He frowned slightly. This Qinglong Temple didn't seem to have much incense and wasn't that wealthy. How come the food was so good? All the monks were white and fat.
He took a sip of tea and said calmly: "Do the three young masters know the situation of the family opposite Qinglong Temple?"
The three monks looked at each other in confusion, wondering what the young envoy of the Internal Security Department meant by staring at a house.
Seeing that the three of them didn't respond for a long time, as if they were stupid, Master Jueming coughed heavily, twirled the prayer beads in his hand and shouted: "Young Master is asking, just say what you know, why don't you pretend to be dumb."
The three people trembled and fell silent.
Finally, the eldest disciple mentioned by Master Jueming stepped forward and saluted: "Sir, the junior monk is responsible for the purchasing in the temple. He often walks around the square and has met the people from the house opposite."
Han Changmu said, "Then, little master, tell me what kind of family that is."
The eldest disciple tilted his head and thought for a moment, then said: "The young monk has only seen a young woman who often comes in and out of the house. She looks like she is married, but the young monk has never seen the young woman's husband. In and out.”
Han Changmu frowned: "Is that little woman the only one?"
The eldest disciple nodded firmly: "Yes."
Han Changmu asked again: "When did they move here."
The eldest disciple thought for a while: "It was at the beginning of last year." He was a little unsure and thought again: "Yes, the temple was buying new year's goods at that time, and the young monk was moving to the opposite door. It has been a year."
Doubts arose in Han Changmu's heart. A young woman lived in a large house in Xinchangfang, but she had never seen the husband coming or going. This seemed strange.
He asked again in a deep voice: "Have any of the young masters ever entered that house?"
The three of them looked at each other and shook their heads. For no reason, what were they doing in an ordinary people's house?
Han Changmu breathed a sigh of relief. Although his words were gentle, his face was expressionless: "I will investigate the case tonight, and I ask all the masters to protect you."
Several people nodded quickly, keeping secrets was a must. They only wished that they had not become deaf and mute tonight and heard the secrets of the Department of Internal Security.
The charcoal basin was burning very brightly, and Han Changmu was close to him. His clothes were already half dry. He brushed his sleeves and prepared to go to the side room to settle down.
Unexpectedly, before he could get up, the second disciple in charge, Jueming, suddenly hesitated and said: "Sir, the young monk suddenly remembered something."
Han Changmu raised his eyebrows: "What's the matter?"
The second disciple said slowly: "Years ago, when the temple was buying charcoal for the winter, the young monk was carrying charcoal at the door. He saw a lot of charcoal being purchased at the door opposite. There was a girl dressed up delivering charcoal to the house. Look at her. He's not dressed like a man from a charcoal-burning shop."
"Girl?" Han Changmu raised his eyebrows and asked, "Isn't she the little woman from across the door?"
The second disciple nodded firmly: "She is a girl, not a young woman. The young monk has never seen the young woman across from him, but the girl and the young woman are dressed differently, and the young monk can tell them apart."
Han Changmu nodded when he heard this. It was indeed true. The girls who had not left the pavilion and the women who had left the pavilion were dressed completely differently, so it would not be confusing.
He suddenly asked: "You said that girl is moving charcoal to that house?"
The second disciple confirmed again: "Yes, the young monk can see clearly."
Han Changmu was silent, doubts pressing over him layer by layer like undulating mountains.
If she is not a close relative, which girl would be willing to work as a coolie to carry charcoal?
If there wasn't something shady in the house, who wouldn't even do the menial work of moving charcoal?
He squinted his eyes, his eyes slightly cold, and he felt a desire to explore in his heart. He wanted to know more and more who lived in that house, and what secrets were hidden that could not be disclosed to outsiders.
He slowly turned the cup in his hand and asked kindly: "The house is facing the temple gate of Qinglong Temple. Has that little woman never come in to worship the Buddha and offer a stick of incense?"
The three monks looked at each other.
What do you mean? Not everyone in this world believes in Buddhism. Let alone one who lives across from the temple. Even those who sell incense and candles at the mountain gate may not come in and kneel down.
Han Changmu understood the silent meaning of the three people, that was no more.
He tapped the table with his finger and looked at the eldest disciple and said: "Master is responsible for the shopping in the temple. Have you ever seen that little woman buy anything heavy and have someone bring it in? Or does she have any maids or servants in the house?" , come out and buy."
These things are too trivial. There are many families living in Xinchangfang, and they come and go. The eldest disciple doesn’t remember it very clearly. But fortunately, the house is facing Qinglong Temple, so I still remember it more clearly than other houses. .
