Liaozhai: A scholar should draw a sword

Chapter 198 The Red Wedding Dress

The next day, Cheng Ming brought Cricket to the market to bet with others.

As expected, this cricket was extremely flexible, although its body was not dominant, it was full of momentum and won consecutive victories.

Someone was greedy and offered a high price to buy, but was rejected by Famous.

He won back the money he had paid back before, became famous and no longer fought with others, and hurriedly left the market to go to the county government to play a cricket.

The county magistrate who was in charge of acceptance saw it, and couldn't help but sullen his face: "Cheng Xiucai, you want to take just one of them as a top-up?"

Cheng Ming smiled and said: "Master, please be safe and don't be impatient. Although this cricket is not big, it is very good at fighting. If Master doesn't believe it, you can choose one to fight."

Seeing Cheng Ming's confident appearance, the master was dubious, and asked someone to pick a black thread with green thread and put it in the bucket basin.

Cheng Ming also put his own cricket in, and before he could start flirting, the cricket raised its head and flapped its wings, rushing towards the opponent like a fighting cock.

The blue-threaded blackfly didn't dare to fight, turned around and ran away.

The master didn't believe in evil, so he separated the two crickets with the teasing grass, paused for a while, and then used the teasing grass to tease the black threadwing with green thread.

This time, the blue-lined blackfly finally started to attack.

But unexpectedly, as soon as it rushed over, the famous cricket jumped up and flew to the back of the blue-threaded black flea to bite.

"Quickly separate, quickly separate..."

The master was afraid that the green-lined blackfly would be injured, so he quickly separated the two crickets.

After all, this blue-lined blackfly had to be handed in, and if he got injured or broke his leg, he wouldn't be able to hand in the job.

"How is it, master, do you believe it now?"

"Awesome, where did you get this cricket?"

"To tell my master, this cricket was accidentally caught by Bucai. He went to the cricket market and fought for a round without any defeat."

"Hahaha, okay, okay, you can only top ten this time, and this year's task is considered complete."

Cheng Ming cupped his hands: "Thank you, master, by the way, master, please show me a way, I want to see Mr. Fang later."

"Huh? Could it be that you want to ask for a reward?"

Master is a little unhappy.

Originally, after receiving a good cricket, he wanted to ask the master himself for a reward. If he became famous, wouldn't he lose a great opportunity?

Cheng Ming guessed what the master was thinking, and said with a smile: "That's right, it's not that I want to ask Mr. Fang to resign."

"Please resign?" The master was stunned.

"Yes! I don't want to be the head of the village anymore, so I have to tell the adults face to face."

The master smiled and said: "Cheng Xiucai, the post of chief here is strongly recommended by your village, I'm afraid it doesn't mean that you don't want to be the one."

"Then let's talk to the adults first, what if the adults agree?"

"Okay, come with me."

"Thank you, Master."

Not long after, the master came to Neiya with his fame and found Magistrate Fang.

Upon hearing the reason for becoming famous, County Magistrate Fang's face darkened: "Cheng Xiucai, do you think this is just playing tricks? If you say it's inappropriate, then it's inappropriate?"

"My lord, it's mainly because I have important things to do, and I have to travel a long way."

"What's your business?"

"That's right, I was recommended by someone later, and I'm going to study in Qiantang County..."

Before Cheng Ming could finish speaking, County Magistrate Fang raised his hand to interrupt: "Wait, are you going to study in Qiantang County? Can't you study at home?"

"My lord must have heard of the Wendao Academy, right?"

County magistrate Fang couldn't help being stunned: "Wen Dao Academy? Are you going to study at Wen Dao Academy?"

"Yes, it was recommended by Mr. Yan Wenqing from the Ministry of Officials, and finally got the opportunity to enter the Wendao Academy."

As soon as these words came out, County Magistrate Fang couldn't help being surprised: "What did you say? Yan Wenqing from the Ministry of Officials recommended you? How did you know Lord Yan?"

In fact, where did Yan Wenqing recognize Yan Wenqing when he became famous?

Yan Wenqing was one of the first batch of students of Wendao Academy. He passed the second-class No. 1 in the palace examination, and then stayed in Beijing as an official. Now he is a doctor in the Ministry of Officials, and his official residence is from the fifth rank.

This was Zhou Yu's idea for Cheng Ming.

I believe Fang County Magistrate would not dare to ask Yan Wenqing, and even if he did, so what?Yan Wenqing will naturally fully cooperate with Zhou Yu's idea.

"When Mr. Yan was studying in Qiantang before, he went to Qiantang once, and met him through a classmate."

Hearing this, County Magistrate Fang couldn't help but exchanged glances with the master, then his expression changed, and he smiled all over his face, and walked down from the grand master's chair with an affectionate look.

"Oh, Cheng Xiucai, you said you, why didn't you tell me earlier about such a relationship?
Come on, sit down...Come on, serve tea! "

This kind of thing is better to be believed than not to be believed.

