Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

Jiu Ru stretched out his hand to support him, then retracted his hand from his waist obviously uncomfortable.

He wondered in his heart whether he had been thinking too much about Jiuru's sexual affairs, and the old ghost also thought about the spring hunger and food, so he couldn't help but look a little good when he thought of this.

Qiu Ru's face was also a little embarrassed. Although she was only a female official and she was not young, she had studied Buddhist scriptures in the Buddhist hall for several years, bowed her head and mumbled a few times before walking with her head muffled.

"A female officer was missing a few days ago, right?" Zhao Ran turned around and asked about something serious.

Qiu Ru said: "Lien Fang."

"What's so special about her identity?"

Qiu Ruwei was a little surprised: "Young Master, how do you know that Lianfang's identity is special?" She immediately remembered that Zhaoran came with Shi Wantong, the commander of Jin Yiwei, and said in relief, "Lianfang is different from us. The female officer, she is the close person next to the queen mother."

Wantong deliberately concealed that there must be the intention of Queen Mother Zhou, and sent a female officer to her niece to spread the word that Queen Mother Zhou must be suspected of bullying her niece, and if any scandal is found out, it will even embarrass Queen Mother Zhou.

Lianfang... Zhaoran thought that the Queen Mother Zhou named the female official, she was beating Gu'an face to face.

He opened his mouth and asked again: "Then what is Lianfang like?"

Qiu Ru said indifferently: "On the left and right are female officials, but with her here, if we have something to do, it would be easier to talk to Mrs. Jinghui."

"Master Jinghui belongs to the princess?"

When Qiu Ru was questioned by Zhao Ran, her tone faltered a bit: "Master Jinghui is from the former residence of the princess, but that's all in the past. Now everyone is a layman practicing in Fayan Temple."

"On the day Lianfang disappeared, did anyone in the temple come to donate the tree?"

"No one came to donate the tree that day." Qiu Ru said, "I remember it very clearly. The day before yesterday was Lunar New Moon (note: the full moon on the [-]th), and the princess ordered us to prepare some vegetarian dishes for donation. Everyone was busy all day, and they were a little tired at night. Now, if the princess hadn't asked about it in the morning, we wouldn't have known that Lianfang, who was on duty last night, had suddenly disappeared."

"How many rats were there in your temple?"

"There is a mountain behind the Fayan Temple, and there are many rats on weekdays, but there have never been so many rats." Qiuru said as if she still had lingering fears.

"Who is in charge of your accounts on weekdays?"

"Give it to Qiurong. At the end of the month, I will ask her to submit it, and then one copy will be handed over to Mrs. Jinghui, and one copy will be handed over to the Clan Mansion."

"You and Qiurong made the bill?"

"It's mainly done by Qiu Rong, I just forwarded it."

"In your opinion, who did Qiu Rong commit to kill?"

Qiu Ru hesitated for a moment before saying, "This...it's hard to say. Fayan Monastery doesn't have many people, and everyone depends on each other for their lives. I really can't think of a reason for Qiu Rong to kill Lianfang."

She spoke in a low tone, seeming a little sad.

Zhao Ran asked a few more questions, and Qiu Ru said, "My lord, we have arrived."

The door opened with a "squeak", and Zhao Ran groped across the threshold. As soon as he stepped through the door, he seemed to step on something. He bent down and picked up some scraps of paper. The room smelled of blood and said no. A disgusting smell came out, and after sniffing it clearly, he covered his nose and let it out.

Qiu Ru didn't dare to go in, she waited outside the door, seeing Zhao Ran go in for a while and then come out, she couldn't help asking: "My lord... is this the end?"

"It's almost there." Zhao Ran fanned his nose with his hands. He thought the sandalwood scent on Jiu Ru's body was not good, but now that he smells it again, he thinks it's actually not bad.

"Does Qiu Rong live alone?" Zhao Ran asked.

