Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 8 Autumn Mountain Picture

The next day was a perfect late autumn weather. Mr. Wei got up early and walked to Ximen in the car.I saw Wang Heng and Xiao Cai waiting by the roadside with three green donkeys.

Wang Cai was carrying a bulging blue flowered cloth bag, which seemed extremely heavy.

Mr. Wei teased him and said, "Is it possible that this young talent is going to escape? How can he bring so many things with him?"

Wang Cai said: "The military chariots have not moved yet, and the food and grass go first. Why don't we bring some dry food with us?"

Wang Heng laughed and said, "If I hadn't dragged him away, Xiaocai would have brought the wooden bucket of red bean porridge."

Leaving the city from the west gate, within a stick of incense, the green Lanjiang River comes towards you. After crossing the Sandong Bridge, this is a three-hole bluestone arch bridge. At first glance, the bridge body is covered with green vines. It is extremely deep and deep. There is an ancient meaning.

After crossing the bridge, we arrived at Zhangjia's old store. It was still early in the morning and there were no people near the store.

Mr. Wei got down and led the green donkey around Zhangjia's old store. Wang Heng and Xiaocai also followed his example.

Mr. Wei looked around and said: "At around the end of the afternoon (two o'clock) on August [-]th, neighbor Liu Erlang saw shopkeeper Xiao Jin and He Xiucai eating noodles at Zhangjia's old shop. Shopkeeper Xiao Jin also admitted it."

"The style of the Zhangjia old store is very old. The windows facing the street are red-lacquered and begonia-shaped wooden windows. It was the style from decades ago. The white paper on which it is mounted has turned yellow. The windows are opened extremely high and the window hatches are extremely small. Even if the guests sit under the window, they can hardly see clearly.”

"So I infer that neighbor Liu Erlang saw He Xiucai at close range, that is, he met face to face in the store. Basically, it can be ruled out that he deliberately found someone who looked similar to He Xiucai to sit at the window and let Liu Erlang take a quick look. I mistakenly thought it was He Xiucai."

Mr. Wei paused and said: "From a time perspective, I don't think Shopkeeper Xiao Jin had time to commit the crime. Two witnesses witnessed Shopkeeper Xiao Jin riding into the west gate at around [-] p.m. in the afternoon. The He family offered a large reward, but there was still no evidence. If witnesses saw He Xiucai entering the south gate, or entering any of the city gates, then we will assume that he did not enter the city. It took less than an hour from the Zhang family's old store to Shen Shi entering the west gate. Although He Xiucai was a weak scholar, After all, he is an adult man. To kill him, dispose of the crime scene, and then dump the body in such a short period of time is not something ordinary people can do."

Wang Cai agreed: "Sir, your analysis is good. I heard from neighbors that He Xiucai is a little taller than shopkeeper Xiao Jin."

Wang Heng said: "It takes less than one stick of incense for us to ride a donkey from the Zhangjia old store to the west gate. It is faster for them to ride a horse. This can also explain that they have no eyewitnesses from the Zhangjia old store to the city gate, and speculate that They should have no special noticeable behavior on the road."

Mr. Wei frowned slightly and said slowly: "Let's move forward."

The official road in this area is flat. The group of people rode donkeys and headed west without hesitation. On the way, the mountains were dyed with forests and the streams were flowing. It is not an exaggeration to say that the scenery was picturesque. However, the three of them were thinking about the case of He Xiucai and had no intention of appreciating the beauty of the landscape. .

After walking in silence for nearly an hour, I saw dozens of tallow trees on the road ahead. They were about to burn with frost, which was really beautiful. There were several large stones piled beside the forest. They were very smooth. It was obvious that people often sat here.

Mr. Wei smiled and said: "Let's take a break first and take care of me, a middle-aged man."

Several people led the green donkey and tied the reins to the tallow tree.

Wang Heng said with a smile: "Thanks to the little talent, let's eat some sugar cake to cushion the meal."

Mr. Wei leaned on the big stone, looked around, and chanted: "The red tallow tree has ten degrees of frost."

