Capture the Jade

Teng Yuyi and Du Tinglan put on their skirts and entered, and they saw that the room was full of splendor, and under careful identification, most of them were familiar faces.

Wu Qi has always liked to wear red skirts, and today she is wearing a pomegranate red lingerie skirt. When she saw Tengdu and the two come in, she smiled and greeted them: "It's late, do you think I should be punished?"

She acted vigorously, and her voice was clear. Du Tinglan and Teng Yuyi both saluted and said with a smile, "It should be punished. It is punishment for drinking or poetry, and I never dare to say anything else."

He rushed to the crowd and said, "You guys have been waiting for a long time.

The girls smiled in return.

Wu Qi excitedly led the two sisters to the table: "We are discussing whether to enjoy the flowers first or to fight the poems first, now it's alright, two talented people who sweep the eyebrows suddenly came, why don't we fight the poems first, what do you think? "

Teng Yuyi and Du Tinglan took their seats, and the next seat was Li Huaigu.

Li Huaigu's jet-black double bun has a gold-inlaid jade bone comb on her hairpin, and her forehead is attached to a green tin. The mouth fat on her lips is as fresh as a cherry, which makes her delicate and tender.

She smiled: "Ayu, Sister Lan."

Teng Yuyi smiled: "Sanniang."

Li Huaigu looked at Teng Yuyi: "Yesterday I wanted to invite you out to play, but the servants in your house said you were not feeling well and couldn't go out. I just thought that the rubella on your face wasn't getting better, but today it looks pretty good."

Du Tinglan coughed lightly. It wasn't that her sister couldn't go out, but she had already disguised as a "Prince Prince" and went to the West Market. When Li Huaigu's post came to her door yesterday, she asked Cheng Bo to reply.

Teng Yuyi pretended to be surprised: "It turns out that you invited me to go out to play. I woke up with a cold yesterday morning and had to rest in bed. I was dazed when I heard the servants come in and reply, but I didn't listen carefully. Lao Sanniang was worried, and the rash has been It's good to eat Yuyan Dan that day."

Li Huaigu's face was full of concern, and he had to say a few more words. Someone on the other side of Du Tinglan said, "Miss Du, Madam Teng."

Teng Yuyi turned her head to look: "Miss Duan."

This person's name is Duan Qingying, Duan Ningyuan's cousin. She has phoenix eyes and fair skin. She inherits the heroic spirit of the Duan family in appearance. Her face is wider than that of ordinary women, but the vermilion mole between her eyebrows adds to her outline. A bit beautiful.

Teng Yuyi and Duan Qingying met several times when they were young, and they met again at Liu Guozhang's birthday party last time, but because the Teng Duan family broke off their marriage, the Duan family did not treat Teng Yuyi as warmly as before, especially Duan Duan. The attitude of a junior like Qing Ying was a bit unnatural.

This time was no exception. Although Duan Qingying took the initiative to say hello, her smile was a bit far-fetched.

Du Tinglan has always been good-natured, but the Duan family's behavior in the case of the two families' withdrawal from their relatives was really inauthentic. She had a grudge against the Duan family in her heart, and she only smiled when she saw it.

Teng Yuyi was calm, and returned a salute, and turned his eyes to the people in the hall.

Wu Qi said: "Since everyone is willing to fight poems, then prepare the pen and ink."

Someone in the hall said angrily: "I don't know anything about poetry and prose. If you chant you, I'll take a nap beside me."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Teng Yuyi looked over, but it was one of Peng Zhen's twin daughters.

Peng Huayue grabbed her sister and covered her mouth with a smile: "My sister is so outspoken, I made everyone laugh, but Jinxiu is right, she is proficient in Cuju, Swing, and hitting, but she doesn't like to study, so let her When writing poetry on paper and ink, I am afraid that I will not be able to hold a sentence all day long."

Someone immediately echoed with a smile: "The sun is so good today, why should I be bored in the cloud hall and write poetry? In my opinion, it is better to go out and enjoy the flowers. There is a swing in the peach blossom forest. You can also play a swing while you are enjoying the flowers."

The girls are also willing to walk outside, so they all agree.

Wu Qi smiled and asked the maid to pick up refreshments and fruits, and asked everyone to move to the peach blossom forest.

Arriving in the peach blossom forest, the ladies strolled while admiring the flowers, while laughing and laughing freely. The peach blossoms on the branches are even more dazzling.

