Yizhuang is located in the northernmost part of Diqiu County. It was originally a land temple. Later, the temple was abandoned and the roof collapsed. The government came forward to repair it and changed it into Yizhuang.
Use the Buddha's body to suppress the evil spirits, and the demons will not invade.
It was noon, and the air was getting hotter. The red sun was shining brightly, and what was more intense than the scorching light was the fire rising from the inside out in Yizhuang.
Almost as soon as the carriage stopped, Yun Qi jumped out of it vigorously, and then reached back.
Lu Anran only hesitated for a moment and let Yunqi grab it with force, jumping off the carriage and landing.
As soon as the two of them stood still, a person ran past behind them, but because of unsteady steps, he fell to the ground on his side, holding a bucket full of water in his hand and spilled it all on the muddy ground.
"Master, madam, eldest son... God is unfair, God has no eyes!"
Lu Anran pursed her lower lip. She could see clearly that the old housekeeper of the Zhou family was crying in front of her.
Yun Qi winked, and Mo Yan walked over and helped the person up.
Housekeeper Zhou was still wailing, "Why does such suffering happen to my Zhou family? Everyone is dead, but you, God, don't even spare the corpses, you insist on doing this!"
"This fire cannot be saved." Yun Qi looked at the spot for a moment, shook his head and said: "It seems that we have no chance to meet the Zhou family. We always miss it several times."
The three tile-roofed houses were made of earth and wood. The summer was dry and a fire burned. The flames engulfed the small house in an instant.
Lu Anran felt a little regretful, "These corpses have teeth marks on their broken necks, uneven wounds, and bones and broken flesh. They do seem to have been chewed to death. But I found different injuries on several of them, but the skin and flesh were severely rotten." I can't tell clearly, I originally thought of steaming the bones to identify the traces, but now that they are burned like this, I'm afraid it will be difficult to obtain evidence."
"No matter how sharp the teeth are, they can't hurt bones." Yun Qi rolled his eyes slightly and immediately understood what she meant. "You want to determine whether it was injured by a sharp weapon?"
Housekeeper Zhou was about to faint from crying. He couldn't even howl. He could only sob and cry non-stop.
Mo Yan looked around and saw that there was no other house in the place, so he had to take the person to the shade of a nearby tree.
Lu Anran and Yun Qi walked that way together and said, "No one knows about the so-called Yaksha. Now that we have encountered it, we must consider it carefully and not let go of any possibility."
Yun Qi praised: "Very good, the teachings I have received these days are not in vain."
"Old man, what are you crying about? Your Diqiu custom is to cremate people within three days." Lu Taotao smiled evilly, "I said, you didn't set the fire yourself, right?"
Butler Zhou was startled. He didn't expect someone to speak so harshly. He choked up and said: "How can you talk nonsense, girl? I want to give the master and his wife a ride, but I haven't prepared all the paper bundles. I won't do it." If they let their mutilated bodies go to the Palace of Hell to report like this, they won't be able to do it in the next life." As he spoke, he lowered his head and cried sadly.
Lu Taotao curled his lips and said, "The living still care about the affairs of the underworld. If you are so sad, you might as well go with them."
Housekeeper Zhou raised his head blankly, tears stuck in his eyes, and gritted his teeth: "The girl is right, I am the only useless old man left in the Zhou family of more than a hundred people. What's the use of my life? Why don't I just follow the master?" died!"
He really wanted to rush into the fire, but Mo Yan grabbed the back of his neck and knocked him unconscious.
Yun Qi was dissatisfied: "How can you ask me questions after you've made me unconscious?"
"Well?"
"Stupid or not, you can tie him up with a rope." Lu Taotao added fuel to the fire.
Mo Yan scratched his head and suddenly realized, "Hey, wouldn't it be possible for me to do something if you weren't provoking him?"
Lu Taotao looked at the sky, "What? Don't you understand? I didn't do anything."
