Going up the stairs is the second floor. There is no door on the second floor, only a cloth curtain. When the curtain is opened, it is a daughter's boudoir filled with sundries.
The room was divided into two parts, with rice on one side and a bed and cabinets on the other. There was no dressing table and only a few velvet flowers were placed on the windowsill.
The velvet flowers are severely deformed, but you can tell they are plum blossoms. There were obvious traces of fire on the window lattice, and the window paper was burned into a mess, with almost nothing left. Looking closely, there seems to be a handprint on the window sill. Following the handprint, you can see the trace of sliding down. Follow the trace to the center of the room.
There is a black shadow on the ground, where the deceased Xu Huahua should be curled up. The floor was badly burned and burned through in several places. Through the burned hole, we could see the house of Xu Laowen and his wife. The one below has more clutter than the one above.
"Xu Huahua opened the curtain and took off the velvet flowers on her head as she walked. She didn't have a dressing table, so she put the velvet flowers on the window sill. Judging from the placement of the velvet flowers, she was extremely calm, with their heads facing one direction. "
"My subordinates have observed that there seems to be no light in this room. Doesn't Miss Xu use an oil lamp? How did the fire start without an oil lamp?" He held the sword and pondered: "This matter is getting weirder and weirder the more I think about it. "
"Xu Laowen and his wife are both hard-working people. Look at the things down there. They look chaotic but are actually very orderly." Shen Chongming pointed to the oil lamp downstairs and showed it to Zhi Jian: "When Miss Xu goes to bed, that oil lamp must be It's still on, and with the light of that lamp, Miss Xu's room can be without lights."
"That's right, Miss Xu's room doesn't even have a door." Holding the sword, he nodded: "The neighbors of the Xu family said that these two people are very thrifty, so it makes sense to use an oil lamp."
"The tofu was ground at night and the steamed buns were steamed in the morning. I'm afraid the oil lamp will stay on all night." Zhou Yu'an looked at the oil stains on the lamp: "The fire started from the window, and there was a handprint on the window sill. , should have been left by Miss Xu. The fire burned so fast that she had no time to react and struggled to escape here. Wu Zuo only looked at the body and did not look at the traces left on the ground. This drag mark is Miss Xu’s struggle and self-rescue. evidence of."
"Since you want to live, why don't you call for help?" He squatted on the ground holding a sword: "Is there something unspeakable about Miss Xu?"
"If there is something unspeakable, you have to see Miss Xu's body to know." Seeing Shen Chongming push the window, Zhou Yu'an walked over and looked down with him.
"Master Shen, what did you discover?"
"The fire cannot be started by oneself." Shen Chongming leaned forward slightly: "The door lock is hanging on the back of the door, and there is a mechanism inside the door lock, which proves that Xu Laowen or his wife is guarding against someone. People who are proficient in the art of mechanisms in the world There are not many, and there are very few that are combined with the copper lock. I only know of one person."
"That person is Master Shen talking about?"
Zhou Yu'an raised his head and looked at Shen Chongming. The two were very close, their breathing was intertwined, their eyes met, and they felt uncomfortable for a moment. Zhou Yu'an lowered her head, and somehow the scene of folding plum blossoms appeared in her mind. She quickly shook her head and patted her face with her hands.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm thinking about a problem." Avoiding Shen Chongming's eyes, Zhou Yu'an cursed himself secretly, and then brought the topic to that person: "Gong Yan, the minister of the Ministry of Industry sixty-five years ago, those in the Inner Court Department He designed the mechanisms, and what he was most proud of was combining those exquisite mechanisms with the most ordinary and inconspicuous locks."
"Do you also know what happened in the court?" Shen Chongming's eyes became more speculative: "Yan Gong was just an ordinary person when he became an official. He studied mechanical skills after he entered the Ministry of Industry. His affairs are only those who are in the court. Only those who are in it know it. Where did you know it?"
Zhou Yu'an said calmly: "Master said it. As for where my master knew it from, I don't know. If you have the chance, you can ask him face to face."
"Who is your master?"
"An eccentric old man with no reputation in the world. As I said, adults may not know about it." Zhou Yu'an touched the outer wall: "There are marks here, like those left by a ladder. Such an obvious mark, This ladder can’t be used for just one day or two.”
The ladder is leaning against the window, which is next to the street. Whose ladder is it and what is it used for?
Shen Chongming asked the sword to find a ladder. He walked around the small building with the sword and told Shen Chongming that the Xu family did not have such a thing. If they were either from the Xu family, they were from outside, so he asked Zhijian to go to the neighbor's house to inquire. This time, he actually found out.
Xu Huahua has a sweetheart, a poor boy from the Li family. My father passed away and my mother fell ill. In order to support the turbulent family, I started selling night fragrance for others at the age of thirteen, and became a watchman at the age of fifteen.
He is a bit poor, but he is energetic. If he has a good family background, this girl from Qingyang County may have to cross the threshold of his family.
The Xu family is not considered a wealthy family. Precisely because they are not wealthy, Xu Laowen does not want his daughter to marry a poor boy who is even poorer than his family.
Although the Xu family kept a close eye on her, the poor boy would still take advantage of the late shift to secretly meet Xu Huahua by climbing a ladder.
At first, the two of them just talked through the window, and occasionally gave him something. Until the poor boy plucked up the courage to climb in through the window, and the old man Xu became angry and threw him and the ladder together.
This Xu Laowen usually looks languid and has no temper, but when he gets angry, he is very scary. The poor boy broke a leg, which was broken by the ladder. The ladder was thrown on him by Xu Laowen. The poor boy was poor and had no money to look after his legs. He became a cripple and couldn't do the watch work, so he went to the charity village to look after the corpses.
All in all, they haven't seen this poor boy for more than half a year.
It was because of this that Xu Laowen had the idea of marrying Xu Huahua, and it was precisely because of this thought that marriage proposals dared to come to his door.
Zhou Yu'an was puzzled and asked Zhijian: "Xu Laowen wanted to marry his daughter to a rich man. The rich man came to propose marriage. Why did he refuse to agree and throw the gift into the street?"
"This subordinate has asked clearly about this matter." Holding the sword and winking: "The person proposing the marriage is an old man. He already has two concubines and several wives. If Xu Huahua gets married, she will obviously be a serious lady. In fact, It's the same size as that old man's grandson. How can Xu Laowen agree to such a family? The Xu family still has some integrity."
After figuring out the cause and effect, the three of them went to three places respectively.
Shen Chongming went to the county government office to interrogate the killer and learned about the Xu family's case. Hold the sword and find the poor boy to see if he is related to Xu Huahua's death. Zhou Yu'an went to dig a grave in the suburbs. She wanted to find out how Xu Huahua died, whether it was an accident or homicide.
When the coffin was opened, there was only a burnt body in the coffin.
The skin was carbonized, the hair was gone, and the face was beyond recognition. It was very miserable.
