treacherous world

At the end of spring, the weather was hot, but the wind was strong, blowing down the petals all over the ground.

The past few days have been particularly dry, and the people in Kaifeng Mansion are not busy catching thieves, but are busy reminding the residents of the city to be careful of fire and candles.Ouyang Shaozheng's patrolling soldiers and horses also carry a large bucket of water on patrol every day, looking for dry places that are prone to sparks to sprinkle water.

Early this morning, the fourth son woke up and was about to go on a spring outing with Gongsun, Zhao Pu and Xiao Liang, when he saw that the red apricot tree in Zhan Zhao's yard next door finally bloomed.

Walking around the corridor to the courtyard, Zhan Zhao was sitting cross-legged on a stone table in the middle of the courtyard, with a napping big tiger and cub squatting on his lap.He raised his face and looked at the red apricot trees...

The flowers bloom beautifully, and the white apricot behind the red apricot also has a long flowering period, so the red and white complement each other, which is too beautiful to behold.

Zhan Zhao smelled the faint fragrance of flowers and narrowed his eyes slightly.At this time, he felt movement around him, looked down, and saw that the fourth son had also climbed up, sat in front of him, and looked up at Xinghua with him.

Gongsun and Zhao Pu followed the fourth son to the yard, and saw the scene of two kittens, one big and one small, watching the apricot blossoms together, which was indescribably interesting.

Zhao Pu walked into the courtyard and asked Zhan Zhao, "You're the only one here? Where's Bai Yutang?"

Zhan Zhao blinked, and said, "I went drinking with my friends."

"Not with you?" Zhao Pu was a little surprised.

Zhan Zhao wrinkled his nose, "Well, he's dating Xiao Mo, Hua Die Ximen Yao, and talented Dong Xu."

The fourth son raised his face, feeling that the names were so weird.

Zhao Pu has heard of it, "It's all dirty."

"Tsk tsk." Zhan Zhao shook his head, "It should be said that the industry is bad, the personality is very weird, and the character is not bad."

"Who are they?" Xiao Liang was very interested in Jianghu affairs recently, so he couldn't help asking.

"This can't fall. Xiao Mo is a godly thief. Because of his good lightness kung fu, his feet can't land on the ground when he jumps up, so he got his name. There are also three grades of gentlemen on Liangshang. Xiao Mo doesn't steal poverty, loyalty, and goodness." Stealing virtuous virtues is only for the rich and unkind, so it is not annoying. It is always walking on the eaves, and it is easy to accidentally hear things that should not be heard, so there are many right and wrong. When others say that he is not in the bag, it also implies that he is not in the house. , Maybe someday it will be silenced.”

Xiao Sizi and Xiao Liang heard that it was interesting, so they continued to ask, "What about the butterfly? Is that person the same as a butterfly?"

"Yeah, Huadie Ximenyao is a doctor with excellent medical skills, but he only treats women's diseases. He doesn't treat women's diseases. He is very rich and turns to brothels. There are at least forty kilns in the north and south of the river. , Known as the kiln sister to help the master."

"Ahem..." Gongsun was drinking tea, and was enjoying the music. It was the first time he heard about this gang.

"Where is Dong Xu, a scholar?" The fourth son became even more curious, "Does a scholar also mess around?"

"Dong Xu is actually not a real scholar, but he likes to dress up as a scholar, talk and gossip, dance and write." Zhan Zhao said cheerfully, "He is somewhat similar to Ximen Yao, except that Ximen likes women but is not very close to women. Dong Xu is a Merry man, he is proficient in all kinds of piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and he is very good at coaxing women. Moreover, he has a bit of a strong taste. He doesn't like women from good families, but he likes rich women. Therefore, he often hooks up with women who shouldn't be hooked up. For example, a few days ago, he didn't Did you seduce the fourth concubine of Yang Xian, the servant of the Ministry of Industry? Yang Xian found out about his adultery and chased him all over the Kaifeng mansion."

Zhao Pu smiled, "I've heard about it too, I'm really brave... But it's surprising that Bai Yutang is friends with these three."

