The Shen family's house in a cool summer

A dark and stormy summer night.

A large house in the northeast of Qu County was completely pitch-black, with not even a single street light on.Outlined by the hazy moonlight, the eaves seemed to emit a faint silver light, making it even more eerie and weird.

Suddenly, a spot of light flashed in the courtyard, and then there was a sound like a toad's cry, and a black figure sprang out from the grass and disappeared into the darkness again.

"Oh my god, I was scared to death."

Ding San, who was carrying the lamp, took a deep breath, and the little cock that jumped out suddenly scared his heart.

Ding San stroked his chest a few times with his hand, and he gradually calmed down.Immediately he sighed deeply again, and complained in his heart that he was patrolled every day, but there was no result, and this... He glanced into the dark courtyard again, where there seemed to be an unknown black hole, It feels like it can suck the whole person in at a glance.

Ding San shook his head, shook off those scary thoughts, found a big rock by the roadside, and sat on it.

He just sat down when he heard a sinister laughter next to his ear, which made Ding San jump up immediately in fright.

He lifted the lamp, turned around, and a familiar face appeared in front of him, and finally he was relieved.

"Second Young Master, don't scare the villain. Half of the villain's life was scared away by you."

The source of that laughter was the second young master of the Shen family, Shen Yi.

"Lazy again?" Shen Yi giggled again, and began to tease this servant.

Ding San shook his head feebly: "Second Young Master, it's getting late at night, hurry up and go back to the room to rest."

Shen Yi didn't follow, and simply sat next to Ding San and chatted: "Did you find anything?"

"Nope. I saw only one cockroach, and it almost scared me half my life."

Shen Yi laughed again: "You are really timid."

"Second Young Master, don't tease me..." Then there was another heavy sigh, and after a while, Ding San continued, "How long are you going to continue talking about this?"

"what's up?"

"It's haunted. People have been watching it for several nights. It's not a big deal. I said this ghost, has it gone?"

Shen Yi meaningfully cast his gaze into the darkness of the backyard, just smiled lightly, and didn't answer.

Ding San felt a little uneasy: "Second Young Master, you have something to say."

Seeing his haste, Shen Yi knew that he must be afraid again, so he quickly softened his tone and said: "That depends on what father wants."

Father refers to the elder of the Shen family.In his hands, the business of the Shen family was carried forward, and he became the richest man in Qu County, monopolizing all the silk and satin houses.No one would have imagined that when Shen Yi's grandfather was around, his Shen family satin almost closed down.

"Chen Er fell ill today, and Li San came home suddenly the day before yesterday, and Boss Qian suddenly fell unconscious the day before yesterday, and he is still awake now, so... will something happen to me tomorrow?" Ding San Originally, I wanted to find something to say to relieve my fear, but as I kept talking, I became more and more flustered.He couldn't help but glanced at the darkness again, and immediately shrank back and looked away, feeling that the darkness would rush over and swallow him up in a second.

"Second Young Master, why are there no stars today?" He hastily changed the subject again.

Shen Yi looked up at the sky and sighed: "It's all covered by clouds."

The sky above the two of them was black and oppressive, pressing down on the big house, making people feel suffocated.

"Maybe it will rain in the middle of the night." Shen Yi murmured softly, but it was more like talking to himself.

Ding San obviously didn't hear the whole sentence, "Huh?"

Shen Yi tilted his head, smiled softly and said, "Let's find a roof to hide later." He stood up after speaking.

"Second young master, are you going to rest?"

Shen Yi's peach blossom eyes bent down, "By the way, there is something for you to do."

The master got up, of course Ding San didn't dare to sit still, he stood up quickly, stood aside respectfully, waiting to be dealt with.

"Go to a place and give this letter to someone." As he spoke, Shen Yi took out a letter from his bosom, handed it to Ding San, and pressed it on his hand, making Ding San feel that it was a letter. It must be important.

