I am imprisoned in Kaifeng Mansion

After Cui Tao bought the house, both Wang Siniang and Ping'er became worried.

"Isn't it because we plan to live here after we come out of Kaifeng Mansion?" Ping'er tentatively asked.

Cui Tao glanced at the two of them.

"Ahhh... this is too scary, we can't live in a ghost house..." Ping'er immediately blushed, hugged Wang Siniang's arm, moaned aggrievedly, pushed Wang Siniang to persuade Cui Tao .

Cui Tao was about to open her mouth to speak, but Wang Siniang immediately stretched out her hand to signal Cui Tao, asking her not to say "If you can't stop, get out", it would hurt their sister's feelings too much.

"I just want to live with Mrs. Cui, but this ghost house is really unbearable, it's too scary. Although the problem of the ghost screaming was solved by Mrs. Cui, it is true that there has been an eye-gouging case in this ghost house , and Mrs. Cui also raised maggots here, and everyone in Bianjing knows that this is a 'maggot ghost house', so it's not nice to say it."

Since Wang Siniang didn't need her to talk, Cui Tao didn't talk, and focused on checking the condition of the house, knocking on the wooden beams with her hands to test its firmness.

"Then...it doesn't matter how bad it is, let's demolish this house and rebuild it, without leaving any traces of the past. When it was built, I used more peach wood, wormwood, etc. to exorcise evil spirits, and the ground was covered with black dog blood. , incense ashes!" Seeing Cui Tao ignoring her, Wang Siniang felt that she must have made up her mind, so she took the initiative to retreat and immediately put forward a new proposal.

"No need to be so troublesome."

Both Wang Siniang and Ping'er looked at Cui Tao in shock, understanding that Cui Tao meant that they planned to repair and rebuild the house on the original basis.The two of them have no doubts about Mrs. Cui's ability to reform.They had already seen it when she built a gazebo in Kaifeng Mansion Huangyuan before.

Wang Siniang and Ping'er supported each other, and after a long time of mental struggle, they both wept and succumbed to Cui Tao's decision.

What can be done, of course, is to listen to the boss.If the boss insisted on living here, they would have to sacrifice their lives to accompany the sisters.

"Did you hear anything?" Cui Tao asked.

Both Wang Siniang and Ping'er shut their mouths and listened quietly. They felt that the surrounding area was unusually quiet, and they couldn't hear anything. At most, there was only the sound of the wind blowing the leaves, and occasionally there were two birdsong.This Big Rain Lane is really too quiet, so quiet that it makes people feel a little scared.

Cui Tao was satisfied with their answers, and continued to wander around the house while laughing.

"If you ask me, this house is not as good as the other one," Wang Siniang said about another haunted house where the eye-gouging case also happened. "That house is lively on the street anyway, and the people coming and going can be a bit popular, and it's not so gloomy. This Dayu Lane, it is really too quiet during the day, and there is no one in the whole alley. We three women live here, and the neighbors are a group of men doing rough work. It is really not suitable. By the way, the boss decided to live here, but tell Has Han pushed the official? Will he be relieved?"

"At the time, I wasn't sure where I was going to live. I just told him that I was going to move out of Fengfu. It would be more convenient to live outside."

Before Cui Tao finished speaking, Wang Siniang and Ping'er got excited.Both of them eagerly wanted to tell Han Qi about this, hoping that Han Qi could prevent her from settling in the haunted house.

Cui Tao finally couldn't help it, and chuckled, "Who said I'm going to settle here? I'm not afraid of this ghost house, I can live in it. But I always have to consider the feelings of other residents, as well as the occasional guests who come to visit. Mood."

Wang Siniang and Ping'er looked at Cui Tao together, and when they realized that they were the "other residents" Cui Tao said, they jumped up happily.

"So Mrs. Cui doesn't plan to settle down here?" After receiving Cui Tao's reaffirmation, the two were happier, but they didn't understand why Cui Tao bought this ghost house.

"Renovate it, sell it again, earn some price difference, and then we can use the money to buy a more suitable house."

After all, the housing prices in Bianjing are too expensive. Most of the money they earn from doing business will be kept for business turnover, and the remaining profit is far from enough to buy a spacious house.Cui Tao is not in the nature of asking for money from her family, and with Cui Mao's matter in front of her, her father is sometimes unreliable, so this house still depends on the money she earned, it is more stable to buy and live in, and everyone will chase after her don't leave her.

