Daily life in Kaifeng dormitory

Gu Jiu was in a daze, he didn't understand what Ni Yexin said at first, then he glanced at Ni Yexin blankly and said, "Water snake?"

Zhao Mu heard that Ni Yexin and Murong Changqing came back last night. He originally wanted to go there immediately, but later found a strange voice coming from Master Ni's room. Although Zhao Mu has a straightforward personality, he is really not thick-skinned , did not dare to go there.

At this moment, Zhao Mu heard Ni Yexin bring up this topic, and quickly said: "Yes, Gu Jiu, you should recall carefully, last night you said you saw a snake in the water. What kind of snake is it?"

Gu Jiu was stunned for a while, then said, "I did see a snake in the water...but I don't remember clearly."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and pressed his forehead, as if there would be a tingling feeling in his mind as long as he recalled it carefully.

Ni Yexin asked again: "You left the inn after dark yesterday, came back in a hurry, and kept looking behind you. Is there something chasing you behind? Did you go to the lake?"

Gu Jiu frowned, as if he remembered what Ni Yexin said, his breathing was a little disorganized, and he seemed very resistant to recalling those things.

Zhao Mu called out in a low voice: "Gu Jiu?"

Gu Jiu finally nodded and said, "I'm going to the lake."

Gu Jiu has lost his memory. He remembers Zhao Mu, but that was already when he was a child. He doesn't remember what he did in recent years, and he doesn't know why he was injured. He only remembers struggling in a lake, and then vaguely I remember seeing a snake and still fighting with it.

The snake looked very strange, it had horns and claws, Gu Jiu felt that he was injured by that snake, and he couldn't remember what happened afterwards.

Yesterday during the daytime, Gu Jiu heard the rumors about the haunted lake by the waiter, he suddenly felt that something was about to break out of the ground, and he couldn't help but want to go and see.

Zhao Mu was worried that he would go alone, so he went with him, but they stood there for a while during the day, and Gu Jiu didn't think of anything.

Later, when the two of them came back, they both rested at night.However, Gu Jiu had a dream, which was still those scattered fragments. He was struggling in the water, a snake wrapped around him and strangled his neck. He broke out in a cold sweat.

When Gu Jiu opened his eyes, the surroundings were pitch black. After panting for a long time, he finally turned over and sat up. After sitting by the bed for a while, he quietly went out, and went to the lake again.

There was no one by the lake at night, so Gu Jiu walked around there for a long time, but found nothing, and he didn't see any snakes in the water.

He wanted to go back to the inn, but when he turned around, Gu Jiu suddenly felt a needle-like pain in his head. Looking at the black surface of the lake, it seems that there is something about to drill out.

Gu Jiu suddenly felt cold hands and feet, panicked in his heart, he immediately turned his head and left, quickly started light work, ran back to the inn in one breath, and bumped into Ni Yexin at the inn.

At that time, Gu Jiu was still in shock and felt that something was chasing him. He chased him back from the lake and stared at him in the dark.

He hurried back to the room and wanted to sleep, but he couldn't calm down. When he closed his eyes, he saw a lot of water, and then there was the snake, which wrapped him tightly.

Gu Jiu didn't know that he had hallucinations at that time, he felt that everything was very real, he felt suffocated, he fought with the snake in the hallucination, and knocked down the table.

Gu Jiu blinked his eyes in confusion, and said, "I also heard a voice saying that if I can't kill him, then I will be the one to die."

Gu Jiu didn't know who asked him to kill, and he didn't know who he was going to kill. He just felt very painful and couldn't struggle out.

After Gu Jiu said this, he looked extremely tired and his face was quite bad. Zhao Mu patted Gu Jiu's back and said, "Don't force yourself, think slowly."

Gu Jiu didn't speak, and seemed to be still stuck in memory.

Ni Yexin frowned. Originally, they planned to leave and return to Kaifeng in the next two days, but they suddenly encountered something about the snake pattern totem. Of course Ni Yexin would not just walk away, and he must figure it out before talking.

Gu Jiu was very concerned about that lake, and Ni Yexin also felt that there was something wrong with the water in the lake.

Ni Yexin said: "The lake is haunted by water ghosts. It is said that several people have died. I think we should go to the Yamen to inquire about this matter. I don't know if there is any relationship between water ghosts and snakes."

Because it is related to the snake pattern totem, Murong Changqing is also very concerned, and naturally agrees.

Chi Long did not object, and Zhao Yin listened to Ni Yexin, so he had no objection.

Ni Yexin said: "Well, let's go to the Yamen to inquire after dinner."

Zhao Mu said, "That's fine, we can go together."

As soon as Zhao Mu said that, Murong Changqing's expression turned bad.

Ni Yexin said curiously: "My lord, do you have any important business here? If time is too tight, you don't have to follow us."

Zhao Mu said, "I'm going along the way, so I won't waste time. I was ordered to come here to build the ancestral hall."

Zhao Mu was ordered to come here to urge the government to build an ancestral hall, which was the ancestral hall of Zhao Mu's ancestor.Zhao Mu's father died in battle, his family is thin, and his mother died a long time ago. There are not many direct relatives, but there are quite a few collateral ones.

