Daming's Bizarre Story: Painted Skin

The person in the coffin turned out to be a chicken-skinned and white-haired old woman. Looking at the corpse in the coffin, Zhao Ran couldn't help but wondered if he was going to pretend to be an old ghost again, and this time he was still an old female ghost, but when Zhao Ran turned over the other coffins again Come back, still only select it.

Zhaoran clasped his hands together and silently recited a confession, took out the half of the talisman hidden on his body, and placed the textured side on the forehead of the corpse. Sure enough, after a puff of white smoke, there was only an old skin left in the coffin. .

He quickly rolled up the old skin, stole two women's clothes from a house on the way back to the inn, put a piece of broken silver under the window sill, and took the piece of human skin back to the inn.

Zhaoran went back and forth, just after eating barbecue, he actually ordered another pot of pork knuckle, but the little second-hand man would not talk too much with the money that Zhaoran rewarded again, I only hope that this big-bellied guest will come back a few more times That's good.

Upstairs, Yang Xueshi has already written the characters of the Zhao clan.

"Can this glib and frivolous person really be able to do it?" Yang Xueshi thought in his heart, but after weighing it, he had no other choice. His slender fingers rolled up the character sheet and inserted it into the window crack according to the clear instructions.

As soon as his paper was inserted, it was pulled away with a "whoosh".

Yang Xueshi was startled, only to hear a weary voice outside the window saying: "Okay, I've taken the things away. I'll pretend to be when we meet tomorrow, so that you won't be too surprised, let's make an appointment for a secret sign."

"A secret sign for meeting?" Yang Xueshi was stunned.

"Yes, tell me quickly!" Zhao Ran said bluntly.

Yang Xueshi pondered for a while and said: "Then use the words "long time no see"."

Zhaoran who was outside the window almost bit his own tongue, and stammered: "You, what did you say?"

"I said long time no see."

"No, change it!"

Yang Xueshi was puzzled: "Why do you want to change it?"

Zhao Ran arrogantly said: "If I say change one, then change one!"

Yang Xueshi felt that he was wronged and asked for perfection for a big matter, and he didn't want to argue with this villager, so he could only say: "Then tell me."

Zhao Ran glanced at the elbow in his hand and said: "Then use the braised elbow I want to eat."

"I want to eat braised elbows." Yang Xueshi had never used such vulgar greetings in his life, but he had to endure it for the sake of important matters, and replied, "Okay, use this."

----

Zhaoran returned to the house, took a deep breath, and pressed the talisman against his forehead. There was a puff of white smoke, and the bone and skin separated. He took off the obvious skin on his body, and then replaced the old woman's skin. Dizzy and dizzy from hunger, his limbs were weak, and he quickly grabbed his elbow and gnawed it.

Then he lowered his head and looked at the limbs, the flesh and blood under the skin finally gradually swelled up, but it still looked like an old woman, so he wiped his mouth and fell asleep. Sleep.

The next day, Yang Xueshi stood at the door of the inn for a while. He stood with his hands behind his back. His figure was slender and straight. Eat braised elbow."

As soon as Yang Xueshi turned his head, he saw an old woman wearing a summer flower staggering towards her from a distance, raised the handkerchief in her hand and said coquettishly, "I want to eat braised elbow."

Yang Xueshi came from a poor family, studied poetry and books hard, and since he was an official, he has been a weak scholar to supervise wars and quell chaos. I have seen many people, but I have never seen anyone like Zhaoran. Shouting, goosebumps all over my body.

"What are you stupid about, it's me!" Seeing Yang Xueshi's eyes straightened, Zhao Ran said in a low voice.

Yang Xueshi came back to his senses and coughed lightly: "Oh, so it's a chivalrous man."

"You shouldn't call me a chivalrous man now, you might as well call me a mother." Zhao Ran said without shame.

Yang Xueshi recalled the scene of Zhaoran belittling him last night, and couldn't help feeling a chill run down his spine again, and said, "How about this, I said you are a psychic old woman, and most of the villagers believe that."

"Psychic?"

"Dangyu Village is said to be haunted by ghosts. It's Zhao Jing's ghost. Otherwise, Zhao Jing's younger sister would have been imprisoned by the Zhao clan."

Zhao Ran said "Oh", and Yang Xueshi asked again: "What should I call you now."

"Hmm... just call me Granny Feng." Zhao Ran thought for a while.

"Feng Granny." Yang Xueshi saluted with half bow, Zhao Ran also smiled politely, "Hey, nephew, I want to eat braised elbow."

Yang Xueshi didn't expect that Zhaoran would really want to eat elbows. He has always had a light diet, mainly vegetarian, and rarely sees meat, but now he has something to ask for, so he can only say: "Wait a moment."

Zhaoran waited at the door for a while, then saw Yang Xueshi coming out with an elbow awkwardly, he couldn't help laughing, thinking that this person was really hypocritical.

"Here." Yang Xueshi seemed to be carrying something shady, and quickly shoved the elbow in his hand.

Zhao Ran took the elbow and said, "Go and hire me a soft sedan chair."

"Why hire a soft sedan chair?"

