Princess Jinyang of the Tang Dynasty

Li Mingda pursed his lips and couldn't help laughing, "It seems that he is really afraid of ghosts."

"It's related to childhood experience." Fang Yi said straight.

Li Mingda walked to Fang Yizhi's side, looked at the incense table and other things displayed on the east side of the river bank, and they were all put in the same place, neatly.

Fang Yi glanced straight at Li Mingda, and said to him, "I've already checked it, and there are no clues, but your lord may gain something different after reading it."

Li Mingda got off the river bank, walked around the incense table, shook her head, but she didn't find anything special.

"After the incident, I have ordered people to block off both sides of the river, so that no one else can come in and out. Your lord can see if there are any other clues." Fang Yizhi expressed Li Mingda's heartfelt feelings.

Li Mingda nodded and walked along the river bank first.Fang Yi followed behind.

After the two walked a few steps quietly, Li Mingda asked about Yuchi Baoqi's fear of ghosts, "You just said it was related to his childhood experience, what experience?"

"Bao Qi feels ashamed about this matter, so I won't let me tell outsiders." After Fang Yi said it bluntly, Li Mingda's figure was reflected in his deep and dark eyes.

He was looking at her seriously.

"Okay then, although I really want to know, but don't force others to make things difficult for me." Li Mingda said regretfully, and then suppressed his curiosity.

Fang Yi laughed straight, "But the princess is not an outsider, so Yi Zhi will tell the princess right now."

Li Mingda nodded happily and said hello, let him speak quickly.

"Actually, it's not a big deal. Baoqi was playful when she was a child, and she played like crazy during the day, but she was too tired at night, she fell asleep easily, couldn't get up, and wet the bed easily, and she still had this problem when she was seven or eight years old. I asked the doctor to see her." He said that it would be nice to be quiet during the day, but he is not afraid of anything, he doesn't listen to anyone's advice, and makes trouble as he pleases. Mr. Yuchi couldn't stand it anymore, so he locked him in the back hill of Yuchi's house in a fit of anger. In the famous ghost cave, see if he dares to sleep so dead at night.

Baoqi stayed there all night alone, and after leaving early, she was too frightened to speak for three days.Later, his bed-wetting problem really changed because of this, and his temperament became much more stable than before, but he was very afraid of ghosts. "

"It's better to solve this kind of thing in a gentle way." Li Mingda sighed.

Fang Yi responded directly, "So because of this matter, Mr. Yuchi has always felt a little guilty towards him, so since then, he has mostly favored Bao Qi and pampered him."

"I just said that he raised so many confidante, and Mr. Yuchi didn't care about him. It turned out that he was guilty of what happened back then."

"It's not all, don't look at Baoqi's usual flirtatious mischief, but he is a person with a sense of propriety, his father knows him well." Fang Yizhi explained.

Li Mingda tilted his head to look at Fang Yizhi in puzzlement, "Could it be that you want to tell me that he and his many confidante are innocent?"

"You have to ask Baoqi to find out, and I haven't asked for details."

Li Mingda couldn't help giggling, she half covered her mouth with her hands, her clear eyes were as crescent moons.

"You'd better not ask about such details."

"That's right." Fang Yizhi also smiled.

The two walked for another distance, and Li Mingda scanned the river bank from time to time, but still didn't see any special clues.But don't rush, take your time.

"The Qujiang Pond at dusk is beautiful."

The boy's words flashed across warmly.

Li Mingda was stunned for a moment, and his eyes moved from the river bank to the river surface.The sunset is flying, and the golden red light is reflected on the water surface through the ridge of the roof, making the Yingying clear waves shine with brilliance.The weeping willows on the shore add to the charm, like a beautiful painting, and they are the ones who are lucky to be placed in the painting.

"It's beautiful." Li Mingda put his hands behind his back, admiring the scenery in front of him happily, then turned to look at Fang Yizhi, "With such a beautiful scenery in front of you, do you want to write a poem?"

Fang Yi looked at Li Mingda with fixed eyes, "The beautiful scenery in my eyes is different from what your lord sees. If you really write a poem, it may disappoint your lord."