Zhan Zhao nodded, "It can only be called evil fate. Ximen Yao is Min Xiuxiu's fellow apprentice, and the other two are his pig and dog friends. Dong Xu knows where to drink good wine, and Xiao Mo is well-informed to Bai Yutang. I've helped them before, so I got to know each other well. These three people are all good at business, and someone is probably in trouble now, and it's not convenient for me to meet here if I want Bai Yutang's help."

After Zhan Zhao finished speaking, everyone stared at him. After a long time, Gongsun asked, "How do you know so clearly?"

"Uh..." Zhan Zhao looked up at the sky, "Bai Yutang said that."

Gongsun and Zhao Pu looked at each other, thinking that it was not easy for Bai Yutang to explain so clearly when he was alone.

Zhan Zhao still looked up at the apricot blossoms, and said to himself, "Wait to open more, pick them and make apricot blossom wine."

"Then Miaomiao, do you want to go on a spring outing with us?" Seeing Bao Fu coming in with two big food boxes, the fourth son smiled and asked Zhan Zhao, "The weather is so nice, let's go outside to see flowers!"

Zhan Zhao thought about it for a while and decided it was okay, so he jumped off the table, patted his buttocks, and went out with everyone.

When they arrived at the gate, the carriages and horses were parked there, but the people did not leave, as if they were still waiting for someone.Zhan Zhao became curious and asked, "Who are you waiting for?"

"Little Fatty went to call Xiao Mantou!" Xiao Si replied.

"Isn't Bao Yan reviewing the book?" Zhan Zhao asked Gongsun.

"He's a little too nervous." Gongsun waved his hand, "I've been studying books every day for the past few days. To be honest, with his knowledge and literary talent, no matter how hard the exam is, he won't fail the exam. Instead of suffering like this and making himself sick, he still Better go out and relax."

While talking, I heard noise inside.

"I'm still studying!"

Bao Yan asked Pang Yu to forcefully drag him out.

"What's up, Wen, the books have been torn up by you, are you interested? It's impossible to leave a way for other great talents to survive!" Pang Yu scolded him with a frown.

Bao Yan had no choice but to be pulled into the car, and everyone set off.

Not far away, just in a farm in the outskirts.The farm is the property of Pang Taishi's family. There are more than ten mu of fertile land, all of which are fruits and vegetables. Halfway up the mountain is a tea garden, and there are several farmhouses with chickens, ducks, pigs and sheep.

……

Letting go of everyone's spring outing, let's say that at this time Taibai lives inside, Bai Yutang who receives guests alone.

After listening to Dong Xu, a talented scholar, Bai Yutang frowned and looked at him, "You mean... that person committed suicide because he was possessed by a demon?"

"Yes! I must have been fascinated by ghosts!" Dong Xu nodded.

It turned out that a few days ago, Dong Xu's old problems turned over and he hooked up with a married woman.

This woman was born with pearls, jade, plumpness and joy, and was very lovable. Dong Xu got along with her for a while before he knew that she was the son of the prefect of Suzhou and Kong Mao's newlywed daughter-in-law.Kong Mao is a nerd with no interest, he only thinks about Guangzong Yaozu, the champion of high school every day.It's a pity that although he has studied for many years, his talent is limited and he has repeatedly failed the rankings!Seeing that he was getting older and older, he still failed to pass the exam, which made him very impatient.These few days the autumn test was approaching, and he started to study in seclusion again, so he neglected this lovely wife and gave Dong Xu the opportunity.

There is something wrong with Dong Xu. Apart from loving women, he also wants to seek happiness for women. Seeing that the woman seems to have a lot of affection for her husband, he wants to persuade this bookworm to change his mind. , What kind of fame do you rely on, isn't it good to be accompanied by beautiful women every day?

Therefore, Dong Xu discussed with Ximen Yao who was also very enthusiastic about women's affairs.

Ximen Yao gave him an idea, let him pretend to be a fairy, and play a play for that nerd in the middle of the night, pretending to be a fairy and dreaming, telling him that there is no hope for success in this life, but the son he will give birth to will be a Wenqu star, Let him give birth to a child as soon as possible, and then cultivate it carefully.

Dong Xu felt that the ghost's idea was very good, so he asked Xiao Mo, who is good at disguise, to do makeup.

