Chirp... Chirp...
Birds with grey wings landed from the eaves. On the straight streets, peddlers carrying candied haws and shouldering loads walked through the streets. The steamers were opened at the street stalls, and steam was rising. The wheelbarrow pushed by the old man made a creaking sound, and the shouts of the shop assistants could be heard.
"Freshly-baked pancakes, soft flower cakes..."
"The pottery jar with a curled mouth can be used as a chamber pot even if it can't hold anything. The handsome young man over there, won't you come and take a look?"
"A dressing gown, a bronze mirror, made of the finest peach wood, nothing to be desired, and a beautiful portrait."
…
Above the noisy and bustling streets, the sound of regular guests eating in the second-floor rooms of the Sanzi Inn could be heard.
"Eat more. The food sold in the shops in this city tastes great."
"Eat more, leave some for Liangsheng, Lu Erdan, put your hoof down!"
Amid the noisy conversations of Lu Pan, Lu Qing and others, Lu Liangsheng opened his eyes. When he sat up, he realized that he had fallen asleep without knowing when.
Taoist Toad curled up into a ball, basking in the morning light on the desk. Eight big men from Lujia Village gathered around the round table and ordered a lot of meat. When they saw Lu Liangsheng wake up, the one sitting closest to him tore off a chicken leg and handed it to him.
"Liangsheng, here, eat something good so early in the morning."
Leaning against the edge of the bed, Lu Liangsheng put his feet down and put on his shoes. He took the chicken leg and put it on the desk: "Eat it later. I ate a lot last night, so I don't feel that hungry now."
After saying this, he put on his robe and went to the corner to wash his face, then turned around while wiping the water stains.
"Uncle Pan, let's go to the county government office today, take care of the village affairs as soon as possible, and go back early."
Lu Pan, who was holding half a chicken, nodded, thought for a while, put down the chicken in his hand, turned to his eldest nephew, but frowned.
"Liangsheng, this morning, when I went downstairs to tell the waiter to serve the food, I heard from the diners who came to the restaurant that Mr. Chen's son had died."
Beside him, Lu Qing raised his head and spat.
"If he dies, he dies. If this kind of person doesn't die, God would be blind."
In the corner over there, Lu Liangsheng hung up a towel and sat down at the dining table. Someone quickly handed him chopsticks and a bowl of porridge. The young man smiled and said, "It has nothing to do with us. When we left, he was alive and kicking. Maybe the female ghost is too smart. After we leave, she will kill him to avenge herself."
“… Hmm.” Lu Pan thought for a moment, relaxed his big beard, picked up the half chicken again, and took a big bite.
"That's right, that's the reason."
He tilted his head and lowered his voice to the other seven people, adding: "From now on, no one of us can mention anything about Mr. Chen's family. Even if we do, don't bring Liangsheng into it!"
After eating a greasy breakfast, they checked out of the hotel. At this time, the news about what happened in Mr. Chen's family had spread outside early in the morning. Even the forty or so people who participated in it personally exaggerated the incident of the Chen Mansion encountering a ghost last night. Now that Chen Yaoke was dead, Mr. Chen was so angry that he was bedridden and had no more scruples.
"You don't know how powerful it was. If there hadn't been a master present that day, I'm afraid Chen Yaoke would have died on the spot."
The children were chasing and fighting each other, and the adults in the family scolded them a few words, then turned around and continued to gather with their neighbors to whisper about the news they had heard.
"Oh, that's because you don't know. That female ghost came to Fushui County last time to sing for Mr. Chen. I was there at the time. Her voice was so beautiful that it made the bones of the people singing go soft."
An older scholar spat on the ground.
"… It's all Mr. Chen's son's fault. He hasn't read much, but he dresses like a scholar. He flirts with decent women everywhere and ruins the reputation of scholars like us. He deserves to die!"
"I don't know how the county magistrate will handle this matter this time."
“… Are we still going to catch ghosts and put them in jail?”
There were mostly small groups of three or five in the streets, teahouses, and restaurants. After all, it was rare for evil spirits to kill people. At first, some people thought that the Chen father and son were unlucky, but now that they knew the truth, they began to applaud and some of them with a hot temper ran to the door of the Chen residence and spit on it.
Lu Liangsheng followed the eight people on the way to the county government office. After listening to some things, he stopped listening and walked through the bustling streets and found the county government office. The old servant of the Chen family was just coming out. His eyes were slightly red. He glanced at Lu Liangsheng and the other nine people, then hurriedly got on the carriage and left.
Lu Pan looked at the carriage going away and spat at the ground.
