The Delicate Lady Coroner Chapter 137: Seventh Lady 07

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Chapter 137 Seventh Lady 07

Wu Xiang and Liu Yan left, but Bo Ruoyou still wanted to stay in Liu Yao's boudoir for a while longer.

Liu Yao became pregnant last year. Later, she was discovered to be pregnant. After giving birth to the child, she was sent to Shuiyue Temple. After such a long time, it is extremely difficult to find direct tokens or evidence. , but Bao Ruoyou didn't want to give up easily. Looking at the dusty room, thinking that Liu Yao would never come back, she even wanted to know what kind of person Liu Yao was.

Liu Yao rarely showed up in the house on weekdays. This small courtyard was her world. She spent most of her nineteen years wandering in these rooms, practicing calligraphy, reading books, playing chess, and doing Women's embroidery was the three most common things she used to spend time. Bo Ruoyou found several pieces of embroidery on the bed in her bedroom. The patterns on these embroidery were complex and bright, the stitches were fine and neat, and the birds, animals and flowers were all lifelike. The embroiderers in the outer shops can't embroider as well as her.

Bao Ruoyou looked at her chessboard again. The black and white chess pieces were as gentle as jade and were of high quality. The wood grain on the corners of the chessboard had a gentle and old atmosphere left by the owner's years of playing and killing. You can imagine those days when you were not allowed to go out. , Liu Yao enjoyed playing chess here.

She looked at Liu Yao's bookcase again.

The posts she has written about are neatly placed on the cabinet, with beautiful small regular script and broad-minded running script. The more than a hundred books placed beside it are more clear and diverse, and the words are as thin as the person they wrote. You also believes that literature can nourish people, and a person's reading habits greatly reflect her preferences and connotations.

Bo Ruoyou carefully read the books that Liu Yao had read, and somehow felt that the person Liu Yao liked would definitely not be a rude servant, but if Liu Yao really had an affair with his cousin , then who could it be?

Bao Ruoyou squatted on the ground and looked through Liu Yao's relics brought back from Shuiyue Temple in front of the maid Liu Yan left behind.

She had checked these things when they were in Shuiyue Temple, but at that time she was mostly looking for clues and did not look at them carefully. Now looking at these small things in the house where Liu Yao has lived for more than ten years, it is a different experience. A state of mind.

Liu Yao's life in Shuiyue An was very lonely and miserable, but Bo Ruoyou still found the words she wrote at the end of February. She wrote a travel note from the previous dynasty calligrapher. There are more than ten words in total written down. Each article has a date and signature. It took almost a month from the beginning to the end. Later, I only wrote poems silently. Occasionally, I also wrote one or two poems. There were many sorrows and sorrows in the words, as Liu Yan said In that way, she really had the thought of committing suicide due to world-weariness, but she did not harm herself in the end.

Bo Ruoyou noticed that in the past two months, Liu Yao's handwriting became sharper and more chaotic as time went by. She seemed to think of Liu Yao being imprisoned in a nunnery, and she was anxiously looking forward to seeing someone pick her up after two months. Panic.

But it has only been two months. How will she spend the next four months? No wonder she starts to act up later.

Looking back, Bo Ruoyou unexpectedly found two more identical manuscripts, the same travel notes. When he saw the second manuscript, Bo Ruoyou was a little surprised.

Her handwriting returned to a graceful and gentle tone. This was written in early April. It was very different from the writing style of silently writing poems in late March. It was as if she suddenly thought about it and the anger and panic in her heart disappeared.

She hurriedly searched for May's manuscript among a pile of debris. After spending a long time, she found two pages of excerpts from the storybook. It was signed at the end of May. At this time, Liu Yao's mood was obviously different. It's a mess, the excerpted passages are all the words of the hero and heroine in the play swearing to each other, but the handwriting has changed from small regular script to running regular script, and the strokes have begun to be sloppy.

Bo Ruoyou was amazed in her heart and went to look at the third manuscript. This one was written in the middle of June. The strange thing is that her manuscript at this moment became elegant and beautiful again, with stroke after stroke, thick and soft strokes. , written to a place where the words are romantic and full of tenderness, Bo Ruoyou's heart moved slightly, and she went to search again. This time, she dug out the manuscripts from the end of June to the whole of July.

After finishing writing the travel notes, Liu Yao was not seen writing again for five or six days, or the manuscript was discarded by her during this period. But in the middle of July, Liu Yao suddenly became more anxious than ever before. In addition to her favorite poems, she also composed two poems of her own. The words are sad and desolate, sighing that spring is fleeting and desolate that autumn is approaching. She compares herself to wild wormwood, as humble as a mote of dust, waiting for the last moment. Once the wildfire burns out, it will disappear from this world.

