Because Granny Yu actually found some free time to chat with him.
Of course, given the busyness before the New Year, Granny Yu knew she shouldn't disturb the master's important business. She just came to ask if the master had seen the paintings of ladies she had shown him last time.
Long Er couldn't recall where Li Ke had thrown the large basket of scrolls, so he vaguely replied with a "hmm".
Granny Yu quickly followed up, "Is there anyone you like or find agreeable?" She knew that the New Year period was the best time to visit and make arrangements. If the Second Master had a girl he liked, she could prepare gifts, visit the family's steward, and inquire about her. She could also have a matchmaker visit and speak on his behalf.
Ryuji naturally answered no.
Granny Yu then asked, "What kind of beauty does the Second Master prefer?"
As for the criteria for choosing a wife, Granny Yu had asked Long Er no less than ten times. Each time, Long Er would give vague answers and give all the excuses and conditions he could think of. As a result, Granny Yu's selection of women became more and more meticulous. Long Er understood that he had to carefully consider how to state these conditions, otherwise, if he was not careful, Granny Yu would seize on this and force a girl on him, which would be troublesome.
Long Er thought it over and over. If we're talking about virtuous people, Granny Yu could definitely name several; if we're talking about good-natured people, there's no shortage of them; if we're talking about talent, Granny Yu could pick and choose and find that everyone is excellent; as for appearance, well, if they weren't beautiful, Granny Yu wouldn't be so confident.
Long Er was distressed. "Sigh, it seems that all the conditions I mentioned in the past will be rejected by Granny Yu this time."
Having run out of ideas, Long Er turned to think again. Looking at the few green bamboos outside the window, he suddenly said, "Granny, you have worked hard for me, but if I were to marry, I would definitely marry a very special woman."
“Special?” Granny Yu was taken aback. “What does Second Master mean by ‘special’? Exceptionally handsome, exceptionally virtuous, exceptionally talented…”
Long Er raised his hand to interrupt her, saying, "Granny, what I mean by special is that she is so special that people don't care about her appearance, her personality, or her talent."
Granny Yu was stunned. The words were so convoluted. What exactly was so special about this?
Besides, how come I heard that such a woman has no other merits besides being special? And can being special really be considered a merit?
Granny Yu was confused. What did this mean?
Seeing Granny Yu's confused look, Long Er smiled and emphasized, "I, Long Er, am determined to marry a very, very special woman." In truth, he himself didn't know what kind of woman would be special; as long as he could get rid of Granny Yu, that would be good enough.
Granny Yu really couldn't think of any girl who was this "special". She planned to ask the most famous matchmaker in the capital. In order to give an explanation to the deceased master and mistress, she had to find a girl who would please the second master.
Long Er got away with it again and was happy. But his good mood didn't last even a day.
As night was drawing to a close, just as Long Er was preparing to leave the study and return to his quarters, a subordinate rushed in to report that Manager Lü of Shenglong Tea House in the Long family mansion had been arrested at Fuyunlai Inn on West Right Street on charges of murdering Zhu Fu, the owner of Xiangfu Tea House. Because he was caught at the scene of the murder, he was now being taken to the government office.
Human life is at stake, and there are eyewitnesses. The prefect has already opened the court and is ready to conduct an immediate trial.
Upon hearing this, Long Er hurriedly ordered his horse to be prepared. In recent years, he had planned to expand his tea business, and Zhu Fu's Xiangfu Tea Shop was experiencing a slight loss, but its foundation was solid. Long Er took a liking to it and wanted to buy it as part of the Long family business.
This matter was to be handled by Manager Lü. The news that Manager Lü had been reporting these past few days was that Zhu Fu had hesitated repeatedly, but he was confident that he could accomplish the task in a few days. However, unexpectedly, news came that he had killed Zhu Fu.
Long Er made the following arrangements: First, he sent someone to the government office to inquire and find out the situation. Second, he sent someone to Manager Lü's house to inform him and make arrangements for the Lü family. Third, he ordered people to investigate the deceased Zhu Fu's connections and affairs.