The emperor used the excuse of asking him to return to his hometown to build the ancestral hall, but he actually asked him to investigate some things.But no matter how carefree Zhao Mu is, he can't tell Ni Yexin.

Ni Yexin nodded and said, "Then let's go together."

After Ni Yexin finished speaking, Murong Changqing's expression became even worse.

Everyone had a quick breakfast, and then went to the Yamen together.

The people in the yamen heard that it was the eldest son who respected the prince, and he came at the emperor's order, so they rushed out to meet him, not daring to be disrespectful.

The story of several people drowning by the lake was widely spread here, but the officials in the yamen didn't have any clue, so they were very shy about mentioning this matter.But Zhao Mu asked about this matter as soon as he came, and the people in the yamen dared not answer, and they faltered and couldn't explain why.

They only knew who the dead person was and that the cause of death was drowning, but they didn't know the rest.

The official said: "Now there are three people dead in total, two are foreigners, and one is the third young master of the Han family."

Zhao Mu was taken aback when he heard this, and said, "Which Han family?"

The official said: "I'm afraid the eldest son doesn't know, we are a Han family, and we are very famous."

Zhao Mu was taken aback again, how could he not know, because before he changed his surname to Zhao, his surname was Han.

Zhao Mu's father's surname was Han, and he was Zhao Yuanjing's deputy general. After Han's death, Zhao Yuanjing adopted him as his adopted son, and did not change his surname at first.But later the emperor learned about this and gave Zhao the name Zhao Mu, which is considered a supreme honor.

The family surnamed Han is not Zhao Mu's immediate relatives, but they can be regarded as the closest blood relationship now.

Zhao Mu only heard that someone drowned by the lake, but he didn't expect that it was a member of the Han family who drowned.

Not only did Ni Yexin ask the reason, "What about the other two?"

The official was a little embarrassed and said: "Both are foreigners. It is said that one is surnamed Jiang and the other is surnamed Zhou. They both came here for business. It's just..."

When the official said this, he became hesitant.

Ni Yexin said, "Just what?"

The official said: "It's just that the names they use seem to be fake, and no one knows them. They only know that they lived in the inn when they came, and there is no intersection, let alone where they came from. There is no way to confirm their identities." .”

It was really hard to confirm the identities of the two strangers who were not familiar with the place. The yamen posted the news, but for many days, no one came to claim the body, until the third young master of the Han family died by the lake again.

Ni Yexin said: "This is strange."

The three people who died seemed to have nothing to do with each other. The only thing that was certain was that they all died by the lake and drowned because they were going to see the water ghost.

Ni Yexin said, "Is the body still there?"

The official said: "The bodies of the two foreigners are still there, that is... the body of Han Sanshao... they were taken back."

Ni Yexin frowned and said, "Have you examined the body? Why did you take it back so soon?"

The officer stammered and said, "Wu Zuo did a preliminary autopsy on the body, but...there was no time for a careful autopsy. People from the Han family came here, crying and insisting on taking the body back for burial. We have no choice."

The Han family is a big family, and they are very confident here, and the people in the yamen dare not provoke them. It was a headless murder case, and the people in the yamen thought it was impossible to have any results. He fell into the lake and drowned, so he asked the Han family to take the body away before leaving.

Ni Yexin didn't want to take care of it at first, but looking at it now, the people in the yamen obviously didn't want to take care of it either. If this case has something to do with the snake pattern totem, wouldn't it be a big clue that was missed?

It was a coincidence that one person fell into the lake and drowned. It was too coincidental that several people fell into the lake and drowned in a few days.

Ni Yexin said, "Take us to see the corpse first."

The official did not dare not refuse, so he quickly took them there.

Except for the body of the third son of the Han family, the other two bodies were still in the yamen, and the official sent them there, and opened the door to invite them in.

The corpse was placed in the room. Fortunately, the weather is very cold now, so it doesn't rot much. However, the corpse was still too horrible to look at. Zhao Mu, who was unprepared, took a deep breath.

Zhao Mu felt that he was very courageous. Although he hadn't been on the battlefield yet, it would be a matter of time.He had imagined the appearance of people bleeding and beheaded, and he didn't think it was terrible, but the two corpses in front of him were too scary, and they were particularly disgusting.

The corpse was salvaged from the water, and it was already soaked, and the heads would have been soaked to the size of two, so it was difficult to recognize the appearance, it was extremely weird.

Ni Yexin was already prepared, but she still took a breath.

The official sent two portraits to Ni Yexin. They were drawn according to other people's dictation. They were compared with the portraits of the two deceased. They did not look like the deceased at all. I don't know if the deceased's hair was soaked, or because the paintings were originally painted. In and out, anyway, it doesn't match the number at all.

The official said: "Both these two people have lived in the inn, so we asked someone to describe their appearance and draw portraits, but the portraits were posted, and no one has found them until now. They are also from other places. It's even more difficult."

Ni Yexin is not a professional forensic doctor, so he went to look at the corpse, but he didn't see anything wrong.

Zhao Mu was stunned for a long time, and suddenly said: "Master Ni, I'm going to visit the Han family, do you want to go with me?"

