Liushenwuzhu's Qingyan was sent to Aunt Li's house next door by Qiu Henian. After Aunt Li understood what was going on, she almost burst into tears. It was not easy for two children to save money. This was stealing all the money from the family. She shook her head. Wiping away tears, he muttered: "Who is this person who has killed a thousand swords? He is committing evil!"
Qingyan's face turned pale. After wiping his tears, Aunt Li quickly poured hot water for him and drank it slowly, and he finally calmed down a little.
Not long after the meeting, Qiuniang also knocked on the door and came in. She said to Qingyan: "Second brother told me to come and talk to you. Don't worry too much. Those hired workers are all from nearby villages. Run away." Come on, the monk can't escape from the temple, second brother and the others will definitely be able to catch him."
As she spoke, she sighed deeply and blamed herself: "It's all my fault. I didn't choose the right person, and this happened to your family."
Qingyan shook his head and said, "I can't blame you no matter what. You know people and faces but don't know their hearts. They are all familiar employees. Who would have thought that he could do such a thing? I hope this person hasn't gone too far and can still be found." return!"
After talking for a while, Qingyan finally came out of the panic and heartache.
Come on, he thought to himself, even if he really couldn't find anything, money was just something outside of him. At worst, he would have to make it all over again. They were all young, capable, and not afraid of spending more effort to make money.
Less than an hour after he said these words, Liu Fa's wife hurriedly came and said with a worried look on her face: "They have captured the person, and he is at the village chief's house now!"
Everyone hurried to the village chief's house together.
When they arrived at the place, they saw that the door of the village chief's house was closed. After knocking on the door for a while, the village chief's husband came over and opened the door a crack to look outside. When he saw it was them, he opened the door and let them in. After that, he still closed the door tightly. Tightly, tied up.
In the room, the village chief, the eldest and second son of the village chief's family, the two Liu brothers, and Qiu Henian were all there. Four people stood neatly in front of them, the four hired workers hired by Qingyan and Qiuniang.
Seeing Qingyan and the others come in, Qiu Henian quickly glanced at Qingyan's face and body. Seeing that his face looked much better than when he left, he looked away and looked at the four people standing in front of him.
The old employee looked nervous, but spoke clearly and coherently, "You can ask around here. My family used to be scholars, and they fell into this situation after their family fell into poverty. I know etiquette, justice and shame, and I have been a hired worker for more than ten years. , I have never been greedy for half of my master's family in the past ten years, and I have never dared to cheat when I was working. If I was the one who did this, I would be willing to be struck by thunder and die hard!"
The other employees also followed his example and defended themselves. Only the youngest employee had wandering eyes and a frightened face. If anyone spoke a little louder, he would shrink his shoulders in fear and look uneasy. All those people had finished speaking. , he stumbled along and said: "I...I didn't steal...steal money. You can also go to the neighboring villages to ask. I usually go to the town to do odd jobs and work as a hired hand during busy farming periods. I have never stolen the owner's money." ."
"I found you in the tavern in the town. Did you go drinking right after you came out of Liuxi Village?" Qiu Henian asked suddenly.
The young hired man didn't dare to look up at him, he just lowered his eyes and nodded.
Qiu Henian asked again: "The other three have gone home, why don't you go back?"
The man murmured: "They all have wives, but I don't have one. I... I originally wanted to go to the Plum Blossom Pavilion in the town. I fell in love with the prostitute who wanted two taels of silver. I didn't want to part with the money, so I went to drink." At this point, he gritted his teeth, raised his head and said, "Having a prostitute or drinking alcohol are not considered crimes. Why did you arrest me? I want to go home!"
As he said that, he actually raised his legs and was about to leave.
At this moment, a figure suddenly rushed over quickly, and then the young employee who had already walked to the door was kicked to the ground with a "Ah" sound.
Qiu Henian retracted his legs, bent down and pulled at the hem of the man's coat. The coat tore open, and there was a cloth bag hidden in his belly. He reached out and took out the bag. The young hired worker on the ground couldn't bear it. Feeling the pain, he stood up and tried to snatch it back, but Qiu Henian dodged it.
The cloth bag was very light, not like money. Qiu Henian was a little confused. After shaking it open, the contents inside fell out. He was slightly startled. The people around him didn't understand what was going on. Most people didn't even see the contents of the cloth bag clearly. Qiu Henian had already balled up the cloth bag. Holding it tightly in his hand, he kicked the man on the ground hard one after another, causing the young employee to scream in agony.
Liu Fa, who had been following him the closest, obviously saw the contents of the cloth bag clearly. He was also stunned for a moment. Then he looked at Qiu Henian's reaction and seemed to understand something. He quickly stopped him and said, "Calm down." , he deserves to be beaten, but if you beat someone to death, you have to pay with your life!"
Only then did the others regain their composure and hurried over to stop him, but Qiu Henian was so strong that he dragged these young and strong men forward, and kicked the young hired worker on the ground several times, until Qingyan squeezed in front of him and hugged him, looking up at him with panic and worry. Qiu Henian stopped breathing heavily and with red eyes.
