he felt a sense of happiness: "Guangchuan, look at this hustle and bustle, bustling and bustling, you can steal a half-day leisure, eat and watch the world, it is not asking for anything. The free time is also a kind of enjoyment, enough to sit down and savor it slowly.”
This person is very easy to raise. He is not too rigid and difficult to communicate with like those honest officials and direct officials, and he does not want a golden house like more people in the world, Qian Zhongsu, who wants to wake up and take control of the world, and be drunk and beautiful knee.
There was a smile in Suizhou's cold and indifferent eyes, he shook his head and said, "Even if it's Xiu Mu, I usually stay in Beizhen Fusi to check the files, and I rarely come out, otherwise I would be promoted to a hundred households at my age. If you don't work harder, it will only make people think that you are promoted based on nepotism."
Tang Fan sighed: "What other people like to think, that's someone else's business. We have one hand and one hand, and no one can stop you from talking. As long as you have a clear conscience, that's all. You have to enjoy what you should enjoy on weekdays."
This is very reasonable, Sui Zhou was about to say something, but heard the words of Master Tang change, "That's what, let the store pack two cold dishes for us to go back later, it just happens to be dinner at night."
Sui Zhou looked at him blankly.
Master Tang blinked: "That portion is always okay?"
A-Dong couldn't help covering his mouth and laughing beside him.
With one more Suizhou and one more A-Dong, Master Tang originally thought that from now on he would go to a happy life without touching the sun and spring water, but he did not expect that he had recruited two old mothers for himself, who would take care of the east and the west all day long, especially It was about eating, so Master Tang could only stare at those snacks and sigh.
But in general, this kind of life is still pretty good. After all, there are one or two people waiting for you every day when you go home, you can eat a hot meal, you can see smiling faces, and you can hear greetings. My older sister married far away, but now she feels like there are two more family members, and the feeling is completely different.
As for A-Dong, she used to be in the Li family. Although Mrs. Zhang treated her well and A-Chun was willing to take care of her, she was still a servant after all, not to enjoy happiness. That's why she likes to always run over to find Tang Fan. Now that she recognizes Tang Fan as her brother, the feeling of having a family is also indescribable. When she first moved to Sui's house, the little girl was so excited that she slept for several days. not good.
But in fact, not only Tang Fan and A-Dong, but Suizhou, although he didn't say it on the face, has been going home more and more times now, and the time is getting earlier and earlier, and he didn't even spend the rest of the day in the Beizhen Fusi. From the looks of it, his thoughts are probably similar to Tang Fan's.
However, the whereabouts of Chen's side was not going well. If Chen's was alone now, she would not be able to run very far, because strict inspections required an ultimatum document to leave the city and enter the city, but if, as Tang Fan guessed, Chen's She has colluded with the White Lotus Sect, so under the protection of the organization, it is not difficult for her to get out of the city.
Once out of the city, it is like a fish in the sea, and the sea is truly vast.
With Jin Yiwei's supernatural abilities, after several days of searching, no trace of Chen's was found in the city. This woman seemed to have completely disappeared into the sea of people.
On the day of the incident, Tang Fan could have detained Chen as well, but at that time he had already noticed that this woman was a little weird, so he thought about fishing for big fish on a long line to see if she had any other party members or recruits. Knowing that this woman is so cunning, and taking advantage of the opportunity for everyone to think that she is not too important, just to send the yamen to watch from a distance, she disappeared without a trace in a blink of an eye.
On the other hand, on the eve of Li Man being released from Wanping County Prison and preparing to be transferred to the Prison Department, an even more bizarre thing happened.
Li Man is dead.
He committed suicide.
After Li Man smashed the bowl that served the prisoners' meals, he deliberately hid the sharp fragments, and then inserted them directly into his chest in the dead of night. The wound was fatal and the blood loss was too much. pissed.
On the wall next to his body, there are two words written by him with the blood of his heart.
Tang Fan.
These two blood-red and blood-red words were really shocking, reflecting Li Man's dead body with his eyes wide open, and the jailer, who was used to seeing such scenes, also screamed in surprise.
There have always been many prisoners who committed suicide because they couldn't stand the torture in prison, but they were the only ones who died through hardships. .
What's more, for a prisoner like Li Man, the criminal department has not yet finalized the case, maybe there is a chance to reverse the case in the end, or it may be exiled instead of directly asking for beheading.
When Tang Fan heard the news and went to inspect, Li Man's body was no longer there. The cell where he was originally imprisoned was dark and damp, and he had to be lit by candlelight during the day to see what was inside. The two words written in blood It has solidified and discolored, but you can still see what is written.