Someone said: "It is said that there is a hidden mystery in this Jade Real Maiden's Crown View. If you encounter military chaos or disaster, you can escape through the mechanism in the view, but I have been here so many times, and I can't see anything."

"Don't forget that this Taoist temple was built by Princess Yuzhen and ordered by hundreds of experts from Xuanmen. If any visitor can see the clues, wouldn't the efforts of those experts be in vain?"

Wu Qi picked a place that was most suitable for viewing flowers, and ordered the maids to set up wedding banquets and banquets, and suddenly heard Zheng Shuangyin say, "I encountered such a thing in the West Market yesterday, I thought you wouldn't come, but you still come. Yes, but today's face looks much better than yesterday."

Peng Huayue's voice was a little tight: "I made you laugh yesterday, we are distant cousins ​​to Mrs. Rong Anbo's wife, Mrs. Jiang. Sister Jiang has met my aunt in the past and has always been called my aunt. Our family has been in Huaixi these years. Dao, I don't have much contact with the Jiang family, but the friendship between relatives is still there, so when we heard that Sister Jiang had an accident yesterday, we fainted from shock."

Peng Jinxiu pouted: "My aunt heard about Sister Jiang's accident and cried to death. If it wasn't for Sister Jiang's corpse still lying in Dali Temple, she would have taken us to Rong Anbo's house to express condolences today. Mother is afraid that we will also be sad, forcing us to go out and walk around, otherwise my sister and I will stay at home to accompany my mother."

"So it is." Zheng Shuangyin and the others sighed sympathetically.

A young lady surnamed Lin said terrified: "Speaking of this matter, Marquis Wu came to our house early in the morning to ask if someone in our house was pregnant. I didn't understand the reason at the time, but after I asked my brother, I found out that Chang'an has been out a few times recently. Such a murder."

"And all those who died were pregnant women." Another person answered, "Last night, Marquis Wu also came to our house to ask questions, saying that if there is a pregnant woman in the family, you must report it immediately. The government does this because they are afraid Let the murderers pick pregnant women again."

Teng Yuyi and Du Tinglan took a seat on the banquet, and inadvertently raised their eyes to see Duan Qingying clutching the woman tightly in both hands, and the knuckles of her knuckles turned white.

Others also noticed that Duan Qingying was wrong, and asked in a low voice, "Qingying, are you not feeling well?"

Duan Qingying covered her chest and nodded: "I was frightened by this case. I don't understand how there are such vicious people in the world."

At this moment, the maids came over with cheese cherries in glass cups. Wu Qi had seen the strange expressions on everyone's faces, and took the opportunity to change the subject: "It's not good to enjoy flowers on an empty stomach. Let's eat something first."

After listening to what Teng Yuyi said just now, she was pondering what the mystery behind this female crown view was. Besides, she ate too much Sanqing cake in the morning and couldn't eat anything for a while. She looked around and saw the swing next to her. She immediately made up her mind and got up. Walking to the front of the swing, holding the flower ropes on both sides and sitting on it, with just a slight tiptoe, the swing took her to float in the spring breeze.

Today, she is wearing a moon-white lotus monofilament flower cage skirt, with a water-colored towel wrapped around her arms. The two light colors are matched together, which is surprisingly graceful and graceful. color.

Everyone saw that she was extraordinarily charming and beautiful, and they sincerely praised: "What a beautiful woman. Madam Teng, the fabrics of your clothes are not unusual, but the color matching and stitching are always different from others."

Teng Yuyi smiled and said, "If you like the patterns that the embroiderers in Yangzhou helped me to draw, I will show you the patterns next time."

The girls joked: "Why is it so troublesome, we will take turns taking the lead every month, Mrs. Teng hasn't returned to Chang'an for several years, or she will go to Mrs. Teng's house to make trouble next time."

Teng Yuyi was about to answer when suddenly two cold eyes came over.

She caught a glimpse of it and replied with a smile: "I have long wanted to invite you to come to my house to play, and I will write a post when I go back."

While talking, she pretended to turn her eyes inadvertently, and saw the group of ladies on the right talking and laughing, as if the scene just now was just her illusion.

Teng Yuyi is an expert in swinging. After sitting and swinging for a few times, he felt that it was not enough. He simply stood on the middle of the seat to help Du Tinglan. After pushing a few times, he swung high into the air. When she moved, the pair of pearl steps above her head swayed, swaying back and forth, casting two trembling shadows of bright light on her tender white cheeks.

