Three-pot porridge and naan

There is a well under the stone slab, and the sound of water flowing can still be heard inside.

There was also a very thick rope hanging from the well, which was tied to the iron ring at the mouth of the well. Wandong stretched out his hand to lift the rope, but it was empty and there was no bucket tied to it.

Not daring to startle the snake, Wandong restored the stone slab, then wiped a handful of dust on the stone slab, and sprinkled it on the small cracks where the stone slab moved next to it.

Wandong was about to leave, but still stared at the well for a few times.

When he left, he vaguely heard a strange cry coming from somewhere in the ancient mansion.

*

In the early morning of March 24, the first thing Officer Ye said when he saw Wandong was not to ask Wandong what he had found, but to tell Wandong that Cheng Ye, the lantern master, had been crying all day yesterday.

"Today's eyes are swollen into walnuts. Catcher Qiu asked the doctor to go in and give him medicine before he was willing to sleep." Catcher Ye sighed quickly, "It's so pitiful. I don't know why he is so sad."

cry?

As soon as Wandong mentioned the crying sound, he thought of the weird crying sound that seemed to be there in the ancient mansion.

There was a flash of light in his eyes, almost instantly thinking that March 23 yesterday should be the first seven of that charred corpse.

"..." Wandong stood up suddenly, Cheng Ye really knew who the corpse was? !

Why was someone crying again in the ancient mansion last night?Does anyone in the ancient mansion know who the corpse is?

Detective Ye was startled by Wandong's expression: "What's wrong, Wandong?"

"I'll be away for a few days." Wandong said suddenly.

Detective Ye quickly exclaimed: "Where are you going, Wandong? Do you want me to accompany you?"

"Brother Ye, you guard Cheng Ye and keep people staring at the ancient mansion. I'll go to Cheng Ye's hometown."

Seeing his serious face, Captain Ye didn't ask any more questions, and nodded in response.

Wandong went back to the shop to have a look, Brother Qiu asked him where he had been and hadn't been out of the stall for several days.

Wandong grinned: "I have something to do and I'm going to live in the outskirts of the city for a few days, Brother Qiu, take your time."

Wandong was about to leave when Brother Qiu handed him an atlas: "The map of the outskirts of the city, last time you and I lost sight of a lantern, I really admire you, but luckily you didn't follow me, I was standing on the edge of the big river near the city gate... At that time, the big lantern was passing by my head, and then something happened to the lantern, which caused me to have several nightmares."

When Brother Qiu said these words, he was as calm as before, and his expression didn't look like he was frightened into a nightmare at all.

but……

"Brother Qiu, are you saying that the lantern is flying over your head?" Wandong exclaimed.

Brother Qiu's originally serious face turned red, he didn't want to tell Wandong that he was in a hurry to find a place where no one was around, and it happened that a lantern flew over his head.

He should be the first to see the lantern being pushed down from the tower.

"I forgot everything else, but the oil that fell from the lantern almost covered my head..." Brother Qiu, a good-looking person, didn't want to mention this.

"Oil?"

"The smell of oil is so sticky and sticky that it can't be washed off, ruining my good clothes..."

Wandong suddenly locked the door of his own shop, turned around and entered Brother Qiu's shop, narrowing his eyes and smiling, "Is that the cloud-patterned shirt with straight train?"

"That's right! I love you so much! I'll show you!" Brother Qiu is both frugal and honest, and he cares about clothes and shoes.

The clothes were neatly folded, and when you took them out of the oilcloth, you could smell a fragrance.

Wandong naturally remembered this smell, he had smelled it when he found the charred body by the river that day.

Wandong: "Brother Qiu, if you sell this clothes second-hand, you can still sell it for five dollars."

"real or fake?!"

"Just wait for me."

Wandong took the clothes and went to the courtyard, and took another five qian.

Brother Qiu took the money handed over by Wandong, and said with a smile, "It's tasteless to eat, and it's a pity to throw it away, so it's good or bad."

*

Wandong went back to her house to water the flowers in the yard again.

Packed up his things and left.

Cheng Ye's hometown is Luzhen, eighty miles north of the camp.

Wandong went to Lu Town on this trip, and found Cheng Ye's old house according to the address of Cheng Ye's house recorded by the master.

There was no one living in the Cheng family's old house, but everyone around knew Cheng Ye.

Wandong asked people around here who looked like Cheng Ye's parents' generation.

"You mean Cheng Ye's childhood playmate? When Cheng Ye was young, his father still had a job. He went to a private school and he didn't play with the children in the neighborhood. Even after the family fell into ruin, he didn't talk to my children. "

"The child reads and writes and has never seen playing with mud outside."

"Go to the private school and ask."

"I remember that the last time he came back was two years ago, and I happened to see him come out of the old house."

Upon hearing this, Wan Dong asked, "Do you know why he came back?"

"I actually asked. I remember he said he was looking for someone, but I don't know who he was looking for."

The private school that Cheng Ye attended more than [-] years ago has also been demolished.

After thinking about it, Wandong went to the only academy in this town.

The government academy in Luzhen is very small, with only a few gentlemen, all of whom look young.

"Mr. Mei looks like a foreigner." The gentleman who received Wandong looked at 26qi, with a clean and middle-aged appearance.

Wandong smiled and said, "I'm a doctor on a study tour passing through Lu Town. This is the hometown of a friend of mine, so I stayed here to have a look."