Holding the slightly cool paper, Bao Ruoyou felt a chill creeping up his back.

When she was sent to Shuiyue An at first, she still had hope in her heart, but then she was imprisoned for longer and longer, and naturally she became more and more frightened. Bo Ruoyou looked at the drama script in her hand again. She seemed to understand these. There are so many books, and the corners of the pages have been curled up. Most of the pages are stories about talented people and beautiful women. Bao Ruoyou probably flipped through a few books and found that they all had happy endings. Thinking that she was imprisoned in Shuiyue An, it was also I wonder if I am comforting myself with the happy ending in the book.

It is said that Liu Yao is taciturn, timid and timid, but she experienced giving birth to a child out of wedlock, being forced by her family, and being kicked out of the house. She never named the person, which shows that she is not really weak and useless, and she likes to read and practice calligraphy. He has an affair with someone but has not revealed any clues about it. He enjoys himself in this small courtyard and can be regarded as a contented and cautious person.

She uttered words of suicide, but did not commit any acts of suicide. Although she had a bad temper, she still wanted to return home. However, the manuscript she wrote still showed her capricious fear and despair during these days.

Even though she was used to being ignored in the Liu Mansion, and used to not being discharged from the hospital, the nunnery was a strange place, and it was quite miserable. When she left the Liu Mansion, she also left the person with whom she had an affair. It must be all kinds of suffering...

It would make sense if she was depressed after being imprisoned for two months and later thought about it, but the second time she suppressed the fear and restlessness in her heart, it was a bit strange.

She had been imprisoned for four months at that time. How could she comfort herself without external help?

Bao Ruoyou couldn't help but straighten up, took another look at the Nuan Pavilion, and turned to look for Wu Xiang.

Following the maid to the flower hall, Wu Xiang and several government officials were questioning the servants. Bao Ruoyou stepped forward and whispered a few words to Wu Xiang. Wu Xiang nodded after thinking for a moment, then turned back to continue questioning.

Liu Yan was sitting aside and waiting, with a dazed look on his face. When Bo Ruoyou saw Wu Xiang busy, he walked up to Liu Yan and asked, "Has the third young master ever played chess with the seventh lady?"

Liu Yan was slightly surprised, "No, is this related to the case?"

Bao Ruoyou shook his head and said, "Just asking, the Third Young Master doesn't know what kind of posts the Seventh Young Master likes to post?"

Liu Yan was still hesitant to speak, obviously not knowing. Bo Ruoyou asked again, "Has the Third Young Master visited the Seventh Girl in the past six months?"

Liu Yan looked embarrassed and said, "I've been there once, in early April this year."

Bo Ruoyou’s eyebrows twitched, “Just this once?”

Liu Yan nodded, and it was fine to be asked by the official. However, when asked by Bo Ruoyou, Liu Yan felt inexplicably guilty. At this moment, footsteps suddenly came from outside the flower hall, and Bo Ruoyou turned around. I saw the fifth young master Liu Xi walking in.

Liu Yan saw Liu Xi coming and said, "The fifth brother visits the seventh sister more often. Miss Bo can ask the fifth brother."

Liu Xi frowned slightly, stepped forward and looked at Bo Ruoyou in confusion, "Let me see if I can help."

Bo Ruoyou then asked, "When did the Fifth Young Master visit the Seventh Young Lady?"

Liu Xi said with a serious face: "I have visited her several times, but each time I was not happy. She was sent away in February, and I went there in mid-March. What was I going to do? You all know that I want to ask who harmed her. In her situation, a new marriage is no longer possible. Unless the person who harmed her is found, they can either get married or we can hold that person accountable. She must be held responsible, otherwise if she drags on like this, she may be locked up in the nunnery for a year and a half, and it will be her who will be delayed by then."

"This is why I went to see her in mid-March, and then again in early April. When I went there, I saw that she was not in good spirits, but I didn't press her. After this time, I was busy buying a house, and I went there in May. I went to visit her again at the end of the month. By then she was so thin that she lost her appearance, and the people in the nunnery were not very dedicated. For this reason, I yelled at them. The last time I saw her was in the middle of last month, she was still To ask her about that, but she still didn’t say anything."

