Denghuaxiao

Chapter 34 Clues

“Was the first eldest grandmother of the Ke family, Mrs. Lu, killed by your uncle?”

Wanfu was so shocked that he almost jumped up from his chair and said, "How is that possible?"

The person behind the curtain spoke softly: "So, she was killed by people from the Taishi Mansion."

As soon as these words came out, Wan Fu suddenly raised his head: "How do you know about the Taishi Mansion?"

 There was silence all around.

Wanfu suddenly realized where the strangeness in his mind came from. He looked at the light blue bamboo curtain, wishing to see the person behind the curtain clearly, and asked: "Who are you?"

 This man came up and asked about the Lu family, and mentioned the Grand Master's Mansion during the conversation. Think about it again, although Wanquan is not a good person in ordinary days, he will not lose thousands of taels of silver smoothly.

  But it’s different if someone leads you there.

The other side is clearly well prepared, and I'm afraid they set up such an exit just for this moment.

"You deliberately lured Quan'er to Kuaihuo Building to owe a huge debt. Do you want to deal with the Ke family?" Wan Fu gritted his teeth, "Who are you?"

Behind the bamboo curtain, Lu Xu lowered his eyes and looked at the tea cup in front of him and smiled sarcastically.

Wan Fu is Ke Chengxing's most trusted servant. I heard from Nanny Wan and Yin Zheng that before Qin came in, the Ke family had changed a number of servants, especially Lu Rou and Ke Chengxing's yard.

 Hail is the only one left.

This young man is not young. In addition to being loyal, he is also very strict in his words. Perhaps because of this, Ke Chengxing still kept Lu Rou by his side after his death.

Lu Yan spoke slowly: "Master Wan, it doesn't matter who I am. What's important is that your son's safety now depends on you alone." Her voice seemed to be bewitching, "You only need to answer the question, and the three thousand taels will be paid." The deed will be voided if you default. If you don't answer..." She sighed, "Master Wan might as well lower his head and see what's in the table."

Wanfu lowered his head subconsciously. He saw a black lacquered square table with flat drawers. He pulled it out and saw a snow-white silk handkerchief lying inside. Wanfu opened the silk handkerchief, then shouted "Ahhhh" and almost fell off the chair.

On that square of snow-white silk handkerchief, there was actually a **** severed finger lying on it!

 “Quan’er!”

A trace of sorrow escaped from Wanfu's throat, and tears suddenly rolled down like broken beads. He held the severed finger and cried bitterly.

Just when he was crying with grief and anger, he heard the voice of the person in the curtain: "Master Wan, don't cry yet, you might as well take a closer look."

Wan Fu paused for a moment, then looked at it intently. Suddenly he was overjoyed and shouted: "No... there is a black mole on Quan'er's little finger. There is not one on this finger. This is not Quan'er's little finger!"

The person behind the curtain smiled and said: "Master Wan's love for his son is touching. It was just a little joke with Master Wan before. This broken finger was paid for by another young man in Happy Building who had a gambling debt. "

"Master Wan probably doesn't know the rules of Kuaihuolou. If you owe a hundred taels, you will have one finger cut off. My son owes three thousand taels, so he cut off his fingers and toes, but there is still a thousand taels left."

"Now Mr. Wan and I are discussing here. My people are still guarding Mr. Wan. If we fail to reach an agreement and my people don't see me coming back after burning the incense, they will have to follow the rules of Happy House. .”

The person behind the curtain asked: "Actually, I am also very curious. I wonder whether Mr. Wan is more loyal to Mr. Ke, or is he more concerned about his son?"

Wanfu’s face was ashen.

If he had hesitated a little bit before and thought about dealing with this person and talking nonsense to get rid of him, now he really has no intention of confrontation at all. The amputated finger destroyed all his defense lines, causing him to be instantly defeated.

If Wanquan really had his fingers and toes chopped off, he would really be a cripple!

 He looked slumped behind the curtain: "What exactly do you want to know, young lady?"

 There was silence in the room for a moment.

After a moment, the voice of the person in the curtain sounded again: "I want you to tell me how Mrs. Lu, Mrs. Ke, died."

Wan Fu was shocked when he heard this. His eyes flickered a few times before he considered his tone and said, "Grandma is sick..."

"I think Mr. Wan doesn't want to talk to me anymore." The person behind the curtain stood up decisively and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Wanfu quickly stopped her, gritted his teeth, and said, "Actually, I don't know. At that time... I didn't go in at that time."

 The person behind the curtain paused and sat down again.

Wanfu breathed a sigh of relief and sighed again: "That was already the year before last."

