Qing Niang looks very ordinary, but she has a bookish air.
"Qing Niang, please tell me what happened that day, or what special things happened in the house. Tell me everything you can think of."
Qing Niang said carefully: "I don't think there is anything special in the front and back of the mansion. The mansion is very strict. There are rules on when to eat and when to play in the yard."
"What about Mr. Cheng? Has there been anything strange or different from usual behavior recently?"
Qing Niang shook her head gently, and said in a low voice with some embarrassment: "The master doesn't come to my place very often recently. I spent some money, but it was of no use. When the master comes back, he always goes to sit with his wife, and he spends the night approving incense. Rest in the hall."
"I heard that you are good at painting? Where did you learn it?" An Ying said, "I saw that you painted some pretty good paintings of flowers and birds."
Qing Niang covered her mouth and smiled, "My father is a painter. I learned a few strokes at home when I was a child. Later I went to the mansion and studied with several painters for a few more years before I got my current skills."
An Ying nodded and asked a few more maids.
Pearl is Qing Niang's personal maid, wearing a light green gauze skirt. An Ying asked: "I heard that the master doesn't visit your wife much recently?"
Pearl's eyes widened at once, "Do you need to talk about this?"
An Ying nodded, "Just now, your little Tao, I even told you what I ate, what I pooped, when I was on duty and when I was off duty. You can tell me all the details."
Pearl then said coyly: "In fact, the master used to come here just to watch Qing Niangzi paint. Recently, she has stopped coming, and Qing Niangzi is getting angry. She works hard every day to practice her painting skills, and begs Butler Jiao to send it to the master. Take a look."
"What were you young ladies doing on the night of the accident?"
"The young lady is staying in the house. She gave me some copper coins and asked me to go to the kitchen to find someone to make some sour plum soup. Recently, she has been picky, sometimes it's sour, sometimes it's spicy, and she even invited the doctor to come over and take a look. Jiao The housekeeper called a doctor for her, but it’s just that the weather is hot and her spleen and stomach are not in balance.”
"Where's Madam Bei? What do you know? Don't you live next door?"
"I'm not familiar with Lady Bei. She doesn't come out very often. I don't go to her place very often."
"I heard that Butler Jiao gathered you all for a lecture later? Did you go too?"
"Ah, let's go. Butler Jiao will take a roll call on the roster. Those who didn't go will be scolded. Anyway, those are the words of the wheel, work hard and don't relax. After the training, I will go to the kitchen to get some snacks for my wife. .”
"I heard that your wife usually loses her temper when the snacks are delivered late?"
"That's right. Sir, do you know all this? Hey, she didn't lose her temper that day and took a nap in the room. I put her down and took a nap too. Later, when the young lady got up, she saw that it was cherry cheese. Although some of it had melted, it was still And eat with joy.”
The last person to be interrogated was Xiao Tao. As Master Cheng's personal attendant, he was indeed very crucial.
"Xiao Tao, I have listened to you about what happened that night and morning. Do you remember anything else that you want to add? Or is there anything special happening in the house recently?"
Seeing that Xiao Tao had lost a lot of weight, he wiped his tears and said, "Sir, whenever I have free time these days, I have been recalling what happened that night. I have thought about it over and over again, and there is absolutely nothing else to do."
"If there is anything special about the master recently, I think he has more time to rest since he came back. He is not like working in the study or painting before. This is actually good. He was just too tired before."
"By the way, this is our lord's medical record. We are all seen by Dr. Chen Qian of West Street. We, your lord, have diabetes. It's not serious. We usually take some medicine to treat it. Our madam also knows that we usually boil medicine and so on. , all watched by Madam herself.”
An Ying suddenly realized that the crux of the problem that he had previously thought was Master Cheng's behavior was strange. Eating a lot, drinking a lot, and having a bowel movement but losing weight and having ulcers on the feet are indeed symptoms of diabetes.
An Ying asked again: "I heard that how many painters did you have in your house?"
Xiao Tao was stunned for a moment, and said with some surprise: "Does the official know all this? But Butler Jiao said so."
