The Delicate Lady Coroner

Wu Xiang laughed openly, "Silver is nothing. Ten of us will pay the money at the inn outside the capital. I think there are only two people in your house, but the room is spacious. Give our lady a bed. Others One can rest on a mattress."

Granny Zhang raised her eyebrows when she heard this, "The old lady will prepare now."

After she finished speaking, she handed the water to Bo Ruoyou. Bo Ruoyou bends her lips to take it, and then Granny Zhang pulled Yu'er into the inner room. Wu Xiang's smile faded quickly, signaling Bo Ruoyou to the door. While walking.

Bo Ruoyou walked quickly to the door and said to the sound of the crackling rain outside: "I saw the clothes of the young woman in the inner room, and there are some pearls and hairpins. There must be a mistress in this house."

Wu Xiang squinted, "But she said that her daughter-in-law passed away a few years ago. I know your look is different, so I think that we are all here today. If we leave today and come back tomorrow, I don’t know what changes will happen, so I’m in charge. Stay for the night." He said with some guilt: "We used to go out of the city to do errands, and some of them were out and eat and sleep, but you have never come here before, this time I will have to work hard for you."

Bo Ruoyou curled his lips, "Don't think about catching your head like this. I have gone to villages and towns for an autopsy before, and I have traveled a very long way, but it is a little weird here, so we can be safe and secure."

Wu Xiang stretched out his hand and took the bowl in her hand, "Send someone to the carriage to fetch your water bag. You'd better not touch the things here."

Wu Xiang has been a head-catcher for many years, and has seen a lot of large and small cases. As for her vigilance, she is naturally worse than Bo Ruoyou. She did not drink any water, and Wu Xiang glanced into the inner room. , And then smiled and walked to the door of the inner room, "Mr. Zhang, can you let us help?"

Bo Ruoyou walked over behind Wu Xiang.

The farm house is naturally not more refined and rich than the house in the capital. This hall has two wing rooms on the left and right, and the inner room is behind the hall, with a corridor in the middle, and then there are three square bedrooms, all of which have doors, mother-in-law Zhang Take Yu'er in the middle of the room. At this moment, the door leaf is half open, and you can see many old furniture in the room at a glance. Because of the age, the furniture has become black and black, making the whole room darker and darker. of.

Bo Ruoyou glanced over, and saw that the clothes of the young woman Shi Cai piled on the open chair were gone, and there were two jade hairpins on the table where the back window was leaning on the bed, but now they are gone, Granny Zhang He was taking out a few bedding from a cabinet, and gasped after hearing the words: "You don't need to help, the old lady still does this little thing."

A boy named Yu'er stood by the bed, looking at Granny Zhang with a dull expression. He was wearing a coat of indigo coarse cloth. Although the material was ordinary, the stitches were extremely fine. Thin Ruoyou gestured to Wu Xiang. Pointing to the place where the women's clothes were originally placed, and then to the robe on Yu'er's body, Wu Xiang quickly understood.

He looked back at Hou Yang, and pointed to the side rooms on both sides. Hou Yang nodded and glanced at the side room lightly. The other government officials were all seasoned. A few people went out and walked around the porch to view the yard, for a moment. After the few people came back, they all shook their heads at Wu Xiang, and Bo Ruoyou looked in the bottom of his eyes, and doubts arose in his heart.

Shicai saw that Yu'er's robe was well made, she guessed that there was a mistress in the house, and thought of the baby who was just born, she even wondered at that moment whether there was a woman who had just given birth in this room. People can walk to the door to see, but the interior is empty, only two women's clothes are suspicious.

Granny Zhang found out all the bedding that can be used at home, but there are only seven or eight beds, and most of them are old and all become yellowish, and she pointed to the bedroom to the southeast, "This lady is resting here. The bed in that room is for the old woman to sleep in. Tonight, the old woman takes her grandson to rest here. This is the room where the son sleeps on weekdays."

Granny Zhang’s legs and feet seem to be inconvenient, and she seems to have some problems with her hands. Seeing that she was having difficulty walking with a few bedding, Bo Ruoyou still stepped forward to help. Wu Xiang followed them and waited into the bedroom that Granny Zhang said. Seeing that everything in the house was used by the elderly, Grandma Zhang trembled and changed the bedding. Although the movements were unfavorable, she was not tired on the face.

