Placid Chang'an

When Su Cen returned to Xu's house, the sky was just right, the sun was setting, and the night was thick. He thought that he would follow the servants of Xu's family to simply settle his appetite, but as soon as he entered the courtyard, he was escorted by people from Xingqing Palace. Came for dinner.

So Su Cen could only eat in silence under the envious eyes of everyone, fully interpreting the extravagant and extravagant image of the bureaucracy of the Great Zhou Dynasty to the fullest.

Taking advantage of the meal time, Su Cen asked if anyone else knew about the two bosses, but Xu Youhuai was too strict with them, and didn't even disclose to the two concubines.

Su Cen thought while eating, it seems that he still has to start with the housekeeper.

When the meal was over and it was completely dark, Su Cen and a group of yamen servants gathered in the backyard, and a group of servants followed along to join in the fun, each holding a sharp weapon - broom, spatula, feather duster, etc. Yes, someone brought a pot of chicken blood from the back kitchen and gathered it in front of the bedroom door to wait for it.

However, this ghost seemed to be afraid of strangers, until the moon to mid-heaven, there was no shadow of a ghost.

Su Cen thought for a while, and drove everyone back to her room, and entered Xu Youhuai's bedroom alone.

He naturally doesn't believe that there are ghosts in this world. The little girl and the boy must have seen something special by chance. Since Xu Youhuai died yesterday and the ghost still appeared last night, then this thing should be Still in Xu You's bosom.

Su Cen ignored everyone's horrified eyes and only brought a candle lamp in. Later, he simply turned off the lamp. He wanted to restore the situation in Xu You's bosom at that time and lure the ghost out. He gave the reaction before the ghost shadow——Su Cen yawned, reminding him that it was time to sleep.

At first, Su Cen persisted in front of the desk for a while, but somehow she touched Xu Youhuai's bed.

I didn't see the ghost that night, but I felt that I slept soundly. When I opened my eyes, the sky was bright outside the window, and I could vaguely hear someone whispering outside the door.

One person said: "Do you think this is still alive? Why hasn't there been any movement after a night?"

Another person clicked his tongue twice, "Didn't he be eaten by a ghost? You didn't see that the candles were all extinguished. It's a pity that you are young."

"Then what he said about redeeming us is still true?"

"The dead will redeem you, do you dare to leave?"

As soon as Su Cen opened the door from the inside, a circle of people around the door immediately jumped out three feet away, all eyes were on Su Cen, and there was no sound for a moment.

When Su Cen turned her head, she caught a glimpse of the chicken blood hidden behind the cook.

Master Su was naturally embarrassed to admit that he waited for the ghost until he fell asleep, cleared his throat, and said, "The ghost didn't come."

Only then did everyone breathe a sigh of relief, and one of them leaned forward and asked, "My lord, where did this ghost go?"

Su Cen frowned slightly. He also wanted to know where the ghost went, so he asked, "Did someone touch anything in Xu Youhuai's room after his death?"

The servants shook their heads, "We are not allowed to enter the master's room, and the housekeeper usually comes to clean it."

Su Cen nodded, and ordered the servants to go back to the house, and immediately interrogate the butler of the Xu family.

Before he walked out of the gate, Xiao Sun, who bumped into the front office, hurried over, Su Cen's eyebrows twitched, and as expected, Xiao Sun started his duty to report the funeral again: "It's not good, my lord, another one died."

A day has passed, and Xu Youhuai still has no idea, and now another one has died.Before Su Cen could react, there was already an uproar behind him.

"No wonder the ghost didn't come last night. It turned out that it went elsewhere to harm people."

"It's only been a few days, and two people have died. This must be a ghost!"

"Fortunately, he left our house."

"How do you know he won't come back?"

Su Cen sighed, and at the same time told the servants to keep an eye on the servants of Xu's family, and not to tell the story of ghost shadows to the outside world. The chaos is enough now, and he doesn't want to make people panic in the capital.On the other side, temporarily put aside the interrogation of the housekeeper of the Xu family, followed Xiao Sun to another scene, and asked as he walked, "What's going on?"

Xiao Sun said: "Early this morning, the Jingzhao Yamen received a report saying that someone was burned to death in his home last night. People from the Jingzhao Yamen went over to see that it was not the same as the one burned to death in Yuqian the day before yesterday, so The case was handed over to Dali Temple."

"They will save trouble," Su Cen said nonchalantly and mockingly, and then asked, "What's the situation with the deceased?"

"This time he died at his own home, so there is no need to determine the source of the corpse," Xiao Sun said, "The name of the deceased is Liu Kang, a drug dealer, but his business is not in the customs. It’s related, most of his medicinal materials are sold outside the customs through the Longyou Road, and he has business in Dashi and Persia.”

"Another businessman," Su Cen asked while thinking, "Does he know Xu Youhuai?"

