After Li Chaoge went to Jingzhaoyin, the journey was unimpeded, and Song Wen's identity and current address were soon found out. Bai Qianhe asked: "Commander, are we going to find Song Wen?"
"Otherwise?" Li Chaoge turned pale. He glanced at him, "Don't try to be lazy, hurry up and finish the task today, there are only a few days left before the first day?"
Bai Qianhe was dejected and forced to accept the fate of having to work overtime again. Mo Linlang and Zhou Shao accepted it well, and they rushed to the east of Luoyang City according to the address given by Jing Zhaoyin.
In the Buddhist temple where the Sanskrit sound was lingering, the abbot of the White Horse Temple followed behind Gu Mingke and said, "Young Master of the Dali Temple, this is right here."
Shumenshu, the yamen servant of Dali Temple, went forward to collect clues in the chicken pen. It’s helpless to say that the White Horse Temple reported to the government a year ago, and was sent to the Demon Suppression Division at that time, but then the deadly poison broke out in Fenzhou. Li Chaoge led people to Fenzhou to quell the chaos, and then he respected the prince. The death of the emperor, the death of the first emperor, the empress dowager? Regent, major events one after another, if Li Chaoge can't take action, the chicken throwing case at the White Horse Temple will be delayed indefinitely.
The novice at the White Horse Temple waited? Waited again, until recently the chicken thieves became more and more rampant, which had seriously affected the life of the White Horse Temple, and they couldn't bear to report to the officials twice.
This time, the case was handed over to Dali Temple. Originally, it would be enough to send two government officials over for this kind of thing, but Gu Mingke felt something unusual in the testimony, so today he personally came to the White Horse Temple to check.
The yamen servants rummaged through the chicken coop. The few remaining chickens were highly nervous by the chicken thieves. When they sensed someone coming in, they were both scared and vigilant, flapping their wings and screaming in the chicken coop. Chicken feathers were flying everywhere. The head of the White Horse Temple was embarrassed and said, "Young Master, the smell of the chicken coop is strong. Young Master, please wait in a clean place."
Gu Mingke shook his head, turning a blind eye to the scene in front of him: "It's okay, I'll just wait here. Host, when will your temple start losing chickens?"
"That's too early." The little novice next to the host frowned and complained, "Since last year, the chicken coop has been running out of chickens one after another. At first we didn't notice it, and then it became a day. Lost one, the number of chickens was obviously not right, and we realized something was wrong. After reporting the crime last year, we sent people to guard the chicken coop every day. , but this summer, they started losing chickens again. At first, they lost chickens every other day, and then they became more and more rampant. In recent days, chickens have been lost every day, sometimes even two chickens a day. Our temple even counts The family is big and the business is big, and they can’t afford this? Loss.”
The people in Dali Temple all showed sympathy when they heard this. Gu Mingke remained silent, thoughtful.
The chickens in the chicken coop seemed to be very scared, flapping their wings and flying around, and the scene was once very chaotic. Gu Mingke stood outside watching, suddenly he noticed something, walked to the side of the chicken coop, leaned over to look at a place.
Seeing this, the people of Dali Temple gathered around one after another: "Young Master, what did you find??"
Gu Mingke turned sideways and motioned his subordinates to collect evidence: "There are bloodstains and animal hairs."
"Animal hair?" The subordinate was taken aback, "It wasn't stolen by someone?"
The people of Dali Temple quickly put away the tiny strand of hair hooked on the wooden thorn. They looked at the orange fluff and asked in surprise, "What is this?"
"Orange red, could it be a cat?"
"Whose cat eats chicken?"
"It's a fox." Gu Mingke lightly interrupted their speculation, pointed to the ground, and said, "It has injuries. Following the blood and footprints, it shouldn't be hard to find."
The case suddenly changed from theft by thieves to animal crime. People in Dali Temple looked for footprints everywhere, and muttered: "What kind of fox is this, so edible? Could it be a vixen, then this case should belong to the town demon division?"
Gu Mingke ignored it and just asked them to look for it carefully.
Dali Temple followed the clues and found the small town at the foot of the mountain. This is a medium-sized town, not far from Luoyang. On the mountain is the White Horse Temple, so it is very lively with people coming and going, and the business in the town is still relatively prosperous.
Gu Mingke followed the breath and walked into a neighborhood. This place is full of folk houses, the lanes are long and thin, extending in all directions, all kinds of sundries are hung on the walls, and the smell of fireworks is extremely heavy.