Li Man deserved what he deserved. Tang Fan directly exposed his murder motive and thoughts. It is not surprising that he hated Tang Fan, but this kind of hatred can be so big that he can't forget it before he dies, so he has to engrave Tang Fan's name. To the point of the wall? You must know that even without Tang Fan, this wife murder case is likely to be uncovered by someone else, and there is no suspense at all.
And when Li Man was dying, what he cared about was not his only son, his own wealth, not his desire to survive, but his hatred for Tang Fan
Looking at these two bloody words, Tang Fan always felt that there were still many mysteries lingering in his heart, and many doubts waiting to be solved.
He arrived at Li's house again.
After Li Man's body was confirmed to be dead by Zu Zuo, he was brought back by the Li family, ready to be buried.
The Li family didn't welcome Tang Fan, especially Li Lin. When he saw Tang Fan, his face was extremely ugly, and he immediately started to chase people away.
Tang Fan said, "I just came to have a look, and I'll leave as soon as I see it."
Li Lin sneered: "What's so beautiful? Could it be that my father is dead, and you won't let go of the body? I've heard that he wrote your name on the wall before he died, and I haven't asked. Master Tang, what did you do with my father's death?"
Tang Fan asked back, "I have no grievances with your Li family, so why do I have to play tricks?"
Li Lin: "That's hard to say, who doesn't know that A-Xia admired you in the past, and A-Xia later, it's not impossible that you want to avenge her, anyway, my father is in prison, you can do whatever you want. "
Tang Fan was too lazy to defend himself: "Li Man's crimes are punished by national law. As an official of the imperial court, now that he is dead, I will naturally come over to find out the situation."
Li Lin refused to give an inch: "My father has already entered the coffin, and he will be buried soon. No one can disturb him! The national law does not say that the dead will be punished!"
Tang Fan waved his hand directly, and the yamen left and right behind him stepped forward, pushing Li Lin and others away, and Tang Fan stepped forward to let Lao Wang push open the lid of the coffin.
A pale and bloodless face was revealed, and a new set of clothes was changed.
But it was definitely Li Man.
Just when Tang Fan was silent, Li Lin rushed forward and pushed Old Wang and the others away. !!!”
He was a commoner, but he dared to be so rude to the court officials. Pharaoh and others were very angry and wanted to scold him when they stepped forward, but they were all stopped by Tang Fan.
The Li family originally planned to go south with the family, but now that Li Man died, they simply set up the hall as a mourning hall to offer condolences to family guests. However, because Li Man committed the crime of murdering his wife, Zhang's family was It was absolutely impossible to come, so the mourning hall was deserted, and Li Lin was dressed in filial attire, making him more and more lonely and helpless.
If an outsider is here and sees the confrontation between the two sides, they must think that Tang Fan is bullying Li Lin because of his identity.
Tang Fan didn't say anything, just walked around the coffin, put a stick of incense on Li Man himself, and then said to Li Lin, "The dead are the big ones, so I won't bother, but I hope you will see your dead mother's face, Be a good student, be a serious person, and don’t repeat the mistakes of your father, presumably your father, Jiuquan, would also like you to grow up.”
Li Lin stared at him coldly: "This is not to worry about the adults."
Since his mother's death, his voice has become hoarse, and it is estimated that he cried in private, so that he almost lost his voice.
Tang Fan frowned. He only felt that this young man's personality had changed a lot since his parents died. Although he didn't see Li Lin many times before, the other party was definitely not as unreasonable and unfriendly as he is today.
Maybe the deaths of Zhang Shi and Li Man were really a big blow to him, right
Seeing that Li Lin did not welcome him so much, Tang Fan didn't stay any longer and left the Li family soon.
However, the matter is not over yet.
On the night that Tang Fan came to Li's house, a fire broke out in the Li's house. Li Lin and other servants of the Li family escaped, but the housekeeper, Lao Li, missed the chance to escape because he wanted to protect Li Man's body. burnt inside.
Coupled with the two bloody words that Li Man wrote in prison before he died, the whole thing was covered with a layer of mystery.
A few days later, Tang Fan was impeached.
The person who impeached Tang Fan was the right criminal of the Criminal Division, called Zhuo Xing.
The Criminal Division is not the Criminal Division. In the Ming Dynasty, in addition to the Six Divisions, there was another department called the Six Divisions. The officials here were either of the 7th grade or from the 7th grade. Collectively, also known as Kedao Yanguan.
The Six Sections were set up by Emperor Taizu in the past, in order to let these people specialize in supervising hundreds of officials, and they can impeach anyone who sees corruption and perverts the law, giving them great authority, and even the cabinet cannot hold their memorials. , but in order to prevent them from being lawless, the lowest grade was set for them, which was regarded as mutual control.