"I knew my lord would ask," Xiao Sun said, "I've already been checked. Although Liu's family is in Beijing, Liu Kang usually travels out of town and only comes back once or twice a year. This time it's because of the proximity I just came back at the end of the new year. I didn't expect this kind of thing to happen. I haven't heard of Liu Kang's relationship with Xu Youhuai. Although they are both businessmen, one is a drug dealer and the other is in the antique business. They are irrelevant. , it must have just been a coincidence."

Su Cen nodded and said no more.

The Liu family is located in Yongchongfang, which is far from the Yankangfang where the Xu family is located.

Looking at the specifications of the Liu Mansion, it can be considered a big family. As soon as Su Cen arrived at the door, he was hit by a servant who came out from inside. Su Cen frowned and didn't say anything, but Xiao Sun had already started to curse, " What are you doing in such a panic? Can you afford to hurt our lord?"

The servant looked up at Su Cen, probably also surprised by Su Cen's age. There was a moment of hesitation in his eyes, and then he lowered his head and said, "My lord, please calm down. My wife has heart palpitations. I am in a hurry to get the medicine." That's why I ran into an adult."

Naturally, Su Cen would not argue with a servant, so he waved his hand to let the servant go to get the medicine first, and then followed Xiaosun into the door.

The Liu family is much quieter than the Xu family. There is a middle-aged woman sitting in the main hall. She should be the lady in the servant's mouth. She is holding a string of Buddhist beads and muttering something. When Su Cen comes in, she just stands up and sighs. After bowing, he sat down again and ignored people.

The corpse was parked in the courtyard next to it. Su Cen didn't stop in the front hall, and went directly to the courtyard to look at the corpse.

Ning Santong received the news early in the morning and came over first. Seeing Su Cen standing up and saying hello, he simply cleaned his hands, took out a handkerchief from his pocket, and carefully wiped his clean hands.

Su Cen took a look at the corpse lying in the yard, didn't exchange any pleasantries, and asked straight to the point what was going on.

Ning Santong was no stranger to Master Su's temper, and wiped his hands while saying, "There are red spots and blisters on the corpse, and I also cut open the trachea, there is soot and charcoal powder, there is no doubt that the person was burned to death during his lifetime. "

"But?" Su Cen asked.

Ning Santong put down his veil and became interested, "How do you know I'm going to say but?"

Su Cen lowered his eyes and looked at the corpse, "After witnessing the person who was burnt to death before, a normal person would not question his death method when he saw another corpse with a similar cause of death, but you have spent a lot of effort to verify that he is It wasn’t burnt to death while alive, so there must be some reason.”

Ning Santong excitedly punched Su Cen on the shoulder, "Brother Su, we are really a match made in heaven!"

Su Cen frowned and brushed his shoulders. Regardless of why this person called him brother and brother so familiarly, the use of this idiom alone made him feel uncomfortable, "Get to the point."

Ning Santong pointed to the corpse and asked, "Did you see anything?"

In order to dispel the suspicion of "a match made in heaven" with this person, Su Cen said coldly, "Are you a coworker or am I? Why do you want me to come and see you?"

Ning Santong had a look of disappointment on his face, and said unwillingly, "Look at Su..."

Su Cen slashed at him, and Ning Santong angrily bit off the word "brother" in his mouth.

Ning Santong took out the handkerchief and wiped his hands, "The corpse is in a flat shape. Compared with Xu Youhuai's original death condition, this person can be said to have died quite comfortably, without struggling, curling up, or even calling for help. The people who were burned to death said that it is quite weird, because even if a person wants to die, the body's instinctive reaction is still unavoidable, but you can see that the ashes on the ground are only limited to his body, which shows that this People didn't move at all."

"He was drugged before." Su Cen hit the nail on the head.

Ning Santong slapped his thigh: "I just said we..."

Then, facing Su Cen's cold gaze, he changed his words knowingly, "My lord is really wise and powerful, peerless."

Su Cen ordered the servants at the side, "Take back all the cups and bowls of tea sets in the study, and check them one by one."

Then he asked the scribe who had just recorded the statement, "Last night, people burned it at home so that no one would find out?"

The clerk yesterday naturally didn't dare to approach Su Cen again, but today the clerk is new, and without so much flattery, he said directly: "This study is located in a side courtyard, separated from the inner house where the servants live by a few blocks away. It was a courtyard, and it was at night when the fire broke out, and Liu Kang didn't call for help, so it wasn't until this morning that the servants came to ask him to eat and found that he was dead."

Su Cen nodded and followed into the study.

"I heard you were hunting ghosts at Xu Youhuai's house last night?" Ning Santong leaned against the door frame and asked Su Cen's back.

The news of the Xu family's haunting was hidden from the common people, but not from the people of Dali Temple. Su Cen hummed indifferently while looking at the decoration of the study.

