The Delicate Lady Coroner

With light rain and patter, Bo Ruoyou stood under the eaves of the corridor, his eyes falling on the white mist in the distance, surrounded by mountains on three sides, although it is remote, there is a tranquility away from the bustling city. With the breath of the earth and grass in Shengchun, it will give people a sense of being outside of the world. Thin Ruoyou took a deep breath, and his eyes fell on the courtyard gate.

Granny Zhang hasn’t returned yet, and Wu Xiang will never return. Zhang Yu hid in the inner room to avoid frightening him. She never tried to coax him into questioning. She always had a little pity for the children.

Zhou Liang came out of the house and said with some worry: “I don’t know if the mountain road can still be taken. When I came yesterday, the villain saw that the mud on the mountain road was all yellow mud. It was very slippery when it rained. The rain will not stop today. When it comes to horse-drawn carriages, even horses can hardly move.”

Bo Ruoyou comforted: “It’s okay, it’s okay to have Wu catching the head and so many yams.”

Zhou Liang was still a little worried, Bo Ruoyou had only suffered a hard time last time, and he didn’t want to have another crisis here.

After waiting another quarter of an hour, Granny Zhang came back from the outside. When she went out, she was carrying a baggage on her back. But when she came back, her baggage was gone. Bo Ruoyou smiled and asked, “What did the mother-in-law do?”

Granny Zhang said: “I gave something to the east side of the village.” She closed the umbrella and patted the mud stains on the robe.

Bo Ruoyou looked at her inconvenient legs and asked: “Is the mother-in-law’s leg injured or sick?”

Granny Zhang patted her muddy hands, and then straightened up and smiled, “I have suffered from wind pain. I have been used to it for many years. Now that I am getting older, I become more ill.”

Granny Zhang also glanced at the far side of the mountain, “Are you going to leave today? If you want to leave, you have to leave earlier. It has been raining on this mountain for a long time, and the mound on the mountain wall will fall down. Whenever the road is completely blocked.”

Bo Ruo smiled quietly, “It’s not in a hurry.”

Granny Zhang took a look in the wing and saw that Wu Xiang had disappeared. She didn’t ask much. She went to find Zhang Yu in the bedroom and took Zhang Yu into the kitchen not long after.

Po Ruoyou and his grandson were cooking breakfast. Bo Ruoyou walked a few steps down the eaves, and then went to the door of the kitchen. When he stood at the door of the kitchen, he saw that the kitchen utensils were all in there, and a large stove was already on fire. Boiling the brown rice into the pot, and seeing Bo Ruoyou coming over, Granny Zhang asked, “Miss, do you want the old lady to prepare meals?”

Bo Ruoyou shook his head, and returned to the wing room without seeing any abnormalities.

After waiting for another half an hour, Wu Xiang just came back with the servants. The rain has not stopped. Although it is light rain, there are too many people in the Zhang family. Zhang’s family does not have enough umbrellas. After taking his seat, Wu Xiang said: “There are no women in the whole village. Not only that, there are no other children in this village except this mother-in-law who has a grandson.”

Bo Ruoyou was a little strange, “Didn’t it mean that there are several households?”

Wu Xiang nodded, “Except for Granny Wu, who we saw on the hillside yesterday, we all went to the village. The two people we met yesterday are brothers. They look like they are in their thirties. They live with them, and none of them have wives. Naturally, they have no children, but they look honest. The sloping fields to the south belong to their brothers. When it rains, they have to do farm work.”

“The house where Granny Zhang went to the east in the morning was a couple surnamed Zhang. They had a hard time. Both of them are nearly fifty years old. The old man is one-armed, and his wife has been in bed for many years. What’s wrong, when I went, I asked Granny Zhang, and the old man said Granny Zhang was kind and would often give them food.”

Bo Ruoyou asked, “Do they have no children?”

Wu Xiang nodded, “Without children, it seems that they are sick. Both of them are locals. The old man has no money to pay for concubines. The village is not interested in this, so they have come here without children for so many years.”

Bo Ruoyou sighed a little. In this deserted village, there is only an old couple with no children, and life will only get harder and harder.

