The bustling streets and hot weather are extremely uncomfortable.

In the alley, an old woman was panting and walking in the sunshine carrying a bag of vegetables bought from the market. She was old and fat, and she was carrying things in her hands, so her steps were slow.

She was staggering and her head was covered with sweat. But she ignored the sweat and fatigue on her body and walked forward quickly. There was still a mistress at home who had been ill for several days and she needed to take care of her. She had to rush back as soon as possible.

I don't know when a figure appeared in front of me, standing in the middle of the alley, blocking the way. The old woman turned to avoid it, trying to go around the man, but suddenly with a light hand, the vegetable basket was snatched away by the man.

"Ah! What are you doing?" The old woman cried out in surprise. She looked around in shock and saw clearly a man with a sallow complexion in front of her.

"Aunt Zhang, don't be afraid, we are not bad people. My young master wants to say a few words to you." The man said softly.

The old woman asked in surprise: "Who are you?"

The man came forward and reached out to hold her arm, lifting her feet forward without touching her, and then turned into a fork in the alley. There was another person standing there.

"Sir, Aunt Zhang is here."

The man standing in the alley turned around, with a smile on his sallow face, and said in a deep voice: "Go and guard the entrance of the alley. I will have a few words with Aunt Zhang."

The man holding Aunt Zhang's arm agreed, turned around and walked to the entrance of the alley to be on guard. Aunt Zhang stood there at a loss, looked at the middle-aged man in front of her, and said tremblingly: "Young Master, you...

...What are you going to do? I am a decent person and I have never done anything bad in my life. You..."

The middle-aged man laughed in a low voice: "Aunt Zhang, don't be afraid, we are not bad people. We are... Zhang Zhuangyuan's friends. We came from the capital specifically to deal with the Zhang family."

Aunt Zhang was stunned and said in surprise: "Are you sent by Brother Xiang... Young Master?"

The middle-aged man nodded and said: "Exactly."

Aunt Zhang frowned and said, "Are you serious? You must not be lying to me. Can you tell me what Brother Xiang looks like?"

The middle-aged man smiled and said: "They are both tall and have dark skin. They have thick eyebrows and big eyes. By the way, there is a small scar on the corner of the left eyebrow."

Aunt Zhang said happily: "Yes, yes, it's him. The scar was caused by him bumping into the stone steps when he was naughty when he was a child. It took four stitches. You are really sent by Brother Xiang. I believe it."

Thank God, Brother Xiang finally believed me, and I don’t know how happy Madam is when she finds out."

The middle-aged man looked at Aunt Zhang with a smile, and smiled bitterly in his heart. He only mentioned Zhang Xiaoxiang's appearance, and the old woman believed her. This is too easy to believe. But after all, she is a servant girl of the Zhang family, and she has never seen much of the world.

, naturally he doesn’t have so many other thoughts. He is a simple and kind-hearted person.

"Why doesn't Brother Xiang come back? Doesn't Brother Xiang know that such a big thing happened at home?" the woman asked.

"Aunt Zhang, it is not convenient for Zhang Zhuangyuan to come back. But he knows everything that happened at home. He will stay in the capital to take care of things. Wasn't Mr. Zhang taken to the capital? What will Mr. Zhang do if he comes back?"

"Yes, yes, that's right. He has to work hard in the capital to redress the injustice of the master. I understand, I understand." Aunt Zhang suddenly understood.

He nodded.

The middle-aged man was Fang Zian, and he also smiled and nodded.

Aunt Zhang said again: "Since you are Brother Xiang's friends, hurry up and sit at home. It's just in time to meet Madam and make Madam feel at ease. Let's go home."

Fang Zian hurriedly waved his hands and said: "Aunt Zhang, we can't go to the Zhang family. It's very inconvenient to go at this time. I don't know how many eyes are staring at the Zhang family. We can't go."

Aunt Zhang said: "It doesn't matter, there is no official in the family."

Fang Zian frowned and shook his head: "They are just somewhere you can't see."

Aunt Zhang said in shock: "You mean, they are still watching us secretly?"

Fang Zian didn't want to get involved too much with this old woman. He said in a deep voice: "Aunt Zhang, do you want the Zhang family to be safe? If you want, then listen to me. From now on, we will come to Wuhu

We cannot tell anyone the news, otherwise someone will cause trouble for us."

Aunt Zhang was startled and immediately said: "I understand why I talk so much."

Fang Zian said: "Okay. We are here to find out what happened with the Zhang family. Now I have a few questions to ask you. Please answer me truthfully."

Aunt Zhang said: "Okay! You ask. As long as the Zhang family is safe and sound, I will tell you whatever you ask."

Fang Zian nodded and asked in a deep voice: "How many years has Aunt Zhang been in the Zhang family?"

Aunt Zhang said: "How many years? I haven't counted. I have been serving the Zhang family since I was fifteen years old. First I was the wife, then the wife, and the young master."

Fang Zian said: "That means they have always been in the Zhang family. How many people in the Zhang family still live in the house now?"