Everyone couldn't keep their eyes open. Li Huaigu took a flute from the handmaiden with a smile, put it on his lips and began to play.

Zheng Shuangyin listened to it a few times, then nodded and said, "Everyone said that the Bai family's flute sound is the best in the world. I think Li Sanniang's flute skills are no longer inferior to the Bai family."

Zheng Shuangyin was very good at singing, but she was always a little arrogant, and even she was impressed. It could be seen how outstanding Li Huaigu was playing the flute. Everyone listened silently, and his demeanor was a little more focused than before.

At this moment, a melodious sound of the qin suddenly came from behind the wall not far away. The sound of the qin sounded loose, but it inadvertently suppressed the sound of the flute.

Li Huaigu seemed a little powerless, and quickly put the Xiao down: "This is—"

The ladies looked up at the wall not far away, blushing and said, "Ah, did the sound of the flute startle His Royal Highness, don't forget that behind the west wall is the Duke's Palace, maybe it disturbed His Highness's rest. , Your Highness will play the piano to warn you..."

There happened to be a few older women who were crowned women who came over to deliver tea, and said with a smile: "It's not in the way, the poor Taoists often chant sutras and ring the bell in the temple. I'm annoyed by the trivial matters. I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince is entertaining friends from other places in the mansion today, and His Highness the Crown Prince is also here, so this violin should be played for the guests."

Peng Jinxiu's face flushed red: "When I was still on Huaixi Road, I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince was very good at rhythm. Listening to the sound of the piano today, it can be seen that what he said is true."

Wu Qi: "Speaking of this, the last time I heard Princess Changyi tell a joke in the palace, saying that His Royal Highness was drinking at Zheng Pushe's house once, and heard someone playing the flute on the wall, His Highness said, The person was sitting on a slate and playing it. Zheng Pushe didn't believe it, so he asked his servants to ask the neighbors, and the result was true. From this, it can be seen that His Royal Highness the Prince of the County is very good at recognizing sounds and rhythms. Princess Changyi also said that the only one in Chang'an A jade flute that can compete with His Royal Highness's qin tone is a flute, do you guys guess who is playing the flute?"

It seems that many young ladies know about this, but they only blushed and smiled. Wu Qi's eyes swept from left to right, but no one answered.

Teng Yuyi was playing on the swing, but her attention was on that side, and she couldn't help but wonder when she heard this.

I just heard the older female champions say with a smile, "It's the heir to the prince. In the past, the little prince often came to play in the county palace, and he played the flute in a graceful and unrestrained manner. Unfortunately, I have rarely heard it in the past year. I heard that The little prince went to work at Dali Temple, and he is too busy to play on weekdays."

Lin Chengyou? Teng Yuyi once saw Lin Chengyou holding a jade flute on the eaves of Caifeng Tower. He thought he was just playing, but he didn't expect him to know this.

The girls couldn't help looking towards the west wall, but after listening for a while, there was only the sound of the piano, and no flute.

Du Tinglan raised her head and glanced at Teng Yuyi, her younger sister was very skilled in the piano, and she would definitely be able to appreciate the subtlety of the sound. Unfortunately, because of the death of her aunt, her younger sister almost never talked about the rhythm in front of people, and even she couldn't do anything about her eccentric nature.

She said warmly: "In addition to talent and skills, musical instruments also need internal strength to control the breath. I guess that the sound of the prince's flute can compete with the sound of His Royal Highness the prince's piano. As far as internal strength is concerned, when it comes to skills, it’s actually not bad at all.”

Everyone was shocked, Zheng Shuangyin took it seriously, remembering that Du Tinglan won the title last time, and when he looked at Du Tinglan again, there was a little more admiration and tacit understanding in his eyes.

Li Sanniang said humbly, "I dare not compare it with the two His Royal Highnesses."

Teng Yuyi looked at Li Sanniang meaningfully, and finally swayed again, and unexpectedly found that there were two towering ginkgo trees outside the peach grove. Ginkgo biloba looked at each other from a distance, it was a bit like…

Teng Yuyi let out a "huh" in his heart. People say that the layout of the Yuzhen Women's Crown View is somewhat mysterious. Could it be this mystery...

At this time, several little ladies came to line up, and each raised their heads and urged Teng Yuyi: "Miss Teng, it's our turn to play."

