Waste phase tracking handwriting

Chapter 64: Serving as a Painter
The night has passed and the morning is cold.

The girl had been waiting outside the house early.

Manager Wan handed over some tea to rinse his mouth with and said something.

"When does it start?"

"The little girl has been waiting for an hour. She was at the door near dawn."

Ji Pu thought about it carefully and didn't remember that he knew such a girl. "Thirteen or fourteen years old?"

"Yes."

who can that be?

"Call her in."

Song Jinzhi lowered his head and walked in timidly behind the steward of the mansion.

Her hands were so cold that she had no intuition. Her smallest thumb had frostbite from being immersed in ice water for the past few days. She wanted to clench her fist, but her little finger couldn't close into the palm of her hand.

Ji Pu recognized her at a glance.

"Miss Song?"

"Lord Ji Pu, it's me."

The steward made two cups of tea, and Ji Pu asked him to change to a cup of nine-bend red plum to warm himself up and ward off the cold.

"Thank you, sir." Song Jinzhi raised his head slightly, revealing a bruise at the corner of his eye.

A little girl with such a polished face has a scar on her face, which is quite a pity, just like the white jade with flaws.

"I wonder why Miss Song came here today?"

Song Jinzhi looked around, then knelt down in front of him with a thump, "Please help me, sir."

Ji Pu quickly went to help him, "If you can't help it, get up first."

"If you promise to help me, I will get up." Tears hung on her face, looking extremely pitiful.

Ji Pu had no choice but to say, "Okay, you can get up first and then talk."

He asked her to sit down and talk slowly.

It turns out that Mrs. Qiu Yao's body has not yet been buried after it was returned to the Song Dynasty. Mrs. Song plans to wrap it in a mat and throw it in a deserted mountain forest outside the capital.

As Song Jinzhi spoke, tears flowed down again. She cried uncontrollably and raised her head slightly to look at the man in front of her.

She also had what appeared to be fingernail scratches on her chin.

Ji Pu had always known that the methods of the women in the back house were no less sophisticated than those of the officials in the court, but he never expected that Mrs. Song would be so cruel to a little girl.

He sighed, "How do you want me to help you? This is a family matter of the Song family, and I am just an outsider."

Song Jinzhi had so many tears that he couldn't shed them all. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he took a handkerchief to her and asked her to wipe it, "Don't cry anymore."

"There is a way, as long as the adults are willing to help me."

Ji Pu said, "It's not that I don't want to help or that I can't help."

She put away her tears and said calmly, "As long as you are willing to accept me as your concubine."

She understood clearly that with Ji Pu's life experience, if her father was still alive, there would still be a chance to climb the ladder, but with his father gone, the Song family would be weak from now on.

"What?!" He was startled by the little girl's words.

Ji Pu thought twice and decided to send the little girl away later and find a fortune teller to show him what happened this year. He was really overwhelmed by the peach blossoms one after another.

Song Jinzhi said, "Marry me, sir."

"Ah, this is absolutely impossible—"

He put down the tea cup in a panic and prepared to ask someone to see the guest off.

Song Jinzhi came prepared and took out a painting.

Ji Pu unfolded it and found out that this painting was the painting that Mr. Song sent to Dan Qing's house for repairs before his death. Why would she bring this painting back? He couldn't see what this little girl wanted to do.

"My lord, I thought you might need this."

Another woman's voice sounded in Ji Pu's ears. She said, "Maybe you need me now, at least now."

His fingertips tapped lightly on the table, "What do you want to say to me by bringing this painting?"

Song Jinzhi was neither humble nor arrogant, "Let me make a deal with you."

"Better a deal than a pity, you name it."

"I will tell you the truth behind this painting. You want to take me as your concubine and bury my mother. I know that you have this ability. It is just your choice whether you want to or not."

Ji Pu smiled, "Your father's case has been closed. This painting is of no use to me."

A trace of panic flashed across Song Jinzhi's face. He shouldn't be so indifferent, "Sir, you really don't want to help me?"

He walked to the door of the study and breathed the clean morning air into his lungs, making him feel much more relaxed.

"I advise the girl to go back early to avoid damaging her reputation."

After Ji Pu said that, he turned around and saw that she had untied her clothes. He quickly closed the door, "Miss Song, what are you doing!"

But she asked him to take a good look at the marks on her back.

Ji Pu turned around with difficulty.

There is a mark on her back, to be precise, it is someone's private mark.

"Danqing magic hand?"

He read it.

Song Jinzhi put on his clothes, "Sir, do you still think this case is over?"

"Do you think your father was not killed by Mrs. Qiu Yao?"

"Yes, mother will never kill him."