When the place was changed, she came to the wing again, "There is a big Kang in this room. You can squeeze it, and then I will find you two straw mats, and you can deal with it overnight by putting a mattress on the floor of the shop."

Wu Xiang responded kindly, and Granny Zhang asked again, "Do you want to cook for you?"

Wu Xiang waved his hand, "No, we brought dry food for the trip."

Granny Zhang answered, Wu Xiang first took out two taels of silver and put them down, and then asked Granny Zhang, "Mother-in-law said that Guzhang Village is fifty miles away?"

Granny Zhang nodded, and Wu Xiang turned to look at the heavy rain outside. The rain has not diminished. The sky seems to have broken a hole, and the heavy rain is pouring down to cover the small village between the mountains in the rain.

There was a dense rain curtain in front of him. Looking further away, there was a towering ridge. Because it was too close to the mountain beam, there was a sense of constriction blocking his vision, and Wu Xiang felt the depression of falling into the bottom of a pit for a while.

"Mother-in-law knows what kind of plague the plague was?" Bo Ruoyou asked.

Granny Zhang recalled for a moment, "It seems to be a plague like typhoid fever. People will vomit blood, and then sleep for a few days unconsciously and die. I have never seen it with my own eyes. People in that village don't like walking with people from other villages. After a long time, people outside also forgot about them. After the plague happened, it took a long time for someone to find them. At that time, they were all dead."

"This incident shocked the Qinshui County government office. At that time, the government sent people to condense the corpses. They buried all the dead and burned a few houses. The village was completely dead. I heard that officials who had been there were also dead. Some were dead and some were crazy. They said they were scared. Although there were not many people in the village, there were nearly a hundred people. When they entered, they were all dead and rotten.

After Granny Zhang finished speaking, she held her grandson by her side and said what she said for a while, but she was less alert to Wu Xiang and others. Wu Xiang twisted his brows slightly, "The plague is not a trivial matter. There is often no cure. If a sick person runs out, it will infect people outside. It is not far from the capital. If it spreads to the capital, it will be bad. Fortunately, the people in their village do not move about with the people outside."

With the passage of time, Wu Xiang’s remarks were also commonplace. He just thought of the death of the entire village. The tragedy was still shocking. He did not say much, and continued to ask: "In this way, the village of Guzhang Village, Has it disappeared for more than ten years?"

Granny Zhang nodded, "Yes, it has disappeared for more than ten years. Now even young people in their twenties can't remember this. There are elderly people in the family who know a little bit, but it is scary to hear about it. It is also quite unlucky. If someone who has nothing to do to ask the old woman, the old woman will not bother to say it."

After a pause, Granny Zhang admonished, "You still have to believe the law you asked about God. The Guzhang Village was punished by the Water God back then. You are all rich and noble officials in the capital. Why bother to ask for this? "

Wu Xiang smiled, "Mr. Zhang doesn't know it, it is quite difficult to be an official in the capital. If this method is really useful, then naturally you have to try it. The people in Guzhang Village will be punished, but it is because the sacrifices are not enough. ?"

Granny Zhang shook her head, "I don't know about that. Their village is very weird. Because they don't go out of the village all the year round, they rely on God to eat. When the year is not good, there is no extra food to sacrifice to the gods. Woolen cloth?"

Wu Xiang wondered, "Use food to sacrifice to the gods? This is very simple. I still treat these weird shrines and I have to use other rare things to sacrifice."

Granny Zhang pulled her lips, "Other rare things? Then they can't even get them out. They are all pariahs in remote areas. What rare things can they have?"

Wu Xiang looked relaxed and wanted to ask. Suddenly the door of the Zhang family's courtyard was knocked, the knocking on the door was heavy and urgent, and it appeared abrupt and harsh in the ear-splitting voice. Granny Zhang's face changed slightly, and she took it. He walked out of the house with the umbrella.

Yu'er wanted to follow, but Granny Zhang walked fast. He was stopped by the rain and stood still under the eaves.

Bo Ruoyou and Wu Xiang also went out.

The raindrops fell on the ground, and then flew arrows up and down in front of the door. Seeing mud spots flying on Yu'er's shoe surface, Bo Ruoyou pulled him back, but Yu'er was taken aback and turned around. The little face looked at her in horror.

