Judgement

Chapter 95 Yangzhou Pangjia

Chapter 95 Yangzhou Pangjia

After leaving the magistrate's official residence, Jiang Meng drove the carriage all the way to the southeast, turned around and asked Chen Mengsheng: "Brother, what are we going to do in Pang's mansion? I haven't seen Mr. Pang for half a year. Pang De, the head of the Pang family, is taking care of it."

Chen Mengsheng wondered: "A year ago, I heard from my elder brother that the Pang family still has a daughter? Didn't she already recruit a son-in-law? Why didn't they come to take care of the Pang family?"

Jiang Meng laughed loudly in front of the car and said, "Brother's memory is really good. In the spring of last year, Mrs. Pang's only daughter went to Yangzhou Mansion to choose a husband. At that time, Yangzhou Mansion was very lively. Going to Guangling, the prefecture of Yangzhou, to see the beauty of Pang Xiangyun, daughter of the Pang family, is also a matter of luck."

Shangguan Yanran smiled lightly and said, "Brother Jiang must be trying his luck too, right?"

"Hahaha, I'm over 40 and half of my body is almost buried in the soil. How can there be girls throwing hydrangeas at me? Besides, Grandpa Pang is three or two years older than me. If Pang Xiangyun chooses his father, I will be almost the same .”

The three people in the car were all amused by Jiang Meng's words, Xiang Xiaotian smiled and said: "Mr. Pang is so young, he has become a rich and powerful businessman."

Jiang Meng sighed and said: "Time is also fate. At my age, I still have a single peeled poplar tree. I spent more than 30 years soaking in the river to eat water and rice, and when I was old, I was forced to eat all the water and rice. Alas... ..."

The rain outside the carriage began to lighten gradually, dripping on the roof of the carriage, and the sky began to darken.Shangguan Yanran lifted the thick curtain on the car and saw a row of willow trees on the bank of the surging Yangtze River outside the car window. The willow branches were wet by the heavy winter rain, and the green and yellow leaves danced with the wind and the willows scattered into the river.There were more pedestrians on the street one after another, most of them were women walking with bamboo umbrellas framed in oily yellow paper.

Shangguan smiled and said: "When I was in Pingyang Mansion, I heard that Yangzhou has beautiful women since ancient times. It is really true to see them today."

Xiang Xiaotian looked out the window and said, "Let me see if the beauty in Yangzhou is beautiful or you are beautiful. If the beauty in Yangzhou is beautiful, I will let my brother find a beautiful woman in Yangzhou to be his wife." Chen Mengsheng faced Xiang Xiaotian in the car There is only a helpless wry smile.

Shangguan Yanran said playfully: "Brother Xiang wants to find a wife, but he wants to use senior brother as an example. He wants to cover up his bad intentions."

Jiang Meng outside the car laughed loudly and said: "Miss Shangguan, it is not a good thing to say that Yangzhou has beautiful women since ancient times. If it is time to hold the lights, the Slender West Lake will be full of painted boats and boats. But all the painted boats are full of beautiful women. If you are lucky, the beauties may be accepted by high-ranking officials, but if you are unlucky, you will only be reduced to prostitutes. That's why those literati and poets in the previous dynasty said that Yangzhou has produced beauties since ancient times." Shangguan Yan Ran blushed with embarrassment when she heard Jiang Meng's words, she didn't know if she was angry or not, she threw down the cotton curtain and sat in the car without saying a word.

After a while, Jiang Meng's carriage stopped and stopped laughing: "The Pang's family in Guangling, Yangzhou Prefecture has arrived, brother, let's get out of the carriage." Gu can't see the edge.The white marble paved in front of the door is as smooth as a mirror after rain, and on both sides of the thick red lacquer door are a pair of majestic and majestic Pixiu carved with nine feet high.On the gate of the mansion is the word "Pangfu" written in large gilt characters, and people feel rich and powerful in front of the gate.