Wu Xiang said again: “There are two more families in the southeast. There are a pair of brothers and sisters surnamed Wu, who are in their thirties. The younger sister said that she was sick and did not come out to see anyone. His elder brother was also an honest friend, and said he was married. A wife came back, but it didn’t take long for him to run away, saying that they are too poor here.”

“There is also a family of people living with a middle-aged man with inconvenient legs. He only opened a crack in the door. He could see that his legs were deformed. Seeing that we were from the capital, he closed the door and said nothing.”

Wu Xiang sighed, “This village is really weird and has a very bleak life. It is either an old couple without children, or an old woman living alone, a middle-aged man with inconvenient legs, and the brothers. Seeing those with good hands and feet, they didn’t marry a wife and have children, and the siblings did the same. The younger sister was sick, but the older brother married a daughter-in-law but ran away.”

Bo Ruoyou thoughtfully, Wu Xiang said: “If this continues, these people will be extinct. The empty houses on the northwestern side mentioned by Granny Zhang, we also went to see them. They were indeed vacant. The furniture inside. A lot of them have been moved, and now they are all old and unable to live. The grass in the yard is high, the legs are high, the doors and windows are rotten, and the ground is low, if the heavy rain last night lasted two more days, most of the houses Water is going to be poured in.”

Bo Ruoyou wondered: “It just happens that the few homes in the northwest are empty?”

Wu Xiang nodded and hesitated, “I also found it strange when I watched it. I’m afraid that when I was building the house, I chose a bad terrain, so I moved out afterwards. The place is really remote. It’s better to move to the mountain than here.”

An inexplicable weird feeling surged in Bo Ruoyou’s heart. At this time, the rain outside finally stopped. Wu Xiang walked out with a vigorous expression. After seeing the clouds, there was a ray of light, and the bottom of his heart was even more loose. “It shouldn’t rain anymore at this moment.” After he said that, he raised his eyes and glanced at the roof of Granny Zhang’s house, “First fix the roof for them.”

Granny Zhang didn’t expect Wu Xiang to make up the roof for her, but she really wanted to make it up. She hesitated and said, “This is not a problem, we can just stay in that room. Now the rain has stopped, and you are just coming out of the mountain.”

Wu Xiang also said: “Don’t leave in a hurry, it’s not this time to leave.”

Granny Zhang couldn’t get rid of it for a while, so she had to find a ladder and took out a pile of gray tiles from the back of the house. Wu Xiang’s hands and feet were neat, and he climbed up the ladder after he was on the roof. Everyone was watching, palms. The ladder palms the ladder, and the tile is handing the tiles. The yard becomes lively for a while, but suddenly, Wu Xiang whispers on the roof.

“There are people outside the yard, go and see for yourself.”

Wu Xiang was on the roof, looking far away, and when he glanced to the west, he saw a figure sneaking outside the courtyard wall. A yaman walked out quickly and opened the courtyard door, and he saw the person in Zhang Yu’s mouth standing outside the courtyard. The second uncle of Zhang family.

When the man saw the ya chap appearing, his face was two panic, and then he said: “I’m looking for Granny Zhang.”

In the middle, Grandma Zhang heard it, and she was too busy to get out of it. Ya scrupulously looked at the two of them and returned to the yard. Grandma Zhang didn’t know what she had said to the second uncle Zhang, and only returned to the yard after half an hour of incense.

It is not difficult to repair the roof. Wu Xiang quickly repaired the house. The roof that had just rained was quite slippery. As he walked cautiously, he looked behind the house. With this look, he saw the backyard wall of the house. In addition, a small piece of pine forest was neatly planted.

It is common to plant trees in front of and behind the farmhouses in the mountains, but Wu Xiang feels strange, but it is obvious that there are four or five pine trees newly planted in the pine forest, which not only contrasts sharply with the surrounding pine trees, but also Even the soil under the roots of the trees was fresh and flat without any weeds. Wu Xiang shouted from the roof, “Mr. Zhang, when did the pine forest behind your house plant it?”

Granny Zhang looked up at the roof underneath, and said: “It has been planted for 20 or 30 years.”

