Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

The horses' hooves were brisk, galloping on the official road. Wang Heng and the others entered Suzhou City in just a few moments.

The first thing to go to is Wang's home in Tianyuan.

The Wang family has been operating the garden for a hundred years. The first owner was Wang Xianchen, and the garden was named Humble Administrator's Garden. Wang Yushi was the third owner.

I wonder if such a famous garden is available for lease?

There are two gardeners at Gui Tianyuan, the older one is Li Sou, and the other is a young boy named Xiao Li, who is Li Sou's nephew.

Wang Cai struck up a conversation with Li Sou on the grounds that he wanted to rent it and return to his hometown.

Li Sou's integrity is not a problem. After a few words, he seems to be a person who loves elegance and is a bit greedy.

Wang Cai was familiar with this area of ​​the garden, so he dragged Li Sou into the tavern in the alley across the street. Li Sou couldn't help but couldn't move his legs or feet.

Wang Cai smiled and said: "It's rare that my brother and I fall in love, so we are not allowed to get close to each other. It doesn't matter whether we can borrow the garden or not. Let's have a few drinks first."

After Li Sou heard this, he sat down with peace of mind, thinking that he was just a gatekeeper, so what else could others do to him.

After drinking a few flower carvings, Li Sou talked a lot.

Wang Yushi has another residence in the city, which is the ancestral residence of the Wang family in Wuqueqiao. The garden is just a place where he can study and entertain guests in his spare time. However, he occasionally brings his old lady and eldest daughter to stay for a few days, so the garden has never been rented out. However, if the king is a well-behaved scholar, he can throw a jab at the owner of the garden, and he may be allowed to come in and take a tour.

Wang Cai pretended to smile and scolded: "Brother Li, you are dishonest. I heard that someone borrowed the garden to hold an autumn appreciation party at the beginning of this month. Even Xiao Cuixi, the shepherd of the Yang Family Courtyard, came in. You still said you never borrowed it outside?"

Li Sou jumped up after hearing this, shook his head repeatedly and said: "It's okay, there is a eldest lady living in our garden. She is a rich lady who has not left the palace. Even if I am killed, I dare not let a man come in to enjoy the garden."

"The eldest lady is your master's sister, right? I heard it from my cousin Fenhu Ye San."

"Oh, Miss Ye San and you are cousins. Miss Ye San has been to our garden several times, and once at the beginning of the month. Speaking of which, on the first day of this month, our garden actually held an autumn appreciation party, and we came here to gather. The five or six young ladies were all given handkerchiefs by the eldest lady, and I led them into the garden one by one, and there were absolutely no servants from the Yang Family Courtyard."

"My cousin Ms. Ye San is a famous talented woman. I think all these little girls are talented women. She has written a lot of poems at the Autumn Appreciation Party. Brother Li, why don't you copy some for me? Nowadays, there is a lot of praise for ladies' poems. They all admire him very much.”

Li Sou couldn't help but feel complacent. Noble families in Suzhou were accustomed to having poetry servants, and Li Sou had long regarded himself as a poetry servant: "The title of the elegant gathering that day was Visiting Autumn. In the past, there was no difference between Miss Ye San's poetry and that of my eldest brother. She is the leader among these little sisters. For some reason she did not compose a poem that day, so the position of leader was taken by my eldest daughter."

Li Sou was so drunk that he couldn't control his mouth: "It's strange to say that Miss Ye San was the most arrogant in the past. Because I can also write a few limericks, and I am very old, so I also talked about it. Those who laugh always want to talk a few gossips, but when I saw them on the day of the Autumn Appreciation Party, they didn't say a word."

Xiaocai said: "Maybe it's because Miss Ye San is about to leave the cabinet, so she has become shy."

"Maybe so." Li Sou said doubtfully: "A few days before the autumn appreciation party, I was sweeping leaves in the garden and heard a faint voice reciting a poem, 'There are beautiful orioles above, there are many winds and rains in the cold weather, and the autumn water is green and quiet. "It's so miserable." I told the eldest lady, who found it very strange and commented, "It's very ghostly." At the autumn appreciation party, the eldest lady specially told the story to several other ladies, and the ladies said it had a unique charm. Yes, there were some who said poems like those in the legendary storybook, but Miss Ye San, who loved to comment the most, did not comment on a word. Although she was standing on one side of the dry boat, with her back against the lake, and several ladies were sitting on it. Under the gallery next to the dry boat, with such a small distance, Miss Ye San can definitely hear what the eldest lady is saying."

Xiaocai nodded and said: "It stands to reason that the host said something that the guest is not interested in, and the guest will echo a few words." Li Sou said: "Isn't that right? Old man, I thought it was very strange at the time. Miss Ye San has always envied us. How can she come in to our garden without the eldest lady’s invitation?”

This was said in a subtle way, and the implication was somewhat guessed by Wang. It was probably that Miss Ye San was usually very fond of Miss Wang, and valued Miss Wang's friendship very highly.

Although Ye's father was a Jinshi, he was idle at home. The Ye family was very poor, and Miss Ye San didn't even have a maid, but she was somewhat popular among the ladies, thanks to Miss Wang's support.

Mrs. Ye Shen lives in her natal family all year round, and Miss Ye San also lives with her aunt and uncle in her aunt's natal family, so she must be very good at life.

What is the reason that makes Miss Ye San feel that there is no need to curry favor with Miss Wang? Is it the engagement with Yueting?

Probably not. Yueting's family is well-off and can be considered wealthy. However, compared to other households, it is difficult to compare with a family like Wang Yushi.

Besides, Yueting was still white, and Miss Ye San was not even a scholar when she married him.

After drinking until dusk, I asked carefully who the other ladies at the Autumn Appreciation Party were. Li Sou was so drunk that he stumbled to get up. Xiaocai went to the concierge of Guitianju and called Xiao Li and helped him together. Went back.

Wang Heng had booked a room at a nearby inn, and he and Fei Yue'er had already walked around the Guitian Garden several times. His status as a prison student in the Southern Prison showed his convenience when going out.

Wang Cai just left the tavern after driving in circles until his feet were sore.

Wang Cai repeated Li Sou's words, and everyone said that there was something fishy about Miss Ye San.

After analysis, it is unlikely that Ms. Ye San is hiding in this garden.

Wang Heng once heard Yuan Shanchang talk about Wang Yushi. He was a top student in the first two subjects. He was a good official. Now he lives in Dingyou in the countryside. He is not the kind of person who doesn't know the importance.

Hidden survival necessities need to be delivered, Miss Wang does not often live here, and the gardener Li Soo does not seem to know the inside story.

Fei Yue'er decided to explore the way to Wang's Guitianyuan Residence tonight, mainly to find out if there is a dark room that can hide people. If not, Guitian Residence can be excluded and Wang Heng and Xiaocai stay at the inn. Leaving the door open for her would be a bad thing if he and she were not good enough to follow her.

Three drum beats were heard in the distance, indicating that midnight had arrived.

Fei Yue'er jumped out from the second floor of the inn and went straight to the back door of Guiyuan Tianju. She had already surveyed it during the day. There was a tall paulownia tree on the gable of the back door, which was enough for her to jump into the wall.

The moon was sparse, and a black shadow was running from west to east. Fei Yue'er was startled and hurriedly leaned against the shadow of a tree without moving. The black shadow seemed to have noticed her, looked up for a moment, and then turned around and went to the alley next to it.

Fei Yue'er patted her chest. It seemed that the visitor didn't want to cause trouble and had already taken the initiative to retreat. She seized the opportunity and jumped into the back garden.