Siheyuan: I am the Smart Pillar

Qin Changsheng threw down the willow branch with a gloomy face, looked at his third brother and said, "Third brother, you are here. Let me pour you a cup of tea. Since you are here, let's chat for a while. When you leave, I will cut two pounds of meat for you. Let your wife and children have a taste of it when you go home."

Qin Changfeng quickly smiled and said, "Brother, thank you very much." Qin Changsheng smiled and waved his hand, and said to Qin Changfeng, "We are brothers. There is no need to be so formal. Come and try it. This is the tea my son-in-law brought me from the city. It is very delicious."

Qin Changfeng nodded, took a sip of tea with a smile, nodded and said, "Wow, this tea is really good. Big brother, can you give me some more?" Qin Changsheng smiled and said, "You are really shameless, boy." Qin Changfeng said nonchalantly, "Look at what you said, you are my brother, what good things does your brother have, how can you not think of me, your younger brother? My younger brother also has good news, how about it?"

Qin Changsheng looked at his third brother, somewhat puzzled, and said, "Third brother, what do you mean by this?" Qin Changfeng smiled and said, "Brother, some people want to go to Laoya River, but they need a guide. This trip costs 50 yuan. It's an archaeological team in the city. They said they want to find the tomb of the Emperor of Ming Dynasty. Do you think this is good news?"

Qin Changsheng closed his eyes for a while, then glared at his third son and said, "You are so brave. I don't want to go to Laoya River again. Where are the people from the archaeological team?" Qin Changfeng said, "They are at my house. They want to hire me as a guide. We can go together and earn 50 yuan each. Wouldn't that be great? We have been there when we were young."

Qin Changsheng shook his head, waved his hands firmly and said, "No, you can't go to that place at all." Qin Changsheng left this sentence, and a heavy voice came from outside the door and said, "Oh, why can't you go there?" The door was opened from the outside, and Qin Changsheng looked at the third son's wife and a few people walking in, her face full of heavy expression.

The middle-aged man in the lead was very elegant, wearing a pair of glasses, which made him look very cultured. He smiled and greeted Qin Changsheng, saying, "Brother, this is my work ID. We are from the Beijing Cultural Relics Bureau. My name is Wei Dongyang. This time we are here to find the tomb of the prince of the Ming Dynasty. We want to go to Laoya River. After asking around in several nearby villages, we found that only you and your brother have been there. We would like to seek your help."

Qin Changsheng looked at Wei Dongyang, who was dressed very plainly, with mud on his trouser legs. If it weren't for the glasses on his face, no one would doubt that he was a farmer. Wei Dongyang smiled at Qin Changsheng. Qin Changsheng looked at his work ID, thought for a while and said, "Although I am not well educated, I know there is no prince's tomb in the Ming Dynasty. Are you trying to deceive me?"

Although Qin Changsheng was born in the countryside, his father saved money and sent him to a private school for one or two years. Being able to read and write means he has a certain status in Qinjiazhuang. Wei Dongyang smiled and said, "I didn't expect that my elder brother is a cultured person. We are looking for the tomb of Zhu Wenkui, the prince of Emperor Jianwen."

Mother Qin poured a few more cups of tea. Wei Dongyang thanked her first, then took a sip of tea and slowly said, "A batch of very priceless cultural relics appeared on the market some time ago. Among them was a seal with six words inscribed on it: Seal of Prince Zhu Wenkui. We cooperated with the police to catch several tomb robbers. The tomb robbers said that they found a tomb in Laoya River and poured the tea out of it. Brother, the good things in the underground tomb belong to all Chinese people. That tomb has been robbed, and we must carry out a rescue excavation."

A trace of determination appeared on Wei Dongyang's heavy face as he said, "We found many local people and determined a general direction. Afterwards, the tomb robbers confessed that a Taoist priest in his 60s wearing tattered clothes led them in. They didn't know the specific route. But they only heard the Taoist priest mention a place name, Laoya River."

Wei Dongyang looked at Qin Changsheng with hope and said, "We have visited many people, and most of them are very secretive about that place. Brother, can you take us in? We are willing to pay extra, 100 yuan per person." Qin Changsheng frowned. If it was before, he would still be tempted. But now, he really didn't dare.

After thinking for a while, he said, "In fact, most older people know that place, but that place has become a little strange now. Going back to decades ago, the place called Laoya River was still accessible. I remember it was one summer when the Japanese devils came to our Qinjia Village and drove all of us, young and old, there, saying that we were hiding the Eighth Route Army. They wanted to shoot us in Qinjia Village on the bank of the Laoya River."

Qin Changsheng fell into deep memories. After a long while, he sighed and said, "I remember that we were about to close our eyes and wait for death. It was the guerrillas nearby who heard the news and led their men to drive away the group of Japanese devils. We survived. Half of us in Qinjiazhuang died at Laoya River."

From then on, things became very strange. Originally, people from Qinjiazhuang and other nearby villages used to fish in Laoya River for food, but after the Japanese killed people there, the fish in that river were no longer edible. The weeds and trees along the river grew very fast, and even in the hottest days of the dog days, the place was like an ice cellar.

People nearby thought that there were ghosts there, so no one dared to go to Laoya River anymore. Over time, it became deserted until the Kuomintang was defeated. I remember it was in 49, when a group of Kuomintang deserters fled to Laoya River, but they never came out after entering.

Now, people from all over the country regarded it as a forbidden area, and they all felt that there were ghosts there. Over time, no one dared to go there. In the first year after liberation, some people did not believe in it. A few brave young people in our village wanted to go in and see if they could catch any prey to improve their food.

But out of the six people who went in, only one person came back. And the one who came back was actually crazy. He kept shouting "There are ghosts, there are ghosts" all day long. Do you think you dare to go to that place? Let alone 6 yuan, we wouldn't dare to go even if you gave us 100 yuan.