Da Suining

Chapter 92
Lu Yu was good-looking, and even dressed as a servant was extraordinarily alluring.It can be male or female, offensive or defensive.

He changed into a light blue cloth shirt, a pair of wide-leg trousers, a gray scarf on his head, a pair of black pumps with a lot of dirt on them, and a fake mustache on his lips. Use the wrong eye on purpose.

After taking the clothes from Liuyunfang, Lu Yu tucked the clothes under his arms, supported the tree with one hand, and gathered his temples with the other, and gave Xiang Suining a long eyebrow: "Second Miss, let's chat for a while."

Sure enough, he was doing a full set of acting, Lu Yu usually smelled of medicine or incense, in order to pretend to be a servant, he deliberately took a bath with a towel, did not use deodorant, and only used saponin to wash his hair.

Since then, there is no other smell on his body except the smell of sweat.

When speaking, he also purposely hoarse his voice, not like a teenager, but more like a 24-[-] person.

Xiang Suining went to Changfu first.

On the left side of the gate of Changfu, a ten-foot-wide coffin shed was built to receive people who came and went to pay homage.Two house servants add joss sticks or burn yellow paper in the altar.

Coincidentally, Zhou Sheng, the official of the government office, came out. Zhou Sheng walked slowly, and when he went down the steps, he lifted his robe. When he got down the steps, he put down his robe and tidied up again. Serving the emperor and taking care of Eunuch Chang's funeral at the same time, it's really hard work, if there's anything you need from me, the prefect of Qingcheng, just ask."

Baxi naturally bowed and thanked.

Zhou Sheng had met Xiang Suining for a few times, but they were not familiar with each other. Seeing that Xiang Suining was dressed plainly, and even the hairpin was made of silver, standing at the bottom of the steps to salute him in a low-key manner, he sighed: "This is not Xiangda's mansion." Is the second girl from above? Are you here to pay homage to Eunuch Chang? There are rumors in Qingcheng that Eunuch Chang likes you very much, you should go in and cry a few times."

"Miss Xianger came here yesterday." Baxi added.

Zhou Sheng said: "I think Miss Xiang Er has a very close relationship with Chang Gonggong. Seeing that Chang Gonggong is about to be cremated, she came to take a second look, she is a caring person."

A few people were talking politely at the gate of Changfu, and Lu Yu came with his clothes on.Afraid of being seen out, he lowered his head on purpose.

"The clothes from Liuyunfang have arrived, so I will change them here for my father-in-law, so as not to delay the cremation." Baxi took the clothes and went back to the inner hall, then turned back to call Lu Yu: "What's your name?"

"I—father-in-law just call me Xiaoyuer."

"Little fish—"

"Do you need me to dress Eunuch Chang?" Lu Yu greeted him courteously, but was rejected by Baxi: "You are a stranger, so I am afraid that you will startle Eunuch Chang, so we should do it for our own people. "

"Then I'll wait a while before going back. If the clothes fit, it's the best. If they don't fit, you can take them back and change them." Lu Yu entered the yard cheekily.

Everyone moved to the inner hall, because they wanted to change clothes for Eunuch Chang, so it was inconvenient for Xiang Suining to go in, so he just waited in the corridor.

The starlings on the porch seemed to know that Eunuch Chang was gone, and stood listlessly in the cage, closed their eyes and meditated, and spit out from time to time, "Is the food ready? Bring it here soon, Eunuch, I'm hungry."

Before coming here, Xiang Suining had already greeted Lu Yu and asked him to take a closer look at Eunuch Chang's body to see if there was anything unusual.Unexpectedly, Baxi didn't ask Lu Yu to intervene in changing the clothes, but called the slave in the coffin shed outside. After all, he was a half-grown child with a nimble body, like a little mouse, and "chucked" into the coffin Go, got into the coffin and carried out the body of Eunuch Chang. Another slave had already carried out the coffin, put Eunuch Chang on the coffin, and then he could change his clothes.

The lord of the government office, Zhou Sheng, may have nothing to do, but he also followed into the courtyard, his eyes were looking into the inner hall, but his feet were still on the threshold, as if he was afraid that the person in the coffin would cheat the corpse, and he was ready to run at all times I'm ready, but I want to watch the excitement for a while, anyway, I don't want to watch it for nothing.

Lu Yu looked into the inner hall through the window, but the window was closed, so he couldn't see anything clearly.

Xiang Suining pretended to be calm and calm, and stood there looking at the lush flowers blooming in the porch.

"Master Zhou, Master Zhou—" Baxi's shout came from the inner hall: "Come in and have a look."

Hearing his voice, it seemed that he was quite frightened.

You must know that eunuchs are working in the palace, whether they are walking, sitting or lying down, they must be steady and steady.When entering the palace, they were all taught.