After giving the instructions, Long Er mounted his horse and galloped off with his men to check out the Fuyunlai Inn.
Long Er didn't believe that Manager Lü had committed murder.
Long Er had a keen eye for talent. Manager Lü was a good writer and a connoisseur of fine tea, unlike most businessmen. But Long Er recognized his character and temperament and put him in charge of the Long family's tea business.
Manager Lü had served Long Er for many years and was known for his kind heart and compassion. He was a vegetarian and a devout Buddhist, and treated people with great generosity. Tea drinking is about refined taste, and business is about integrity; Manager Lü possessed both qualities. With Long Er's clever promotion and the spread of word, it became a topic of discussion among the wealthy and powerful. While good tea wasn't exclusive to Long's tea shop, buying tea from Manager Lü not only guaranteed no inferior goods, but also represented the highest level of elegance, sophistication, and prestige.
As a result, Manager Lü's tea shop business flourished. Yet, he remained humble and diligent, working even more conscientiously. This earned him even more admiration from Long Er.
Now that he's been accused of murder, Ryuji's first thought is that something is amiss.
Long Er quickly arrived at the Fuyunlai Inn. At that moment, a few people had gathered at the entrance of the inn. It seemed that a murder had occurred, and the people had been awakened and were whispering among themselves.
Long Er gave a signal, and his men immediately understood and went to investigate. Long Er spurred his horse forward, traveling from one end of the street to the other, carefully surveying the surroundings. He then circled the Fuyunlai Inn, silently memorizing who was there and what the situation was.
Although the inn was the scene of a murder, there were many people inside, so there was no fear of any further complications. However, the outer perimeter was the easiest place to overlook. Therefore, Long Er first walked around to make sure he was well-inspected before entering the Fortune Inn.
At this time, there were yamen runners carrying lanterns guarding the streets and inns on West Right Street. The guest room on the second floor of the backyard where the incident occurred was guarded tightly by several yamen runners, and the constables were searching the room for evidence.
Long Er examined the scene carefully, and waited for his subordinates to investigate and return with a report. They said that Prefect Qiu Ruoming had personally come to the scene to investigate and had now returned to the prefectural office with the corpse, suspects, and relevant personnel.
Long Er nodded, gave a few instructions, and left his men there to continue the investigation. He then left the inn, mounted his horse, and headed to the government office.
Although it was late at night, the government office was brightly lit.
Li Ke arrived earlier and, having already inquired about the situation, rushed to greet Long Er and quickly reported in a low voice: "Boss Zhu was found dead in room number six on the second floor of the Fuyunlai Inn. There is also a woman injured and unconscious at the scene. When Manager Lü was discovered, he was covered in blood and holding a dagger, checking the woman's breath." Long Er nodded, remaining expressionless, and simply waved to the guards.
The guards recognized the famous Master Long Er. Someone had already gone in to report, and soon came out to lead Master Long Er into the yamen.
In the main hall, the yamen runners stood in two neat rows. Prefect Qiu Ruoming sat high in the hall, his eyes piercing, exuding a certain majesty. Upon seeing Long Er arrive, he rose, cupped his hands in greeting, and called to his men, "Please take a seat."
Long Er clasped his hands in thanks to Qiu Ruoming, saying, "Thank you, sir." Then he sat down without any hesitation.
Qiu Ruoming understood why Long Er had come here, so he spoke frankly upfront: "Master Long, a murder occurred at Fuyunlai Inn tonight. Zhu Fu, the manager of Xiangfu Tea House, was killed. Lü Sixian was caught on the spot at the crime scene. Human life is of paramount importance, and I will definitely investigate thoroughly to seek justice for the deceased."
Long Er bowed and said, "Your Excellency is upright and incorruptible, and you have a keen eye for detail. You will surely bring the real culprit to justice. Although Lü Sixian is the manager of my family's tea shop, if he has committed evil, I will not show him any favoritism. However, if there is another reason, I will do my best to help Your Excellency find the real culprit."
These words left Qiu Ruoming speechless, unable to respond. This Second Master Long was notoriously stingy and protective of his own; his words clearly carried a hidden meaning and conveyed a sense of pressure.
