Guanqingzhai

"A spring feast, a cup of green wine and singing again. Let Chen make three wishes again: first, I wish my husband a thousand years old; second, I wish my concubine a long life; "play music!"

The sound of silk and bamboo sounded slowly, and the melancholy sound seemed to come from a distant place.It makes people hear misty.There seems to be sadness and complaints in the music, but there is no one who plays it.

"Spring feast, sing a song with a glass of green wine, and pay homage to Chen three wishes: first, I wish my husband a thousand years old; second, I wish my concubine a long life;

And there are no audience around, this is a mourning hall, the bronze crane lantern is lit alone, a spiritual tablet can be seen vaguely on the altar, but the name on it cannot be seen clearly.There is a cold fragrance in the air.

Behind the solitary spiritual seat is a large vermilion lacquered coffin. The coffin has not been closed yet, and the lid is leaning against the side.Except for music, there is nothing else around, and no one is seen playing.

The surrounding atmosphere was devoid of vitality, but it felt as if there were many people around. At this moment, there was movement in the coffin, and in the blink of an eye, a person sat up in the coffin.The man's hair was like a waterfall, and he couldn't see his face clearly, and he didn't know whether he was a man or a woman.He sat up straight, and he was actually holding a person's head in his hand.From the neck down it was cut very cleanly by the knife.Even the incision was sealed with wax, no blood flowed out, and he held the head in his arms like a treasure.He muttered in his mouth, but couldn't make out what he was saying.

He glanced back at the tablet, straightened up, and walked out of the mourning hall.

At this moment, the moonlight under the dark clouds finally caught a gap and let out a cool light. Under the light, only the last word "cloud" on the tablet could be seen clearly.

The moonlight was fleeting, and at the same time, the person holding the head had disappeared, the cold lights were extinguished in an instant, there was no more light, and everything was immersed in darkness again.

A person slowly crawled out from the back hall of the mourning hall. He rushed out while rolling and scrambling, then screamed in panic and stumbled out.He ran all the way, as if he would die if he stopped.

He ran until he couldn't run anymore, and fell to the ground. He looked up in horror and looked around. He took a big breath, and then lay on his back on the ground.Eyes wide open, as if all the people who survived the catastrophe, their faces were pale.

At this time, a person wearing embroidered shoes appeared beside him. He turned his head to look at that person, and severe fear once again enveloped his whole body.

Hongqiao lowered her body and pushed the man, saying, "Hey, what's wrong with you? Why are you lying here?"

The man looked at Hongqiao's face and called out, "Help me, save me. Please save me."

Hongqiao saw that person jumping on top of her, and she backed away in fright.The man jumped at nothing and fell directly to the ground, Hongqiao said: "Don't rush over, what's the matter, if you don't tell me, I'll leave."

The man showed a pale face and said, "No...headless ghost...the headless ghost is killing me!"

As soon as the man finished speaking, a red mark suddenly appeared on his neck, just at that moment.His head fell to the ground and rolled to Hongqiao's feet.

With a scream, Hongqiao fainted to the ground, and also fell beside the headless corpse.

"Is Mr. Hu at the house?"

Hu Yue was packing up the vegetables in her yard, when she looked up, it was Hongqiao's maid Xiaoying who came.

Hu Yue stood up and greeted her: "Miss Xiaoying, is there something wrong with you here?"

Xiaoying probed her head and said, "Hey, that's weird, didn't the lady come here to look for the young master?"

Hu Yue asked suspiciously, "Is she here?"

Xiaoying nodded and said: "That's right, Miss received a letter yesterday and came out in a hurry, saying she wanted to discuss it with you."

Hu Yue was taken aback and said, "What letter?"

Xiaoying shook her head and said, "I don't know either, I only know that the last word of the signature is the word 'cloud'."

Hu Yue's face sank, and he said anxiously, "When did your young lady come out?"

Xiaoying said: "At Xu o'clock yesterday, she left after eating."

Hu Yue faintly felt that this matter was not good. Seeing that Hu Yue was silent, Xiaoying also became anxious in her heart. She pinched the handkerchief in her hand and stared at Hu Yue, waiting for Hu Yue to make up her mind.

Hu Yue said: "I'll walk back with you first, and find out along the way if anyone has seen Qiao'er yesterday."

Xiaoying nodded, and just as Hu Yue was about to go out, someone came to him again.

Zuo Yiqi from the yamen also stepped into the Guanqing Zhai for some reason.

Zuo Yiqi was worthy of being the master of the yamen, he looked up at the two people and said: "Young master is in a hurry, please take care of yourself first. The students will visit again in the next day."

Hu Yue's eyeballs rolled, and he quickly grabbed Zuo Yiqi who was about to go back and said, "Mr., stay away. I really want to trouble the master with something here."

Holding a box of pastries in his hand, Zuo Yiqi originally came to look for Hu Yue, but was stopped by Hu Yue for help. He smiled slightly and said, "What's the use of getting students? Just ask, my lord."

After Hu Yue thanked her, she said, "This girl's young lady is Miss Hongqiao, a well-known oiran in Beijing. Miss Hongqiao disappeared on the way to my place yesterday, and she hasn't returned yet."

