The Ascension of Ghosts

Seeing that the carriage only waited for a while before entering Xie's mansion, Ji Chong said in a low voice: "Unexpectedly, that Mr. Xie is an old acquaintance with Prince Pengcheng's son."

Prince Pengcheng's son, whose single name is Yu, is a well-known figure in Jianye City.

There are two reasons for his fame. The first is that the son is handsome. If he shows his face in public, he will be worse than Pan An, who was throwing fruit and carts back then. The second is that he is extremely beautiful. , Eight or nine out of ten, all of them are easily captured.

Thinking of this verse, Lu Sheng frowned even deeper, "Xie Rong is unparalleled, let alone a woman, even a man will be tempted when he sees it. If the son of Prince Pengcheng keeps pestering him, I'm afraid it will cause trouble for him."

But Ji Chong said with a smile: "Brother Lu, this Mr. Xie is not a simple person, the prince of Pengcheng must not dare to mess around."

This young man has a lively temperament, he has contacts with all kinds of religions and schools in the city, and he can always inquire about all kinds of information, he is a know-it-all.

Lu Sheng asked, "How can you see that?"

Ji Chong said: "Brother Lu and Mr. Xie Rong are friends, have you never heard the rumors?"

Lu Sheng said: "When did I become friends with Xie Rong? It's just a coincidence that we handled the case together. That young master has a eccentric personality, and strangers are not allowed to enter. If there is really a close friend, it is an anecdote... What is the rumor?"

Ji Chong said with a smile: "It is rumored that Mr. Xie Rong was weak when he was young, but he was enlightened by an immortal before he became a safe adult. He also learned advanced fairy arts, and his abilities are superb. He can drive demons and dispatch five ghosts. How dare he provoke him. "

Although it may not be true that he has the power to drive demons and ghosts, Lu Sheng still remembered that Xie Rong's order made him not only hand over all his belongings, but even take off his clothes. This kind of ability is definitely not for ordinary people. He really doesn't need to worry about it.

Seeing that the gate was closed, Lu Sheng turned around and said with a wry smile, "It makes sense, but if I care about it, it will cause chaos." Without further delay, he went back to the Qingming Office with Ji Chong.

The Qingming Department solved three cases of beheadings in one fell swoop. Although it was a great achievement, the case file and the statement submitted made Lu Shengming think hard for a whole day. The hour of Xuzheng has passed, and the curfew is about to come.

He originally wanted to visit Xie's mansion again, but now he had no choice but to give up and hurried home. Naturally, he was reprimanded by his brother and sister-in-law, who accused him of drinking too much and almost made a mistake.Lu Sheng had neither drunkenness, nor made mistakes, so he had no choice but to suffer and admit his mistakes again and again.

After two days like this, the administration had just finished some chores. Lu Sheng had a rare moment of leisure. He took out a miscellaneous book and was about to read it, but suddenly he heard a commotion coming from outside the door, and a flock of ducks squeaked loudly. Ear.He just opened the door, and saw the gray feathers flying all over the sky in the courtyard, and a big fat bird rushed towards him.

Lu Sheng drew his sword and slashed without hesitation, but it was as if he had cut through thin paper. The edge of the sword slipped easily, and there was a soft sound, like a silk tearing. Earth Feather Duck Blood.

All the feathered guards in the courtyard were horrified, but Lu Sheng was equally startled. He looked at the sword in his hand, the blade was slanted downwards, a little blood slipped down the blade, and the whole sword was spotless. It was as clear as a flawless light.

At this time, a familiar voice laughed loudly: "I haven't seen you in half a year, and your swordsmanship has improved again, Baoyang."

Baoyang is exactly Lu Sheng's nickname. He heard the reputation and looked around, and saw Ji Chong leading a tall, tall, Tsing-clothed scholar wearing a black sarong crown through the promenade, avoiding the ducks flying all over the yard, while walking came in.

He immediately retracted his sword, strode towards the scholar, and said joyfully, "Brother Yun Chang, you are safe and sound! Sir... are you all right?"

The scholar's surname was Shen, his name was Lun, and his surname was Yunchang. He and Lu Sheng were classmates of Songfeng Academy in the past.