Wu Xiang frowned, and asked in a relaxed tone, “Why have you planted some new ones in the past few days?”

Granny Zhang didn’t change her face and said: “I want to plant all the rest, but the old woman has no strength. I won’t talk about it until my son comes back. It is difficult for farmers to rely on the sky to feed themselves. Planting some wood will be a good harvest after a few years.”

Bo Ruoyou didn’t care when he stood under the eaves, but when Wu Xiang got off the roof, she saw that Wu Xiang’s expression was different. He was thoughtful, but he didn’t say much in front of Granny Zhang.

Granny Zhang thanked Wu Xiang again, “It’s almost noon now, can you still leave today?”

Wu Xiang groaned for a moment, and ordered two ya chai, “You go on horseback and see if you can go on the road.”

The two came out, and Grandma Zhang took the ladder, and then limped Zhang Yu into the bedroom. Bo Ruoyou frowned when she watched her legs and feet under the robe, and stayed in the wing. Asked Wu Xiang, “Why did the head catcher ask about the pine forest behind?”

Wu Xiang said: “The pine forest has not been twenty or thirty years old. In my opinion, it will be at most ten years old.”

Bo Ruoyou curled her eyebrows, “Songlin doesn’t matter, it’s unreasonable to lie. Why doesn’t she even say this?” After a pause, Bo Ruoyou asked: “The head catcher said that there is a family of brothers and sisters, and the younger sister is sick. , Do you know what is her sister’s illness?”

Wu Xiang shook his head, “I don’t know, his sister never showed up.”

Bo Ruoyou’s face was full of condensed color, Wu Xiang asked, “What’s wrong? What’s the abnormality in mind?”

Bo Ruoyou’s lips tightened and said: “I saw Granny Zhang’s leg last night, and since then I have been thinking about what disease it is. Just now Granny Zhang said that she had wind pain, but wind pain will never be. With such symptoms, you also said that several families in this village are sick, so I wanted to find out what other people have gotten with.”

Wu Xiang narrowed his eyes, “Okay, go and see before you leave.”

Bo Ruoyou asked, “Then what is your plan to leave here to catch your head?”

“First let me take a trip to the Yamen of Qinshui County to see what happened to the plague in Guzhang Village back then, and then go to Guzhang Village. Granny Zhang said that it is fifty miles away, but I want to take people there directly. Take a look at Guzhang Village, but you have to go back first. On the way back, you will come here to check again. Although there is no evidence, the few families here are quite weird.”

This is a long journey. If you rush to Guzhang Village, you will have to rush your horse. Bo Ruoyou also felt that he was inconvenienced following Wu Xiang, so he nodded, “That’s good, I really didn’t expect Guzhang Village to have been infected with the plague, just catching his head. The long worker I found didn’t know the plague, but he heard about this village and knew that they believed in the **** of water and river.”

Wu Xiang sighed, “Who would have thought that this place is only a day away from the capital, but it is so closed. Later, I will take you to a few people who have been sick. Go back to the capital first.”

Bo Ruoyou came here for an autopsy. If you don’t do an autopsy and just touch and investigate, you won’t be able to use her. However, Wu Xiang’s abacus is good, but he can’t help God not showing face. After a while, the pathfinder came back with a bitter expression: “Head-catching, we saw a lot of rocks collapsed on the road before we traveled one mile. The road was already muddy, but it’s still blocked now. The thin girl’s carriage will definitely not get through.”

This order made Wu Xiang a little bit difficult, “How much has collapsed, if we go to dig, how long will we be able to dig?”

Yacha said bitterly: “I’m afraid I will have to dig for a whole day.”

Wu Xiangpo was a little helpless, and Bo Ruoyou had to say, “Then stay one more day, just to catch the head and take me to see the few sick people. There are so few people in a village, but there are so many patients. If they are all the same disease, there must be weirdness in this village.”

Wu Xiang had to agree, and went to ask Granny Zhang for farm tools. When Granny Zhang heard that the earth had collapsed on the road, she was also taken aback, and then she was helpless and anxious. She seemed to feel that the mountain road was blocked and it was quite inconvenient. I found out all the hoes and other things at home and gave them to the servants. When they learned that they were going to stay for another night, the expression on their faces was no longer as happy as yesterday.

