Chunfeng Tower, holding a sword and walking into the second floor wing with a cold air.
"Lord, the people sent to find out the news are back!"
"How?" Shen Chongming asked, turning the book in his hand to the next page.
"The news about her was lost after we traced it outside the city." After noticing Shen Chongming's gaze, he raised his head with his sword and said at a very fast speed: "Don't worry, my lord, my subordinates have ordered all the posthouses along the way to be strict." Search carefully, and if you find any trace of Miss Zhou, report it as soon as possible."
"Who asked her?" Shen Chongming closed the book and said with a hint of anger, "I asked about Suizhou."
"Didn't you ask Miss Zhou?" Zhi Jian muttered in a low voice. Seeing his master's displeasure, he hurriedly said: "There is indeed something strange about the epidemic in Suizhou. It is exactly the same as the one that happened sixty-five years ago."
Sixty-five years ago, an epidemic broke out in the capital. Anyone who contracted the disease would die within three days of leaving home. According to the medical records of the Taiyuan Hospital, those infected with this disease will have a large fleshy ball-shaped bulge on their body, and they will vomit blood when coughing. The blood is as black as ink, which is very strange.
Shen Chongming's eyes were deep in thought for a moment and he said: "The epidemic that year was caused by Zhu Taihe, the Minister of Civil Affairs, and Wang Xi from Taiyuan Hospital. Wang Xi was an enemy spy. He fled after the crime and was captured by the city guards. He was sentenced to death by splitting a chariot. Zhu Taihe, the Minister of Civil Affairs, committed suicide by leaving a note in Tianlao. What he left behind was the secret recipe for poison. The Zhou family also prepared the antidote based on that secret recipe, and then the secret recipe was collected in the inner court. Later, a fire broke out in the inner court, and everything inside was burned down."
"I heard that the fire in the inner court was not an accident." Zhijian couldn't help but speak.
"It is indeed not an accident." Shen Chongming pinched the book and said: "The late emperor suspected that it was the work of traitors and ordered the Inner Court Department to conduct a strict investigation. Thousands of people were implicated."
"This matter has been mentioned by Dr. Zhou. This Fuyang County is Zhu Taihe's hometown, and the righteous village outside the city is Zhu Taihe's ancestral home."
"Zhu Taihe's ancestral home is Fuyang County?" Shen Chongming raised his eyebrows: "Why is it Fuyang County?"
"What the Lord means is——"
"The He family moved to Fuyang, and Zhou Yu'an also brought me to Fuyang. Is all this just a coincidence?" Shen Chongming twirled his fingers: "Zhou Yu'an? Female doctor! Does she have anything to do with the Zhou family? With the epidemic in Suizhou Does it matter?"
"It shouldn't... doesn't matter, right?" Holding the sword, he looked at his master's slightly frowned brows: "The Zhu family's old house was burned down more than sixty years ago, and the remaining ones were converted into yizhuang. The ancestors of the He family were in business. , was just a small trader sixty-five years ago, and seemed to have no involvement with the Zhu family. The old doctor Zhou only had one daughter. He married Jiang Lin, who was not the Marquis of Ning Guo at the time, and had only one daughter after the marriage. Mrs. Jiang died of illness , Miss Jiang died in infancy, and the old doctor Zhou has no descendants."
"Where is Zhou Tingshen?" Shen Chongming asked: "Isn't he a descendant of Dr. Zhou?"
"Your Majesty, I don't know. This Doctor Zhou's surname is not Zhou." Holding the sword, he explained: "His father's surname is Zhang. He was the last disciple that Doctor Zhou accepted and the only closed disciple. Doctor Zhou is gone. Later, his young apprentice changed his surname to Zhou and mourned him as his son."
"Regardless of his original surname or his changed surname, he is obviously from the Zhou family." Shen Chongming stood up and looked out the window: "Check his relationship with Zhou Yu'an!"
He held his sword and responded, but heard Shen Chongming ask: "Are the secret guards responsible for monitoring the He family still there?"
"Here! Something happened recently in the He family, and I haven't had time to report it to the Lord yet."
"What's the matter?"
"A concubine of He Bingtian, the only son of the He family, is dead! This person's surname is Tian, and he comes from Tianjiazhuang, five miles outside the city. It is said that He Bingtian was forced into the house."
"suicide?"
"No!" He held the sword and shook his head: "This person died very strangely. He was choked to death while pregnant with Liujia."
"Choke to death?" A cold smile appeared on Shen Chongming's lips, so faint that it was difficult to detect.
How could a good person be choked to death, let alone a pregnant woman who was about to give birth.
The income of the children of the He family was poor. In He Bingtian's generation, except for the daughter born to the main wife Feng Lin, the other concubines had no children. It's not easy to find a pregnant woman, and the whole He family can't protect her as a baby.
There is definitely something fishy about this matter!
"Death due to choking is indeed unbelievable, but the real mystery is yet to come. The He family did not suspend the funeral for her, but after confirming that the concubine was dead, they sent her directly to Yizhuang outside the city. It’s the old house where the Zhu family was burned sixty-five years ago.”
"When was it sent?" Shen Chongming frowned and turned to look at the sword.
"At three o'clock in the morning, it is less than a quarter of an hour before the city gate closes."
"Go to Yizhuang outside the city and have a look." Shen Chongming returned to the table and picked up the book he had not finished reading just now: "If there is any abnormality, report it in time."
The second watch drum sounds, and Chunfeng Tower has entered the most lively moment of the day. There were a lot of guests downstairs, and there were women's laughter as they pushed cups and changed cups. The sounds upstairs were even more indescribable. Holding the sword, his face turned red after hearing this, and he said to Shen Chongming: "My lord, do you want to move to the other courtyard that I bought earlier?"
Shen Chongming signaled his sword to be silent, then he raised his fingers and tapped lightly on the wall behind him. Holding the sword knowingly, he blushed and put his ears up. Listening to the voice, it sounds like He Hongyi, the master of the He family, is having sex with the oiran lady from Chunfeng Tower.
A bolt of lightning flashed across the gauze tent dancing in the wind, across the bustling Chunfeng Tower, and across Feng Er's face who was staring at the dice. His face was flushed and his eyes were full of madness.
Suddenly, a shadow covered the window.
Feng Er cursed and looked up to see a woman. Her long hair was flying, her face was expressionless, and she stared at him with a pair of eyeless eyes. Feng Er swallowed subconsciously, and when he looked again, the woman actually walked through the wall and came to him. A chill came from the soles of his feet and crawled down his calves to his spine. He watched the woman motionless.
"Feng Er!"
The woman leaned over, and Feng Er's face turned pale in an instant. He shook his head and looked at the people with his peripheral vision. The handymen seemed to be frozen.
"Su... Aunt Su."
Feng Er stuttered, his ears filled with the sound of his teeth chattering. He pursed his lower lip, and there was cold sweat on his forehead.
"Why harm me?"
The woman twisted her neck, and her throat was bulging due to the blockage of the foreign object, which made Feng Er feel horrified. There seemed to be a rotten smell in the wind, and that smell reminded Feng Er of Yizhuang outside the city. He clenched his fists, but his body was shaking violently.
He was a gambler by nature and timid. Without asking a few questions, he explained everything exactly.
He was a rough handyman brought by Feng Lin from her mother's family. When Su Niang was killed, she was helping to move grain in the backyard, and the wheat bran on her body was left at that time. After many years in the palace, Feng Er had never spoken to Feng Lin, and he had never thought that one day he would be favored by the young lady. When Lianxiang came to see him, he thought he was going to do menial work in the young lady's yard, and he didn't think about harming anyone at all.