After Lu Sheng was 16 years old, he joined the Habayashi Guard, and Mr. Shuiyue refused to teach him any more. On the contrary, he had a good eye for Shen Lun and often gave advice.Two years ago, Mr. Shuiyue left Pine Wind Academy and joined King Chenliu's sect as an aide. Shen Lun also followed his mentor, and also served as a guest in King Chenliu's mansion, and went to Chenliu County.

Although the two of them have studied literature and martial arts, they have always known each other very deeply, they are like Guan Bao, and they all refer to each other by letters.

Shen Lun was born elegant and gentle, quite gentlemanly, with a warm smile, like a spring breeze blowing on his face, which was completely different from Xie Rong's slightly mocking sneer. He clasped fists with Lu Sheng to salute, and said with a smile: "Master, go wandering I'm gone, I don't know where to go, the letter said everything is as usual, don't worry about it. Naturally, I'm fine, but Baoyang, your life is getting more and more lively."

He swept across the courtyard with a smile, Lu Sheng said with a wry smile: "Brother Yun Chang is used to making fun of people, this is not so lively, it's clearly flying around."

A group of Yulin soldiers are catching ducks in the courtyard. Those teals are used to being wild, and they are flexible. From time to time, they spread their wings and soar into the air. If their feathers were not cut off, they would have been flying all over the sky. How could these warriors be allowed? up close.While dodging, squawking loudly.Baili Xiao was also among them, with duck down all over his head, holding two teals in each hand, he was hurrying out of the courtyard.

Poor Mr. Liu, a literati, ran after the teal for a few steps, and then tripped over the hem of his robe and fell to the ground.

Only then did Ji Chong tremblingly say: "Brother Lu, these are rewards given by Habayashirou to the brothers, and they are also annual gifts. No, a cage was accidentally broken..."

Lu Sheng sighed, "Hurry up and take him back. If the deacon sees him, he will be punished."

Ji Chong hurriedly responded, and followed his comrades to catch ducks.

Lu Sheng just led Shen Lun into the study room where he worked, made him a cup of tea, and sighed: "My immediate boss, the deacon of the Qingming Department is a picky old pedant, and every report has to be picked out by him. I made a mistake, and I typed back and rewritten it, which was even stricter than my master. With the recommendation of my mentor, Mr. Tong, it is easy for Brother Yun Chang to become a deacon. You and I are both in charge of the Qingming Department. How happy you are. You are born to go to Chenliu County ..."

Shen Lun took a sip of tea and said with a broken smile: "If I were your immediate boss, I would definitely be stricter than that old pedant. If my wording is poor, I will not only rewrite it, but also punish you for copying it ten times."

Lu Sheng's expression froze, and he sighed, "You'd better go to Chenliu County."

Shen Lun laughed out loud, and then he said seriously: "I came to Beijing this time to accompany the prince to celebrate the New Year. I went there for a few days before the prince, and because I couldn't make it to the city in time, I stayed overnight at Xiaoli Village in the capital. A strange thing happened."

Lu Sheng still had lingering fears about the previous incident, and when Shen Lun mentioned the word "weird thing", he couldn't help but feel a little dizzy, but he could only ask, "What strange thing?"

Shen Lun said: "In the dead of night, I was suddenly awakened by a strange sound outside the window. The strange sound sometimes sounded like a pack of wolves roaring at the moon, sometimes like a child weeping. It lasted for an entire hour and made people sleepless. I'll be patient for now, don't go out to spy. Brother Yu is a man, brother Baoyang also knows, how can I bear it? Naturally pick up the sword and go out to find out what happened. Unexpectedly..."

Hearing his sudden tone of voice, Lu Sheng became nervous and asked holding his breath, "How?"

Shen Lun turned to sigh and said, "I got nothing."

Lu Sheng said angrily, "Brother Yun Chang, you're playing tricks on me again!"

Shen Lun's face was full of smiles that almost overflowed from his eyes, he repeatedly confessed his sins, and continued: "Before I left the next day, I used a trick to find out the news from the owner of the house."

Lu Sheng said: "Slightly tricky... I'm afraid it's soft and hard, showing both kindness and strength, and making side attacks?"

