the culprit

When Heken came back three days later, Cyril was sitting in a daze in the room where he and Mary had tea.There was no teapot or snacks on the small round table. He turned his head and looked out of the sunny window. Thinking of the promise with Mary, he felt sad and at a loss.At that time, the angry man grabbed the whip and pushed the door aggressively, ripped him off the chair, and whipped him involuntarily.

The first drop landed on the face.

The pain that seemed to have been licked by the tongue of fire spread from his cheeks, and Cyril trembled violently in pain, subconsciously trying to escape, but was kicked in the back by Heken, staggering and falling to the ground.The furious man followed, stomped on his ankle, and punished him with a whip.

He didn't know what happened, and he didn't have the time to think about why Uncle Heken did this. He could only cry and tighten his body, subconsciously protecting his head with his arms, begging for mercy inarticulately.The cruel man turned a deaf ear to it, and lashed his whip more and more frantically while roaring "I'm going to kill you".

Every time the limbs screamed in pain, the boy cried hoarsely, his hands no longer covered his head, he just scratched the ground crazily, trying to escape this innocent disaster.He kept begging for mercy and praying, but the man with the whip told him to shut up, and finally kicked him unconscious.

The bloodstains gradually surfaced on the surface of the cloth, quietly spreading between the warp and weft.Cyril, who was beaten to death, lay motionless on the ground, and Heken was panting badly. After realizing that his nephew had passed out, he finally put away his whip and walked away with angry steps.

He had to write a letter to his brother.

After Heken returned to the room, the informant old Jack walked to the door of the room, saw the knocked out Cyril lying in the sunlight, and finally showed a happy smile, and then took a satisfied step Out of the mansion to continue his work.

He and his wife Mary have been working in this manor since 40 years ago. At that time, the owner here was Jinti, a short and fat man with a cowardly personality but a kind heart.It was he who contained them.Later, the owners here became Drizzt, Molly, and then Heken.Mary had three pregnancies, all miscarriages, and the last time she learned that the baby had died in her womb, she had just woken up from a coma and cried like the sky was falling.They never had any more children after that.

The new owner of the manor is always sent here by his father when he is eighteen or nineteen years old. When she saw five-year-old Cyril for the first time, Mary was so shocked that she couldn’t speak. After putting the child’s things back in the room, She picked up the corner of the skirt and found him, gesticulating with her hands quickly. The happy expression reminded him of her appearance when she picked up a rabbit in the field when she was 15 years old.The wife tidied up the closet and arranged the books for the boy while he was asleep, and he moved the firewood to the young master's room to light a fire for him.The illiterate wife seemed distressed when she was sorting out the boy's books, and fumbled for a long time, but he could tell that she was very happy.

Mary spent almost all of her time looking after the boy.She would drive the cook out of the kitchen every afternoon, make snacks by herself, boil water and make tea, and go to the room full of sunlight to accompany the boy, sitting for an entire afternoon.She also asked him to go to the town to buy some flower seeds and come back. Felix just came back that day, and when he came back from binding firewood, he found the boy had been bitten.Mary stayed in the room, weeping heartbroken.The master had just arrived home, and he couldn't bear to make his wife work anymore, so he was busy inside and out by himself, but after finishing his work, he still took advantage of the evening sun to go to the town.Mary liked tulips, so he exchanged all the money he brought for tulip seeds.

But when he came back, he found his wife lying at the door with blood all over her body.

The body is already cold.

The master was probably in the room, as was Felix.

No one knew that he sat in the cold and cried all night.

At dawn, he carried his wife's body to the mountain behind the manor alone.The dirt and short grass were wet, and perhaps they had cried for Mary last night too.At this moment she was lying on his back, he didn't know if it was because he was too old that her thin body was so heavy.

He buried her in the woods by the lake, and poured all the flower seeds he had just bought into the tomb, crying and praying that they would still produce the most beautiful flowers for his wife.

When returning, the master woke up and told him to carry the unconscious boy to Felix's room.Only then did he know that the master had killed his wife because she was trying to escape with the unconscious boy.

They are servants and have no right to hate their masters.Had it not been for the five-year-old child, Mary would not have died under the whip of the master.

Old Jack pushed open the door and looked down at the bloodstain left on the ground.

He thought about strangling the child and throwing him to death, but in the end he decided to return the right of punishment to the master.Although he is old and still a mute who can't speak, he still has a good eye for people.That child is restless, and sooner or later he will run into a disaster that the master cannot bear.

After waiting for two months, he finally saw the boy come out of Felix's room with bloody scissors.He sneaked to the door of Felix's room to look around after the boy hid in the room. The man lying on the bed was wearing a shirt with bloody sleeves.

He can't speak or write, but if he thinks of a way, he can always let the master know about it.

He looked up at the sun hanging high in the sky again, showing a comfortable smile after a long absence.

And he also knew that this would not be the end.The child's cowardice is only on the surface, and he will continue to do things that the master cannot tolerate.He doesn't have to do anything, just observe, just wait.

And he also believed that after today, that damned boy would never go to that damned room again.How he wished that Mary had never loved that boy, how he wished that Mary had never regarded him as her child; how he wished that he could go back to the past, back to that night, he would not buy flowers, but stay and guard his wife .