"Oh?" Li Mingda raised his eyebrows in puzzlement, and looked back to see if there was any particularly ugly and disappointing scenery nearby.

Immediately, Li Mingda found a puddle of cow dung on the other side of the river, and Fang Yizhi's gaze just now happened to be heading in the direction of that puddle of cow dung.Could it be that he has a special appreciation for this thing?

Li Mingda felt that he had a bit of a bad taste, and Fang Yizhi had special hobbies, but he was a handsome and handsome person anyway, so it shouldn't be that way.She is very good at trying to figure out people's hearts, and it can be said that she has some accomplishments in this area, but she really can't figure out Fang Yizhi's thoughts.

"What is your lord thinking about?" Fang Yi asked directly.

Li Mingda came back to his senses, and when he was about to return to his room, he heard the sound of horseshoes from that room.Li Mingda turned his head to look, and Fang Yizhi followed suit.But Fang Yizhi still couldn't see the figure, so he guessed that Li Mingda must have heard some voice, "But Cheng Chubi and the others are here?"

"It should be so."

The two immediately walked up, and after a while, they saw Cheng Chubi riding over with an official and more than 30 guards.

After getting off the horse, the two hurriedly knelt down to greet the princess.Cheng Chubi then introduced that the official around him was Guan Hongbo, the servant of the Ministry of Punishment, who was sent by Li Daozong to assist the princess in investigating the case.

Li Mingda nodded and ordered them to excuse him, then asked Cheng Chubi if he could gather all three witnesses.

Guan Hongbo hurriedly said: "It's all set, my subordinates have ordered the head of the village to take all three of them to the Heshen Temple to wait for orders."

"The Temple of the River?" Li Mingda immediately pointed at Fang Yi and looked across the bank. There was indeed a small house far upstream, which turned out to be the Temple of the River.

Li Mingda got on his horse immediately and led the others to go together.

Li Mingda's horseback riding was not fast, because she walked towards the river side by the way, and about thirty feet away from the Heshen Temple, there was an octagonal pavilion built next to the Qujiang Pond.The red lacquered pillars in the pavilion are filled with poems in different handwritings, some new and some old, and some of the words are not clear because of the age.

Li Mingda smelled two strong fragrances, one came from the Heshen Temple, and the other came from the direction of the gazebo.When inspecting the Taoist priest's body in the mortuary, Li Mingda smelled the fragrance, but he didn't pay much attention.But when the two kinds of smells rushed over, Li Mingda could compare and find that the smells of the incense coming from the two directions were not the same.

Li Mingda didn't have time to distinguish the specific difference, her horse had already walked to the gazebo.Li Mingda scanned the gazebo meticulously, and found some incense ash and broken incense pieces in the ground at the corner of the railing. The amount was very small, and it looked like it had been cleaned.

Li Mingda grabbed the reins, jumped off the horse, and walked into the pavilion.Half of the pavilion is in the water. Standing on the pavilion and looking outside, you can see the sparkling river water.The height of the fence around the pavilion was just knee-high, but the river under the pavilion was not deep. If two Taoist priests fell into the water from here, it is reasonable to say that they should not be drowned.

Li Mingda checked the railing again, and there were no new scratch marks.

"What did you find?" Fang Yizhi also dismounted and came over to ask, Cheng Chubi and Guan Hongbo also dismounted and came over.

Li Mingda told Fang Yizhi when she found that there were traces of burning incense lying on the lapel of the corpse.

Fang Yi then followed what Li Mingda pointed out, and found some incense ash and pieces of incense stuck in the cracks between the stone bricks.The latter can be seen with the naked eye, while the former can only be distinguished by Li Mingda himself.

"The water is not deep." Fang Yizhi hit the key point of the contradiction.

Li Mingda: "I've noticed it too. If they fell into the water from here, they shouldn't drown. Even if some bad guys want to put them to death, they should have some struggles. But looking at the grass near the river, there is no Signs of crushing and scratching. It looked like they hadn't struggled since they fell into the water."