After explaining the matter, Shen Yi happily left, but Ding San saw the white back with an indescribably unreal feeling.

A sunny morning.Qu County Yamen.

"My lord!" A yamen servant rushed into the inner hall and shouted in a hurry.

At this moment, Mr. Xu, the county magistrate, just got up and finished washing, and was sitting in the hall drinking his first sip of tea in the morning.

Seeing the flustered appearance of the visitor, Mr. Xu took a sip of tea without haste, put the tea cup back on the table gently, and carefully covered the cup lid. Yamen servants formed a stark contrast.

When it was over, Master Xu said leisurely, "What's the matter?"

The yamen servant had already breathed a sigh of relief, and his heaving chest stabilized a little. He swallowed, and explained: "The Shen family sent someone to report that a skeleton was found in the backyard."

Master Xu narrowed his eyes and frowned, "It's open!"

It's been a long time, but no one responded.The yamen servant reminded in embarrassment: "My lord, Zhang Huwei took leave yesterday and returned to his hometown."

Master Xu frowned even tighter, and called again: "Zhao Qian!"

There was another silence.The yamen servant's voice became softer: "My lord, Zhao Huwei's leave is not over yet, and he won't be back until five days later."

Master Xu's brows were already knotted, and he continued to call: "The king said!"

... This time, before the yamen servant could speak, Master Xu muttered to himself: "Oh... the king said that he was in Lin County to do business. What about Ma Chao?" Master Xu simply cast his eyes on the yamen servant in front of him.

The yamen servant was sweating profusely, half tired, half panicked.He spoke again tremblingly: "My lord, Ma Huwei and Wang Huwei went to Lin County together."

Master Xu showed an expression of sudden realization, and even raised the corner of his mouth, as if he was very satisfied with the yamen servant's answer.

"what's your name?"

"The villain Sun Ke."

The smile on Mr. Xu's face deepened, "Sun Ke, it's just you. Come with me to visit Shen's house."

The yamen servant named Sun Ke seemed a little flattered, and stayed where he was for an instant.He is just a newcomer who has just entered the yamen, and he is usually responsible for some work of spreading the news, and he handles cases with the adults, which is absolutely unprecedented.I heard before that this Mr. Xu is young, talented, handsome, and likes to play cards out of common sense. I really don't know it. I was shocked when I saw it.

"My lord..." Sun Ke hesitated, if this can't be done well, something went wrong, do you want this head?But of course he would not be ignorant of the crime of disobedience to the county magistrate.The sweat dripped from his forehead even more, this time it was more anxious.

And Mr. Xu got up and walked in front of Sun Ke, bent down, Sun Ke looked up and saw this exquisite face, he gasped immediately, almost fell to the ground.

Master Xu in front of him frowned, showing embarrassment on his face, "The guards are not here, you are the only one left, so you can go with me as much as you can." This tone sounded soft, and every word in Sun Ke's ears was like knife, he quickly lay down on the ground and replied loudly: "Yes."

Hearing a series of laughter from the front, Sun Ke raised his head, but Master Xu was no longer there. He got up quickly and ran out following Master Xu's footsteps.

Sun Ke followed Mr. Xu to the Shen family's house.The Shen family is the richest man in Qu County, and that house can also be called the first house in Qu County. Not to mention the floor area, the wood used is all high-quality, not to mention the curtains used. Cloth curtains can also buy a year's worth of grain for ordinary farmers.

Master Xu talked to the guard, and the guard ran in and brought out the young master of the Shen family.

Shen Yue, the young master of the Shen family, can be said to be the half head of the Shen family.Mr. Shen is old, and Young Master Shen has already taken over half of the silk and satin factories in the county, and he has managed them well. The neighbors all praise this Young Master Shen.Of course, one of the factors is naturally Young Master Shen's handsome face and tall figure.It's a pity that Young Master Shen had already married Miss Xue's family ten years ago, and he has never taken a concubine since then. This couple is a model couple that others will envy.Ms. Xue is also well-educated, elegant and wise. Under the management of the couple, the business of several major silk and satin shops is booming. Not only local orders, but even people from Kyoto often come to them to place orders.