Teng Yuyi smiled and said "Okay", fixed the flower rope and got off the swing.

***

Lin Chengyou dismounted in front of the Xinghua Building, went straight up to the second floor, and found a private room, where Jiantian and Jianxiguo were waiting.

The two got up mysteriously and closed the door, and whispered to Lin Chengyou: "Everything the prince wants is here."

Lin Chengyou sat down with his robe up, and saw a lot of things scattered on the table, which looked a little old, and at the top were a few strange records.

Lin Chengyou flipped through the pages: "It's all about Yueshuo Tongjun's records?"

Jiantian took the lead and said: "Yes, once you become a Yueshuo boy, you will definitely have endless troubles. This demon boy has a pure heart. If he recognizes someone as his mother, he will definitely—"

Lin Chengyou interrupted the two with a smile: "I know what the two seniors said, but I have searched all relevant records, and there is no record that Yueshuo Tongjun can make a cry, but so far these three In the murder case, some people have heard the cry of a baby when the incident happened, and I invited the two seniors to come here today, just to ask what is the reason for this."

Seeing the sky dumbfounded, Jianxi said: "It's not difficult to explain, think about it, in the past, when Tongjun Yueshuo came out to make trouble, the predecessors only knew after the fact, they were busy eliminating troubles, how did they know Tongjun Yueshuo? What happens when they leave the mother's body? Maybe they will cry as soon as they come out."

Lin Chengyou raised his hand and closed the record: "Besides this, there are several unexplainable doubts in several cases, why is the first one in Tongzhou and the second in Chang'an? Is there no pregnant woman in Tongzhou, murderer? Why go to two places?"

"This-"

Lin Chengyou smiled: "I almost know the reason for this. I checked the topography of Tongzhou last night. The inn is located in the middle of Tongzhou and Chang'an, and it is called Ju'an Inn. Guess why the inn is called 'Ju'an'. —”

"This name-" Jiantian and Jianxi looked at each other, "Is it for auspiciousness?"

Lin Chengyou: "I asked Liu Facao from Tongzhou, and he said that there was always a lot of trouble there. As for why it was so fierce, Liu Facao couldn't say why, but only said that there had been riots in the local area, and there was a lot of trouble nearby. The mountain temple was built because of this. It is said that they were peaceful in the first few years, but in recent years, accidents have often happened nearby, or someone fell from the cliff or died from a horse. The owner of the inn had to name it for good luck.' Stay safe'."

Seeing the sky and thinking: "It used to be peaceful, but in recent years, accidents have occurred frequently... Maybe something evil is about to break out of the ground."

Seeing the joy, he was shocked: "This is too unbelievable. It is obviously a peaceful and prosperous world, why are there so many monsters?!"

Lin Chengyou rubbed the teacup in his hand, but looked out the window. The weather is fine today, the street is full of cars and horses, although the house is quiet, the noise downstairs is still incessant.

He pondered for a while and said, "Let's not talk about this... The first case of Tongzhou Mansion happened near Ju'an Inn, don't you think it's too coincidental."

Erdao said in surprise: "The prince means, is it done by evil things? But that's not right, let's not say that we didn't detect evil spirits at the scene, just say that the young couple in Tongzhou, you too I said, my husband was killed by a pig-killing knife, since it is a monster murder, why is it so troublesome—"

Lin Chengyou said abruptly: "What if someone is helping Yaoyi in secret? Don't forget, that tree demon is only a little demon with a hundred years of cultivation, unless there is any chance, it will never suddenly become a demon; It has been a month since the ground was broken, but Caifenglou has not exuded any demonic aura. That night, I questioned whether Young Master Jinyi had someone to help them out, and he was hesitant and clearly had something to say... This series of doubts can’t be explained so far.”

The expressions of Jiantian and Jianxi gradually became serious.

"When it comes to these few cases of fetal retrieval, there are even more doubts." Lin Chengyou raised the pot and refilled himself a cup of tea, "Let's not talk about why someone bothered to concoct Yueshuo Tongjun, the strange baby cry at the time of the case was simply annoying. It's unbelievable, last night I rummaged through the Yaojing Sutras and the Records of Anecdotes, and found a record about 'baby crying', and the title of that volume was 'Resistance'."

Jiantian and Jianxi bounced all over: "Resistance? Impossible, this thing is the king of evil ghosts who command Yaksha Rakshasa."

