Chapter 291

Side Story: Joy Record 3

The "him" Long Jingyun spoke of naturally referred to Wang Er, who had died from Half-Month Demise poisoning. Upon hearing this, Pei Yaoguang's expression immediately turned stern, and even Shui Yun, who had been silent on the side, frowned slightly.

One must know that this Wang Er was just an ordinary villager. The only thing that made him different from others was that he was literate and could calculate accounts, which was why he had worked as a steward for wealthy families in the city. But other than that, there was nothing else. How could such a person be poisoned with Half-Month Demise?

Furthermore, this Half-Month Demise was not an ordinary poison, so...

For a moment, several thoughts flashed through Pei Yaoguang's mind. Long Jingyun was no fool and naturally had his own ideas, but he didn't want to know about these messy affairs; whoever died had nothing to do with him. So, looking at Pei Yaoguang's solemn face, Long Jingyun simply lifted his chin and walked away with his head held high.

Once Long Jingyun left, Magistrate Liu on the side was already trembling with fear. Good heavens, Half... Half-Month Demise?! What kind of thing is that?! Damn that wretched, wicked ghost—wherever he wanted to cause trouble, why did he have to come here to commit a crime?! And to die so unluckily...

Magistrate Liu was both scared and angry, having already greeted the eighteen generations of the culprit's ancestors in his heart. But at the same time, he was even more worried about whether there was something else hidden in this. So, the anxious Magistrate Liu, after thinking it over, couldn't help but step forward and ask cautiously:

"Uh... Lord Pei, what... what should we do next?"

Magistrate Liu was not stupid, but he had never experienced such a thing. At this moment, Pei Yaoguang had already thought of a strategy, so he turned and walked outside while saying:

"Go to Wang Er's house!"

……

Wang Family Village was not far from the county town. Shortly after, led by the local Yamen Runners, Pei Yaoguang and the others arrived at Wang Er's house.

In the simple countryside, the conditions at Wang Er's house were considered quite good. After walking into the courtyard of Wang Er's house, Pei Yaoguang stood in the yard and looked around briefly, then went to Wang Er's room. Seeing Pei Yaoguang enter the room, Magistrate Liu wanted to follow without thinking, but before he could take a step, he heard Pei Yaoguang say:

"Stay here."

Hearing this, Magistrate Liu was stunned. At this moment, Pei Yaoguang, who had already reached the door, glanced back at him, but then his gaze flickered and landed on Shui Yun, who was standing in the courtyard, and he tilted his head slightly toward the room.

Clearly, Pei Yaoguang was signaling for Shui Yun to go in with him. Seeing this, Shui Yun frowned imperceptibly, but a moment later, she still stepped inside... Once inside, Pei Yaoguang, who had taken the lead, habitually glanced around.

Wang Er's room was quite spacious. Because it had been several days since the incident, the room had already been tidied up neatly. Pei Yaoguang scanned every corner of the room with his eyes, then gave an arrogant, light snort.

"Hmph, it's not even as good as where my servants live!"

Pei Yaoguang's nouveau riche aura exploded instantly. However, he was telling the truth; after all, if the Pei family was considered the richest in Dongling three years ago, then calling them the richest in the world now would not be an exaggeration. Of course, the Pei family knew how to conduct themselves, willingly donating large sums of silver to the imperial court every year, doing good deeds from time to time, and being very generous to those below them.

But even so, his nouveau riche aura still drew a look of disdain from Shui Yun. Then, too lazy to engage with him, Shui Yun walked into the room, looked left and right, and then came to the dressing table and casually opened a vanity box placed on it.

The vanity box was very ordinary. When opened, one could only see a few hairpins and a pair of jade bracelets.

Clearly, those ornaments should have belonged to the Liu woman. They were not particularly valuable, but in a place like Wang Family Village, they were definitely rare items. Shui Yun lowered her eyes and glanced at the ornaments, but then her gaze narrowed slightly, and she reached out to take out a gold hairpin from the very back.

"This gold hairpin is not from around here."

Shui Yun said with certainty. Hearing this, Pei Yaoguang, who had been staring at her, couldn't help but let his gaze fall on the gold hairpin, and his eyebrows moved.

"How can you tell?"

"The craftsmanship is different. This gold hairpin is common in the south; we almost don't have them here in the capital."

Shui Yun was a woman after all, so she was naturally much more knowledgeable about these things than Pei Yaoguang. Hearing Shui Yun's words, Pei Yaoguang narrowed his eyes slightly, then suddenly shouted:

"Someone, bring Wang Da to me."

Pei Yaoguang's voice was very loud, and his shout startled everyone in the courtyard. Then, Wang Da was brought in by the Yamen Runners.

