Chapter 23 Jinfengchai
A heavy rain began to fall on the night of the Kameido Tenjin-sama Festival on the 24th, and it did not stop until the 31st.
Senba Akojuro and Raitoto Roshin are bored in a baked longhouse in Sakuma-cho, Kanda.This house is opposite the ancient well and the long house public toilet, and you can hear the sound of rainwater flowing in the ditch.To say it is elegant, it is quite elegant.
At four o'clock in the afternoon, it was so cold that it really made people want to light a brazier.Aguchang and Dodosuke hugged their bare legs in the cold six-tatami hut, staring blankly at the continuous heavy rain outside the window.
While in a daze of boredom, a person opened the rainproof sliding door and walked in.That person is from the Kitamachi Magistrate's Office, he used to settle cases with Senba Akojuro, and now he is quite famous.He is the headhunter of Kanda - dry and thin Matsugoro.
Goro Shomatsu came into the room with a big two-liter wine barrel, grinning, and said, "Hey, you two really don't have much energy. I guessed it would be like this, so I came here to see you. This is this morning, just now The Hitachi new wine from Utagawa was delivered. Come and drink a cup to drive away the cold and cheer up. You drank my wine, and I will ask you for advice next time, please help me."
After a few rounds of wine, the Kandagawa family sent eels again.The three of them drank with great interest, and chatted about homework around the wine table.While talking, Shomatsu Goro suddenly thought of something, slapped his knees and said: "The business between Ako Juro and Mr. Dodosuke needs to go through the streets and alleys. You two may have heard of it. Ako Juro, you heard Have you heard the story of the Wanhe family's golden hairpin?"
"Wanwa is the big family that runs Fukagawa Kiba. When it comes to spending a lot of money in Yoshiwara Flower Street, Nara Shigeru's reputation seems to be better, but if you want to say who is rich, Wanya Wasuke is ten times richer than Nara Shigeru He bought Sancho Sifang in Momori Town as a mansion, and the wood floating in the moat is worth at least 500,000 taels." Xianbo Akojuro nodded, and said while eating, "The eldest daughter of Wanhe Mei and her uncle's daughter Hanase are friends, and I often go to Jinzhu Town to play, and I have seen it once or twice. What is the story of the golden hairpin of the Wanhe family?"
Goro Shomatsu was sitting and said: "This matter is really wonderful to say, it can be said as a strange talk, it is most suitable to share with you on a cold and rainy night for several days. It happens that we will be on the monthly shift tomorrow, and we will have a day off today. Since If you don't know, let me tell you."
"Why is it so formal, don't set me up." Jajuro shook his head and said with a wry smile.
Shoumatsu Goro held his knees, leaned out and smiled and said, "Don't interrupt, just listen to me first. The beginning of the story is a bit old, and the time dates back to fifteen years ago. At that time, near the Fukagawa Wood Farm, there was a wood The owner of the wholesale store 'Yamazakiya' is Kinemon. The owner has an eight-year-old son named Kanesaburo. The Namanwa family has the daughter Amei you mentioned just now, who was only four years old at the time. Manwa and Kinemon are both from Kiso, and they can be regarded as distant relatives. The two have a good relationship and have always helped each other like close relatives. One day, it suddenly occurred to them: Why don't you give this Ame to Kinsaburo as his wife. In this way, the two children were engaged in marriage when they were still young. Kinemon gave Wanhe a pure gold hairpin carved with a phoenix as a token of the engagement, looking forward to the wedding of the two children. "
"I see." Xianba Akojuro nodded and muttered, "It's normal."
"Two years ago, there was a forest fire in Kiso. The hilltop of Yamazakiya's house burned for five days and five nights, all the trees were reduced to ashes, and the store was burned to nothing. Kaneemon decided to close the store and go to Nagasaki , started the business of importing timber from China, started again, and took Kanesaburo to Nagasaki. In the spring of the following year, Wanhe received a letter from Kanemon, telling them to go west to China, and there was no news for the next twelve years.