Lin Chengyou raised his eyebrows: "But don't forget, Naizhong likes to eat young babies—"

Jiantian and Jianxi suddenly interrupted Lin Chengyou: "If Naizhong were to be alive, Chang'an would never be as calm as it is now... No no no no no, this is absolutely impossible, besides, Yueshuo Tongjun and ordinary young babies can be different."

"But if you just use Yueshuo Tongjun to explain these murders, there are too many things that don't make sense. Even if people didn't have the opportunity to witness the birth of Yueshuo Tongjun, they could always hear crying when they fought with him afterwards. In the Records of Anecdotes, I can't find any relevant records that Yueshuo Tongjun will cry. But if you change your thinking, the strange baby cry can be explained."

Seeing the tense voice of the sky: "How do you say this?"

"Someone gave Yueshuo Tongjun as food to Nai Chong."

Jiantian and Jianxi opened their mouths.

Lin Chengyou said: "It was said in the demon scriptures that a baby is easy to get, but Tongjun Yueshuo is not easy to get. The difference lies in the mother. Because the mother of Tongjun Yueshuo witnessed the fetus leaving the body before her death, she often harbored resentment towards the sky. The celestial cover of the baby is not closed at first, and when it is hit by this resentment before the navel is broken, it will have spirituality when the baby is born, and then it will turn into a yin evil."

Jianxi slapped his thigh: "If you say that Yueshuo Tongjun is a yin evil, it has flesh and blood; if you say that it is a monster, it is full of yin energy. Shizi, such a half-yin and half-yang ghost child, you will never look down on it. Although Naizhong is the king of all ghosts, he has always only done evil in the yang world and never eats yin ghosts."

Lin Chengyou suddenly said: "What if the last breath of yang energy from the mother's dying moment was poured into Yueshuo Tongjun's body? Wouldn't everything be different? After passing this breath of yang energy, not only can the baby cry, but also You can temporarily subdue the yin qi in their bodies, and if they can't feel the yin qi in Yueshuo Tongjun, they will eat them as an ordinary fetus, and one Yueshuo boy is often better than a hundred ordinary ones. Meat fetus, after eating it with patience, the skill will be greatly improved. I wonder if the murderer keeps the victim awake just for the woman to keep a breath of heat so that it can be passed on to the child of Yueshuo..."

Jiantian and Jianxi were still shocked, but they vaguely felt that this was justified, because only in this way could it explain why someone bothered to concoct Yueshuo Tongjun, and why there was a baby cry at the scene.

"...But..." Seeing the sky dryly said, "The latest record of weight-resistance in the Records of Foreign Records is a hundred or two hundred years ago. There must be a reason for such a big thing suddenly appearing in the world! It is said that this ghost king is extremely smart and likes the most Playing with mortals by pretending to be a monk, first trapping people with a maze, and then asking the prey questions politely. If you can answer them correctly, you may be able to escape the maze, but how many smart people are there in the world? Once you are blocked by it , will be chewed by it on the spot. Moreover, such things that the world cannot tolerate, there will definitely be a vision before the world. It is written in the "Yao Jing" that every time before the life of Naizhong, there will be a flash of thunder in the sky-"

Before he finished speaking, a flash of lightning flashed across the bright sunny day outside the window, followed by a rumble of thunder rolling over his head.

Jiantian and Jianxi seemed to be hit by the thunder at the same time, and they were stunned.

Lin Chengyou was in shock, got up and went to the window to check the thunder and lightning. Seeing Tian and Jianxi were full of unease, and hurriedly ran to the window. The bright and meandering lightning went straight to the city, and then turned into a wisp of light. Burnt smoke, slowly falling into the city hall.

The place is not too far, Jiantian and Jianxi stretched their necks to tell the direction: "Is that - Yuzhen Nuguan Guan?"

Lin Chengyou's face changed, he turned around and ran downstairs.

***

In the Prince's Mansion, the guests on the seat heard the sound of the flute coming from the next door, and they were vaguely amazed.

The prince listened for a while, nodded and said: "The skills are not bad, at least ten years of work, but this person has no inner strength, otherwise he will be able to keep up with the sound of the emperor's uncle."

The Prince of Chun'an held down the strings: "Who is watching the flowers today?"

The steward replied: "I heard that the little lady of Wu Ruyun's family is holding a flower viewing party in the Guanli. Many people have been invited, including the two thousand gold of Zheng Pushe's family, and the little lady of General Teng..."