Bo Ruoyou hurriedly said: "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I think your shoes are going to be dirty."

Shi Cai Zhou Liang had gone to the carriage to get the water sacs and snacks, and Bo Ruoyou handed a piece of bean cake to Yu'er, "This is a snack from the capital, it is very sweet, you can try it."

Yu'er was stunned, and then tremblingly took it in his hand, hesitated for a moment, lowered his head and took a bite, maybe it was really sweet and delicious, he swallowed the remaining few mouthfuls, his expression relaxed.

Bo Ruoyou smiled and went to see the courtyard door again. The door was half open. Granny Zhang stood in the courtyard with a familiar face outside. Bo Ruoyou thought for a moment. It was the two farmers that he met in the afternoon. One of the men.

Bo Ruoyou smiled and asked, "We met this person this afternoon, who is he?"

Yu'er also looked at the courtyard door, "It's Uncle Zhang."

Bo Ruoyou didn't ask much, but only gave him another snack, and then asked him, "Then what's your name?"

"Zhang Yu." After speaking, he took the snack.

The mother-in-law's surname is Zhang, the grandson's surname is Zhang, and the man from the same village outside is also surnamed Zhang?

Bo Ruoyou frowned slightly, and Wu Xiang seemed to find it strange. At this moment, Granny Zhang finished speaking and closed the courtyard door and came back again. Seeing Wu Xiang and Zhang Yu standing at the door, she looked slightly tight, and stepped forward to Zhang Yu. Hold it, go straight to the kitchen, it is getting late, and the two of them are going to have dinner.

Soon the sound of Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding Ding came from the kitchen, Wu Xiang and others did bring dry food, he ordered everyone to eat some dry food, and then looked a little anxious at the night, if it did not rain, he still wanted to go out Exploring the situation in this village, but now the night is dark and the rain is so heavy, it really makes them really trapped here.

After Grandma Zhang took her grandson to use the meal, she locked the kitchen, and then returned to the main hall to find out a few oil lamps, and then she had to take her grandson to rest. Then Wu Xiang asked: "Zhang Mother-in-law, how many households are there in this Heishui Village?"

Granny Zhang said, "It's only six or seven households. There were a lot of people, and there were more than ten households, but afterwards, many people and their children and grandchildren moved out. There are a few family houses on the northwest side that are empty. Just moved away."

Wu Xiang asked again: "Where does your son work?"

Granny Zhang said: "On the dock."

Gyeonggi Ferry is only two days away from here. This is reasonable. Wu Xiang didn't ask any more. Zhang Granny took Zhang Yu into the bedroom and closed the door, blocking all sight.

Wu Xiang ordered Hou Yang to stay outside. He took everyone to the wing room with a Kang, and walked in. Wu Xiang said, "Wake up tonight. This village is a bit weird. I will check it out tomorrow."

A government official said: "Would you like to visit Guzhang Village?"

Wu Xiang pondered for a moment, "Go, not only to Guzhang Village, but also to the Qinshui County Office to ask what happened back then. If Guzhang Village is really dead, this time again. How can anyone use the method of offering sacrifices to the river god."

The heavy rain is still crackling, Wu Xiang said again: "You will rest here later, Xiao Bo can't live in that house alone, I and I will be safe to rest there with Lao Zhou."

Naturally, they couldn’t take care of the many situations. Everyone responded. Bo Ruoyou looked at the mighty Ye Yuxiu outside and frowned. “It’s not just a sacrifice to a ritual like this. It’s also a problem. The dead baby died not long after he was born. It is only a few days away from now. Although the baby is dead, the mother should not have recovered yet."

Wu Xiang must be godly, "This mother-in-law Zhang knows about Guzhang Village, and when it comes to the long-term workers in Guzhang Village, I also heard about it from the previous generation. Although these are all spread, maybe someone knows it very well, and this There may be a mistress at home, but Granny Zhang said that her daughter-in-law passed away two years ago, so she is very weird here. Maybe the mother is her daughter-in-law. In order to hide the infanticide, she took her son The daughter-in-law hid, perhaps, she hid elsewhere in this village. The long-time worker also said that many people in Guzhang Village had died of children, and that she would visit her tomorrow on this matter."