Shen Lun smiled calmly and said, "Those who know me embrace the sun. All in all, it turns out that the vision in Xiao Li's village is not only strange noises in the middle of the night, but even the two wells in the village have dried up."

Lu Sheng hesitated and said, "Dry water in winter is normal."

Shen Lun said: "There is a field outside the village that has collapsed for more than two feet, and it can't be filled no matter what."

Lu Sheng said: "I'm afraid that there was a cavity in the ground, but now the rock layer is cracked, so it collapsed. If the cavity is very deep, it will naturally need to add a lot of earth to fill it."

Shen Lun said: "The pigs, sheep, chickens and dogs raised in the village are often lost."

Lu Shengdao: "It's common for wild foxes and weasels to ravage a farm. It is necessary to build high walls and take extra precautions. I will inform the head of Xunxiang Pavilion and organize Xiangyong to disperse the wild beasts near Gyeonggi."

Shen Lun couldn't help smiling, and said with a smile: "Baoyang, you have clearly seen the gods and Buddhas of Shilipo appear, and you have personally killed the demon monks, but you still don't believe in evil."

Lu Sheng was taken aback, and smiled wryly, "Brother Yun Chang also heard about it?"

Shen Lun said: "I was told in the letter from Nan."

Lu Sheng could only rest his hands on his forehead, and sighed in a low voice, "That girl... is clearly a little girl around me."

Nanlai's surname is Yue, and the Yue family lives next to the Lu family, which is the best of the whole family. Yue Nanlai is the youngest daughter of the family, and she is old acquaintance with Lu Sheng and Shen Lun. The youngest, the childhood sweetheart of the three of them, although they are older now, their love is the same as before.

Shen Lun still smiled and said, "She's just hearing about it and chatting with me."

Lu Sheng said: "It took more than ten days from Chenliu County to Jianye City, and it took more than half a month to exchange a letter. The two of you worked tirelessly. Hongyan sent letters and chatted, but left me alone."

Such a sour taste caused Shen Lun to accidentally choke a mouthful of hot tea into his intake pipe. He coughed repeatedly and laughed lowly.

Lu Sheng realized later that something was wrong, and he couldn't help raising his hand to rub the tip of his nose, "I'm not..." He opened his mouth and then stopped, but it was more and more self-evident, it was wrong.

Shen Lun took out a towel and wiped it clean before he said with a smile: "In my heart, brother Baoyang and sister Nanlai are both important."

Lu Sheng glanced at him, but he sighed even more in his heart.

Yue Nanlai has a brother-sister relationship with Lu Sheng, but he has secretly promised Shen Lun for a long time. It's a pity that the Goddess has a heart, and the King Xiang has no intention, and Shen Lun only treats her with the courtesy of a brother and sister.Even though the three of them were friends, Lu Sheng could only stand by and watch such things.

Fortunately, Shen Lun teased a few words, and then returned to the main topic: "If it's just some visions, it's all right, but it turns out that when the strange sound rang for four or five days without stopping, the man invited a wandering Taoist priest to get rid of the demon. Then The Taoist priest set up a stage outside the village to perform the ritual. At midnight, the strange sound continued for an hour. After dawn, everyone went to blame the Taoist priest for being useless. Unexpectedly, they only saw blood stains on the floor and the Hunyuan scarf that the Taoist priest was wearing on the stage. , the mahogany sword and the Taoist robe fragments left behind, but the Taoist priest has disappeared.”

First there were wandering monks, and later there were wandering Taoists. People from other places are not good at reciting scriptures, and they run around all day, so why bother.Lu Sheng couldn't help frowning deeply with his jet-black sword eyebrows.

Shen Lun still said calmly: "The farmer thought that the Taoist priest was eaten by a monster, and he was inexplicably horrified, so he buried the blood on the ground and burned everything left by the Taoist priest. However, the peach wood sword was not afraid. The fire burned for three full days, but more than half of it remained. It even made the farmer frightened, and when he saw me asking about it, he gave me the mahogany sword."

He took out a thing that was more than a foot long from his sleeve, wrapped it in a green cloth, and spread it out on the table. It was a piece of wood that was cut flat, with scorched black marks everywhere, but the rest of the wood was still solid, and it was faint when touched. warmth.

