A Journey Through the Worlds of Film and Television.

Chapter 909 Detective

In fact, the fact that the Rong and Ning mansions, as centuries-old noble families, could decline so quickly was largely due to the management system of the mansions.

Just like what Tanchun said in the original play, if you attack a big family like this from the outside, you can't kill it in a short time. This is what is called a centipede, which is dead but not stiff. If the family starts to destroy itself from within, it will soon be ruined.

First of all, there was no one who could really take charge of the Rong and Ning mansions, and a group of women in the backyard were left to manage the huge family business. This was a mistake in itself.

Although there are indeed some shrewd and capable women who have the ability to manage households and govern governments, and can manage a large family of hundreds or thousands of people in an orderly manner.

But these women in the Jia family's backyard had never seen the world, nor did they understand the rules of the officialdom. Even Wang Xifeng, who was known for her shrewdness and ability, was limited by her vision and knowledge, and ultimately lacked the skills.

In addition, the old lady above was always lenient and kind, emphasizing harmony, and wanted to make big things small and small things nothing. Over time, the servants, maids, and old women in the mansion lost their respect for their masters, and became more greedy, bold, and unscrupulous.

Even Jia Baoyu, the most favored son of the Jia family, had a wet nurse who often took advantage of her seniority and dared to eat things that belonged to her master.

What's more, Yingchun, Tanchun and Xichun, the three unfavored girls, were bullied by maids and old women.

As for the two stewards of Rongning Mansion, the brothers Lai Da and Lai Sheng, they were real vampires. Relying on the power accumulated from being slaves in the Jia family for generations, they constantly enriched themselves, deceived their superiors and subordinates, and gradually transferred the land and property of the Jia family to their own home.

Even after Jia's family built the Grand View Garden for the imperial concubine's visit, the Lai family also built a large garden. Although that garden was not as good as the Grand View Garden, it was also full of springs and rocks, pavilions and pavilions, and was extraordinary. Lai Da also spent money to donate a county magistrate position for his son.

A servant dared to build a garden at home that was almost as good as the villa used by the Duke's Mansion to receive the imperial concubine. How much money did it cost? How brave was he?

Not only the Lai brothers, but all the servants in the mansion, after several generations, have formed their own families, controlling the daily expenses of food, clothing, housing and transportation of the East and West Mansions.

A young lady like Yingchun, even if she is a concubine's daughter, is still a master, but she has to live by the faces of her servants. If this gets out, many people will laugh at her.

However, Lu Cheng was just an outsider. It was okay for him to use his books as an excuse to say a few words for Yingchun. As for the internal affairs of the Jia family, let them deal with it themselves.

When they walked out of Rongqing Hall, the sun had already set and night had fallen. Jia Zheng and Jia Lian wanted to invite Lu Cheng to have a meal, but Lu Cheng refused.

As soon as he left the backyard of the Jia Mansion, Lu Cheng noticed that two pairs of eyes were watching him in the dark.

In fact, ever since he rescued the baby from Mr. Li’s family that day, Lu Cheng discovered that someone was following him.

Based on the aura of the two men and some clues he noticed inadvertently, Lu Cheng determined the identities of the two men. They should be spies from the Jinyiwei.

It was obvious that the Emperor Changtai had set his sights on him. To this, Lu Cheng pretended not to know and continued to live his life as usual.

It was not until Lu Cheng returned home and entered the backyard that the two pairs of eyes that were secretly peeping at him disappeared.

A few days later, in the morning, before it was fully light, Lu Cheng came to the government office to report for duty as usual.

It was early winter, and it had just rained a little last night. This morning, there was a strong wind, and the temperature dropped sharply. There were fewer people on the street. The runners and detectives in the government office also hid in their houses to keep warm, making the place less lively than usual.

Even in the later era of advanced technology, winter is the season that shows the gap between the rich and the poor the most. Ordinary people dress like penguins, but still feel the cold. Rich people can lock in the body's temperature with a thin coat.

