"Mother, Mr. Xiang is here again." Yu Zhongyang came in hurriedly, wiped the sweat from his face, waved his hand anxiously, and all the servants in the room retreated.
Mrs. Yu was sitting in front of the bed, panting hard, with a scarf wrapped around her head. She had knocked her head to the ground and injured the back of her head.
"Why...are you still here? Didn't you say that you can't find it?" Mrs. Yu covered her chest with her hands, gasping for breath, and sweat broke out on her forehead.
"Mom, I said that I need to check the people around you, saying that it may be the people around you who have done something, and they should be harmonious inside and outside." Yu Zhongyang said anxiously.
"You shouldn't have reported the crime at that time. This kind of thing... just wait until I wake up." Mrs. Yu was furious, pointed at her son and cursed, "Can this matter be reported to the police? There are not enough things in our house.
, you went over to report the crime in person, were you afraid that others wouldn’t know?”
She knew her own affairs well, and the last thing Mrs. Yu wanted was for the government servants to come to her house.
But it happened that Mrs. Yu was still unconscious at that moment, and Yu Zhongyang saw that too many things had been lost, so he reported the case angrily, and now he has no choice but to withdraw.
"You...go tell Mr. Xiang that I am not in good health. The doctor said that I need to have a good rest and cannot see people for the time being." Mrs. Yu exhaled two heavy breaths and said.
"Mother, I've already said this. It's okay to tell the adult that he can check and ask for himself. It won't disturb your rest. The most likely reason for the thief to appear in your place is with someone around you."
Yu Zhongyang said anxiously.
"Ask him to investigate, and you keep an eye on it... If he can't find it this time, let him go back, and never... come again." Mrs. Yu gritted her teeth and had to agree. This case was reported by her son.
No matter what you do, you can't stop people from investigating the case, "Just say it's my intention, waste money to eliminate disasters, and forget about it if you can't find anyone."
Whenever she thought of a government official coming in to inquire about these things, Mrs. Yu felt uneasy and uneasy, as if something bad was going to happen.
Fortunately, An's matter has been in the past for a long time, and the Yamen will not ask these questions when they come to visit now. But even if she knew that the Yamen would not ask, Mrs. Yu was still very flustered.
I just want to get rid of all the government officials.
After hearing Mrs. Yu's words, Yu Zhongyang went out to greet Mr. Xiang. After welcoming him in, he went to the side room for interrogation without disturbing Mrs. Yu.
The servants went in again for interrogation one by one. Mr. Xiang asked the yamen to go to the left and right sides of the yard to carefully check, and then checked the whole yard again, avoiding Mrs. Yu's main room, the rooms where other servants lived, and the places where sundries were kept.
All the houses were included in the scope of inspection, and Yu Zhongyang led the people from the Yamen to inspect them.
Mr. Xiang asked the servants on the list one by one in the side room, but in the end he didn't get anything out of the question. It looked like nothing happened to each one of them.
Mr. Xiang frowned, how could he not find out? The most likely person in this matter was a thief.
Suddenly, Yu Ruiwen's words flashed through his mind, and he stopped the last woman who was about to leave after the interrogation: "Yesterday, Mrs. Yu took someone to the Xuanping Hou Mansion?"
"Yes, Madam Tai wants to bring the fourth girl back." The mother-in-law said respectfully.
"Have you gone?" Mr. Xiang looked at the mother-in-law of Zhengyuan Hou Mansion.
"My slave...has gone too," the mother-in-law said.
"Besides you, who else has gone, can you name them one by one?" Xiang Master asked.
The mother-in-law shook her head: "It's not all in the madam's yard, there are also the maids and the mother-in-law who are rough outside."
It seems that the madam's intention at that time was to snatch the fourth girl back. With the maid who was a rough messenger, the madam was stronger than ordinary servants, so it would be useful to fight.
"Call a few people from this yard over here." Mr. Xiang looked at her expression carefully and said.
The mother-in-law did not dare to disobey, so she called six people in after going out. The number of people was not large. In the past, the number of servants surrounding the Tai Madam was almost the same.
Six people made inquiries and transferred people who could be called from other places, so the number reached twelve.
There is still a shortage of people.
The people present thought again, and finally found three women from the kitchen in the outer courtyard, so there were fifteen people.
Fifteen people? Sixteen people?
"Everyone is here?" Master Xiang asked, twirling his beard.
"It's all ready, sir." Fifteen people reported respectfully.
Mr. Xiang's face darkened: "You know what will happen if you tell lies? If you shield the thief, the crime will be increased. If the case is sent to the Yamen, I will make the final decision."
In a word, some people looked as usual, some were very uneasy, looked around, and did not dare to agree.
"The Xuanping Marquis Mansion has counted the number of people for you. There are sixteen people. Who is the other person?" Mr. Xiang increased the stakes again. Regardless of whether it was true or not, he made another round of deception and reached out to count the fifteen people present. "
The thief was probably hiding in the crowd at that time, think again."
Everyone looked at each other again. Some people glanced furtively at Mr. Xiang, but in the end they did not dare to speak.
