Thanks for the invitation: In ancient times, people shared children

The last person Xu Cong saw was Xiaomei.

Xiaomei holding an axe.

There was a carriage not far away.

One sentence cannot be used as evidence, but there is something else.

The sedan chair bearers and the coachman at Fayuan Temple said that they did not see Zhang Yuanwai and his family coming down the mountain on the day Xu Cong died, so it is unknown whether Xu Cong got off the car halfway or chose to walk from the beginning.

A sedan bearer called Lao San said that on that day, he and his father carried a panting person around the mountain to enjoy the scenery. They did see Zhang Yuanwai and his family. They might have come down the mountain from another path.

No one thought it was strange.

Because this family is a frequent visitor to Hoenji Temple, they come here every few days, occasionally stay overnight, and often wander around in the mountains. Sometimes it is not uncommon for them to go down the mountain from other places instead of taking the main road.

Everybody knows them.

Because this family was too obvious, the one with poor health (Jinniang) always came with them and never rode in a sedan chair. It took a lot of effort to go up and down the mountain, so it was hard not to notice them.

The monks in the temple also said that there are many pilgrims who do not take the main road, and occasionally some of them go missing, which is nothing strange.

If I have to say something strange, it's that the female donor who is in poor health is a little strange.

Every time she came back, she neither walked around nor worshipped Buddha. She just stayed in the meditation room. It was said that she was sincere. It was natural that she was sincere when she came here on foot with such a body.

But she came up with so much trouble, without burning a stick of incense or asking for anything. How could the Buddha know what she was asking for?

The monks in the temple were afraid that she would feel embarrassed in the presence of so many people in the main hall, so they offered to get a Buddha statue for her to put in the meditation room. However, she said that she had been ill for a long time, her hair was disheveled, and her face was haggard. When she walked up the mountain, she was sweating profusely and could hardly breathe. It would be disrespectful to see the Buddha in this way, so she refused.

The monks said that pilgrims all have something to ask for when they worship Buddha, but Buddha does not care about that.

But she insisted on doing so, so the monk said that she could take a Buddha statue home to worship, which would make it convenient for her to burn incense and bathe before worshiping every time, and would also save her from being tired.

She refused, saying that it was so close and if she wanted to worship Buddha sincerely, she would naturally have to come to the temple.

It was very strange, but the monks didn't say much and could only let her do what she wanted. They also gave her talismans to ensure her safety. However, when they cleaned up the meditation room, they found that no one in the family had taken the talismans.

They donated a lot of incense money and didn't seem like the type who would look down on such things, but for some reason they refused to accept it.

On the day when Xu Cong had the accident, Jinniang entered the main hall to worship Buddha for the first time. She wanted to take a bath in front of the main hall and asked the monks for water, but the rules did not allow it, so they only gave her a bucket of hot water for washing her face.

She didn't know what she prayed for, and the incense was gone.

The fortune teller asked her if she still wanted to ask for a fortune. She said, "I've already made up my mind. No matter what the fortune says, why should I ask for a fortune? This Buddha... shouldn't be worshipped. Instead, it disturbs the pure Buddhist environment."

After she finished speaking, she went back to her meditation room.

This was a strange thing to say, and the monks were worried, but there were differences between men and women, and they couldn't just follow her all the time.

I don't know when she left.

However, from what she said, it can be seen that she was also involved in the murder of Xu Cong.

And Xu Cong’s classmates said.

He did often make friends through literature, liked to chat, and was a warm person. Everyone liked him, but in terms of his knowledge, he was just so-so. He would sometimes stay overnight, but he definitely didn't stay overnight to talk all night long.

And everyone knows that he is a son-in-law. With such an identity, it is inevitable that people will look down on him. Even if they don't say it, no one is willing to have close relations with him.

An Xi originally thought that the Zhang family was lying, but the two ghosts they caught said that although Xu Cong looked serious, he was actually a playboy who loved to make friends with women.

When I'm not home, I'm hanging out with people.

After careful investigation, it turned out to be true. He had been fond of hooking up before he moved here.

However, there are not many women who are really good friends with him.

