Records of the Lost Cases of Helaitang in the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 1

Cuiping Mountain, sunset.

The sky was getting dark, and the wind gradually started blowing, causing the big trees in the mountains and forests to tilt this way and that. The darker the sky, the louder the wind sounded, and the more it made people panic.

There is nothing left. With this thought in his mind, scholar Ye Hongzu leaned on the rock beside the mountain road and had been in a daze for a long time.

Hearing the ghostly noise in the forest, he was frightened and remembered the words passed down by the old people: "The fox in Cuiping Mountain has become a spirit."

This is the mountain occupied by the Great Fox Immortal.

The scholar Ye Hongzu failed the examination and took the oxcart of the butcher Lao Xu from the neighboring village back to the village. The agreed price was ten cents.

We left Fucheng at the beginning of the morning (six o'clock in the morning) and arrived at the foot of Cuiping Mountain at the end of noon (one o'clock in the afternoon). The journey was bumpy and hungry, and my chest pressed against my back.

The ox cart stopped at the wild store at the foot of Cuiping Mountain. Xu Tu asked the waiter from the wild store to feed the cattle some fodder and ask for some tea.

When Ye Hongzu saw the steaming wheat cakes on the steamer in the wild shop, he was very hungry. He was short of money and hesitated for a while, then he took out three pennies and bought two wheat cakes to cushion his stomach.

When they got on the bullock cart again, Xu Tu was trying to test him, asking him to pay ten cents for the cart first. It was obvious that Xu Tu had secretly noticed that his wallet was dry when he was buying wheat cakes.

Ye Hongzu settled the bill at the inn in the morning and returned to his hometown. He still had eight cents left in his pocket. He bought wheat cakes and spent three cents on the way. At this moment, he only had five cents left in his wallet.

When I negotiated a price of ten cents with Xu Tu, I had the intention of paying only two cents.No matter what Xu Tu said, he acted like a scholar and refused to answer.

Seeing that Xu Tu's words were still unreasonable, he restrained the old cow at the foot of Cuiping Mountain, jumped out of the car and refused to leave.

Xu Tu wanted to pay before driving the car, but Ye Hongzu wanted to pay him when he arrived at the village, and they started to argue.

Ye Hongzu sneered: "As a scholar, I still owe you a few cents."

"Ye Dalang, I stole your life," Xu Tu said in a rough voice, "You are also a member of Mao's [-]s. If you don't have a shoulder to carry or a hand to carry, the county magistrate will choose you to go to school as a student." Are you a member? What kind of bullshit is Mr. Studying? Mr. Studying has to pay you even if you owe a debt. Ten cents, not even a penny less."

This was exactly what Ye Hongzu was talking about about his sore feet. He shouted sternly: "Well, you old man Xu, the agreed price is ten cents from the city to my Changle Village. We have just arrived at Cuiping Mountain. At most we are halfway there. How about that?" I owe you ten cents, and I will give you the money when I come to my house."

Xu Tu thought to himself, who didn't know that Ye Hongzu's family had already exhausted all their pawns, and said anxiously: "Half the way is half the money, you give me five cents, and I won't drive you."

Ye Hongzu was so angry that he got off the cart and reluctantly threw the five cents left in his wallet to Xu Tu.

Xu Tu drove away the old cow and left. He turned around and said contemptuously: "Spend small money and talk big, bah!"

Ye Hongzu was so angry that he was so angry that he hated Shuzi, but for just five cents, he was driven out of the oxcart by a literary star.

Ye Sheng's life before he was 14 years old was generally smooth.

Five generations ago, his ancestors had also obtained honors and served as minor officials in the county. Later, their descendants were frustrated in their pursuit of fame, and their family fortunes inevitably declined. In the hands of his father and ancestors, they no longer focused on studying and worked as farmers for a living. , the family still has more than 30 acres of fertile land, and the parents are diligent and thrifty, so their life is quite comfortable.

At the banquet where Ye Sheng was full moon, a foreign Taoist came to ask for a glass of water and wine. The Taoist looked at the eaves of Ye's house and was surprised. He said that there was a purple air lingering on the patio, and he was afraid that Wenquxing was coming.

The villagers only regarded it as a Taoist's secrets for traveling in the world, but no one took it seriously.