Wang Siniang finally breathed a sigh of relief, applauding Cui Tao for her good idea.

Ping'er said worriedly: "But everyone is taboo about this place. Even if Qionglou Yuyu is built, I'm afraid no one will dare to come and live there. How can we resell it for a high price?"

Wang Siniang was so shocked that she couldn't laugh anymore, it was true, if someone needed this house, they would not let them buy it for ten pennies.It is important to know that house sales are all through open bidding, and the highest bidder wins.This time the reserve price was ten guan, but only they were willing to buy it, and no one robbed them.

"That's the advantage that no one has discovered this house yet."

Cui Tao ordered Wang Siniang to hire workers to remove the gate of the house first, so that the gate was no longer needed.Then cut down those few paulownia trees that are growing spooky and weird, and plant some flowers and plants.According to the blueprint she drew, dig a foundation for a two-story building in the center of the courtyard, and then there will be no need to move it. She will find a way to sell the house.

"Is it possible to sell the house at a high price after digging and chopping?"

Wang Siniang was very surprised. She thought that the renovation would take some time, so she would have to spend some more money to get in. She was really afraid that the money would be wasted and it would be difficult to change hands.But listening to Cui Tao's orders would save trouble and not cost much.

"En." Cui Tao simply agreed, and left with her hands behind her back.

Wang Siniang and Ping'er ask Cui Tao's thoughts.Cui Tao didn't say anything, but left them a suspense, and asked them to follow her orders and do well.

In fact, Cui Tao didn't mean to be tricky, because every time the two of them came to the haunted house, they were afraid, so it was good to let her think about something in her head, and divert her attention.

"This thing sounds simple, but you must be serious when you do it. Don't blame me for not warning you in advance. If you don't follow my instructions, the house will fall into your hands, and we will have to live alone."

Before Cui Tao left, she did not forget to suggest that their hired workers could be found nearby.

Wang Siniang and Ping'er quickly agreed to reassure Cui Tao that everything would be done according to her orders.Because there was no one in the alley during the day, the two of them were anxious to finish the work early so that they could see how Cui Tao sold the house at a high price.

They didn't listen to Cui Tao's suggestion, and went to find other hired workers. Those people didn't want to do the work in the ghost house when they heard about it, and they hesitated to give more money.

The two of them turned back to Dayu Lane at dusk, and all the young people living in the alley had returned from work.As soon as they heard that they could earn more money and work nearby, many courageous people agreed.After all, they live closer to the haunted house, and they often heard 'ghost calls' before, so they are more courageous than the hired workers in other places.And if the house can really return to normal, it will be a good thing for them if it is sold and it will no longer be a ghost house.

When Cui Tao returned to Kaifeng Mansion, she rearranged the confession of the Qian sisters, wondering what the purpose of the red dress was.

Li Yuan retrospectively investigated Zhang Susu's living conditions ten days ago, and actually got an important clue.

Fifteen days ago, someone witnessed Zhang Susu having an argument with a woman in red at the Changlong Cloth Store on Dongjiaolou Street.

Li Yuan immediately took the portrait of the red dress to the shopkeeper of the cloth shop to identify the person, and confirmed that the woman in red was the red dress of Tianji Pavilion.

At that time, both of them had their eyes on the same piece of red cloth in the cloth shop, but there was only one piece left.Hongyi first decided to buy it, and Zhang Susu also wanted it, so she asked Hongyi to give her the fabric.But Hongyi refused to give in, so Zhang Susu cried and begged, saying that she didn't buy this piece of fabric for herself, but for her elderly mother's birthday.She explained that she took out the private money that she had saved for several years, and borrowed some to make up enough, just to buy such a good red cloth.

The red dress was not moved at all, and still refused to give in, Zhang Susu stretched out her hand and gently tugged at the skirt of the red dress to beg, crying so badly that everyone present couldn't help but be moved when they saw it.Hong Yi thought she was annoying and pushed her aside, Zhang Susu fell to the ground, crying even harder.At that time, the customers in the shop felt that the red dress was a little too much, so they went to support and comfort Zhang Susu, and even praised Susu for her filial piety.