Fang Yi nodded slightly, and then said: "If the priest was indeed holding a handful of burning incense in his hand at that time, he pressed the incense on himself in a panic, and then it was still on the ground, there should be some residue There are a lot of them. But the inside of this gazebo looks very clean. If it wasn’t for your lord’s discerning eyes to discover the fragments of incense in the crevices of the stone, no one would have known that the two Taoist priests had been here.”

"Don't you think it's strange? They set up an incense table on the other side of the river far downstream. Why did they run so far away with the lighted incense and what did they do in the gazebo?" Li Mingda analyzed Which is puzzling.

Fang Yizhi nodded approvingly, then turned to look at Cheng Chubi, Zuo Qingmei and Guan Hongbo, and asked them what indirect.

Guan Hongbo was very grateful to Fang Yizhi for giving him the opportunity to speak, but he really didn't understand this matter, so he could only say: "It's extremely strange! Since the water is not deep, how could the two of them drown? If it wasn't for the water Ghost, there are marks on the backs of those two people who were kicked."

After Guan Hongbo finished speaking, he suddenly had an idea, he shook his head, and said to Li Mingda and the others: "Could it be that the two of them have fallen into a coma, and then they were kicked down. The fat Taoist was holding the burning incense in his hand. He saw After seeing the bad guys, he burned his clothes in a panic. Then he was beaten unconscious and kicked into the water."

"If they were knocked out, then besides the bruises from being kicked, their necks or heads should have trauma." Zuo Qingmei immediately vetoed Guan Hongbo's statement.

"Then is it possible that the black spots on his clothes were accidentally made earlier, and then the two fainted for unknown reasons, and were moved here and kicked down?"

"There's no way to explain the pieces of broken incense in the crevice of the stone. Since the two of them have fainted, there's no need to hold the incense in their hands." Cheng Chubi couldn't help but speak.

"Who said that this piece of broken incense must belong to those two Taoist priests, it may have been left by someone else before."

"This is not an ordinary incense. It smells like wormwood. If I'm not mistaken, it should be the incense specially used by those two Taoist priests to drive away ghosts." The smell from there is different.

"That's weird. If the two of them woke up and were kicked into the water, the water was only as deep as their knees. They wouldn't die if they fell in. They must have struggled, but they didn't struggle." Hong Bo couldn't figure it out, and immediately asked everyone with a horrified expression, could it be that the two of them were entangled by water ghosts after they were kicked into the water, and took their lives? "

After Guan Hongbo finished speaking, seeing that no one raised any objection, he clapped his hands happily and said, "It must be so."

Li Mingda and Fang Yizhi looked at each other without speaking.

"Let's ask the three witnesses first." Li Mingda got on his horse again and rode to the Heshen Temple first.At this time, the red sun was already westward, halfway down on the far edge.

it's getting dark.

Before Li Mingda stepped into the Heshen Temple, he heard two or three people inside yelling that it was getting dark, they wanted to go home, and they were afraid of someone.

Immediately there were scolding sounds from officials, suppressing these noisy voices.

Li Mingda dismounted, and Fang Yizhi, Guan Hongbo and others followed immediately.The yamen servant recognized Guan Hongbo, so he went in to report in fear, and there were also people leading the nobles into the He Temple.

In the center of the inner courtyard of the temple, desks, pens, inks, papers and inkstones have already been placed, and there is also a small table on the other side, with a young clerk standing beside it, preparing to record the testimony of witnesses.

Li Mingda glanced at Guan Hongbo, "You are well-arranged."

"The king of the county reprimanded the subordinates for being negligent about what you did. Naturally, if you know your mistake, you have to make up for it." Guan Hongbo sneered.

Li Mingda ignored him, and turned to look at the five people standing in the center of the ground waiting for orders. Two of them looked timid and a little scared. uneasy.This is normal, any commoner will feel more or less uncomfortable when they see an official.

Li Mingda sat down, then looked at Guan Hongbo and motioned for him to ask.

Guan Hongbo agreed with a smile, bowed his head respectfully to Li Mingda, then turned around with a straight face, berating the three of them to honestly explain what they had witnessed.