Previously, Li Man had threatened Tang Fan, saying that his ancestor was a third-rank servant, and there were old elders in the court. This is not a false threat, because this father and Li Man's grandfather are old friends, but they are from the previous generation. The friendship was over, and when he arrived at Li Man's place, the friendship was very shallow, otherwise it would not have been possible for him to have no one to speak to him after he was imprisoned.
But the love of incense still has some points. Previously, the evidence of Li Man's crime was conclusive, and the Ministry of Punishment had not finalized it. It was difficult for Zhuo Xing to help him. Now that Li Man is dead, he wrote Tang Fan's name before he died. Everything seems to be There are many doubts, so Zhuo Xing played to impeach Tang Fan for his mistakes in investigating the case, thinking that Li Man died suddenly before the case was finalized, and Tang Fan could not get rid of the suspicion.
In the Ming Dynasty, who did not carry a few impeachment memorials on their backs, they were embarrassed to say that they were officials when they went out, and Li Man was indeed a bit strange. In order to avoid suspicion, Tang Fan simply resigned for the time being. Facing sin at home.
He thought it was nothing, but Pan Bin was furious.
Although Master Pan is not very good to this little junior brother on weekdays, he is his person after all. Now he is being bullied to the head. Pan Bin is facing Wang Zhiwu Anhou and others, because everyone has different fields and power. Different, he had to back down a bit, pretending to be like a grandson, but now facing his colleagues who are also civil servants, he is not so polite.
Everyone has a few old times and the same year, you have, can I not fail
Master Pan was angry and started a relationship. Immediately, there were officials who impeached Zhuo Xing for being unrighteous. Knowing that Li Man's evidence was solid and irrefutable, he also intended to overturn the case for him, slandering the court officials for a businessman, and did not know how many bribes he received from the Li family. .
This came and went, and the two sides fought lively.
As a party, Tang Fan sat alone at home and thought.
Why did Li Man commit suicide in prison
Why did he write his name before he died
Why did the Li family suddenly catch fire and just burn the body
Is the death of the housekeeper, Lao Li, equally strange
There was a pen, ink, paper and inkstone on the table, and Tang Fan wrote several names on it.
Li Man, Li Lin, Zhang Shi, Chen Shi, Axia.
It was getting late, and Suizhou had not returned yet. It was estimated that he was delayed by the affairs of the Beizhen Fusi again.
A-Dong has already prepared all the meals and kept them warm in the pot.
She and Tang Fan sat in the yard enjoying the shade, waiting for Sui Zhou to come back for dinner.
A-Dong held his chin and looked at the words written by Tang Fan curiously, because he was still small and his legs couldn't touch the ground, so he was dangling in the air.
"Brother, how do you pronounce these words?"
Tang Fan pointed and taught her to read one by one, told her the meaning of these words, gave her a piece of paper and a pen, and asked the little girl to scribble and contact her, and he began to sort out his thoughts.
Zhang was dead, and she was the original victim in this case.
The reason for Li Man to kill her is also very simple: as time goes by, because of love and hatred, he thinks Zhang Shi is an eyesore, and seeing that she is unwilling to reconcile, so he does not hesitate to do this.
A-Xia is still in prison now, and Tang Fan has already asked. She doesn't know anything. From the beginning to the end, she was just a poor person who was taken advantage of. Because she lost her innocence, she had to succumb to Li Man. help him do evil.
There are three people left, no, four people.
Tang Fan found that he had also left out a housekeeper, Lao Li.
Li Man committed suicide in prison. Before he died, he wrote his name. Li Man's house caught fire and Li Man's body was inside, but Lao Li couldn't escape.
After the Li family buried Lao Li and Li Man, they left the capital in a hurry and moved south as they said before.
As soon as Li Man died, the Li family caught fire, which was too coincidental.
Or might as well make a bold assumption first that Li Man didn't die at all, but someone died instead of him.
This possibility actually exists, because Li Man was imprisoned in Wanping County Prison. Although the case is serious, there are still many opportunities to play tricks.
But Tang Fan couldn't figure it out. When he went to Li's house that day, he clearly saw Li Man's body. It was impossible that he was lying in it and suspended animation. You must know that the body had to be tested before he was released from prison. He also bought the work
No, wait, wait.
He felt that he must still be missing something important.
He asked A-Dong, "What kind of person is the young master of the Li family?"
A-Dong tilted his head: "Young master doesn't like to talk very much, and he is quite shy. It's okay with us, but I don't see him often, because the young master is locked in his room every day to study, and he also has his own maid."
Tang Fan said, "Then how does he treat your wife?"
A-Dong: "Very filial, the young master was brought up by his wife since he was a child, but it is the master who has not come back a few times a year. The young master is both respectful and afraid of him."
Tang Fan got up and walked around the courtyard with his hands behind his back.
Filial piety, shy, and does not like to talk.
Yes, I also had this impression of Li Lin before.