In order to make their yards bigger, some people quietly invaded the roads outside. An alley protruded to the east and concave to the west, creating many dead corners. Gu Mingke walked in from the outside and saw Li Chaoge hiding behind a corner? He quietly stared at the courtyard ahead.
Gu Mingke thought to himself, not long ago they talked about the town of demons, coincidentally, they "met" this time.
Gu Mingke approached, and lightly patted Li Chaoge's shoulder. Li Chaoge was startled? He jumped, and immediately turned around and drew his sword. Gu Mingke pressed his fingers on the hilt of the sword, and said helplessly, "It's me."
Li Chaoge looked at Gu Mingke in shock, then at the person behind him, and took away his sword angrily: "Why are you?"
"I also want to ask, why are you here?" Li Chaoge pointed his elbow at the small courtyard in front of him: "Investigate the case, wait for someone."
Gu Mingke raised his head and looked forward, paused for a while, and said leisurely: "What a coincidence, we are also here to investigate the case."
Li Chaoge looked at the official uniform on his body, and then at the guards of Dali Temple who followed behind him, and couldn't help raising his eyebrows: "You and we are from the same family, right?"
"I wasn't sure." Gu Mingke withdrew his hand, and said unhurriedly, "But after your guidance just now, I happened to find it?"
When the people of Dali Temple saw Shaoqing entering the alley, their mood suddenly improved, and they went straight to talk to Princess Sheng Yuan. They are savvy, and hide far away at the entrance of the alley, not to disturb the couple's conversation. They watched Shaoqing gently pat him on the shoulder, attracting the princess' attention, and then said something in a low voice, and then he wanted to leave, but was pulled back by the princess.
Everyone in Dali Temple clicked their tongues, and they all felt a burst of toothache at the same time.
Gu Mingke originally wanted to go in, but was forcibly held back by Li Chaoge. Li Chaoge stared at Gu Mingke suspiciously, and asked, "Are you following me?"
"I still think you are following me." Gu Mingke said, "Today? Didn't you say you were going to find a gardener who is good at planting peonies this morning? Why are you here?"
"This is the person we found." Li Chaoge lightly pointed to the courtyard in front of him, "Their husband has gone out, I'm afraid to startle the snake, so I just wait here for him to come back. On the contrary, you are not in Dali Si, what are you doing here?"
Gu Mingke gestured to the token on his body: "I'm here to investigate the theft of the White Horse Temple that was dragged by someone for a whole year last year."
Li Chaoge was wronged, she snorted softly, and still looked at Gu Mingke vigilantly: "The flower planter and the chicken thief happen to be from the same family? Gu Shaoqing, there are a lot of coincidences on you recently."
"Not as good as the princess?" Gu Mingke said slowly, "Most people in this area are doing small businesses? This family is in the market and has no farmland. No matter how you look at it? It doesn't look like a gardener who is good at planting peonies. Princess? You Could it be a mistake? Right?"
"Who made the wrong choice?" Li Chaoge glared angrily, "Even if you found the wrong person, I wouldn't make a mistake. This family's surname is Song, and they have a cousin named Yang Hua, who used to be a well-known flower grower. I deliberately checked it from Jing Zhaoyin, and it will never be wrong."
Gu Mingke originally looked leisurely, but when he heard that name, his eyes suddenly turned cold: "Yang Hua?"
"Yes, his wife, Peony, is said to be beautiful in appearance and gentle in temperament, like a fairy descending from heaven." Li Chaoge stared at Gu Mingke's face and asked calmly, "Why, do you know him?"
At this time, there was a sudden voice coming from the front? Li Chaoge immediately pulled Gu Mingke to hide behind the corner. Li Chaoge held Gu Mingke's wrist and leaned against the wall to listen to the movement on the other side. Gu Mingke didn't know what he was thinking, but he didn't break free for a long time.
Song Wen came back? He put down his burden and knocked on the door. The neighbor came out and saw him, and said with a smile, "Yo, Song Lang is back? Is your daughter recovering from illness?"
"Not yet, the doctor has caught the medicine, and Liniang is taking care of it."
"That's good. This is garlic, which can ward off evil spirits and drive away monsters. There are always unusual noises in our area at night. You also hang them on the gate. Maybe the girl is being tricked by monsters when she gets sick. harm."
Li Chaoge couldn't see the expressions of those people, but only heard Song Wen say "Thank you, the door of the house is also opened at this time, Song Wen and his neighbors are socializing?"