Zuo Yiqi was holding the pastry in his hand, and he was taken aback when he found that Hu Yue had already stretched out his hands to pick it up for him, and then he handed it over generously and said: "Small care is not enough respect, I hope Mr. Hu will accept it."

Hu Yue quickly ended his hand and put it back into the house. He said, "I'll find someone first, sir..."

Zuo Yiqi waved his hand and said, "I'll go and look at this matter together with Young Master, maybe we can help a little bit."

The three of them stopped talking, and Xiaoying led the way, walking back along the route Hongqiao was used to.I inquired along the way and found out the spice shop closest to Chuanfang. I knew Hongqiao's whereabouts yesterday, but I walked back and forth twice, but there was still no news.

Xiaoying burst into tears, and Hu Yue stopped working in vain. He said to Xiaoying: "You go back first, and tell Chuanfang's mother not to worry. Master Zuo of the yamen has already known about this matter. A little Hongqiao has already I'm back."

Xiaoying wiped her tears and nodded, bid farewell to the two and went back.

Hu Yue and Zuo Yiqi were the only ones left on the street, and Hu Yue asked, "What do you think, sir?"

Zuo Yiqi was still respectful, he said with a smile: "Young master's opinion?"

Hu Yue said: "Qiao'er should have walked along the bank of Jinshui River for about half a stick of incense after going out."

Zuo Yiqi smiled and said: "Your Highness, after half a stick of incense, Miss Hongqiao will no longer be seen, so there are only two possibilities left."

Hu Yue said: "One is that Hongqiao turned back suddenly, but she didn't return to the boat."

Zuo Yiqi said: "The second is that Miss Hongqiao was taken away."

Zuo Yiqi further said: "But... the person who took her disappeared out of thin air."

Hu Yue nodded in agreement, squinting his eyes and said: "We have been walking all the way, only the shopkeeper of Huang's Spice Shop said that he had seen Qiao'er, and he bought two steamed perilla leaves and some osmanthus powder from him. Not far from Jinshui Bridge, we found some cinnamon powder on the ground. There is only one footprint with the powder on it, you and I checked, and there is nothing else."

Zuo Yiqi said: "It means that Miss Hongqiao was there, she was taken away involuntarily by others, that's why there is incense powder on the ground, and the perilla will not disperse when it falls on the ground, it is probably picked up by passers-by. This shows that Hongqiao has been kidnapped for some time."

Hu Yue squatted down and touched the powder ink on the ground, he said: "There are some other things besides the fragrance of osmanthus."

Zuo Yiqi also lowered his body, and sure enough there were some red petals on the ground. He had never seen this flower before, but he just smelled it closely and shook his head, "Student doesn't know what kind of flower it is."

Hu Yue squeezed her fingers, wiped off the ink and said, "This is Lycoris, it can be used as medicine, but..."

Zuo Yiqi patted the hem of his clothes and continued to wait for Hu Yue to continue. Hu Yue bared his teeth and said, "But he also has a saying called the Bian Hua, and people outside the city call him the Dead Man's Flower."

Zuo Yiqi clapped his hands hastily, as if suffering from bad luck.Hu Yue just shook his head, and whispered: "I still don't understand the meaning of this, but now, master, can you tell me what's important in the house?"

Zuo Yiqi cupped his hands and said, "It's like this. Recently, several corpses were found in the yamen. But none of the corpses had heads."

Hu Yue was slightly taken aback, and Zuo Yiqi said: "But after investigation, it was found that there is no possibility that those corpses were murdered to seek revenge, but if they were only gangsters, why did the corpses have to remove their heads? Could it be to cover up the identity of the deceased , but one of the deceased has been identified because of a birthmark on his body, so it is not a big deal, a Yuanwailang with little property. There is a property on the outskirts of Dongshi."

Hu Yue said, "Decapitated? Where is the body?"

Zuo Yiqi said: "That's why I came to find the young master."

Zuo Yiqi spread his hands and said, "Now there are no corpses."

Hu Yue hummed, and Zuo Yiqi said: "When our people found the body, the body was still there, but after one night, the body disappeared. Without the body, there is no way to solve the case."

Zuo Yiqi glanced at Hu Yue, then straightened his posture, and thanked him: "I think you must be interested in this matter, so I came here to ask for advice."

Hu Yue said: "Right now I'm not sure that Hongqiao has anything to do with this matter, if it is really involved, it will be tricky."

Hu Yue said: "Since Mr. Chu has friendship with Mr. Chu, why did you go all the way to find me?"

Zuo Yiqi smiled and said: "My lord, you are joking, how can I, a scholar like me, be able to gain friendship with that lord?"

Hu Yue said: "Oh, since Mr. Zuo said so, then Yue will try his best to help. It's just that I want to say one more thing about this matter, which may be beyond the understanding of the world."

Zuo Yiqi bowed his head in deep thought, and said, "Young Master Hu, if this is the case...it will be difficult for me."

Hu Yue squinted her eyes and said, "But it's man-made. And if I'm right, you have to start with the earlier case. The identities of those deceased have to be clarified."

