Chapter 6 Fox Laugh
Chapter 6 Fox Laugh
The laughter of the women outside the yard startled Xu Qing.
He stopped reading and looked at the bronze mirror out of habit. The words inside had changed slightly.
The color of the word "Dinghun" became slightly darker. He could vaguely sense that this was a sign that the bronze mirror would change its evaluation of his own level of Taoism.
Combined with the feeling of floating in the air that he had experienced while reading and relaxing in recent days, Xu Qing was even more certain that his judgment was correct.
He wasn't very excited.
Because of this kind of change, it is most likely that the soul has left the body, and it is hard to say whether it is good or bad.
A thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Qing pushed open the door.
The gate to the yard was open and Zhou was talking to several neighbors.
Hearing the noise in the yard, he turned around and naturally saw Xu Qing.
Xu Qing naturally came forward to greet them, and after some chatting and laughing, they each went home.
"Qing'er, are you hungry? I'll go cook for you."
"Well, thank you for your help, auntie."
"Oh, you are becoming more and more polite now."
Xu Qing smiled and changed the subject: "I'll go make a fire first."
When chatting with women, you don't have to keep talking about the same topic. Because they often care not about the topic of chatting, but whether there is someone to chat with them.
So they often say "what matters is attitude".
Xu Qing lit the fire while Zhou washed rice and prepared vegetables. Thanks to his precise control of his body, Xu Qing was able to light the fire very smoothly. While pulling the bellows, he watched the flames and added wood, and chatted with Zhou.
The Dharma Assembly that Zhou attended today was led by a young monk named Fayue from the Jinguang Temple outside the city.
Zhou probably couldn't remember the content of the master's teachings, but he remembered that Monk Fayue was quite handsome.
Well, Xu Qing finally understood why Aunt Zhou was so eager to go out.
In the Southern Zhili region, the economy was developed and the culture was more open than in the north, so this kind of thing was not uncommon.
Jiangning Prefecture is the base camp of the entertainment industry. There are countless places of fireworks on and along the Jiangning River.
Therefore, if there is a talented person who is good at writing lyrics and composing music, he will surely be able to succeed in the brothel.
This is the same principle as writing songs for celebrities in later generations.
Xu Qing did remember some poems and songs that did not belong to this era, but the problem was that he had no fame and was not even qualified to compete with others.
Otherwise, why is there a term called competing on the same stage? First of all, you have to be on the same stage.
Xu Qing chatted with Zhou and got a better understanding of the local customs and culture.
Before they knew it, the meal was ready. After they finished eating and cleaned up, Zhou remembered something and said, "Qing'er, there have been chicken thieves in the west of the city recently. Please be careful when I'm not at home."
"Stealing chickens? No one reported it?" Xu Qing asked casually.
Zhou: "When will the government be able to solve this case? When they come to investigate, a few more chickens will be stolen. And I heard that this chicken thief is very strange. When the chicken was stolen, there was no sound. I heard from them that they didn't even find the anesthetic. I don't know how they did it."
Xu Qing: "It does sound a bit bizarre, but if it was a thief, everyone in the neighborhood would know that my uncle is the head of the government office. Ordinary thieves wouldn't have the guts to come here."
"Yeah, I think so too. That's the only good thing about your uncle."
After chatting for a while, the two went back to their rooms.
Xu Qing thought carefully about what Zhou had said earlier.
Unlike the world's belief in ghosts and gods, Xu Qing is convinced that there are indeed strange ghosts in the world, such as himself and the bronze mirror...
"The person who stole the chicken may not be a human, but a monster. Since he was sneaky, he may not be that powerful." Xu Qing made a judgment. He did not feel nervous, but instead felt a little inexplicably expectant.
After all, he is not a pure "human" and is also an outlier.
Not long after, at night, moonlight shone through the holes in the window paper, and the brightness of the night moon was so clear that it was obvious without having to look far away.
Xu Qing likes moonlight, which is quiet, distant and ancient.