"The grass people went out to relieve themselves in the middle of the night, and when they heard noises in the street, they turned their heads to follow the noises, only to see a ferocious water ghost with long hair and two horns, carrying a big ax in its hand, Caomin came here, Caomin peed his pants in fright, fled home in a panic, locked the door, and bolted the windows. But unexpectedly, the water ghost would go through the wall and walked outside Caomin's house. It was so high and so wide that the grass people screamed in fright, covered the quilt with their eyes closed and begged him not to come over, and then the water ghost made a swishing sound, and after a long, long time, it finally became quiet, and the grass people dared to open their eyes , Only then did I realize that the water ghost has finally left."

The first witness who described the passage was in a trance, but he also explained the passage clearly.

"Caomin is a watchman. The day before yesterday and the third watchday, Caomin went out to knock on the watch as usual, but he turned to the street east of the village, which led directly to the road of Qujiang Pond. He saw a very old man coming from Qujiang Pond. A tall monster with horns and fur on its head, yes, there was a grunting sound when walking, and then I lowered my head, only to find that I was standing on a puddle of water, and the road was covered with water..."

No.2 The man who described the testimony was about [-] years old and had a goatee. He spoke with great fear in his eyes, so his mouth trembled more and more as he spoke.Although the previous words were accompanied by a little whining sound, it was still audible, but the sound became smaller and smaller as the time progressed, and finally there was only a single whining sound, and nothing could be heard clearly.

Guan Hongbo yelled at him to make it clear, and the man who was shifting the watch fell to his knees and collapsed on the ground, his whole body trembling and crying loudly.

The person supporting him beside him was a woman, about his age, who seemed to be his wife.

"Lang Jun managed to wake up a little bit today, and now he's scared like this again, but how can I live in the future!" Seeing that her husband couldn't persuade her, the woman sat down on the ground, clapped her hands and burst into tears .

Guan Hongbo couldn't bear the situation anymore, he was so angry that he wanted to scold the woman who was aggressive and the man who beat the watch, but Li Mingda stopped him with his hand.

"Help them back, and bring him some money to hire a doctor. Ma'am, you don't have to worry, I think he is overly frightened, drink some shock-reducing soup, stay with him for two more days, don't leave anyone around, and he will gradually get better. " Li Mingda persuaded gently.

The woman was stunned, seeing that although Li Mingda was young, but well dressed, she knew that she must also be a nobleman, the most important thing was that she was the most eloquent among all the people she had seen in the government, what she said It just makes people feel at ease.

The woman was very grateful, kowtowed to Li Mingda, and took the initiative to apologize for her rude behavior just now.

"It's okay, I understand your difficulties." Li Mingda waved his hand and ordered the guards to escort the couple back.

The middle-aged man who was the first to tell his story saw this, and stammered that he also wanted to leave, and he was also afraid that it was getting dark.

Li Mingda nodded in agreement, and then looked at the third witness.This person is called Fu Sheng, and he is well-known in Qujiang village as a bold and courageous person.But at this moment, he is also a little scared, but compared to the previous two, his fear is not so exaggerated.

"My nobleman, I see that you are the most powerful official, and I also want to ask you to make the decision, go home earlier, it is really getting dark, if the water ghost comes out again, I can't guarantee that I will have a second chance." It's a lucky chance to save my humble life." Fu Sheng paused, then retracted his neck.

"Okay, you can go, but the evidence must stay."

"I've said it before as a testimony, so just use that one." Fu Sheng looked at Li Mingda fearfully, and swallowed.

"It was just a hasty inquiry in the morning, not enough." Li Mingda got up, walked to Fu Sheng's side, asked where his home was, and took them there.

"My lord, are you going to Cao Min's house?"

"Aren't you afraid, we'll go to your house, escort you all the way home, and then you explain at home, isn't it good?"

"Okay, okay." Fu Sheng hurriedly saluted and thanked him, and then followed his words to lead the way.

Li Mingda and others followed him, and Li Mingda observed the surrounding situation along the way.The houses in Qujiang Village are all next to each other, very close together.The streets are square and square, which is similar to the layout of the workshops in Chang'an City.