Lu Sixian was arrested on the spot, and the constables also discovered that he had been in frequent contact with the deceased Zhu Fu recently, because the Long family wanted to buy Zhu Fu's shop. Zhu Fu had been hesitant to agree, so the motive for the crime was quite strong. However, the case had not yet gone to trial. Although Qiu Ruoming already had some convictions, he still needed evidence and reason to convict him.
Now that Long Er is watching the court hearing, Qiu Ruoming knows that he must be extremely careful in this case. In addition to bringing the murderer to justice, he must also convince everyone that the case is fair and square. He cannot afford to make any mistakes that would give Long Er something to hold against him.
At this moment, a yamen runner hurriedly came in and whispered to Qiu Ruoming. Long Er took this opportunity to look at the various people in the yamen.
Lu Sixian knelt in the hall, his body stained with blood and his face pale, but his eyes met Long Er's without flinching, as if he were completely honest: "Second Master, I did not kill Boss Zhu. I have never done anything evil."
Long Er nodded slightly to him, indicating that he would not back down. He said, "Don't be impatient. Lord Qiu is fair and just. Since you are innocent, he will definitely find out the truth and give you justice."
A heavy accusation was slapped on his head, and Qiu Ruoming, listening from the side, pursed his lips. He gave the constable a few instructions, and the constable took his leave.
Long Er looked behind Lü Sixian, where four men stood. Long Er's eyes swept over them one by one. Li Ke whispered in Long Er's ear, "The fat man in blue and the old man in green are both Zhu's employees. One is called Afu, and the other is called Jiang Ying. The tall, thin man is a resident of Fuyunlai Inn, named Liang Ping. The one behind him wearing the employee's clothes is Shanzi, the inn's waiter. They were the first two to see Zhu.
At this moment, two constables and a coroner carried in a corpse. When the shroud was lifted, it was Zhu Fu.
The coroner presented the autopsy report and loudly proclaimed, "Your Honor, the cause of death of the deceased Zhu Fu has been determined. He died from stab wounds inflicted by a dagger. The murderer stabbed him twice, both times from behind, once in the waist and once in the left back chest."
As the coroner was speaking, a bailiff led in a woman. As soon as she entered, she collapsed beside Zhu Fu's body and wailed, crying out, "Husband, husband, you died so tragically..."
Qiu Ruoming slammed his hand on the wooden clapper and asked loudly, "Is the visitor Zhu Chenshi?"
Zhu Fu's widow tearfully agreed, and Qiu Ruoming said, "You stand aside and wait for me to investigate the truth and give your husband justice."
Zhu Chenshi cried incessantly, wiping away her tears, and kowtowed three times before being helped aside by the yamen runners.
At this moment, a constable presented a dagger: "Sir, this was found at the crime scene. It was in Lü Sixian's hand at the time. The coroner has confirmed that it is the murder weapon."
Qiu Ruoming picked up the dagger and examined it carefully. He nodded and began to ask, "Lü Sixian, do you plead guilty?"
Lu Sixian kowtowed: "My lord, I did not kill anyone, I am innocent."
"Then how do you explain yourself, in the dead of night, in an inn, holding a dagger, covered in blood?"
"My lord, I did meet with Boss Zhu at Dasheng Restaurant on West Right Street at noon today, but we went back to our respective residences shortly after noon. Last night, I was burning incense and chanting sutras when Boss Zhu's employee came to me looking for someone. He said that his boss had not returned since he came out to see me. I told him about our whereabouts today and said that we would split up to look for him."
As he said this, he turned and glanced at Afu and Jiang Ying, who nodded and said that was indeed the case.