If it's true, County Magistrate Fang can't afford to mess with it.After all, it was very easy for a doctor in the Ministry of Officials to deal with a small seventh-rank county magistrate.

If it's a famous lie, it's not too late to clean it up.

After sitting down, County Magistrate Fang said enthusiastically: "Cheng Xiucai, if you stay as the head of the village, I can promise you that you don't have to worry about the cricket incident last time. I will think of a way."

County magistrate Fang knew that he didn't want to be the head of the village because of the cricket incident, so he paid a lot of money.

In the end, Cheng Ming cupped his hands and said, "Thank you, sir! It's just that Master Yan said that he has already written a letter of recommendation to his husband, namely Zhou Jieyuan, asking Bu Cai to go to the academy to study as soon as possible."

As soon as this remark came out, County Magistrate Fang couldn't say any more.

Because he knew very well in his heart that if fame really had such a relationship, once he passed the examination, even if he just recruited people, he might become an official.

If he resolutely disagrees with becoming famous and resigns, if Yan Wenqing is angered, the loss outweighs the gain.

The best way is to be a good friend, so as not to cause conflicts.

So, he sighed hypocritically: "Since that's the case, I don't want to hinder your future. Here, I also congratulate you in advance for passing the exam as soon as possible. Maybe we can become colleagues someday."

"Thank you sir."

"There's no need to be too polite. In this way, tomorrow the Japanese officials will send a master down to handle the handover. You can leave at any time after the handover is over."

"Thank you sir!"

The next day, the master brought people to handle the handover.

Since then, becoming famous is finally a relief, and I no longer have to worry about handing in crickets.

In order to prevent things from changing, the couple entrusted a friend to sell the yard on their behalf. After packing up their things, they hired a carriage and went to Qiantang County.

Zhou Yu continued to travel abroad with his students.

However, Zhou Yu had already personally written a letter to Cheng Ming, asking him to go to Yin Wenli when he arrived in Qiantang County, and then Yin Wenli would arrange for Cheng Ming to enroll in Wendao Academy.

When winter came, the group of people just started to return.

On this day, I came to a small mountain town named Pingluo.

Zhou Yu and a group of students found a river beach outside the town to camp, prepared to catch some fish for roasting, and stayed overnight here at night.

As a result, a group of students began to divide the work, some went fishing, some collected firewood, and some built sheds.

The other two students went to a town not far away, planning to go to the tavern to buy some wine and come back.

One of these two students is named Tian Ye and the other is Fan Shoulin. The two are from the same township and classmate. They passed the scholar examination in the same year and entered Wendao Academy at the same time. They have always had a good relationship and can be called close friends.

When they came to the town, the two found that there was almost no one on the street, and every house was closed.

The two of them didn't think too much, after all, it was almost evening now, maybe people in the mountains rested early.

Walked all the way to the end of the field, and finally saw an inn.

"The two guest officials are staying in the hotel or are they on the top?"

A clerk came forward to ask.

"Don't stay in the store, buy wine."

"Oh, please have it over here, both of you."

The clerk led the two of them to the counter where the wine jars were placed, and introduced, "We have aged flower carvings, sorghum wine, and grain wine. I wonder which one do you want?"

"How do you sell old flower carvings?"

"If you buy a jug, it costs two taels of silver, and for loose wine, it costs three hundred Wen a catty."

"Okay, come to two altars..."

After paying the money, Fan Shoulin looked at the empty lobby and couldn't help but ask, "Xiao Er, why are there no guests?"

"That's right..." Tian Ye also answered, "It's still dark, why is there no one on the street?"

Hearing this, the clerk's face changed, and he whispered: "Didn't the two guest officers hear that the Zhang family's mansion is haunted?"

"Haunted?"

Tian Ye and Fan Shoulin couldn't help but looked at each other.

"It seems that you really don't know... Forget it, it's fine if you don't know, you two should leave now before it gets dark."

The curiosity of the two has been aroused, how can they leave easily?

"Xiao Er, there are no guests anyway, you might as well tell us something."

Tian Ye took out a small handful of copper plates and handed them over.

"Thank you, guest officer, thank you, guest officer."

The clerk accepted the tip with a smile on his face, and warmly greeted the two to sit down, and then began to talk vividly.

"Speaking of this family, it is one of the best big families in our area of ​​Pingluo Town, and even the magistrate of the county would come to visit in person.

A few days ago, Mrs. Zhang's beloved grandson took two servants to go fishing in the river, but for some reason, they lost their way and fell into the river.

The two servants were scared out of their wits and jumped into the water to rescue them.

The man was picked up, but he was unconscious and his abdomen was distended like a drum.

After being carried back to Zhang's house, Mrs. Zhang was so angry that he passed away on the spot.Fortunately, there are many Zhang family members, so I hurried to invite the doctor over.

After some treatment, the young master of the Zhang family finally woke up, but he kept coughing up blood. It is said that his internal organs were broken.

Mrs. Zhang was in such a hurry that he did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to hire famous doctors to come and treat him.

