The straight man who wears bright clothes is also afraid of messing with him

On the New Year's Eve of the 13th year of Hongwu, a homicide occurred in a gold shop in Beiping City. Wu Kun, the procurator of Beiping Prefecture, came to the scene. Uncharacteristically, he did not examine the corpse or investigate the scene. Kun is also tough.

Shen Qing looked at Wu Kun indifferently, and said: "It stands to reason that it is not good for us to intervene in the case of the criminal department, but we are also involved in this murder case, so we can't stay out of it. However, we only listen in. If Mr. Wu judges the case fairly , we will not intervene. Otherwise, even if the prince is disturbed, Shen will not be able to sit idly by."

Speaking of this, Wu Kun had no choice. After all, he was only a rank five. Not only did Shen Qing have a title, but he was also a rank three guard commander. No matter how he looked at it, he was not qualified to contend.

Wu Kun bowed and said: "Then do as Qing Ningbo wants. The officials must enforce the law impartially and give justice to the deceased."

Shen Qing nodded, returned to the original position and sat down, no longer speaking.

Wu Kun looked at the yamen servant and said, "Is Wu Zuo here?"

The yamen servant bowed and replied: "My lord, Wu Zuo is not in the yamen today, so I will send someone to call me."

Wu Kun reprimanded: "There is a murder case, how can we not call him Zuo Zuo, what are they doing for food, why don't you go!"

The yamen servant repeatedly pleaded guilty and walked out of the shop quickly.

Wu Kun put his eyes on Wang Zhangshi, and asked warmly: "Wang Zhangshi, you said that Wang Gui poisoned and murdered your master, do you have evidence?"

Mrs. Wang and Zhang were startled, then wiped the corners of her eyes that had dried up long ago, and said in a soft voice: "My lord, the lady and the master had breakfast, and they didn't eat until the gold store, but just drank here. Tea, and some snacks and dried fruits. My lord, tell me, if it wasn't for Wang Gui's poisoning, where would my master be poisoned?"

Wang Gui hurriedly called out: "My lord, Xiaomin is wronged! Xiaomin and Wang Penghai are good friends, how could he have the idea of ​​killing people because of such a small amount of money? What's more, it is his own gold shop in broad daylight. No matter how confused Xiaomin is, he will not Splashing sewage on yourself like this!"

"Then explain why Wang Penghai was poisoned in your gold shop?"

Wang Gui was about to cry, and said, "My lord, I don't even know, the tea here is all boiled in the same pot, and the pot is changed every half an hour. The tea that Wang Penghai drinks is the same as that of the two adults." Drinking tea is from the same pot of water, why are they all right, only Wang Penghai is dead, and this Wang Zhang, she also drank tea, isn't she all right?"

Mrs. Wang Zhang retorted: "Maybe you poisoned the teacup, so other people are fine after drinking the water, but the master died tragically on the spot. Master, you died so wrongly! My lord, you must do it for the women. Make the decision!"

Cui Miao looked at Wang and Zhangshi, frowned, approached Shen Qing, and said in a low voice: "Brother Shen, this woman is really strange, she seems to be biting Wang Gui to death."

Shen Qing asked lightly: "How does this woman look like?"

Cui Miao was startled, looked carefully at Mrs. Wang and Zhang, and replied seriously: "Although this woman is already a married woman, she looks very handsome. She can be regarded as Xiaojiabiyu. Why does Brother Shen ask such a question?"

Shen Qing's eyes flickered slightly, and he said calmly: "No reason, just a casual question."

Cui Miao looked at Shen Qing suspiciously, then turned her gaze to the venue again, and suddenly saw a girl dressed as a maid outside the door of the gold shop, looking inside anxiously.Cui Miao's heart moved, and she said in a low voice: "Brother Shen, pay more attention, I'll go out for a while."

Cui Miao got up and went to the door, went straight out, and came to the girl, Cui Miao asked warmly: "Young lady, you look anxious, but is there something wrong?"

The girl seemed a little flustered, she shook her head and said, "My lord misunderstood, the little girl is fine."

Cui Miao smiled and said, "Girl, don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person. I just saw that you looked wrong, and guessed that the girl must have something to do, so I came here to see if I can help you. If the girl is fine, then I won't help you." excuse me."

Seeing that Cui Miao turned to leave, the girl struggled, and then she called out, "Young master, wait a minute. The servant is indeed busy, please help me."

Cui Miao turned around and said with a smile: "What's the matter, girl, you might as well tell me."

"My lord, this servant girl is Cuixiang, a servant girl from the Wang family. I was ordered by my wife to buy some snacks. But when I came back, I saw many servants standing outside the gold shop. The servant girl wanted to go in, but they refused to let me in. A murder has occurred. Young master, is my master alright?"

Cui Miao asked: "Cuixiang, are you your master's maid, or your wife's maid?"

Cuixiang was taken aback, and then replied: "The parents of the servants are both the servants of the Wang family. Cuixiang used to be the master's personal servant girl, but after the wife came in, she was assigned to the wife's side. Young master, if you ask this, is it because something happened to my master? gone?"

Cui Miao sighed and said, "Your master is dead, he died of poisoning."