"It seems so. Tell me, why did you suddenly fire the painter? I heard it was quite unpleasant?"
"This happened many years ago. At that time, I just started to learn painting, and I found four painters at once. Later, a painter had a few arguments with me, and I kicked all the painters away in anger." Xiao Tao added Scratching his head, "Actually, I don't spend much time with them. But Butler Jiao took Lady Qing there to paint, and Lady Qing later learned some good painting skills."
"Then tell me about your master's visit to the Jiaofang Division."
Xiao Tao looked troubled, "Sir, I really don't know. I am the one who takes care of you on weekdays. If I go out to meet guests or socialize, I always take Butler Jiao with me."
After asking, she took Xiao Yi to walk around Cheng Mansion, especially the corridor between the inner courtyard and Qinghui Garden. She walked back and forth over and over again. Xiao Yi beside him was very excited, "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Don't make any noise. Look, I'm going away now. Wherever you can see, wave your hand."
"And you guys, come and stand here, stand here and look at each other."
After An Ying finished conducting, he stood on the steps behind the Pixiang Hall.
"Why, you still want to train like Butler Jiao." Xiao Yi squatted in the shade and looked at An Ying with a smile.
An Ying stood on tiptoes and looked at the study opposite, thoughtfully.
Mrs. Cheng stood in the bedroom, looking at Cheng Qi's paintings on the wall. She walked up and touched them. She said to herself: "What on earth are you doing? Is there anything you can't tell me?"
The maid came in and said: "Some people from the Criminal Department have just left. I heard that Xiao An will go to the doctor Chen who is often used in the house for questioning later."
Mrs. Cheng frowned and looked outside with concern, "I hope the murderer will be found soon."
The government office of the Ministry of Punishment.
Su Huangzhe and Guo Xi were still looking through mountains of evidence.
Guo Xi fanned himself while drinking mung bean soup, "Mr. Su, this An Ying is really good. She has only been here for a long time, and she feels comfortable doing errands. This will allow her to take people for questioning, which will save me the hot weather. They are running back and forth. As we get older, it’s time for young people to take over.”
Su Huangzhe nodded, looking at the document at a glance, and said: "This girl must have learned something somewhere, but she just doesn't want to tell us. The rules of doing things are learned by doing things, and books can't teach them. .”
"Well, she doesn't want to say forget it. She is down-to-earth, hard-working, and understands the importance of things, unlike a girl of this age." Guo Xi also said while watching: "Do you want to report this case to Mr. Huang again? Report? I'm thinking that if it involves Fanbang's detailed work, I should ask Honglu Temple to check it out together?"
Su Huangzhe closed his eyes, leaned on the chair, shook his head, and said, "It's not needed yet."
An Ying, who had been asking questions for a day, returned to the Criminal Department with a pile of confessions.
Su Huangzhe asked: "Is there any breakthrough?"
An Ying took out the map of Cheng Mansion that she drew and a stack of reports, "Master Su, you can read it yourself. I'm almost exhausted today."
Su Huangzhe smelled the rancid smell of sweat on her body and leaned back, "Okay, you go down first."
"Sir, I have something to ask you."
"explain."
"It's such a hot day. Look, you are all enjoying the ice cubes in the government office. We can't enjoy it. Our ice cubes are supposed to be placed in your official rooms. Look, can you give me some subsidies? Anyway, let me Want to buy more clothes?" An Ying pointed to his soaked official uniform. From the eighth-grade official uniform, silk is not used, but fine cloth is used. It is comfortable to wear, but it is a bit hot.
Su Huangzhe picked up the ice-cold pears on the table and threw them over, "I don't care about the general affairs, you can figure it out by yourself. You can make your own decisions at the king's office."
An Ying took the pear with a smile and said: "Okay. By the way, are there any more powerful doctors you are familiar with? I want to find someone to help me check Master Cheng's pulse?"
Su Huangzhe leaned back and said, "You and I want to go together. I have made an appointment with the Liang family in the capital, who have been practicing medicine for generations. Let's go together tomorrow."
