Placid Chang'an

In the early morning of the second day, Su Cen and Ning Santong handed out invitations in front of the Zhang Mansion in the name of visiting.

Regardless of Zhang He's willingness or reluctance, Taifu's mansion still has to give face. It didn't take long for the two of them to wait before sending someone to welcome them in, lead them to the main hall, and serve them with good tea and water.

It took a while for the person to come out, his expression was tired and his face was full of depression. If it wasn't for his age, he really seemed to have indulged too much.

Zhang He was about the same age as Taifu Ning, but he didn't dare to put himself and Taifu Ning in the same generation, so he could only hold Ning Santong and called him a "virtuous nephew" very kindly, and greeted him politely. It took a long time to realize that there was another person beside him, and then he diverted his gaze to Su Cen.

Su Cen didn't feel embarrassed at all, and put down his teacup calmly and smiled at Zhang He, "I'm a servant in Dali Temple, Master Zhang sent me here to ask how the rats in the house are doing? Do you still need Dali?" Temple help?"

Zhang He looked at the two huge shadows, obviously lack of sleep, and now he waved his hands helplessly at Su Cen, "Forget it, you can't control this, I'd better find someone else."

Su Cen couldn't help being surprised: "What? Has the rat problem in the house not been resolved yet?"

No matter how reluctant Zhang Jun is, the people of Dali Temple stayed here for most of the afternoon after all yesterday, so they couldn't catch a few mice, right?

Zhang He opened his mouth, hesitant to speak, when he was hesitating, some noisy voices came from outside, the butler came in and said: "Master, Taoist Master Ling Xiaozi of Xuanqing Temple is here."

Zhang He immediately stood up, "Please, please!"

After walking two steps, I realized that there were still two people in this hall, and hurriedly turned back to Ning Santong: "There is something small at home, nephew, sit down and drink tea for a while, wait for me."

Su Cen and Ning Santong looked at each other, and Ning Santong said with a smile, "Uncle, please."

When the people left, Ning Santong put away his upright appearance and leaned back on the chair casually, "Ling Xiaozi from Xuanqing Temple? Isn't that a Taoist priest? Why does he invite Taoist priests to his home? Dare you be so kind?" Haunted by mice, but haunted by ghosts?"

Su Cen continued to sip tea with a teacup. If the excellent Tieguanyin hadn't been accompanied by Ning Santong, he probably wouldn't have been treated like this. He smiled lightly and said, "It can't be solved by Dali Temple, but it seems that Xuanqing Temple can solve it." .”

Ning Santong laughed and said: "Go back and tell Mr. Zhang that he must be so angry. They have been busy here for a long time, and it is not enough for a few Taoist priests to come and dance for a while. If this is useful, I will not do anything. Just find a seat." Wouldn't it be better to become a monk at the top of the mountain?"

"Did you notice the back of his neck?" Su Cen said while drinking tea with eyes lowered, "There are a few thin red scratches, as if scratched by something sharp."

Ning Santong frowned: "Is it really haunted?"

Su Cen shook his head in noncommittal, but Ning Santong became interested, jumped up from the chair, stepped forward and pulled Su Cen to leave: "Let's go and see what's going on."

The two turned around from the main hall to find the place where they were doing their business. Because they came here without the owner's permission, it was not convenient to show themselves, so they could only hide in the corner and spy.

I saw that the tribute table and incense table were indeed set up in the wide area of ​​the courtyard, Zhang He sat beside him, and there was a Taoist-like man in the middle holding a long sword, dancing and chanting.

Sweeping the tip of the sword, the Taoist picked up a talisman on the table and waved it against the wind. The talisman ignited spontaneously for no reason, and the ashes of the paper fell into the bowl that the Taoist had prepared long ago. The Taoist took it up and sent it to Zhang He. hand.

"How good is this man?" Ning Santong sighed in a low voice, "It seems that he has practiced a lot in pretending to be a ghost."

As soon as the words fell, the Taoist priest suddenly turned his head to this side, and his eyes were aimed at their direction.

Ning Santong was shocked immediately, and hurriedly hid behind the wall, not knowing if he was discovered.

After Zhang He finished drinking the bowl of "Holy Water", he also followed the Taoist's eyes, got up and asked, "Taoist, what's wrong?"

"It doesn't matter." The Taoist averted his eyes and smiled at Zhang He, "The evil spirit in the house is really strong, I'm afraid we still have to work hard."

Zhang He hastily cupped his hands: "You have Lao Daoist."

Almost caught on the spot, Ning Santong had lingering fears, so he had to drag Su Cen back first. Before leaving, Su Cen looked back a few times. He only felt that the figure of the Taoist was somewhat familiar for no reason, but he couldn't remember it for a while.