Qujiang Village is on the edge of Qujiang Pond, separated from Chang'an City by a river and a wall. This place is called a village, but it is much more prosperous and larger than ordinary villages.There are also many restaurants and inns in the village, which are used to entertain those literati who usually come to Qujiang Pond to play and write poems.

Fu Sheng's house is the third from last on the left on the main road in the south of the village.The house is not big, with three rooms, just enough for Fu Sheng, his wife, concubine and three children to live in.

When Li Mingda and others arrived, all the houses were closed, and there was no one on the street.Probably because of the rumor of water ghosts, the villagers closed their doors early to hide from the disaster before it was dark.

Before entering the door, Zuo Qingmei felt troublesome, so she deliberately brought people in to make an announcement, so that the young and old could stay in the house, and there was no need to come out to interfere.

Li Mingda and others were in the courtyard, listening to Fu Sheng's talk about that night.

"Caomin couldn't sleep last night, went out for a walk—"

At the beginning of the conversation, Fu Sheng blinked, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

Li Mingda narrowed his eyes and examined him: "When exactly?"

"About the second watch."

"There have been reports of water ghosts in the village. If you really can't sleep in the second watch, you can take a breath in this yard. Why do you have to take the risk and hang out on the road?"

"I—" Fu Sheng stammered, and then under Guan Hongbo's scolding, he had to kneel down and honestly confess that he went out to meet people.

When asked who he was going to meet, Fu Sheng hesitated to say anything.

Li Mingda probably guessed what he was doing, so he refused to speak out, since it has nothing to do with the case, there is no need to pursue it, let him continue talking.

"Cao Min turned left and ran for a while, and suddenly found a strange thing standing in the middle of the road not far ahead. Just as the two of them said before, the head has long horns, like a cow, with one on the left and right sides of the head. The upper face is covered with hair, about an inch long, tall, with a black cloak on his body, but I noticed that he has feet, a pair of legs. His body is ticking, dripping constantly.

When I met his eyes, he suddenly yelled at me and raised the big knife in his hand. I was so scared that I turned around and ran away.Fortunately, I was not far from home at the time, and I ran back to close the door after a few steps. The water ghost seemed unwilling to let me go. When I heard the footsteps, I quickly extinguished the lantern in my hand and hid in the darkness without making a sound. There was no movement, and I didn't have the guts to look at it.Afterwards, I hid in the room and couldn't sleep. Occasionally, I heard the sound of gurgling outside the window, as if the water ghost came back to look for me again. I didn't dare to move until dawn, and that's all. "

Li Mingda asked Fu Sheng to say it again, he heard that his description was the same as before, and saw that the fear in his eyes was real, except for the concealment at the beginning, the rest was considered as a passenger, so let it go.Send Fu Sheng back to his room to rest, don't worry about them staying in the courtyard.

Fu Sheng was a little happy when he learned that the nobles were going to wait for the water ghost in his house, and he felt relieved, so he hurriedly asked his wife and concubine to prepare water and fruits for you. "I just hope that the righteousness of the government can shake that water ghost. If this ghost can really be caught, that would be the best. Qujiang Village will be peaceful in the future."

Li Mingda dismissed Fu Sheng, turned around and asked Fang Yizhi what he thought of this matter.

Fang Yizhi didn't answer, but instead asked Li Mingda a question, "I've always wondered why Jiujiu Lang didn't come to interrogate them during the day to check the clues, but waited until dusk, when it was dark?"

"The two Taoist priests drowned. To put it bluntly, there are basically no clues. I have heard the testimony of eyewitnesses earlier. Apart from the few words they described, there are no special clues. So during the day At that time, it is not worth making a special trip here. The most important thing right now is to catch the water ghost. Once you catch the water ghost, everything will be clear. Since it is said that the water ghost haunts at night, we come during the day, With so many people and so many battles, it is bound to be impossible to cover up, and there will be noise. Once the person pretending to be a water ghost is aware of it, it will be a pity that it will not appear at night."

Fang Yi nodded his head in praise, "Nineteenth Lang is a good fortune teller."

"You have thought of it a long time ago." Li Mingda saw that there was no surprise on Fang Yizhi's face.

