Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 258 Idiot
Mrs. Liu and Le Niang are both young and pretty, at most twenty-five or twenty-six years old, two or three years younger than Mr. Zhang. It would be a real injustice for her to remarry an old man in his fifties or sixties.

But Lord Li was a powerful man, while Mrs. Liu was just the widow of a minor official. This marriage seemed like Mrs. Liu was marrying above her station.

Wang Heng's mind was full of thoughts. In a daze, he heard Xiaocai say to Li Shanmin, "My seventh brother and I went to Jubao Mountain after the holiday to serve as book boys for Mr. Zhang Xiru. Mrs. Liu performed a three-day ritual at Jubao Temple and asked Mr. Zhang to write a tombstone for her late husband Liu Biejia."

Li Shanmin understood and said, "Grandma Liu has always been a very good lady. There are still a few elders in our clan who are quite critical of her status as a widow of a scholar, but my father said that she is worthy of being the mistress of a family."

Xiaocai paused for a moment and continued, "The old man is a scholar of Taoism, and Mrs. Liu's education seems to be a bit too much. We had an accident in Jubao Temple. On the third day of the Dharma Assembly, Mrs. Liu's daughter Miss Wanying jumped off the cliff to pray for her deceased father."

Li Shanmin could not hide his surprise, his eyes widened for a long while before he said: "Ying Jie'er sacrificed herself to jump off the cliff to pray for blessings? How is this possible? How can a fool like Ying Jie'er understand this?"

Wang Heng caught the word "idiot" and couldn't help but frowned and asked: "You mean, Miss Liu's Wanying is an idiot?"

Li Shanmin nodded and said, "When Ying Jie'er was four or five years old, she had a fever and chills that damaged her brain. Since then, her intelligence has remained at that of a four or five-year-old. But she looks fine. As long as she has a maid to follow and take care of her, she can be just like an ordinary girl."

Yingjie looked about nine or ten years old, which was the age when she should be taken care of by adults at all times. It was not surprising that no one noticed that she was a mentally retarded child when she first arrived.

"Mrs. Liu's maid is waiting outside. You can ask her in and you'll know the answer." Xiaocai said.

Li Shanmin said to the servant outside the curtain, "Please invite the old lady of the Liu family in."

The old lady of the Liu family came in with her head lowered to pay her respects. She had her hair combed into a bun and was wearing a bamboo cloth shirt and trousers. She was dressed like a decent maid from a wealthy family. The visitor had never been seen in the Jubao Temple courtyard before. She was a strange old lady, but Li Shanmin obviously knew her.

The old woman stopped in front of the bed, knelt down and bowed: "Greetings, Second Master. When the eldest mistress heard that Second Master was sent home with a fever, she was extremely worried. She sent me here early this morning to see if you are feeling better. My, your chin is so pointed."

Li Shanmin originally had a slightly chubby face, but this bout of low-grade fever and diarrhea did indeed make him lose a lot of weight.

Li Shanmin felt a little embarrassed being treated like a child by Jin's mother, and said, "Ms. Xu is so thoughtful that she bothered Jin's mother to come here in such hot weather. After taking two doses of Mr. Zhao's medicine, I feel much better today."

Mother Jin said, "Grandma has something to do at home and can't leave. She can only come to celebrate Master's birthday tomorrow morning. Master and Second Master, don't worry. Our Grandma will take care of you in the inner court."

Li Shanmin hesitated and asked, "I heard that your sister Ying is gone?"

Mother Jin took out a handkerchief from her bosom and wiped the tears from her eyes: "Ying Jie'er, you are such a silly child. You made my grandmother cry so hard. The old lady felt sorry for her and took her back."

Li Shanmin asked: "What's going on?"

Mother Jin lowered her head and sobbed, "I have been accompanying the old lady in the county town all this time. I heard that it was Grandmother who brought Ying Jie'er to Jubao Temple to hold a ritual for her father. There is a cliff in Jubao Temple called Sheshen Cliff. In the old ritual, it is said that filial sons and daughters can pray for their parents by jumping off the Sheshen Cliff. If their filial piety moves the heaven, they will be unharmed. I don't know how Ying Jie'er heard this and she took it seriously. That's why..."