In the fourth year of Xuanguo, a young eunuch coughed twice while the noble master was drinking soup. The noble master swallowed a big jujube in shock, his face turned red and he was almost out of breath. An hour and twenty sticks are rewarded.

The result of all the fuss can be fatal.

That's why all the eunuchs in the palace were cautious, they didn't dare to show their teeth when they were happy, and they didn't dare to cry when they were sad.

What's more, Baxi is now the tea eunuch next to the emperor. Usually, whether he is walking or serving, he is quiet. Even when serving tea, he can't make a sound. Just now he shouted loudly, which is a big taboo.

Zhou Sheng stepped across the threshold and asked, "What's the matter? What's wrong with Father Baxi?"

"Everyone said that my father-in-law died of asthma, but why are there two bruises on my father-in-law's neck?" Baxi almost fell to the ground: "Look at it, my lord, does the bruise on my father-in-law's neck look like Someone strangled it with a rope?"

Xiang Suining didn't expect Baxi to tell about the bruise first.

Several house slaves were also obviously frightened, and they knelt down in front of the coffin and bowed their heads one by one.

Zhou Sheng cursed secretly, "Eunuchs have too many things to do."

When he first heard that Eunuch Chang had died, Zhou Sheng was drinking with his concubine in the back garden. He hadn't had enough wine for three cups, so he heard an order from the palace to mourn Eunuch Chang.

This is Qingcheng. His lord Fu Yin looks like a big official to outsiders, but in the eyes of the bureaucrats in Qingcheng, he is really not popular. Now that the emperor is thinking about Eunuch Chang’s funeral, he, the lord of the Fu Yin, only cares about it. I hope to finish it quickly, cremate and burn it and put it in a box and everything will be fine.

It's okay to die well, why is there still a strangle mark on the neck?
And looking at the position of the strangle mark, it looks like it was caused by hanging. From this point of view, the case is suspicious. Maybe Eunuch Chang didn't die by himself, but was strangled to death?If he was strangled to death, he would have to catch the culprit. If he couldn't catch him, it would be his lord's dereliction of duty. The emperor would definitely take this matter seriously.Taking a ten thousand step back, once it is determined that Eunuch Chang committed suicide, it means that the law and order in Qingcheng is not good.

There is little benefit left and right.

One thing more is worse than one thing less, and you can't put shit on your head.

Zhou Sheng walked over slowly, looked at Eunuch Chang's neck with his head, and pretended to be relaxed: "Where are the bruises? Why didn't I look at it? Maybe it's because the inner hall is dark and you misread it."

Baxi called Xiang Suining: "Miss Xiang Er, come and see."

"She's a girl, she's very timid, what do you want her to see about dead people, and then scare her." Zhou Sheng tried to stop Xiang Suining.

Xiang Suining only glanced at him, then said respectfully to Zhou Sheng: "I have heard about Mr. Zhou's reputation for a long time, and I am changing clothes for Eunuch Chang today. It is God's will that Mr. Zhou is here."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The bruises on Eunuch Chang's neck are very suspicious."

Lu Yu originally wanted to say, "my father is a third-rank imperial doctor, and I know a little about practicing medicine. But among those who died of asthma, I have never found any bruises on their necks." After thinking about it, he was pretending to be a servant , how can he speak here?So he stood aside obediently.

"Eunuch Chang has a noble status, and this is a mansion rewarded by the emperor. Who can murder him? I'm afraid you are overthinking it. According to me, don't delay the time, put on your clothes and put them back. Come to mourn."

"Master Zhou is the parental official of Qingcheng, and there is something wrong with the people under his rule. Why don't Master Zhou invite a foreman to check it? In this way, the cause of Eunuch Chang's death is also clear. If the emperor asks, Master Zhou can explain it easily, right?" Although Xiang Suining said It sounded like it was flattering Zhou Sheng, but it also put a lot of pressure on Zhou Sheng invisibly.

This Baxi was following the emperor's buttocks, he noticed the strangeness of Eunuch Chang, if he, the parent official, got away with it, what should the emperor ask?
"That's what the second girl Xiang said, I'll send a foreman to inspect it carefully in a while, if there is something found out, I will naturally investigate to the end, if nothing is found out, then the cremation of Eunuch Chang will not be delayed .”

Sending Zhou Sheng away, Baxi lay down in front of the coffin and cried bitterly: "Eunuch, you can't speak when you're dead, but if there is any grievance, please entrust me with a dream. If someone really harms Eunuch, I will definitely seek justice for Eunuch." , even if it takes my life, I am willing."

A young eunuch was very moved by crying his nose and tears, and the house slaves also thought of the benefits that Chang Gonggong had done to them, so they couldn't help but shed tears silently.

"Eunuch Baxi is mourning, Mr. Zhou also said, and will investigate this matter." Xiang Suining comforted him.

