Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 37
It was a rainy day in late May, with one rain after another.

When the cicadas quietly began to sing, the eldest son of Wangzhai, the second eldest son of the imperial court, Yuan Yu, returned to Taicang Prefecture on an official ship.

On the pier, a man in a ge-clad Taoist robe was upright and tall, with an extraordinary bearing. Among the people who came to welcome him, he recognized Wang Heng at a glance: "Qi Lang has grown so big." He cordially invited him to ride in the same carriage. Return home.

Wang Heng was a little reserved. In the past, when his eldest uncle lived in the countryside and was idle, they would often meet each other. Usually his father would take him to the city in a bullock cart to chat with his uncle. At that time, the eldest brother and the second brother were a little older and it was not appropriate. Become a follower.

Through his uncle's operation, my father was able to find an official position in Lanxi County under the jurisdiction of Jinhua Prefecture. After the death of Jiangling Zhang Xianggong, my eldest uncle returned to the imperial capital and had not seen each other for several years.

My uncle has always been known for his loyalty and uprightness, and is favored by the Holy Spirit. Why he returned to his hometown under such a good situation when his good friend Shen Xianggong was the first assistant, and he also joined the cabinet as the second assistant, is actually worth exploring. It is nothing more than the ups and downs of the officialdom.

Wang Heng felt restless when he thought that his second-place uncle might have to test his knowledge. Seeing his trembling appearance, Master Yuan Yu just thought he was a child who was afraid of life.

After Master Yuan Yu returned to his hometown, the royal residence suddenly became crowded.

Although there were many people who came to see Master Yuan Yu, only a few junior students such as Master Zhizhou Ling and the Ten Scholars of Taicang were able to see him.

Mr. Zhan Yun from Tangliyuan also came to reply. The play "Begonia Pavilion", once practiced, will not delay the birthday of the old man on the sixth day of June.

Mrs. Zhu therefore sent another task to Wang Heng, drawing up a list of invitations to the birthday banquet and asking him to write the invitations and invite them in person.

The butler Wang Gen's status is not high enough for Mr. Chen Yu to go. Only Wang Heng is the most suitable.

Except for his parents, the official Ling Zhizhou, all the people invited on the list are close relatives and close friends. Adhering to Master Yuan Yu's principle of keeping a low profile, it is just a family banquet. The family members of Mr. Wang's second wife who live in Taicang Zhoucheng, and a few people from the old house in Liuhe The elder of the clan, the son of Lord Yuan Yu, Meng Shi, was born in Sun Ju, Sanjia City.

Wang Heng is happy to do these errands. Since returning to Taicang, he has been studying behind closed doors. He occasionally goes out and feels happy.

The old house at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Liuhe is his birthplace. He has lived there for more than ten years and feels nostalgic for it.Moreover, the housekeeper, Uncle Gen, sent him the best carriage, so he just went on an outing with Xiaocai.

The tasks were completed one by one, and with the last ray of the sunset dissipating, the Seventh Young Master Wang returned to the Wang Yamen, handed over errands to Mrs. Zhu, and was left to have a meal together.

Suddenly, a woman came outside the door curtain, looking a little flustered, but she didn't dare to speak, she just winked at Guixiang.Guixiang saw that the woman was the one who cleaned the inner courtyard and always knew the rules, so she said, "Whatever happened, please report it to the master and his wife."

The woman said: "Steward Wang Gen sent a slave to report to the master and his wife that Tangliyuan, where the Dengyun Troupe lives, has just been flooded. The fire is not big and has been put out. Mr. Zhanyun, the instructor of the troupe, has suffered a little." It’s injured, please let me know how to deal with it.”

Just after Wang Heng finished eating, he stood up and said to Master Yuan Yu and his wife: "My uncle has been working day and night, why should he worry about such a trivial matter? So I asked my nephew to go and discuss things with the housekeeper."

Wang Yuanyu and the Zhu family were very moved, and they both nodded in agreement.

It was Youshi (five o'clock in the afternoon) when Tangliyuan started to walk. Everyone in the team went to the Waterside Pavilion in the back garden for rehearsal. The birthday banquet the day after tomorrow was held at Tanyingxuan on the other side of the river from Hanbi Fang on the Waterside Pavilion. Inside.

Zhao Zhanyun is the most meticulous in rehearsing. In the third act of "Resurrection", Miss Huiyun plays the role of Du Tang'er, who wears a costume with a bright red begonia flower pattern, but Zheng Ma, who is in charge of the opera, prepared a lotus-colored shirt. Mr. Yun personally went back to Tangliyuan to unbox the costumes and caught up with the fire, so the fire in Tangliyuan was not serious.