The bright moon has always been the embodiment of many emotions of the world.
Especially when he was a child, Xu Qing would often feel that the moon came out to accompany him. Xu Qing quietly opened the window and looked at the moon. The night sky without light pollution was naturally bright with the moon. When he was on the Jiangning River, it was natural that the bright river would reflect him.
Oh no.
On the Jiangning River, painted boats come and go and the river is full of lights. It is bustling but not peaceful. It is impossible to be clear inside and out.
"Bright moon, oh, bright moon, can you illuminate my way forward?" Xu Qing relaxed for a moment, but a slight sense of sadness began to form in his heart.
At some point, a north wind started blowing in the yard.
This year's county exam has been postponed to May, while it was usually held in February in previous years.
It is now late February. The east wind has turned the pear blossoms white and the willows green. It has been the main force in Jiangning Prefecture for a long time. The current north wind is quite unusual.
As the north wind howled, Xu Qing felt a little pain in his heart, and he seemed to hear some strange sounds.
"What is laughing?" A thought popped up in Xu Qing's mind.
He became aware of the laughter, and the sound became sharper and clearer in his mind.
A wolf-like or fox-like laugh.
Standing in the north wind, with the strange laughter of foxes and wolves in my heart, it was really a terrifying scene.
“Only when you know your limits can you be determined, and only when you are determined can you be at peace…” Xu Qing recited the article silently in his mind. The laughter of the foxes and wolves was soon dispersed, and the north wind gradually receded.
He felt something in his heart and looked towards the direction of West City. There was a faint golden light on the edge of the sky outside the city. If it were not for his extremely good and sharp eyesight, he might not be able to detect it.
"That's the direction of Jinguang Temple."
Combining the previous weirdness, Xu Qing imagined a scene in the Jinguang Temple where a monk subdued demons.
Is this true?
And I wonder if anyone else can hear the fox-wolf laughter.
Because it was night, Xu Qing did not go to Zhou to verify it.
He put the matter aside for the time being and spent the night.
Last night, Li Gongyu had to keep watch in the yamen and did not come back.
Normally, Li Gongyu should have returned at dawn, taken a nap, and then taken Xu Qing to visit the yamen in the afternoon.
However, it was almost noon when Li Gongyu returned home, and he looked exhausted.
"Old Li, what happened?" Zhou looked worried and brought a bowl of tea to quench Li Gong's thirst.
Li Gongyi: "Old Dong is in big trouble."
Old Dong is the manager who guards the warehouse in the government office.
In the government, although the Ku Ding was also a yamen runner, he was usually a good citizen, responsible for guarding the county government's storehouse. Therefore, Ku Ding was a very popular job in the government, and was often held by people with connections.
After Li Gongyu's explanation, Xu Qing and Zhou finally understood what had happened.
It turned out that the treasury silver was stolen.
About one thousand taels of recast official silver were lost, which was indeed not a small amount of money.
Nowadays, a banquet at the best restaurant in Jiangning Prefecture costs only 20 taels of silver. The annual food and clothing expenses of an ordinary family of three are only a dozen taels.
What's more, these official silvers have to be turned over to the national treasury.
The magistrate will leave office this year. If he fails to make up the deficit before leaving, something bad will happen.
The warehouse guards who were in charge of guarding the warehouse would naturally be held accountable by the county magistrate.
"In the past, the master was still concerned about the relationship between Old Dong and others in the county, but this time he was ruthless. Even Old Dong was beaten with ten boards. He was given three days to return the silver, otherwise he would be beaten with fifty boards..." Li Gongwu sighed and talked about the strangeness of the matter.
Because the warehouse doors were locked, leaving only a palm-sized window hole for ventilation, it would be impossible for an outsider to steal the silver except for an insider.
But these Kudings are not fools. There is no reason for them to cause trouble when the master is about to leave office.
The magistrate is a marquis of Baili. If he gets really angry, he might confiscate your property and kill you.
(End of this chapter)