"However, Amei was thinking about Jinsaburo, who could no longer remember his face. She put a kimono on the Tosawara doll and used it as a substitute for Jinsaburo. She not only prepared three meals a day, but also prepared a meal for the doll. Talking to the puppet, it seems that there is really Jin Saburo there. Amei looks so pitiful that people can't bear to look directly at her. After she suffered from lovesickness, she saw that she lost weight day by day. By May 17 this year, she was already Described as haggard, and eventually died of illness. The mistress of Wanhe's family was Amei's stepmother, and she was calm, but Wanhe himself was full of emotions, saying that everything was agreed in the previous life, and sighed that it was fate.
"Finally, when Amei entered the coffin, Wan He took out the golden phoenix hairpin, stroked his daughter's body gently and said, this is a token from your husband's family, and take it with you on the road. After he said that, he put the gold hairpin into the coffin, Send your daughter to be buried in the tomb of Jingxin Temple."
Uncharacteristically, Ako Juro sighed sadly: "So that girl is dead. She is a gentle and good girl!..."
"Just two months after Amei's death, Jin Sanlang, who had never heard from him before, came back. He said that his father was seriously ill in China, and later he did not send letters due to various trivial matters. Wanhe complained about Jin Sanlang, Why didn't he come back two months earlier, and told Jin Sanlang about his daughter Amei while wiping away his tears. After hearing this, Jin Sanlang held Amei's tablet and burst into tears, saying that he had worked hard in China for a long time , the greatest hope is to return to Japan one day to marry Amei. Why can't Amei live for two more months?
"Although Wanhe's daughter died, he said that Jin Sanlang was his son-in-law since he had a marriage contract. He found a tea room a little far from the main house to leave the house, let Jin Sanlang live there, and loved Jin Sanlang like his own son. When he arrived at Amei On the first Obon Festival when she passed away, the family went to Jingxin Temple to perform rituals for her and sweep her grave. Jin Sanlang also went with Wanhe's family. But he couldn't stop crying when he arrived at the grave, so he left the temple alone. The tomb went home first. Just as Jin Sanlang was squatting at the door in the dim setting sun, burning hemp stalks and lighting the fire to greet the soul, a sedan chair suddenly passed by in front of him, and he heard a "dingling". Jin Sanlang went to pick it up and saw that what fell on the ground was a pure gold hairpin with a phoenix carved on it!..."
"Oh, finally got to the point." Senba Akojuro clapped his hands excitedly.
"Jin Sanlang chased him out, but the sedan chair disappeared in the dim twilight in a blink of an eye, and he didn't know where he was going. Jin Sanlang had to give up, put the hairpin in his sleeve pocket, and went back to the house to go to bed early. In the middle of the night, he suddenly heard Someone was knocking on the rainproof window, and when I opened the window, Ami, the second younger sister of the dead Amei, was standing outside the window among the clover flowers. Jin Sanlang asked her: Why did you come here alone in the middle of the night? Ami said that she had something to tell, so she came to visit her specially. After Jin Sanlang let her in, Ami leaned against the wall and said intermittently, seeing Jin Sanlang mourning his dead sister was really heartbreaking. He was born, but they all have the blood of his father, and begged Jin Sanlang to treat her as his dead sister. Jin Sanlang was shocked and said that he was grateful for the kindness of the girl, but this matter cannot be avoided. It is very difficult to support himself now, thanks to the great kindness of your father. How could she do such a thing. Ami said that she was a girl and sneaked into Jin Sanlang's residence late at night. Even if nothing happened, she was no longer innocent. Please take pity on Jin Sanlang Myself. After Ami said that, he fell on the tatami and refused to get up. At first, Jin Sanlang tried to dissuade him harshly, but he was gradually moved by Ami's true feelings, and soon became a pair of lovers who were like glue.
"After that night, Ami sneaked out of the house at six o'clock every night, and went back to the main house where he lived when it was dawn. This kind of life lasted for a month, and Jin Sanlang felt so guilty that just a week ago One morning, he said to Ami: "It's not a solution in the long run. It's better to tell the truth to Master Wanwu and Zhu, and ask for his forgiveness and permission. Ami agreed, and said that if his father got angry, he would let Jin Sanlang take it out at the gate. Show him the hairpin you picked up, this will surely calm your anger, and remember, if the words are not speculative, take out that hairpin.
