"What did you say?" Mingyu suddenly raised his head, "You mean Xiaolou..." Mingyu seemed to suddenly realize with her startled look, "Yes, yes, she wants to surpass her.

She wouldn't hang herself, how could she hang herself?"

Huaixiu asked, "Who can surpass someone with one heart?"

Mingyu suddenly turned pale and bloodless, and his lips trembled violently.

"Master Ming?"

Mingyu was excited and subconsciously said, "Li Xiangjun."

"who is she?"

"She is my apprentice and was once the number one Qingyi in Yangzhou."

Huaixiu asked, "What about her?"

"Dead, died eighteen years ago."

Several people looked at each other.

Mingyu suddenly became excited, "Did you hear any noise last night?"

"What sound?"

"Someone is singing Resurrection."

"Isn't it the girl from Xiaolou who is singing?"

Mingyu said, "No, she can't sing so well. It's Xiangjun. I will never forget her voice. She is back, she is alive, but I chased her out but couldn't find her."

Liang Min coughed slightly when he heard this. He seemed to think Mingyu's words were ridiculous.

Huaixiu immediately asked, "Did you go out when you heard singing last night?"

"yes."

"when?"

"It's very late, I don't know what time it is."

"Can you see anyone else?"

Mingyu shook his head, "No one is there, but she is really singing, that voice..."

How could a man who had been dead for eighteen years appear? Of course no one believed him.

"Master Zhang, please take Master Ming out." Liang Min ordered.

"I'll tell you, Master, did you hear wrongly? We know that Miss Xiangjun was trained by you, and you can't bear to let her go." Mingyu was helped to stumble out of the house, and kept muttering, "I heard rightly.

..."

Liang Min shook his head.

Zhu Yu asked Huai Xiu, "Are there any doubts?"

Huai Xiu said, "I can't tell for the time being."

Liang Min thought for a while, "I think Mingyu is most suspicious. The female troupe disciple said that Miss Xiaolou went to find him, but he was obviously pretending to be crazy and acting stupid just now. He said that Li Xiangjun was resurrected. He didn't mean to say that the murderer was Li Xiangjun."

Huai Xiu said, "I think Master Ming is more like a fool, someone who is obsessed with opera."

Liang Min said, "No one can prove that Miss Xiaolou did not go to Mingyu."

Huaixiu said, "But why did he kill Xiaolou girl?"

Liang Min said, "That's all I have to ask him."

Huaixiu said, "The words of those female disciples alone are not enough to prove that Mingyu is the murderer."

Zhu Yu said, "Next, do you want Miss Li to continue asking other people?"

Huaixiu nodded.

So the rest of the boat passengers were invited in one by one. Where were they between Haishi and Zishi? There was someone to testify. Of course, the news that Xiaolou was murdered could not be contained, so that people were panicked.

However, the results of the inquiry were unsatisfactory.

At that time, most people were asleep, and even those who were awake were in their rooms. No one saw the small building, except for a few people who heard the play.

A whole day passed, and everyone who was questioned seemed to have no suspicion, but the murderer must be among them.

The boat was still sailing smoothly on the river, and the sunset came as expected, but no one dared to go to the deck to enjoy the scenery.

Huaixiu stood at the bow of the boat, scratching his head anxiously.

"What are you thinking about?" Zhu Yu came to her, Huaixiu smiled awkwardly, "I thought it would be easy to find the murderer, after all, he is on this ship, but..."

"Is there no doubt at all?"

Huaixiu said, "It must be there, but I didn't discover it. I think if an experienced person had come to examine it, there would have been a result."

Zhu Yu said, "The so-called experience is also accumulated slowly."

Huaixiu was very grateful for Zhu Yu's comfort. She took a deep breath and reorganized her thoughts, "The small building has been on the ship for only one day. She is not familiar with the other guests on the ship. She has never even met them in person. In the theater troupe,

There is no enemy, so why did the murderer want to kill her? There are only several motives for killing: vendetta, murder for money, killing for love, manslaughter, silence, murder without purpose. Since the vendetta is not established, killing for money is out of the question, killing for love? What about Xiaolou and the theater troupe?

