Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

Zhao Ran stood up, it was already past the fourth watch, but the winter and spring had not yet come, the sunrise was late, there was a half-circle cold moon hanging in the sky, the gauze mist filled the air, and the cold wind entered the set of doors, blowing one after another. , Blowing close to the accumulation of whimpering.

People stood on the temple steps and looked out, those gate towers seemed to be darker than the next.

Standing behind Zhao Ran, Jiu Ru asked, "What are you looking at?"

Zhao Ran turned around but asked back, "Are you hungry?"

"Fortunately."

"Shall we go to the kitchen and get something to eat?"

Jiu Ru glanced at him, and there was a hint of warning in his tone: "Don't try to eat roasted mice in Buddhist places."

Zhao Ran told him to expose his thoughts, but his mouth would never admit it, he spread his hands and said, "Am I like that kind of person who makes trouble out of no reason?"

Jiu Ruyi glanced at him pointingly, that look clearly said: "Yes, you are such a person."

Zhao Ran touched his nose and said, "Okay, let's go to the kitchen and make sure we don't roast rats!"

----

The two entered the kitchen, and seeing Qiuru directing two female officers to prepare meals, she bent down when she saw Zhaoran and said, "My lord, Buddha's son."

Zhaoran stretched his neck to look at the pot and asked, "Is the pot cooked as a princess meal?"

"In addition to the princess's, there are also those of the female officials. There will be morning classes later, so these meals need to be prepared early." Qiu Ru said with a sigh, "So many things happened in the temple, but what should be done Still to do."

Zhao Ran stared at the pot and said, "What are you cooking?"

Seeing his drooling look, Qiu Ru couldn't help pursing her lips and said, "My lord, this big pot is steamed with white steamed buns, this small pot is steamed with rice cakes, and this bucket is filled with millet porridge. The side dishes are double mushrooms braised in oil, stir-fried cabbage, and the palace sent some small cabbage yesterday, I want to marinate it."

"Is there any left?"

"My lord wants to eat cabbage?" Qiu Ru immediately understood, it's not uncommon to have cabbage in spring, but it's extremely difficult to eat a bite in winter.

"Yes, is there?" Zhao Ran asked.

Qiu Ru turned her head and told the female officer, "Choose one for your lord and fry it."

Zhao Ran waved his hand and said, "No, no, just let me do it myself."

Qiuru said again: "Then pick the clean ones and put them away."

Then she made a pot of tea herself, brought the fried peanuts just now and said, "Buddha, my lord, the kitchen is a little dirty, why don't you sit in the front hall."

Zhao Ran waved his hand and said, "No, I still need to make food later." As he spoke, he pulled Jiu Ru to sit down at the low table in the kitchen, and Jiu Ru sat down with a flick of the stool, then closed his eyes and meditated .

The kitchen is full of smoke, and the sound of pots and shovels is noisy. It is obvious from the side view that Jiuru's facial contours are clear and soft, and there is a sense of beauty and natural selection. Such a dirty place can still be detached. He couldn't help thinking that this person had already become a fairy, so why bother to practice Buddhism?

He asked, "How much do you use every day?"

Qiuru was already used to Zhaoran's gossip with the topic in between, so he quickly said: "There are 23 people in our Fayan Temple, except for the steamed buns and porridge used on the [-]th day of the lunar new year, we usually use millet for a day. Ten catties of rice, ten catties of wheat, one catty of millet, one catty of rice, two catties of various mushrooms, five catties of various vegetables, and one catty of oil, salt and various seasonings. I will strictly control these in the future and never There will be another stubble like today."

Zhaoran reached out his hand to take a peanut from the oil dish, looked at the peanut between his fingers and said, "On weekdays, Gui Qiusheng is in charge of the kitchen, right?"

Qiu Ru froze for a moment, then smiled wryly, "Your Excellency is really wise. She is usually the one who manages the kitchen, but I also need to be careful about small and big matters. Today she...is a little stimulated, so I can only come here in person. .”

Zhao Ran nodded: "This is also reasonable. At this time, the people below can do whatever they want, but the people above still have to be tough."

Qiu Ru sympathized and said: "Your Excellency is right."

Zhaoran picked up the oil dish and said, "The dishes are done washing, I'm going to make something to eat."

Qiu Ru got up quickly and said, "Get out of the way for your lord."

The female officials have never seen a man go to the kitchen, and they all watched from the sidelines. They saw that Zhaoran smashed the fried peanuts, cut the cabbage into pieces, and ordered some leftovers to be fried in oil. That's it, when the color of the rice is oily, pour in the cabbage, and finally mix in the peanut crumbs, and a burst of aroma immediately hits the nose.