Zhao Ran pointed to his own feet and said, "The path in the village is narrow and the carriage cannot pass. Does my nephew want my mother-in-law and me to walk by myself?"

He really regarded himself as an elder, Yang Xueshi was very angry, but he couldn't do anything to make it clear, so he had to hire a soft sedan and follow the carriage as he said, and headed towards Dang Fishing Village.

----

Luoma Lake in Dang Fishing Village is closely connected to the river. In the early morning, there are wisps of white mist floating on the surface of the lake. A gull bird chirped a few times, from far to near.

Obviously it was already dark when I came here last night. When I looked at it again during the day, I found that Dang Fishing Village is really not small. Tall buildings.

"The people living outside here are all the people who fled to Dangyu Village in recent years, and the inside is where the Zhao clan lives." Outside Dangyu Village, there are houses with uneven heights, and you need to walk on steps inside Dangyu Village , the carriage was really inconvenient, Yang Xueshi got off the carriage and saw Zhaoran looking up at the tall buildings inside, and said, "More than half of the wharf business near here is in the hands of the Zhao clan, and most of the people in the outer villages work on the wharf Most of the people who entered Dangyu Village would change their surname to Zhao to show their gratitude to the Zhao family for taking them in, and Su Jing was like this back then."

When the group of them came out, the villagers also looked around curiously, but most of them only took a few glances. One is that there are many dignitaries who came to visit the patriarch, and the other is that although most of these nobles want to give face to the Zhao family, if they accidentally collide If you really want to punish someone if you hurt someone, don't you want to admit that you are unlucky.

Zhao Ran suddenly pointed: "Lady over there, we need to hire someone, are you free?"

The disheveled laundry woman raised her head. She looked haggard and listless. She didn't watch the fun just now, but she didn't know why Zhaoran suddenly asked her, so she said in a daze, "Where is the old lady?" Ask the villain?"

Zhao Ran waved his hands and said, "I need to hire someone here, one tael a day, can you do it?"

"A tael of silver?" The villagers all gasped.

The woman pointed at herself in disbelief: "Old, the old lady is, you mean a villain?"

Zhao Ran said impatiently: "It's you, do you want to do it?"

The woman said almost impatiently: "Do it, do it. Ma'am, please wait a moment, the young woman will go in and wash it for a while."

After she went in, Yang Xueshi asked inexplicably, "Why did you hire this village woman?"

Clearly said: "I like to be served by others."

Yang Xueshi frowned and said, "We came here to investigate the Zhao family, but you got someone from the Zhao family to come to us..."

Zhao Ran squinted at him: "Then why don't you serve me?"

Yang Xueshi had no choice but to suppress his breath and keep silent.

Sure enough, the woman quickly changed her clothes and came out, and even combed her hair again, but she looked a bit slick.

"What's it called?" Zhao Ran asked.

"Jiniang."

"A good name, you will be blessed when you hear it."

There was a wry smile on Ji Niang's face: "Women are so lucky, the family is so poor, the only son is seriously ill, and the man makes me restless all day long..." Halfway through she spoke, Zhao Ran's eyes were paradoxical, Shocked, he quickly changed his words, "The old lady is right, I think it is not a blessing to meet such a noble person as the old lady when I go out early in the morning."

Zhaoran then said: "That's right, anyone who meets me will have no bad luck."

Hearing this, Yang Xueshi couldn't help but cast a glance at him. Zhao Ran tapped a silver corner on the armrest with his dry fingers and said, "Pay you half of the deposit first, and pay you the rest later."

Ji Niang held the small silver horn in her hand, almost wept with joy, and said repeatedly: "It's okay, it's okay."

After Ji Niang carefully put away Yinjiao, Zhao Ran lazily lay down on the soft chair and said, "We are going to pay a visit to Patriarch Zhao, do you recognize it?"

What he said was nonsense, but Ji Niang finally got the job, and immediately replied: "Yes, the patriarch often comes to see who is in trouble, and sends some rice and grain, and sometimes some money. "

"Let's see who's in trouble..." Zhao Ran paused, pointing to the nearby village house and asked, "What does the vermilion paint on the doors of these people mean?"

Ji Niang said: "This means that this family is respectful and gentle. They have never done anything wrong. They are good people. Anyone with vermilion lacquer on the door can go to the ancestral hall to receive relief if the family is sick or in trouble." She said with eyes Show envy.

"So there is no vermilion lacquer on your door." Zhao Ran said.

Ji Niang was shocked again, her eyes showed anxiety, and she said quickly: "I, my man bumped into Young Master Tianci unintentionally, it was not intentional, our family absolutely had no intention of harming anyone."

Yang Xueshi couldn't help but frowned again. They came here to get close to Mrs. Zhao, and they took in someone who had offended Mrs. Zhao before they reached their threshold.

"Whether you are a good citizen of Dang Fishing Village has nothing to do with me. First, let's hear how your man offended that young master?"