"I'm really sorry to bother Mr. Xu to make a trip in person." Young Master Shen narrowed his eyes and smiled like a businessman.

Master Xu also understood very well, the two bowed to each other and exchanged a few words of greeting, and Shen Yue led Master Xu and the others into the backyard.

I saw a row of people standing beside a peach blossom tree, all of them seemed to be waiting for the arrival of Master Xu.And the soil under the peach blossom tree has been turned up, and there is a skeleton beside the turned up soil.

Master Xu glanced at the bone, and signaled his subordinates to carefully transport it back to the yamen for detailed inspection.It's already a pile of bones, this is probably a case that Chen can't repeat.

On the one hand, Shen Yue politely introduced the people standing in that row to Mr. Xu.Master Shen's eldest wife, Shen Yue's wife, the young master of the Shen family, the chief housekeeper of the Shen family, and one other were looking at Master Xu with a smile on their face, and spoke modestly and politely: "In Xia Shen's clothes, rank second."

Master Xu took a fixed look at this man, about 25 years old, his face was somewhat similar to his elder brother's, but the facial lines were a little softer than his elder brother's. If his elder brother was handsome, then the second young master was handsome.He is slightly taller than his elder brother.

"Master Xu?" Just as he was looking at him, he heard a urging in his ear.

He came back to his senses, and hurriedly saluted: "The magistrate of Qu County, Xu Mo. Regarding the deceased, can you please answer me a few questions first?"

Shen Yue took over the conversation: "Your Excellency, just ask."

Xu Mo nodded, "Do you know the identity of the deceased?"

Those few people looked at each other in blank dismay, only Shen Yue showed embarrassment, as if it was a bit difficult to speak.

"Young master, it seems that you know?"

Shen Yue smiled awkwardly: "In the past so many years, I'm not sure. However, I know the ring on his hand."

"Oh?" Xu Mo replied softly, apparently waiting for Shen Yue to continue the conversation.

"This is also a scandal when I was young. At that time, I had a good relationship with a servant in my family. I gave him the ring." Shen Yue said, but her eyes flickered.

"Is that a female corpse?" Xu Mo raised his eyebrows. He really couldn't judge the gender of the skeleton just now.

The expression on Shen Yue's face seemed even more embarrassed.Before he could open his mouth, the eldest lady snatched away the words: "Oh, that's the kid?" The contempt in those words was nakedly exposed.

Although the eldest lady is senior, but she is not very old, she is estimated to be about ten years older than Shen Yue, and she is the second wife of Master Shen.Shen Yue and Shen Yi's biological mother passed away due to illness more than ten years ago, but young master Shen is the son of the eldest lady, so he has always looked down upon this young master who inherited the family business, wishing he could do something thing.

"It turns out that the hauntings are all aimed at you these days." As she said, she gave the young master a merciless look, and moved up to Xu Mo to act coquettishly, "My lord, I think you should take this man back Hurry up and let him go down to accompany the short-lived ghost, so as not to disturb people's dreams every day. Our master can't sleep well these days, and his body is getting worse and worse. This young master joined forces with that ghost to beg for his life."

Seeing the lady approaching step by step, Xu Mo took two steps back, and said solemnly: "Madam, please be safe, and I will find out about this matter." He didn't believe in ghosts or anything.If there are ghosts, why do you need officials?

Shen Yue's complexion is ugly, and Mrs. Xue's complexion will not be good either.They all wanted to let the wind pass over this past, but they never thought that a dead body would emerge out of nowhere, and the ugly scar would be exposed abruptly.