Qiu Ru exclaimed, "My lord is good at cooking!"

Zhao Ran said boldly: "To see if this person has aura, you only need to watch him cook two dishes, so if you ask me to say that women have more aura than men, especially cooks!"

The female officials were originally saddened by the events of the night, but now they couldn't help covering their mouths and laughing, and turned their heads to Qiuru and said: "I've been nagging you in the middle of the night, so I borrowed fried rice and offered flowers to the Buddha."

Qiu Ru bowed and said with a smile, "My servant, thank you for your reward." She turned her head and said, "Bring the tableware from above."

Zhaoran filled a bowl of rice and put it in front of Jiuru first, Jiuru's eyes opened, he took out the chopsticks from the chopstick cage and started eating, when Qiuru brought the tableware, the two of them had already eaten.

"My lord, please change to better tableware." Qiu Ru said.

Zhao Ran waved his hand and said, "No need, I'm already starving after a busy meal."

Qiuru smiled and didn't force herself, took a set of tableware, filled half a bowl of rice and took a sip. She felt that the rice had a strong aroma of peanuts and a slightly astringent aroma of cabbage. The two aromas were intertwined. Together, people have an indescribable appetite.

She nodded lightly. Qiuru was born as a female official. Although she has passed the age of Huaxin, her demeanor is unhurried and unhurried, which is pleasing to the eye. Coupled with her gentle expression, she can taste [-] to [-]% of her appearance. Fengyi is here.

Qiu Ru lowered her head and just took another bite of fried rice when she suddenly heard Zhao Ran say, "Actually, you are very happy in your heart."

Zhao Ran raised his head and smiled and said, "Lianfang disappeared, Jinghui was taken away, Qiurong died, Fayan Temple suddenly lost three people with real power, and now there is no one in the whole temple who is more powerful than you." powerful."

Qiu Ru swallowed the rice in her mouth and said, "My servant doesn't understand what your lord said."

Zhao Ran held his job bowl and said, "When I first met you, do you still remember how you described Qiu Rong's death?"

"I……"

Zhao Ran didn't force Qiu Ru to remember, he said: "You said that Qiu Rong's body was bitten to pieces, this word is very vivid, but it is too vivid, it seems cold."

"My maidservant..." Qiu Rong was eager to argue, but Zhao Ran interrupted her, "Women are creatures with aura, usually things with aura can only be understood rather than expressed in words, and their expressions are also the same. So when they see the death of the sister they have been with day and night, the first thing they think of is to express their emotions, because they will feel the same fear and pain, so they will not think of describing her death."

"You are a caring person. If you don't take care of the kitchen carefully, you can remember exactly how much oil and rice you use every day. But why when you verify the account book, you just simply forward it? That's because you knew the account book was there It's a problem." Zhao Ran smiled, "In other words, you don't want to advance and retreat with them."

Qiu Ru forced a smile and said, "Your Excellency is a bit arbitrary to blame the servant girl for this."

Zhao Ran shook his head: "I'm not blaming you, but I want to get rid of you for someone else."

"Get rid of me...My lord, even if what your lord said is true, isn't it wrong for a person not to want to join forces?"

With a clear smile: "Do you still remember what you told me, you said that you saw a room full of mice in Qiu Rong's room, and you were frightened, so you fled back to the main hall along the road. From then until we knocked on the door of the main hall , you should never have left, right?"

"That's it."

"Who closed the door?" Zhao Ran looked at Qiu Ru's dilated pupils, and asked repeatedly: "Who closed Qiu Rong's door? Who would close the door at such a dangerous time? It was you." , right? That’s why you didn’t feel surprised when you opened the Qiurong gate, because you closed the gate.”

Zhao Ran looked at the chopsticks and said: "The two pilgrims have nothing to do with what happened in the temple. Since Jinghui asked Qiurong to burn the account book, then naturally she had arranged to talk about it, but you insisted on starting with the pilgrims. In fact, the main thing is The purpose is to vaguely remind the visitors that the pilgrims are the key to this case. The pilgrims came from Zhenze, a town in Suzhou. The specialties include not only silk but also crabs. The crabs in Fayan Temple are the name of Zhenze Provided by merchants, right?"

Zhao Ran said leisurely again: "If you search carefully, you may be able to find that the scholar's mother is mostly suffering from evil spirits or scabies. Crabs can cure the above two diseases. Crabs are hard to find in the north, but there are still some in the south, so Fayan Temple only needs to keep the crab legs used, and the rest can be taken away by scholars."

Qiuru's face became paler and she said clearly: "Lianfang is missing, Qiurong is dead, as long as you get rid of Jinghui, the whole Fayan Temple will be yours, without Jinghui's Princess Gu'an, It’s not just letting you flatten and round it.”

