After Chen Ying ran away crying from the gate, Duan Xu appeared at the gate. He looked at Chen Ying's back, then turned around and looked at He Simu.
The tall and beautiful woman in the sunset turned her head and smiled faintly, as if silently announcing Duan Xu's failure and her own foresight.
Duan Xu didn't seem to think he had failed. He walked up to her and said with a smile, "Chen Ying just can't accept it for a while. Give him some time."
"Accept? Accept what? He doesn't need to accept it." He Simu waved her hand, stretched her body, and walked past him.
"It is natural for people to fear evil ghosts just like sheep fear wolves. Chen Ying's reaction is perfectly normal. It would be best if he would avoid evil ghosts for the rest of his life. But you are an outlier because you are fearless. People hate evil ghosts, and that is where the ghost king should be."
He Simu said this lightly, and his back disappeared at the door.
She didn't seem to be sad about Chen Ying's fear or rejection, as if she was used to it. Maybe it was just like what she said, most things in the world were just "indifferent" to her.
It's just a casual act when I'm bored.
After the imperial edict was issued, General Qin quickly summoned the generals to formulate a new battle plan. With Zheng An supervising, Duan Xu and his Tabai were finally not excluded.
During this period, the Daliang army dispatched food, fodder and weapons. Duan Xu took Xia Qingsheng, Han Lingqiu and a team of people and followed the general of the Suying Army to the north of Shuozhou to survey the terrain. The Shuozhou city would serve as the rear base on the north bank because of its advantageous location and terrain.
He Simu, who temporarily lost his magic power, naturally stayed in the city of Shuozhou, and wandered around with Duan Xu's money bag, so that all the stalls in the city knew about this strange guest who spent money lavishly and broke things everywhere.
Chen Ying stopped crying, but he still went to see his sleeping "little sister" often. He was always a little timid every time he saw He Simu. He Simu always smiled and didn't ignore him or get close to him.
A few days after Duan Xu left the city, a group of uninvited guests came to Shuozhou City.
That day, He Simu crushed a bunch of peach cakes and carried the remains back to the Lin family where he was staying. He saw people coming and going in a mess, and faintly heard people crying. He Simu handed the paper bag to the housekeeper of the Lin family in confusion, and told him to feed the dogs with the peach cake remains, and then asked: "What's going on in the house? Why is it so noisy?"
The housekeeper sighed and said, "Miss He, the Marquis of the Tabai Army, has fallen ill and is unable to get up from a long sleep."
He Simu asked in surprise: "Could it be that she has woken up?"
"That's not the case. Her family came to visit."
"Oh, I just said..."
He Simu paused for a moment before realizing what the housekeeper had said. He turned around and asked, "He Xiaoxiao's family is here?"
If he met an acquaintance while possessed, it would be a huge trouble, so much so that he would have to put aside his illness. Therefore, He Simu usually went to very far places for activities, and he almost never met an old friend in a foreign land.
This time during my holiday, all kinds of strange things happened.
He Simu rubbed his temple and followed the sound of crying. After passing through the long corridor and the stone door, he saw a woman being supported and wiping tears. Captain Song of Chengjie Army stood by and comforted her. There were servants standing in groups of three or four at the edge of the yard. He Simu stood with the servants who were watching and asked in a low voice, "Who are these?"
The servant recognized her as General Duan's good friend, so he said to He Simu, "The one in the middle with dark brown clothes and some white hair is Miss He's mother, and the one holding her is Miss He's elder brother. After hearing that Miss He disappeared, they came all the way from Yuezhou to look for her. When they were distributing missing person portraits, someone in Liangzhou said that the person in the portrait looked very similar to He Xiaoxiao, so they came here again. Just now they determined that Miss He was their missing relative, and the birthmark on her body was also correct, but now Miss He has been in a long sleep, and her mother is very sad."
He Simu's eyes swept over the people in the courtyard, then he leaned against the wall and watched the show as if it had nothing to do with him.
This scene is so touching, as if the girl who wanted to commit suicide a few months ago because she was going to be sold by her mother and brother to be the old man's concubine was fake. Looking at this situation, did her relatives receive the money and find that she was missing, so they rushed over to look for her
The woman cried, "Her name is not He Xiaoxiao! Her name is Qiao Yan, my little daughter, who disappeared inexplicably more than three months ago. She is a very well-behaved and sensible girl, how could she travel hundreds of miles to Shuozhou alone?"
This person really should think carefully about why he forced his well-behaved and sensible daughter to make a deal with the evil spirit and lend her body for half a year in exchange for freedom.
The woman, who was holding her brother by her side, said, "Yan'er has never performed magic tricks, let alone any fortune-telling skills. It seems that the master is right, my sister's body has been taken over by an evil spirit!"
He Simu raised his eyebrows and moved his gaze to the old man dressed as a monk with white hair beside Captain Song. Captain Song bowed to the old man and said, "Master, when you said that there were evil spirits in the city, were you referring to Miss He... Oh no, Miss Qiao."
The old Taoist stroked his beard and said calmly, "I just observed from a distance and saw the evil spirit gathering above the Lin Mansion. The evil spirit became even stronger as we entered the mansion. I also saw Miss Qiao's symptoms just now. She was not sick but was in a long sleep. It was clearly caused by the evil spirit's spell."