It's okay if the neighbors don't say anything, so? When he said it, Li Chaoge sniffed it? Sniffing, he always felt that there was a ghostly aura around him.
Li Chaoge tugged on Gu Mingke's sleeve: "Did you smell something strange?"
"Go in and have a look. You'll know." Gu Mingke had calmed down, and was about to leave. When he saw Li Chaoge still leaning against the wall, constantly sniffing the smell around him, he grabbed her wrist with his backhand and said, "Don't dawdle? Is it too late to go back to the city?"
Li Chaoge, Bai Qianhe and the others hid separately. Now that the target had returned, Bai Qianhe and the others also came out of their hiding places. As soon as Bai Qianhe landed, he saw Gu Shaoqing holding Li Chaoge's wrist. Li Chaoge concentrated on sniffing the surrounding air and let him pull.
Bai Qianhe was silent, he coughed hard, and said, "Commander, I'm still on business, so I still need to pay attention to my public image."
Otherwise, when the people open the door and see two leaders holding hands...it will not be good for the reputation of Dali Temple and Zhenyaosi.
Li Chaoge didn't pay attention? Gu Mingke pulled her. With the hot spring acupuncture, Li Chaoge was accustomed to Gu Mingke's ordinary physical contact, not to mention that during this period of time, the two of them lived together, and they could still be together every day when they went to court. Li Chaoge had long been familiar with it. After Bai Qianhe said it, she realized that Gu Mingke was holding her. Li Chaoge moved his wrist, and Gu Mingke let go of it.
The two of them stood in front of the door, and in an instant they regained their majestic and dignified public image. Li Chaoge knocked on the door and said, "Is anyone there? Ask the government."
The two words "Government" had great deterrent power, and there seemed to be panic inside. After a while, the door opened slightly, and Song Wen's face appeared behind. When he saw the official uniform on Gu Mingke at a glance, he was startled: "Master, we are a small family, I don't know if the master is here..."
Gu Mingke took out the token of Dali Temple, showed it to Song Wen, and said calmly: "Don't be nervous, just come to ask questions casually. Can you come in?"
Song Wen nodded nervously, the government officials were standing outside, would he dare not let them in? Song Wen pushed open the door and hurriedly explained: "My lord, my wife is not good at words, and my daughter is weak and sick. If there is any negligence, I respectfully ask Haihan."
Gu Mingke walked into Song Wen's home. This is an ordinary city dweller's house, with only one entrance to the yard, surrounded by various household utensils and small business gadgets, and a dog in the corner. The dog was sleeping in the den, when it heard someone coming in, it woke up suddenly, straightened its back, and barked at the door.
It seemed to be frightened by the sound of the dog, and there was a cry of a little girl in the room. The cry of the child? Weak, lack of breath, listening to it? Unhealthy.
Li Chaoge thought to himself that what the neighbor said was true, and the situation of Song Wen's daughter was indeed not very good. She remembered that neighbors said that there was unusual movement in this area at night, Li Chaoge remained calm and looked around secretly.
Song Wen saw the dog barking suddenly, and his daughter couldn't stop crying. He was anxious and afraid, and he scolded the dog and coaxed his daughter, so busy that he didn't know what to do.
The dog heard the little girl crying and ran to the window. It wailed? Twice?, as if comforting the girl, but the hair on its body was still standing on end. It turned around, its back arched, and stared at them with hatred.
Li Chaoge gave a slight sigh in her heart. She thought that the dog saw the stranger, so she kept barking, but looking at it now, this dog is quite human, and his hostility ? It seems to be directed at Gu Mingke.
Song Wen couldn't stop apologizing, he yelled loudly at the dog, trying to drive the dog back. The local dog was beaten several times, but still guarded the door. It kept purring in its throat, but it lay far away on the ground, not daring to take a step forward.
Li Chaoge turned his head and looked at Gu Mingke with a smile: "Are you so disliked by dogs?"
Gu Mingke's face was as pale as jade, he ignored Li Chaoge's teasing, and glanced at the dog on the ground very indifferently. Although the dog bared its teeth, it didn't dare to speak anymore
After the barking of the dog stopped, the crying of the children in the house also gradually subsided. Everyone in the courtyard breathed a sigh of relief, and Bai Qianhe pressed his ears silently, thanking him for this trip, and his determination to not have children became stronger again.
Song Wen also heaved a sigh of relief, and apologized: "This dog is a domestic dog that was picked up. It has not been trained. It bites people when it sees it. Don't blame the officials."