Lu Sixian continued, "I went to several places that Boss Zhu had mentioned frequenting, but I didn't see him. Then I thought of the Dasheng Restaurant where we drank today. The waiter there said he had seen Boss Zhu in the evening and had even invited him to come in for another drink, but Boss Zhu seemed to be in a bad mood and ignored him, just walking forward with his head down. The waiter saw the waiter from the Fuyunlai Inn ahead stop Boss Zhu to solicit business, and Boss Zhu stopped for a moment and actually went inside. The waiter from Dasheng Restaurant was unhappy about losing that business, so he kept remembering it. After hearing this, I went to the Fuyunlai Inn to look for him. When I went in, the waiter was sleeping on the table. When he saw me asking, he yawned and said he knew that Boss Zhu was staying in room number six on the second floor of the back courtyard guest rooms. He was sitting there and didn't get up, so I went to the back courtyard guest rooms myself."
Qiu Ruoming asked, "Is it this waiter behind you?"
Lu Sixian turned around and shook his head: "It's not this one, that one is older."
The waiter, Shanzi, hurriedly said, "Today, Da Hu and I are on duty in the front hall. He must be referring to Da Hu. Earlier, this guest came looking for..." He pointed to Liang Ping beside him and continued, "This guest said he was hungry and wanted to find some food. He also said that the lanterns in the corridor on the second floor were out. I peeked out and saw that it was true. So I took him to the kitchen to get some steamed buns and side dishes, and then we went to the storeroom to get a good lantern and lit it. When we went back up to the second floor, we passed room number six and saw two people lying on the ground, the ground was covered in blood, and he was holding a dagger, checking the breath of the woman who had fallen on the ground."
Lu Sixian kowtowed and said, "Your Honor, please investigate. I went up to the second floor myself and saw that the door to room number six was open. Boss Zhu and Miss Ju were lying on the ground, covered in blood. I was shocked and quickly went over to check their breathing. Boss Zhu was already dead, while Miss Ju was holding a dagger and was unconscious. I instinctively took the dagger to examine her and checked her breathing again. She was still breathing. I was just about to call for help when these two came over."
Lu Sixian pointed to Shanzi and Liangping: "Before I could react, they started shouting, and everyone took me as a suspect and brought me here."
When Long Er heard the words "Miss Ju", his heart skipped a beat. Could it be the Miss Ju he knew?
Qiu Ruoming asked, "You mean, the dagger was originally in that girl's hands?"
"Yes," Lü Sixian said, then quickly added, "I know Miss Ju. She is frail, doesn't know martial arts, and is blind, so she couldn't possibly kill anyone. I've never heard of her knowing Boss Zhu either."
Upon hearing this, Long Er was certain that the unconscious woman lying in a pool of blood, clutching a dagger, was Ju Mu'er.
That Ju Mu'er, who always liked to annoy him and make him angry.
The 11th trial of the mysterious case: a blind woman proposes marriage.
Lu Sixian continued, "I only took the dagger because I knew both of them, and it was strange that Miss Ju was carrying a dagger. But I never killed anyone, nor did I injure Miss Ju."
Qiu Ruoming stared at him for a moment, then asked the bailiffs below the hall, "Has the injured and unconscious woman woken up? If she is alright, summon her to the hall."
The constable obeyed and left. Taking advantage of this moment, Qiu Ruoming asked Shanzi, the waiter at Fuyunlai Inn, about the situation when Zhu Fu checked into the inn and whether there were any visitors.
Shanzi replied, "When Boss Zhu walked past the inn, it was the business I was soliciting. Boss Zhu seemed to be in a bad mood, but he didn't say anything. After entering the inn, he just kept drinking. He drank too much, and I had to help him to his room and help him to sleep. After that, there was no further news, and I didn't see any visitors looking for him."
Qiu Ruoming nodded after listening, and then asked Zhu Fu's subordinates, Afu and Jiang Ying, whether their master had any grudges against anyone. The two said that Zhu Fu was an honest man who usually had no grudges against anyone, and that he had a deep affection for his wife, Zhu Chenshi. They had never seen them quarrel. These days, the only thing that had been bothering Zhu Fu was whether or not to sell the tea shop; they hadn't heard him mention anything else.
Zhu Chenshi kept wiping away tears, sobbing as she recounted how honest and kind her husband was, how the tea shop was the lifeblood of their family, and how he must have been unwilling to sell it, which led to the argument with Lü Sixian, and how he had poisoned her. She cried and begged Qiu Ruoming to intervene on her behalf.