From Shen Yue's mouth, Xu Mo learned that this corpse was suspected to belong to a servant named Chou Xi.This person disappeared ten years ago, and he had an ambiguous relationship with Shen Yue before that.Shen Yue insisted that they were in love with each other, after all, they even gave away the token of love.However, at this time, Master Shen has established a marriage for him, that is, the Xue family's marriage.Shen Yue was also a vigorous young man at that time, thinking that she must be responsible for Chou Xi, so she had a showdown with Master Shen about his relationship with Chou Xi, unexpectedly, Master Shen became so angry that he became ill for most of the time moon.Shen Yue suddenly felt a little guilty, and Chou Xi also scolded him, and then they quarreled, and then Chou Xi suddenly disappeared.

Shen Yue looked for Chou Xi everywhere, even sent someone from his hometown to ask.But no one knows the whereabouts of Chou Xi.Shen Yue felt that Chou Xi must have avoided her on purpose, and after being sad for a few days, she followed Master Shen and married Miss Xue back home.After that, no one mentioned Chou Xi again, and everyone seemed to have forgotten about him.

"But this Chou Xi didn't disappear, but was murdered and buried in the backyard." Xu Mo calmly continued Shen Yue's words, "Then, did Chou Xi have any enemies before his death?"

Everyone in the Shen family thought about it for a long time, but there was no result. After all, it was just a servant, and it was ten years ago. Who would remember so much.

In desperation, Xu Mo had no choice but to turn his attention to Shen Yue again, who made him the closest person to Chou Xi back then.

Shen Yue: "It's really hard for me to say. After all, he was alone when I was with me, and I never heard of him saying that he had a holiday with anyone... Let's see, there are a few servants in the mansion who have worked for more than ten years. people, or you can ask them."

Xu Mo nodded, then called Sun Ke to the side and asked him to do the investigation.

After sending Xu Mo to the door, Shen Yue quietly pulled his sleeve and whispered in his ear: "My lord, please find out who the murderer is. I can't give him happiness when he is alive, at least I can't give him happiness after death." Give him an understanding."

Xu Mo nodded slightly, but said, "I heard that your house is haunted by ghosts?"

Shen Yue smiled a bit forcedly, revealing the meaning of "family ugliness does not want to be publicized": "It was true that there were noises at night a while ago, but after sending people to patrol, nothing happened. It should be someone who is causing trouble, so don't bother me."

Xu Mo didn't ask any more questions, and left the Shen family's house.

After walking a few steps, I heard a voice in my ears: "Wang Da, who patrolled on the first day, had died of illness; Zhou Ba is so crazy that he is still not recovering..."

Xu Mo's voice was a little fluttering, but it was inexplicably magnetic. When he turned his head, he saw Second Young Master Shen following him. When he saw himself turning his head, he also looked over, with a smile in his eyes.

"The second young master wants to say, is the Shen family really haunted?" Xu Mo said lightly.

Shen Yi walked side by side on the street with him, so Xu Mo realized that the second young master was half a head taller than him.The feeling of looking up was terrible, so he simply looked straight ahead instead of looking at the people around him.

Shen Yi smiled again: "I'm just narrating the strange things that happened these days. Whether it's haunted or not, please ask Mr. Xu to find out."

"This is my job, so I will find out naturally. Does the second young master have anything to explain?" Xu Mo replied coldly.He always felt that although the person beside him was smiling, he had no warmth.

"I want to investigate the case with you."

"That's natural. Without your government's cooperation, the case would not be resolved." Xu Mo still used the same official rhetoric.

However, Shen Yi quickly walked up to him in two steps, lowered his head, looked into his eyes, and repeated it word by word: "I, want, and, you, together, investigate the case." The final sound of the word was hooked up, coupled with the magnetic voice, lingering in Xu Mo's ears, unable to dissipate for a long time.

However, Xu Mo naturally wouldn't give him any reaction, he just thought that this was probably due to the interest of the dandy young master, so he said perfunctorily, "Follow you." He continued to walk towards the yamen.

Shen Yi's intoxicating peach eyes stared at Xu Mo's back, evoking a meaningful smile.