At this time, Zhang Susu immediately stated that it was her fault, she shouldn't cause trouble to others, and thanked the guests who complained for her.The guests saw that Zhang Susu was so sensible and heart-wrenching, so they hoped that the woman in red would let her go, and pity this girl who knows filial piety.

Everyone accused Hongyi of being inconsiderate and courteous to others. After all, it seemed that she just liked wearing red clothes, and she was not in a hurry to use the fabric to honor her mother. Why was she in such a hurry to get the fabric now?Everyone persuaded Hongyi to be kind and there will be good rewards, so just buy it later when the cloth store restocks.

Li Yuan investigated the incident very carefully, and even restored the content of the speeches of the onlookers at that time, making the incident sound very graphic.

"What's the final result?" Cui Tao asked.

"Hongyi paid the money, and in front of Zhang Susu, took out a dagger and cut the red cloth to pieces, and then left. Zhang Susu fainted from crying at that time. Seeing her pity, the shopkeeper helped her from the Other cloth shops asked for a piece of goods, and finally Zhang Susu got the same piece of red cloth as he wished. The guests were frightened when they saw the red dress, and then they all scolded her for being sick and being too vicious. I would rather destroy the cloth than give it to such a kind little lady."

After Li Yuan finished his story, he lamented that Zhang Susu's mother had passed away a long time ago, and she never thought that she would lie and pretend to be pitiful just because of a piece of cloth.

"I guessed that she would suffer from this sooner or later, but I didn't expect that she would run into Hongyi and kill her life directly." Cui Tao said.

"Yeah, how could it be such a coincidence?" Li Yuan sighed.

Even though Zhang Susu's petty tricks are insidious and not very moral, but the crime will not be reduced to the tragic death of having his throat cut.

"It may not be all a coincidence, Hong Yi may be staring at her, but it is a coincidence that the two of them happened to see the same piece of cloth." Cui Tao speculated.

Li Yuan: "Anyway, it's better to be a human being, don't be annoying, and save your life."

"If I'm not mistaken, Zhang Susu bought this piece of red cloth to make wedding clothes for Judge Wang?"

When getting married, women wear green and men wear red.Zhang Susu tried hard to get the red cloth, it should be urgent.Recently, she was preparing for a big wedding, so the red cloth was naturally going to be used on Judge Wang.

Li Yuan nodded repeatedly, admiring Cui Tao's accurate guess, "Exactly. On the day after Zhang Susu was murdered, I took people to search Zhang Susu's room. The figure of a judge."

If Hongyi had set her sights on Judge Wang and Zhang Susu long ago, she must have known Zhang Susu's situation and knew that she had no mother, so she could have guessed that she bought the red cloth to make wedding clothes for Judge Wang.

"It seems that this red-clothed man is very vindictive and he is very ruthless." Cui Tao sighed.

They were originally two people from completely different worlds, but they got involved because of buying the red cloth.Hong Yi Ji hated Zhang Susu, she not only poked the red cloth face to face to express her dissatisfaction, but also wanted Zhang Susu to die, and used her blood to stain her future husband's clothes red.

This explains why Hongyi specifically asked the Qian sisters to cut their throats and kill Zhang Susu in front of Judge Wang.

After hearing Cui Tao's conjecture, Li Yuan was shocked, "Just because of a piece of red cloth, not only killing people, but also deliberately staining the clothes of the judge king with blood, to satirize the dying Zhang Susu? This... this is so vicious." !"

Li Yuan sighed again and again, he was really afraid of this red-clothed woman named Hongyi, and felt that she was scarier than Su Yuwan.

Cui Tao then reported the situation to Han Qi.

"Li Yuan just told me with emotion that Hongyi is scarier than Su Yuwan. But I think Su Yuwan is more powerful. A truly powerful person will not show his thoughts on his face. Su Yuwan can drive Hongyi when he is alive, which is also true. It is enough to prove that she is indeed more powerful.

By the way, could the rich horse dung left at the scene that day be Su Yuwan's own horse, and Hong Yi rebelliously killed Su Yuwan, and then ran away on that horse? "

At that time, they didn't know Hong Yi's life or death, so it was difficult to make a judgment, but now that they knew that Hong Yi survived and became the protector of Tianji Pavilion, they had to speculate on various possibilities.

Han Qi nodded, "This possibility is not ruled out, but there is also the possibility of another 'noble person'."

"The appearance of Hongyi this time, directly as the guardian of Tianji Pavilion, is a bit too obvious."