"Even if the affairs of Guzhang Village have nothing to do with this village, I think there are more than such a small village in the surrounding mountains. They are close to Guzhang Village, and they are all mountain people. I am afraid they will believe in these gods and monsters. If the village has never found a suspicious person, the surrounding area will also look for it." At this point, Wu Xiang said with some headaches: "The case of dealing with these mountain people is the most unpredictable. They are either extremely afraid of you or they hate it. You, others are too ignorant, you can't tell for a long time."

Other government officials appeared to agree with each other, and Bo Ruoyou hurriedly said: "There are not many people in this village. Tomorrow, every household will ask hello, this mother-in-law...I wonder if it is really hiding something."

At this moment, the night is already dark, but in this place, there is no clue to the case, and everyone is not sleepy. While Wu Xiang is talking about the case, he also talks about the previous cases of dealing with the mountain people. There are hard jokes. When Bo Ruoyou heard it at the same time, he felt that the Jingzhao Mansion looked bright, but the errands underneath were really hard.

Gradually, the night was getting dark and Mother Zhang and Zhang Yu were silent. But before and after the time, for some reason, there was an exclamation in the room of Mother Zhang and Zhang Yu. Wu Xiang's expression changed slightly and he hurriedly walked from the side room. After walking out, Bo Ruoyou followed closely, and headed towards the back chamber together. Wu Xiang did not shy away, and pushed the door open.

He had a strong hand, and the door bolt was already old. He inferred that the door bolt slammed to the ground and the door opened in response. Wu Xiang said anxiously, "What happened?"

The two grandchildren in the room were taken aback, turned their heads and looked out, their complexion changed slightly, and Wu Xiang also lowered his eyes very quickly.

There was no danger in the house, but the roof leaked rain. Grandma Zhang got up almost in a hurry. She only wore an inner slip on her body. She was exposed below her calf. Although she was an old man, she was rude in the end. Wu Xiang hurriedly ordered behind her. Stop following others.

Granny Zhang went to find a robe to put on again, but during this time, Bo Ruoyou could see Granny Zhang's calf clearly, and finally understood why Granny Zhang was lame.

Her calf was originally skinny, but on the skin and flesh of the right knee down, it was covered with large and small sarcomas, which made the leg look terrifying and deformed, and the hair on her arm felt straight when she was thin. Vertical, and the part from the calf to the ankle, the blood vessels swelled and bulged, like a worm clinging to her thin skin.

Bo Ruoyou looked very frightened. He only felt that this deformity seemed familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen it before. She didn't understand yet. Grandma Zhang had already put on her clothes, so Bo Ruoyou just watched it. When I went to a pool of rain on the ground in the house, and looked up at the roof, I saw that there was a big gap in the roof, and the rain was dripping in.

"Why is this room leaking so badly? Mother-in-law, go back to your room to sleep, I can rest in the outside wing tonight." Bo Ruoyou said, standing at the door.

Wu Xiang looked in at this moment, and was embarrassed, "I'm sorry, I listened to the movement, but I thought it was something wrong. I was in a hurry and the door bolt broke."

Granny Zhang looked a little ugly, Wu Xiang persuaded: "Tomorrow the rain will stop, we will help you repair the house, your grandsons go to the next door to rest, anyway, it is not easy to live here."

Granny Zhang hesitated for a moment, then looked around the house again, and she seemed to see nothing wrong, and then nodded, "Since this is the case, then both of our mothers-in-law and grandchildren will not shy away. This house is really old. It will leak rain after a while, and the roof was repaired earlier."

Granny Zhang looked for a footbasin and followed it underneath, and then took her grandson to her house.

Wu Xiang and Bo Ruoyou looked at each other. Although Wu Xiangshi only took a glimpse, they also saw some. He and Bo Ruoyou retreated to the main hall and asked softly, "What's the matter with that leg?"

Bo Ruoyoushi didn't take her gaze back. She looked at it all in a few moments. She stroked the back of her hand to relieve the shivering feeling, "It's a sickness. I should have seen it in which medical book, but I just forgot it a little. "

Wu Xiang frowned, "It is very common for people to have problems with their legs and feet when they are old, but I have never seen such a thing."

Seeing Bo Ruoyoulu thinking hard, he soothed: "It's okay, it has nothing to do with the case, don't worry about it."