"She has to take care of the account books, and sometimes she has to store money in the house, so she lives alone." Qiu Ru said, "Besides her, there is also Master Jinghui who wants to realize Zen at night, so she also lives alone. Others The female officers in the office share a room with two people."

Even though Zhaoran said yes, she didn't dare to look any further, so she walked over and closed the door.

When she turned around, Zhao Ran said, "Can I ask you to do something?"

----

In the cold night, if Zhaoran walked alone, even if he knew he would not die, he would still feel a little uneasy, but walking beside Jiuru, he didn't have such uneasiness.

Zhaoran felt that maybe he knew that even if he really met a monster, he might not be as fierce as Jiuru. He thought about it, wouldn't that mean that Jiuru was the most dangerous thing?

Thinking about it, he couldn't help laughing "ha", just now Jiuru had been silent, and now he said: "What are you laughing at?"

Jiu Ru didn't say a word in the middle of the night, but she was taken aback when she spoke suddenly: "Jiu Ru...that uncle, you finally spoke."

"My word is the decree of the law, how can I talk so much like you."

Jiu Ru not only replied, but also choked him back. He was so popular that he was obviously shocked again, and then he understood that the old Pi Jiu Ru respected him as an elder before, so his words and deeds were polite. Shengsheng is a generation shorter than him, so of course there is no need to worry too much.

Not only was Zhao Ran not annoyed, he was both surprised and delighted, so he leaned over and said, "Uncle Jiu Ru, when will I invite you to eat barbecue?"

"Have you always been like this?" Jiuru asked.

"What so?"

"Love to meddle in other people's business, love to expose people's faults, love to destroy people's practice?"

Zhaoran let out a "tsk" in his heart, thinking that I was looking at you as Jiuru, and I would not bother to work hard on him for ordinary people. He said: "What is the practice for? Cultivate an afterlife Good luck, eat well, drink well, then why do you need to cultivate an afterlife, in this life, you can eat and drink, and you can’t drink.”

"Do you like three wives and four concubines very much?"

Zhao Ran spread his hands and said, "Who doesn't like beautiful wives and beautiful concubines?"

Jiu Ru remained silent, Zhao Ran thought that he finally got to the point, he couldn't waste it, he leaned over and said: "Uncle Jiu Ru, you are so young and beautiful, if you are willing to give up your figure, let alone three wives and four concubines, Even the 72nd courtyard of the imperial palace may not be able to accommodate all the women who want to marry you."

"I'm not interested in."

Zhao Ran was not discouraged when he was rejected straight away: "Uncle Jiuru, I heard that eminent Buddhist monks see form as emptiness, but you have never seen it. How do you know that you can also see form as emptiness? Do you have a better relationship with Buddha?"

Jiu Ru said: "Then let's see." After he finished speaking, he picked up Zhao Ran's collar and stood up, the cold wind "swish" against Zhao Ran's face, but his heart was full of joy, like Beating a snare drum: "Baited, hooked, hooked!"

No matter how boundless the Buddha's mana is, he is still a young man. No matter how weak his mana is, he is still an old ghost.

Although Jiu Ru was blindfolded, after a few jumps, he returned to the previous hall without any mistakes.

----

When Zhaoran returned to the main hall, Wantong asked, "What did you smell?"

Clearly said: "I still have some things for these female officers to do."

Wantong waved his hand and asked the guards to push the female officers in front of Zhaoran, and Zhaoran said, "I want you to go to see Qiurong's death one by one, and then come back and tell me."

Jinghui couldn't help saying: "They have already been frightened, how can they be frightened again?"

Wantong sneered: "Why don't you let us see?"

Jing Hui was at a loss for words, and said plainly: "Qiu Rong gets along with you day and night, like sisters, don't you want to know how she died?"

The female officers looked at each other, and one of the female officers replied: "Your Excellency is right, we, we will go and watch for Your Excellency."

After a while, there was a burst of crying outside the hall, and it was clear: "Let them come in one by one!"

The first female officer came in and asked plainly, "What's your name?"

"The servant girl's name is Qiu Sheng."