After waiting for more than half an hour, Zhang He came back. He had already changed out of the clothes that had been smoked by the smoke, and his complexion looked much better. He smiled apologetically at Ning Santong: "I kept my nephew waiting for a long time."

Ning Santong noticed this time that there were indeed some small scratches on Zhang Hehou's neck, but he pretended to be ignorant and asked, "What happened to the mansion?"

"Ah," Zhang He sighed, and whispered to Ning Santong, "My house is getting dirty!"

"Filth?" Ning Santong raised his eyebrows, "Mouse essence?"

Zhang He's expression tightened, he looked around, and then said cautiously: "That's right, look at me—" Rolling up his sleeves, he saw those tiny scratches all over his arms, the shallow ones were just a thin one, and the deep ones were just scratches. You can see blood.Zhang He sighed heavily again, "I dare not sleep this night. As soon as I close my eyes, I can hear those rats screaming in my ears, speaking in human language, in shrill and shrill words. When I open my eyes again It disappeared again. What do you think it is if it’s not a mouse spirit? I thought it would be enough to call someone to come to the house to catch the mouse, but it turned out that the mouse has become a spirit. Last night it was even more violent, and I am too. There was really no other way, so I went to the monastery early in the morning and invited the Taoist priest to perform the technique, which made my nephew laugh."

Su Cen, who had never spoken to him, said, "Master Zhang, are you sure that these injuries on your body were all scratched by rats?"

Zhang He didn't pay much attention to Su Cen at first, and was quite upset to be questioned suddenly by this young man, so he frowned: "Otherwise?"

Su Cen smiled, holding a teacup without comment.

While speaking, a female family member opened the door and came in, with a graceful figure, she seemed to be about twenty years old, she came forward with a medicine bowl, and called out to Zhang He Jiao Didi, "Master, it's time to take medicine."

Zhang He took the medicine bowl from the woman's hand, and did not forget to linger in Rensu's hand for a while.

While Zhang He was drinking the medicine, the female family member glanced at the two of them with almond eyes, and then lingered on Su Cen's body for a while, her eyebrows raised, her winking eyes were like silk, and she saw that Su Cen had goose bumps all over her body. .

It wasn't until Zhang He finished drinking the medicine that the female family member looked away, took the bowl, and wiped the corners of the mouth with a Xiusi handkerchief, and then left with Tingting.

Ning Santong couldn't help teasing: "Shibo is so lucky."

Zhang He didn't mind at all, he cracked open his mouth with a few missing teeth and smiled, pointing to the figure who had just left the house and said: "Xiaodie, you sold yourself on the street to bury your father, I saw how pitiful I was, so I brought it back. .”

The corner of Ning Santong's mouth twitched, it was pitiful enough.

When the place finally calmed down, we were able to get down to business. Ning Santong clarified his intentions: "I heard that Shibo was the chief examiner of the 22nd Yonglong scientific examination. We want to ask Shibo about someone."

Zhang He smiled proudly, it was a great honor to be able to preside over a scientific examination, and all the candidates for this year were considered to be from his sect, so they should be called teachers.In this way, Zhang He can be regarded as peaches and plums all over the world, he raised his chin arrogantly: "Nephew, just ask, why be so polite."

Ning Santong: "Tian Pingzhi, do you still remember?"

Zhang He stroked his beard and thought about it for a long while. Looking at his current official and resigned students, it seems that there is no such a surname as Tian, ​​so he couldn't help asking again: "Tian what?"

"Tian Pingzhi," Su Cen said, "the 22-year official of Yonglong died suddenly in the examination room and was buried under the jujube tree behind the tribute courtyard. Has Mr. Zhang forgotten?"

Zhang He's face turned pale for a moment.

Ning Santong called "Shibo" twice in a row to bring him back to his senses, smiled at him, and then asked: "Does Shibo still remember the scene at that time? How did Tian Pingzhi die suddenly in the examination room? Who inspected it?" Who ordered the burial of the dead body?"

Zhang He's muddy pupils flickered a few times, obviously remembering something, but his face became more and more ugly, and finally he stood up with a "bass", and directly issued the order to evict: "I am not feeling well today, Xian Nephew go back first."

Having said so much, Ning Santong could only stand up, cupped his hands and was about to leave, but saw that Su Cen had no intention of leaving at all.

"Tian Pingzhi was still alive when you buried him, did you know that?"

Zhang He's rickety back froze as far as he could see.

"Impossible!" Zhang He shouted, "I ordered him to be buried when he was already dead! There's no way he's still alive!"

Ning Santong froze in place, it turned out that Zhang He really ordered him to be buried.