Gu Mingke naturally wouldn't argue with that dog on the ground. His eyes were calm, and he looked at the door quietly. A young woman was holding a little girl about two years old, leaning against the door, and doing all blessings timidly.
"The slave family has seen the official."
The young woman is slim and clean, looking about twenty years old. She is wearing a woman's bun, and although her appearance is romantic and affectionate, her eyes are always on the child, and her gestures are full of motherly tenderness. And that little girl was sick and leaning against her mother's arms, her facial features were fresh and fresh, her face was full of sickness, and her face looked quite miserable.
The little girl just stopped crying. She was sobbing weakly at the moment. When she saw Gu Mingke, she was suddenly frightened and cried. She hugged her mother's neck tightly as if she saw something terrible, and wanted to leave.
Song Wen was embarrassed, and quickly introduced: "This is my wife, Liniang, and my little girl. The little girl is not in good health. Since she was born, she is timid and afraid of others. The little girl is not disrespectful to the adults, but the adults are mighty in official robes and have an extraordinary bearing. The little girl Scared?."
The little girl was already frail, but now she was frightened and cried, her voice was low and hoarse, which made people worry. After Liniang confessed, she carried the child into the house to coax her. The people in Dali Temple didn't take it seriously. They wore knives on their waists and dark blue official uniforms. Ordinary people would feel terrified when they saw it, let alone a little girl. Li Chaoge was the only one who looked at Gu Mingke with a smile, and said slowly, "It seems that Gu Shao? Qing not only doesn't like dogs, but also doesn't like children."
Gu Mingke glanced at her helplessly: "Don't make trouble, we are here to handle the case."
Song Wen had known for a long time that something important would happen when the government came to the door. He clenched his hands nervously when he heard Gu Mingke talk about handling the case.
"My lord..." Song Wen carefully explained with his eyes fixed, "Caomin? The whole family? They are good citizens. They never quarrel with their neighbors on weekdays. I really don't know what crime they have committed."
Li Chaoge didn't speak, she walked slowly around the yard with her hands behind her back. After a while, she yelled at the haystack and said, "Your family has dogs, and there are quite a few chicken feathers."
Song Wen became nervous: "My lord..."
"The demonic aura is weak, and you conceal it very well." Li Chaoge turned around and stared at Song Wen coldly, "What a pity you forgot
There was the sound of something falling in the room. Li Chaoge didn't bother to go around with them, so he patted his sleeve and said, "Come out, that vixen who stole the chicken. It's bad luck to have you at the White Horse Temple stall."
Song Wen's face was livid, and he quickly said: "My lord, it's actually me..."
"Song Lang." The beautiful young woman stood by the door frame and stopped softly after hearing Song Wen's words. She put the baby in the house, and stood alone by the door, with a beautiful figure, I felt pity: "Song Lang, you don't have to take the blame for me? It's me."
Li Chaoge was not surprised. When she was outside the door, she felt that there was an evil spirit in this alley, but the evil spirit was very weak. After opening the door, Li Chaoge immediately confirmed it.
Damn Dali Temple, really steal their case.
"Tell me, where did you come from, what did you do? What, tell the truth." After speaking, Li Chaoge looked at Gu Mingke, and said vigilantly, "After you go back? Send me the file. This is our case."
"It's a shame to openly steal credit."
"It's here? I found it..."
Liniang opened her mouth, wanting to confess, but didn't know whether to interrupt. Aren't you interrogating her? Why are these two adults flirting
Liniang looked at the two people in surprise, and after a while, she asked in a low voice, "Master?"
Li Chaoge stared secretly? Gu Mingke glanced at him, retracted his attention, and said forcefully, "Okay? Let me explain."
Liniang didn't have a name at first, but when Song Wen saw her, he said she was beautiful and named her Liniang, so that she really had an identity. Liniang likes this name very much. She is a fox with low aptitude and low knowledge. She plays and plays in the mountains every day and spends her days in a daze. One day, she accidentally stepped on a bear trap, and her hind legs were firmly trapped by iron nails. No matter how hard the fox tries, she can’t break free. Seeing the sky is approaching dawn, she will soon be a dish in the hunter’s hands, a fox fur on the neck of a nobleman, and the fox is whining. At this time, I met someone who got up early and went up the mountain Song Wen.
Song Wen released the fox and said that she had beautiful fur, which was rare to see. The fox limped out of the trap, and before running away, she turned her head and took a deep look at that young man.