"What did you see inside the house?"

Qiu Sheng sobbed softly again: "Qiu Rong, Qiu Rong died so badly."

Clearly said: "You can be sure that she is Qiurong."

Qiu Sheng calmed down and replied: "It is indeed Qiu Rong. Although Qiu Rong's face was bitten bloody by a mouse, the other half of his face is still intact. We get along day and night, and we can know who is who just by looking at the back. And saw half a face."

"Where were you when Qiu Rong died?"

"Except for Qiu Rong, all of us were doing evening classes in the main hall at that time."

Zhao Ran said: "Take her out."

Looking at Qiu Sheng's back, Wantong couldn't help saying: "You don't need to ask a few more questions."

Then Zhaoran seemed to remember something, turned his head and said, "I have one more thing to ask Mr. Wan to do." He whispered a few words in Wantong's ear.

Wantong gave him a slightly surprised look, walked to the door and whispered a few more words to the guard.

Only then did Zhao Ran ask the second person, "What's your name?"

"My servant, my servant's name is Qiu Ju."

"How's the situation in the house?"

"Qiu Rong huddled in the corner, she, she must have been very scared at the time." Qiu Ju broke down in tears.

"Is Qiu Rong not very courageous?"

"Qiu Rong is the least courageous, and she doesn't even dare to go up the back mountain. We often joke that she is our accountant because of her timidity." Qiu Ju covered her face and burst into tears.

Jinghui has been turning the beads beside her, and her hands can't help shaking at this moment.

At this time, a woman's scream suddenly came from outside the hall, Wantong stood up "Teng", and said quickly: "It's okay, it's okay, I'm asking the female officer Qiu Ru to call."

After he finished speaking, his face showed confusion: "Since she is so timid, why didn't she call for help?"

"She must be afraid of hurting us..." Qiu Ju finally broke down and cried loudly.

----

Zhaoran asked around, asking the same question over and over again, finally Jinghui couldn't help but asked again: "I don't know what else the benefactor wants to ask?"

"Then don't ask." Zhao Ran spread his hands, "Actually, I'm hungry too, let's get something delicious."

Jinghui was angry, she endured it and said, "Qiusheng, go and prepare some candied fruit."

"One more pot of good tea!" Zhao Ran said.

Jinghui gritted her teeth and said, "Make him a pot of tea."

When the refreshments arrived, Jinghui said coldly: "Almsgiver, although all living beings are equal before the Buddha, there are still emperors and queens in the mortal world, and the common people are the people below. If you think that people in Fayan Temple can bully you at will? ..."

Zhao Ran said: "Who wants to bully you, am I waiting for evidence?"

"What, what evidence?"

Zhao Ran raised his hand and poured himself a cup of tea: "The proof that Qiu Rong died in vain."

Immediately the voices in the hall fell silent, and after a while Jing Hui said: "The benefactor can really avenge Qiu Rong's grievance."

Zhao Ran took a sip of the tea foam on the surface of the water: "It is my duty!"

Jinghui bowed slightly and said: "Then Jinghui thanked the benefactor first, and the benefactor's kindness will be rewarded with kindness every day."

"No need, I believe in what happens in front of me more than in karma." Zhao Ranna casually pointed in the direction of the Buddha statue, "So I definitely don't practice the Buddha of the past, and if I want to practice, I also practice the present world."

Jinghui was silent for a while before saying, "How does the benefactor verify the present?"

She said indifferently: "If the benefactor can't prove the present, how can he know that he is not in the past or the future?"

What he said was extremely paradoxical, as if asking an unreasonable question, but he couldn't refute it, so Zhao Ran was stunned.

----

They were talking about the sound of footsteps coming from outside, it was rare for Wantong to stand up when he saw someone coming and said, "Your Highness the Princess."

Zhao Ran frowned, and then heard Jiashan's voice: "The princess has been a person who has been a man of Buddhism for many years and doesn't care about world affairs. The son-in-law was afraid that Lord Wan would find it inconvenient to settle the case here, so he asked me to come over to mediate."

