Although it was early winter at this time, the autumn chrysanthemums in the Wang Family Villa were still blooming in full bloom and had not withered yet. They looked golden in color as far as the eye could see. Yang Qing had to sigh, the scenery in the back garden of the Wang Family Villa was really good, and it would be enjoyed by a wealthy family. He pretended to admire the exotic flowers and plants, pavilions and pavilions, and talked casually with Wang Tong. When he got near the place where Zhu Ba's body was buried, he took advantage of Wang Tong to look away and looked at the corner. A pine-leaf peony grew prominently among the weeds.
Yang Qing quickly put away the surprise on his face and casually led Wang Tong forward. He naturally echoed Wang Tong's introduction and bragging, but his mind was already overwhelmed. He finally finished visiting the garden, and hurriedly declined Wang Tong's invitation and left under the pretense of remembering something.
In Chengdu County Temple Prison, Yang Qing, accompanied by Li Yu, met Zhu Ba again. His death sentence had already been pronounced by the county and could be executed only after the county's review. Therefore, after time has passed, Zhu Ba has calmed down and is no longer as depressed as before. According to Li Yu, these days he should eat, drink, and sleep, and he has seen through the world and gained enlightenment. Meaning of life and death. However, Yang Qing's arrival still puzzled Zhu Ba. His case had been solved, and he didn't understand what Yang Langjun was still doing.
"Zhu Ba, although your case is over, there are some details that I still want to check with you." Without finding out the truth, Yang Qing would naturally not easily reveal that there were still questions about the case, and he explained the same to Li Yu The purpose of my visit today. Yang Qing unfolded a silk handkerchief, revealing a few strands of black silk wrapped in it, and asked: "On the day you committed the murder, did you have any other black silk objects on your body?"
Zhu Ba was stunned for a moment. He remembered that these black threads were also taken out from Xinlan's nails, but the threads in Xinlan's nails were more from her brown coat. He didn't understand why he asked about this. He shook his head and replied truthfully: "There was no black silk on the little man that day. These black silk might have been in Xinlan's nails during the day."
"Well, that makes sense, and it's possible." Seeing that Yang Qing had gotten the answer he wanted, there was no need to stay here, and he said to Zhu Ba: "In that case, thank you for speaking out. Sue."
Zhu Ba looked at the retreating figures of Yang Qing and Li Yu, and suddenly wanted to say something. He opened his mouth, and until Yang Qing and Li Yu disappeared from his eyes, he said nothing. At this time, he didn't know why, but felt a little annoyed. and sadness.
In the elegant public room, Li Yu and Yang Qing sat opposite each other. After the waiter finished serving the tea, he asked: "Master Director, how was the verification?"
Hearing this, Yang Qing replied with a stern face: "Brother, if you call me that again, Qing will leave immediately." Upon seeing this, Li Yu quickly smiled and said: "Don't be upset, I was just joking." Yang Qing said angrily. "Brother Ziyu, it's better not to make such jokes." After saying that, the two of them looked at each other for a moment and burst into laughter.
After laughing, Yang Qing said: "Those black threads should be caught by Xinlan somewhere before she was killed, as Zhu Ba said. It's also strange that Qing is suspicious. Brother Ziyu was so tired that he accompanied me to the prison at night to verify this. Little things.”
Brother Ziyu, I'm sorry. I can't tell you the whole story until the truth is revealed. Yang will apologize again in the future. Yang Qing secretly apologized to Li Yu in his heart. He was helpless. In fact, when he just took out these black silk threads from the county temple, Yang Qing secretly took out the unburned black cloth that he found in Xiahou Mansion that day and compared it with it. Sure enough, these black silk threads and The remnants of cloth are all made of ordinary materials, and are likely to come from the same piece of clothing. Yang Qing has not yet figured out how to deal with this matter in the end, but there is no doubt that the truth needs to be understood.
"What did Ming Zhi say? Now that you are the prime minister's chief clerk, you are still concerned about this case, which shows that you are rigorous and responsible in handling affairs." Li Yu sighed: "On the other hand, as a county captain, I am not as careful as you. "
Yang Qing said: "Speaking of the chief secretary, Qing has never thanked Brother Ziyu for recommending and building momentum for me." Although Li Yu, as a county lieutenant, only recommended Yang Qing for official service at the county and county levels, but he decided the case in Yang Qing. He also contributed a lot to becoming famous in poetry and poetry. He praised Yang Qing's talents to others on many important occasions, so Yang Qing also admired him.
"You are able to serve as the chief registrar because of your own talents and Mr. Youzichi's recommendation. As a brother, I don't dare to take advantage of this merit." Li Yu waved his hand and said humbly. He also didn't expect that this young man, whom he was highly optimistic about, would become the Prime Minister's Registrar. Originally, he wanted to ask the elders of the family to recommend Yang Qing to the county, but he never thought that this young man would suddenly join Zhuge Liang. The Prime Minister's discernment seems to have underestimated Mingzhi's talent.
The two chatted for a while. After Yang Qing had dinner at Li Yu's place, he said goodbye and walked home. Along the way, he was thinking about what to do next. At present, many clues indicate that during the half cup of tea when Zhu Ba first escaped after the murder, someone hit Xinlan with a stone again. When Zhu Ba returned to the scene, he thought he had smashed Xinlan to death. The cover-up action behind. As for the person who caused Xinlan to be harmed twice, if Yang Qing expected it right, it should be Xia Houyue. It's just that he hasn't understood her motive for the murder yet. Should he strike while the iron is hot and ask her tonight?