The fox stopped, either to repay his favor or to take revenge. Later, the fox practiced hard and was finally able to transform into a human form. After she transformed into a human body, she quietly came to the human world, hoping to repay her kindness to the young man back then. The young man has grown into a young man? The fox followed him every day. Not long after, he was discovered by the young man. Later, he became his wife.
The life of a fox demon is long, and the life of a mortal is insignificant to them. She can completely "accompany Song Wen to finish this life" and go back to the mountains to practice. But Liniang has been in this world for a long time, and she is getting more and more reluctant. She wants to have a child with Song Wen, a child with the blood of the two of them.
But childbirth is a big hurdle for a goblin, especially Song Wen is a mortal. Once she gives birth to a child, Liniang's vitality will be severely injured, and the goblin's power will not be able to go any further. But Liniang is still obsessed with her obsession. She gave up her cultivation and longevity just to give birth to a child. Liniang has suffered a lot because of this, but love between a ladyboy and a monster is finally unacceptable in the world, and the daughter that Liniang gave birth to with all her life is dying at birth.
The daughter did not inherit any demonic power, and was born weak, worse than a normal mortal child. Liniang secretly carried the child back to find the head of the Shanhu clan. The patriarch saw him and said that the child would not live long, and would die in two years at most.
Liniang didn't believe it, she stalked her, and finally worked out a solution from the mouth of the patriarch. Liniang feeds the child with her own blood every day, transferring her essence to her daughter. The child was supplied with Liniang's blood essence, and his health really improved gradually.
But Liniang couldn't take it anymore. She bled every day, and it didn't take long for her to become skinny and skeletal. Liniang cried and mourned: "I know that I am not in the world, and I dare not harm others. I just want to be with Song Lang and Xiao Mudan for a long time. After bloodletting, I am really weak. I can only rely on food to replenish my energy and blood." But living in the neighborhood is not easy. If the family loses chickens, I am afraid that life will be difficult. I have no choice but to think that the Baima Temple family has great achievements and strong incense, so I should not care about one or two chickens. I secretly went to the White Horse Temple to steal the chicken. Last year, Mudan's health improved, and I didn't need to bleed every day, so I didn't bother the Buddha anymore, but I didn't expect her condition to worsen this year?... "
It seems that Little Peony is their daughter's name. Liniang covered her face and cried bitterly. Song Wen looked at his wife's slender body and felt distressed. He hugged her shoulders and said, "I knew she was a monster, but what does that matter? I only hate that I am incompetent and can't protect her well." Wife and daughter, but also make the wife suffer."
The earth dogs surrounded the owner's feet, whimpering and screaming.
The husband and wife cried into a ball, and other people in the yard saw it and felt uncomfortable. Mo Linlang couldn't help but think of her own mother. She felt heavy and looked at Li Chaoge hesitantly: "Commander..."
As she said, Liniang did not kill anyone, and she came to the world just to repay her kindness. Such a monster, are they going to take it away
Li Chaoge sighed? and said, "Don't cry. I have something to ask. As long as you tell the truth, I'll forgive her."
Song Wen was overjoyed: "Really?"
Li Chaoge nodded coldly: "Really."
She is not those pedantic monks and Taoists, see? The demon must be killed. As long as the monsters don't do anything wrong, Li Chaoge doesn't bother.
After getting the guarantee from Li Chaoge, Song Wen was overjoyed and wiped Liniang's tears with trembling fingers. Li Chaoge waited for them to calm down, before asking, "Why is your daughter called Peony?"
Liniang said in a low voice, "My lord doesn't know. On the day my daughter was born, all the flowers around our house were in full bloom. Even the peonies in the garden that had withered for a long time came back to life. Song Lang saw She is made up of pink and jade, ice and snow are lovely, so I named her Peony."
Hearing the word "Peony", the earth dog lowered its body and wagged its tail to dig the soil. Li Chaoge stared at the two people, and asked calmly, "Just because of this?"
Song Wen paused for a while, and said truthfully: "There is another reason? Caomin has a cousin who has been close since childhood, but the cousin disappeared six years ago? I have been asking around all these years, but no one knows The whereabouts of my cousin. To commemorate my brother and sister-in-law, I named my daughter Peony."
The earth dog barked low on the ground, Gu Mingke's expression was extremely indifferent, Li Chaoge's eyes were bright, his face was charming, and his red lips moved slightly: "Who is Peony?"
"My cousin, the wife of my cousin Yang Hua."