Ning Santong asked tentatively: "Do you also believe in the saying that the gods punish evil spirits to kill people?"

"What's the use of our Dali Temple if it's really ghosts and ghosts? Go to Taichang Temple and find a few witches."

Dali Temple and Taichang Temple belong to the same nine temples and five prisons. It is reasonable to say that Taichang Temple is in charge of the etiquette of the ancestral temple, and Dali Temple is in charge of prison inspections. Saving is saving, and everything is kept simple for the two sacrifices to the heavens every year. In addition, the Ministry of Rites will follow suit. They have to intervene in matters related to ghosts and gods. This is not enough, and they also help to promote propaganda, and they only give up every time they make people panic.

Su Cen flipped through a few books on the bookshelf, and it was obvious that Liu Kang was not at home all year round. These books were almost brand new and hadn't been read much.

Ning Santong clicked his tongue twice, stretched his neck and said: "You are right, our Dali Temple only cares about the affairs of 'people', but not the affairs of ghosts and gods, and if ghosts really harm people, do we still need to drug Liu Kang?" ? Then this ghost is not good."

Su Cen turned his head back slightly, a little moved by Ning Santong's ostentatious tone, only to see Ning Santong winked at him, signaling him to look at the Liu family who surrounded him in the courtyard at some time people.

Su Cen thought that Ning Santong wasn't too stupid. This remark had the effect of soothing people's hearts, but also had the meaning of shocking the mountain. After all, the people who could drug Liu Kang around him were the Liu family.

Su Cen regained his composure and continued to walk in. There was an ebony desk at the door, and there was a painting spread out on it. It seemed that Liu Kang should have been sitting here facing this painting in the last moments of his life.

Su Cen went around the table to look around, and couldn't help but pause, a subtle chill emerged from his mind.

It is a luxuriant branch, unrestrained and wanton stretching, spreading out half a sheet of drawing paper, but it does not feel crowded at all. The gaps in the branches and leaves are intertwined, reasonable and well-founded, each leaf is different, the shape is light and strong, simple and natural, It's like blooming alive in front of your eyes.

But looking at the details, the branches in this painting are exactly the same as the "Taoyao Tu" found in Xu Youhuai's home, no matter the degree of curvature or the angle, it looks like the blossoming flowers in that painting After all, these branches and leaves are born by themselves.

The inscription on the painting: Tao Zhiyaoyao, its Ye Zhenzhen

The inscription is still that of Shen Cun.

"What's wrong?" Ning Santong leaned over, "Tao Zhiyaoyao? Is there something wrong with this painting?"

"Xu Youhuai also has a pair at home." Su Cen took a scroll of the painting and rushed outside, "Come here."

Waiting for the yamen servant outside to come in, Su Cen handed over the painting, "Go and find out the source of this painting, who is this Shen Cun in the painting, and the relationship between Xu Youhuai and Liu Kang, don't let go of every detail."

When the yamen servant took the order to go down, Su Cen raised his head and met a pair of eyes.

The spirit in those eyes is gone, and the corners of the eyes are full of lines, looking like a dead well that has dried up for a long time.

Su Cen was stunned for a while before he recognized that this was Liu Kang's wife Liu Qinshi who was sitting in the front hall just now.

Just now I couldn't see clearly in the dim light in the front hall, but now I look at it again and find that this man is prematurely aging, his black hair has been mottled a lot, he is dressed in plain clothes, holding a string of Buddhist beads in his hand, and with those pair of Gujing Wubo's eyes, no matter how you look at them, look like those old sisters-in-law in the nunnery.

Su Cen was a little flustered by this stare, and just about to look away, she saw Liu Qinshi lowered her gaze first, turned around, and sighed heavily, "The cycle of karma, the retribution is not good, do evil, do evil."

Su Cen raised his head abruptly.

What Liu Qinshi said must mean knowing something.

Su Cen immediately chased after him. After two steps, he collided with a person who hurried in from outside the door.

Su Cen frowned, and was about to go forward to ask for clarification, but was blocked by the people at the door.Only then did Su Cen take a good look at the person he bumped into. This person was dressed as a palace eunuch, with his little finger raised and exaggeratedly caressing his chest, blocking the doorway and not moving.

Su Cen didn't even think about why there were eunuchs appearing in this place, all he wanted was to chase the direction Liu Qinshi left, wishing he could grow wings and fly past this person.

It wasn't until Su Cen's brows were almost knotted that the eunuch unhurriedly took out a roll of yellow silk from his pocket, "Su Cen accepts the order."

Su Cen was taken aback for a moment, then reluctantly turned his gaze away and knelt down.

"Even if Su Cen goes to the palace to present the facts of the assassination case, there will be no delay," the eunuch took the yellow silk, "Master Su, tidy up and come with our house."