Fang Yi shook his head, "What Yi Zhi thinks, many things are not as good as Nineteen Lang."

"Although I think your compliment is a bit untrue, I still accept it. People like compliments." Li Mingda sighed, seeing that it was getting dark, he sent the accompanying guards and officials, and put on Night clothes, lurking near the big and small streets of Qujiang village.Pulling nets to lurk, once a water ghost is found, one person shouts, and everyone responds to ensure that he has nowhere to escape.

"Then what if it's a real ghost?" Guan Hongbo sighed and asked.

But no one paid any attention to him. Everyone changed into night clothes and went out according to the princess's instructions.

Li Mingda sat in the courtyard and waited, Fang Yi followed him, and sent Luo Ge to bring all the books he had prepared and put them on the table.There are also some small snacks prepared and placed on the table.

Li Mingda looked at the things on the table in surprise, then looked at Fang Yizhi, and raised his eyebrows.Obviously, she didn't need to ask this question anymore. These things that had been prepared in advance had already been clearly announced that his wife had always come prepared.

"I recommend you to read this book. It's very fresh. It's an old farmer who learned calligraphy. He wrote down his 70-year life experience. After his death, his son had no money to spend, so he bought this book to make ends meet instead of going to the pawn shop. , set up a stall on the street, asking for ten pieces of silk. Like Jiang Taigong, those who wish to take the bait." Fang Yizhi introduced.

"So you're just a stupid fish willing to take the bait?"

Under the candlelight, her side face is very soft and beautiful, which is the most attractive place in the night.

Li Mingda didn't know it yet, and had been lazily looking at the house with his chin resting on his chin, waiting for him to answer his own question.

"Stupid fish..." Fang Yizhi laughed softly, "I like this name. In fact, since yesterday, I have decided to be an embarrassing and stupid fish that will take the bait."

"Yesterday? What's the explanation?" Li Mingda looked at him puzzled, and asked him what happened yesterday that made him make such a strange decision.

"Mother's questioning made Yizhi suddenly understand." Fang Yizhi met Li Mingda's eyes,

"Madam Lu speaks frankly, and I like it too." Li Mingda laughed, and then picked up the book in her hand, she wanted to read what it said, Fang Yizhi was willing to be a fool.

There are four volumes in the book, and when Li Mingda read the end, it was already early morning.Because the content was fascinating, she kept yawning, but forgot the time.During the period, Zuo Qingmei even put the cloak on Li Mingda's body, and Li Mingda didn't even blink his eyes until he finished reading all four books and found out that the old farmer was only 40 years old.She remembered that she had just heard Fang Yizhi say that it was 70 years in his life, so she looked at Fang Yizhi suspiciously and asked him if he left some books and didn't bring them back.

"There are four more books, because Princess Zhi knows that four books are enough, so I only took these first."

Li Mingda yawned, unable to hide the tiredness in his eyes, but still insisted on the last four books, she wanted to read them all, "How can you read half of something, it's tempting."

"Look, princess," Fang Yi straightened up, raised his head and looked towards the east.

Only then did Li Mingda look up, and found that the clouds in the east had turned red, and then he saw a fire-like round wheel emerging from the sky.

"It's dawn." Li Mingda was stunned, and then he reacted and went to search for those guards.Zuo Qingmei hurriedly came to tell Li Mingda that they were still laying ambushes outside and did not return.

"Leave it, it didn't show up all night, and it won't show up now." Li Mingda then ordered Cheng Chubi, "Tomorrow you bring someone to guard until you catch the water ghost."

Cheng Chubi took the order, and immediately sent the princess off respectfully.

Fang Yi has been going with Li Mingda, and he will not be at ease until he sends her to the gate of the palace.

Li Mingda smiled: "This is also Yuchi Baoqi's order? This is not his responsibility, you don't have to do your best for him."

"Yizhi wants to do his best," Fang Yizhi nodded slightly, expressing, and then told Li Mingda, "Leave when you see Chengtianmen."

"It just so happens that I have something to discuss with you. You said why the water ghost didn't show up last night? He showed up for three consecutive days before this. According to common sense, he should also show up last night."

