In the early morning, the heavy snow suddenly stopped, and the entire capital was covered in silver.
The rising sun cast a ray of morning glow onto the earth, and instantly, the earth turned red.
The door creaked, and Little Plum ducked in.
"I got everything you asked for." As he said this, he handed a folded square piece of paper into Xiao Chen's hand.
"It's sunny today, but it's very cold outside. Do you want to go to that place to check?"
Xiao Chen nodded: "Yeah."
"Be safe. I have something else to do and can't stay here for long."
"Go ahead."
Xiao Chen opened the piece of paper, which briefly recorded Wang San's recent mission and the general content of the secret letter he held that day.
A closer look revealed that what Wang San was holding that day was not a secret letter, but an order issued by Dongchang to the 7th Battle of Dongchang stationed 20 miles away.
The place where Wang San's accident happened is in the suburbs of Beijing, about ten miles away from Dong'anmen.
Holding the piece of paper in his hand, Xiao Chen frowned slightly.
Judging from the whole thing, Wang San's death was very much like an accident. It was just an order issued and it was not deliberately designed to be an accidental murder.
In all these years, Wang San has not offended anyone, and it cannot be justified to say that it was a vendetta.
"Let's go and have a look." Thinking of this, Xiao Chen grabbed the knife leaning against the wall, hung it on his waist, and hurried out of the door.
The New Year is approaching, and people are rushing on the streets. Dong'anmen is located on the edge of the imperial city, which is a prosperous area of the capital, and the streets are even more prosperous.
The snow all over the street has been trampled into a mess. The various shops on the street are crowded with people collecting New Year's goods, and there is only a noise of asking and haggling.
Xiao Chen turned up his collar and walked along the street outside Dong'an Gate towards the outside of the city.
An hour later, Xiao Chen arrived near the collapsed courtyard wall where Wang San's accident occurred.
This place is a small town close to the capital. The collapsed courtyard walls have been cleared away. Only the dilapidated old houses in front and behind the courtyard and a courtyard overgrown with weeds are left.
There was thick snow and no traces could be seen.
Seeing Xiao Chen in official uniform, the residents of the town who were collecting New Year goods stopped curiously and looked at him secretly.
Next door to this dilapidated courtyard is an equally dilapidated courtyard.
An old man who looked to be in his fifties was sitting on a stone that had been cleared of snow at the door. He was holding a large bowl with a chip in it, which contained thin cornmeal porridge. He was drinking and looking at it.
With Xiao Chen.
A worn-out large cotton-padded jacket, the cuffs were dirty and shiny, and gray-white cotton leaked out of several holes in the body.
"Old man, how long has it been since there was no one living in the yard next to this place?" Xiao Chen walked forward and squatted next to the old man.
The old man held the chopsticks in his right hand, wiped his mouth with the back half of his palm, and rubbed it twice on his lower back: "No one has lived in this house for more than ten years."
"A few days ago, an accident happened here. Did the old man know about it?"
The old man nodded: "I know, the courtyard wall collapsed, and three eunuchs in the palace were crushed to death by the collapsed courtyard wall. It was tragic."
"At that time, your old man was also nearby?"
"I was chopping firewood in the courtyard when I heard a bang. The courtyard wall, which had just been repaired not long ago, collapsed. I was so frightened that I quickly came out to check."
"What was the situation at that time? Can you be more specific?"
Seeing Xiao Chen asking questions, some curious residents gathered around him.
"When I came out, the three official horses on the official road were frightened by the collapsed courtyard wall and ran away. One of them passed close to me like a gust of wind and almost knocked me to the ground." The old man felt guilty.
The way.
Looking at the old man who was already a little rickety, Xiao Chen took out some broken silver from his waist and handed it to the old man: "Those official horses are good horses that can travel hundreds of miles a day. Thank you for not bumping into you."
"Sir, what are you doing? You didn't hit me, so you don't need to compensate me." The old man looked at the broken silver and politely refused.
"Take it." Xiao Chen took the old man's dirty right hand and put the broken silver on it. "Although it didn't hit you, it still scared you. There isn't much of these broken silver. It's not the Chinese New Year soon. Buy it."
Let’s get some New Year’s goods.”
Looking at the broken silver in his hand, the old man's cloudy eyes felt a little moist.
"When I came out, after the horses ran away, the whole street was filled with dust. I could only hear San'er shouting loudly, come quickly, someone is trapped by the courtyard wall," the old man said.
"Who is San'er?"
"There is an orphan in the town, seven or eight years old, relying on charity from neighbors to survive."
"Who reported it to the official?"
"The huge collapse sound and the dust in the sky have disturbed the whole town. Everyone started digging in the ground to save people. I don't know who reported it to the official."
Xiao Chen stood up and stood on the roadside, looking at the traces of the courtyard wall that were at most two feet long, thinking.
"More than three hours had passed when they were dug out. The three people's faces were pale and there were no wounds on their bodies. They were all muffed to death. Oh, how pitiful."
"When did the government officials arrive?" Xiao Chen turned around and asked again.
"When the three people were dug out, the government came. There were more than 20 people dressed like you, and seven or eight eunuchs. They checked it out, asked about the situation at the time, and then packed up the bodies of the three people.
Get on the carriage and drive away."
"It has been uninhabited for more than ten years, so who built this newly built courtyard wall?" Xiao Chen asked after taking a look at the dilapidated house at the scene of the accident.
The old man simply put the rice bowl in his hand on the stone he was sitting on just now, and came to Xiao Chen's side.
"I don't know why in this place, there is always stagnant water leaking out, making the entire road muddy no matter whether it's sunny or rainy. This courtyard wall was built by Zhang Shanren from the town with money and everyone's efforts."
Xiao Chen frowned slightly, but said calmly: "If it is to block the water, it is enough to build it three feet high. It can cover three people inside at a time. This courtyard wall must be as high as one person."
"At the beginning, it was only about three feet high. When it was about to be completed, Zhang Shanren came to check on the progress and said, since it was all built, it would be better to build it higher to cover up all the dilapidated scenes inside."
The old man put his hands into the cuffs of his large cotton-padded jacket, his back slightly stooped, and looked towards the cleared courtyard wall.
"The building is too high, and the foundation has not been properly taken care of. The entire wall feels like it is soaked in water. It would be strange if it does not collapse."
"That's right, it only needs to be as tall as one person. Make it as high as the wall of the big house. Even if it doesn't fall down, people in the town will walk around it when they pass by."
The crowd next to him began to talk among themselves.
"You said that people in the town usually avoid that courtyard wall when walking?" Xiao Chen seemed to have found something suspicious in his heart.
"Yes, no one usually goes to that wall. I don't know why three father-in-laws were covered in it at the same time."