As soon as these words came out, Jinghui's face turned pale and she said: "Princess Poor Nidai thanked the princess for her kindness."

Over there, Jiashan entered the Buddhist hall, and the female officials moved in a short table. Wang Zeng sat at the table, and everyone had a set of refreshments at the table, but no one really ate and drank in the Buddhist hall except Zhaoran.

Even Wantong, who was arrogant and domineering, was no exception. He took the time to put incense sticks on the Buddha in the past.

As soon as Wang Zeng sat down, he ordered dried tofu and fried peanuts. Jinghui also ordered the female officials to do so. Said: "Uncle, try it, this dried bean curd with peanuts can chew out the taste of meat."

The room was filled with silence, Wantong's fat face twitched, but Jiuru calmly took it and put it in his mouth.

If Jiu Ruo really is very tempting in this respect, Zhao Ran was giggling in his heart, when suddenly he heard someone say in his ear: "You also have grudges against Wang Zeng?"

Zhao Ran almost spit out a mouthful of tea, although he was blindfolded, he couldn't help turning his head, and then he heard the human voice: "Don't shake your head, I'm talking to you."

It's Jiuru, sound transmission into secret!

Zhao Ran said "tsk tsk" in his heart, he really is a master.

Jiuru could transmit the sound, but Zhaoran could not send it back. This is a one-way connection, so Zhaoran was so happy to pretend to be deaf and dumb. Now that Jiuru understood that he was just acting for Wang Zeng, he was willing to continue acting. , who must still be willing to be his backer.

Zhaoran felt that he and Wantong had a common language all of a sudden, and it was a pleasure to be a villain when he hugged his thick thighs.

It's just that Jiu Ru is too silent, he has forgotten that Jiu Ru is actually very smart, it seems that he still has to be careful in the future, and obviously beat himself in his heart.

----

They sat for a while, when there was a commotion outside, and even a woman's scream, they got up and said: "The evidence is here."

Two brocade guards opened the door of the main hall, and a gust of cold wind blew in so that the people inside couldn't help shivering. The few brocade guards in front of the hall dragged two large nets with fine holes, and the nets were crowded with kittens. mouse.

Wang Zeng gasped, Wan Tongrao was usually ruthless, but now he couldn't help fighting between the two, and said, "These are all caught by Houshan with that method."

"Returning to your lord, that's right. We contacted various restaurants overnight and got a total of fifty pairs of live crabs. We took their claws and burned them on the fishing net laid by Yu Xian. We caught so many in one net."

Zhao Ran said: "It is recorded in Shizhen's "Compendium of Materia Medica" that crabs are born in the waters of Yifang Luochi and Ze. It is timeless to take them. Its yellow can turn paint into water, and its pincers can burn smoke and can gather rats. But mountain rats are so big , should be raised by someone who collects rats with cheetah smoke and then feeds them."

"It's so terrifying, who would do that?" Wang Zeng frowned.

Zhao Ran said: "I have a nephew who loves to eat rats. If he sees the rats in this net, he will scream with joy. People don't feel terrible when they see their favorite food. But there are so many rats. Rats need a lot of money, and the crab alone may cost a lot, how much does a crab cost now?"

Jin Yiwei stepped forward and replied, "One five taels."

"Five taels... It can be seen that raising mice is not cheaper than raising people." Zhao Ran said, "Where did the money come from? It can only be embezzled from the charitable money of Fayan Temple. Qiu Rong is in charge of the money, but she is timid." , so she was not the one who went up the mountain to feed the mice. Lianfang disappeared. She belonged to the Queen Mother Zhou. Jin Yiwei naturally wanted to investigate, and sooner or later they would find out that there was a problem with the temple's ledger, so they thought of a way to use the method of collecting rats. , Destroy the ledger."

