Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 104 Sanying Bridge

Huang Yongning saw Mr. Huang Er coming over. He was a junior, but he was still sitting tall. He sneered: "Human life is at stake. Second uncle said it so lightly. Yuntai's handkerchief was found under the Sanying Bridge."

"Sanying Bridge?" Mr. Huang Er looked frightened, stamped his feet, and said to Huang Yongning: "It's all up to your boss to handle it yourself." He turned around and ignored it.

Wang Heng saw this and sighed secretly. Everything in his family was prosperous, but Wanhu Village did not seem to be prosperous.

That day, he was still sleeping in the west wing of the second floor. Unlike last night, when he had a good sleep, he was worried today and was tossing and turning. Wang Heng simply got up and browsed around in the small study.

The collection of books in this study is also not rich. It is reminiscent of the row of large and useless study rooms in Huang Yuntai, giving rise to a feeling that the present is different from the past.

In many old homes in the south of the Yangtze River, wealthy ancestors left huge museums and pavilions behind. Each generation of descendants was inferior to the previous generation. The mortgages were sold off or even stolen by servants. Within a few decades, there was not much left.

Wang Heng casually took out a volume. It was a commercially available colloquial book. The engraving was very poor and it was written in the craftsman script popular in Jiangnan.Obviously it has no collection value, and was just used by the owner for leisure.

I flipped through a few more volumes, all of which were erotic novels such as "Cui Fu An" and "Duo Feng Qing".

There is a piece of paper in a book with a poem titled "White Crane lives together in Penglai Township, and does not remember how many times the plum blossoms are fragrant. It's strange that Xiaohong has too many things, but I still know that I know Yulang more deeply." Mu Zhi.”

His poetry is not very good, but he seems to be a good poet. Could the original owner of this study be Huang Yuntai? Do these hobbies reveal another side of Brother Yuntai?Wang Heng shook his head and thought it was unlikely. Brother Yuntai was very knowledgeable. Although he didn't write many poems, he was definitely not wrong.

I lost my mind at night, and had a confused dream all night long. I dreamed that Huang Yuntai was covered in blood and calling for help, but he couldn't move. When he was woken up by Liu's mother early the next morning, he was very tired, and his whole body was sore and weak, as if after a serious illness.

Wang Hengli ordered some cakes and then went out with Huang Yongning. They brought two villagers with them, brothers Bingsheng and Shuisheng, both young men.

It was still dark at this time, and the blue-black sky was heavy. There were lanterns hanging beside the road in the middle of the village. The four people hurried on without saying a word. After leaving the south gate, the sky showed a few traces of fish belly white. Walking on the mountain road requires careful footing. Yes, Wang Heng felt relieved only after the path could be discerned.

The Huang family's tea farm is quite large. The tea trees are neatly trimmed and occupy the entire hillside. It is the middle of winter and no one is working in the tea farm. The dead leaves rustle as the four people walk through it, making it feel more and more silent.

Wang Heng had heard about the largest Dongting Chunshan store in Suzhou, which was owned by the Huang family. One tael of medium-grade tea on the market costs about one tael. He estimated that this tea farm alone could produce a harvest of thousands of taels a year.

There is a rumor in the strange rivers and lakes that "the emblems are everywhere in the sky and Dongting", and the businessmen in the two mountains of Dongting are really rich in financial resources.

Because he didn't have a good rest last night, Wang Heng felt that his legs were weak. After walking for a few miles, Huang Yongning noticed it and slowed down, so that Wang Heng was able to keep up with the team.

After walking for more than half an hour, the tea garden was left behind, and a stone bridge stretched out in front of it. The mountain road above the bridge began to get steep. Huang Yongning said that walking up the stone steps would be Piaomiao Peak, the first peak of Dongting West Mountain. Under the stone bridge, two streams converged at At this point, Wang Heng realized that the stone bridge at the Xikou here should be the Sanying Bridge. Sure enough, Huang Yongning and others stopped.