Ji Pu took the confession letter to discuss the matter, "It has been proven that it is Mrs. Qiu Yao's handwriting without a doubt. Don't you believe the experts who specialize in examining handwriting."

She said, "I only believe in myself. My handwriting can be faked, but my mother's loving heart cannot."

Ji Pu said, "Where did the mark on your body come from?"

She didn't hide anything anymore and told Ji Pu everything that happened on the day Dan Qingshou came to the house.

When her father called her over late at night, she was blindfolded. It was Dan Qingshou who personally delivered the repaired painting to Song Bo that day.

She sat obediently behind the screen and listened to Mr. Xue and Dan Qingshou talking about a double-dragon filigree gold bracelet for about an hour.

Just when she was falling asleep, her maid came over and asked her if she was tired. The lady asked her to bring some tea.

She drank it.

After that, Dan Qingshou talked to his father and Mr. Xue for a long time.

She heard that Mr. Xue or Dan Qingshou seemed to have a female family member, and there was a woman's subtle crying. After a while, she felt really sleepy, so she fell asleep on the table.

When she woke up, she already had this mark behind her. She wanted to tell her father about it, but her father died the next day.

Song Jinzhi told Ji Pu that she was extremely confident that Dan Qingshou must be related to Xue Song's death.

After hearing what she said, Ji Pu fell into deep thought.

He stood up and soon said to Song Jinzhi, "You go home first."

"Why aren't you ready to help me, sir?"

Ji Pu was a little impatient, "I will help you. If you are not afraid of death, taking you as my concubine is nothing."

Song Jinzhi smiled and said, "Sir, do you keep what you say?"

Still a half-grown child, Ji Pu couldn't bear it, "If you marry me and you die soon, will you be willing?"

"My lord, please don't interfere in my family's affairs. Taking me as your concubine is the best way."

He thought to himself, "When a man is sitting at home, his concubine will fall from the sky." "I will inform my mother...and brother about the concubine. If there is mutual trust, I will send it to my house soon."

Song Jinzhi stood up and bowed again, "I will never be able to repay your kindness even if I die."

She slowly withdrew and left from Ji Mansion.

After walking not long, a carriage stopped in front of her in the corner.

She knelt at the man's feet, not even daring to raise her head.

I just dare to listen to his voice, like the distant wind in the valley.

"Sir, Mr. Ji has already promised me."

Shen Sang asked, "The painting is already in his hands?"

"Exactly."

"You go back and prepare to get married in three days. You can leave the Song family without being tortured to death by your mistress in these three days."

Song Jinzhi originally didn't dare to ask, but now he couldn't suppress the girl's curiosity, "Why do you want me to be Mr. Ji's concubine, and how do you know that he will definitely agree?"

Shen Sang didn't answer her.

He thought that when she lived with him in the future, she would understand for herself that the child was really soft-hearted, and he would feel pity for her when he saw the injury on her face.

He is also getting older and needs a concubine and a future wife. He will choose a virtuous, intelligent and worthy woman among the kings and concubines for him.

There is a deer in the back garden of the house.

When Ji Pu came, Gou Yue was still going crazy to catch the little deer.

He took a closer look and saw that it was a red ribbon tied to the deer's tail.

Gou Yue was still about to catch him, but Ji Pu stopped him, "What are you doing?"

"Catching deer. Do you want to come with me?"

"Deer is the most agile, and ordinary hunters can only shoot it with bows and arrows. You want to catch it with your hands?"

"You don't believe I can catch you?"

Ji Pu was helpless, "It's not like catching chickens. Just go around the chicken pen and catch one at random. This garden isn't too small. It's running around. How do you catch it?"

Gou Yue ignored him and went to catch the deer.

Jin Ge put down the saucer and muttered, "Why are you here again!"
Ji Pu listened and said, "Miss Jin Ge, don't you welcome me?"

She turned cold. She had been practicing well with Gou Yue, but now she had to serve him tea. "I don't dare," she said.

Wen Yuanzhi took him all the way to the study. Wen Yuanzhi was practicing calligraphy. When he saw him coming, he washed his pen and ink to entertain the guests.

"Mr. Xiaowen is so elegant."

Wen Yuanzhi smiled and said, "I have nothing else to do, just writing to pass the time."

Ji Pu said, "Gou Yue is catching deer outside, why don't you play with her?"

Before Wen Yuanzhi opened his mouth, Jin Ge smiled and said, "I'm so angry. Your Excellency and Gou Yue haven't spoken to each other all day."

Wen Yuanzhi clicked her tongue. Knowing that she had made a mistake, she made tea and then closed the door and went out.

He wanted to explain to her, "Gou Yue sometimes doesn't know what to say. Sir, please don't take offense with her."