After he walked into Osmanthus Alley, he had already made up his mind. He came to the gate of Xiahou Mansion and was about to knock on the door. Suddenly the door opened and a person came out. Yang Qing looked by the light of the lantern in the person's hand and saw that it was Aunt Gu. . Aunt Gu had obviously discovered Yang Qing, and she said happily: "I was going to invite Mr. Yang on my wife's order... Oh no... Mr. Yang came to the house to talk about it. I don't want you to come here first. This It saves me a trip."
Yang Qing smiled and said: "I came uninvited. No need to be polite, aunt, just call me husband." Aunt Gu smiled slightly. At this time, Yang Qing was not what he used to be. He couldn't wait for him. She introduced him respectfully. Follow Yang Qing into the house.
There were only two people, Yang Qing and Xia Houyue, in the garden of Xiahou Mansion. In terms of talking alone, they invariably thought of going together. For a while, neither of them spoke, and they just walked side by side along the path in the garden. At this moment, the moon was early in the sky, the cold air was coming, and the moonlight shining on the water of the pond looked particularly cold.
After all, it was Xia Houyue who spoke first. She smiled and said, "How about Yang Langjun being at the Prime Minister's Mansion these two days?" Originally, she saw that Yang Qing had not come back for a long time, so she was afraid that she would miss the meal, so she sent someone to the side courtyard to see him. After eating it several times, I never thought that Yang Qing had already eaten it, so I had to invite him to take a night tour of the garden together.
"Fortunately, thank you madam for your concern." Yang Qing responded calmly.
"With your talent as a gentleman, you will be able to cope with it easily, but Yue'er is too worried." After Xia Houyue said this, she took a deep look at Yang Qing, although she was no longer shocked that Yang Qing was conquered by Prime Minister Zhuge. Although she knew something about Yang Qing regarding being appointed as the principal, at this moment she actually felt that she couldn't see through the person in front of her. This Yang Langjun brought her more and more surprises.
If Yang Qing knew what Xia Houyue was thinking at this time, he would probably snicker, because he might surprise her again today. Yang Qing pointed to the pine leaf peonies not far away and said with a smile: "Let's not talk about it anymore. Madam Xiahou, please take a look. Those pine leaf peonies are blooming more and more beautifully." Xia Houyue looked over and took a few glances and agreed. He said: "That's right, I haven't paid much attention to them these days, and they have grown so fast without paying attention." Yang Qingyou said: "These pine leaf peony seeds are all collected in the lady's silk sac. I wonder if my wife still remembers how many there are?" Xia Houyue glanced at Yang Qing in confusion, shook her head and said, "It's been a while, and I can't remember clearly."
Yang Qing smiled and said: "It should be nine, but there are only seven here. I wonder where the other two are blooming?"
Xia Houyue didn't know how Yang Qing knew the number of flower seeds. She vaguely felt that Yang Qing didn't just talk to her about these flowers casually. She couldn't figure out this person's intention for the moment, so she could only continue to respond: "Mulan and the others must have removed them." Let’s get two flower seeds.”
"Maybe that's the case." Yang Qing stopped, pointed to the rockery in front of him, looked at Xia Houyue and said seriously: "Last time Qing entered the mansion, he found a plant in the rockery cave over there. I don't know who put the flower there. One of the seeds fell down there. Madam Xiahou, are you interested in coming with me to have a look?" After hearing this, Xiahouyue couldn't help but swayed slightly. Although she quickly returned to normal, Yang Qing still noticed it. , but he didn't show any expression, he just looked like he was waiting for Xia Houyue's reply. Although Xia Houyue secretly felt that something was wrong, she was still very human and replied naturally: "If this is the case, then you have to go and take a look."
In the rockery cave, the pine leaf peony is still bright, and the pile of ashes not far away is naturally still there. Yang Qing glanced at Xia Houyue and thought to himself, it seems that Mrs. Xiahou still hasn't cleaned up the pile of ashes. Could it be that she forgot? Little did he know that Xia Houyue had not forgotten, but was confident that no outsiders would come here. Of course, even if someone found ashes here, it would not attract anyone's attention. After all, it was normal for someone in the house to burn something here.
But she never expected that Yang Qing, who had always been observant, had been here before, and this pile of ashes attracted his attention. As soon as she entered the cave, she couldn't help but look at the pile of ashes. At this moment, she felt regretful. How could she not clean up the ashes later? She was careless. Xia Houyue's eyes finally caught sight of the pine leaf peony flower not far away. Without Yang Qing's explanation, she already understood that this flower grew from the flower seeds she accidentally dropped here that night.
"Well, it seems that the last time the Nu family went to the pavilion above, they accidentally dropped a flower and planted it here." Xia Houyue explained first.
"Oh, did you go to the pavilion on Mrs. Xiahou's birthday?" Yang Qing pointed to it and said.
"I've been there. I went up there for a while that day." Xia Houyue was also smart and immediately understood that Yang Qing knew that she had been here on her birthday through the flowers planted on her body.
Yang Qing smiled in his heart and said that this Lady Xiahou was quite agile. She only said that she passed by and missed the flowers planted here when she went up. She did not mean to come to the cave specifically, so she responded appropriately. Yang Qing decided that he could no longer beat around the bush and it was better to be straightforward when dealing with such an intelligent woman.