He leaned forward and looked at Qiuru and said seriously: "Although I don't like Jinghui very much, I like you more, but I can't help it. I promised that Jinghui will take care of Gu'an after she leaves. Of course it is impossible to see for a lifetime. But I always want to get rid of a capable and unpredictable person around the princess for her."

Qiuru almost lost her voice: "You didn't promise Jinghui anything at all?!"

Zhao Ran didn't take it seriously at all: "I agree in my heart."

Qiu Ru pursed her lips so tightly that her lips turned white: "But what you said are all conjectures, how can you convince the public?"

Zhao Ran frowned and said in distress: "That's right, there is no evidence."

Qiuru's face just relaxed, but Zhaoran seemed to think of something again: "Yes, now I have it! You are holding lacquer chopsticks in your hand, you are just a little female official, how can you use lacquer chopsticks?" Chopsticks? This is against the rules, right... In Emperor Hongwu's time, he had to be beheaded, but now, beheading is no longer possible, but you are so frivolous, I'm afraid it's no longer suitable for you to stay in Fayan Temple and lead the crowd Female officer, serve the princess."

He looked at Qiuru and grinned: "As I said, I just need to get rid of you."

As soon as Qiu Ru loosened her fingers, the chopsticks in her hand fell to the ground.

Zhao Ran seemed to have a big appetite, he cleaned up the fried rice in the bowl, then held the bowl and said: "Give me another bowl!"

The female officers next to her were all dull-faced. They seemed to have recovered a little after hearing his shout, but they looked at Jiuru.

Jiu Ru looked at the empty bowl in front of him and said, "You talk so much, I thought you didn't want to eat it."

----

Clearly half full, he left the gate of Fayan Temple, and suddenly saw a beautiful woman approaching in front of him, and she bent down and said: "Master, you can figure it out, we have been waiting for you here for a long time."

Ah Ning... Zhao Ran let out a sigh of relief, he said, why did Patriarch Long just send him to do things, and there is no one to take care of him, so there were, but the reaction was so slow, it was already past midnight, It was enough for him to die dozens of times.

"We saw Miss go back, and only then did we know that you left with Commander Wan, Master Wan. It took some effort to find out that you came to Fayan Temple."

Zhao Ran glanced at the black-clothed boy sitting on the carriage in the distance, and immediately understood that Aning was guarding Jiang's mansion, and the person who was supporting him on the road was naturally Ying Ning, but he stood idly by when Wantong took him away. Ah Ning saw Jiang Biqiao coming back alone, and only then did she realize that something had happened.

He tsk tsk in his heart, this Ying Ning was able to put him to death for the sake of her mother-like human skin.

"Is she your concubine?" Jiu Ru asked.

Hey... Zhao Ran blinked and asked, "Do you think she is pretty?"

Aning's slightly drooping eyelids slowly lifted up. Under the hazy candle lights in the gatehouse, the smokey eyes flowed like water waves. Before, she was a graceful and delicate woman, but in the blink of an eye, she was full of charms, and she screamed in her heart, "It's so powerful, this is Aning." Could it be that the vixen has become?

Jiuru looked at Aning's eyes and gave a three-word evaluation: "Very average."

After finishing speaking, he lifted his feet and left, Zhao Ran looked Aning up and down, and said in his heart: "No, this is very ordinary?!"

He chased after Jiu Ru's back and said, "This one won't work, let's get another one!"

Zhao Ran was afraid that Jiu Ru would lose interest, so he caught up with him and said: "There are two types of men, stupid and stupid, but women are different. , toughness and softness, viciousness and infatuation, sometimes clever, sometimes stupid, ever-changing, wonderful."

"It seems that you are a woman's confidant."

Zhaoran pretended to be modest and said: "Extraordinary talent, extraordinary talent, Jiu Ru uncle, don't worry, my little nephew, I can always find a suitable one for you."

Seeing that Jiuru didn't object, he moved closer and said, "Then let's find someone else to visit next time?"

Jiu Ru turned to look at him, and said lightly, "Okay."

Zhao Ran is very happy, he feels a sense of accomplishment that he has completed more than half of his life goal.

----

He bid farewell to Jiuru happily, and returned to sit in the carriage driven by Yingning. When he stepped into the carriage, he suddenly turned his head and said, "From today onwards, I will take Runiang's skin with me. If I am about to die Alright, the first thing is to burn Ru Niang's skin!"

"How dare you!" Ying Ning suddenly reined in the horse's head.

Zhao Ran sat comfortably on his seat, completely ignoring Ying Ning's glaring eyes and said leisurely: "I'm going to die, why don't I dare, even if there is the emperor's skin, I will burn it first!"