Jiang Meng patted the door knocker made of jade wall, and there was a crisp and pleasant sound. With a "squeak", the heavy vermilion lacquer door was opened, and the person who opened the door was a middle-aged and strong man, wearing a cotton satin winter jacket with Suzhou embroidery.If you walk on the road, you can be regarded as a wealthy family, and it is hard to imagine that you will be a servant of the gatekeeper.

"Yo, isn't this Master Jiang? Why is Master Jiang so free today? Don't you need to patrol the city?" The porter asked Jiang Meng in a playful tone, and his feelings were stronger than that of the servants of the prefect's family. ah.

Jiang Meng shouted in displeasure: "Goucai, today I came to ask the case under the order of the magistrate Mr. Zhu. Is Mr. Pang back?"

"Hey, my master went to Luoyang and hasn't returned yet? Only Manager Pang is in the mansion. Master Jiang, do you think he will come back in a few days? Or will he see Manager Pang?"

Jiang Meng turned around and asked Chen Mengsheng, "Brother, what do you think?"

Chen Mengsheng smiled and said: "The trouble in Yangzhou's mansion started with the gardener of Pang's mansion. I just need to ask some trivial matters, and it would be better to see Mr. Pang."

The concierge replied: "Then you wait, I will go to trouble." After speaking, he swung his hand and closed the door.

Xiang Xiaotian said angrily: "A watchdog is so arrogant, if it weren't for Brother Jiang's face, I would have taught him a lesson."

Shangguan Yanran smiled and said: "Brother Xiang, this is a dog's power. Someday, if a rich and powerful family invites you to see the sect. You are invincible. I think you are more attractive than the sect. Who will you not see?" Shunyan goes up and fights first."

"That's right, hey, you little girl turned the corner and called me a dog. Brother, don't worry, if this goes on, you, the future daughter-in-law, will have to go to Liang Jiewa." Everyone laughed, Shangguan Yanran He stomped his feet angrily.

After laughing, Jiang Meng said: "It turned out that this was not the case when Mr. Pang was there. Mr. Pang was humble and kind, and Mr. Pang would open a porridge shop in Guangling every Chinese New Year and festival in Yangzhou. People in Yangzhou will grow up when they mention Pang Zhongxin." Thumb, Mrs. Pang was widowed in his early years and left an only daughter to spoil him. Half a year ago, Mrs. Pang took his daughter and son-in-law back to Luoyang to visit relatives, and the Pang family has changed..."

Before Jiang Meng finished speaking, the porter opened the door and came out and said, "Master Jiang, Director Pang has an invitation, all of you please follow me." The porter turned sideways to greet him.

The threshold of the Pang family's gate is one foot and three inches high, almost to the knees.When Xiang Xiaotian stepped across the threshold, he deliberately stepped on it, and the porter stared at him when he saw it.After entering the Pang Mansion, Chen Mengsheng felt for the first time what it means to be poor and extravagant. The entrance of Pang Mansion is a tall rockery made of Hanshou stone. There are all kinds of exotic flowers and plants planted on the rockery. The koujishuitan holds rainwater.A heavy rain just now filled the twelve pools to form twelve waterfalls of different sizes and heights. Some of them rushed down the Baizhang cliff like a thousand troops, and some of them were like a trickle of water. Finally, the water flows along the rockery into a large artificially excavated lake. There is a winding stone bridge on the lake leading to the garden.

In the garden, cowhide is used as the curtain, and a charcoal brazier is placed three or five steps above the ground, making the whole garden beautiful, where the flowers are blooming and there is no cold in the middle of winter.What made Chen Mengsheng depressed was the strange fragrance in the garden, but nine out of ten flowers were flowers that he had never seen before.Xiang Xiaotian and Jiang Meng followed the concierge all the way, but turned a blind eye to the flowers and plants, only Shangguan Yanran walked at the end and slowly enjoyed the beauty of the flowers.Suddenly Shangguan Yanran stopped in front of a strangely shaped purple flower, frowned and stared at the porter not paying attention, took a soft whip and folded one into an embroidered handkerchief like a coil.All of this was seen by Chen Mengsheng. Everyone has a love for beauty, so Chen Mengsheng just smiled lightly and followed Jiang Meng into a big house.