"After dawn, Jin Sanlang took Ami's hand, went to the main house, asked Ami to wait outside the courtyard, walked into Wanhe's room alone, told the old man exactly what happened, and apologized to him. And The assistant said with a look of surprise: "There is one thing he didn't tell Jin Sanlang. In fact, Ami fell asleep suddenly after returning from the temple in the evening of the Obon basin, and he is still unconscious. During the coma, Ami once died. It scared him a lot. Ami is still sleeping in the bed, and it is difficult to even turn over. How could she run away quietly? Jin Sanlang lived out of the house? Although Jin Sanlang said that Ami was waiting outside the courtyard, Wanzhu was sure of her, so he He fell asleep in the next room. Jin Sanlang was taken aback, and went to the next room to see that Ami, who was supposed to be waiting outside the courtyard, was so skinny that he was sleeping under the quilt..."
Ako Juro held back his laughter while listening, and finally couldn't help laughing out loud when he heard this: "I said, Shousong, what happened after that, let me guess for you?"
"Huh?...What?" Shoumatsu Goro stared at Jujuro Jaw in disbelief.
"Don't be surprised. It should be like this after that. Jin Sanlang took out the hairpin with the phoenix carved on it and showed it to Wanhe. Wanhe was shocked and said: Isn't this the hairpin that was put in Amei's coffin? How could you have it? What about this thing? While talking, Ami woke up suddenly, sat up and said that she died too badly, the gods of the underworld took pity on her life experience, let her out from time to time, and borrowed Ami's body to meet Lord Jinsaburo. Ami's face It’s still the same, but the words and phrases have completely changed to Amei. Just when everyone was shocked, Amei’s soul said that asking Ami to help her continue this marriage is the best offering for her. Father promised this marriage, and he bid farewell to the world here. After speaking, he cried and fell to the ground. When he got up, he was breathless. Everyone rushed to rescue him. After a while, Ami gasped for breath, as if he had suddenly lost his high fever. They just sat there blankly. Everyone asked her about what happened while she was asleep, but she didn’t know anything about it. Wanhe was moved by Amei’s sad wish, and gave Ami to Jin Sanlang according to Amei’s instructions. The story is over.”
"What, so you have heard. You are really tricky and let me waste so much talk."
"Who told you to come up with such an old-fashioned story to fool me, I am not so easy to deceive. I am not like you, but I am learned. I said Shousong, this is the Chinese ghost novel "Jian Deng Xin Hua" "The story in " is called "Golden Phoenix Iron", where did you hear it?"
Shousong said displeased: "It doesn't sound like it sounds, I'm talking about real people! A while ago, a headless corpse was found in Hachikenbori in Shenchuan. Although I wasn't on the monthly shift, I was Concerned about this case, I went to Wanwu. This story was told to me by Wanhe himself."
A Guchang's face changed slightly, and he asked, "So, is this really true?"
"What good can I do by lying to you? The real thing, the real thing!...Kim Saburo and Ami are getting married tomorrow night, and the Wanhe family is busy right now."
A Guchang and Dodosuke looked at each other and said, "Mr. Dodosuke, something is wrong."
Dodosuke also winked and said, "Indeed, this thing was done too viciously."
Shou Song looked at the two of them from side to side and said: "What, why are you so vicious? You two don't wink at all, it looks creepy."
While speaking, there was the sound of rain hitting the umbrella outside the door, and the sound of light footsteps slowly approaching the longhouse.
After a while, only a gentle and quiet voice came in from the rainproof door: "Is there anyone? Excuse me, Lord Xianbo, do you live here?"
The visitor came into the room, with a high bun in the front of the Tibetan style on her hair, and wearing a purple kimono kimono dyed with autumn grass. She was a quiet and gentle girl of sixteen or seventeen with a round chin.From her luxurious attire and elegant demeanor, it can be seen that she must be the daughter of a wealthy family.
