Placid Chang'an

"My lord is really clever. We found out the identity of the deceased based on the jade pendant provided by your lord and the range you gave us. Otherwise, we would have gone a long way. You will find the source of the corpse in less than a day. Come out, no wonder they all said that you are the most capable person in our Dali Temple other than Mr. Chen, if it wasn't because of you, our Dazhou would have many unsolved big cases..."

The one who took the lead was a scribe from Dali Temple. He was talking all the way, and all kinds of flattery took turns. Su Cen was so quarreled early in the morning that his head hurt, and he interrupted with a frown: "Get to the point."

The scribe patted the horse's ass flatteringly, the corner of his mouth twitched, and he said honestly: "The deceased's name is Xu Youhuai, he was thirty and three years old, and he lived in Shunyi Hutong, Yankangfang. He had a regular wife and two concubines at home. He has two sons. Xu Youhuai is an antique dealer. He travels all over the world to collect calligraphy and painting antiques. There is a shop in Xishi called Cuijixuan. However, I heard that this person has a bad reputation and often fools people with inferior goods. Knowing that he has a good disposition, those Hu merchants and foreign merchants from other places are often deceived by him because they can't figure out the situation. Sir, could it be that someone bought a fake from him and became angry, so he killed him?"

Apparently, after one night, someone figured out that the deceased was not an assassin but a victim, and Xu Youhuai's relatives and family businesses were all in Beijing, and there was no sign of transfer, which also proved this point.Su Cen asked: "If you were deceived by him, would you kill him in front of the whole world on the day of offering sacrifices to heaven?"

The clerk was quite smart, and after thinking about it, he shook his head. Was it because he was afraid that others would not be able to catch him if he killed someone and made such a big commotion?

The clerk turned his head to think about it, and said again: "Could it be an accident, no one wanted to kill him, Xu Youhuai just accidentally set himself on fire?"

Su Cen replied nonchalantly, "Can you burn one for yourself and let me see?"

The clerk felt sorry for him, this Mr. Su is now a popular person in front of Prince Ning. He helped Prince Ning to abolish the salt ban in the Yangzhou case, and now Zhang Jun has to look at him in Dali Temple.This time, I wanted to show myself in front of Mr. Su, maybe I can promote him as a follower in the future, but now it seems that Mr. Su has no affection for him, and even has a little dislike for him.

Probably because he is so stupid.

Yankangfang is located to the west of Zhuque Street. Because it is adjacent to the West Market, most of the people who live there are merchants.As soon as Su Cen entered Yankang Fang, he heard ghosts and wolves howling from a family not far away, because the suspicion of an assassin had not been ruled out, and there were officers and soldiers guarding the door of this family, which was very recognizable.

Su Cen asked the officers and soldiers outside the door: "Are you sure it's this family?"

The officer and soldier nodded and said: "My lord can't be wrong. The owner of this house didn't come back last night. This morning, the servants of their family saw the notice on the street and reported the case. I just showed them the jade pendant. It is indeed true." His master hangs it on his body all year round."

Su Cen nodded, and then entered the door against the screams of crying inside, and saw a woman kneeling in the main hall, dressed in linen and mourning, leading a family and had already registered.

Seeing Su Cen come in, the woman immediately stepped forward, considered Su Cen and the clerk beside him for a moment, then knelt down at the clerk's feet with a plop, hugged the clerk's ankle and did not let go, "My lord, what are you doing for me?" My master is in charge, my master is by no means an assassin, he died unjustly, there are old and young in our family, what should we do if he leaves!"

Scribe: "..."

Master Su, please listen to my explanation...

It's no wonder that the woman admitted her mistake, Su Cen came from Xingqing Palace in the morning, wearing a crescent white long gown, and his face was a bit more handsome, he didn't look like an official, on the contrary, he looked like some young master who had never seen the world.On the other hand, the scribes, who are approaching age, have black faces and wide cheeks, and are dressed in official uniforms, are indeed more like the elders sitting in the government.

The clerk coughed in embarrassment, pointed at Su Cen and said, "This is Mr. Su from Dali Temple. He is here to preside over your master's case."

The woman was stunned for a moment, the distrust in her eyes flashed, and she hugged Su Cen's thigh in the next moment: "My lord, you have to decide for my master..."

Su Cen: "..."

The clerk said that this is Xu Youhuai's official wife, Xu Lin, who is also the mistress of the family. She has a son for Xu Youhuai, who is eight years old, and two other concubines are kneeling in the hall. The family and servants have a total of seventeen members. , now that Xu Youhuai is dead, Xu Lin is in charge of the family.

Su Cen asked the scribes to stay here one by one to ask what they were doing on the day of the incident, who Xu Youhuai was in contact with on weekdays, whether there was any feud, or something unusual recently, so he asked to take a look around in the yard.

Xu Lin assigned the housekeeper of the Xu Mansion to guide Su Cen. Although Yankangfang is not in the eyes of those high-ranking officials and nobles, it is not affordable for ordinary people to live in.This Xu family is neither big nor small. There are three entrances. The first and second entrances are arranged around the courtyard. A set of courtyards are added on the left and right. Living with running water means that the four waters return to the hall, and the wind gathers energy.

Su Cen was led by the housekeeper across the courtyard to sleep in the back, looked over all the way, and asked aloud, "Is your master a native of Sichuan?"

The butler turned around with a look of surprise: "How did your lord know?"