"How is it possible!" Cuixiang opened her eyes wide in shock, tears welled up in her eyes in an instant, and she cried, "Master, don't lie to Cuixiang, the master was fine just now, how could that be?"

Cui Miao took out a handkerchief, handed it to Cuixiang, and said comfortingly, "Girl, you can't come back to life after death, so please mourn."

Cuixiang shook her head, took out a handkerchief from her sleeve, wiped her tears, and said sadly: "Thank you, my lord. Can you tell me, how did my master die?"

Cui Miao replied truthfully: "The people in the yamen are investigating. I have a few questions I want to ask, and I ask the girl to answer them truthfully. Maybe it will help to find out the truth about your master's murder."

Cuixiang asked: "My lord, are you from the Yamen?"

"No, but I am also a member of the government. I happened to encounter this matter, and I don't want to stand by. If the girl doesn't believe me, you don't have to answer."

Cuixiang said affirmatively: "Master, if you ask, Cuixiang will trust you."

"When did your master leave the mansion, when did he arrive at the gold shop, is there anything different today?"

Cuixiang sorted out her mood, thought about it carefully, and replied: "Master and Madam went out around the middle of the hour, and arrived at the gold store at the end of the hour. Everything was as usual when the master went out, and Cuixiang didn't notice anything unusual about the master. .”

"After your master had breakfast, did he eat anything else?"

Cuixiang shook her head, and said: "Cuixiang didn't see anything the master ate during this journey. After arriving at the gold shop, shopkeeper Liu prepared refreshments for the master, but Madam said that she wanted to eat cakes from Fuguifang, so she asked Cuixiang to buy them. Cui Xiang doesn't know if Master has eaten or not."

Cui Miao then asked: "Your wife looks much younger than Mr. Wang, is she the original match? How is she like in normal times?"

A troubled look appeared on Cuixiang's face, she was silent for a while, and said, "To tell you the truth, my wife is a continuation. The previous wife passed away due to illness, and the master married the current wife a few years later. My wife is usually indifferent to others. The relationship with the master is not as close as other couples."

Cui Miao asked curiously, "Young lady, do you know why?"

Cuixiang looked around and said softly, "My lord, please follow me."

Cuixiang took Cui Miao to a remote corner outside the crowd, and said, "Forgive me, my lord, what Cuixiang said later won't be heard by others."

Cui Miao shook her head and said, "The girl is willing to say that she already trusts me, thank you."

Cuixiang sighed, and said: "Young master, the thing is like this. In fact, the eldest lady and the second lady are two sisters. After the eldest lady died of illness, the master was very sad and determined not to continue. Somehow, Master Zhang, also known as the wife My father, who was addicted to gambling, lost all his family property within a few years, and owed a lot of debts. Mr. Zhang was beaten to death by debtors, and passed away in a few days. Mrs. Zhang also fell seriously ill. , entrusted the second wife to my master before his death. The master was kind, he paid off the gambling debts for his family, and took the second wife back home. However, the second wife was engaged, and the master didn't think so, so he bought a yard Supporting her. She also helped her find her fiancé, but since he left Wanping, there has been no news from him. Seeing that the second wife is eighteen years old, she has not found anyone yet. The people below all persuaded her, and she also worked hard. Because she and his wife are sisters, and they look like seven or eight points, the master married his wife. After the wife passed the door, she was also close to the master for a while, but then they became estranged for some reason. Especially in the past two years, the wife has almost If you don't go to the master's yard, the master will not force her when he sees that she is unwilling."

"Do you know the name of your wife's fiancé?"

Cuixiang thought for a while and said, "I heard that his surname is Wu, but as for what it's called, Cuixiang doesn't know."

"My surname is Wu." Cui Miao narrowed her eyes slightly, glanced at the direction of the gold store, and then asked, "Is your master's itinerary scheduled in advance?"

Cuixiang nodded, then shook her head, and explained: "The relationship between the master and the shopkeeper Wang is very good, and the business of restaurants and inns is good, so I just want to talk about money after the next year. But the wife said that it will take half a year to settle the deal." It’s been half a year, no matter whether you want to come back or not, you have to ask for it once, so it will be easier to get money in the future, Madam also wants to buy some jewelry by the way, the master agreed after thinking about it.”

"Is there anyone else in your master's family? Do you have any heirs?"

"Master is the only son. Grandpa and grandma passed away two years ago. Master has a son and a daughter. The daughter is left by the eldest lady. She married last year. The son is born to the second wife. He is just five years old this year."

"Five years old? How old is your wife this year?"

"Ma'am is twenty-five this year."

"Is your wife away from home often recently?"

"It's not often. Madam believes in Buddhism. She goes to the temple to burn incense on the first and fifteenth day of every month."

"Then did your wife spend the night in the temple when she worshiped the Buddha?"

"Young Master, how do you know?" Cuixiang looked at Cui Miao in surprise, and said, "On these two days of each month, Madam will go to the temple to pay respects to the Buddha and come back the next day."

"Your wife worships the Buddha, are you going to attend to her?"

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no, most of them are followed by Qiulan."

"Who is Qiulan?"

"Madam's dowry girl."