"Huh? Is it possible that there are other demons causing trouble?"
After listening to the butler's story, Jin Dao Wei murmured in a low voice, turned around and exchanged greetings with Qi Jingzhi. They both felt that this matter was not only strange, but also too coincidental, as if they had to catch up on all the weird things inside and outside the county. .
The old man in brown clothes and white hair smacked his lips: "This thing is so evil!"
Jiao Yulang finally turned his attention away from the white golden rat. Since he woke up, this little thing has been clinging to his clothes, like a pendant. He couldn't be more obedient.
There was nothing I could do about it, why was it that when the little thing was almost pinched to death by the white-haired old woman, it was Jiao Yulang who stepped forward and chanted sutras to save the poor man?
The little boy who got what he wanted raised his head and said thoughtfully: "People of the same kind gather together, and things gather into groups, so naturally demons and monsters will also gather together."
"There are tiger spirits causing trouble in the small Songling County. It is not surprising that there are three or five demons living in such a large county and making friends with each other. But it is really weird that these sneaky things suddenly appear and act as demons."
Qi Jingzhi nodded: "The black donkey spirit once mentioned a woman in white, and the silver donkey also has a so-called white sister. We may have hit the right mark this time."
While they were talking, several people had already entered the inner courtyard of Li's house. After passing through a section of corridor, they saw an independent small courtyard in front of them in the distance.
The lights were brightly lit in the courtyard, and the door of the courtyard was even more crowded with maids and wives, all of whom were peering in.
"That's my master's inner study. He set it up in it when he came back today."
The housekeeper explained something and hurried up to chase the people away: "I don't see any distinguished guests from outside arriving? What's the mess like? All the irrelevant people have dispersed!"
The group of servants who were watching the fun immediately dispersed, leaving only two maids who usually waited in the study, reporting to the housekeeper with a look of shock on their faces.
"Mrs. Cai came over just now. She only took a look and said a few words when she entered. Then she was so frightened that she left. Her face was extremely pale and her feet were weak. She almost fainted and was half-helped by Aunt Wang. The rack was sent back."
Hearing this, the housekeeper immediately put on a serious face and said angrily: "Do you still understand the rules? How dare you talk nonsense about the mistress of the house in front of distinguished guests?"
The two maidservants, who had long been at a loss, were scolded again, their faces turned pale, and they opened their mouths to beg for mercy.
The housekeeper didn't have time to talk to them. He waved the two maids aside, turned around and said to Qi Jingzhi and the others: "Please come in quickly! Listen, my master is really in trouble."
After that, he no longer cared about etiquette and trotted into the yard.
Qi Jingzhi and the others stood at the entrance of the courtyard and could faintly smell a fishy smell. It was indeed different from the silver smell in the empty garden in the western suburbs.
Jin Dao Wei shook his head: "This Li Huang is probably in danger... Hey, the Li family's inner courtyard is indeed not very rigorous, and its true colors will show up when something happens."
Qi Jingzhi only had two children in his family, a grandfather and a grandson. He knew nothing about and didn't care about the affairs of a large family, so he followed him into the courtyard.
Jiao Yulang was still at the end. He was from a wealthy family and was used to this, so he naturally heard the implication of Jin Dao Wei's words.
"Husband and wife are like birds of a feather. Li Huang's room seems to be sparsely populated. If something happens to the head of the family, the uncles and nephews from the side will inevitably come to make trouble, and the servants will take advantage of the chaos even if they don't care."
The little boy didn't care what he said: "If Mrs. Li has some scheming, it's only right to seize the family's property quickly. If she really wants to stay here and ignore it, then Li Huang is at the bottom." , I can’t close my eyes even if I’m afraid.”
"Hey! You're not old, but you know a lot. You deserve to be from the Marquis Mansion!"
Jin Dao Wei gave Jiao Yulang a thumbs up and received a big eye roll in return.
After chatting in a low voice, several people entered the study room.
The doors and windows in the room were wide open, but the fishy smell was still extremely strong. Fortunately, it was only pungent and unpleasant, and did not have the strange effect of silver odor that made people shake their minds and make them unable to see anything.