At this moment, Wang Da was also extremely nervous. Seeing Wang Da enter, Pei Yaoguang turned around, sat down on a chair nearby, and looked Wang Da up and down.

"Wang Da, what do you do for a living?"

Wang Da knew that the person in front of him was a high-ranking official from the city who had come for his younger brother's case. He had originally thought Pei Yaoguang would ask him about the case, but he didn't expect him to ask this suddenly. For a moment, he was stunned, but then Wang Da lowered his head and said respectfully, with a hint of timidity:

"Replying... replying to the Lord, this commoner makes a living by farming."

"Then tell me about your younger brother, Wang Er!"

"Yes..."

Having no right to refuse, Wang Da calmed his heart and continued to answer in a low, respectful voice:

"My family only had two brothers. Because our late father had passed the scholar exam back in the day, both of us learned some characters when we were young. But I was dull and stopped learning after a few days. My younger brother was always smart, but later our father passed away and the family was in difficulty, so we didn't let him continue his studies..."

"Afterward, I started farming the few acres of poor land at home. Because my brother was literate, he went to the capital to be an apprentice. My brother was also smart and later learned the skill of accounting, then started to help the family. Even the money for my wedding back then was saved up bit by bit by my brother..."

It was evident that the bond between the brothers Wang Da and Wang Er was very deep. Pausing here, Wang Da continued:

"My brother became more and more successful and later got married. But not long after he got married, he said he was going out to find work, and this departure lasted for many years. Over these years, my brother often sent money back, and life at home got better and better, which is why we have this family business today. I just always felt that since life was good, my brother shouldn't have to work hard outside anymore, and I was hoping for him to come back soon, but who would have thought..."

Speaking to this point, Wang Da really couldn't go on. A man over forty, he just knelt on the ground with a thud and started crying, which made one's nose ache to watch.

Seeing this, Pei Yaoguang, sitting on the chair, wrinkled his nose. At this moment, Shui Yun on the side asked in a low voice:

"Do you know where your brother Wang Er has been working all these years?"

Shui Yun's voice was calm. Hearing this, Wang Da wiped his face with his sleeve and said with a choked voice:

"My brother didn't say, only that the place was a bit far and it wasn't easy to travel back and forth, so he wouldn't come back for the holidays..."

"Then, do you know about this hairpin?"

As she spoke, Shui Yun handed the gold hairpin she had taken from the vanity box to Wang Da. Looking at the gold hairpin in front of him, Wang Da was stunned for a while, then shook his head.

"This commoner doesn't know... However, it should have been a gift from my brother to his wife. Although my brother hadn't returned for many years, his relationship with his wife was quite good. I just didn't expect that wicked woman... she... she..."

Mentioning the Liu woman, Wang Da, who had just calmed down, suddenly became angry. Seeing him like this, Pei Yaoguang frowned again and, with some impatience, raised his right hand and slapped the table next to him.

"Alright, alright, the case isn't closed yet, what are you shouting about?"

With one sentence from Pei Yaoguang, Wang Da immediately became obedient. At this time, Pei Yaoguang asked again:

"I'm asking you, when your brother came back this time, did he say anything?"

"He didn't say anything..."

"Was there anything unusual?"

"Uh... this... this commoner is not sure. But now that you mention it, Lord, I do feel that my brother seemed much more silent than before..."

Trying hard to recall what Wang Er was like when he came back and they were all together, Wang Da responded earnestly. Hearing this, Pei Yaoguang's eyebrows moved instantly, and he stood up and made a move to walk outside... But after walking a few steps, Pei Yaoguang stopped again, turned sideways, and asked Wang Da, who was still kneeling on the ground:

"By the way, Wang Da, since your brother died, who has been in this room?"

Pei Yaoguang's question jumped too much, which made Wang Da stunned for a moment. Then Wang Da blinked and looked up at Pei Yaoguang in confusion.

"Since Magistrate Liu came last time, this commoner cleaned it myself, and no one has entered since then..."

"Hmm, alright, I understand."

Hearing Wang Da's words, Pei Yaoguang nodded with his usual arrogant expression, then walked out with Shui Yun. Once out of the room, Pei Yaoguang paused.

"That idiot surnamed Liu came last time, it should have been quite a few days ago by now."

Pei Yaoguang's voice was not loud, but only Shui Yun on the side could hear it. Hearing this, Shui Yun raised her eyes to look at him and met Pei Yaoguang's gaze.

"No less than ten days."

"Ten days, that's not short. Even in my house, if it isn't cleaned for ten days, it would be covered in dust!"

Pei Yaoguang's tone remained unchanged, and as he finished speaking, he raised his right hand...