Liu Xi's eyes showed pain: "I had a quarrel with her and left. On the fifth day of August, the people at the nunnery came to tell her that she was not eating again, so I thought about going to visit, but the next day The third uncle suddenly said that he wanted to see her, so I suppressed my thoughts, thinking that if I went with the third uncle, she would be even more frightened, which was impossible to tell her. Then the next day, the second brother was going again, and I I originally wanted to go with my second brother, but then I thought about the unhappy separation before, so I thought that maybe my second brother could comfort her, because it was really good for my second brother to take her when she was a child, but that day when my third brother came back, everyone said I didn’t see it, so I just wanted to go by myself."

Bo Ruoyou's beautiful eyes were slightly dark, and her knuckles in her sleeves were moving slightly, as if she was calculating something. After a moment, the look of concentration on her face became heavier, and she asked the two people in front of her, "Is there any young master?" Or an elder who visited her in early April, late March and early June?"

Liu Xi and Liu Yan looked at each other, and both shook their heads. Liu Xi said: "The elders have almost never been there. It's all our brothers who go. I am the one who goes the most."

Bo Ruoyou nodded, "Fifth Young Master, do you know why Seventh Girl likes "Collection of Mountains and Seas"?"

"Collection of Mountains and Seas" is the travel notes that Liu Yao copied three times. Liu Xi heard this question and said without hesitation: "Because she doesn't want to be confined in the house, she wants to go outside and have a look." Looking at him, his eyes darkened, "I kept telling her that there was a chance, but I didn't expect..."

Bo Ruoyou pursed her lips. No wonder Liu Yao liked copying this book so much when she was locked up in the nunnery. The world was vast, but she was like a bird with broken wings. The tighter she was locked up, the more she The more she wanted to escape, but she eventually died in the nunnery.

Bo Ruoyou didn't ask any more questions. At this time, Wu Xiang and the officials had also finished questioning the servants in the house. It seemed that they didn't get much. The look on his face was indifferent. At this moment, the golden crow was sinking in the west, and Wu Xiang didn't know much. It embarrassed everyone in the Liu family and directly said goodbye.

Liu Xi also wanted to inquire about the Yamen's suspicions, but Wu Xiang did not elaborate, so Liu Yan personally sent them out of the house.

On the way out of the Liu Mansion, Wu Xiang rode outside Bo Ruoyou's carriage and asked in a low voice: "Why did you just ask me to ask if anyone went to visit the Seventh Girl in April and June?"

Bo Ruoyou told the manuscript he found in Nuan Pavilion and said in a solemn voice: "Liu Yao likes to write poems silently before posting. When he was in the Liu Mansion, he could also play chess and become a heroine. But when he came to the nunnery, he could do all the things he wanted to do. There is only one thing, so I think most of Liu Yao's state of mind can be seen from her manuscript."

"When she was imprisoned for two months, her mood was obviously much more flustered and irritable. But in early April, her pen suddenly changed back to its original appearance. The same thing happened again in early June. She was so erratic. Well, I don’t think it was her who comforted herself, or it was because of something else. I tend to think that someone comforted her at the time."

Wu Xiang's eyes flashed, "Is he the person who has an affair with her?"

Bao Ruoyou nodded, "She protected that person very well, especially her later poems were quite world-weary and self-contemptuous, but she still didn't say who the person was. If she even had thoughts of committing suicide, she still concealed it. Then, I felt that she really wanted to protect that person, otherwise, why not just say it and fight to the death?"

There is nothing worse than death anyway.

Wu Xiang nodded, "That's it. But we have asked the servants in the house. Some of the personal attendants may have something to hide, but what the stewards and concierges said are mostly true. According to them, these gentlemen have been hiding something for the past six months. I have never been to Shuiyue'an to see her, and Shuiyue'an's flesh and blood business also comes to every house in the name of praying for blessings. After you told me, I asked more broadly. , asked them if they had ever left the city, which actually revealed something. The people in this mansion really believe in Buddhism, but they only believe in the Buddha from Xiangguo Temple."

Wu Xiang said mockingly, "Their family goes to Xiangguo Temple every month to make offerings. Sometimes they go together, sometimes they send someone to go there. In the past six months, almost everyone went out of the city for this purpose. ”

Xiangguo Temple is on the Nanshan Mountain outside the city, not far from Tingshan Mountain. But if everyone goes together, they can all be witnesses for each other. And if they go alone, they also have more or less followers, such as the one who went out of the city on the sixth day of the lunar month. The Fourth Young Master offering incense.