Wu Xiang put some silver taels again, and then the soldiers were divided into two groups. One side went to the passage, while the other took Bo Ruoyou to the Wu family’s brother and sister’s home. Wu Xiang had come here earlier and waited until the door called the door, Wu The eldest brother quickly opened the door, and seeing Wu Xiang returning again with a girl with him, he was very surprised at the moment.

Wu Xiang said, “This girl knows some medical skills. Didn’t you say that your sister is very sick? Would you like to save her life? If you want, you can let this girl show your sister.”

The eldest brother of the Wu family had a very honest face, and he was a little embarrassed when he heard the words: “How embarrassing is this? My sister has been ill for many years. If it should be well soon, and she doesn’t like seeing strangers, thank you for yours. Good intentions.”

Wu Xiang smiled bitterly, “Don’t be afraid. I really want to help you. There is no doctor in your village. Has your sister’s illness been seen seriously? I’m afraid not. Now it is so easy to have a doctor, you How can I know if it’s not cured if I don’t try it?”

In this way, the Wu family’s eldest brother showed two points of hesitation. He pursed his lips, and two points of temptation appeared on his dark face, “No… you won’t receive the consultation fee, right?”

Wu Xiang laughed, “Of course I won’t accept it.”

Brother Wu nodded, “Then you come in first, I will ask my sister, if she wants to see, I will let you show her, if not, forget it, okay?”

Wu Xiang didn’t look too urgent, and nodded in response.

The Wu family’s yard is not as large as Zhang’s, but it is still neat. They stood in the yard and waited for a while, then the Wu family’s eldest brother walked out of the hall, “Please come in, my sister is willing, but she has been sick for many years. She doesn’t look good, so I just want the girl to ask her pulse through the tent, okay?”

Bo Ruoyou and Wu Xiang responded, and the two followed into the inner room.

The farmhouse’s house is already rudimentary. The Wu’s sister’s bedroom is quite dim and damp, and has been bedridden for many years. There is an unpleasant rancid smell in the house. A grey-colored bed net hangs on the simple wooden bed. , Faintly reflected a thin figure inside. Sister Wu Jia was leaning on the head of the bed, and she stretched out her hand when she heard the voice of Brother Wu.

As soon as this hand stretched out, Bo Ruoyou felt a chill in his back.

This is the hand of a thin and slender woman. There is only a layer of dry skin on the wrist bone of the severely ill person all the year round. What makes Bo Ruoyou’s spine cold is the bloodline that resembles a worm underneath the skin. The scene is so similar to the ankle on Granny Zhang’s ankle.

The blood burst into a purple-red color, extending from the forearm all the way to the back of her hand. Her hand moved slowly, as if she was not strong enough, but as long as a slight movement, the blood under the skin that was pulled also followed, instantly as if a purple bug was alive.

Bo Ruoyou endured the cold from the bottom of her heart and asked her pulse. She had read many medical books, but she had never seen such a weird disease. After the pulse, she felt more in the cloud and mist, but she could only tell from the pulse. The person who is lingering on the sick bed with deficiency of blood and blood has weak pulse strength and almost remains hanging in one breath, but apart from the abnormality on the hand, the symptoms beside it are difficult to see, “Maybe my sister shows her face? If I have a prescription right now, I must have missed it.”

Listening to her asking like this, the Wu family apologized, “Sorry girl, my sister really doesn’t want to see people, I’m embarrassed. If you don’t think it’s easy to prescribe a prescription, you can just not open it.”

While speaking, Wu’s sister had already retracted her hand.

Bo Ruoyou pondered for a moment, “From the pulse condition, Ling Mei’s body is extremely weak. I will prescribe you a formula for recuperation. Only some simple herbs can be used to cultivate vitality and solidify the foundation.”

The Wu family responded gratefully and hurried to recruit paper and pen. His family is poor, and pen and paper are rare things. Bo Ruoyou wrote a prescription and handed it to him. The Wu family thanked him again and again, Bo Ruoyou. Asked: “I can’t recognize this disease for a while. When did it start?”