The girl stepped onto the old tatami without hesitation, looked at Agu earnestly, and said: "I am the youngest daughter of Kazusuke Manya, Fukagawa Momori Town, named Lie. When my sister was still alive, I followed her to Kansuke Town Hanayo My sister is playing at home, and I have met you once or twice. Because of this one-sided relationship, I have an important request today."
Li Jiang briefly told the story that Shousong just told, and said decisively: "To tell you the truth, what I'm going to say next is very bizarre, so bizarre that it might make you laugh. It's all about me. I always feel that something big is going to happen to my family." She continued with a frightened look in her eyes, "You may not believe me, but I always feel that the second sister, Ami, who is about to get married tomorrow, is not the original The second sister. I always feel that she is a stranger, which makes me hard to let go."
"I can't understand your words alone."
"That's right, I should tell you in more detail. But how should I put it..." Li Jiang tilted his head, pondered for a moment, and continued, "The appearance, manners, and voice are all exactly the same as the original Ami, I can't say a word, but she is a little different from the original second sister. My second sister is a bit stubborn when it comes to what is different. Every time I go to the toilet and come back to wash my hands, I must first hold the water spoon with my left hand and start washing with my right hand. Before this, she never used her right hand to hold the water ladle first. But recently, the second sister always holds the water ladle with her right hand first, and starts washing with her left hand. It is also a trivial matter. The second sister hates the pillow towel being wet with sweat, Sometimes when she wakes up in the middle of her sleep, she often asks me, who is sleeping beside her, to get a new pillow towel to replace. But recently, she seems to have forgotten about it, and she just lays her head on the dirty pillow towel that would definitely feel disgusting before."
"Let me ask you a question. Since when did you discover that your second sister was abnormal?"
"It was the evening of the 7th of this month. The second sister's condition took a turn for the worse that day. She died for a while, and her hands and feet became cold. Everyone almost cried and wanted to prepare her funeral. I began to feel that something was wrong with the second sister. It should be the day after that , about eight days."
Ako Juro stretched out his hand to touch his fat chin and said, "Okay, I understand. In the environment that Ami girl was in at that time, was it easy to be dropped by others?"
Li Jiang shook his head violently and said, "Sis, because of her fever, she is prone to chills and cannot be exposed to the wind, so she has been letting her sleep in the dozo. And that dozo is not an ordinary dozo, but a zashiki dozo. It is in the center of the courtyard, surrounded by They are all corridors. Dozang is far away from the courtyard, and even farther away from the entrance and the back door.” Li Jiang blinked and recalled, “In addition, my father, mother and I took turns to keep vigil for my sister. They are all accompanied by someone, no matter what happens, it is impossible to bring the seriously ill sister out of the soil. It is even more difficult for the double to sneak into the soil after going through many mansions."
"This is really weird." Jajuro nodded again and again, "By the way, what do you want to ask today?"
Li Jiang looked at Agu wisely and said: "What I beg you to do is related to the second sister. Although no matter what, it is impossible for someone to break into the soil to remove the bag, but now the second sister is indeed, completely changed. The other person is not the original sister. I want to ask you to unravel the mystery and find out what is going on, so I came to pay a special visit. If you investigate and find that it is indeed not a bag swap, then I can rest assured , stop thinking about it.”
Shou Song had been listening to Li Jiang's words attentively, then suddenly turned his eyes and interjected: "Mr. Agu Juro, this must have been swapped."
Jajuro said in surprise: "I thought you were dozing off, but you were awake. You suddenly interrupted a sentence, which scared the lady. Let's not talk about it, why did you say that you must have been dropped?" Woolen cloth?"
"It can only be because of being dropped. Even my own sister said that my sister has changed. What else could it be if she didn't get dropped? No matter how you look at it in theory, since the intuition is so, there must be nothing wrong!..."
"Hmph, Mr. Dodosuke, have you heard what Shomatsu said? Let me ask Mr. Shomatsu how to sneak into the Zashido store in such a deep house and compound, and put the seriously ill , The real Ami girl is secretly replaced by others without anyone noticing, can you explain?"