Lu Sheng had no idea, took the piece of wood and played with it in his hands, and said in a deep thought: "The Taoist priest disappeared, how can we confirm that he was eaten by a monster, maybe he ran away."

Shen Lun said: "There are bloodstains all over the ground, but you can't fake it. If you run away, you must run away in a panic and leave this treasure behind." He pointed to the half of the mahogany sword, and said, "Even if it is not a monster, it is also a beast. There are tigers, wolves and wild boars wandering around, those farmers will be doomed sooner or later. But everyone in Xiaoli Village was frightened by all kinds of visions, and they only said that it was a monster, but they refused to report to the authorities. Brother Yu has the heart to take care of this It's a matter of nostalgia, but the name is not right and the words don't go well...not to mention that Xiao Lizhuang is under the name of Xie Shilang."

When Lu Sheng heard the word thank you, he couldn't help but his heart skipped a beat, and he asked, "Which servant thank you?"

Shen Lun said with a smile: "Cao Shilang Xie Xuan in the hall is an offshoot of the Xie family in Chenjun."

Lu Sheng asked, "What is Cao's position in the palace?"

Shen Lun said: "It's the right and left arm of the Shangshu in the palace... that's all, brother Lu told me not to talk to you about the court affairs."

Lu Sheng held the teacup and looked at him with a half-smile, "Although I am only a sixth-rank meritorious scholar, my mentor is Yulin Zuojian, and I naturally know Master Yun, the minister in the palace. Brother Yunchang, you are so devious!" It's too big."

Shen Lun is so enthusiastic about a small farm, but now it seems that it is to make friends with that Xie Shilang, and the ultimate goal is Xie Shilang's immediate boss's immediate boss - Dianzhong Shangshu, so beating around the bush is really not worth the candle.

Shen Lun smiled wryly and said: "Of course the lord wants to befriend Master Yun... what happened to me in Xiaoli Village was really a coincidence. What's more, I am a follower of King Chen Liu, if I interfere in the private affairs of court officials, it will only cause trouble Criticism is of no benefit at all. Baoyang, it’s okay for you to doubt me, don’t drag the common people.”

Lu Sheng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly said: "Mourning for widows and widows, sympathizing with loneliness, helping the poor, and making up for the lack. He is also helping the king and his people. Brother Yun Chang never forgot the teacher's teaching."

Shen Lun couldn't help laughing and said, ""Empress Zhao Wei Asks the Envoy of Qi"? You remember the book read by ten-year-old children by heart."

Lu Sheng sighed embarrassingly: "I just remember a few bits and pieces, don't let Mr. know, and be laughed at by him for nothing."

The two chatted and laughed a little more, Shen Lun left, and Lu Sheng said: "When I ask my sister-in-law to set up a dust-cleaning banquet, Brother Yun Chang, don't refuse. If Nan Lai finds out, he will be happy."

Shen Lun unconsciously showed a somewhat dazed expression, but then smiled and said: "I also want to meet the Lu family's brothers and sisters-in-law, uncle and aunt-in-law."

After Shen Lun left, Lu Sheng returned home with six teal ducks, and Mrs. Zhou ordered his servants to kill all six ducks at once, pluck and wash them, and make three salted ducks and three roast ducks. .It takes a lot of time to make, but it is Zhou's specialty. The salted duck is soft and white, tender and juicy, and the roasted duck is bright and oily, with crispy skin and smooth meat. They are all mouth-watering delicacies.

When the fire arrived on the second day, Mrs. Zhou took one salted duck and one roasted duck, wrapped them in dried lotus leaves, put them in a red-lacquered food box with a black background, and ordered Lu Sheng to send them to Mr. Xie.

Lu Sheng couldn't help but said with a bitter face: "He's a nobleman, how can he lack two ducks? Why don't you leave them to me."

Zhou couldn't laugh or cry, but this baby brother has grown up after all, it's not good to knock him on the head, so he patted him lightly on the arm, "Don't be silly, gift is what you think, you have to apologize when you lose your temper and get drunk at other people's house." Thank you, hurry up."

Lu Sheng's heart was cold and cold, and June was flying frost. He was so wronged that he couldn't be more wronged, but he could only honestly go to Xie Rong's mansion with the food box.