Wang Cai handed over a piece of white sugar cake and praised: "This poem sounds very good. When did you write it?"

Mr. Wei's old face turned red. He thought that this poem was related to the fate of the Ming Dynasty, and it would be extremely inappropriate to spread it. He said, "This poem was written by Duke Wu Jun of Loudong. I dare not steal its beauty."

He knew that Wang Heng's knowledge was rough and he was very talented and young. As expected, the two of them had no suspicion and were put off by him.

After finishing the pastries, Wang Cai said: "We have been gone for more than an hour. I guess we are almost at Yanshan Mountain."

Wang Hengdao: "I asked the chief officer in the yamen carefully yesterday. I walked out of the west gate and walked about fifteen miles to Yintang Village. Then I walked another seven or eight miles to the Shen's house in Huating. I just saw that I had passed the Shen's house in Huating. Now we just need to walk southwest along the official road to the big bamboo forest at the foot of Yanshan Mountain, then follow the road west for five or six miles and we will be there."

Mr. Wei said: "This road is not bad. It doesn't mean it will kill me. Come on, come on. It's important to hurry."

After driving forward for a while, the view was blocked by a large bamboo forest, and there was a gravel path winding westward along the foot of the mountain.Everyone rode on donkeys and moved forward slowly. After about a cup of tea, the crowd gradually became denser. From time to time, there were farmers working in the fields with dung loads and baskets on their backs.

From a distance, I saw an archway "Changle Blessed Land" standing at the entrance of the village. Under the archway, there was an old man playing with a little baby.

Wang Heng stepped forward, bowed his head, and said, "Excuse me, my dear father-in-law. The residence of Duke Kangsu, the Secretary of State, is here."

The old man's ears and eyes were clear, and he said: "The Ye family's mansion is the third house to the west of Qingshiban Road. Brother, you won't be able to meet the owner if you go there now. The Ye family's young master got into trouble and is being detained at the Yamen. "

Wang Heng thanked him and didn't want to say anything more to him. He just said, "Let's go see the house. Ye Shijiu wants to sell some antiques to us."

The old man nodded and said with a clear look: "His old servant A Liang is here, he can find something."

The bluestone road surrounded a large half-moon-shaped pond. Wang Cai's sharp eyes said: "There is also a circular pond on the opposite side."

Mr. Wei said: "The sun and the moon are bright, and this Changle Village is interesting." The third house to the west was, after all, once a minister's mansion, and was relatively far away from other private houses.

The nursery in front of the house was withered, with only a few huge pomegranate trees bearing bright red fruits. Winter was about to come, and the pomegranate seeds burst open like an old woman with a gaping mouth, forming a strange contrast with the withered and yellow surroundings.

Although the houses are old and mottled, traces of the former carved railings and painted buildings can still be seen on the overhanging eaves and cliffs.

The corner door was ajar, and the three of them pushed it open. In the courtyard was a grease-covered Eight Immortals table, with two or three plates of vegetables and a bowl of brown rice on the table.

An old servant was sitting there eating lunch.Seeing the three strangers entering the door, the old man felt embarrassed and stood up immediately. Seeing that Mr. Wei was older, he bowed and saluted: "Your Majesty, what is the important matter for your visit to the Han family? My young master is here." I won’t be here for a few days.”

Although this old servant was shabbily dressed, his manner of speaking was indeed that of a wealthy man.

Mr. Wei waved his hands, pretending not to know that Mr. Ye was imprisoned by the county government, and said: "It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. We are the Wei family in the county. Your son wanted to sell the family calligraphy and painting to us. He said that if he went to the village to find it, Without him, let's ask his old servant A Liang to take us in, and we can take a look at it ourselves and make a little judgment about its appearance."

The old servant A Liang obviously knew that Young Master Ye was unreliable, so he lowered his eyebrows and said, "Sir, please go this way."

The second time they entered the courtyard, a large earth pit appeared in the middle. Seeing several people with doubtful expressions, Aliang said sarcastically: "This place was originally Guoyunfeng, but it was dug up by the Zhu Mansion of this county two years ago."