Zuo Yiqi nodded silently while listening.

Hu Yue said again: "The most urgent thing for me here is to find Qiao'er. If she is involved in your headless case, it will be really dangerous."

Zuo Yiqi was stunned for a moment, he said: "Could it be that the young master already has a plan?"

Hu Yue said: "I have a plan, but I still have to think about it carefully, so I'm worried that something will go wrong."

Zuo Yiqi smiled and said: "Beauties are in trouble, it seems that the ruthless scholar in the legend is not ruthless."

Hu Yue smiled and didn't refute, and didn't care about his jokes, she cupped her hands and said, "Then sir, go back first, I will investigate myself, and when I have news, I will meet up with you."

When Zuo Yiqi was about to leave, he suddenly stopped. He stared blankly at Hu Yue. Hu Yue didn't understand, so he asked, "What else is there, sir?"

Zuo Yiqi was sweating on his temples, he said: "Master, you said this matter is beyond the comprehension of the Yang world?"

Hu Yue said: "It's just a possibility, and it's also the biggest possibility."

Zuo Yiqi said with a pale face, "Then... Please turn around, my lord..."

Hu Yue turned around, and found a man wearing white linen clothes, with long hair covering his face, with his head down, holding the head of a person who had just died.The expression on the head is ferocious, and it should be terrified when it died.

Hu Yue was also taken aback by this, but he fixed his eyes and took another look, the person in the white linen was not someone else, it was Hongqiao.

Hu Yue pushed back Hongqiao's hair. Hongqiao's eyes were terrified, and she seemed to have fallen into a state of madness. She opened her eyes wide and kept shaking her lips. She didn't know if there were any injuries on her body. It is no longer the usual Hongqiao.

Hu Yue hurriedly said: "Qiaoer? What happened to Qiaoer?"

Hongqiao seemed to lose sight of Hu Yue, she kept whispering, and then shouted uncontrollably: "The headless ghost...the headless ghost took his life...killed..."

Seeing her situation, Hu Yue acted decisively and patted the back of her neck, and the head in her hand rolled to the ground.Zuo Yiqi wanted to investigate, but was stopped by Hu Yue sternly, he shouted: "Don't move, this head must not be touched."

Hu Yue handed over Hongqiao who was unconscious in his arms to Zuo Yiqi, and then said: "Sir, first send Miss Hongqiao back to the boat for me, and then go to the Chu Mansion once, and just tell me what I said, Hu Yue please , hurry up."

Zuo Yiqi didn't ask any more questions, nodded and hugged Hongqiao, turned around and left.

And Hu Yue squatted down to look at the head, the head was not rotten, it seemed that it had just been cut off.The neck was sealed with wax so it wouldn't bleed.He stretched out his hand and slightly opened the mouth of the skull, holding a wax pill in the mouth of the skull, Hu Yue crushed the wax pill, and there was a piece of paper inside the pill.

Only one word was written on it: cloud.

Hu Yue's hands trembled when he pinched the paper, and he looked at the head again. The head seemed to be sentient, rolled a few times, and then rolled into the lake.

And there were only these two words left in Hu Yue's hands.But at this time Hu Yue's face was pale, and he said to himself: "Why do you appear here?"

Hu Yue pinched the note in his hand, Hu Yue looked around and hurried back, an ominous omen appeared in his heart, what happened to Hongqiao was not by accident, but came for him.As long as someone still knows about Yun, the tragedy of that year will happen again and again.But this time Hu Yue really didn't know if she would have such good luck.

Hu Yue was thinking as he walked, originally he thought he was the only one who knew about this matter, but now someone actually delivered this note to him in a different way, which meant that the secret could no longer be kept.But even a drafty window is better than no window.

And now Hongqiao's state doesn't seem to be completely out of danger. Originally, she didn't want to involve unrelated people, but she didn't expect that the tree wants to be quiet but the wind doesn't stop.

Hu Yue walked quickly at the beginning, but the more he pondered, the calmer his heart became, and the slower he walked, he knew that now he had to help Zuo Yiqi find the culprit of this headless case, even if this person didn't know about it directly People who know about it must also be people who know about it.Having made a decision, he stopped, turned around and walked towards the painting boat where Hongqiao was. Now the only person he can get clues to is Hongqiao who has gone mad.

Hongqiao’s painting boat did not have Ruogan (the mark of a brothel in the Song Dynasty) on the red gardenia lamp, indicating that she would not see customers. Chuanfang’s mother and Xiaoying sighed and greeted Hu Yue from afar when they saw Hu Yue coming.

The old bustard cried: "Mr. Hu is here. My Qiaoer is usually taken care of by you, but now the catastrophe is early, and all three souls and seven souls have been seduced by ghosts. What should I do?"

Hu Yue comforted them a little, and didn't gossip with them, and went directly into the painting boat. There was no electric light in the wing room, Hongqiao was lying on the bed with the quilt in her arms, her hair disheveled, she had long lost her former glamor and beauty.

Hu Yue said softly: "Qiaoer? Do you still recognize me?"