Only then did Ji Niang's back relax a little, and she wiped the fine sweat from her forehead and said: "My son has been in poor health since he was a child. Because of his poor family, he has never been able to make up for him. In recent years, he has suffered from wheezing and coughing. He had been ill for a long time. His father got a folk prescription from nowhere, saying that eels in water could be cured by cooking soup with salt. But it was already late autumn, and it was really not easy to catch eels, so Haier’s father thought of an eel in our village. On the surface of the lake, backed by mountains and shaded, there must be eels to catch, but, that place is a forbidden place in the clan, and the boy's father originally thought that it would be unknown if he went fishing secretly in the middle of the night. Master." (Note: This recipe comes from "Taiping Shenghuifang" in Song Dynasty)

"It's late autumn, why did this god-sent young master appear by the lake?" Yang Xueshi didn't expect that they would get to the point of chatting, and asked quickly.

"I don't know, but Master Tianci haunts the village in the middle of the night...that's a common occurrence." Ji Niang whispered with a little blushing on her face, and Yang Xueshi thought that it was probably this Yue Tianci who was sneaking around in the village at night. Stealing incense and jade.

Yang Xueshi thought of the words "stealing incense and stealing jade" in his mind, his face blushed inexplicably, and he straightened his waist slightly unnaturally.

Clearly said: "You continue."

Ji Niang smiled wryly: "Baby's father had caught two eels at that time, so he begged Master Tianci to show his respect for the sick child at home, but Master Tianci refused and threw his fishing basket into the lake , the two clashed because of this..." She said here with a long and helpless sigh.

"The vermilion paint on your door has been scraped off for a while."

Ji Niang nodded and said, "It's been three or four years."

Zhao Ran was surprised and said: "Just because of two eels, it takes so long to punish for three or four years?"

"The rules in the village are like this. Once the vermilion paint on someone's house is scraped off, it will be difficult to repaint it unless they have made great contributions to the neutrality of the clan." Ji Niang sighed again.

Going further along the steps, the thatched cottage has gradually turned into a flat-roofed tile-roofed house. There is not only vermilion lacquer in front of the door, but also Zhao characters written in golden patterns.

The villagers here were a little less curious. When they saw Ji Niang beside the soft chair, they only lowered their voices and exchanged a few words in a low voice, then quickly went back to the house and closed the door. Ji Niang bent down involuntarily, Shrinking his neck and bowing his head, he followed behind.

----

Walking in front of Mowa, as soon as Zhaoran got off the sedan chair, the side door opened, and a silver-haired old man came out. He stepped forward and bowed, "I don't know where the distinguished guest came from?"

"I am Yang Xueshi, the censor of Guangxi Daoist inspector, and I have to pay a visit to the patriarch because I have a public case in my post." Yang Xueshi said and handed over the greeting card in his hand.

The inspector censor is known as the inspector on behalf of the son of heaven. Although his rank is not high, he is very powerful. Even if the local government officials see them, they have to avoid them by three points. He gave Yang Xueshi a calm expression and said: "Master Yang, the patriarch has been unwell for the past few days, and I'm afraid he won't be able to see any guests. Later, the villain will tell you that you have been here."

Yang Xueshi looked embarrassed, and Ji Niang even huddled behind the sedan chair, not even daring to lift her head.

Zhao Ran tilted his body and said: "Master Yang, didn't you come here to see that there are villagers who are high-ranking and that there are rich and wealthy families who raped, murdered and raped the weak?"

Suddenly, Yang Xueshi's scalp was about to explode, and the silver-haired old man couldn't help but look a little ugly, but he took the greeting card and said with a slightly arrogant expression: "If that's the case, I'll report to the patriarch."

When he left, Yang Xueshi gritted his teeth angrily and said, "What do you mean?"

Zhao Ran lazily said: "Every concierge can read and write. What a grandeur it is. Comparing with him is not just asking for trouble, it's better to compare with official duties. Even if you have official duties, Mrs. Zhao has indeed been sued. It’s fine if there is no official investigation, how dare the Zhao family ignore it if there is an official investigation, does his family have a few gold medals for avoiding death?”

He turned around and asked, "Why don't you even dare to offend a squire about your big business?"

Yang Xue calmed down after being overwhelmed by officialdom, and straightened her back: "The way of the censor is to correct and impeach all officials, to discern wrongdoing, to admirals and to supervise all departments, to be the emperor's eyes and ears. It is okay to die for the people, let alone offend the powerful?"

Zhao Ran was amused in his heart, thinking of Zhao Wen's sour scholar, he turned his head and looked at Yang Xueshi's beautiful profile, feeling in a trance in his heart, as if Jiu Ru was close by, he couldn't help asking: "Go for the people?" You can die...does it mean that you can do anything else?"

Yang Xueshi stood beside the sedan chair, and when Zhao Ran tilted his head to ask, his breath hit his earlobe, a blush appeared on his cheeks, and he said angrily: "If you continue to humiliate me like this, why don't we just go our separate ways... "

In the middle of his words, Zhao Ran suddenly raised his index finger and let out a "shh", "What did you hear?"

Yang Xueshi listened intently, he could only hear someone shouting loudly in the inner courtyard, but he couldn't make out what it was shouting, so he couldn't help asking: "What is that person shouting?"

Zhao Ran looked at him and said, "As you said, there are ghosts."