"Come here, take all these people to the side and ask questions one by one." Sir Xiang was silent for a while and then ordered.
The yamen came over and took these dozen people to the nearby house. After locking them all in, they pulled them out one by one and asked again.
This time, we finally got some clues. Two women said that they seemed to have seen someone, a maid who looked a bit ugly. However, it was so crowded at the time that they couldn't see clearly who it was, but it would be certain.
If they weren't here, they wouldn't know who it was. There were many people in the house, and they would sometimes come and go. They really didn't know where that ugly girl was.
Some people saw it, some did not see it, and they all said that it was really chaotic at that time. Mrs. Yu took them to find something to do with the three girls of the Xuanping Hou Mansion. On the way there, no one maintained order. Everyone was in chaos.
point.
"Sir, I have discovered something." A government servant ran in excitedly.
"What discovery?" Mr. Xiang suddenly sat up straight and asked excitedly.
"Sir, please take a look." The yamen servant presented the things in his hand, a pair of broken earrings and a silver hairpin, "Sir, this was found in a rockery cave next to the yard. There are also other things in the rockery cave.
Wet fallen leaves, I don't know if these things were wrapped up, or if someone was really hiding in the fake cave at that time." The yamen officer deduced.
A broken earring, a hairpin?
Mr. Xiang frowned tightly. He had an earring in one hand and a hairpin in the other. These are things used by women. Compared to the maids in the house, these things are also precious things. How could they be simply thrown away?
In a fake cave.
"Sir, I just said that a maid is missing and she is very ugly." The document that I was writing to your lord suddenly turned to the page I just wrote down and pointed to it.
Something suddenly slipped through Mr. Xiang's mind, and his eyes lit up: "A thief slipped through the maid's service and sneaked into the gate of Zhengyuan Hou Mansion. After that, he even went to Xuanping Hou Mansion, and then...
Disappeared in Zhengyuanhou Mansion?"
"Sir, I think this may have something to do with it." The clerk said with a serious face.
He nodded to the Lord and said: "Check... this missing maid must have something to do with the traitors in the Zhengyuanhou Mansion. Since she sneaked in and is ugly, you can ask the gatekeeper of the Zhengyuanhou Mansion.
"
"Sir, the gatekeeper may not see it. Or you can ask if a carriage has entered the house that day. If a carriage has been brought in, the people in front of the house may not be able to see it."
Document proposal.
"Yes, check the carriage." He nodded to the lord.
We sent people to check the gatekeeper and there was a carriage entering the house yesterday morning or in the morning, but there was no inspection in front of the house gate.
After an investigation, I really found out that the mother-in-law beside Mrs. Yu took two maids out to find medicinal materials for Mrs. Yu. She went out in a carriage at that time, and when she came back, the carriage went directly into the house.
, and then got off the carriage with the two maids. There were other carriages in the house, but they had nothing to do with the maids, that is, the two housekeepers went out for a trip without the maids.
After further investigation, it was found that this mother-in-law who went out was also among the fifteen people. She was Mrs. Yu's usual confidant. She was very popular with Mrs. Yu. What's more, she was the mother-in-law who discovered that something happened to Mrs. Yu.
Son, it was a coincidence that as soon as something happened to Mrs. Yu and all her things were stolen, this mother-in-law came over...
Bringing the old woman in front of you again, she looked down at the adults and slapped the table hard: "Tell me, did you collude with the thief to plot the master's property, harmed Mrs. Yu, and stole the money, and finally
And you secretly left through the back door with someone else?"
"Sir, this is unfair. I don't know anything. How could I do such a thing?"
The mother-in-law was so frightened that she screamed injustice.
"Which two maids did you take with you when you went out to buy medicine? Where are these two maids now? Why didn't you go to bed so late? Didn't you say that everyone in the yard was asleep? I heard that you found Mrs. Yu
When you were there, you stepped on a foot of mud. Where did you go in the middle of the night? Something happened to Mrs. Yu, why did you happen to be outside? "
He sneered at the adults and asked.
"Slave... slave... I was ordered by the madam... I have something to do... I haven't slept yet." The mother-in-law was so shocked that she broke into a cold sweat. She didn't expect that she had so many flaws. She didn't dare to be stubborn at this time and started crying.
, "Sir, if you don't believe it, just ask the madam. The madam will help me to testify."
"Ask Mrs. Yu? If Mrs. Yu knew that an evil slave like you was around, would she still testify for you?" Mr. Xiang sneered.
"Sir, I'm really unjust. Everything I did was really what the lady meant. I don't dare to talk nonsense. I just ask you to give me justice." The mother-in-law kowtowed to the master in a panic.
After a few hits, my forehead turned blue.
"What a sharp-tongued woman, come here, pull her down and give her a thumbs-up before asking any questions." Mr. Xiang said angrily. He was now sure that there was something wrong with this woman. She was so considerate of others that she clearly had something to hide from him.
.
"Sir, please wait a moment. Our madam invites you to come over." Before the two wolf-like government servants could pounce on him, a maid, sweating profusely, came to the door of the wing and bowed to the Lord, "