The housekeeper had already covered his mouth and nose with his sleeves, but Qi Jingzhi resisted the smell and walked to the bed with no expression on his face.
He lowered his head and looked attentively, and saw that Li Huang's whole body was tightly wrapped in a brocade quilt, with only his head exposed.
This man looked about forty years old, his eyes were slightly open, his face was blue, his cheeks were fleshless, and he was very thin.
Qi Jingzhi turned to look at the housekeeper and asked, "Can your master still speak?"
The butler's eyes were filled with tears, but he also understood the seriousness and nodded quickly: "I have already reported it to you, my superiors just ask."
Qi Jingzhi nodded lightly and asked Li Huang on the bed, "You went to the garden in the western suburbs alone during the day, but what did you meet?"
When Li Huang heard the question, his bloodless lips opened and closed slightly, and he was very angry: "I lost my way...I didn't go to the newly bought garden."
Qi Jingzhi immediately frowned: "That garden is in the suburbs. You went there three days ago. How could you get lost?"
"I'm really... really lost. I rode for a long time, but I couldn't... find the place, not even the way back to the city. Just when I was anxious, I suddenly..."
At this point, Li Huang's eyes suddenly opened wider and his eyes became brighter: "Suddenly, I met a big house that I had never seen or heard of. The words on the door were ...Yuan Mansion."
"Yuan Mansion?" Qi Jingzhi's eyebrows furrowed even more.
Li Huang nodded: "It's the Yuan Mansion. I felt strange at the time, but I had no other choice but to get off my horse and knock on the door to ask for directions."
"At this moment, the Yuan family happened to have a carriage returning home. Although it was a carriage, it was pulled by a white ox. Two maids in plain clothes and white horses were following the carriage. They were both rare beauties."
Seeing that Li Huang became more and more surprised as he spoke, and his complexion improved a lot. Several people in the room listened silently without interrupting.
"Then, a young lady in a silver dress and a white dress got out of the white ox cart. She was more than ten times more beautiful than the two maids. She really looked like a fairy! Especially the young lady had a fragrant and strange fragrance. , as soon as I heard it, I was so drunk that I couldn’t even stand still.”
"When the lady saw this, she immediately smiled at me as if the flowers were in full bloom, and asked two maids to help me into the Yuan Mansion."
Now even the housekeeper sensed that something was wrong, and stamped his feet: "Sir, why are you so confused! How can someone like this in the middle of nowhere get in so easily?"
Li Huang ignored him and continued to talk with a slightly complicated expression.
What happened later was nothing surprising. Li Huang was left by the young lady in the guest room of Yuan Mansion and slept for a while. When he woke up, he felt refreshed and asked about the way back to the city. Then he reluctantly left.
Before going out, Li Huang shamelessly asked the young lady if she had made a marriage arrangement, and couldn't help but feel happy when she learned that they were still waiting for marriage.
One of Miss Yuan's maids in plain clothes saw Li Huang's thoughts and secretly told him that her daughter also admired Mr. Li, but her family was in decline. She still had a debt of 30,000 taels that could not be repaid, and the dowry had not yet been paid. Prepare and waste no time. If Mr. Li is willing to repay it on his behalf and does not ask for the position of head wife, they will be willing to serve as master and servant.
When Li Huang heard this, he felt overjoyed and immediately agreed. However, he could not help but suspect that it was a scam. He said that he would go home immediately to raise some money and would definitely come back as soon as possible.
He originally wanted to ask someone to find out the details of the Yuan Mansion, but as soon as he returned home, he felt a little dazed. He thought he had caught a wind while riding a horse, and unexpectedly he ended up like this.
When several people entered the inner room just now, Jin Dao Wei consciously stood guard at the door. After hearing this, he shook his head and let out a long sigh: "Another lustful stick! It's not cheap at all to make it look like this. None of them were caught!”
Jiao Yulang stood not far from him, but he didn't agree with it, and said: "This is obviously a trick of demons and monsters. Ordinary people can't resist it, let alone get any advantage. We met a banker, Aren’t you also blind?”
The old man curled his lips, not wanting to talk to the little kid.