"What's so difficult?" Shou Song turned to Li Jiang and continued, "You just said that Miss Ami once died, right?"
"Yes, that's right!..."
"At that time, you went to the burial shop and brought the coffin, right?"
"Yes, it's here."
"So, that fake Ami must have been hiding in the coffin, and entered the Zashiki Dozo all the way, taking advantage of the chaos to put Ami who was under the blanket into the coffin, and pretended to be resurrected from the dead. People come back to life, of course there is no need for a coffin It's not auspicious, and the host will definitely return the coffin as soon as possible. In this way, the accomplice who was waiting at the side nodded and bowed and said "I'm sorry", and carried away the coffin containing the real Ami girl. Therefore, Miss, on the second day after the resurrection chaos, you felt that your sister was a different person, which is all for granted. Because your sister was replaced by such means."
Dodosuke clapped his hands and said, "This prisoner is definitely an expert. It's really clever to think of using a coffin to switch bags."
"So, just after you arrived at the steps of the middle entrance, a servant came out and said that the patient suddenly came back to life. I'm sorry, can you please carry it back?"
Fukagawa, at the entrance of Hiranoya, a funerary store in Reiganjimonzencho, the old shopkeeper of Hiranoya, Denemon, was sitting at the door to greet Senba Akojuro.
Nadenemon had only a bunch of white hair left on his head, his waist was bent, and his ears couldn't hear clearly.He bent his body, put his hands on his knees and replied: "Exactly. We just unloaded the guy who was bathed and put it on the step, and a servant ran out from inside and said these words We brought the coffin back before it touched the ground. As I said just now, Miss Ami and my granddaughter Saolang are friends who learn dance together. Every time they come back from learning dance, they will come to my house to play, and The two of Sao Lang were reviewing the dance they learned that day. We heard that Miss Ami was ill, and Sao Lang and we were also very worried.
"At around eight o'clock in the night of the seventh day, Wanwu sent a messenger, saying that Miss Ami had just passed away. Let us send a coffin over there. Miss Ami is my granddaughter Saulang's good friend after all, the old guy can't do it. In addition, at least help her carry a coffin. I called the clerk in the store, took the guy who was bathed and cleansed, and leaned on crutches, and sent the coffin to Wanwu."
"So that's how it is." Agu Juro nodded and said, "Just in case, let me ask you again, are you sure that the coffin you sent did not enter the house through the entrance?"
"Don't talk about going inside, I haven't even unloaded the coffin."
Jajuro clasped his arms and said, "Okay, I understand. Let me ask again by the way, it sounds a bit out of tune. On the way to Wanwu, did you unload the coffin to rest?"
"Momori Town is very close to my shop, and the situation was urgent, so there was no time to rest." Denemon said loudly, thumping his feet.
"Yes, you are right. Besides, there are so many strange things in this world. Do you feel that the coffin you carried that day was heavier than usual?"
"The coffin is either made of cypress or cedar. It can be as heavy as it should be. It's impossible to feel heavier than usual on a single day." Denemon said excitedly, "Don't underestimate my old body! .”
"Wow ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha... I'm sorry for my slip of the tongue, sorry for disturbing you."
Ako Juro left Hiranoya in a daze, and went to Jingshinji Temple in the monzencho of Lingyan Temple.He walked to the cemetery along the right side of the main hall, and Shousong hurried out from the entrance of the cemetery.
"Fast hands and feet. How about it, is there any trace of the coffin being opened?"
Shou Song nodded and said: "Yes, the outside of the coffin has traces of prying with a shovel, and the coffin lid also has traces of opening. But the traces are not new, no matter how you look at it, it was done two or three months ago."
"I reckon it's also about this time. If Amei started planning after her death, it would be impossible to complete so many elaborate arrangements. Thinking about it this way, then Amei should have been poisoned by them little by little. Killed without leaving a trace. I think it must have been planned a long time ago."
"The person who transferred the package was the young lady who was worth 500,000 taels. They made a lot of money. You are right, the case should be as you just said. By the way, Mr. Agu Juro, you can check How's it going?"