Cui Tao always felt that the person who could kill Su Yuwan should not be a simple person, she preferred to think that the latter was more likely.But if it was the latter, why did this person kill Su Yuwan, who was more intelligent and talented, and leave Hongyi behind?The reason for this is too intriguing.

To put it bluntly, there are still not enough clues, so people ponder over and over again, and consider various possibilities.

Han Qi probably had the same thoughts as Cui Tao, so instead of delving further into this issue, he held Cui Tao's hand and asked her how the house was going.

"Still watching." Cui Tao said.

When Han Qi heard this, he took a special look at Cui Tao and didn't ask any more questions.

Cui Tao came out of Han Qi's room and saw Zhang Chang coming out as well, as if she had something to say to her.Cui Tao stopped after walking a certain distance, waiting for Zhang Chang to come over.

"I told Liu Lang." Zhang Chang looked a little worried.

"What?" Cui Tao was puzzled.

"Ms. Cui bought a ghost house. I told Liu Lang earlier, but Mrs. Cui lied to Liu Lang just now. Why don't you go back and explain? Liu Lang doesn't like people lying to him very much." Zhang Chang lowered his voice. , quietly explained to Cui Tao.

Cui Tao laughed, "No need."

Then she simply said goodbye to Zhang Chang.

Zhang Chang was amazed by Cui Tao's casualness, and he was anxious for a while, but he also knew that it was useless to be anxious, and it would be more practical to prepare a bitter tea for his Liulang to relieve the fire.

When Zhang Chang brought the tea into the room, he saw Han Qi buried in government affairs, with a beautiful face but no expression on his face. One wondered what kind of emotion he was in, whether he cared about the lie that Mrs. Cui had told before.Zhang Chang originally prepared a few words to defend Cui Tao, but he didn't know where to start, so he could only retreat obediently.

……

It was night, when everyone was sleeping soundly, the Kaifeng mansion suddenly became noisy.

Li Cai, the yamen servant on duty, ran to call Cui Tao immediately, and shouted across the yard, saying that Kaifeng Mansion had been attacked.

Cui Tao quickly changed clothes and ran out, and saw fires in the direction of the stables in Kaifeng Mansion, and heard the occasional neighing of horses.

The fire was not too big, and when Cui Tao rushed over, the fire had already been extinguished, leaving only a few sparks on the ground, which disappeared in an instant.

The roof of the stable was made of straw, which caught fire quickly and burned quickly, and now most of the roof has been burned.

"That's what ignited."

Li Cai pointed to an almost blackened arrow on the ground. The arrow was made of iron and very sharp.

"Before half a stick of incense, the patrolling people saw a fire flashing across the sky, so they chased after them, and found that a rocket had shot at the stable, igniting the straw on the stable. No suspicious person was found."

Cui Tao accompanied Li Cai and the others tossed about for half an hour, but did not find any useful clues, so they separated.

In addition to strengthening our vigilance, let's go to sleep first.

Cui Tao yawned and went back to the room. As soon as she opened the door and entered the room, she sniffled her nose, feeling that the smell was not right.Although it was hot and the windows of her room were open, it was more ventilated, but Cui Tao could still smell a faint smell of mala.There is absolutely no such smell in the incense she prepared.

Immediately, Cui Tao saw an extra piece of paper on the table, which had traces of being folded.It was obviously written in advance, folded and stored, then unfolded and placed on her desk.

There are three words written on the paper: interesting.

The characters are small and only occupy the upper left corner of the entire paper.This way of writing makes people feel that the writer seems to be deliberately amusing, just like the content of the book, as if asking you and feeling: Interesting! ?

Very arrogant provocation and threat.

Cui Tao vigilantly checked the situation inside and outside the house, and then reassured Wang Siniang and Ping'er that they could continue to sleep so that they don't have to worry.

"How can we not be worried? The thief actually delivered the letter to the boss's house, which is too unsafe. No, this place cannot be lived! Once we fall asleep for a while, what should we do if that person comes to assassinate the boss again? You have to report this situation to Official Han Tui immediately!" Wang Siniang chattered worriedly.

"Where is it safe if it's not safe here? It's safe to go out and find an inn? I'm afraid the rocket was fired just now for the purpose of sending this letter to me. It can be seen that their ability is still not enough. It’s amazing to send the letter in without hesitation.”