Bo Ruoyou said in a deep voice: "The arrest of the head requires a careful investigation to see if there is anyone who left the city by himself to go to Xiangguo Temple with incomplete witnesses. Also, ask the masters in the nunnery. Most of them know best who is going. Who didn’t go and when.”

Wu Xiang nodded, feeling that Bo Ruoyou had almost grasped the context of the case when he discovered it, and he felt more and more that it was the right thing to bring her with him, "Okay, we will try it all night tonight, and I will let you know early tomorrow morning."

After a short pause, Wu Xiang said: "However, there is one more thing that is still unclear."

Bo Ruoyou also frowned, "The secret room has not been cracked yet."

Wu Xiang said solemnly: "No matter who murdered Liu Yao, Liu Yao did die in the secret room in the end, and there was blood wiped off behind the door. You and I checked carefully yesterday. If there is anything It's a mechanism, but the house is very crude, I really didn't think of it."

The more humble the place, the harder it is to lay out deceptive tricks to confuse people. The doors and windows in the nunnery were locked, and the simplest and most solid internal bolts were used. There were no other holes. Wu Xiang thought about it, I really don't understand how the murderer did it.

Bo Ruoyou also said: "I have never imagined that the doors and windows are all tightly sealed. It would be impossible to use ropes and thin threads. The only place where the dishes and chopsticks can come in and out is the back window of the Nuan Pavilion, with her They were dozens of feet apart, and the way she died was that she was forced to hit a pillar and died. If the murderer was outside the house, he would not be able to commit the murder."

Bao Ruoyou was thinking about Qimen Dunjia, but she was not good at it. For a moment, she only felt that her thoughts were blocked and she had no clue. Wu Xiang sighed, "That's it, let's go and interrogate a few people in the nunnery. Maybe Are there any clues that are missing? The murderer is not a ghost after all, and there is no way he really has any flaws."

Bo Ruoyou responded and saw that it was getting late, so he said goodbye to Wu Xiang and returned home.

After returning home, Bo Ruoyou couldn't help but ask about Huo Qinghong's condition. Cheng Yunzhi said: "It has improved a lot. He couldn't stay in the Marquis Mansion these past two days and wanted to go back to the Duke's Mansion. Eunuch Fu and I After deliberation, if the acupuncture was changed to once every seven days in the future, it would be good to go back to the Duke's Mansion, but he was not at ease. In the Marquis' Mansion, the prince is still a little wary."

Bao Ruoyou thought for a while, "Look at himself. He has been staying in the Hou Mansion for half a year now. I'm afraid he is really depressed."

Cheng Yunzhi pulled his lips, "For this reason, Eunuch Fu also wanted to find some new things for him to bring into the house to solve the problem, but he didn't dare. It seems that he really wants to change his temper after this time."

Thinking of Huo Qinghong's absurdity, Bo Ruoyou also felt that it would be great if he could change his temper. Cheng Yunzhi asked about the case again, and Bo Ruoyou told about the Liu family's affairs. Cheng Yunzhi couldn't help but change his expression, "There is no way. What other possibilities?"

Bo Ruoyou shook his head, "At the moment, it seems that the possibility is extremely small."

Cheng Yunzhi sighed, "If this is true, it will be a bad fate."

Bo Ruoyou responded and told the unsolved secret room. Cheng Yunzhi heard what she said and thought for a moment but found nothing, so he comforted him and said, "Maybe it's not that complicated, so you don't have to think hard all the time."

Bo Ruoyou agreed. The father and daughter had dinner, and Bo Ruoyou took a rest early.

Early on the next morning, Bo Ruoyou told Cheng Yunzhi that he planned to go to the Yamen first, and then accompany him to the Hou Mansion. Cheng Yunzhi agreed, and Bo Ruoyou went out. When he arrived at the Yamen, Wu Xiang had indeed interrogated him. It was over. He just looked at the evidence and thought hard all night, but still couldn't figure it out.

Seeing Bao Ruoyou coming, he seemed to have seen a savior.

"Look, I asked them, and what they said is almost the same as what the two brothers Liu Yan said. In addition to the two of them, the second young master and the fourth young master also went there once, and they went together. It was in the fourth place. At the beginning of the month, in addition to that, they were not in the nunnery for two days at the end of March, the beginning of April, and the end of May and the beginning of June. If anyone came to visit at that time, they didn’t know."

"Compared with the evidence obtained in the Liu family, at the end of March, the third master and his son went out of the city together to Xiangguo Temple once. At the end of April and May, the second master and his son went out of the city together with the fifth master. Yes, only the Fourth Young Master did it on the sixth day of this month, and there was still a witness on that occasion. As for the Fifth Young Master’s house in the south of the city, I also sent people to investigate."

