After buying the words of the eight thorns, Zhu Shouqian, the king of Jingjiang, felt the cold chill in the early summer weather.

It is said that Emperor Hongwu is so generous and benevolent to him regardless of his past suspicions, but Zhu Shouqian has suffered a lot of secret losses in the palace in recent years, and he has also listened to a lot of cynicism and ridicule.

In all fairness, the royal uncle and grandmother Queen Ma were excellent to him. But then again, who is Queen Ma bad for? There are so many imperial uncles in the palace, and the biological mothers have different identities, different nobilities and cheapnesses, and she also treats them equally, never favors anyone, and rewards and punishments are clear.

Queen Ma is just doing her duty and responsibility as a grandmother and uncle. She will eventually listen to her husband, Emperor Hongwu.

An inexplicable sense of crisis and loneliness arises spontaneously. Zhu Shouqian looked at the Jingjiang County Mansion he was building, stepping on the bamboo board of the small pavilion in the middle of the lake, but he had the feeling that the building was about to collapse and the boat was swaying in the wind and waves.

Sent away the eight thorns he bought, Zhu Shouqian went to Zhanyuan on Xufu Street in Dagongfang to find his cousin Xu Miaoyi, and now he can only confess his thoughts to his cousin to relieve the pressure.

Xu Mansion Zhanyuan, Wei Guogong Xu Da is in the court, the prince Xu Zuhui is training in the military camp, the second master Xu Zengshou was "assigned" to study in the country, and the hostess princess Chen is "sick in bed".

The second lady, Xu Miaoqing, was waiting for guests behind the screen and said, "The eldest sister went out early this morning, and she hasn't returned home yet. After Xu Miaoyi and Xu Da competed in the school field, they won the freedom to go out, and it seemed to be a special case, and the sister-in-law Chen was helpless, and said again and again, "What kind of system, what kind of system!" He was angry again.

Zhu Shouqian knew that this homeless cousin couldn't sit still in the courtyard of the deep house, so he was not surprised, and said goodbye: "I'll come back tomorrow." ”

Zhu Shouqian walked to the garden of the front hall, and a childish fourth lady Xu Miaojin jumped out in a boy's clothes and said, "Cousin, I know where the eldest sister has gone, take you to her?" ”

Zhan Yuan only Xu Miaoyi is a concubine, and the rest are concubines, to call the deceased Xie his mother, Xu Miaojin should call Zhu Shouqian's cousin.

Xu Miaojin is still young, innocent and cute, and she talks a few jokes with Zhu Shouqian on weekdays, and the relationship between the two has always been good.

Seeing Xu Miaojin, Zhu Shouqian also had a smile in his eyes and said, "You just want to find a pretense to go out and play, right?" ”

Xu Miaojin nodded with a smile, "Recently, my aunt taught me embroidery, saying that if I sharpen my temperament, I will face a bunch of needlework all day long, and I will be annoyed to death." ”

Zhu Shouqian nodded and said okay. Caught off guard, the third lady Xu Miaoxi also jumped out, also dressed as a teenager in men's clothes, "I also know where the eldest sister went, cousin, I will also follow." ”

Another one!

There are many people, Zhu Shouqian wanted to talk to Xu Miaoyi, but with two cousins around him, it seems that he can't speak.

Just thinking about it, the second lady Xu Miaoqing also came over, and said with a facial expression: "You two are going to mess around again, follow behind in a mess, and delay your cousin's trip." ”

"Second sister." Xu Miaoxi and Xu Miaojin's eyes suddenly darkened, it was bad, it seemed that they couldn't get out today.

Who knew that Xu Miao said lightly: "Cousin, my two younger sisters are too noisy, and going out will inevitably cause you trouble, and it is not good for you to pull down your face and teach them a lesson." I'm an older sister, and it's my duty to take care of my sisters, so I'll be with them. ”

So the helpless Zhu Shouqian went out with a string of cousins of the Xu family.

These three sisters seem to have a tacit understanding, and they don't talk about where the eldest sister Xu Miaoyi went, so they first went to the gluttonous building on Zhuque Street to eat a table of Hangzhou

After dinner, I went shopping along Suzaku Street to eat, bought a bunch of gadgets, took a break in Song Xiu'er's Rouge Shop Tianxiang Pavilion, drank a cup of tea, and then picked out some rouge gouache spice sachets.