Su Cen raised his chin and pointed at the building in front of him: "The roof is warped, the patio is shallow, and the verandahs are staggered. These are all like the construction methods in Sichuan. It must be that your master is not used to living in the houses in Beijing. It was specially built by someone.”

"My lord, you are really good at predicting things," the housekeeper nodded. "Our master is indeed from the middle of Shu, but his family moved to the capital in the early years, and now we have no contact there. I have been in the Xu family since I was a child. Those who signed the death contract came along with them back then, and only now know these things, and those new servants probably don't know that our family is actually from the middle of Sichuan."

Su Cen asked: "When did you move here? And why did you move here?"

The housekeeper thought for a while, "The relocation was probably eleven or twelve years ago. As for why, it was probably because the master's business was getting bigger and bigger, right? Those of us nowadays don't know about these things, so the master let the relocation follow. .”

Su Cen nodded and didn't ask any more questions.Obviously, this butler is well-trained, and he speaks very strictly. He will not reveal a word that should not be said, and Su Cen can find out everything that can be said.

All the way to the backyard, a main room facing south was Xu Youhuai's bedroom. Su Cen opened the door and entered after briefly asking for instructions.The bedroom was quite satisfactory. It could be seen that it had just been cleaned in the morning. Su Cen went around and found nothing of value.

After walking seven or eight steps out of the room, Su Cen turned around and took a look, feeling something was wrong for no reason.

At the beginning, I didn't feel it in the room, but now the more I walked out, the more I felt it. Su Cen stopped at the gate of the hospital, turned back and pointed to the side rooms on both sides of the main room, "Can I have a look there?"

Although it is an inquiry, there is no room for negotiation at all.

The butler was obviously taken aback, but after a while, he returned to normal, and said to Su Cen, "My lord, please go ahead."

The side rooms on both sides of the housekeeper's road were originally used by the servants to watch the night, but the master didn't pay much attention to it, and since he didn't need people to serve him at night, the side rooms were left unused and used as a warehouse.

Su Cen entered the east side room first, and sure enough, just as the butler said, the piled items were covered with a thick layer of dust, apparently no one had been in for a long time.

The same is true for the west side, but when Su Cen stood in the west side room, he somehow felt that it was more crowded than the east side.

"Is the size of the side rooms on both sides different?" Su Cen asked.

The butler smiled awkwardly: "Maybe it's because the things put there are different, sir, don't you think it's wrong?"

"No," Su Cen stared at the beam and measured it with his eyes. After looking at it, he came out from the ear room and went straight into Xu Youhuai's bedroom. Standing in the middle of the room, Su Cen finally saw that something was wrong with the house—the left and right sides of the room Not as big.

From where Su Cen was standing, there were 12 yuan of tiles to the east, and only nine tiles to the west.

In addition to those missing in the west ear room, the length of this room can be seven or eight feet out of thin air.

Facing the butler's hesitant expression, Su Cen stepped forward and knocked on the west wall. Sure enough, the wall was hollow, with only a thin layer of wood separating it.

Su Cen looked back at the butler: "Did you open it yourself, or I asked someone to come over and break it open."

The butler trembled with Su Cen's knife-like gaze, and finally he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go forward, holding a vase on the ancient shelf beside him, and a secret door opened in response.

Sure enough, there is nothing wrong with it.

Su Cenxin stepped into the dark room, and couldn't help but stare blankly at the things inside.

Xu Youhuai is worthy of being an antique dealer, ceramics, jade wares, calligraphy and paintings can be seen everywhere in this darkroom, and three or four brush washers alone are placed on a table, but it looks crowded and narrow, and the good things lose their meaning.

The butler stood outside the door and scratched his head, "It's actually a warehouse where the old man stores antiques. He built such a dark room because he was afraid that some things would be missed by thieves in the shop."

Su Cen ignored it, looked all the way through the porcelain and jade wares, the innermost pile was a stack of calligraphy and paintings, and there were several paintings hanging on the wall, the most conspicuous one was a peach blossom branch in full bloom, with twisted branches, only A corner sticks out, but you can know the spring from a glance. It has the artistic conception of three or two peach blossoms outside the bamboo, and the prophet of the spring river plumbing duck.

The most eye-catching thing about this painting is not the content, but the painting method. It is different from the light ink outlines and layers of smudges commonly used in the flower and bird paintings of the same period. Strange and in full swing, the brush and ink seem to be casual, but the ink technique, charm, and the environment complement each other, and the emotion is full of joy and excitement, and the ending ends with the brush staying in the ink and stopping abruptly. A shock.

Inscription in cursive on the upper left corner of the canvas: The peach blossoms are shining brightly

The signature is: Shen Cunshu on the fifth day of Wuwu Jichun

This painting was hung among many famous paintings, and instead of being robbed of the limelight, it became a blockbuster and made people never forget it.

Su Cen stared at the painting for a long time, and felt for no reason that those peach blossoms in full bloom were like fire.

"Your Excellency has a good eye," the housekeeper said, "This is a painting that my master just received, and it is also his favorite. He often looks at the painting for hours."

Su Cen asked: "How does your master usually collect these things?"

"It's just walking around the streets and alleys, collecting them from some small rural places, and then selling them in the capital."

"Lie," Su Cen said without hesitation.

"These things," Su Cen glanced at the dazzling array of things in the dark room, "all of them were brought from the tomb."