He walked into Mr. Zhan Yun's residence. Mr. Zhan Yun was lying on the bamboo raft, and the trauma department doctor bandaged him.

"Where is the injury sir? Is it serious?"

"Seventh Young Master Wang, I'm sorry to offend you. It's okay to have such a minor injury. I'm still here to visit you."

Mr. Zhan Yun's injury was on his head, and the bleeding had stopped. The traumatologist said it was nothing serious.

"Sir, can you see how the fire started?"

"I'm ashamed to say that at that time, I went to the west wing to pick up the costumes. Suddenly I smelled smoke. When I walked out of the door, I saw flames coming out of the main room in the south room. It was actually a fire. I ran out in a hurry to call someone, but I ran into it. I hit the door bolt, and I couldn't see clearly where the fire started."

"Sir, you are frightened. Please rest for a while."

Walking to the main room of the south house, Wang Heng told Xiaocai to call the valet Wang Youlin from Tangliyuan to ask questions, while he looked at the fire scene.

The main room in the south house is a suite, with a light and dark room layout.It can be seen that the furnishings are elegant and the utensils are exquisite. It is the best bedroom in Tangliyuan.

The room was very messy, which may have been caused when putting out the fire. The traces of the fire were not very big. Part of the calligraphy and paintings on the table were burned. In addition, the walls were slightly blackened, and the flammable brocade curtains in the room were intact.

Although Wang Youlin was a certain age, his legs and feet were very nimble, and he came to answer the question in a short time.

"You Lin, who lives in the main house now?"

"Go back to Master Qi, Miss Huiyun from Dengyun Class lives here."

"Does Miss Huiyun live alone? Does she have a little girl to take care of her?"

"There is a little girl named Suo'er who serves closely. She lives with the servants of the troupe in Datongbu instead of the main house."

"When there was a fire in Youshi, who came in to put out the fire?"

"At that time, Mr. Zhan Yun stumbled out and shouted that the water was gone. I asked two boys to carry the well water in wooden buckets and rushed it in. Finally, the fire was put out in time and it did not cause a major disaster."

"When you rushed in to put out the fire, was the door open or locked?"

Wang Youlin was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly said: "In a hurry, I don't remember whether the door was opened or closed, but it was not locked anyway because we didn't go to Miss Huiyun to get the key."

Wang Heng frowned and said, "You Lin, please take us to the west wing where the costumes and props are kept."

Wang Heng walked all the way and carefully counted four rooms through the west wing. The door faced the hall. The room only had a small window on the north wall. The window faced a banana plant, and the light was extremely dim.

There are many boxes and cages stacked in the west wing, which makes it look extremely cramped.

The Dengyun class has quite a lot of belongings, and even if Zheng’s mother, who is in charge of costumes, has to dig out a specific item from the box, it will probably take a lot of time.

While Wang Heng was thinking, someone suddenly walked in with a candle lit. It turned out to be Butler Wang Gen.

Wang Gendao: "Seventh Young Master, just now Miss Huiyun said that she looked at the room carefully and concluded that the mosquito incense that the little girl lit accidentally burned."

Wang Heng said in astonishment: "Mosquito incense?"

Wang Gendao: "What Miss Huiyun said is a good idea. Fortunately, only a few unimportant miscellaneous books were burned. Mr. Zhanyun's injuries are not serious. It's better for me to return to the master and his wife like this, so as to reassure them."

Wang Heng said with sincerity, "That's very good."

The chirping of insects is particularly disturbing on summer nights.

Under the starry sky, Wang Heng and Xiaocai strolled back to Helai Hall.

There was no one around, so Wang Heng asked, "Can you see the south main room where Miss Huiyun lives in the west wing?"

Xiaocai recalled it and said: "Outside the door is the corridor, which is invisible. Looking out the window is the wall, which is even less visible."

"Unless the fire is fierce and the smoke reaches the sky and spreads to other rooms, Mr. Zhan Yun can see the flames of the fire rolling from the west wing," Wang Heng said.

"But, only some of the furnishings in Miss Huiyun's room were burned down, and the doors and windows are all intact." Xiaocai said puzzled.

"That can only mean that Mr. Zhanyun didn't tell the truth." Wang Heng had a bad premonition in his heart.

(End of this chapter)