People have no emotional entanglements. Manslaughter? Murder? Why hang the body on the sail?"

Zhu Yu said, "Of course it's disguised as suicide."

Huaixiu shook his head, "If you are afraid of being discovered, why not throw it off the boat to be cleaner."

Zhu Yu thought for a moment and said, "That's right."

Huai Xiu said, "What about killing people without any purpose?"

Zhu Yu asked, "What is purposeless killing?"

Huaixiu said, "There is no reason for the murder. The murderer is either crazy or mentally ill. Such people often commit crimes continuously."

Zhu Yu frowned when he heard this, "You mean the murderer will still commit murder?"

Huaixiu said, "I don't know... Your Majesty, the daughter of the people also wants to see the corpse. Uncle Hua said that sometimes the corpse will give us clues."

Liang Min was about to go downstairs when he saw Zhu Yu and Huaixiu leaving together, "Your Majesty..."

As soon as he shouted, a boatman blocked his way, "Master Liang."

"Let's talk about it later." Liang Min wanted to pursue Zhu Yu Huaixiu.

The boatman said, "I must be very anxious about this matter, because when Miss Li asked me if I had seen anyone last night, I lied."

After hearing this, Liang Min turned around and looked at the inconspicuous, even rude, boatman in front of him.

*

In the morgue, Huaixiu inspected the corpse again. She was so careful that she didn't miss even a hair, and finally she discovered a detail.

Huaixiu found an oil stain on Xiaolou's cuff, with a piece of patchouli on it.

"Why is this happening?"

"Maybe I accidentally got it on while eating."

Huaixiu shook his head, "This is a costume. Could it be that the girl from Xiaolou wears a long costume to eat?"

Zhu Yu said, "It is indeed unreasonable."

Huaixiu smelled the oil stains and said, "The scent of patchouli on his clothes proves that Xiaolou went to a certain place before his death."

"Kitchen." The two of them said in unison, heading towards the kitchen while asking someone to call Boss Lu.

The kitchen is at the stern of the ship. A rather delicate-looking boatman who is only fifteen or six years old is picking vegetables. When he sees the two of them, he immediately stands up respectfully. He is a little at a loss. Huaixiu first looks around and sees them.

The floor was fairly clean, so I walked over to several bamboo baskets filled with ingredients and rummaged through them carefully.

Boss Lu came quickly and said, "Your Majesty."

Zhu Yu asked, "Where do these dishes come from?"

Boss Lu replied, "Jiangzhou, before boarding the ship, you must prepare the ingredients for the past few days. In addition to these vegetables, there are also rice, meat, and fish caught freshly from the river. Is there any problem, Prince?"

Zhu Yu asked, "Has Miss Xiaolou ever been to the kitchen?"

Boss Lu looked at the boatman and said, "A-Cheng, I have a question for you." A-Cheng shook his head.

Zhu Yu asked again, "Can anyone stay here at night?"

Ah Cheng was dumbfounded, and Boss Lu kicked him, "Are you stupid?"

Ah Cheng said, "No, the door is locked." His voice was as soft as a mosquito buzzing, which aroused Boss Lu's dissatisfaction. He quickly explained, "This child has been like this since he was a child. He is afraid of being beaten by his father. He is responsible for it."

The son of boatman Zhang San is responsible for the kitchen work. Cooking on board is not as good as on land, but you can't be careless. If you accidentally start a fire, you'll be in trouble. So after cooking, you must put out the fire and lock the door."

Zhu Yu asked, "When will it be locked?"

Ah Cheng said, "Lock it up after cooking. It will be around Xu time."

Huaixiu turned around and asked, "Why is there no Huoxiang?"

Ah Cheng replied, "It's finished."
To be continued...