He Simu looked up and down at the gray-robed old man with a sage-like demeanor for a while and smiled gently.
interesting.
What is this? What is this about
After hearing what the old Taoist said, Captain Song immediately asked the old Taoist to find a way to exorcise the evil spirit and restore peace to Shuozhou Prefecture. The old Taoist took out a piece of talisman paper from his bosom, chanted a few incantations, and the talisman paper emitted a red light and stood up.
The old Taoist waved his hand and said, "Go find the ghost!"
The talisman paper trembled suddenly, and flew through the crowd like an arrow, and then was caught by two fingers in mid-air.
He Simu calmly put down his hand and shook the talisman paper between his fingers: "Master, what are you going to do?"
The old Taoist pointed at her with his eyes wide open and said, "It's her! She is the evil spirit that possessed Miss Qiao before! She is the evil spirit that caused chaos in Shuozhou City!"
All the men, women, old and young in the courtyard looked at He Simu in silence.
He Simu threw away the talisman paper in his hand, and was silent for a moment in front of everyone. Then he raised his eyes and smiled: "Why, Cheng Jiejun can't find any fault with General Duan, so he wants to find ways to throw dirty water on him and the people around him?"
The people in the courtyard looked at Captain Song with sudden realization. Captain Song, who had been splashed with dirty water for no reason, blushed and said angrily: "Don't talk nonsense! The Taoist priest and I just happened to know about this! What does it have to do with General Duan!"
He Simu was calm and composed, smiling without saying a word.
General Yin of Chengjie Army was a man who was somewhat superstitious about Feng Shui. Whenever he led his troops into battle, he would always bring one or two Taoist priests with him to predict good or bad luck. This old man was Taoist Priest Mingfeng, whom General Yin loved and relied on the most.
It is said that Taoist Mingfeng had long discovered that there was an evil spirit in Shuozhou City. Today, when he and Captain Song were walking on the street, they happened to run into the Qiao family who were going to look for their relatives, so he helped them lead the way to the Lin family. Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the Lin family, Taoist Mingfeng felt a strong evil spirit, so he followed them into the Lin Mansion and saw the unconscious He Xiaoxiao - no, actually Qiao Yan.
In the tent, Wu Shengliu and General Yin sat on either side, He Simu sat beside Wu Shengliu, Taoist Mingfeng sat beside General Yin, the mother and son of the Qiao family were kneeling in the camp, and General Qin and Zheng An were sitting at the top seats.
General Yin stood up and asked, "Ms. Qiao Wu, tell me, when did your daughter disappear?"
The woman fell to the ground and answered, "My Lord, I went missing on October 24 last year."
General Yin sighed and looked at Wu Shengliu, "I heard that Miss He Xiaoxiao appeared in Liangzhou on October 26 last year. She traveled hundreds of miles in two days. If it wasn't for the help of ghosts and monsters, who here could have done it?"
Wu Shengliu glared and said angrily, "What's wrong? She disappeared when she said she did, and she said I am Miss He's mother, so I am her mother. I also said I am your father!"
General Yin slammed the table and angrily said, "Wu Shengliu, keep your mouth shut!"
Wu Shengliu jumped up: "Bah, you are not worthy of my clean mouth! What do you want to say? Don't you want to say that He Xiaoxiao is a monster? Seventeenth Girl is also a monster, and the whole Tabai is a nest of monsters, right? Why don't you say that Duan Xu is also a monster? He is a royal relative, you can say one and try!"
Qin Shuai shouted, "What are you arguing about! Sit down!"
General Yin and General Wu Lang looked at each other, and both sat down indignantly. General Yin snorted and said, "Wu Shengliu, don't be unconvinced. General Duan is certainly a young talent, but the Duan family is full of civil officials. He made great achievements in his first visit to the front line and even sneaked into the enemy camp to assassinate the commander. Do you think this is possible? Most likely he borrowed the power of some ghosts, some evil ways..."
Zheng An said coldly in the courtroom: "General Yin, you should speak with evidence. Witchcraft and using ghosts is a serious crime. How dare you make a rash judgment?"
Wu Shengliu gritted his teeth, and the burly man's eyes turned red. "For whom are we guarding Shuozhou City? For whom! If you have a little conscience, you can't say this! General Duan spent so much effort and suffered so many injuries to defend this city, and you wiped it out with a weird sentence? I tell you, as long as there is one of my people still alive, I will never allow you to touch General Duan's people!"
"You? Wu Shengliu, do you listen to Duan Shunxi or Qin Shuai, Tabai..."
"Stop arguing!" Qin Shuai said angrily.
He Simu leaned back in his chair, thinking that General Yin was indeed a talented person as he could use the correct answer to come up with a completely nonsensical and jealous and malicious speculation.
Given the current situation, it seems that she doesn't need to say anything or do anything. Once the war is brought to Duan Xu, it will be a fight between the two parties. It doesn't matter whether she is evil or not.
As long as they insist that General Yin wants to frame Duan Xu, then all the evidence thrown out by Taoist Mingfeng can be accused of having ulterior motives. Except for not dying, she looks like a mortal in every way. Anyway, Qiao Yan can't wake up, so "there is no evidence if she dies."
She picked up the cup and took a sip of tea, then she heard someone outside the tent shouting, "Report! Marshal, Miss He, the little girl from Tabaizhanhou, has woken up!"
He Simu choked on the tea he took.