When I arrived at the Qinhuai River, the breeze came slowly, and the water waves were not prosperous. All kinds of gorgeous boats shuttled through it, and the youngest Xu Miaojin's eyes were revealed

A hint of gloom was quickly blown away by the breeze, and he coquettishly said to Zhu Shouqian: "Cousin, let's rent a painting boat to play." ”

Xu Miaoxi urged: "Yes, let's play a lap and come back." ”

Xu Miaoqing said with a straight face: "When the boat is painted, you must put down the curtain, you are not allowed to go near the railing, you are not allowed to fish, and you are not allowed to play on the boat." It looked like Zhu Shouqian had agreed.

It deserves to be a half-sister. It is always the youngest Xu Miaojin who takes the lead and instigates, Xu Miaoxi makes up for it, Xu Miaoqing puts on her sister's shelf to push openly and secretly, and the three of them cooperate tacitly, and they will have to play enough today before going home.

The crisp and charming laughter of singers and dancers came from the painting boat, as well as the sound of men pushing cups and changing lamps frantically. Zhu Shouqian hesitated a little and said: "I'm afraid this painting boat is not very clean, I will prepare a building boat in advance another day, please cousins get on the boat to enjoy the scenery." ”

Xu Miaojin said: "I'll pinch my fingers and count, and it's good to see today." ”

Xu Miaoxi said: "Yes, choose a day and don't hit the day." ”

In fact, the painting boat to enjoy the scenery, the Xu family sisters are no strangers, in addition to the imperial mansion Zhan Yuan, but also in the city and outside the city there are several special courtyards for enjoying the scenery, especially the garden by the Mochou Lake, the lake is boundless, not only the scenery is like a fairyland on earth, and there is no idle people and other disturbances, and the noisy Qinhuai River is completely different.

However, what the three daughters of the Xu family want today is this prosperous market.

Zhu Shouqian, a guest with an extraordinary temperament, has someone who takes the initiative to flatter. I heard that I was going to rent a "clean" painting boat, and an old man led by him was very knowledgeable, and when he glanced at the three sisters of the Xu family, he knew that it was a woman disguised as a man, and the brothers brought it out to be knowledgeable, and said with a smile: "We have it here, the tables and chairs in the ship are all newly made, and the ships are all honest boat girls." ”

Zhu Shouqian asked, "Really? ”

Another person accosted and said, "Yes, this grandfather has been in the art boat business for many years, and he is absolutely credible." ”

As soon as she heard the old man's voice, Xu Miaojin was very shocked: it was actually the old man who snatched her back from the dung truck and handed her to the eldest sister that day! Also known as grandpa! He's a Mingjiao! What is the relationship between him and his big sister?

What is going on with Big Sister and Mingjiao?

On the carved jade painting boat, the three sisters of the Xu family finally got their wish, sat on the painting boat and looked at the customs on both sides of the strait, passing through a stone arch bridge, there was a flower seller at the head of the bridge carrying a bamboo basket to solicit business, the grandfather stood on the bow of the boat, and shouted to the mother-in-law: "Flower mother-in-law, your flowers are all wanted, go to my shop to get money!" ”

"Thank you, grandpa!" The woman smiled happily and sent a basket of flowers to the painting boat with a rope on the bridge, which was a basket of pure white and fragrant gardenias.

Sun Ye intended to please Zhu Shouqian, gave him a basket of gardenias, and said with a smile: "Thank you for taking care of business, come and play often in the future, this basket of flowers for your friends." The gadgets in our market are all crude, and I don't know if they can get into the eyes of the nobles......"

Zhu Shouqian gave a basket of gardenias to the three sisters of the Xu family to play with. Sitting on the bow of the boat and chatting with his grandfather, this grandfather has a wide range of knowledge, three religions and nine streams, customs and customs, and even knows a little about the big and small things in the court, his speech is straightforward but not vulgar, and his attitude is respectful but not lowly and courteous, and he soon won Zhu Shouqian's favor.

The two were talking on the painting boat, and the topic somehow touched on the theory of ghosts and gods. Grandpa touched the gray beard on his chin and said, "In fact, the longer people live, the less they believe in ghosts and gods, they are all used to coax people, and there must be some secrets behind it that need to be covered." For example, one year the lotus seed camp was haunted, and even a hundred households who patrolled at night were so frightened that they peed their pants, saying that they saw a woman in white clothes and white hair, no legs, and no face crying, and it was a miracle. ”

"Then it was not only night, but even during the day people did not dare to come near this place, and after some days, no one heard the ghost cry again, and some hunters had the courage to go to that place to hunt, and guess what the man found?"