Jajuro stretched out his hand and scratched his head, and said, "It's all in vain!... I listened to your analysis, went to investigate, and returned in shame. Shousong, I'm sorry, the coffin didn't enter the entrance at all, let alone We're in the back room."
"What?..." Matsugoro raised his eyes in surprise.
"The coffin is carried by the one who dotes on Miss Ami, the old shopkeeper of the Hiranoya family. He has never put down the coffin, nor has he rested. Not only that, the coffin has never been unloaded from Denemon's back. It's rare. You thought of this method, but, it seems, you have to give up the idea of the coffin."
"So, what method did the prisoner use?"
"You ask me, how do I know." Aguchang said, looking up at the sun, and continued, "The wedding will be held at 7 pm, and there are less than six hours left. We have to figure out a way before they have a cup of wine. , can’t waste time here. Before going to the burial temple in Otsukahara, check the headless female body found in Hachikenbori. Although the prisoner should not be so bold, he secretly replaced Ami girl from Momori Town, chopped Lose the head and throw it into the nearby Hachikenbori, but there is no certainty. If it is really Miss Ami’s body, it will be in our favor.”
"You're right. Starting today, it's my turn to be on the monthly shift. You don't have to worry about it and check it out." Matsugoro said excitedly, "Let's go quickly."
The two hailed a sedan chair at Senju, and rushed to Otsukahara. After explaining to the Tongxin guard at the funeral temple, they found a non-human handyman and asked him to carry a shovel to the funeral pit.
The corpses buried in the monastery did not have coffins or straw mats. They just found a place on the grassland, dug a shallow hole, piled the corpses in a pile, covered them with sand, and inserted a piece of sand at the end. A wooden plaque stating the date of burial and the sex of the body, nothing more.
The three of them walked to a brand-new wooden tombstone—on the 14th day of the eighth month of the year Yichou, female.
"Bastard, it's here." Zayi said, pointing to the tomb marker.
"Please dig it out, and be careful not to hurt the corpse."
The non-human handyman took a shovel, dug up the low soil buns, and dug up.Because of the continuous rain, the grave was very muddy and difficult to dig.
The handyman dug up the dirt, and after digging for a while, he suddenly stopped his shovel and said, "Master, it's gone!..."
"What did you say?"
"The corpse is gone!..."
Shou Song was shocked and said: "How...how is it possible! You...you can't dig the wrong place; right?"
"Impossible. You see, it says the fourteenth day of the eighth month of the year of Yi Chou. I was the one who buried her, so I can't be wrong."
"Hey, give me the shovel."
Shoumatsu Goro took the shovel and dug vigorously for a long time, but all he dug out were stones and tree roots.
Xianbo Akojuro looked solemn, and persuaded: "Shousong, don't dig, it's a waste of effort. I don't think no matter how hard you dig, you can't find Miss Ami's body. If it doesn't rain, maybe you can leave some clues. But it's been raining for days...I can't help it. Now I understand that the one whose head was chopped off and thrown in Hachikenbori is indeed Miss Ami. Since the criminal is so vicious, we have to show some real skills Come on. The Ami girl who held the wedding today is a guy who looks like a twin with the real person. Needless to say, Jin Saburo is also the same. They still have two or three accomplices. Maybe there is an accomplice in Wanwu's family. "
"What?..." Matsugoro opened his eyes in disbelief.
"In short, the real Ami was indeed transferred by the criminals and transported out of Wanwu. What kind of methods did they use? Go to the field to investigate, and maybe they can find clues." Ako Juro said, suddenly stood up, "Let's go to Wanhe's house in Fukagawa. I'm your assistant in the public name. If I don't say that, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do things."
"I see." Matsugoro nodded.
After discussing carefully along the way, the two rushed to Momori Town in Fukagawa.Shou Song has a close relationship with Wan He, so he quickly enters the back room.
Today is the day of daughter Ami's great joy, Wanhe's house is very lively.Red lanterns were hung at the door of the house, red felt was spread in the shop, and golden screens were placed. The shopkeeper was wearing a formal dress, and the leader of the handyman was wearing a gown with the shop logo printed on it.