Ying Ning's long and narrow phoenix eyes were red, and she changed her tone clearly: "But if you serve me well, it's not impossible for me..."

"Give me back the skin!" Ying Ning said urgently.

It's a pity that what Zhao Ran said was true: "Give Ru Niang's skin some maintenance every now and then. You know that if things like skin are not oiled and preserved, they will rot and become moldy."

Ying Ning's fist clenched and loosened, loosened and clenched, and finally said with a blank expression: "Then young master, please sit down."

Zhao Ran said: "I'm tired today, if you hit me after walking this way, I'll go back and poke a hole in Ru Niang's skin!"

Ying Ning squeezed out a sentence between her teeth: "Master Gu Zhun sleeps like a dead pig!"

"Smart." Zhao Ran said and fell asleep in the carriage.

I don't know how much time has passed, Zhaoran woke up yawning, and found that the sun was just right outside, and he was still sleeping in the carriage. When he sat up, he found that his neck was twisted. He tilted his head and said, "Ying Ning, Ying Ning."

Ying Ning outside lifted the curtain of the carriage and said, "Master, you are awake."

Zhao Ran was annoyed: "Why didn't you call me, it caused my neck to fall into a stiff neck!"

Ying Ning said expressionlessly: "Young Master, you said you were going to sleep like a dead pig, how dare I disturb you, Young Master is a formidable person who can poke holes in dead people's skin."

"Tsk tsk, sharp teeth and sharp mouth." Zhao Ran didn't care about him, tilted his head and got out of the carriage, patted the gate of Jiang's mansion, and when the corner door next to it opened, the porter rushed in and shouted loudly : "Young master, the young master is back!"

----

Zhao Ran watched him run wildly all the way in, some monk Zhang Er couldn't figure it out, he had just walked a few steps in, and asked Mrs. Jiang to come hurriedly with a group of female relatives.

"Ah Xian, are you okay!" Mrs. Jiang's expression changed when she saw Zhao Ran's neck tilted, "Did Jin Yiwei beat you?"

"No, no!" Zhao Ran waved his hands and said, "It's just that I slept in the carriage for a while last night, and my neck was stiff."

"Then hurry up and enter the house, Qingzhao, rub it for the young master."

He was surrounded and walked into the hall. As soon as he sat down, Mrs. Jiang bent over and said softly, "Ah Xian, what do you want to eat, aunt will make it for you."

Since Zhaoran came to Jiang's mansion, although Mrs. Jiang was polite, she was definitely not so gentle. Presumably it was because Zhaoran saved Jiang Biqiao from the siege.

"Where's Bi Qiao?" Zhao Ran asked looking around.

Old Mrs. Jiang snorted: "It's time to be grounded, it should have been like this a long time ago, she was used to being lawless, she thought that after going out of this door, the whole world is like Jiang's Mansion, and she can be allowed to mess around!"

Madam Jiang said in a low voice: "She swollen her eyes from crying last night, she already knew she was wrong."

Mrs. Jiang still reprimanded: "It's best to know what's wrong. Who is Wantong? If you hit him, you'll lose your skin if you don't die. If it's obvious that there's something wrong, how do you tell me to go underground to meet his parents."

Zhao Ran waved his hand and said: "I also went out together, if there is a mistake, it is the fault of both of them, and sister Biqiao cannot be blamed."

Mrs. Jiang said with some embarrassment: "We know Biqiao's temperament. You were able to replace Biqiao last night. Auntie accepts your favor."

As she said that, she squatted down for a while, Zhao Ran hurriedly got up from the chair to support her and said: "Auntie, please don't be so polite, we are all one family."

"That's right." Mrs. Jiang also couldn't see her daughter-in-law's grievances, and her words changed, "He is an older brother, how can he stand by and watch when his sister is in danger, you are his elder, you salute him, not to offend Is it the luck of the juniors? I’m so sorry, hurry up and get two special dishes to supplement Zhaoran.”

Mrs. Jiang broke through her tears and said with a smile: "Okay, let's go."

Zhaoran was surrounded by a group of women, Qingzhao rubbed his shoulders and asked, "Master, how did you persuade the son-in-law to withdraw?"

"Retire, why withdraw?." Zhao Ran was drowsy at first, and opened his eyes after hearing this and asked.

Mrs. Jiang also glared at Qingzhao: "I can't even say a word, when did we have a relationship with the son-in-law?"

Qingzhao hastily made things clear: "My son-in-law sent someone to say that he scared the young lady of our family because of his poor planning, and even sent an apology to our family."

Zhao Ran frowned slightly, and Qingzhao continued: "He also said that he hit it off with you, young master, and posted a post for you, asking young master to get together over the house."