Liu Rong glanced at the white cloth in Xu Da's hand and said angrily: "I want to ask you, why are you not here in Beixiang? Do you know that the city is now being searched for assassins, and those who act suspiciously like you would rather kill by mistake?
I will never let it go!"
Xu Da explained with a bitter face: "Master Liu Cha, my brother's wife went there this morning. He escaped from the south with my family, and there are no relatives at home to help. No, my brother can't spare the time, so I can't help.
Do you want to take care of things?"
When Liu Rong heard this, he realized, "Is this cloth prepared for the deceased wife of your brother's family?"
Xu Dameng nodded and asked tentatively: "With so many officials gathered in Beicheng, is it possible that the assassin who assassinated the prefect is here?"
Liu Rong nodded silently, then gave Xu Da an irritated look that said, "You are really going to cause trouble for me." He waved to Xu Da to follow him.
Under the escort of Liu Rong, Xu Da safely passed through the layers of search defenses and returned to Wang Dayou's home.
At this time, the officials were searching door to door and arrived at the door of Xu's house. Seeing that they were about to knock on the door, Xu Da, who had just arrived at Wang's house, rushed over and said that his family was here.
A white banner was hung in front of Wang Dayou's house. The official subconsciously thought it was a condolence banner hung for Mrs. Cui, the wife of the prefect. They did not know that someone in Wang Dayou's family had died.
As they walked up, Leng Buding saw the two sisters from the Wang family kneeling in the house burning paper money, and they were immediately startled.
"It's really unlucky! You didn't tell me earlier if someone died in your family!" The two officials scolded and quickly retreated out of the door as if they were avoiding snakes and scorpions.
Wang Dayou was already sad, but he still had to muster up his energy to deal with these two officials and apologized repeatedly.
Xu Da was also speaking kindly to the side, and the two officials looked better now.
Even if there is a death in the family, those who should be interrogated must still be interrogated. The official asked Xu Da and Wang Dayou to call out all the family members.
So, Mrs. Wang led the three Xu Yue brothers and two sisters, plus the Wang family's two sisters, to the gate and lined up to wait for the official to interrogate them.
The younger children were not spared either, and their attitude was surprisingly positive.
However, the assassination of the prefect was a major event, and the death of the prefect's wife also made the superiors furious, so the subordinates naturally did not dare to be rude at such a time.
There are two official servants, one is asking the adults, and the other is in charge of Xu Yue and the children.
He started with the little boy from the Wang family, but what could the little boy from the Wang family say who had just learned to speak when he was less than two years old?
He was so frightened that he hid behind his sister with his mouth shut, his little body trembling, and tears in his eyes about to burst.
The official looked at it and felt that he was boring. He stood up again and asked the question starting from the oldest Xu Dalang.
"Did you see any strange people last night? Or hear any strange sounds?"
Xu Dalang glanced to the west as if unconsciously, and then shook his head.
The officer frowned and asked again: "Then what were you doing last night?"
"Of course I'm sleeping. Master, don't you sleep at night?" Xu Erniang asked curiously with her big innocent eyes open.
The official's face darkened, "You little girl, you don't have to speak when I don't ask you, do you understand?"
Xu Erniang said "Oh" with a well-behaved look on her face, which made the officer choke for a while and became speechless.
So after asking Xu Dalang, when he should have asked Xu Erniang, he skipped her and asked Xu Yue first:
"Did you hear any unusual noises or see any strange people last night?"
Xu Yue replied ignorantly: "Young lady saw the immortal grandpa in her dream."
Official: "..."
Okay, next one.
The aunt of the Wang family wore a white mourning flower on her head, her eyes were swollen from crying, and she was holding her young brother in her arms. The two siblings looked extremely pitiful.
The official took a deep breath, stopped asking, walked to his companion, and shook his head.
The officials who asked Xu Da and others couldn't find anything. They all went to bed early, or some bad news suddenly came to Wang Da's family at night, so they rushed over to help.
A group of people testified against each other, and someone had just died in the family. The two officials did not want to get into this bad luck again, so they fiercely told them to keep a low profile and not cause trouble to the government, and then continued to the next house.
As soon as they left, Wang Dayou looked at his wife who was still lying on the kang, covered with only a thin layer of linen. He suddenly felt sad and, being such a good man, he couldn't help covering his face and hiding aside and crying.
Xu Da knew that he was feeling guilty for not being able to arrange a good funeral for Tong, but it just happened by such a coincidence.
There was the prefect's wife Cui in front of her, and there was such a huge disparity in status. If ordinary people like them didn't keep a low profile, and if the prefect was unhappy, I don't know whether Tong would be able to be buried properly.
Xu Da and Wang looked at each other, and the couple sighed at the same time.
Mrs. Wang motioned to Xu Da to comfort Wang Dayou. She walked up to Xu Yue and others and warned:
"You take the aunt and the young man to our house to rest for a while first. They will have to keep vigil for their mother at night. It will be difficult for such a young child."
Although the funeral can only be held in a low-key and low-key manner, the mother-child friendship must still be maintained.
Aunt Wang's eyes were red and she shook her head and said, "Aunt, I want to stay with my mother. Let my brother go. My father and I have to watch him while he is here."
The young man from the Wang family had a confused look on his face, which made Mr. Wang sigh in his heart. Seeing that the aunt of the Wang family insisted on staying, he respected her opinion and asked the three Xu Yue brothers and sisters to take the young man from the Wang family home.
The official had already warned not to keep a high profile, and the brothers from the Huokang Gang also left one after another. Soon the courtyard of the Wang family became deserted, with only Mrs. Xu and his wife accompanying Wang Dayou and his daughter.
As for Xu Yue, just when she brought the Wang family boy back home, the little guy's head drooped.
Xu Erniang carried him to the kang, covered him with a quilt, and the little man, who had been frightened all night, fell into a deep sleep.
"It's really pitiful. I lost my mother-in-law at such a young age. How can I rely on Uncle Dayou to take care of her from now on?" Xu Erniang frowned in worry.
Xu Yue pressed the quilt on Xiao Lang of the Wang family. She thought of her elder brother's subconscious gesture when the official asked him just now, and also recalled her elder brother's unusual behavior when he suddenly sat up before Wang Dayou knocked on the door last night. She already had a guess in her heart.
"Brother, is the assassin really in Beicheng?" Xu Yue suddenly asked in a low voice.
Xu Dalang, who was sitting cross-legged and drawing in the corner of the fire bed, slowly raised his head when he heard this, nodded, and pointed to the west.
Xu Yue suddenly fell silent and did not ask any more questions.
They, ordinary people, had to be careful every step they took in this ancient time with strict feudal hierarchy.
She just asked that this matter not involve her family. As for reporting it or something, it was best not to even think about it.