Aunt Zhang sighed and said: "There is no one left, only my wife and I are left. Hey, when this person is unlucky, he will immediately see the faces of some people. When nothing happened before, guests would come to the house every day. Those

Scholars in the city, this gentleman and that gentleman come every day, and it’s very lively. When something happens, no one comes to see her. My wife asks people to ask them for help in redressing grievances, but they don’t even see them. They are really a bunch of people who follow the wind.

Dogs. It’s the same at home. When a few bad guys saw something happened at home, they quit their jobs and ran away. Madam and master were always so kind to them, and didn’t care about the relationship between master and servant. They were really worse than dogs. The old dog at home was still

You know how to protect your family."

Speaking of this, the old woman was obviously unhappy and kept talking endlessly. Fang Zian interrupted quickly: "What about the other people in the family? I mean, are there no other relatives in the family?"

"Oh, that's true. The two ladies and the two uncles also live at home. But they are going to the capital now. The master was escorted to the capital, and the wife asked the two ladies and the two uncles to follow him and take care of him all the way. When he arrived in the capital, he

It's good to run errands and take care of things, but we can't let the master not even have food and food. Alas, how could the master, a good person all his life, end up in such a disaster. He was wrongly accused to death. Alas!" Aunt Zhang wiped her tears.

Fang Zian basically understood the current situation of the Zhang family. After the Zhang family's accident, the servants dispersed, and some of the local gentry and scholars Zhang Qi had been dating withdrew their heads and did not dare to come forward. Zhang Xiaoxiang's two sisters and two brothers-in-law

They all followed Zhang Qi to the capital. So now only Aunt Zhang and Zhang Xiaoxiang’s mother are left at home in the Zhang family. No wonder no one came in or out of the Zhang family for half a day when I checked in yesterday.

, when I went there in the evening, I didn’t hear any movement except in the west courtyard. It turned out that everyone in the house was gone.

"Aunt Zhang, don't be sad. Aunt Zhang, Zhang Zhuangyuan's aunt Ding, have you ever served her?"

"Yes. I was supposed to take care of Mrs. Ding, but there was a time when Mrs. Ding was not in good health. Mrs. Ding said that I was very attentive to serving people and could take care of them, so she asked me to take care of Mrs. Ding for two years. But who would have thought that Mrs. Ding

How come the elder sister-in-law is gone and she is said to have been killed by the master? How is this possible? The master and his wife treat Aunt Ding like a mother. The uncle died in the Kingdom of Jin. The master and his wife both said that Aunt Ding was pitiful, and they stayed like this for decades.

, and I don’t want to get married. I don’t know how much I admire and appreciate Sister Ding. How could I kill Sister Ding? Those people talked nonsense and refused to listen no matter how much they cried out for injustice. They just took the master away. I dare to take my old wife away.

Life guarantee, how could the master kill Sister Ding? The master himself is a kind-hearted person, and he would not even trample an ant to death, so how could he kill someone? Are those people crazy? How could they be so unjust?

?" Aunt Zhang began to cry again and began to ramble.

Fang Zian asked: "Can Aunt Zhang tell me the circumstances of Sister Ding's death?"

Aunt Zhang said: "I don't know too well. That morning, I was waiting for my wife to get up, and suddenly some police officers broke in and wanted to take the old man, so they took the old man directly. The leader said that it was Mrs. Ding who reported the old man.

It was Jin Guoxiu who wanted to take the master and take Aunt Ding to the hall to confront him. We followed in a hurry and entered Aunt Ding's house, only to find that Aunt Ding was dead on the bed. Those people said that the master had killed Aunt Ding. After that, the Yamen

Many people came in, and after an autopsy, they said that Mrs. Ding was strangled to death by the master. They also said that Mrs. Ding's maid, Xiaomei, saw the master going to Mrs. Ding's room last night, and seemed to have had a quarrel. This

Xiaomei usually acts like a vixen, I knew she was not responsible."

Fang Zian frowned and said, "Xiaomei? She disappeared after the incident?"

Aunt Zhang gritted her teeth and said, "Thanks to her running fast, otherwise I would tear her mouth to pieces. She was taken to the government to record a statement, and she never came back. Does she still have the nerve to come back? I will tear her mouth apart when she comes back."

Fang Zian frowned and pondered for a moment, and then continued to ask a few more questions. Aunt Zhang was caught up in her emotions. She was just apologizing for Zhang Qi, scolding Xiaomei for being unjust, and scolding the government for being speechless. Other than that, there was nothing else.

There is useful information. Fang Zian knows it, but Aunt Zhang only knows so much.

"Aunt Zhang, I'll just ask you this much for now. Since we came back under Zhang Zhuangyuan's order, we will naturally find out the truth. We can't go to the Zhang family, but we still have to see Zhang Zhuangyuan's mother. You go back now,

Bring a letter to your wife, saying that we are people sent by Zhang Zhuangyuan and it is not convenient to meet at home. Ask her to meet us on the second floor of Sihai Restaurant on Zhong Street in the late afternoon. We can book a private room for the meeting. We have

Discuss very important matters with her, okay?" Fang Zian said.

Aunt Zhang nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, I will definitely tell Madam."

Fang Zian said: "Well, Aunt Zhang, let's go home. Remember, don't mention our return to anyone, otherwise the Zhang family's affairs will be difficult to handle. We will also be in trouble."
Chapter completed!