Just then, a maid helped Ju Mu'er in.
Ju Mu'er's thick clothes were stained with blood, and she had a head wound with bloodstains on the bandage. Long Er couldn't help but look at her closely. Had she become even thinner? Her face was pitifully pale. She frowned, looking listless and sickly.
Seeing her like this, Long Er felt extremely uncomfortable.
Holding a bamboo cane and supported by the yamen woman's wrist, Ju Mu'er carefully stepped inside. The yamen woman had already explained the situation to her, so Ju Mu'er understood what was going on. She entered, bowed slightly, and then stood still, waiting for instructions.
Qiu Ruoming asked loudly, "Is the one who comes Ju Mu'er?"
Ju Mu'er raised her head and bowed again in Qiu Ruoming's direction: "Reporting to Your Excellency, it is indeed I, Ju Mu'er." Her voice was soft and gentle, sounding somewhat weak. Long Er was a little dazed, thinking that it seemed like he hadn't heard her speak in a long time; her voice was much nicer when she was more energetic.
"Ju Mu'er, this is the courtroom. I am currently handling the case of Zhu Fu's murder at the Fuyunlai Inn tonight. Tell me, why were you at the scene of the murder?" Qiu Ruoming asked Ju Mu'er directly, without beating around the bush.
Ju Mu'er told her that the music store had asked her for help, and that she had too much work to finish and couldn't go home, so she booked an inn to stay there for one night.
Upon hearing this, Qiu Ruoming summoned a yamen runner and ordered him to bring over the people from Xianyin Qin Shop for questioning to see if what Ju Mu'er said was true.
The constable left, having received his orders. Qiu Ruoming then asked Ju Mu'er if she knew Zhu Fu. Ju Mu'er replied that she did not. He then asked her if she knew Lü Sixian, and this time Ju Mu'er nodded and said she did.
After a moment's thought, Qiu Ruoming asked again, "Ju Mu'er, Lü Sixian was the first person to find you after the incident. He said you were holding a dagger and had fainted next to Zhu Fu. Tell me, if you didn't know Zhu Fu, why did you enter his room? The dagger you were holding was the murder weapon that killed Zhu Fu. How do you explain that?"
Ju Mu'er opened her mouth wide in surprise: "I, I'm holding a dagger?"
"That's exactly right."
Ju Mu'er shook her head, frowning and biting her lip in thought. Her silence prompted Qiu Ruoming to slam his gavel and shout, "Ju Mu'er, answer my question!"
Long Er frowned, looking at Ju Mu'er's confused and panicked face, and was very dissatisfied with Qiu Ruoming's tone. "It's just that I answered you a little late, is it really necessary to yell and shout like that? You have no patience at all, what kind of case are you trying to investigate?"
Ju Mu'er was startled by Qiu Ruoming's shout. She opened her mouth to speak, but Qiu Ruoming interrupted her, saying, "You must be blind and have mistaken the door for Zhu Fu's. Zhu Fu was drunk and couldn't recognize who it was. He acted frivolously, and in your panic, you got into a fight with him. You stabbed him with a dagger and seriously injured him. With his last breath, he knocked you unconscious with the teapot on the table."
Ju Mu'er shook her head in surprise. What kind of story was this?
However, Zhu Chenshi had already taken Qiu Ruoming's speculation to heart. Ju Mu'er had just shouted, "My lord, the murderer is someone else!" before she could finish speaking, Zhu Chenshi excitedly pounced on Ju Mu'er, pushed her to the ground, and began to beat her, saying, "It must be you, you slut! So it was you who killed my husband!"
Ju Mu'er was completely defenseless and was punched several times in the blink of an eye. Long Er was furious. He pointed and Li Ke leaped over like an arrow, lifting Zhu Chenshi up. Long Er shouted, "What are you doing, throwing a tantrum? Don't you know where you are!"
Qiu Ruoming glared at him, annoyed. Wasn't this the kind of thing a prefect should say? Long Er returned the glare without any politeness.