Leng Yi looked at Ding Baotou: "What's your opinion?"

Capt. Ding smiled and said: "I agree with Capt. Song. No one can get in. It can only be suicide. As for why she chose this method, hey, I'm afraid only she herself knows."

Leng Yi nodded and remained silent.

Wu Captou smiled apologetically and asked, "What do you have in mind, sir?"

Leng Yi said: "Currently, I am more inclined to commit suicide, because there are too many things that make no sense for the deceased to commit suicide, and it is difficult to justify it. And if it is homicide, there is only one mystery that needs to be solved - how to enter the secret room to kill! Everything

All doubts can be answered easily."

"Then, has the great master figured out this mystery?"

Leng Yi smiled bitterly: "If I figure it out, what am I still doing here? I have a headache! - Okay, that's it for today. Let's leave for Kuli Village early tomorrow morning!"

Several people quickly agreed.

Leng Yi said to Master Dong again: "Sir, please come with me to the inner house!"

Master Dong agreed, and he naturally knew what Leng Yi meant when he asked him to follow him.

At this time, the sun was already setting, and the golden sunlight shone on the dilapidated houses of the Yamen, giving them a desolate beauty.

Leng Yi felt a little uneasy. He didn't know how to face the wife of the county magistrate whom he had pretended to be. He was also a little curious about what kind of person that wife was. Perhaps, this woman would be his partner in this life, at least,

He is the one who needs to be taken care of throughout his life. What kind of woman will he live with under the same roof?

Behind the front yard of the Yamen is the Second Hall, separated by a ceremonial gate. Civil cases or cases involving secrets and private matters are heard here.

To the left of the second hall is the reception hall, and to the right is the signing room. This is where the magistrate and the master have their offices.

Further back, there is the inner house. It is separated by high walls. The two doors are usually locked. There is only one corner door for entry and exit.

Leng Yi followed Mr. Dong into the corner gate. Zao Li, who was helping carry the luggage, was not allowed in. Just give the things to the maid in the inner house waiting here.

The concierge and the old ladies and maids who picked up the luggage greeted Leng Yi one by one, calling him "Master".

There was only a young woman standing there, smiling, and shyly called out: "Official!"

This must be the wife of the county magistrate whom he pretended to be, Mrs. Zhuo.

Leng Yi looked up and saw that this woman was only twenty-eight years old. She was petite and her hair was slightly disheveled. She was probably busy. There were still thin beads of sweat on her forehead. A strand of hair was wet with sweat and curled up on her face.

On the cheeks, she has a dignified, delicate and elegant appearance, but her skin is slightly darker. When she smiles, two pointed little tiger teeth are exposed. She is wearing a coarse cloth skirt, and her hands are rubbing the corners of her clothes nervously. Her hands are rough and slightly red and swollen.

, must have done a lot of rough work.

Leng Yi's heart skipped a beat, how did she look like a county magistrate's wife? She was clearly a peasant woman doing menial work in the countryside.

Zhuo immediately noticed the strangeness of Leng Yi's hair, opened her mouth in a circle, and looked at him in surprise.

Leng Yi did not speak rashly and glanced at Master Dong. Master Dong understood and hurriedly stepped forward to apologize and said with a smile: "Madam, Dong Weng needed to pretend to be a monk in order to investigate the case this time, so he cut off his hair, but he didn't have a shaving knife.

, I cut it with scissors temporarily, so it looks like this. Hehe."

Leng Yi was very satisfied with Master Dong's explanation and glanced at him with a smile. Now that he had confirmed that the young woman was the wife of the county magistrate, he smiled and said to Mr. Zhuo, "It's okay. Hair grows very fast.

Don't worry."

Only then did Zhuo feel relieved. She took a bag of luggage from Zaoli and looked at Leng Yi.

Leng Yi guessed that she might not dare to walk in front of him, so he waited for him to leave first. However, he was not familiar with this inner house at all and didn't know where to go. He was quick in thinking and immediately came up with an idea.

He said to Mrs. Zhuo: "You carry your luggage into our bedroom first. I want to tell Mr. Dong something else. Don't move the things. I'll talk about it when I get back."

Mrs. Zhuo nodded quickly and took the things away with her maid and mother-in-law.

Leng Yi faced them and watched them enter the right room of the three large rooms directly opposite. He knew that it was the bedroom. He walked to Master Dong, put his mouth to his ear, and said in a low voice

After a while, Mr. Dong nodded repeatedly, agreed, and then left.