Tang Fan still remembered that after Li Man was taken away, he went to discuss with Li Lin about redeeming A-Dong, the young man's wary and hateful attitude towards him, and his extreme words.
At that time, he also thought that Li Lin's temperament changed greatly after being stimulated, but now it seems that this is not the case.
He turned around suddenly and asked A-Dong, "Do you think Li Lin and Li Man look alike?"
A-Dong nodded: "It's very similar, the wife often said that the young master and the master were printed like a mold."
Although she left the Li family, she still couldn't change her habit of addressing her in language.
Tang Fan didn't ask her any more, but his pace quickened.
That's right, that's right!
In fact, from the beginning, they should think from another angle.
Suppose that Li Man and his son Li Lin have exchanged identities during the period from when Li Man was captured to before Tang Fan met Li Lin at Li's house. When Li Lin went to visit the prison, he probably persuaded his son to put him in jail instead of him, and coaxed him to go out and find a way to suppress the case. With Li Lin's cowardly and shy nature, it was impossible for him to object to his father's opinion. During this period If you give some money to the jailer and find an excuse to let the jailer open the cell door and let them reunite for a while, the jailer will definitely agree, so when Li Lin comes out of the prison after visiting the prison, in fact, that Li Lin is already Li Man. .
Since the father and son Li Man and Li Lin are of the same size and similar in appearance, as long as Li Man changes his clothes a little and deliberately imitates his son's tone of voice, even if people have doubts in their hearts, it is estimated that they will not dare to say anything. The person who questioned in front of Man was probably Lao Li, the loyal butler of the Li family.
It is very likely that Lao Li found out about the reversal of Li Man's father and son. With his loyal personality, he would definitely persuade Li Man not to do that. Li Man was afraid that he would stab things out, so he simply did not do it again and again, and combined Lao Li with Li Man. Lin's body was burned to death together, just to destroy the corpse and wipe out the traces.
As for the cause of Li Lin's death, there are still some doubts, but now that I think about it, it is estimated that the majority of suicides are involved.
With filial piety on the top of his head, he was cowardly and asked his father to change his identities, and he would have to comply. However, because of the death of his mother and his father's ruthlessness, Li Lin's heart must be full of pain and struggle - these things are completely It was contrary to the sage books he had read before.
This contradictory mood made the teenage boy extremely entangled, and finally chose to commit suicide to escape everything.
But when he was dying, he was still worried about his mother's death and his father's cruelty, so he wrote Tang Fan's name on the wall, not to resent Tang Fan, but to imply that Tang Fan hoped he could Unravel the mystery of it all!
That way, everything makes sense!
Thinking of this, Tang Fan's breathing couldn't help but quicken.
He was not excited because he had figured out everything, but felt that Li Man was just too scary.
The original uncomplicated wife murder case ended up with such a result!
From the moment Li Man murdered, he must have made two preparations. If he could bribe the officials and make the case smaller, then it would be the best. If not, then everything would go according to the plan. To replace himself, and finally escape.
The Li family moved south two days ago. Tang Fan can be sure that even if he sends someone to chase him, he can only chase down the scattered Li family servants. As for Li Man, who is pretending to be his son, he must have brought the Li family with him. The fortune is missing.
Combined with the previous disappearance of the Chen family, there may be a shadow of the White Lotus Sect in these things.
"Big brother! Big brother!"
His sleeve was shaken a few times, and Tang Fan came back to his senses, seeing A-Dong looking at him inexplicably.
"What's wrong?"
"Brother, what are you thinking, I kept shouting and no response, scared me to death!" The little girl patted her heart and pointed to Suizhou, who had just come in from outside. "Brother Sui is back, ready for dinner!"
Tang Fan frowned: "Guangchuan, I've thought of something about the Li family's case, and I was about to tell you that this time I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you again, Beizhen Fusi."
Suizhou nodded: "Eat first."
A-Dong jumped out from the inside with the vegetables in his hand, and he heard the words and said, "Yes, yes, let's eat first, I'm going to starve to death!"
Sui Zhou patted Tang Fan's arm: "Let's talk after eating."
Although the words are simple and the language is bland, there is a feeling of trustworthy enough to be revealed from the blandness.
Tang Fan didn't notice that his expression suddenly relaxed.
He nodded and smiled at Suizhou: "Thanks to A-Dong today, I finally got to eat Sophora japonica. I've been greedy for a long time!"
A-Dong shouted, "Brother, you're too embarrassed to say that you ran to climb a tree and almost fell. In order to catch you, I almost broke my bones!"
Suizhou: "..."
He thought that after taking him out to eat that day, the other party had given up the idea. Who knew that Master Tang would climb trees and pick leaves by himself while he was free at home after being impeached.
Suizhou finally understood what the persistence of foodies is.