I don't know what's wrong with Xu Cong. He doesn't love his wife, but only loves other people. He was even bitten by a dog while peeping. If those women were not afraid of damaging their reputation and dared not speak out, he would have deserved to be bitten to death for his hobby.

He eats Zhang's food, drinks Zhang's drinks, uses Zhang's things, and relies on others to support his studies, but he can't even be the most loyal. It's not impossible that the Zhang family is so angry that they want to kill people.

The yamen runners also found the Zhang family's abandoned car. Although it was almost burned, there were still some clues on it, and the murder weapon was also there.

The Zhang family has an identical carriage with marks left by the craftsmen on it. If you check, you will find out that when it was first made, they made one first and not long after it was completed, they said it was lost and made another one.

When the car was lost, both the horse and the carriage were included, but now only the carriage is left. Zhang's neighbor said that he once saw a wounded horse running to Zhang's house with blood dripping all the way.

This happened on the day Xu Cong had the accident. At that time, the neighbors were wondering why there was a horse in the place.

He screamed for a long time at the back door before being led in by their housekeeper.

The horse's butt seemed to be burned and had a mushy meaty aroma.

The neighbor even talked about how cooked horse meat tastes best... No one wanted to hear that.

The yamen runners asked if there was anything unusual at the Zhang family that day. The neighbor who loved to eat said that it was unusually quiet and they probably went to worship Buddha again.

Every time they went to worship Buddha, they would ask the servants to go out and play and give them money. As a result, the servants in the house were spoiled and few of them worked properly.

Even if the master has returned, the servants may not be able to get home.

It's just the housekeeper, who was brought by them, not bought later, so he is more loyal and honest in his work.

According to the time described by the neighbor, Xu Cong was not dead when the Zhang family carriage returned that day, but when the horse returned, Xu Cong was definitely dead.

The Zhang family probably wanted to distance themselves from Xu Cong's death, so they asked the housekeeper to drive back first. After they destroyed the body, they only needed to change into servants' clothes and sneak back home. No one would suspect that their perfect plan was ruined by a horse.

These things all showed that there was something wrong with the Zhang family, so An Xi was not polite.

The whole family was arrested, and the arrest was quite smooth.

But the problem is that Xiaomei confessed her guilt too quickly, while the others refused to plead guilty.

This matter is at a stalemate here.

Now An Xi is also confused.

The child couldn't understand what was going on. These things kept spinning in her head for a long time, until she wanted to throw the whole rock at herself to make herself smarter...

"Xiaomei...can she do so many things by herself?" The child was also skeptical.

An Xi glanced at her and said, "Of course not. Besides, the Zhang family started plotting not long after arriving here. They really wanted to kill Xu Cong because of his infidelity. Why would they come here to follow Xu Cong's wishes?

I asked someone to check where they used to live. Everyone there said that the Zhang family treated Xu Cong very well and the family had a good relationship. Xiaomei was like Xu Cong's own sister and never allowed others to say anything bad about her brother-in-law, let alone kill her brother-in-law.

Even if they knew what Xu Cong had done, given the character of the Zhang family, they would at most kick him out and would never kill him.

Everyone over there said that we had made a mistake and wronged a good person. Even the yamen runners over there didn't believe it.

No one would suspect them over there, but here, they are unfamiliar with the place and it would take a lot of effort to accomplish this. Furthermore, the constables and yamen runners have no connections with them, so if something goes wrong, they would be the first to be questioned. Isn't that just asking for trouble?"

"Yeah!" the child nodded. "Then there must be some other reason...right?"

"Maybe, but the Zhang family is very smart and won't speak easily." An Xi sighed again.

Child: "If they don't tell her, Xiaomei will be dead, right?"

"Yes, but if they tell, the whole family will be in trouble. Even if they don't behead you, exile wouldn't be a good thing. If you're not careful, the whole family will die on the road. If it's one life or three lives, what would you choose?"

The child looked at An Xi's outstretched fingers, one on one side and three on the other. She turned her head back and forth, thought for a long time and said:

"I feel dizzy and a little nauseous."

An Xi:!

She looked around and took off someone's hat in one swift move: "Spit here."

The child turned his head holding his hat. It was a familiar face, full of resentment. It was the yamen runner she had pushed away.