In the thirty-seventh year of Yongchang, shortly after the New Year, Wan Fu followed Ke Chengxing to the shop to give New Year gifts. The Ke family was a businessman and was originally quite famous in Shengjing. However, after Mr. Ke passed away, the porcelain kiln business in the mansion plummeted. However, the skinny camel is bigger than the horse. Although it is not as good as before, it can still hold up.

 Every year after the New Year, the business houses hold a spring banquet to entertain all the big merchants.

Ke Chengxing also wants to socialize.

The restaurant where the party was held was at Fengle Building in the south of the city. Ke Chengxing didn't drink well and got a little tipsy during the dinner. When he got drunk, he sent Wanfu back to ask Mr. Lu to cook some plum and osmanthus soup to sober up.

Wanfu tried to persuade him several times, but failed, so he had to go back to Ke's house.

When Mr. Lu heard this, he responded in a good-natured manner. It was late at night, so I hurriedly cooked sobering soup and took a carriage to Fengle Building to pick up someone. People in Fengle Building said that Ke Chengxing was drunk and slept in the warm pavilion upstairs. Mrs. Lu took the maid upstairs.

Since Wanfu was a young man and could not follow him, he gave the spring gifts prepared in advance to the people in the business first. After the banquet was over, Ke Chengxing figured it was time for him to sober up, so he went to the Nuan Pavilion upstairs.

There was no one in the warm room upstairs, so Wanfu found Ke Chengxing. Ke Chengxing was as drunk as mud, but there was no sign of Lu around.

Wanfu was a little panicked at that time, and looked around, and finally found Mr. Lu in a warm room near the end.

Wanfu's voice trembled as he recalled the scene of that day: "At that time... the grandmother was covered in injuries and her forehead was still bleeding. Her maid Dangui was on the ground, dead."

He was so frightened that he was about to scream, but someone stumbled out from there. He was a richly dressed young man with a dazed look on his face. He only glanced at him with a smile. He wanted to catch up, but he was a little scared for some reason. He also heard the voice of Lu from the couch, so he left it alone and went to deal with Lu first.

 After a while, Ke Chengxing also woke up. Wan Fu knew that something serious had happened and did not dare to delay. He quickly informed Ke Chengxing of the matter. When Ke Chengxing heard about this, he became furious and went to find the instigator of Fengle Tower. Wanfu wanted to see Lu and didn't dare to follow.

The room was very quiet, and the person behind the curtain asked calmly: "What next?"

Wanfu swallowed his saliva: "The uncle looked for the shopkeeper and came back not long after. His expression was very strange. He didn't say anything. He just asked me to take my wife back quickly."

 He vaguely guessed something in his mind and did not dare to ask more questions, so he took Mrs. Lu back to the Ke family. However, Mrs. Lu's disheveled and bruised appearance when she returned home inevitably aroused suspicion. There were people in the house talking quietly.

 Then, those maids and servants who were talking were either beaten to death or sold.

Wanfu did not dare to say more about the incident in the upper and lower orders of the government.

 “How is Mr. Lu?” asked the person behind the curtain.

Wanfu said: "Grandma... Grandma is always making trouble."

Anyone can guess how Lu was feeling that day. At first, looking at her dying appearance when she was brought back, everyone speculated that she would not survive. Unexpectedly, after some days, I slowly got better.

 But after Mr. Lu got better, he began to quarrel frequently with Ke Chengxing.

 Her voice was very loud during the quarrel, even hysterical, and she kept saying that Master Taishi had defiled her. Rumors began to spread outside. In order to avoid getting into trouble, Mrs. Ke made people declare to the outside world that Lu Rou was unruly and had seduced the prince of the Taishi Mansion and had her beaten up.

"How can a family like ours dare to go against the Grand Master's Mansion? If the Grand Master's Mansion knows that grandma is talking nonsense outside, the entire Ke family will suffer." Wan Fu subconsciously defended Ke Chengxing.

The voice behind the curtain was faint: "It's not just like that. Uncle Ke is a man. In order to avoid trouble, he took the initiative to take a cuckold on himself. It seems that he is desperate and shameless."

Wanfu choked and did not answer for a moment.

The person behind the curtain continued to ask: "Then what? In order to avoid provocation, Uncle Ke killed Mr. Lu to avoid future troubles?"

 “No!” Wanfu said hurriedly, “That’s not the case.”

"Originally, the uncle just kept the eldest grandma at home and refused to let her go out. He said to the public that the eldest grandma was suddenly suffering from a mad disease. But then...then..." He hesitated.

 “What happened next?”

Wanfu hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "A few months later, I found out that grandma was pregnant."

 A "bang" sound.

 The tea cup was tipped on the table, and the hot tea poured over the floor, soaking the woman's frosty white sleeves.

Lu Zhen slowly raised his eyes: "What did you say?"

 (End of this chapter)