Baxi murmured: "If the father-in-law was strangled to death, it would be a crime. Since ancient times, crimes cannot escape the characters of love, money, and hatred. Think about it carefully, is there anything missing in the father-in-law's room?" ? Are there enough silver, porcelain, calligraphy and paintings?"

The few and a half slaves thought about it carefully and shook their heads.

"Think about it again, who did Eunuch offend recently?"

Several house slaves shook their heads again.

As if thinking of something, a house slave stood up and replied: "The carriage passed by our door yesterday, and a dung bucket was left on the carriage, and the dirty things flowed all over the floor. I just cleaned it up. Think about it, that driver is very familiar. Yes, half a month ago, Eunuch Chang bought a sugar cane on the side of the road and ate it standing up, and the driver even spat at him."

"Maybe he didn't notice it." Baxi frowned.

"He did it on purpose." The slave thought for a while and said, "At that time, there was a dealer selling sugar cane. Eunuch Chang said that when he was a child, sugar cane was also grown in his hometown. The coachman drove the carriage over and stopped in front of Eunuch Chang on purpose. He spat thick phlegm at Eunuch Chang and almost stained his shoes. We wanted to beat him up at that time, but who made him lose his wink? Unexpectedly, we didn't do anything, he got angry first, and scolded us, "a group of rootless people, who are still acting like others." Didn't this remark scold the father-in-law? We don't want to, stop him to shake his fist, But the father-in-law said that he had nothing to do with a driver, so he let him go."

"Do you know the name of that driver? Where is he from? What's wrong with your father-in-law?" Xiang Suining asked.

"I don't know what kind of feud he has with his father-in-law, but he looks at him fiercely. I'm afraid he dumped the horse manure yesterday on purpose. As for his name and where he lives, I don't know."

Although the house slave provided little information, it can be regarded as a clue.

As usual, Baxi sent Prime Minister Suining to go out.

Perhaps it was Eunuch Chang's strangeness that made him worry. He frowned, and his voice was listless: "I don't know when Master Zhou Sheng Zhou will send his assistant. Eunuch Chang can't wait too long here, it's hot."

Compared with yesterday, the inner hall of the Chang Mansion has already used ice today.

After all, it was getting hotter and hotter, and Cicada began to lie on the treetops and scream day and night.

The cows in the farmer’s house don’t want to plow the fields anymore, they lie down and doze lazily. The carriages running in Qingcheng, the horses pulling the carts have white smoke coming out of their noses. After running for a while, the coachman needs to feed them some water. .The streets and alleys are hot, without any moisture, and the bluestone roads that used to be warm and humid are now sun-baked and can be used as a bronze mirror.

At this time, the corpse was morgued in the room, and it would be great if it could be kept there for five days.

Something happened to Eunuch Chang, and the Chang Mansion stopped like a big clock. Although a thin and dead camel is bigger than a horse, but the living person is dead, and the relationship is gone. Who will take care of him sincerely? There is a big copper basin, the ice in there is still taken out by the emperor from the ice ceremony in summer, and the little eunuch carries it to the Changfu every day, twice a day.

Even with ice, it won't last long.

It is not too late.

Zhou Sheng's temper, Xiang Suining still knows a little bit, let him find out the truth, it is more likely that he will settle down for a while, and this matter has passed indistinctly. One thing more is worse than one thing less. The most important thing is that Eunuch Chang is dead.

Then check it yourself.

Lu Yu didn't believe that she could find any clues: "Qingcheng is very big, there are at least hundreds of coachmen here, don't you go to each household? Then when will you go, Eunuch Chang can't wait that long .”

"Don't worry, I have a solution."

"Don't put yourself at risk. If you need me, just tell me. Although I won't follow you up and down the mountain of swords and seas of fire, but pretend to be a servant, madam, maid, miss, etc. to get news , I can still do it, after all, I am more handsome and have a graceful figure..."

"Okay, I got it." Xiang Suining gave him a blessing, and took his maidservant Mingzhu into a carriage and left.

"When you take advantage of someone, you always talk nicely. When you're done using someone, you don't want to say a single extra word to them. Women, you are so ruthless." Lu Yu shook his head in the direction Xiang Suining was leaving.

The carriage passed the long street, and from a distance, I saw an old man dressed up, with a white beard, walking towards the Changfu with a box on his back.

Although there are not many people in this business, the salary is not very good. According to Qingcheng's market, it is only one or two and a half silver per month.

Moreover, in this line of work, it is easy to be misunderstood as unlucky. Relatives are not allowed to go to the table at a gathering, even if it is a marriage between a child and a daughter, it is not easy to mention it. This is not like old man Zheng walked away with his head bowed, but was chased by an old woman and shouted: "On the body!" It smells so bad, don't pass by my vegetable stall next time, or my vegetables won't be sold."

(End of this chapter)