Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 271: The Red Mansion is Cold in the Rain

"Why do you think so?" Xiaocai said very naturally.

Wang Heng lowered his voice and said, "The people who started the rebellion in the main hall just now all seemed to be following the orders of their leader Scar Brother, but I think they are actually two groups working together. The group without masks pretended to be male servants of the Li Mansion. They walked steadily and breathed long, just like internal martial arts masters. They wore cloth shoes on their feet. I still can't figure out why they dared to show their faces. The other group of people were masked, with straight backs, and their calves slightly split when they stood upright. They moved in an orderly manner, with the traces of soldiers who had been trained for a long time in the garrison. They all wore straw sandals on their feet, which also fit their military identity."

"The others are all holding weapons, but the leader Scar Brother is unarmed. Have you ever wondered why?" Wang Heng kept it a secret.

Several people in the west hall looked at each other in bewilderment. Xiao Wu bravely spoke up: "Scar Brother, he might be a top master. He doesn't need to use weapons."

Xiaocai disagreed and said, "Robbery is a life-threatening thing. No matter how skilled he is in martial arts, he shouldn't be so arrogant."

Wang Heng nodded. "Scar Brother's weapon is probably very special. Once the weapon is revealed, it is equivalent to announcing his identity. Scar Brother is most likely a famous warrior in the army. He is from the north and his rank is not too high. He has been educated and is probably a mid-to-low-level officer. If his rank is higher, it is very likely that Lord Li knows him."

Master Chen nodded and said, "That makes sense." He then remained silent, with his brows furrowed, as if he was racking his brains to think about something.

A flash of lightning flashed across the window frame and muffled thunder rumbled, and everyone was a little frightened.

As the wind and rain raged, Wang Heng looked up and saw a faint purple mist rising outside the window. It gradually became thicker and thicker. He couldn't help but feel uneasy. After a while, he said, "Master Chen, we are both prisoners today. You should trust Xiaocai and me."

In the light of lightning, Master Chen could be vaguely seen examining the young man who was speaking in front of him.

Wang Heng stepped forward and said, "The monk Guangheng from Jubao Temple, that is, your brother Chen Yunqing, was murdered a few days ago near the pavilion halfway up the mountain of Jubao Temple. The abbot of Jubao Temple handed the case of Guangheng to Xiaocai and me. Later, when we were secretly investigating Cuihua Village, Qiu Erlang, a farmer from Cuihua Village, surrendered to us and we escorted him to Jiangning County Government. There are many suspicious points in Guangheng's murder case. The suspect Qiu Erlang seems to be crazy and stupid. There are many suspicious points that are difficult to justify. I suspect that the real murderer is someone else."

Even though there was only a dim light in the room, he could feel that Master Chen was in tears. Xiao Cai was secretly amazed. After listening to the conversation between the Chen family's housekeeper and the second son of the Chen family, he had already determined that Master Chen was a hypocrite who persecuted his half-brother.

Sensing Master Chen's attitude, Wang Heng added fuel to the fire and said sinisterly, "Guangheng's murder may not be unrelated to today's predicament. From Guangheng's murder, one thing led to today's birthday banquet incident. Another person was almost seriously injured and died. Who knows what will happen next? Can the heroes of Qingfeng Village really keep their promise and only ask for money without our lives? Obviously, the blade will not stop killing when it sees blood."

"Master Chen, tell me what you know and let me judge. The riddle of the poem left by Guangheng directly points to the "Niu Shou Mountain Hunting Picture" hidden in the Yushi Mountain in his old study. What is the relationship between this scroll and Guangheng's becoming a monk? What is the connection with Guangheng's death? I guess there is an important suspect who is now in Li's residence. Maybe he has further plans. Li's residence is remote in the mountains and even few villagers nearby know about it. If we can't break the deadlock early, people like us will most likely have no hope of escape." Wang Heng said it terribly, and the others were all shocked. Jinyang Jun Li Yan had a solemn expression and Xiao Wu clenched his fists.