Leng Yi stepped into the bedroom. Things were scattered on the floor, and there were some scattered clothes on the bed. Mrs. Zhuo was busy putting clothes into the wooden basin. The maid and the mother-in-law stood nearby, watching.

Leng Yi frowned and said, "What are you doing?"

Mrs. Zhuo smiled and said, "I was just about to do laundry when you came back."

"Washing clothes?" Leng Yi glanced at the maid and mother-in-law next to him, "Why don't you let them wash them?"

A woman said calmly: "We want to wash, but my wife won't let us."

Leng Yi glanced at them doubtfully. Judging from their expressions, they seemed a little angry and even more strange. He waved his hand and said to the maid and the wife: "You guys can go out!"

The maid and mother-in-law are gone.

Leng Yi walked to the chair and sat down. He couldn't directly ask why they were not allowed to wash. If they had discussed this issue before, it would easily arouse suspicion. He watched her busy and said nothing.

Leng Yi told them not to move the luggage, so Zhuo didn't move. She hugged a basin of clothes, smiled at Leng Yi, and then walked out of the room.

Leng Yi quickly climbed up to the beam, and placed his suitcase and the pack of blood-stained clothes in a hidden corner of the beam. He got down, unplugged the rear window, and quickly went out. From a distance, he saw Mrs. Zhuo entering the inner house.

He followed a small door and went in. Inside was a back garden. There was a rockery and a small pond. Some lotus leaves were planted, but it was early winter and they were all yellow and floating on the water. Beside the pond, there were already

A thin layer of ice formed.

The water in this pond is alive, flowing in from a small ditch and flowing out from another ditch.

Not far from the ditch where the water flows out, there is a well. Next to the well, a washing platform is built with bluestone slabs. There is a small ditch connected to the outlet of the pond, which discharges the dirty water out of the yard.

Zhuo carried the wooden basin, walked to the well and put it down. He took out a wooden box containing soap locust powder from the wooden basin and put it aside. He stood up and walked to the well. He knelt on the bluestone surrounding the well mouth with one leg and grabbed it.

Well rope, put the bucket into the well.

"I'll do it!" Leng Yi said.

Zhuo didn't know that Leng Yi was following her. When Leng Buding heard it, her hands trembled with fright, and the bucket fell into the well with a thud.

Leng Yi was afraid that she would fall into the well, so he quickly grabbed her arm.

Mrs. Zhuo turned around and saw that it was her, so she tried her best to smile: "Official!"

Leng Yi took the well rope from her hand and started to draw water. Mrs. Zhuo looked at him in surprise. Then she turned to look at the door of the backyard and saw two women standing there looking this way. She couldn't help showing embarrassment.

He looked embarrassed. He reached out to take back the well rope, but he didn't dare.

Leng Yi took the well rope and began to draw water. However, the well was relatively deep and could not be seen clearly. Leng Yi had never experienced drawing water from a well. The bucket floated on the water, no matter how Leng Yi shook the well rope,

Don't sink into the water.

Looking at Leng Yi's clumsy movements, Mrs. Zhuo showed a smile and said, "Master, let me come." After saying that, she stretched out her hand, but did not dare to take the well rope from his hand.

Leng Yi had no choice but to hand the well rope to Zhuo.

With a flick of Zhuo's slender wrist, the bucket obediently slid into the well.

Leng Yi praised: "Madam, your hands are really skillful."

Mrs. Zhuo looked at him strangely.

Leng Yi intuitively felt that he had said something wrong somewhere, and asked doubtfully: "What's wrong?"

"The officials used to call me by my maiden name, Qiao Niang. Today...why are you so polite?"

Qiao Niang? Zhuo Qiao Niang? It turns out that the lady of the county magistrate whom I replaced was named Zhuo Qiao Niang.

He reacted quickly, kept his expression calm, smiled, and said: "We are outside now. In front of others, I'd better ask my wife to be more respectful."

"Oh," Zhuo Qiaoniang nodded and looked around. She didn't see anyone, and she wasn't in front of anyone, but she didn't tell. She just smiled and continued to fetch water quickly.

Leng Yi wanted to do it by himself, but looking at Zhuo Qiaoniang's actions, it seemed that she didn't care about the weight of the bucket of water. He watched her lift the bucket of water out of the well and pour it into the wooden basin.

Zhuo Qiao Niang wanted to carry water, but Leng Yi took the bucket and said, "I'll do it."

Just now, Leng Yi carefully observed Zhuo Qiao Niang's movements and imitated her. After a long time of effort, he finally fetched a bucket of water. He smiled proudly, glanced at Zhuo Qiao Niang, and poured the water into the wood.

pot.
Chapter completed!