Unfortunately, after a few days of treatment, Zhang Quan still couldn't make it through.In grief and anger, Old Master Zhang ordered the two servants to be buried in sacks and drowned in the river, saying that they were to be buried with them..."

"Is that too much?"

Hearing this, Tian Ye couldn't help frowning and said something.

The clerk sighed and said with a wry smile: "There's no way, those two servants signed a contract of selling their lives, so it's useless even if they sue the government."

This statement is not false, after signing the deed of sale, he is a domestic slave, and life and death are at the disposal of the master.

"The more extreme is yet to come..."

The buddy sighed again and went on to tell the story.

"The young master of the Zhang family is named Zhang Quan, and he is sixteen years old. Last year, the Zhang family tested his horoscope to match him with a marriage.

However, the Zhang family thought that the horoscopes of the two parties were more compatible, so they didn't pay attention to the right marriage.

The original wedding date was March next year, and seeing that the wedding date was coming soon, something happened to Zhang Quan at this juncture, and the Zhang family was naturally very sad.

Everyone can understand this, after all, the pain of bereavement.

But the problem is that the behavior of the Zhang family has gone too far... Although they don't admit it, the big guys know it well..."

"What did they do?"

"They... oh..."

The buddy sighed a long time, with a demeanor that hesitated to speak.

Seeing this, Fan Shoulin snorted and took out more than ten copper coins and put them on the table: "Can we talk now?"

"Of course, just now, didn't you want to take a breath?"

The clerk quickly put away the copper coins, got up again and said with a smile, "You two sit down for a while, and the younger one will pour you a cup of tea."

The tea was poured, and the man resumed his lecture.

"On the third day after Zhang Quan's death, Miss Xia'er suddenly disappeared, and no one was found in the village or outside.

As a result, rumors spread everywhere for a while, and many people said that Miss Xia'er must have drowned herself in the river because of excessive grief.

But Miss Xia'er's parents didn't believe that their daughter would do such an extreme thing, they still looked for her everywhere and even went to Zhang's house.

In fact, at that time, some people also suspected that Miss Xia'er was secretly taken away by Zhang's family, but no one saw it, and dared not speak out casually.

Including Xia'er's parents also had the same idea, otherwise they would not have gone to the Zhang family to find their daughter.

They came to the door to inquire, but the Zhang family not only refused to admit it, but also kicked him and his wife out of the house mercilessly.

On the way back, Miss Xia'er's mother fainted to the ground because of excessive grief.

After that... I never woke up again..."

Having said that, the buddy stopped again, took a sip of tea, calmed down for a while, and then continued to talk about the next thing.

"Fortunately, God has eyes.

On that day, Zhang Quan was finally buried.It stands to reason that for a big family like the Zhang family, funerals are very grand.

However, this time he was very low-key, and went out for the funeral in the middle of the night, and the people had already been buried before dawn.

In this regard, everyone is very strange, how can there be any reason for burial in the middle of the night?Which game did the Zhang family play?
Two days later, something happened to the Zhang family.

That night, Mrs. Zhang was sitting in the hall talking with her two sons.

Suddenly, Miss Xia'er appeared on the spot in a red wedding dress, her eyes were bleeding, her nails were sharp, and she yelled at Mrs. Zhang and his son, "I'm going to dig out your hearts and see how dark it really is..."

"Wait!" Fan Shoulin raised his hand to interrupt: "I said Xiao Er, how do you know these details so clearly? You are not telling us storytelling, are you?"

"Cough..." The clerk coughed dryly, and said awkwardly: "The details are not important, anyway, it's almost like this, and the little ones also listen to what others say."

It seems that this kid has the potential of a storyteller.

"Okay, okay, keep talking."

"Well, let's talk... Hey, where did I just talk about?"

"Speaking of Miss Xia'er appearing in the Zhang family..."

"That's right, that's right, let's say that Miss Xia'er appeared on the scene in a red wedding dress, with blood dripping from her eyes and sharp nails, she yelled at Mrs. Zhang and his son. I want to dig out your hearts and see how dark it really is.

Zhang's father and son were so frightened that they yelled and looked for a place to hide.

In the end, there was still no escape, and all three father and son died on the spot.

Next, Xia'er started killing again... However, she didn't kill the servants in the mansion, she just chased and killed the people of the Zhang family, saying that she wanted to destroy the Zhang family, otherwise the hatred in her heart would be difficult to dissipate.

As for the servants in this mansion, some of them are completely kept in the dark, but some of them know it well.

Why does Xia'er have such a big resentment?

I believe that the two guest officers also know that since ancient times, everyone has been afraid of meeting a female ghost in a red wedding dress, that is the worst ghost among ghosts..."

This is true, the female ghost in the red wedding dress has always been rumored to be very evil, and even many quack warlocks have to avoid it.

Moreover, there is a folk legend that most of the female ghosts in red are lingering souls, and those who wear wedding dresses are even more fierce...

(End of this chapter)