Ni Yexin nodded and said, "Of course."

Although Murong Changqing was not very happy, he still went together, after all, investigating the case was more important.

On the way, Murong Changqing asked, "What did you see?"

Ni Yexin shook his head and said, "I didn't see anything, I just felt a little strange, and I couldn't tell what was so strange."

Murong Chang rolled his eyes affectionately, thinking that he didn't say what he said.

The Han family is in the north of the city, a large mansion with several servants guarding the gate.

When the group of them walked to the door of Han's house, the servants were dumbfounded, and they all stared at Zhao Mu with a feeling of dumbfounded.

Zhao Mu was looked at uncomfortably by them. At this moment, a young man came out of the mansion. As soon as he came out, Ni Yexin and the others were dumbfounded.

The young man who came out was very similar to Zhao Mu, at least [-]% similar, but he was not as strong as Zhao Mu, nor as tall as Zhao Mu.

The man was also taken aback when he saw Zhao Mu, and then said, "I never thought I would be lucky enough to see my brother again after so many years."

Zhao Mu smiled a little embarrassed, introduced to everyone, and said: "This is my cousin, called... called..."

It turned out that Zhao Mu hadn't been back to Han's house for a long time, and he had forgotten his cousin's name for so many years.

The young man didn't care about this, and said, "I'm under Han Qi."

Zhao Mu showed a suddenly realized expression, and smiled embarrassedly.

Han Qi said: "These must be my brother's friends, distinguished guests, please come with me, let's come in and talk, it's still snowing and the weather is cold."

Han Qi seemed to be going out just now, but he changed his mind when he saw them, and came in to meet them, led them into the mansion, brought them to the flower hall, and ordered the maids to serve tea.

As soon as Zhao Mu sat down, he couldn't help asking, and said, "Cousin, I heard..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but Han Qi seemed to know what he was going to say, his expression didn't change, and he said indifferently: "Third brother had an accident, he just went."

The third brother Han Qi mentioned was the third young master of the Han family.

Ni Yexin hurriedly asked, "What about the corpse? Was it buried?"

"Not yet. In the mourning hall, we are preparing to be buried twice a day." Han Qi said.

Ni Yexin listened and said, "Can you take us to have a look?"

Han Qi was a little embarrassed, but still nodded.Before the tea was served, they had already walked out of the flower hall and walked towards the mourning hall inside.

Before I got to the mourning hall, I heard a bunch of women crying.

Although the third son of the Han family is not very old, but there are already a lot of concubines. The combination of the famous and the unnamed is quite spectacular.

A group of women were crying in the mourning hall, and the voices were a bit noisy.

As soon as they walked over, they saw a little maid helping a mid-mature woman come out of it.

The woman cried until her eyes were red, and she came out wiping her tears.

As soon as the woman looked up, she happened to see Han Qi who was leading someone over, and the expression on her face changed from sadness to anger.

Zhao Mu walked very quickly, although Han Qi led the way, but Zhao Mu reached the first one, the woman obviously mistook the person, pointed at Zhao Mu and took it as Han Qi, and said angrily: "You did it again! What? Didn't I tell you to go away?"

Zhao Mu was taken aback for a moment, and was stunned by the scolding.

The woman was cursing, when she suddenly saw Han Qi behind her, she was a little dazed at the moment, thinking she was dazzled.

Han Qi hurried up and said, "San Niang, you have mistaken the person."

The third son of the Han family who died was Han Qi's elder brother, but Han Qi was born in the main family, and the third son was born to the woman in front of him, and their mothers were not the same.

Although Han Qi's mother was the eldest wife, she died early. Later, his father doted on this concubine, so he also doted on the third son. The third son and his wife didn't pay attention to Han Qi at all.

The woman was taken aback, looked at Zhao Mu a few times, then suddenly sneered, and said, "Who am I talking about? It turned out to be Han Mu. I haven't seen him for a few years, but he has grown taller and stronger. It's not like we were in the past. The family is eating and drinking for nothing, and looks skinny."

The woman didn't seem to have a good impression of Zhao Mu either, and everything she said was tinged with thorns.

Zhao Mu was taken aback when he heard this, as if he didn't expect the woman to mention the events of that year, and he almost forgot about such a long time ago.

After Zhao Mu's father died, he had no relatives, and those distant relatives were unwilling to raise him. He stayed in Han's house for a few days, and his life under the fence was not easy. Fortunately, Zhao Yuanjing picked him up later.

Zhao Mu didn't react when he heard this at first, and didn't speak.

Instead, Gu Jiu who was beside him frowned, his face was ugly at first, and now it was even uglier. He suddenly took a step forward, and pulled out his saber with a "chi" sound.

"what--!"

The woman screamed in fear, and said: "Killed! It's broad daylight, you still want to commit murder? I know, you and Han Qi must be together, did you kill my son together!"

Ni Yexin couldn't stand it anymore, felt that this woman was too arrogant, and said: "Madam, Zhao Mu is the eldest son who respects the prince. You speak rudely first, and then maliciously slander the eldest son to kill someone. What is your intention?"