In short, the three of them tossed about and went to find Kong Mao in the middle of the night.

The three went to the roof to observe the situation below, and saw Kong Mao sitting at the table, behaving strangely.It's not so much that he's weird, it's better to say that he's weird!I saw him holding a pen in both hands, chanting words in his mouth, his whole body was thin and haggard, he was insane, and he didn't know whether he was casting a spell or what he was doing.

After working for a long time, he suddenly stopped, and said in his mouth, "Bi Xian Bi Xian, when can I become the number one scholar?"

At that time, the three of them almost burst out laughing, it can be seen that what Mrs. Kong said was right, the scholar wanted to be the number one scholar and was crazy.

After Kong Mao finished speaking, he suddenly raised his pen, closed his eyes and scratched a few times randomly, and actually wrote two words. Looking carefully, it was written——the word "afterlife"!

It means that he can become the number one scholar in his next life!

The three people on the roof thought it was funny, and they were about to smoke him some smoke, so as to finish the play while he was in a daze, but something unexpected happened.

Kong Mao stood up suddenly, opened the drawer and took out a knife. Before the three of them understood what was going on, he clicked the knife...and wiped his neck!

The three of them were a little dumbfounded at the time, and really didn't understand what was going on?It looked like suicide, but something seemed wrong!But then the family members came, in order to avoid misunderstanding, the three slipped away.

And Bai Yutang was surprised because... this case happened just three days ago.

At that time, the apricot blossoms hadn't bloomed yet, and he and Zhan Zhao were looking at the flowers in the yard, when Wang Chao Mahan came in and said that the son of the prefect of Suzhou died in the posthouse, and he seemed to have committed suicide.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang rushed to see that it was indeed a suicide, and the words "afterlife" were written on the table.Indeed, many people said that Kong Mao made mistakes in the exams and was depressed all day long. He probably committed suicide because he couldn't figure it out.

Later, Gongsun examined the body, and it was confirmed that he committed suicide, so the case was closed yesterday.It was for this reason that Bao Zheng secretly approached Pang Yu and asked him to take Bao Yan out occasionally to relax and not to stay at home and daydream.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao had no doubts about this case at all before, they just thought that he was too young to commit suicide... But now that they heard about it, they felt that his death was strange!It was after asking Bixian that he wrote the word "afterlife". In other words, if Bixian wrote "this time", wouldn't he not only not die, but also be happy?

"And then?" Bai Yutang asked the three of them puzzled, "Why are you looking for me?"

"Think about it, newlyweds and widows, don't I want to comfort my wife?" Dong Xu said cheekily.

Bai Yutang felt speechless, how could he comfort him?You might as well marry someone else, shake your head, "Get to the point."

"Madam told me that her husband-in-law probably didn't commit suicide, but was killed."

Bai Yutang frowned, "Killed to death?"

"Yeah, I can't say that I saw it, so I asked her why." Dong Xu said, took out a long brocade box, opened it and put it in front of Bai Yutang for him to see, and there was a pen inside. , should be a lower case squirrel pen for cursive writing.

Bai Yutang picked up the brocade box, looked at it, and asked, "Is this the pen fairy that Kong Mao was holding before he died?"

"Yeah!" Dong Xu continued, "Ma'am said, Kong Mao bought this pen from a lunatic scholar at a high price. It is said that it is a relic left by the famous ghost champion."

"Ghost champion..." Bai Yutang frowned slightly, he had heard of this name before.Two years ago, there was a scholar named Cen Lei who came to take the exam in that session of the palace exam. The answer to that paper could be said to be brilliant, which amazed Mr. Bao and Zhao Zhen.In the end, Cen Lei, the champion of high school, did not go to the Golden Palace to meet Zhao Zhen.

At that time, Zhao Zhen thought that something happened to him, so he specially sent someone to look for him at home.Cen Lei stayed at a family's home in Kaifeng back then. The things in the study room were well preserved, but the person disappeared. It is said that he never came back after the exam.Afterwards, everyone went back to his hometown, and they found out that Cen Lei had died a year ago.