After sighing for a long time, Master Chen choked up and said, "I was so angry about Yun Qing's murder that I fell ill. I have already ordered the steward to conduct a detailed investigation. There has been no effective progress so far, but I am to blame for Yun Qing's becoming a monk. Yun Qing was buried in Jubao Temple, and the responsibility lies with me."

As Master Chen spoke, he burst into tears, stamped his feet and beat his chest. Xiaocai watched him coldly, and for a moment he could not tell whether he was pretending or was filled with remorse.

"Yunqing is a kind-hearted child with extraordinary intelligence. He passed the examination to become a student at the age of 18. My wife's aunt, the old lady of the Changping Marquis, chose him after careful selection and wanted to marry her youngest daughter to him. She asked my wife to be the matchmaker. The Changping Marquis's mansion was a founding noble family. The young lady in her family is good-looking and well-educated. Yunqing's biological mother, Aunt Lian, was so moved that she almost knelt down and kowtowed to my wife. Because both children were still young, the old lady of the Changping Marquis wanted to keep the youngest daughter at home for a year or two, so she didn't say it out loud. Sometimes my wife would take Yunqing with her when she went to the Changping Marquis's mansion, and Yunqing became very familiar with the Changping Marquis."

"That winter, I was dismissed from office and stayed at home. Yun Qing came to me excitedly and told me that he had gone hunting with the Earl of Changping on Niu Shou Mountain. He not only learned how to ride a horse, but also shot a pheasant with an arrow. I was happy to see that they got along so well with each other."

"A few months later, my housekeeper came to ask me for instructions, saying that Yunqing had recently spent a lot of money in the accounting office, and during the Mid-Autumn Festival, several shops in Jiangning County came to settle accounts, all of which were rouge and powder.
The most he spent on silk, satin, jewelry, and the like was two hundred taels of silver in one day. The family never restricted his spending. I often asked him to go to the accounting office to withdraw more money so that he would not bring disgrace to our Chen family when socializing with outsiders. I asked the housekeeper to pay as usual. The second master of the Chen family is going to be the top scholar, so how can he be controlled by the housekeeper? "

"Unexpectedly, a few days later, Yun Qing came to see me. He was hesitant and talked in circles. I asked him if he had been going to his great uncle's house in Jiangning County recently. Yun Qing was a little shy, but finally told me his intention. He wanted to ask my sister-in-law to go to the Xu family in Jiangning County to propose marriage to the second daughter of the Xu family."

"I was shocked. What Jiangning Xu Family? How did he know about the second daughter of the Xu Family? Yun Qing told me that he went hunting with the Earl of Changping a few months ago in Niu Shou Mountain. The Earl of Changping's concubine, Xu Ji, brought her younger sister with him. The second daughter of the Xu Family was extremely beautiful and elegant in poetry and manners. Yun Qing fell in love with her at first sight. Although the eldest Xu was a concubine, she was also the daughter of a good family. The Xu Family was an old and run-down family, and the second daughter of the Xu Family lived with her widowed mother."

"I was in my early 40s at the time, and I was very angry. I asked him why the daughter of a good family would become a concubine? This touched on Yun Qing's sore spot, and he became estranged from me from then on."

"When I was angry, I locked Yunqing in the study to study hard, not allowing him to go out, and not allowing the accountant to pay him money. I heard that he asked the servant to send his poems to the Xu family in Jiangning several times, but the second Miss Xu did not seem to reply to him. After my rage, I saw that he was depressed and unhappy, and I couldn't help but regret it. I promised that after he married the eighth daughter of the Earl of Changping, I would find the second Miss Xu as his concubine after one or two years."

"Yun Qing is stubborn and says that he loves the second Miss Xu and wants to marry her. He will never take a concubine."

"I thought he was just being stubborn, but I didn't expect that not long after, he asked the elders of the clan to divide the property and moved to Chunshui Garden with his mother. After his biological mother, Aunt Lian, passed away, this silly child actually went to Jubao Temple to become a monk."