There was a [-]-year-old man in the house who was a little fat, and he smiled first when he saw anyone: "I am the chief of the Pang family, Pang De. I don't know why General Jiang brought someone to find me today."

Jiang Meng cupped his hands and said: "Jiang came to disturb the chief executive today because he was ordered by Lord Zhu to investigate some old cases, please don't blame the chief executive."

"General Jiang, you are being polite. You and I have known each other for decades. Although we are not the same now, Pang must know everything."

Jiang Meng pointed at Chen Mengsheng and said: "This is an expert who was invited by Master Zhu, the magistrate, to hunt monsters. He has something to ask the chief supervisor."

Pound laughed dryly and said: "Mr. is not very old, but he is already an expert in subjugating demons. Disrespect and disrespect. What is Mr. Gao's name? Is there anything Pound can do to help Mr.?"

Chen Mengsheng said: "The manager is serious. My name is Chen Mengsheng. I came here to bother you about the strange and sudden death of the gardener in the house a year ago. I hope that Manager Pang will tell you."

Pang De frowned and said, "There are no fewer than a hundred workers in the family courtyard of Pang's residence, and dozens of gardeners. Pang really doesn't know which one Mr. Chen is asking about?"

Shangguan smiled and said: "You Shuibao suddenly died in the conservatory of the Pang Mansion with no injuries. The cause of death is unknown. There are two parents and an older sister in the family. His father, You Futian, is also a gardener in the Pang Mansion, and his mother is a cook in the Pang Mansion. Mother. The manager of Pang Da is not a nobleman who forgets too much, and forgets all the family members in the Pang Mansion." Chen Mengsheng and others were surprised by Shangguan Yanran, but they didn't expect that it would take less than a cup of tea. Shangguan Yanran will never forget the dossier of the magistrate.

Pang De cast his eyes left and right and said: "If the girl hadn't mentioned it, I really can't remember it. The You family father and son are indeed gardeners in Pang's mansion, and their mother is also a cook in the mansion. The young man died suddenly and inexplicably a year ago. In the greenhouse, the government searched but failed. My master thought of the pain of the two elders' bereavement, and gave them a house and 100 taels of silver to go back to bury his son."

"Then where are the old couple now?"

Pang De smiled lightly: "I'm afraid you can ask that girl to know more about this?"

Jiang Meng said: "Please also ask the manager Pang Da to take me to the greenhouse to have a look."

"Hehe, General Jiang has only been in the army for a few months, right? What kind of place did he treat the Pang Mansion? The county magistrate led troops to investigate the magistrate's mansion. Do you have the official documents for the investigation?"

Xiang Xiaotian, who was standing beside him, was furious and said, "Is this a shameful place in your Pang Mansion?"

"Presumptuous, although my master is not in the mansion, is Pang's mansion a place for people to inspect? If it wasn't for Master Zhu's face, I would be lazy to let you enter the mansion."

The atmosphere in the living room was stalemate for a while, Shangguan smiled and said: "The little girl passed by the garden just now, and the garden was full of flowers, and the imperial garden must be nothing more than that. Manager Pang is still a refined scholar who loves flowers. It's really not easy to grow such a beauty!" After thousands of wears and wears, only this flattery is not worn, and Pang De's face immediately became more mellow when he heard Shangguan Yanran's praise.

"Haha, I don't have any hobbies in my life. I just love flowers and plants. The garden in the front yard is just the tip of the iceberg. The backyard garden my master built for Miss is more than ten times bigger than the front yard garden. It's too late today. It's getting late, so I won't keep you guys. Pang An, see off." The servant standing outside the hall opened the door and sent Chen Mengsheng out of Pang's residence.