When Butler Zhou woke up again, Magistrate Qian had already rushed over from the county office, jumping on his right foot and shouting: "Do evil, do evil, it's over, it's over."
Yesterday, the governor Sima sent him a letter, asking him to come to Diqiu to inquire about the case in person. Qian Zhixian was anxious. When he heard that Yun Qi had a way to find out the truth about the death of the Zhou family, he immediately gave Yun Qi permission to take advantage of it.
As a result, before the autopsy could be completed, the entire Zhou family and Yizhuang were reduced to ashes.
"Prince Yun, what should we do?"
Yunqi's peach blossom eyes raised, "I would also like to ask why I went to the Zhou family and everyone died, did an autopsy and then set fire to my son. Is this targeting the Zhou family or my son?"
Qian Zhixian asked such a question, which made him speechless for a moment. After a long while, Qian Qian Ai Ai said: "I think everything is purely coincidental."
"Steward Zhou." Yun Qi turned sideways and looked at the old man with a gray face and dull eyes on the ground, "You were guarding Yizhuang. When did you notice a fire and see suspicious people and things?"
After asking twice, Housekeeper Zhou slowly moved his head, took a long time to respond, and said in a dry voice: "I have been in the Yi Zhuang, and I only left for a while. When I came back and saw smoke coming from the roof, it was too late. ”
Zhou's family was gone. Butler Zhou had served Zhou Hou all his life, but he died at the end of his life. As a loyal servant, he did not abandon his master and still burned paper money and kept vigil for the family conscientiously.
Just in the morning, the guy from the paper shop came over and asked him to check the quantity and parts.
Because the incomplete positions of the Zhou family members were different, each person had to make up for it differently. For fear of making a mistake, Housekeeper Zhou had no choice but to make the trip himself.
"That's it, I've been gone for less than an hour." Housekeeper Zhou beat his chest painfully and fell to the ground crying.
The fire started suddenly and burned quickly, and the three huts on the spot had been completely destroyed.
—
In the afternoon, the emperor took the elixir and took a nap as usual. When he woke up, he felt refreshed.
Wang Qie put on the emperor's robe and said, "The emperor has been in much better spirits these days. Master Dongyue is truly a god."
The emperor took a sip of the warm tea to soothe his throat and said vaguely: "He can only be considered a true god if he can solve my most serious problems."
Wang Qie lowered his head and bowed to the side. He smiled as if he didn't understand and said, "Just now, Concubine Shu made some snacks with her own hands and brought them to you. Can I serve them to the Emperor now?"
The emperor glanced back, paused, and said: "Ask the imperial kitchen to make a bowl of glutinous rice with sugared lotus root and send it to Guanju Palace."
This means there is no need to serve snacks. Wang Qie's eyelids flashed and he lowered his head.
Half an hour later, Concubine Shu and the Second Prince were sitting face to face, with a bowl of glutinous rice with sugared lotus root placed on the table in front of them.
Concubine Shu's beautiful face was covered with a layer of coldness, and her brows were a bit uneasy, "I asked Hong Shang to find out that the emperor did not eat the food I sent, but he rewarded me with a bowl of dessert."
Zi Sanghao clasped his hands and moved them up and down, and suddenly he had a flash of inspiration, "The lotus root slices are hollow and filled with glutinous rice. Could it be that my father meant..."
Concubine Shu frowned, "What?"
Zi Sanghao looked up slightly uneasily and said, "Tell us not to be too narrow-minded. My father's heart is clear and his eyesight is clear."
Concubine Shu thought about it, stood up irritably and said: "Your uncle has some business in Diqiu, and he has done a lot for you secretly. If something goes wrong, don't say that your uncle will be disgraced, for fear that it will implicate you."
Zi Sanghao didn't know, "Since it's a business, why are you involved? Could it be that Yaksha's murder really has something to do with my uncle?"