The smile collapsed from his wrinkled face, Old Jack slowly lowered his head, and rubbed his sore and itchy eyes in embarrassment.

After a while, Heken walked out of the mansion, handed a written letter to Old Jack, and asked him to find someone to send it to the Earl's Mansion.He wiped his hands on his clothes before finding the letter in the master's hand. He read it over and over for a long time, until Hucken began to growl and urge impatiently, then he hurriedly put the letter in his arms and strode out of the manor.

The next afternoon, another carriage came to the manor. A gentleman wearing a top hat got out of the carriage and strode into the mansion with a sullen face.He wears a monocle, is well-dressed and expensive, and in his gloved right hand holds a cane tipped with gemstones.A young woman got out of the carriage after the gentleman. She was very plainly dressed and looked tense and awkward standing beside the carriage.

Seeing a stranger coming, Old Jack hurriedly rushed over to stop him. When he saw who it was, he stared in surprise with his cloudy eyes, and his hands that were about to grab him suddenly flinched.The middle-aged man squinted at him haughtily, tapped the ground with his cane, frowned and asked him to call Heken.

Old Jack had seen this man before.I met once, 17 years ago.At that time, the other party also came in a carriage, and Heken, who was under 20 years old, came with him.He was not so thin back then, the deep browbones and aquiline nose made him look shrewd and unpredictable, his cheeks were plumper than now, his broad chin and a beard under his lips were quite masculine.

Old Jack knew him.He is Hickon's elder brother, Count Müller.

Heken came over after hearing the sound, his expression was calm, and he walked slowly.He didn't say hello to his brother when he saw him, but he raised his chin towards the stairs and said that Old Jack would take him to the room.The count silently glanced at his younger brother, seeing him so slovenly and unkempt, suppressed his anger and let out a cold snort. He only said that the money was in the carriage, and then stepped up the steps and strode towards the second floor.

The earl had already walked into the room of his youngest son when Heken ran into the carriage and took out two bags of money. He turned his head and signaled old Jack to leave with his eyes.The old man closed the door cooperatively for him.

Heken's cry came from downstairs, and old Jack slowly went down the stairs while grabbing the handrail, and saw Heken holding the purse in one hand and dragging the woman who had just stood by the carriage into the house with the other.

"This is the new maid, I can't ask her name, you take her to the laundry room to wash the clothes first." Heken got the money with a happy face, opened his mouth to give a few casual instructions, and then hid in the room to count the money up.

Old Jack led the young maid to the laundry, and they talked with signs as they went.The maid wrote her name on the palm of the old man's hand. Her name was Doris. Like him, she knew no words except spelling her own name.This family has secrets, and the servants who come to the manor are all illiterate and dumb, so that the master doesn't have to worry about the secret being leaked to others by these servants.

He fetched water for Doris, went to the stables while Doris washed the sheets, and later mended the roof which he had planned to mend before winter.It wasn't until Earl Muller left in the carriage that he finally finished his work for the day.The owner was probably still hiding in the room holding the money and dreaming sweet dreams. He went upstairs lightly, touched the outside of Cyril's room, and quietly opened the door with a hint of expectation, but was surprised to find that the boy was not in the room at all. inside.

Taking a breath, he ran downstairs in a panic and thumped on the master's door.The master opened the door impatiently and asked in a harsh tone.He gestured anxiously, telling his master that Cyril was gone again.The master scolded him head and face, and kicked his knee hard.

"What dream is that brat in Felix's room, get out!"

The door slammed shut, hitting the tip of his nose.The old man held his nose and whimpered twice, but when he thought about the nasty boy not being able to escape, his heart was filled with relief.He limped into the kitchen with a sore leg, woke up the fat cook who was dozing off, and asked him what food was left.The mutes hid in the kitchen and devoured some leftover bread, and old Jack, who was full, took a few slices of bread and scooped some boiled beans on the plate.The fat cook gestured to him and asked him who it was for, and he told the cook that a new maid came today, who was probably still washing sheets in the laundry room at this time, and he had to send her some food.

Old Jack is still so warm-hearted.

The fat cook, who was full and started to feel sleepy, rubbed his eyes, which could hardly be opened, and thought listlessly.The young master didn't eat anything today, and the specially prepared snacks were useless.He ate some by himself, and wanted to save the rest for tomorrow. Seeing Old Jack beside him who was busy with the new maid, he sighed in embarrassment.Hesitating to take out the hidden snacks from the cabinet, he took two pieces and put them on the plate, hesitated again, and finally stuffed the rest to Old Jack.

On the night Mary was beaten to death, he hid in the kitchen and dared not go out. Mary's screams haunted him like a ghost crawling out of the cemetery, and even chased him into his dreams.He was awakened by a nightmare in the middle of the night, and the wind outside the window was howling like a ghost.He curled up on the bed and tossed and turned, and finally walked around the mansion with his clothes on to see how Mary was doing.But before he got close to the door, he heard intermittent crying. He was so frightened that he staggered and almost fell, and hurriedly plunged into the nearby bushes, only daring to show a pair of small eyes to look around nervously.

And by the moonlight, he saw that old Jack was sitting next to his wife's body and weeping.