"My God, if that were the case, our heads would probably have moved." Wang Siniang was not comforted by Cui Tao's words at all, but felt even more frightened.

Wang Siniang suggested that Ping'er and Ping'er take turns to protect Cui Tao and sleep in the same room.

Ping'er immediately agreed, and the two of them spread bedding on the Arhat couch in Cui Tao's house, and then one was in charge of guarding, while the other slept on the Arhat couch first, and then changed after an hour.

Cui Tao told them that they would never come again, but they still insisted on doing so.

Wang Siniang asked Ping'er to go to bed first, and she went to guard first, and told Cui Tao to sleep well.

Seeing them like this, Cui Tao couldn't help feeling a little moved.

Early the next morning, when Cui Tao woke up, she saw that Wang Siniang was lying on the bed instead of me.Ping'er fell asleep on her stomach on the table in the outer room, still holding the knife in her arms.

Cui Tao rolled up her sleeves and went to the kitchen to make fish ball wide noodles for them.The flesh of fresh fish is hammered into meat paste and made into balls.First use the fish bones to cook the soup, then slide the fish balls into the bottom, add some fresh and tender vegetable sprouts, and start the pot after a little blanching.

Among the green vegetable seedlings, there are round and round white fish balls floating one after another.Pick up a chopsticks steaming wide noodles, sticking to the fragrance of fish bone soup, after eating it, you can't help being greedy for freshness, can't wait to pick up the bowl to drink the soup, and then pull two balls and green vegetables into it Mouth stuffed and chewing, it's wonderful.

Cui Tao also made steamed mutton dipped in garlic and salt and pepper. Although it is considered a big meat dish, steaming it will not be greasy, so it is no problem to eat it in the morning.

Of course, it was also because Wang Siniang and Ping'er both loved meat, and since they wanted to reward the two of them, of course it was according to their eating habits.

Seeing that the two of them finished eating happily, Cui Tao asked them to go back to their room to catch up on sleep, and she asked Han Qi to further strengthen the defense of Kaifeng Mansion.

The two of them finally went back to sleep.

Han Qi put down the paper with the words 'interesting' written on it, looked at Cui Tao, and asked her if she was afraid.

Cui Tao smiled with her eyes bent, the eyes were shining like stars.

"I'm not afraid of the enemy's provocation, but I'm afraid of their cowardice. I have been hiding in the dark and not showing up."

Cui Tao felt that the appearance of this provocative letter was actually a good thing.

"Judging from what happened to Zhang Susu, Hongyi is very vengeful. I asked her to post her portrait all over the city, telling her not to go out casually. She was so angry that she wanted to intimidate me, probably to scare me. Don’t you dare to go out casually?”

Cui Tao smiled and told Han Qi that she must go out with great fanfare, and she would definitely piss off that red dress.

Han Qi was very supportive of Cui Tao's idea, not only encouraged Cui Tao to go out, but also sent someone to beat the gong behind her.While attracting everyone's attention to Cui Tao, he told everyone that Kaifeng Mansion offered a reward of [-] crowns for the head of the head in red.

When Cui Tao heard the number of five hundred guan, he was as surprised as those ordinary people.Kaifeng Mansion is so rich! ?

Five hundred guan is a huge amount, enough to buy a house in Bianjing, enough to shock all ordinary people to rush to watch the portrait of the red dress.Among them, some people from Jianghu also came here for money, and began to inquire about Hong Yi's whereabouts.

Cui Tao always felt that Han Qi's reward of [-] coins was revenge for Hongyi's threat to her by sending a letter last night.

When it comes to holding grudges, revenge, and provocation, Han Qi is even better.

Because in less than a day in Bianjing, there was an upsurge of looking for red clothes, which was vigorous.

Every morning when everyone wakes up and sees each other, they will ask, "Did you find the red dress?"

Even the Empress Dowager Liu in the palace heard the news, and when she saw Zhao Zhen, she would ask, "Did you find the red dress?"

Hong Yi was not found, but a protector in Tianji Pavilion was able to spread his name to the palace, so he must be wiped out.

Zhao Zhen immediately ordered Han Qi to supervise the matter.

Han Qi then asked Zhao Zhen for someone and money.

Seeing the emperor sending people and money to the throne, Zhang Chang had a strange feeling for no reason.

Why does my Liulang's way look familiar?