"Oh, what's the name of Dr. Mei's friend?"

"The surname is Cheng. It's Cheng Ye from Xinghua Street in front. I don't know if you recognize it."

"Haha, Dr. Mei, we are destined. This Cheng Ye is my classmate. I learned calligraphy in the same class more than [-] years ago."

Wan Dong's beautiful eyes lit up: "Sir, do you know about Cheng Ye's childhood?"

"He is withdrawn, I am younger than him, he didn't talk to me very much when I was a child, but I knew he had a good relationship with Gu Qi, and I still remember Gu Qi crying so much when Cheng Ye dropped out of school sad."

*

Gu Qi, the son of the second master of the Gu family on Xinghua Street, Lu Town, and a lady from the Red Boat, was thrown to grow up in the old house of the Gu family because he was the son of a concubine.

Gu Qi lost his mother when he was born, and his father died of illness when he was three years old.

"Gu Qi left the town a few years ago, and people from the Gu family said that he went to Yong Kingdom. He is very talented, and he is expected to be a counselor."

"Does he have any hobbies?"

"Yes, he likes to study strange things the most, and he likes to study everything."

After thinking about it, Wandong decided to go to the old house of the Gu family.

He came to Lu Town to find out that Gu Ban was originally from Lu Town, which he did not expect.

Gubanxingsan, the first two older brothers died when his mother was still alive.

The mistress of the Gu family naturally handed over all the Wanguan family wealth to Gu Ban, who was 15 years old at the time.

Gu Ban has never thought about this nephew for 20 years, never returned to his hometown, and never asked about it except sending money back.

An old manager in his 60s and a child in his teens guard the old house of the Gu family.

"Doctor Mei, my young master hasn't come back for a long time. Hey, I'm guarding here just to wait for him to come back. I just wiped everything in his yard clean...Why hasn't he come back, young master?" Followed Wandong to Gu Qi's small courtyard.

"Did Gu Qi tell you where he was going before he left?"

"Before the young master left, he said that he had dealt with this matter, and the third master would not bother him anymore, and he could stay in Lu Town."

"I sent someone to ask the third master with a letter, but the third master said that he never wrote a letter back. I thought about it carefully. When did the third master only send money to the young master? When did the third master never write back to the young master for more than [-] years? The town has never asked about the young master..." The old steward's tone was obviously complaining at the end.

Why did Gu Qi leave Lu Town for three years?

"Although the son is withdrawn, he has a kind heart and never does evil to others, and he has no enemies."

"These are all made by the young master. This sundial was carved by the young master. He said that the engraving is not good and he plans to re-engrav it..."

"This is Zhuge Liannu, but the young master said that he can't shoot arrows with this one."

Wandong stood in Gu Qi's small courtyard for a long time, he seemed to be able to see the figure of a thoughtful man busy in this small courtyard.

He firmly believed that Gu Qi went to Yingbei three years ago, but never returned to Lu Town.

"Silver..." Wandong's eyes lit up suddenly, "Did the old-fashioned people send back any money, too much or too little?"

It's hard to answer such a private matter, but the old steward told the truth after knowing that Dr. Mei was helping to find his young master: "The money has never been broken, and the amount is also the same. It happens once every six months, and sometimes it will be later. It will be a little earlier, but the time is about the same.”

That's weird.

If Gu Qi really went to Yingbei, it shouldn't be mentioned at all by the neighbors around the Gu Mansion. During the days when Wan Dong lived in the Zhou Mansion, no one had ever heard of Gu Ban having a nephew.

But it was also because of the appearance of Gu Qi that it gradually made sense for Cheng Ye to enter the ancient mansion to make lanterns.

"Old steward, do you know Cheng Ye?"

"I know! My young master's childhood sweetheart, left Lu Town to go to Uncle Yingbei's house when he was eight years old, and came back ten years later. After returning, he and my young master are still on good terms, and have kept in touch since then. The last time he came back was two years ago. Speaking of which, he came back because he was inquiring about my young master."

"How?"

"He will send you a letter, because he sent three letters to you three years ago and you haven't replied yet, so he went back to Lu Town. The old man knows that he is a busy person, so he can take time to come back because of your business. The old man is already very moved."

"I see." Wan Dong sighed, "Young Master Gu is so talented and kind, hey..."

When Wandong came out of the old house of the Gu family, he knew the whole story of the case by heart.

Wandong didn't stay overnight in Luzhen, so he rushed to the north of the camp overnight.

*

To the Sanlihe government office outside the city, Wandong abandoned his horse and entered the office.

Qiu Chen had been waiting for Wandong for a long time, and seeing that Wandong's complexion was not very good, he asked someone to take Wandong to rest first.

It was the early morning of March 26 when Wandong woke up after sleeping.

Mr. Qiu was messing with his leeks and garlic in the yard, and when Mr. Qiu was done, Wandong's breakfast happened to be finished.

"Is there any progress?"

"My lord, dare to go into the ancient mansion to get someone?"

"Take who?"

"Naturally take the master of the Gu family first." Wan Dong narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Is he the murderer of the Lantern case?"

The smile on Wandong's face deepened: "Didn't your lord believe in him that day, why did you ask me back today?"

Master Qiu would probably be pissed off by him: "Is it right?"

"He's not a murderer."

Qiu Chen:? ? ?