This time, the government and the public were shaken, and everyone felt that they had seen hell, and Zhao Zhen also ordered Kaifeng Mansion to investigate the matter strictly.

At that time, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang made a special trip to Cen Lei's hometown, and asked the villagers about the portrait of Cen Lei drawn by Mr. Bao himself, and they all said that the portrait was of the dead Cen Lei.The two of them arrived at Cen Lei's grave and asked someone to open the coffin for an autopsy. The strangest thing was that even though he had been dead for more than a year, the body in the coffin had a ruddy complexion and was neither rotten nor rotten.

After Gongsun's autopsy, he said that Cen Lei died of lung disease. Among the medicines he took all year round, there was arsenic and some medicines that could make the corpse not rotten.In addition, most people who died of lung disease had ruddy complexions, which is why such strange things happen.

Because of this, everyone confirmed that this person was exactly the same as the Cen Lei Master Bao met during the exam.

According to fellow villagers, Cen Lei's only regret before his death was that he did not take the exam.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang entered his old house at that time, and his old mother still kept his belongings. Seeing that the study room was almost exactly the same as that of his boarding house in Kaifeng, the two felt chills down their spines.

After that, Cen Lei never appeared again. This is the famous ghost champion back then.

Bai Yutang picked up the pen and looked carefully, and sure enough, there was a small engraving on the end of the pen, which was the word Cen!

"Ms. Kong said that Kong Mao saw a crazy scholar on the street, who was very strange. The scholar told him that it was because of this pen fairy again! The ghost champion Cen Lei was too nostalgic for the exam. , so the ghost is possessed on this pen fairy, as long as you have this pen, you can be the number one in high school." Dong Xu said mysteriously, "Madam said that since I bought this pen, Kong Mao has become more and more divine. It's nagging, and sometimes it's like a different person, it feels... like being possessed by a ghost."

Bai Yutang looked at the three of them, "What do you think of me?"

"Oh, Mrs. Kong really wants to find out how her husband died." Dong Xu patted the pen and said to Bai Yutang, "Brother Bai is not familiar with Zhan Zhao? Kong Mao is dead, if he is involved in buying Things like ghost pens will damage his reputation. In addition, Madam feels that there are ghosts around all day long, and she is frightened into nightmares, so she wants to find out, but it is best not to say anything."

Bai Yutang felt that there was something strange about it, and Mr. Bao had always been brooding about Cen Lei's disappearance back then, so he might as well give him the pen.Anyway, Mr. Bao judges the yang every day and the yin at night, if the ghost of Cen Lei is really on the pen, the two of them can talk about it.

Therefore, Bai Yutang nodded and put away the pen.

Seeing that Bai Yutang agreed, Dong Xu and the others were naturally happy. They had a few more drinks and then dispersed.

Bai Yutang walked back with a pen in his pocket. When he arrived at Kaifeng Mansion, he saw that Zhan Zhao and the others were not there. The whole Kaifeng Mansion was full of old men. Bao Zheng led a large group of old men and was studying a lot of bamboo slips. What was dug out seems to have been buried in the pre-Qin period when books were burned and scholars were buried.

Bai Yutang gave the things to Bao Zheng, and briefly explained the process.

Bao Zheng was puzzled when he heard this, so he took the pen and asked Bai Yutang to go to Grand Master Pang's garden in the suburbs, and he would just go to Zhan Zhao and the others.

Bai Yutang straddled his horse and hurried on the road, wanting to find Zhan Zhao in the western suburbs. The horse was walking on the official road, and Bai Yunfan ran for a while, and suddenly stopped in front of a small hillside, urging it not to leave. Look in the bushes.

Bai Yunfan is a good horse, very understanding of human nature, Bai Yutang simply got off the horse, looked at it, saw its eyes staring at the bushes, and snorted at him.

Bai Yutang walked up the hillside and parted the bushes, and was immediately stunned.

I saw a basket in the grove.This kind of basket is very common, and it is the kind that scholars often carry when they go to Beijing to rush for exams. There is a box at the back for books and bags, and an arbor is set up at the front, and half a piece of white silk is hung to keep out the wind, sand and sun. .