The eldest disciple thought hard for a long time, shook his head, and said firmly: "There has never been a servant or a maid. Even if the little woman bought heavy things, she would just have someone deliver them to the door, and she would move them one by one herself. Go in." As he spoke, even the eldest disciple felt that something was wrong. He paused and said cautiously: "The young envoy asked this, and the young monk also felt strange. This family has moved there for a long time. For many years, the young monk has never seen anyone else come in or out except for the little woman, and there are even no old relatives and friends."
A little woman with no sustenance in her heart, a house that has never had a master come in or out, a house that looks simple but is well-kept and never lets outsiders in, if there are no ghosts, then there are ghosts.
Han Changmu sighed in his heart.
His foundation in Chang'an City is still a bit weak, and the information transmission and details everywhere are too vague. If it were in Jiannan Road, in a moment, not to mention the people living in this house, even the people in this house Even if he has a few rats, he can check them out clearly.
However, it is precisely because his foundation in the capital is still shallow and he is not very clear about all the complicated things that the saint would be so relieved to keep him in the capital and let him be the minor envoy of the Internal Security Department.
As time goes by, after his wings grow stronger and he has a clearer picture of the situation in Chang'an City, the Saint may have to take more precautions against him, or give him another place to stay.
The shadow of the candle shone on the pale window paper, and the snowflakes falling outside looked particularly cold, and there was no intention of stopping even after midnight.
After delaying for so long, Han Changmu's soaked clothes were completely dry. He thought for a while and asked again: "Young masters, do you know where the family before that house went."
Such a question opened up the chatterbox of these people, who rushed to talk, lest they say less and make the plague god suspect that they deliberately concealed something.
These three people were talking at random. Not only did they not explain the matter clearly, they actually made Han Changmu's head hurt.
Han Changmu rubbed his brows and coughed heavily, his face full of impatience. He was about to speak when he heard a heavy slam on the table next to him.
"Shut up, everyone." Master Jueming's face was livid, and even the wrinkled lines on his lips showed anger: "You have also been practicing for more than ten years, how come you don't have any concentration, like this? What's the noise like?" He pointed at the eldest disciple and said, "Speak first."
The eldest disciple hurriedly stepped forward and said without thinking: "The previous owner of this house was named Gu. There was only a widowed mother and one son in the family. I don't know what happened five years ago, and everyone in the family disappeared. This house... It was abandoned for so many years, until early last year, this little woman moved in."
"My surname is Gu, my widowed mother." Han Changmu felt vaguely familiar. Suddenly, he had an idea and thought of what Yao Yao had said. He asked eagerly: "How old is the young man in this house? Is he married?" What do you do for a living?"
The eldest disciple said without even thinking: "Five years ago, when the young man was eighteen or nineteen years old, his family opened a rice and grain store in Shengpingfang and got married. However, within a few days, that family Even the newly married wife has disappeared."
Han Changmu frowned slightly, and finally had a sense of clarity that he could see through the fog and see the truth. He had preconceived the idea first. When he first heard that Yao Yao said that the family named Gu opened a rice and grain store in Shengpingfang, he thought they also lived in Shengping. People from Shengpingfang didn't expect that their house would be so far away from Shengpingfang.
His face was a little gloomy, and he asked the eldest disciple quietly: "Then have you seen that little lady?"
The eldest disciple shook his head: "No, the little lady has only been here for a short time and has never been to the temple. On the contrary, her mother-in-law comes to the temple from time to time to burn incense sticks."
An outline of doubt slowly emerged in Han Changmu's heart. The Gu family moved out of the capital overnight not long after the accident five years ago. And a few years later, who moved into this abandoned house again? What does the young lady have to do with the young husband of the Gu family? What happened when she returned to the capital? And what does Song Huaide's death have to do with this young lady?
It stands to reason that if this little woman is the young man's wife, or his wife's sister, then she has a blood feud with Song Huaide. Naturally, she came back to the capital for revenge.
In this way, Song Huaide's death was probably related to her.
He rubbed his forehead and felt that there were countless clues to this matter. The deeper the investigation, the more people were involved. It seemed that he was getting closer to the truth, but in fact it was full of fog. He didn't know which clue was true and which one. One clue is that someone has deliberately set up a mystery.
He touched his half-dried hair and felt that there was nothing more to ask. What he wanted to do now was to get some sleep and wait until dawn to lead people to surround the house and take them back to the Department of Internal Health.
He stood up and bowed to several monks: "I have troubled all the masters tonight. Thank you very much."
Several monks quickly returned the greeting.
Seeing that the Major Envoy of the Internal Security Department was not as vicious as the legend said, but was instead polite and courteous, the host Jueming secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked the young novice to send him to the wing to rest.