Because of the special time, Wanwu Kazusuke, who is usually gentle and kind, has some this time, and thinks that the two of them came at an inappropriate time. However, Matsugoro and Aguchang are not reluctant, they searched the house all over, and finally came to Miss Ami The Zashiki dozo where he slept.
The Fudozo was built in a very lively style, reminiscent of the residence of the concubines in Ookuchu.The house is surrounded by long corridors, enclosing a five-hundred-square-meter atrium, and Tuzang is built in the middle of the atrium.
Ako Juro pretended to be assisting Shoumatsu Goro, and went into the soil to investigate secretly.Later, he leaned into Shousong's ear and said, "I thought there was a dark hole leading to the outside of this soil, but after careful inspection, I found that it was not the case. The investigation here is almost done. You can ask me as I just said. Just ask Wanwu Kazusuke."
Shou Song nodded, walked up to Wan He and said, "Mr. Wan Wu, I would like to ask you a question. Miss Ami died once, and she should be preparing to purify her body at that time. At that time, the coffin came into this fudo store Yet?"
Wan He nodded and said, "The child died at five o'clock in the afternoon. We cried and changed her into a shroud, and left the maid Ah Shi to accompany her. Everyone else went to the hall to discuss the time of the funeral. After an hour, Ah Shi Suddenly burst into tears, rushed into the room and shouted, "Miss is alive." We immediately asked Hiranoya to carry the coffin back, and ran into Zashiki Dozura scrambling to see, Ami was opening his eyes, I stared blankly at the ceiling. We called her name, and heard her answer twice in a deep voice. Thank God, it was just like a dream. I was about to celebrate at home when I caught a glimpse of Dozo Gate. There are coffins and bathing tools, what a mess! When I saw those things, they immediately caught fire and rushed to my shop. The servant Hesan happened to pass by the corridor, so he grabbed him and asked, "Bastard, didn't you say that the Hirano House will Why didn't I tell others when I brought the things back.' He San said, "The Hiranoya heard that we were in a hurry to use them. We just delivered the things, so it was a step late." I told him that the coffin was placed in the Zashiki dozo. The door is too bad, anyway, quickly find someone to move it away."
Shou Song waved his hand and said: "Okay, I understand, as long as I know these things. I'm really sorry that we came to disturb your family's big day. The evaluation in this world is really unpredictable. Today we received a secret report , There is no way to just sit back and watch. But these routine inspections are just for show, now that the cutscene is over, we will withdraw now, please don't take it to heart."
Walking out of Wanwu's shop, Jajuro said with a smile: "How about it, Shousong, it's as I inferred, there were two coffins that day. I guess they must have secretly poisoned them long ago, pinching the dose of poison, it is very clear that Ami girl When will he die? Seeing that Wanhe asked Hiranoya to buy a coffin, he took advantage of the opportunity to send the coffin that had been prepared a long time ago as the coffin that had just been delivered, so that no one would be suspicious. Only the daughter was left beside Ami Servant Ah Shi, Na Ah Shi is also of the same kind, assisting the friend who brought in the coffin to exchange the counterfeit goods in the coffin with Ami’s body. The other friend was guarding the middle entrance and saw the old shopkeeper of Hirano House carrying the coffin , and directly refused. Hey, this technique is actually extremely simple. Why can’t you understand such a simple thing? Let me tell you, it’s strange that you can’t understand it.”
Shoumatsu Goro shook his head in shame and said, "One person dies with one coffin. I've always thought of this in my mind. I never thought that there would be two. Hey, it's so negligent."
"About this case, I have a solution. However, I have to trouble you to go back to Wanwu and invite Miss Lijiang out for me. I will wait for you in front of the Dishi Hall in Jingxin Temple. If Lijiang agrees to my request, today There will be a good show tonight."
The Wanwu family is a big family that runs a lumberyard, ten times richer than the Nara Shigeru family. No matter what the Wanhe family does, it is a big deal, and this wedding also intends to celebrate the recovery of the dying daughter. Therefore, he Spend a lot of money to decorate the home extremely luxuriously.