Liu Fa went to whisper a few words to the village chief. The village chief suddenly showed a clear look and said, "Everyone else should go out first. He Nian and I have something to say, and Liu Fa, you stay too. "
Everyone, including the three other employees who were too frightened to say a word by the situation, went out. Qingyan squeezed Qiu Henian's wrist soothingly, and the other party smiled lightly at him. Qingyan then went out relievedly.
As soon as Qing Yan left, Qiu Henian's face darkened.
The three of them were the only ones left in the room and the young employee who was screaming in pain on the ground. The voices inside were very low and could not be heard at all. Only occasionally a few more screams could be heard.
While Qingyan was waiting anxiously outside, she remembered that when she hugged Qiu Henian just now, her fingers touched something tightly held in his hand. It was cool and slippery, as if it was a piece of cloth. The touch felt familiar, but she couldn't remember it for a moment. What.
It wasn't until dinner time that the door to the room finally opened.
The young hired man was tied up and sent to the woodshed, where he was locked up.
When the old employee saw this, he looked unbearable and wanted to speak for him. The village chief had already spoken before him: "Go and report to the official tomorrow morning, and you will find out by then."
That night, Qingyan stayed in the empty bedroom of Aunt Li's house. Qiu Henian stayed at home and lived in Blacksmith Wang's house next door.
Late at night, Qiu Henian took out the cloth bag he had hidden during the day. After shaking it open, a silky pure white undergarment slipped out.
Qiu Henian lowered his eyes and looked at them. They were the ones he picked out for Qingyan at a clothing store when spring first came, one white and one yellow.
Qingyan's skin and flesh are tender, so wearing coarse clothes on the outside is fine, but wearing them on the inside often makes the skin red. Silk shirts are not cheap. Qiu Henian had been thinking about them since his family didn't have much money. When his family had a little more money, he hurriedly bought them for him and put them on.
Qingyan is already white, and when she puts on this shirt, she becomes even more white and clear. Under the light of the oil lamp, her skin is as moist as pearls. The soft and cool fabric sticks to this soft body obediently. Qiu Henian He couldn't remember how many nights he had held such a young man in his arms. His big hands went down the back of his neck, caressing him all the way. Qingyan would raise his arms and wrap them around his neck, with his face lying on his face. In the hollow of his neck, he made a tiny humming sound like a kitten.
The shirt Qiu Henian held in his hand was so tight that it was deformed.
Qiu Henian's eyes turned red when he thought that the hired man had stolen the obscene garment and taken it to the Plum Blossom Pavilion, and what he would do with it.
If this matter was known to the villagers, there would be some gossips who would add fuel to the fire and fabricate some dirty things. Qiu Henian hid the matter. He didn't want Qingyan to feel sad because of this matter, so he took Qingyan with him. Concealed.
The few people who knew about this matter knew the seriousness and kept their mouths shut, so he didn't need to worry.
The hired worker was taught a lesson by him and did not dare to talk nonsense.
Thinking of this, Qiu Henian stood up and threw the clothes and the cloth bag into the burning stove. The light clothes were quickly burned to ashes. If he buys the same one tomorrow and puts it back in the cabinet, Qingyan will never know about it.
Early the next morning, before it was fully light, Qiu Henian and the two brothers Liu Fa went to the county together.
When they returned, they brought back two officials from the county government office.
The yamen servant first went to interrogate the young employee. Although he was the only one who left the meal, he still refused to admit that he had stolen the money.
The government officials then came to the crime scene and checked again. They rummaged through the drawers under the bed, looked under the bed and around it, and also checked the windows, house doors, and courtyard doors one by one.
One of the yamen servants asked: "Was anyone at home all the time yesterday?"
Qiu Henian replied: "I was in the shop in the morning, and my wife went out to the town to buy groceries. She was probably there for less than an hour."
The yamen officer looked at Qingyan again and asked, "When you came back, did you find anything unusual? Are the doors and windows locked and closed?"
Qingyan nodded and said, "Yes, I didn't find anything wrong."
The two government officials discussed it and said, "This hired worker is extremely suspicious. Let's take him back to the county government first. We are not afraid of his harsh words. When the time comes, he will be tortured. He will definitely confess in a few hours!"
With that said, they walked outside the house, preparing to take people to the village chief's house.
At this moment, the officer who was walking at the front suddenly said "huh?", then bent down and picked up a piece of paper on the ground inside the gate.
Another yamen officer reacted and hurriedly opened the door and chased outside.
The government official holding the piece of paper read out a few lines on it in a low voice: "At about midnight yesterday morning, I saw someone climbing out of the courtyard wall to the west of this gate, with a cloth bag tied around his waist. This person was there. The village has a bad reputation and I have been afraid of telling others for fear of retaliation. But because of my uneasy conscience, I still leave this letter. Please don't trace it to me."
After this paragraph, the bottom line reads: "The person I saw is Wang Heyao, the boss of the Wang family who lives in the east of the village."
Qiu Henian and Qingyan were right next to the yamen servant and could see these words clearly.
This method of sending letters felt familiar. Qingyan's eyes swept over the handwriting. A few days ago, when that person was recovering from illness, he still vividly remembered the scene where he taught that person to write stroke by stroke. His eyelids twitched slightly. Suddenly he looked up at Qiu Henian.
Qiu Henian felt his gaze, and looked away from the letter and looked at him.
After a moment, he shook his head at Qingyan.