Chapter 40 There is Still a Lot to Learn
Chapter 40 There is Still a Lot to Learn
Pei Yuan looked at the list with his hands in his pockets, then returned to his lodgings.
In the evening, Cheng Leixiang and Chen Toutie came back and sat upright, "Sir, things are just as you expected."
Pei Yuan looked at the two of them and signaled them to hurry up and fart.
Cheng Leixiang said, "A man recently hanged himself on a boat. The owner of the boat thought it was unlucky, so he temporarily evacuated the girls on board and planned to redecorate the boat before using it again. Unexpectedly, all the other families that the girls went to also had all kinds of strange things happen to them. Some even wanted to hang themselves but were rescued."
"People on the Qinhuai River are in a panic now. It is said that they have secretly invited monks and Taoists to take a look, but to no avail."
Pei Yuan thought to himself, monks and Taoists are useless, could it be that it is humans who are doing evil?
Then this official uniform will be useful.
He asked the two, "What do you think?"
Cheng Leixiang's judgment is similar to Pei Yuan's.
"It's probably done by a human. If it's a ghost, it will either target a specific place or a specific person. And although ghosts are fierce, most of them are not smart. The above things are obviously not something that ordinary ghosts can do."
Pei Yuan thought to himself, that little money-carrying kid in my family is quite smart. He even knew to bring a Xuzhu coin home.
Thinking about it, I asked, "So you guys took this job?"
Cheng Lei responded, "I took it. Chen Toutie questioned the women who were evacuated, and went to the county to perform an autopsy on the first person who was hanged there."
Pei Yuan couldn't help but look at Chen Toutie speechlessly.
Chen Toutie thought Pei Yuan was questioning him, and said quickly, "I went to the funeral home where the body was kept at the government office. The man definitely committed suicide, and there were no hidden injuries on his body. Judging from the cause of his death, it should be an isolated incident. Maybe someone took this opportunity to deliberately cause trouble. The subsequent hanging incidents were nothing more than spending a few small amounts of money, not real deaths."
Chen Toutie was an expert in torture who came from the Embroidered Uniform Guard and had studied in the Eastern Depot for more than ten years. Pei Yuan naturally believed in the autopsy report he made.
Pei Yuan asked Chen Toutie again, "Have you found out the identity of that person?"
Chen Toutie said quickly, "Yingtian Prefecture has files. I used the badge of the Jinyiwei to investigate. The deceased was an ordinary cloth merchant. He had a few drinks that day and listened to music with a girl on the Qinhuai River. Later he said he went to the toilet, but in the blink of an eye he was hanged at the stern of the boat. There were many flower boats that day, and I don't know which one discovered this first, which caused chaos on the Qinhuai River."
"The owner of the ship closed the door and refused to see any visitors when he saw such an unlucky thing happen. He also spent money to recruit brave men and released the cloth merchant. He was afraid that going to the government office to question them would damage the reputation of the girls on the ship and they would not be able to sell them at a good price, so he temporarily evacuated some of the beautiful girls to other places while the government officials were not here."
"But I didn't expect that it would inexplicably implicate so many families. Now the boss is in a state of panic, and all places want to return the girl. When we went to their house, the boss was overjoyed and immediately agreed. If we can settle this matter, he is willing to give us 100 taels of silver."
Pei Yuan took a deep breath after hearing this, "So generous."
Cheng Leixiang thought that the theory was reasonable. "That luxuriously decorated ship alone is worth several thousand taels of silver, not to mention the girls on the ship. If the ship is delayed for one day, I'm afraid it will lose a hundred taels of silver."
Pei Yuan glanced at Cheng Leixiang approvingly, "This is a good deal."
It was already late now, so we had to wait until tomorrow to figure it out.
Early the next morning, Pei Yuan went to the front counter to inquire, and learned that no one came to look for him. He felt relieved about the matter with the head of the Ministry of Works.
Three days was originally promised, so Pei Yuan left a message at the front counter, asking where to find him if someone from the Ministry of Works came looking for him.
The three people's luggage was relatively simple. Apart from some newly bought clothes, they also had the gold and silver they had obtained on this trip.
In addition, the more precious items are the two big treasures that Pei Yuan placed in the package, and Liu Qi’s "Bazhou Sword".
Chen Toutie originally brought many torture instruments with him, but unfortunately they were all lost during his first exile.
They didn't know what kind of monsters they were going to deal with next, so they just packed a package each and carried everything with them. The three of them changed into the uniforms of the Jinyiwei military officers and headed towards the Qinhuai River.
Although the Qinhuai River during the day is not as hazy and beautiful as it is at night, the hustle and bustle gives people a different feeling.
The banks of the Qinhuai River were exceptionally clean everywhere, with shops selling sachets, cloud shoes, famous wines, fine teas, glutinous rice candies, flutes, zithers, exquisite side dishes, and so on.
The three were hungry and had enough money for wine.
So we ordered some good food and wine and ate while enjoying the scenery.
At this time, most of the lightboats and pleasure boats were docked at the shore, and there were river houses on both sides.
Whether in the river or on the riverside, there are carved railings and painted windows, gorgeous windows and silk screens, and ten-mile pearl curtains.
Pei Yuan no longer had his previous pretentiousness.
If there is only one beautiful flower blooming in a barren land, it would be a waste of the flower if you don't appreciate it.
Pei Yuan was pouring his own drink when Cheng Leixiang chuckled and said, "Sir, look."
Pei Yuan looked in the direction Cheng Lei pointed.
I saw a few young men in skirts and sandals, carrying baskets and singing and selling jasmine flowers, sweat grass and other things outside the riverside house of the painted boat.
There were many pretty maids, like servant girls, surrounding them and looking at each other. Those pretty maids were bold, and seeing that the young men were shy, some of them even came forward and grabbed their arms and teased them.
This was a rare moment of leisure for the maids, and on many boats there were young girls rolling up the curtains to watch.
Pei Yuan couldn't help but laugh.
He felt that the scene before him was particularly vivid. The last person who made him have this feeling was the unusually bold Song Chunniang.
Cheng Leixiang pointed to the distance again, "Master, look at that again."
I saw a ship, alone at a berth, with the curtains on it drawn tightly. There seemed to be someone on duty on the ship, who looked around nonchalantly from time to time.
"Is this the one we're going to?"
Cheng Leixiang said, "Yes. The owner behind the scenes is surnamed Sun, and he has a steward who usually manages this place for him. Now everyone knows that this is a ghost ship, not only are there no passengers, but even the girls he sent out were sent back as if they were plague gods."
"I heard that the owner has other businesses, which are also in the Qinhuai River. I guess he was afraid that it would affect other businesses, so he gathered everyone together and spent a lot of money to solve this hidden danger."
"The Sun family has already spread the word. Many people are paying attention to this matter. I heard that some monks and Taoists will come here tonight."
Pei Yuan thought it was ridiculous, "A monk or a Taoist priest strolling on a flower boat, isn't that ridiculous?"
Chen Tou Tie Yin Yin, "Let's check their background tonight. If they are not well-connected, we can fine them a large sum of money."
"..."
Pei Yuan felt that as a young man, he still had a lot to learn.
(End of this chapter)