In this ancient time when productivity was backward, many people would freeze to death every winter. Even in the most prosperous Shuntian Prefecture, many ordinary people had to worry about charcoal and firewood for the winter.

As soon as Lu Cheng arrived at the government office, a clerk immediately brought a charcoal stove and set up heating facilities. Lu Cheng drank tea and read a book, which was quite leisurely.

After about an hour, Captain Li suddenly came in from outside and reported: "Sir, a woman just came to report that her husband hanged himself at home. The prefect asked you to go over and take a look."

"Since he hanged himself, why don't you let the coroner take a look first?"

"Your Excellency, Sun, the coroner, caught a cold yesterday and just asked for leave from the government office."

"In that case, I'll go there." Lu Cheng put down the book in his hand, stood up and walked to the yamen's stable, rode his own horse, and took a few constables from the yamen with him, and headed towards the scene of the incident, Xianyifang in the west of the city.

When Lu Cheng and the yamen runners arrived at the street where the incident occurred, the gate of a courtyard in front was already crowded with people watching the excitement, and two patrolling yamen runners were standing at the door.

Seeing Lu Cheng coming on horseback, the two patrol officers standing at the door immediately bowed and saluted: "Greetings, Lord Lu."

The crowd watching the excitement at the door immediately made way. When they heard the yamen runners mention "Lord Lu", the people became even more excited and looked at Lu Cheng one after another.

Lu Cheng was the top scorer in the imperial examination. When he was paraded through the streets on horseback, he was watched by many people in Kyoto City, many of whom knew him.

At this time, some people in the crowd were already whispering, "It's the number one scholar, Mr. Lu, who has arrived."

"I heard that Lord Lu has the ability to bring the dead back to life. I wonder if Zhang Daqiang, who was hanged, can be rescued."

"Don't talk nonsense. Zhang Daqiang has been hanged for at least an hour. Even if a god came, it would be difficult to save him."

"Why did Zhang Daqiang hang himself suddenly when everything was fine?"

"Yes, Daqiang is such an honest person, he never blushes in front of anyone. I greeted him yesterday, but I didn't see that he wanted to commit suicide, did he?"

"Maybe there's something wrong and he can't think straight for the moment."

Listening to the discussions of the people around him, Lu Cheng swept his eyes through the crowd, taking in everyone's expressions.

Then, Lu Cheng walked into the yard and began to observe the surrounding environment.

This place is close to the west city wall and belongs to the civilian area of ​​Kyoto. Most of the houses are self-built courtyards, which are usually not large in area and relatively densely populated.

After entering the house, I saw many footprints of different sizes scattered on the floor. It should be that a lot of people had just squeezed in.

The body of the deceased had been taken down from the beam and was placed on the floor of the main room. There were obvious marks of strangulation on his neck and his face was bruised and swollen. He had indeed died of suffocation.

However, Lu Cheng only took a look at the marks on the deceased's neck and easily judged that he did not hang himself, but was probably strangled to death with a rope and then hung on the beam.

Although both are strangled to death, there is a clear difference between self-strangulation and strangulation by others. The marks on the neck and signs of struggle will all be different.

Although Lu Cheng is not a forensic doctor, he is a top medical saint. His understanding of the human body structure has already reached the pinnacle. He does not need the help of any instruments to determine the cause of death.

However, Lu Cheng did not make it public. Since it was confirmed that the deceased was murdered instead of committing suicide, the next step was to find the murderer and determine the motive for the murder.

Lu Cheng looked at the shoes on the deceased's feet. They were clean and not stained with the mud outside the house. He scanned the room again and saw a broom in the corner, which was stained with some wet mud.

Looking at the ground again, there are also signs of cleaning.

Then, when Lu Cheng's eyes swept over the deceased's wife, the woman's eyes subconsciously dodged for a moment, and then she lowered her head and cried...