Wen Yuanzhi sneered, "Since it's between her and me, I can't help others saying more. I know her temper best."

"If you just come to us for a meal, it will be dinner time in another hour."

Ji Pu got straight to the point and took out the painting, "Does it look familiar to you, sir?"

Wenyuan's way is, "I've never seen it before."

Ji Pu had been pounding in his heart when he came just now, but now that he was in front of him, he calmed down and his mind was very clear.

"I wonder if your Excellency has ever heard of Xing Hua and Huo Hua?"

Wen Yuanzhi said, "I am not good at painting. I have only heard a little about what you said. After the painting is completed, it is placed in a cool place to dry and collected. This painting is a step in the restoration of the painting. If the painting is damaged Seriously, we need to call for painting to rekindle the aura of painting, but the word "calling for painting" often comes from the folk, and most of it is just nonsense."

Ji Pu told how he visited an old painter today and heard about a method of calling paintings from him.

It is to let people who have a relationship with ancient paintings call for paintings, and the body will paint for a night, injecting life into the ancient paintings, thus assisting in the restoration of ancient paintings.

Wen Yuanzhi asked, "Do you believe there is such a weird method?"

Ji Pu shook his head, "I didn't believe it at first, until... I saw the seal on Song Jinzhi's back. The painter said that his seal pad was filled with a kind of insect shell, which will not fade easily."

Wen Yuanzhi's eyes fell on the painting Ji Pu brought.

"What do you want to say?"

Ji Pu felt that he would not be angry. "Mrs. Qiu Yao's letter was indeed written by her. She also poisoned Xue and Song, but I have been thinking about her motive for a long time. What is it?"

He looked into Wen Yuanzhi's clear eyes, and saw no cruelty or desire at all. "On the way here, I suddenly realized that it was Song Jinzhi. She said that her mother cared about her the most. Xue Songer People's hobby of collecting ancient paintings has reached the extreme. The seal on Song Jinzhi's back is the trace left by calling for paintings. That night Dan Qingshou and Xue Song asked her to go there blindfolded. This is what happened to a person who has been fond of painting since childhood. The woman was the one who summoned the painting. I thought about it and it must be Dan Qingshu's method. He could persuade Song Bo to give up his daughter, but Song Bo could not convince Qiu Yao's concubine. The painting has been restored, but all three of them knew that Song Jinzhi had If word spreads about the painting, her reputation will be damaged. Qiu Yao's concubine was so angry that she prepared to kill both Xue and Song."

Wen Yuanzhi followed his words and said, "Then she should also kill Dan Qingshou."

Ji Pu said, "That's true. She also approached Dan Qingshou, pretended not to know anything about it, and asked him to paint for her daughter. Gou Yue and I happened to bump into each other that day. However, before Mrs. Qiu Yao took action, something happened in the house because of her. It is a disaster that cannot be undone, so I have no choice but to apologize and take this secret underground."

Wen Yuanzhi's eyes were full of appreciation, "Your story is very good, but there is no evidence. Besides, the case has been closed and the murderer has been brought to justice, so the case cannot be overturned."

Ji Pu said, "I'm not trying to reverse Mrs. Qiu Yao's case. In fact, Dan Qingshou did not break the law."

"Then why did you come to me just to tell me stories?"

Ji Pu hesitated again and again, "I just want to know if Dan Qingshou is yours?"

Wen Yuanzhi was stiff for a moment, "Why do you ask that?"

"I saw a painting at his place, and he told me that the owner of the painting was you."

"What is the painting?"

"It seems to be the Imperial Court of Chu."

Wen Yuanzhi asked, "Did Qingshou tell you that the painting is mine?"

"Yes."

"Then it's mine."

"What do you mean?" Ji Pu didn't understand.

"Since Shen Sang led you to doubt me, he just wants you and me to separate. But in my opinion, even if I admit that the painting is mine, you won't stay away from me, right?"

Ji Pu chuckled lightly, "My lord, it seems that you are very confident in yourself and think that I will definitely stand by your side."

Wen Yuan said, "If you really wanted to turn against me, you wouldn't be so cautious."

Ji Pu had lived with him for a long time in water management, and he had respect for him, which Wen Yuan knew very well.

"So, sir, can you tell me the truth? Why are you involved in this case?"

Wen Yuanzhi did not answer.

"Let me change the question. If that painting is not yours, who does it belong to?"

At this moment, a burst of cheers was heard in the backyard.

"Caught!"

Jin Ge also cheered, "You did it!"

"It's still a little short of it. I only touched its tail. I reached it by the way, so it doesn't count as a real skill."

……

Ji Pu asked again, "Aren't you going to tell me?"

Wen Yuanzhi pointed in the direction of the backyard but did not answer.

(End of this chapter)