"Tian Pingzhi didn't die in a hurry because he couldn't answer the questions. If you took a look at his test paper, you should know how well he answered." Su Cen approached Zhang He step by step, like many years ago The young man he personally ordered to be buried with soil said, "He suffers from asthma. He was suffering from chest tightness and shortness of breath, but you ordered him to be buried! I want to ask Mr. Zhang, what should this living person do?" Calculate?!"

"Come on! Come on!" Zhang He seemed to have seen a ghost in the daytime, "Kick him out, drive him out!"

Seeing that there was nothing to ask about the matter, Ning Santong could only pull Su Cen to take a step ahead, lest it would be even more ugly if he was really kicked out.

It wasn't until he came out of Zhang He's residence that Su Cen's complexion looked better, and he said embarrassedly to Ning Santong, "I caused you to be kicked out with me."

"It doesn't matter," Ning Santong waved his hand indifferently, "Seeing how old he is and still calls me 'Nephew', I couldn't stay any longer. It's just that the gate of the Zhangfu, We are afraid that it will be even more difficult to enter in the future.”

Su Cen lowered his eyes and sighed, "I couldn't control myself."

"Brother Su defends the wronged, what's the point?" Ning Santong looked back at the gate of the Zhang Mansion, "but is this Zhang the murderer of Tian Pingzhi?"

"In Tian Pingzhi's matter, Zhang He naturally has an inescapable relationship." Su Cen paused, and then said: "But the culprit is still the person who put hazelnut powder in Tian Pingzhi's food, if it wasn't for Tian Pingzhi's asthma Attack, it will not be regarded as sudden death and buried alive."

Ning Santong nodded, pulled Sucen and said, "Let's go back first. If there's nothing I can do, I'll go and beg the old man. No matter what, the old man's face will still be given."

Su Cen never expected to see Zhang He again after a few days, but it was Zhang He who delivered it to the door by himself.

To be precise, it was sent to Xingqing Palace.

Prince Ning hosted a banquet and invited these old courtiers to appreciate the chrysanthemums at the mansion, Zhang He was among those invited, and juniors such as Su Cen, Zheng Yang, and Ning Santong were all called to accompany them.

Naturally, no one dared to break the appointment with Prince Ning's post. Zhang He didn't come late until the end, his steps were light, his cheeks were sunken, he looked more haggard than a few days ago, his robe and sleeves were open, and he looked more and more thin and thin .

It's not like being harassed by a mouse spirit, but rather like becoming a spirit himself.

Even Li Shi couldn't help asking, "What's wrong with Zhang Qing?"

Zhang He naturally didn't dare to mention such a strange thing in front of Li Shi, so he could only perfunctory it by praising the chrysanthemums in Xingqing Palace. Almost fell into the dragon pond.

Su Cen's eyes were quick and his hands were quick, so he stepped forward to help others, Zhang He repeatedly thanked him, and when he saw who was helping him, he immediately took a few steps back, he was afraid of these young people, he hid like a snake, scorpion, insect, Avoid like a flood.

However, Su Cen no longer had the domineering attitude of the day. He was courteous and polite, with written eyebrows and a gentle smile: "Master Zhang, be careful."

Zhang He stared at Su Cen vigilantly, and saw that there was no other movement, so he relaxed a little, and was about to leave when Su Cen asked, "Does Mr. Zhang's rat spirit come out to make troubles from time to time? "

Zhang He was not sure what this man was up to, so he stared at Su Cen suspiciously, and then nodded reluctantly after a while.

"There's nothing I can do about it being haunted by spirits and monsters, but I know a folk remedy to soothe the nerves and help you sleep. I wonder if Mr. Zhang would like to give it a try?"

Zhang He's eyes lit up, he hadn't slept soundly for a long time, and he was indeed somewhat interested in what Su Cen said, but because what this person said that day was too alarmist, it was not easy for him to agree immediately .

While struggling, Li Shi came from behind and pulled Su Cen into his arms, but he said to Zhang He: "What are you talking about? So much fun?"

Zhang He stared at Li Shi's movements and couldn't help being stunned. This movement was done in one go. At first glance, it looked intimate, but on closer inspection it seemed that he was just caring for the younger generation. Zhang He has been an official for many years. Some are not sure what the relationship between the two is.

It is an indisputable fact that this young man is highly valued by Li Shi.No wonder this person dared to be so blatantly aggressive in his own house that day, and he dared to have a backer behind him.

Su Cen tilted her head and smiled: "I'm telling Mrs. Zhang my folk remedy for insomnia."

"That's true," Li Shi patted the person on the shoulder lightly, "Zi Xu cured my old disease. If Zhang Qing is also troubled by this, you might as well give it a try."

Su Cen looked at Zhang He with a smile, anyway, with a piece of soothing incense, there is no one who cannot fall asleep.

Zhang He hesitated, and finally let go, "Then let's try."