"I guess someone important died in their family, so they came to the county government to report to the police. Why didn't the Honglian ghost see them? She's rich and kind, and loves to do good. Pah—"
"Uncle Pan, let's not talk about this for now." Lu Liangsheng winked at him. The matter had already been settled, so there was no need to discuss it later to avoid unnecessary complications. He went out twice. The first time he came to this county town with his father Lu Laoshi, he didn't feel anything. He just felt that the outside world was prosperous and dazzling.
This second trip, however, made him grow a lot. He saw the monsters that spared his group's lives, and he also saw the human hearts that were several times more disgusting than the monsters.
As for the female ghost, Hong Lian.
Lu Liangsheng sighed, he had already helped in all the ways he could.
Thinking of this, he walked up the steps of the yamen, bowed to the officers on both sides, and explained his purpose.
"Brothers, we are from Lujia Village in Qixia Mountain. We came here two days ago and submitted a complaint. It was about a dispute between two villages over irrigation of farmland."
The officer looked at the calm and fearless young man in front of him and nodded: "It's you. I just happened to hear Old Zhao, who was on duty yesterday, talking about you."
"Have you mentioned it?" Lu Liangsheng was a little confused.
“The handwriting is beautiful!”
The officer smiled and pointed to the side under the eaves of the yamen: "You wait there for now. I will go in and inform the chief clerk."
It turned out that it was because of the complaint he had written before. Lu Liangsheng didn't know whether he should laugh or not, so he imitated the other party and bowed.
"Then I'll trouble you, big brother."
The officer walked into the gate of the county government office carrying the water and fire sticks, but did not go to the main court where cases were usually tried. The county magistrate and the chief clerk handled daily business in the side yard, where there were several side rooms, one for the county magistrate, one for the county magistrate, and one for the county lieutenant, and another for the chief clerk and the clerk.
When the officer came, the clerks and constables were busy coming and going. The county magistrate and the chief clerk were previously troubled by a haunted incident. Now a person suddenly died, and the rumor outside was that a vicious ghost had killed him. They could only put the case aside for the time being and let the clerks send people to investigate. Since they couldn't find the murderer, they could just treat it as an unsolved case.
"If it is as the rumors say, this county not only does not care about Chen Yaoke's death, but also wants to take part in it!"
"It's hard to change the county magistrate's character of hating evil. If he is recalled to Southern Chen in the future, he will probably have to change it to avoid offending others and being demoted."
In a room on the left side of the side yard, there were two tables facing each other. In the main seat opposite, a county magistrate, about forty years old, wearing an official robe, was talking angrily and slapping the table top. However, his face was dignified and the long beard under his chin made him look quite dignified.
The person opposite him was an older man, the chief clerk of Fushui County. As the county was not big and there were not many official duties, there was no county magistrate or county lieutenant. Even if he moved into the same room with the county magistrate, it would be convenient for them to talk and discuss official business. There was no need to summon him back and forth, which was so cumbersome.
The county magistrate took a sip of tea and picked up his pen to review official documents.
"Let him be demoted. Officials in Beijing have never been as carefree as they are now. But here in this place, there are so many superstitious things, which makes people worry about it..."
The old man on the other side smiled and said, "This is the case in many places. Since Chen Yaoke is dead, let the people below investigate. If they can't find anything, that's fine. This kind of weird thing is hard to explain. The county lord and I don't have the time to do that. It's better to finish the official duties that have been squeezed in for the past two days."
As he spoke, he took away the approved official document in front of him, reached out and picked up the unprocessed complaint on the other side, looked at the contents on it, and suddenly laughed.
The county magistrate raised his head and asked, "Is there any problem with that?"
The old man put down the complaint and shook his head.
"This petition is plain and simple, just like the story you write when you first enter school, but the handwriting is pleasing to the eye. It's a good handwriting... Well, the author is Lu Liangsheng, which is a good name."
"Oh? If the old gentleman could be so impressed, I would like to see it, too."
The county magistrate came over, took the petition, read it over, and nodded: "It is indeed well-written. Every stroke is neat and powerful. Unfortunately, it is too neat, like a copy, lifeless."
As he was talking, there was a knock on the door. The magistrate turned his head and asked, "What's the matter?"
"My lord, my lord, Lu Liangsheng from Lujia Village in Qixia Mountain has come to the county government to file a complaint regarding a dispute between two villages."
The magistrate put down his hand, looked at the old man and laughed.
"Heh... I was just talking about him and he's here. I want to see what the person who wrote this looks like."
The latter also laughed, then stood up and followed him out.