Brother Wu sighed, “It was brought in the mother’s womb. It didn’t show up when she was born. It came out when she was two or three years old.”

Bo Ruoyou took a close look at the calm and honest farmer in front of him, nodded and said nothing. They wanted to go to the next house, so naturally they would not stay here. The Wu family eldest brother respectfully sent them to the door and waited and watched. They got into the carriage and left him before returning to the inner room.

Fangzi was kicked in his sleeves indiscriminately. He first raised the curtains worriedly. When the curtains were lifted, a deformed face with sarcoma in the lower jaw was exposed, and Wu’s sister’s deeply sunken eyes Looking at Wu’s eldest brother with some dismay, he held his sister’s hand and quietly comforted him.

On the carriage, Bo Ruoyou opened the curtain and talked to Wu Xiang, “It is a bit like Granny Zhang’s disease. It is an abnormal change in the bloodline. It shouldn’t be a disease brought by the mother’s womb. They all conceal their disease. I wonder if their illness is related to the plague—”

Wu Xiang twisted his eyebrows, “You mean, they might have been infected with the plague back then?”

Bo Ruoyou shook his head, “I just guessed that the disease is still unknown, but their attitude makes me feel weird.”

Wu Xiang didn’t say much, and took her to the old couple’s home.

The couple were both half a hundred years old. The old man had one-armed and said his wife was seriously ill for many years. Wu Xiang, who was just a talent, had not seen the old woman in this family. However, when they knew their intentions, the old man’s complexion changed. Closed.

Wu Xiang couldn’t, so he took Bo Ruoyou to the home of the middle-aged man with inconvenient legs. Wu Xiang failed to enter the door for the first time. After he called the door this time, the man still just opened the door a small slit.

Seeing that there was a girl outside, the man seemed even more alert, “What are you doing again?”

Wu Xiang said, “Brother, I think your legs are inconvenient, we happen to have a doctor with us, and the doctor can do it for you—”

With a “pop”, before Wu Xiang finished speaking, the door was closed. The man said behind the door: “Are you from outsiders? It’s best to leave early, we don’t welcome outsiders here!” After this, the footsteps went away, but they entered the house again.

Wu Xiang frowned, and Bo Ruoyou found it difficult to handle it. The mountains were already foggy, but after walking around, Bo Ruoyou felt that the whole village seemed to be shrouded in some kind of mist.

In the capital, Huo Wei Building spent half a day and found the official document in the inner library of the Jingzhao Mansion. After reading the official document, Huo Wei Building’s expression became serious. “Five years ago, there was a disturbance in the two lakes. After the flood, there was a plague. At that time, the local prefect Shangzhezi asked the court for help. The court searched out all the records about the plague in the past two decades. After comparing them, they chose a few useful methods and ordered the locals to act according to the orders. .”

Huo Weilou suddenly went to the Yamen of Jingzhao Mansion. Sun Zhao naturally accompanied him. When Huo Weilou talked about this matter, Sun Zhao also had a slight impression. Jiangnan once?”

Huo Weilou nodded, “At that time, the file recording the plague in Guzhang Village was sent to Benhou’s desk, but the plague was not caused by floods. Benhou did not look closely, but only had a slight impression of the village.”

At the time of the incident, Sun Zhao had not yet served as Jing Zhaoyin, so it was not clear. The dossier was kept in dust for many years. If it were not for Huo Weilou’s good memory, I am afraid that it would be hard to remember this incident. Sun Zhao took the dossier. When I came over, I took a closer look at it, and then was surprised, “So… after the plague broke out, this village was sealed to death?”

Huo Weilou nodded deeply, “It happened more than ten years ago. At that time, there was no other way. Only in this way can we avoid future troubles. After sealing for more than half a year, dozens of families in the whole village have hardly survived.”

Sun Zhao sighed, “There is no record of what kind of plague is and what disease it is. It can be seen that in the end, it is not known what the cause of the disease is. It is so close to the capital, it can only be so.”

“But if the people of Guzhang Village did not leave alive, then who is the person who used the Guzhang Village sacrifice method?” Huo Weilou’s phoenix eyes were narrow, and suddenly he thought of a shocking possibility.