Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Before sunset, the Jiang family mansion was decorated with lights and colorful flowers, and all preparations for the wedding banquet were made.

At this time, several people wrapped in black gauze suddenly walked in, shouting that they were looking for Lao Song.

Old Song vaguely saw the person wearing a black veil, and felt very unhappy. When the person approached, the person leading him was Uncle Xing, an old servant of the Ye family, followed by three or four mature men.

Uncle Xing staggered up to Old Song and said with tears in his eyes: "Brother Old Song, please take me to report to Mr. Jiang that our girl disappeared last night."

Lao Song shook his hands and said dumbfounded: "What's gone?"

Uncle Xing cried loudly: "We three girls died last night."

Old Song looked around, let Uncle Xing into the flower hall, and hurried to Xunyue Pavilion.

Yueting and Xiaocai were playing tricks on the bluestone tiles in the backyard. He taught Xiaocai and Wang Heng a few punches and kicks. The two of them learned very hard. It was impossible to become martial arts masters, but they could still hope to keep fit.

Lao Song hurriedly told about the people coming from the Ye family to report the funeral. Yueting was shocked and hurried to the flower hall to see Uncle Xing.

Wang Heng and Xiaocai were surprised and followed him.

When Uncle Xing saw Aunt Jiang coming in, he was about to bow down and salute. Yueting grabbed him and said, "What's going on? The third girl is doing well."

Uncle Xing said with a sad face: "Our third girl was infected with the epidemic last month. She took a few patches of herbal medicine from the doctor, but she has not been feeling well. Yesterday morning, the third girl said she was not feeling well, so our wife invited a doctor she knew well to come and take a look. I took a look and said that she was too tired after a wedding and ate cold food and prepared some medicine. Unexpectedly, the third girl was gone in the night."

Xiaocai and Wang Heng looked at each other. On August [-], they could not see Miss Ye San according to the rules. However, Yueting saw the slender back of Miss Ye. At that time, he did not feel sick at all. He died of a sudden illness.

Yueting's eyes turned black. Such a beautiful girl, who was his ideal match, was so unexpected that she died of illness a day or two before the wedding. He stamped his feet and wanted to take the Ye family's funeral boat to divide the lake overnight.

Aunt Song, the wet nurse, tried her best to dissuade her, insisting that Yueting could leave at dawn tomorrow. Old Song and Aunt Song only had a daughter who was married a long time ago, and now they devoted themselves to helping Yueting live. During the stalemate, Wang Cai dragged Yueting and said sincerely: "Brother Yueting, the matter is now over. Miss Ye San has passed away. You can't save her if you rush there at night. Besides, we are separated by a county and a long waterway. The wind and waves were strong at night and it was really dangerous.”

Wang Heng said solemnly: "I heard from the boatman the day before yesterday that there was only one murder in the waters last month. It can be seen that the water is not so peaceful. It is better to wait until dawn tomorrow and Xiaocai and I will accompany you to Ye's house."

After this, he was persuaded to stay in Yueting. Wang Heng asked Lao Song to go to an acquaintance of the boatman overnight to make an appointment to row the boat to Fenhu Ye's house early tomorrow morning.

There have always been water bandits in the Taihu Lake Basin, but who knows if there are any in Fenhu Lake? Taking the boat on his own farm to minimize the risk, Wang Heng found that he had a slight dislike for the Ye family.

Old Song revealed the news that the Ye family had come to report the funeral, and the lively crowd in the Jiang family mansion gradually dispersed. Everyone was worried and settled in early.

It was still early in the morning, Xiaocai was sipping tea, flipping through some books, and said hesitantly: "Seventh brother, you stopped Brother Yueting just now, but are you afraid that Brother Yueting will get on the Ye family's boat and be harmed by them while boating on the water?"

Wang Heng thought for a moment and said: "I do feel this way, but I feel that I am too suspicious. The Ye family is too poor. Miss Ye San was fine a few days ago. Why did an adult die of illness for no reason? Is it possible? Want to defraud the Jiang family of the betrothal gift? According to Uncle Xing, the third girl disappeared last night. If they had come early in the morning to report the funeral, they would have arrived at noon at the latest. Why did they wait until dusk to arrive at Mohua Village? There were several people in the group There are several men, all dressed up in nondescript ways. Among them, we have only seen Uncle Xing. Uncle Xing did not introduce them as members of the Ye family, which shows that they are not from the Ye family. The Ye family does not even have a cook, except for Uncle Xing and his wife. Servants? Or maybe they were inspired by the murder case in Wujiang last month and wanted to trick Brother Yueting into harming him in Yuandang waters, and then use his identity as the Yue family to embezzle the Jiang family's property?"

Xiaocai also nodded in agreement and said: "I actually think so too. Things in the Ye family are not that simple, but I always feel that the idea is a bit too bizarre."

Wang Heng frowned and said: "We have to study carefully, but it is absolutely impossible. Mr. Ye is a top-notch Jinshi, Miss Ye is a famous lady, and Mrs. Sheng, who is the matchmaker, is both a cousin of the Jiang family and a scholar. I hope , it’s just my imagination.”

Xiaocai sighed and said: "Anyway, be careful tomorrow and go to Ye's house to see if Miss Ye San has really died of illness. Fortunately, Brother Yueting is good at martial arts, so he has to take his two boys with him. In this way, in addition to the boatman, There are six of us, so we don’t suffer in numbers.”

Wang Heng shook his head and said: "There won't be any danger in broad daylight tomorrow. Let's wait and see what happens. It's impossible to say that we have wronged the Ye family."

Xiaocai blew out the candle and saw light coming from the gap in the curtain. He looked out the window and saw that the lights in the southeast main room were still on. Yueting must have felt uncomfortable and had not rested yet, so she couldn't help but sigh softly.