The wooden grids on the ceiling are all painted with gold lacquer, and the lacquered frames of the pillars are decorated with red copper carved gold caviar patterns to hide the nail heads.On the front of the fifty-tatami living room, there is a golden screen, and the floor is covered with a large felt imported from the Netherlands.In the big vases on the left and right sides, thick pine branches are inserted all over, almost touching the roof, and a live crane is placed on each of the pine trees on both sides.There are six tatami-sized Senzan bonsais in the living room. Actors from Saruwakacho, dressed as old men and women, are invited to stand in the bonsai. The stones used in the bonsai are genuine Horai stones.The tortoise used as decoration is also a living king, and the character "longevity" is written in gold mud on the shell of the tortoise, which is really extravagant.
The bride and groom sit in front of the big bonsai, and the relatives and friends arrange their seats according to their closeness, and all of them attend the wedding ceremony.Finally, when the bride and groom exchanged glasses of wine and tied the knot, suddenly a vague figure flashed out from under a pine tree in the spacious courtyard.
The figure was wearing pajamas made of white feather double material, completely soaked, with algae and water chestnut leaves on the shoulders and cuffs, upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a headless female ghost standing upright.
A guest sitting in the corridor saw it and screamed in fright.Everyone went in without knowing it, and looked back one after another.The boy and girl serving the wine for the bride and groom looked back and said "Look at that" before dropping the long-handled wine pot in fright, and collapsed on the tatami with their necks up.
Because of this voice, Ami, who had been bowing his head respectfully, lifted up the corner of the bridal cotton hat he was wearing, glanced at it, and suddenly changed his expression: "Stop... stop joking!... Beast!..." She immediately picked up the big red wine glass on the wine tray and threw it at the undead.Ami grabbed the hand of the groom, Jin Saburo, who was sitting beside him, and shouted excitedly: "Hey, Meihua, look at things like that standing in the yard, I think everything has been exposed. The most important thing to be a human being is to finish decisively. Let's run quickly, slow down." One step is afraid of being caught."
Beside Kim Saburo are two burly men who claim to be Kiso's relatives and follow him to serve Kim Saburo.They stood up suddenly, took off their kimono skirt pants, fell on the tatami, and shouted: "Boss, Alian is right, the matter has reached its limit. Since you can't take root here, then retreat decisively. In the end, we are still the sea. Thief, even if you become the richest man in Edo and become the son-in-law of this family, the matter will not be exposed, but I don’t know how much money you can get with this ticket. We have not been ashore for long, and we have fallen into this situation , or run away before the pursuers arrive."
Jin Sanlang lifted up the leg of his culottes, crossed his legs, and shouted, "Even if we rob all of China and India, we won't be able to earn half a million taels of gold in a lifetime. I heard the story of Jin Sanlang in a tavern in Xiamen. So I poisoned him. It happened that Ah Lian from Shaanxi looks exactly like A Mi, so I recruited four of them to put on such a good show. Ah Shi from Ningbo pretended to be a maid and sneaked into the mansion. Plum planted arsenic and slowly poisoned her to death. I followed the story of the ghost story "Golden Phoenix Hairpin" to plan the plot. Seeing that the moat in Kiba was full of wood, I thought with all my heart that the corpse would not float up, just like Ami's body was thrown away casually like a dead body in the sea. I didn't want this move to bring us bad luck, so we had to rush to the burial temple and steal the body. The mistake has been made, and it is useless to struggle. This time Although I fell short, I am only the son of a fisherman in Akashi-no-Hama, and now I am sitting on the seat of the adopted son of Manwa with a family property of 500,000. I have no regrets in this life. If you want to escape, you can escape by yourself. I just want to sit here .”
After the groom finished speaking, he stretched his hands and feet and lay down on the seat.
Since the end of Anzheng (1860), Meihua Xinji and his gang have been attacking and looting the fishing villages along the coast of Taizhou and Fuzhou in China for a long time.The two pretending to be relatives of Plum Blossoms are the captains of the pirate ship, one is called Boss Quan Liu, and the other is Wang Hachio Taro.
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