But Bo Ruoyou felt that he couldn't understand this. When he was studying medicine in his early years, he had only studied simple pharmacology. Although he had read a lot of medical books, he later did a work, so he only learned the work related to the work. The technique of identifying the cause of death from trauma, so at this moment, my head is really empty.

Back to the wing room, until the second half of the night, everyone felt a little sleepy. The place where the Kang's head was against the wall was let out. Bo Ruoyou put a thin quilt on his body, and fell asleep against the wall like this, while the others lay all around. When the kang went underground, it was almost midnight. In the early morning of the second day, when the first **** rang, Bo Ruoyou woke up instantly.

Other people also gradually woke up. At this time, the rain outside finally reduced, the raindrops were floating, the mountains were foggy, and there were two squeaks from the front door. Wu Xiang went out to see. , But saw Granny Zhang walking out with a baggage. Before he said anything, Granny Zhang had disappeared outside the door of the house.

Wu Xiang hurriedly ordered a government official to follow.

When Bo Ruoyou saw Granny Zhang leave, he went to Zhang Yu, and when he found him, he saw him feeding the chickens behind the eaves.

There is a messy livestock barn at the back of the house with lots of firewood and fodder. There are more than ten chickens in it. Zhang Yu carries a small dustpan with crushed brown rice in it, and he is sprinkling the brown rice in handfuls. Going in the chicken coop, it rained, the barn was full of mud, and there was a lot of pungent chicken dung smell, thin but not too thin, she carried her skirt and walked up, Zhang Yu saw that she was a little bit at first Be alert, but seeing her look of kindness, and thinking about eating her bean cake yesterday, her expression quickly eased.

Bo Ruoyou smiled and said, "Are you here to feed the chickens when your mother-in-law is not at home?"

Zhang Yu nodded, and Bo Ruoyou said again: "The robe on your body is beautiful. Who made it for you?"

"It's... mother... mother and mother-in-law..."

Bo Ruoyou's eyes moved, "Your mother—"

"My mother passed away two years ago." Zhang Yu said quickly, and then walked in through the back door holding a small dustpan.

Seeing him running so neatly, Bo Ruoyou replied like this, but she felt that someone had taught her. She blinked and followed through the back door. Granny Zhang’s door was closed tightly, and Zhang Yu ran in. Closed, Bo Ruoyou went to the leaky main room.

Wu Xiang stood by and followed when he heard the movement, Bo Ruoyou entered the room, opened the visible cabinet door and took a look, but never saw the clothes of the woman I saw yesterday, even the jade The hairpin was gone. She and Wu Xiang were difficult to search carefully for a while, and after retreating to the wing, the office servant who followed Granny Zhang also returned.

"Head catching, she went to a house in the east of the village, where an old one-armed man came out to greet her."

Wu Xiang glanced outside and saw that the rain was even lighter. He said, "I will take a few people to visit the village to see if there is any weirdness in this village. You stay here, Xiaobo, and I will be back soon."

When Bo Ruoyou answered, Wu Xiang took the people and left the yard.

In the capital, Huo Weilou learned that Bo Ruoyou hadn't returned all night, frowned and asked Father Fu, "What case does you need to stay out of the city?"

Fu Gong justified: "It's the same infanticide case. It is said that a village was visited. The village believes in weird religions. Wu Xiang suspected that some people believed in these things and used babies as sacrifices, so they took people there. , I’m just thinking about the need for an autopsy when I arrive in the village, so I let Youyou go with me."

Huo Weilou frowned for a moment, "How far is the village? I couldn't come back last night? It rained again last night."

The last time Bo Ruoyou lived and died was on a rainy night, so this time he was particularly tight, Fu Gong said: "It is twenty miles away, but I didn't rush back last night, I'm afraid it was caught by something. , But the people of the government said that Wu Xiang brought a lot of people, so there should be no trouble."

Huo Weilou rubbed the black jade finger on his finger, his pupils were dark, "It is impossible not to come back twenty miles, I am afraid I really found some important clues, what is the name of the village?"

Fu Gong justified: "Gu...Guzhang, yes, it is Guzhang Village, the name is a bit strange."

Huo Weilou's back leaning on the chair suddenly straightened slowly, "I seem to have seen this village in an old official document."