"Shut up! What nonsense are you talking about? No matter how stupid Xue Tai is, he won't do such a stupid thing!" Concubine Shu scolded and walked around the room, "You don't understand this matter, and you don't need to understand it. Anyway, the emperor suddenly mentioned it Your uncle must have a reason." He suddenly stopped and said, "I'll write a letter first."
Regardless of how Guanyong Palace fell into chaos over a bowl of sugared lotus root and glutinous rice, the emperor had already summoned Liu Xiangzhi in Linhua Palace.
"The accident in the dojo was all due to the prince's eagerness for quick success, which led to the beasts attacking Longling." The emperor's voice was low, but the wrinkles squeezed at the corners of his eyes showed his anger, "I am going to call him back to the royal capital."
Liu Xiangzhi coiled his Buddhist beads and raised his hand to salute, "Your Majesty, the prince did not know about it beforehand. The poor and fierce bandits in Diqiu have been entrenched on the hilltop for many years. The prince knows that if he escapes, there will be endless troubles, and the people will still be in trouble. As for the hordes of ferocious beasts. , is indeed an anomaly.”
The emperor remained silent, and Liu Xiangzhi analyzed: "There are many mountains in Emperor Qiu, and there are many jungles hidden by the mountains. It stands to reason that beasts make their home and do not live in groups, let alone gather in groups for no reason. There is another point, what I received today The letter revealed that there was no trace of a single beast in the area where the prince was rounding up. There must be a reason for this sudden wave of beasts, and we should find out."
The emperor twirled the jade ring between his two fingers and pressed down with his dark eyes, "There won't be any ministers from the former dynasty who want to go against me and make me unhappy." He sneered, "In this case, I am Shouldn't we be more suspicious of the prince's bad intentions?"
In addition to being the prince of the Ning Dynasty, the prince also has the biological mother of Princess Wuyang of the previous dynasty. If someone wants to cause trouble, the prince is undoubtedly a good candidate.
As the time line between the previous dynasty and the Ning Dynasty lengthened, Princess Wuyang, the most talented girl in the world who had once given a glimpse, became increasingly dim in people's memory. Instead, after the previous case of counterfeit banknotes, the remnants of the previous dynasty brought with them The deep hatred for the emperor became more and more obvious.
As Zi Sangjin has the bloodline of the previous dynasty and is in the position of the prince, no matter how you look at it, he will inevitably bear the brunt of the competition between the two and become a competitor.
In the past two years, Liu Xiangzhi has understood from the emperor's increasingly impatient tone that his tolerance for the prince has slowly dissipated like his longing for Princess Wuyang.
Liu Xiangzhi sighed and felt sorry for his old friend. There was no change on the surface, and his tone was still calm and unhurried, "The prince immediately rectified the matter as soon as it happened. Now the people respect Dongyue Zhenren and Sanyuan Palace more, and their prestige has reached its peak." , but it’s a mistake.”
Publicly and privately, Liu Xiangzhi hoped that the current prince of Daning Dynasty could continue to sit in this position safely and unharmed.
The emperor disagreed, "The people are easy to be induced, but they are not without smart people."
He even believed that such an accident seemed to be an ominous sign.
After a while, the emperor asked again: "Where did the new army march to?"
After Liu Xiangzhi made an assessment, he replied: "I may have almost arrived in the area of Cangzhou Prefecture in the past two days."
"Where are Qianchi and the Yin family?"
With such a mention, there is really something to report, "Qianchi Kingdom has recently submitted a letter to ask if Qianchi Kingdom can reduce the tribute by one level this autumn. Then their king will come in person to congratulate the emperor on his birthday."
The harvest after autumn was also the time when the vassal states paid tribute to the Daning Dynasty, and the emperor's birthday happened to be during that period.
The emperor closed the wide sleeves of his dragon robe and snorted coldly: "The gold, silver, and silk can be reduced, and let them build an extra ship with a hundred people in exchange. As for Jin Huanmin, I won't use it anymore. I am too lazy to see him."