Fang Yi thought for a while, then smiled.

"why are you laughing?"

"I'm afraid there will be other rumors after today. For example, if two Taoist priests died, it can be rumored that the water ghost is full, so it will not appear for the time being."

"I've been assuming that this water ghost is a human being, and I've come to deliberate on the reasons for this matter. Do you think it's a real ghost?"

"Only people in this world can have ghosts in their hearts."

Li Mingda nodded and continued: "Why did he appear for three days in a row? Is it just to scare people with ghosts? Ordinary people are definitely not so boring. Then he must have something to do, and he must use this method to get rid of it." achieve its ulterior purpose."

"And in order to achieve his goal, he will definitely take this opportunity to make the death of the Taoist priest more mysterious, so that more people will fear the legend of the water ghost, so that it will be easier for him to act in the future." Fang Yi said straight.

"If it's a human, then we should be able to catch him."

Fang Yizhi also agreed with Li Mingda's words.

However, ten days later, Cheng Chubi and others were exhausted from lurking in Qujiang Village, and no sign of the water ghost was found.

On the contrary, the rumor that Fang Yizhi predicted before really spread among the people. The story of the water ghost eating people in Qujiang Pond was widely spread within a few days. During the day, many people would come to Qujiang Pond to watch Curious about what this legendary place with water ghosts looks like.But in the afternoon, when the sun was setting to the west, the sides of Qujiang Pond were empty, not even a single person.

In the next few days, the rumors intensified and reached the court.Some officials even firmly believe in the existence of water ghosts, and believe that the theory that water ghosts cannibalize people is true.They euphemistically said that in order to ensure the peace of the people in Qujiang Village, Shangshu was willing to ask the emperor to appease the water ghosts in Qujiang Pond, and suggested that the court throw some criminals into Qujiang Pond to feed the water ghosts. Will not trouble the people around.

Li Shimin felt that this statement was absurd, and after he came down to court, he called his son to ask how the investigation was progressing.

"No idea."

"During the investigation, you were full of confidence, why haven't you found anything now?" Li Shimin asked puzzled.

"The clues are limited, and I have nothing to do." Li Mingda sighed.

"No way?" Li Shimin looked at Li Mingda suspiciously, "No, I see that you are calm and calm now, it doesn't seem like you are discouraged by the investigation, but more like you have a plan in mind."

"Aye." Li Mingda smiled at Li Shimin, and then quickly squeezed Li Shimin's shoulders, "Aye, work hard, wait a few days and see."

Li Shimin closed his eyes, enjoying his daughter's filial piety, and asked her what she was thinking, "The water ghost incident in Qujiang Pond is not a big deal, but it's not a small one either. I'm getting more and more curious about you making it so mysterious. Hurry up!" Talk to Ayer."

"How can there be any mystery, Sizi is worrying, that water ghost hasn't appeared so far, I really have no one to catch."

"I don't believe you." Li Shimin observed Li Mingda and said, "I know my son very well, you are not someone who just sits and waits to die, so just tell me what the hell plan you have come up with to deal with it?"

"Aye is wise, I have an idea, but I can't say it for now, let Aye also be curious." Li Mingda smiled mysteriously, and was about to leave after speaking.

"Where are you going, don't you give Aye a shoulder?" Li Shimin asked reluctantly.

"Go and solve the case first, then come back and press Aye."

After Li Mingda saluted Li Shimin, he left in a hurry.

Li Mingda went directly to Yuchi's mansion, dragged Yuchi Baoqi out, and asked him to go to Qujiangchi.

When Yuchi Baoqi heard that it was Qu Jiangchi, he hurriedly held his stomach and complained of pain, and apologized to Li Mingda, saying that his health was really bad recently.

"Don't pretend to be in front of me, isn't it because you are afraid of ghosts?"

"I'm very scared!" Yuchi Baoqi said with a mournful face.

"The water ghosts won't come out in broad daylight. What are you afraid of? Change your clothes and leave. Don't forget that you have also received a holy order for this case, and you have a share."