Zhuang Ding Bingsheng pointed to a river beach under the stone bridge and said that it was here yesterday that he found the handkerchief. At this time, the sky was bright. Wang Heng could see at a glance that there was a gap between the rocks and mudflats two or three feet ahead of the river beach. Clear footprints.Then he asked: "Brother Yongning, who picked up the handkerchief last night? Have any of the brothers on this riverside village ever stepped into it?"

"I went down to pick up the handkerchief that Bingsheng found last night." Huang Yongning looked at the two Bingsheng brothers and said with some hesitation: "It seems that I went down alone, who else?"

Bingsheng said: "I was standing on the bridge holding a lantern."

Shui Sheng said: "I stood at the end of the bridge to illuminate it for my uncle. The rest of the people did not go down to the river beach. They all stood on a high place to take photos."

Wang Heng carefully stepped on the rock next to the footprints and stood still. The footprints were slightly larger than his own and were most likely the footprints left by Huang Yuntai. So he discussed with Huang Yongning and asked people to go back to Wanhu Village to find a pair of Huang Yuntai for home wear. Come over with your leather boots and compare the size with the footprints.

Huang Yongning was convinced and asked Shui Sheng to go back to the manager, Lao Yan, and go to the inner courtyard to ask for it from Yinfeng.

Wang Heng thought to himself, if this was really the scene of the crime and the interval was less than a day, there must be other clues left.

Sure enough, there was a broken note hidden in the rock crevice where the footprints were found, "Beside the Sanying Bridge at the end of the day ([-] p.m.), remember to come alone."

There is no header, no signature, just a few sentences. The paper is ordinary white cotton paper, but the words are very strange. They seem to be written with charcoal. The strokes are horizontal and vertical, not Huang Yuntai's handwriting.

Wang Heng handed it to Huang Yongning and said, "Brother Yongning, can you tell whose handwriting it is?"

Huang Yongning took the note, thought about it, shook his head and said, "I don't know, I've never seen this writing before."

Wang Heng deduced what happened in his mind: Huang Yuntai returned to Wanhu Village early in the morning yesterday and found that Wang Heng had come all the way, so he did not disturb his rest and left a letter to express his gratitude.Next, Huang Yuntai received a note and asked him to meet at Sanying Bridge at the end of the day. This made him very difficult to decide, so he locked himself in the study. Finally, he decided to quietly leave the village in the afternoon to attend the appointment. It was very likely that he would be pushed into the trap by the other party when he went to the appointment. , and finally his handkerchief and footprints were left by the Sanying Bridge, and the note was stuffed in the crevices of the rocks. Maybe it was done in a desperate situation. There were no traces of fighting on the river beach. Maybe the inviter was an acquaintance.

It can be inferred from this that the person who asked Huang Yuntai to come to Sanying Bridge is very important. He may be the murderer or an insider.

Wang Heng solemnly rolled up the note and put it in his pocket to use as evidence in the future.

At this time, the morning glow was red and the morning dew was still lingering. He looked up at the Sanying Bridge on the river beach. The Wukang stone bridge showed a psychedelic smoky purple in the glow. The bridge piers spanned the two streams vigorously. On the bridge, the stone body is a simple arc arch, and an old pine is planted at the head of the bridge. It has an air of fairy spirit. This should be an ancient bridge from the Song and Yuan Dynasties, right?

The bridges leading into the mountain are so beautiful, and the Piaomiao Peak is even more fascinating. Not long ago, Wang Heng thought he would go for a swim with the Piaomiao Peak on Huangyuntai in the past few days, but he didn't know that things are unpredictable.

Climbing up the stairs to the Sanying Bridge, I heard the sound of water gurgling in my ears. Looking down, I saw two streams and springs merged into one river, splashing jade and spraying beads down the mountain. It rained all night, and the water was stronger yesterday. If Huangyuntai fell into the water, it would most likely be swept down the mountain by the current.

(End of this chapter)