There was nothing special about the pannier at first, but the pannier was placed on the ground, and the surrounding area was dark red, it was blood!

Bai Yutang stretched out his hand, gently opened the back basket and looked inside, his brows were furrowed - he saw a bloody human head inside the back basket.

Putting down the white silk that covered the basket, Bai Yutang sighed, thinking what was wrong with him, was Zhan Zhao suffocated or something?This happened when I went out.

Helpless, he saw that Grand Master Pang's farm was not far away, so he threw a loud arrow for communication into the sky.

Afterwards, Bai Yutang began to check the surrounding situation, a bit strange, except for a puddle of blood on the ground, there was no blood dripping around the backpack, but there were only human heads in the backpack and no corpses, how did this happen?Whether it's bringing over the bloody basket, or killing someone on the spot and taking the body away...it's hard not to leave any clues.

While searching, I heard the sound of horseshoes in the distance.

Bai Yutang looked up, and saw Zhan Zhao running over on Zao Duoduo, and jumped out not far away, holding a half-gnawed pear in his hand.

"Ahem..." As soon as Zhan Zhao landed on the ground with a mouthful of pears in his mouth, he saw a man's head, choked on it accidentally, and beat his chest hastily.

After finally recovering his breath, Zhan Zhao held up the pear and pointed at Bai Yutang, "Tell me, didn't you pay attention to Bodhisattva when you went to worship at Faguang Temple that day?!"

Bai Yutang looked up at the sky, saw Zhan Zhao's arms were bulging, reached out to touch it, and took out a pear wrapped in white cloth.

Zhan Zhao snatched Li Zi back, "Why do you get murdered every time you go out? They also said I was unlucky, so it was your problem."

Bai Yutang snatched the pear from his hand again, "I didn't come here to look for you, and I wouldn't have encountered this."

Zhan Zhao continued to grab the pears, "I didn't even notice the one I came first!"

Bai Yutang was slightly taken aback, and then snatched the pear, "The road you just walked? Didn't you find it?"

Zhan Zhao clung to Lizi, "The rock-scissors are here, there's no reason why they can't find a dead body!"

At this time, someone asked from behind, "Isn't this pear of yours just for him, why are you holding on to it? There are so many in total, how hard it was to keep one?"

Zhan Zhao blushed, and when he turned around, he saw Gongsun coming up shaking his head, Zhao Pu and Pang Yu and Bao Yan behind him also looked around, seeing the head in the basket, Pang Yu shrank his neck, "Otherwise, I will hire someone in a few days Taoist priests will exorcise evil spirits for you in Kaifeng Mansion? This is too bad luck."

Bai Yutang stepped aside and took a bite of the pear, then turned his head and smiled at Zhan Zhao—it was really sweet!

Zhan Zhao snorted, "I just got a few pears from the Western Regions! They were all snatched up."

Bai Yutang nodded and then smiled at him—you are the only one who misses me.

Embarrassed, Zhan Zhao continued to gnaw on his own half.

Gongsun squatted down and stared at the head for a long time, then suddenly asked everyone, "Why is there a sweet smell?"

"Uh……"

Just when everyone leaned over to stare at the head, and really smelled the sweetness of the fruit... Suddenly, the head opened its eyes suddenly, then opened its mouth wide and looked forward like a fierce dog. "Wow!"

"Ahem..." Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao were choked by Lizi at the same time.

Zhao Pu was probably frightened for the first time in his life.

All the Kageemon were also startled.

Looking at Ziying and Xiao Sizi, they both jumped up, one hugged Zheying and the other hugged Xiaoliang, they all let out a "wow" in surprise, and burrowed their heads into their arms.

But the most interesting thing was Gongsun, who opened the coffin for an autopsy in the middle of the night and did not even bat an eyelid.

Colleague, I saw the head laughing and stood up... It turned out that it was a big living person, with plaster all over his face, most of his body was hidden in the earth pit below, with a basket on his head.He still held two fat red fruits in his hand, with dark red juice flowing out, probably the blood red circle around it, no wonder it smelled sweet.This man was dressed as a scholar, his hair was disheveled, he was crazy, and he was laughing so hard that he was pretending to be dead!