Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

"Where is Miss Ye San now?" Xiaocai asked tentatively.

"Miss Ye Biao went back to their old house in Fenhu to get married. Let me think about it. This month, on the day before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Grandma Liu took Miss Ye San back to her husband's house early in the morning. They left very quickly. Urgent, I saw no one when I went to work, which is strange. I remember that my cousin’s wedding is in August, but I didn’t see the master and his wife going to Fenhu for a wedding banquet. The sixth aunt and grandma used to live in our house for most of the year. Come on, I haven’t been back to my parents’ home for half a month now.”

The cook's words revealed a lot of meaning. Just as they speculated, there was an inside story behind Miss Ye San's death.

On the afternoon of August 13th, Miss Ye San was still in Shen's house. The next morning, Mrs. Ye Shen took her home, but the cook did not see them leave.

The Ye family held a funeral for the third girl, but did not publicly announce it to the Shen family. This is very unreasonable. It may be because they are afraid that the Shen family will become suspicious. Do the masters and wives of the Shen family know about it?

An idea came to Wang Heng's mind: the minds of criminals are different from ordinary people.

Immediately I told myself not to make wild guesses. If there is no evidence, if I doubt someone, I will just act like the suspect stealing an axe, and deviate more and more from the truth.

On the morning of August 14th, what happened when Ye Shen and the third girl were on their way back to Fenhu?

Thinking of this, Wang Heng came to Xiaocai's side and asked: "Sister-in-law, Miss Ye San lives in the Shen family on weekdays, but how many little sisters do she go shopping for? Where do she go?"

Although the cook felt that the two young men's questions were a bit strange, she was not a slave of the Shen family, but a hired servant. She was not too afraid of the master's blame. She felt that she had to be brave to earn that small amount of money.

"Miss Ye Biao, there are several handkerchiefs among the boudoir daughters in the county. The eldest daughter of the Changju family in the southern suburbs, the eighth daughter of the Cheng family in Mu County, and the second daughter of the Ge Jiaoyu family often go out to poetry gatherings. , our wife is very talented and educated, and she has raised her for more than ten years. Even our master often praises Miss Ye Biao for her knowledge. The month before, Grandma Liu Gu asked her to embroider at home without asking her to go out. I remember, at the beginning of this month Miss Ye Biao has only been to Suzhou City once. She asked Ah Fu to take a car to the Guitian Garden of Wang Yushi's family. Wang Yushi's sister invited her to go to the garden to enjoy the laurel flowers, and she never left the house again."

The Wang family returned to their countryside, and Wang Heng was thoughtful.

At this point, the cook knew everything she knew. When she saw Wang Heng, she had nothing to ask, so the young man readily took out a handful of money for her.

After watching the cook leave, the two of them felt that it was hidden under the melon shed, so they continued to stand and discuss what to do next.

Xiaocai said: "Earlier on the road, I was thinking that Brother Yueting had been deceived by the matchmaker, and that the Ye Tianliao family was fake. But from what the cook said, Ye Tianliao was really the Ye family of Fenhu." Wang Heng nodded and said: "Miss Ye San, maybe she is still alive and hiding somewhere."

Xiaocai geared up and said, "Let's not make secret inquiries. As I say, hurry up and tell Brother Yueting that Ye Tianli is full of lies. Why did he contract the epidemic and died on the night of August 13th? There are all witnesses. Wen Chongguang , the cook of the Ye family all pointed out that Miss Ye San was in the Shen house at that time, and asked Ye Tianlian to explain why she lied to others. "

"It's inappropriate, it's inappropriate." Wang Heng shook his head repeatedly and said, "It is impossible for Mr. Wen and the cook to stand up and testify. Moreover, if the matter breaks out, Brother Yueting's reputation will inevitably be affected."

Xiaocai said: "What should we do?"

"What happened on the morning of August 14th? If Miss San is really dead, the real reason for her death must not be illness, then what is it? If Miss Ye San is still alive, Ye Tianlian is a second-ranked Jinshi Official status, if we want him to confess obediently, we must find Miss Ye San ourselves."

Wang Cai said angrily: "Her sister Tao may know something about Miss Ye San's whereabouts, but her friendship, even though the cook has said something about it and carefully checked it, is still useless. Those are all boudoir girls, officials and daughters, Is it possible that our two foreign men can still ask them questions?"

Wang Heng was immersed in his thoughts, and suddenly something moved in his mind, and he said: "I just heard from the cook that Miss Ye San had been to Suzhou City at the beginning of the month, and Wang Yushi's sister invited her to visit Wang's family home in the countryside. I had a vague impression in my mind, It seems that I heard Wen Chongguang talk about the Wang family returning to their countryside."

Wang Cai said: "I remember that Wen Chongguang said that Mr. Xue, who redeemed Xiao Cuibao, brought Xiao Cuibao to his Tianyuan residence to play the piano once in early August."

"We must first ask whether Wang's Gui Tianyuan Residence is rented out. If it is rented out, to whom it was rented out in early August. If it is never rented out, it is very likely that the time when little Cuibao played the piano, Miss Ye San was... The same time I invited you to visit the garden and enjoy the osmanthus." Wang Heng said.

Wang Cai looked happy and said: "Yes, did Ms. Ye San and Xiao Cuibao meet at this garden party? Why is it such a coincidence that they have now lost their whereabouts?"

"Without further delay, we have to go to Suzhou city and go to Guitianyuanju to inquire. Maybe Miss Ye San is hiding in one of her little sisters' houses. If time goes by, there may be many changes. .”