"It's really sad." Li Shanmin was disappointed and didn't know how to speak. After a long while, he said, "Mother Jin, it's not easy for you to come all the way from the county. Let the servant take you to have some fruits, tea and food to rest before leaving."

Mother Jin bowed and left.

Seeing that Li Shanmin looked tired after talking for a long time, Wang Heng said hurriedly, "Brother Ruan Youhai was seriously injured at the foot of Jubao Mountain last night. We just sent him to your house and asked Mr. Zhao to treat him. Let's go and see how Brother Ruan is doing first." Li Shanmin sat up straight from the couch and said, "With Mr. Zhao here, Brother Ruan should be fine. It's rare for Brother Wang and I to come to my house. Tomorrow is my father's birthday, so you must stay for a few more days to celebrate."

Wang Heng thought for a moment and said with a smile, "I went to Jubao Mountain with Xiaocai to serve as bookboys for Zhang Siye. Mr. Zhang also asked us to entertain Jinyang Jun Li Yan. Now we have come to Cuihua Village by ourselves. It would be rude to stay for a feast without informing Mr. Zhang. Why don't we go back to the temple later, inform Mr. Zhang, and come to your house to celebrate your birthday tomorrow morning."

Li Shanmin nodded repeatedly and said, "That's fine. Jinyang Jun and I have always been good friends. If he is willing, please ask him to come along."

Xiaocai said, "We will convey your message. Jinyang Jun's identity has many restrictions. He may not be able to come and go freely."

The mountain man smiled and said, "Of course I know that." He called the servant who was serving at the door and asked him to take the Wang brothers to Mr. Zhao's yard.

Mr. Zhao's courtyard was unusually quiet. At this time of year, there was not even the sound of cicadas.

Xiaocai looked up and saw several pots of medicinal herbs and flowers in the huge yard. There was not even a single Metasequoia, boxwood, wintersweet or sweet osmanthus planted at the foot of the wall. It looked so bare and ugly. No wonder there were no cicadas.

Old Chen, the errand boy from the South Prison, appeared out of nowhere, pointed to the wing room behind him, and said softly, "Mr. Zhao's apprentice changed Mr. Ruan's medicine and he just fell asleep."

Xiaocai gently opened the wooden door and saw Ruan Youhai sleeping on his side through the crack, so he nodded to Wang Heng.

The few of them walked a few steps to the gate of the courtyard, and Wang Heng instructed: "Old Chen, Brother Ruan, please take care of him here. We will come to see him tomorrow."

Old Chen said timidly, "Mr. Ruan doesn't look too bad. Mr. Zhao just asked his apprentice to come and see him. He said that he is young and heals very quickly. He told us to leave in two days. I was thinking that we can ask the Li Mansion to send a car to take us directly to the South Prison. It would be fine if Mr. Ruan didn't have to travel back and forth several times, but the journey is not short."

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Wang Heng said, "Lord Li will have his birthday tomorrow, and we have to come to the banquet anyway. It's a good opportunity for us to come and see Brother Ruan. We have something to ask him."

Wang Heng and Xiaocai walked out of the courtyard with confidence. They heard someone whispering behind them. They turned around and saw a young man in a white jacket talking to Lao Chen, who kept nodding in agreement.

Xiaocai whispered, "That's probably Mr. Zhao's apprentice."

The two of them went straight to the flower hall, but when they didn't see Uncle Gui, they told the servant that they were going back.

When I walked to the gatehouse, I saw Mr. Meng's eldest son, Meng Dalang, waiting there.

Meng Dalang smiled and said, "I thought that you might need a cart for your return trip. If you don't mind our crude ox cart, would you give us a ride?"

Wang Heng smiled and said, "That's great. I won't be polite to you. Just take us to the back of Jubao Mountain."

The four servants who were carrying the stretcher at Jubao Temple stopped under the shade of a tree in front of the gate to enjoy the cool air. When Xiaocai heard that they had already had tea and dinner in Li Mansion, he asked them to go back to the temple on their own.

The ox cart moved slowly along the road, with a vast white river ahead.

Wang Heng said to Meng Dalang, "Brother Meng, a few days ago when we were escorting Qiu Erlang to Jubao Temple, I pointed to the lake and mountains to the east of the official road and asked you, Brother Meng said that was also the territory of Cuihua Village, and that place was not clean. Are you talking about the location of Li Mansion?"