"The Fifth Young Master purchased the house from a merchant from the south of the Yangtze River. The idea was at the end of March, and he went to the Yamen to go through the paperwork in mid-April. After that, he hired craftsmen to repair the courtyard. But it was a bit strange. His courtyard had a total of On the third day, he specially hired craftsmen to decorate a women's boudoir, and it didn't look like the elegant gathering place he said -"

Bo Ruoyou breathed lightly, "Women's boudoir? Do you want to hide your beauty in a golden house?"

Wu Xiang was also a little confused, "In their family, only the second young master is engaged to be married now. If the fifth young master wants to hide his daughter in a golden house, then he wants to raise her in an outer room. It's not like that. He just wants to take his sister in." Come into the mansion?"

Bao Ruoyou frowned and couldn't help but ask: "Did any of the masters tell me who likes the flesh-and-blood business in this nunnery?"

Wu Xiang said with a look of disdain on his face, "It's the second master of the Liu family."

"He's the only one?" Bao Ruoyou was a little surprised.

Wu Xiang nodded, "I also said that this second master has many eccentricities. Because of this, he was reprimanded by the Liu family. From then on, he did not dare to leave people at home to enjoy themselves, but sent them outside. Home."

Bo Ruoyou felt a chill in her heart when she thought of the second master's well-dressed appearance, but Wu Xiang suddenly had a thought, "Did you say that Liu Yao had some weird injuries on her body?"

Bo Ruoyou's heart skipped a beat, and then thought carefully, "But... he has all the evidence, so it doesn't seem like him."

Wu Xiang rolled his eyes, "They said that the second master valued one of the nuns very much, but that person stayed in the nunnery. I plan to take the remaining two people back to the capital for questioning. It would be best Leave no clues behind."

Bo Ruoyou responded and saw Wu Xiang going to get someone, so he said goodbye and went back to his home to accompany Cheng Yunzhi to visit Wu Zhaohou Mansion. She came yesterday, and as soon as she entered the mansion today, Eunuch Fu was very concerned. When he heard that there was another visit to the capital, It was a strange case, so I felt pity for her hard work.

Cheng Yunzhi first went to see Huo Qinghong for medical treatment. When he entered the yard, he saw a cage hanging outside the window. Inside lived a bird with colorful feathers. Its chirping sound was clear and clear. Because it saw a stranger, Flapping his wings in the cage, Mr. Fu said fairly: "Your Majesty is bored and wants to go back to the Duke's mansion. I asked him to find some other fun for him, but he didn't want to, so he suddenly said he wanted a bird, which he just did this morning. Sent."

When Bao Ruoyou saw it, he thought it was better to tease the birds than go to the land of fireworks.

Cheng Yunzhi went to ask Huo Qinghong for his pulse. Bo Ruoyou stood under the verandah and looked at the bird. Not long after he looked at it, an attendant from the Hou Mansion suddenly came in a hurry from outside and followed him for a long time. Unseen Ning Xiao.

Ning Xiao already had a cold face, but when he saw it today, there was an extraordinarily anxious look on the tip of his eyebrows. He seemed not to have thought that Bao Ruoyou was here, and was stunned for a moment before he stepped forward to salute. , I want to see Eunuch Fu again.

Eunuch Fu came out soon, and the smile on his face faded when he saw Ning Xiao's expression. Ning Xiao glanced at Bo Ruoyou and said, "Eunuch, please take a step to speak."

It was nothing to hide official matters from Bo Ruoyou, but Ning Xiao's last glance made Bo Ruoyou particularly uneasy. She almost immediately concluded that what Ning Xiao came to report was related to Huo Weilou. Not only that, but also What a good thing.

The two of them walked out of the guest room, and her heart suddenly lifted up. After waiting for half a cup of tea, Eunuch Fu quickly came back from outside. When she met Bo Ruoyou's eyes, Eunuch Fu thought He forced himself to smile, but the corners of his mouth tightened, and his smile was uglier than crying.

Bao Ruoyou couldn't bear it anymore and stepped forward and asked, "Eunuch, has something happened to the Marquis?"

Eunuch Fu gritted his teeth and was forced by the eagerness in her eyes to tell the truth, "Three days ago, Mr. Hou was attacked in a southwest village and his whereabouts are unknown."

Bao Ruoyou immediately turned pale.