His voice was heard far away in the dark night, very clear and a bit cold: "But this can only be done by Qiurong, why? Because the man who raises mice must appear in the hall during the evening class. Qiurong Rong lit the pincer smoke, the mice wouldn't all arrive at once, why didn't she run away when she saw the first one? Because she wanted to ensure that the books that had smoked the meat would be destroyed by the mice, she was very timid, No matter how many mice there are, they can't escape. Her body is smelled of meat, and the mice start to attack her, but she still doesn't bark. Why? Because she hasn't seen the rattling arrow yet, and it takes a strong mouse to destroy the ledger. Witness, this witness is of course a disciple of the Buddha, the best time has not yet come, and someone will come if called, and all previous efforts will be wasted, so she endured until she was bitten to death."

Zhaoran was silent for a while and then said: "I'm afraid Qiurong will never know that those rats have not been fed for several days, so the hungry rats who are used to being full when they smell smoke will eat them together. But it doesn't matter, if the rats destroy the temple and let the Buddha come to be a witness, it needs to be well timed, otherwise the rats may disperse later, so as I said before, this person will definitely try his best to control it. At this moment, whoever holds the arrow will be the murderer!"

The female officials all turned their heads slowly to look at Jinghui. Jinghui's face was full of tears, and her hand holding the prayer beads kept shaking. I deliberately didn’t feed the mountain rats, because my mind was too disturbed after Lianfang disappeared, and I was afraid that Jin Yiwei would find out, so I only fed them for a few days.”

Wantong waved his hand: "Take it."

Jinghui hurriedly said: "My lord, please let me bid farewell to the princess."

Before Wantong could speak, Zhao Ran said, "Let her say goodbye."

Wantong frowned, Jiuru turned his head and said, "Let her say goodbye."

Only then did Wantong wave his hand and let Jin Yiwei escort Jinghui into the hall.

Jinghui wiped her tears, walked to the door of the inner hall, knelt down and said calmly: "Princess, Jinghui and the princess are doomed in this life, so I bid farewell."

She didn't go far when she heard a beast-like wailing sound from the inner hall. Jinghui's footsteps paused, but she still walked out with her feet upright. grabbed his wrist.

Jin Yiwei shouted: "Let go!"

But even if they punched and kicked, Jinghui refused to let go, and said clearly through the veil, "I promise you."

Only then did Jing Hui slowly let go of his wrist, smiling with blood dripping from the corner of her mouth.

After he left, Wantong asked, "What did you promise her?"

Zhao Ran looked at him and said, "I promise her that this matter will be over."

Wantong looked at him, waved his fat hand and said, "Is there any other tricks in this matter, naturally it will stop here."

Zhao Ran bowed and said, "Thank you sir."

Wantong went out and got on his horse, turned his head and said, "Boy, do you have any idea to come over and talk to me?"

Zhao Ran shook his head again and again, Wan Tong's face changed color and said: "Why, I am not worthy of you to follow."

"Of course I deserve it, but being a Jin Yiwei is too uncomfortable, too nerve-wracking, and too difficult to be a human being."

Wantong laughed so much that his fat body was trembling, he galloped away with a group of Jinyi guards on his horse.

----

When Jiashan came, she drove in a carriage, so she came in a carriage with Wang Zeng. She got into the carriage and whispered: "You said that Jinghui raised so many mice for food?"

Wang Zeng had always closed his eyes and meditated: "If there are too many rats, everything will be safe for the snakes. I probably believe in some evil method to transfer luck."

Jia Shan was slightly taken aback and blurted out: "Gu'an Xiao Snake."

After she finished saying this sentence, both of them were silent, after a long time, Jiashan said again: "Where did Lianfang go?"

----

There were a few Jin Yiwei guards in the temple to collect the corpses, Qiu Rong's body was carried out, she took off the veil over her eyes, walked over and squatted beside her, half of Qiu Ru's face was destroyed, but it could be seen vaguely She was younger, with round cheeks and slightly opened eyes, as if she could still see her charming expression when she was alive from above.

Zhao Ran thought, what a pity, otherwise this skin would be worth wearing.