Guoyunfeng is the treasure of Ye Shangshu's mansion. It is known as one of the four famous stones in the south of the Yangtze River. It is said to be an old thing from the Huashigang period of the Northern Song Dynasty.

Mr. Wei exclaimed: "I've sold all the Yunfeng peaks. I'm afraid it won't cost tens of thousands of taels of silver."

Ah Liang thought about it and sighed: "It's a full 5000 taels of silver."

Wang Cai took a breath and said, "Ten thousand taels of silver, all spent in two years?"

A Liang's eyebrows were knitted together, but he just shook his head and said: "What kind of flowers can use these many silver coins? Isn't it because I was deceived and deceived by the young master's gang of friends? I tried to persuade him a few times, but the young master again He is sincere, but he told me that a man from the Three Men Gang would not give up money and friendship to help him get an official position, so he told me to take a long-term view."

Mr. Wei wondered: "If Mr. Ye wants to get an official position, he has to take the scientific examination. Ye Kangsu was a high-ranking scholar, so he must have a good family education."

The old servant A Liang seemed to have opened up his chatterbox and said: "Mr. Wei, that's the truth, but the young master won't listen. The Chengri family fooled around with those libertines. The money ran out and those good friends disappeared. I saw that it was not a problem, so I had to ask for wages from the young master. If I can get a few pennies, I won't have to beg for food in the future."

Mr. Wei was moved in his heart and said, "My son-in-law said that he is already very poor and owes debts to several shops. Is he still willing to pay you wages?"

Ah Liang thought about his sadness and wiped away his tears and said: "Last month during the Mid-Autumn Festival, various shops came to discuss their accounts. The young master hid out and came back the next day. I clearly remember that he sold a painting of Qiu Shizhou's Beauty just last month. I asked him for wages, but I didn’t expect that the young master had no money left, so he had to raise even a small amount of wages. I felt angry, so I asked for leave for a few days, but I didn’t expect that trouble would happen again. "

When the old servant A Liang said this, he stopped hastily and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that these people didn't ask any questions.

After entering the third courtyard, the first room at the east end has the outer wall covered with sedges. It looks like it was originally a study room. Now the museum shelves are empty. The walls were once covered with a gorgeous wallpaper. After many years, it is no longer yellow. The yellow-green one is not as refreshing as the white wall.

A Liang said: "I don't know which volume I want to sell you. They are all hanging on the wall, and these are the only ones left."

Wang Heng said: "This is Huang Da Chi's landscape."

Mr. Wei squinted his eyes and looked at the wall. Under the south window hung a boneless painting by Yao, Huang and Wei Zi. There were several fans on the wall. The prominent place in the atrium was Huang Dachi's landscape scroll.

Above the painting is a white cloud floating on the main peak, and in the distance are high and low mountains. The mountains are covered with vermilion, showing the red leaves in the mountain forest, the Banqiao thatched cottage at the foot of the mountain, and the winding stream.

This is a picture scroll depicting Qiu Mountain.

Mr. Wei showed a suspicious expression and exchanged glances with Wang Heng.

Although Wang Heng didn't know much about painting, he had seen treasures in his house, and his eyes were filled with doubts.

Wang Cai didn't understand and just watched the excitement. Seeing the expressions of Mr. Wei and the others, he asked: "Sir, how do you like this painting?"

Upon seeing this, the old servant A Liang said: "This scroll of landscape is our great master's treasure. If it were kept in the past, it would be locked in the cupboard so that no one can see it."

Mr. Wei thought for a moment and said: "This is really Huang Da Chi's masterpiece. The color and layout are all exquisite. When your young master comes back, I will come and discuss the price with him."

A Liang's face was filled with joy and he complimented: "Sir, you have really good taste. Everything the late master left behind is of high quality."

Returning to the patio along the original path, a ray of sunlight at noon shone directly in Mr. Wei's eyes. Stars appeared in his eyes, so he closed his eyes and covered them with his hands, "Ah, it turns out that the five colors are blinding."

Brother Wang Heng was confused as to what kind of medicine Mr. Wei was selling in his gourd.

(End of this chapter)