However, Ye Sheng's father secretly had his thoughts in mind and named him Hongzu. When he was six or seven years old, he was sent to the village school Master Wu for enlightenment.

Ye Hongzu was very talented and stood out in the village school. Master Wu taught him carefully for several years. When he was 13 years old, he was asked to take a test. He lived up to his expectations and won the county examination and the government examination in succession, and passed the boy student qualification.

Because he was still young, people from all over the country praised him as a child prodigy, and good people all remembered the words of the Taoist at the full-moon banquet that year: Ye Hongzu was the Wenqu star in the sky who came to the world.For a time, word spread that the boss, the largest financial advisor within a hundred miles, personally sent the four treasures of the study to the village, and after several contacts, they recognized him as relatives.

Ye Hongzu did not expect that his good luck would stop here.

In April, when his beauty was about to fall, Ye Hongzu went to Fucheng Academy to take the exam, thinking that he would win, but unexpectedly he lost his name to Sunshan.

The following year, my parents were infected with the epidemic and passed away one after another.

Ye Hongzu concentrated on studying and building a career, and had no intention of taking care of the land. Within a few years, the family situation was not as good as before, and dozens of acres of fertile land were no longer available.

Ye Hongzu recognized his adopted father Zhang Yuanwai as his godson, but he was a kind man. Wen Yan comforted him that he was still young and still needed some homework, and promised to help him with 20 taels of silver every year so that he could study with peace of mind.

Unexpectedly, the little heat I owed has not been fulfilled in more than ten years.

When he was in his tenth year, his adoptive father Zhang Yuanwai suddenly died suddenly in his prime.

When Ye Hongzu went to visit the Zhang family again, his adopted brother, the eldest son of Zhang Yuanwai, the Zhang family uncle, never saw him. At first, Mr. Jin from the accountant accompanied him for tea, and later, no one asked for cold tea or water.

Ye Hongzu knew that the Zhang family was tired of him, so he stopped coming to ask for help, and the 20 taels of living expenses were naturally lost.

Mrs. Wu, who studied in the village school, was currently sitting at Liu Caidong's house in the town. He wanted to quit the school and return to his hometown to live in his old age. He remembered that Ye Hongzu had never made a living, so he and his employer strongly recommended him to take over. He received five taels of silver a year for repairs and two sets of clothes. It's not a huge amount, but it's generally decent.

Ye Hongzu taught at Liu Caidong's home school for a few days, but he felt that it was not what he wanted. His original intention was to find a leisurely job, while he still wanted to study hard and continue his scientific examination.

There were fifteen or six children in the Liu family's home, and the noise every day gave him a headache. He didn't know how Master Wu could cope with it.

So he resigned and went home. His wife was disappointed with him, asked for a divorce letter and returned to his mother's house.

After one or two years, the family became increasingly poor.

Last year, I was busy with little harvest from the fields, and this spring I had to prepare to go to the county seat to take the exam. I really had nowhere to raise the money, so I decided to sell the last three acres of paddy field to a wealthy family in the village for dozens of taels of Sichuan capital.

Unexpectedly, the heat was still not enough, and he still failed.

At this moment, even if we had to travel in the dark, we would not be able to reach home after walking all night. If we were to return to Zhendian in front of us and we had no money, we would be in a dilemma.

"Young man, hurry up the mountain. If you're late, you won't be able to borrow it." An old woman walked up the mountain road at some point, carrying a bamboo basket, and suddenly appeared in front of him, interrupting his meditation.

"What to borrow?" Ye Hongzu asked in surprise.

"On the night of the full moon, the Immortals will meet to borrow debts from the Immortals." The old woman slowly climbed up the stone steps behind Ye Hongzu, climbed up a few steps, turned around and said, "It seems that this is your first time here. Just follow me."

"Great Immortal Meeting." Ye Hongzu was at a loss.

Ever since the results were released, Ye Hongzu had been in despair. He didn't know what day it was. It was already half a month ago.

The drizzle was falling, and Ye Hongzu looked towards the sky. The dusk was blue and black, and the mountain wind was strong. It seemed that a heavy rain was brewing.

It didn't seem like a good idea to wait here for the heavy rain to come. Ye Hongzu moved slowly, following the old woman like a ghost, and walked up step by step.

(End of this chapter)