When Yuchi Baoqi heard that he was only going there during the day, his expression calmed down a little, but he was a little puzzled.

"Why do you need to change clothes? Is my suit not good? Light blue, elegant and elegant, it looks more stable. Brother Fang has always liked to wear clothes of this color, and I am learning from him." Yuchi Baoqi was a little proud road.

"Take out your blue dress embroidered with gold thread and put it on. It's the one with pearls and rubies in the skirt."

Yuchi Baoqi was surprised, "How does the princess know that I have such a piece of clothing, which I seem to have never worn in front of the princess."

"I've seen you walk through, in paintings."

"In the painting?" Yuchi Baoqi asked.

"I went to Cheng's mansion a few days ago, and I saw a painting hanging in Cheng Chubi's study room. The person in that painting was wearing brocade clothes and holding a sword in his hand. It was undoubtedly you." Li Mingda recalled .At that time, she didn't have Cheng Chubi's study room, but she happened to see the painting hanging on the wall with a casual glance through the open window.Because I was wondering why Yuchi Baoqi's self-portrait was hung in Cheng Chubi's study, so I especially remembered it.

"Oh my God." Yuchi Baoqi covered his face, "Why did he hang that painting there?"

"Princess should still remember that I lost a bet of [-] yuan to Brother Fang some time ago. I was a bit of a spender, so I borrowed some money from Brother Cheng. But you can't borrow money from someone empty-handed, it has to be a little expensive Mortgage things. I thought about it, and the most valuable thing in my hand is this self-portrait of mine. So I temporarily put that painting in his place, who would have thought that he would hang it up." Yuchi Baoqi Innocent and angry.

Why did the boring gourd do such a thing.

Li Mingda only thought it was funny when he heard this, and he kept having fun.

Yuchi Baoqi scratched her head, then saluted Li Mingda seriously, "Thanks to the princess for telling me today, otherwise I would not have known Brother Cheng would have such a hobby. Although I, Yuchi Baoqi, value friends, I definitely don't have that kind of... Habit. No, I have to pay back the money and get the painting back."

"Then you have to go to Qujiang Village, Cheng Chubi is there now." Li Mingda said.

"Okay, I'll go." Yuchi Baoqi changed into the suit according to his words, and then rode on the big jujube horse arranged for him by the princess.

A man depends on clothes, a horse depends on a saddle.Besides, Yuchi Baoqi had always had a flirtatious appearance and a flamboyant temperament, so his whole person suddenly shone brightly, riding a horse on the street, no matter whether he looked at him or not.Yuchi Baoqi liked it very much, accepted everyone's attention, and waved her hands from time to time, smiling at everyone.

Going all the way to Qujiang Village in this way naturally caused a sensation in Qujiang Village, and many people came here to watch.

According to what the princess told him before, Yuchi Baoqi ordered Cheng Chubi and other guards: "The sage ordered me to take full responsibility for the investigation of this case. I sent you to lie dormant here for so many days, and there is not even a shadow of a water ghost." Look. What's the use of you staying here? Get the hell out of here!"

As soon as Yuchi Baoqi showed his power, he appeared even more majestic and unrestrained, attracting the admiration of countless women.

Cheng Chubi took the order, and then followed Yuchi Baoqi obediently with a team of people.

Some people asked puzzledly, "Then the water ghost will not be caught?"

"It's all ghosts, who can catch it. Besides, he is already full, so he probably won't come again in a short time. If he comes to the court again, he will come forward and continue to solve it." After Yuchi Baoqi finished speaking, he rode away gracefully. .

Halfway there, he couldn't help asking about Cheng Chubi's paintings.

Cheng Chubi was startled, "Did the princess see it?"

"Yes, how do you explain it?"

"I haven't been to a place like the study room for half a year. I guess I asked my servants to collect your paintings and told them to put them away, so they will hang them up." Cheng Chubi explained.

"That was a misunderstanding." Yuchi Baoqi hurriedly apologized for her malicious speculation.

Cheng Chubi heard him mention the princess and asked him why he didn't see the princess.

"Ah, after she told me about this job, she went to find my brother-in-law."

"