Zhu Shouqian said: "Could it be that someone has done something bad where? ”

"That's right." Grandpa patted his thigh and said, "The hunter walked and walked, stepped on the air, fell into a deep hole, fell into a deep hole, and walked around with a fire fold, and actually found a coffin that had been pried open!" It turned out that the place was a tomb of a high-ranking official in the two Jin dynasties! It's a pity that the burial goods inside were looted by tomb thieves, and even the jade cicada in the mouth of the corpse was taken out. So the female ghost is fake, and the tomb robbery is real, it is a play that the tomb robbers who have lost their conscience dig holes and steal holes in order to hide people's ears and eyes. ”

Zhu Shouqian said: "Is this really the case? It is estimated that the hundred households were also bought by tomb thieves, and they lied that they had seen the hell. ”

Sun Ye sighed: "This guest officer is really smart, the people from the Yamen and the Ministry of War of Tianfu arrested and interrogated the hundred households, and sure enough, they confessed that it was a black and white collusion, and the inside and outside should be combined, and the hundred households were beheaded by questioning, and the whereabouts of the tomb robbers were uncertain, and the case has not been solved so far." ”

Grandpa's story was twists and turns, not only Zhu Shouqian listened to it, but even the three sisters of the Xu family in the painting boat also listened to it. The grandfather said again: "Guest officer, there is a haunted legend recently, speaking of which, it is actually the old yellow calendar. It is the former residence of General Xie in Shaoxing. ”

Zhu Shouqian's heart trembled suddenly, his face pretended not to know, and asked, "That General Xie?" ”

Sun Ye said: "Of course, it was General Xie Zaixing before!" You are young, you shouldn't have heard of this General Xie, it's not that I'm talking nonsense, if this General Xie is still here, my first hero of the founding of the Ming Dynasty will not be the turn of Xu Da, the Duke of Wei. At that time, General Xie was the most trusted general under the emperor's command, and the emperor's nephew also married General Xie's daughter, and now Wei Guogong is also General Xie's son-in-law. In short, the scenery and grace of the Xie family back then were definitely no less than the current Xu family. ”

"It's a pity that it's good, General Xie suddenly broke out of the rebellion, and the whole house was beheaded, even the brothers' families were not spared, it is rumored that the Xie family hanged themselves in the ancestral hall that night, and they were all dressed in white before they died, and there was a word of injustice written in blood on their chests, alas, not to mention how miserable it was."

Since then, the Xie family's mansion in Shaoxing has been rumored to be haunted, with seals, and it is ghostly during the day, and women's cries can be heard at night. It is also evil, a male corpse appeared at the door of the Xie family's mansion recently, it is rumored that the death is terrifying, as if he was scared to death, and the male corpse was a military master before his death, and he happened to participate in the siege of the Xie family back then, and was ready to behead the Xie family. ”

Grandpa patted the table like a storyteller and said, "Do you think this evil sect is evil? Shaoxing people are rumored to be the Xie family who wronged the ghost and asked for his life. ”

Zhu Shouqian was silent for a moment and asked, "Why haven't you heard of such a major event as a homicide in the capital?" ”

Grandpa smiled: "This is also a new thing that happened a few days ago, and I just heard from a traveling merchant from Shaoxing last night, and it is estimated that it has not yet reached the capital." Shaoxing is the county seat, and a homicide will cause a sensation in the whole city. Our Jinling is the capital, the place is big, there are many people, and now the emperor also summoned the world's rich businessmen and craftsmen to move their families to Jinling, all kinds of lively things can't be heard, what is a murder case, so the nobles don't know these things. ”

The speaker has no intention, but the listener has the intention. The Xie family is Zhu Shouqian's maternal grandfather's family, and now that such a bizarre thing has happened, Zhu Shouqian can't sit still, and wants to invite his cousin Xu Miaoyi to go to Shaoxing to have a look.

In the painting boat, the three sisters of the Xu family glanced at each other, and Xu Miaoxi asked in a low voice: "Second sister, do you want to tell the eldest sister about this?" ”

Xu Miaoqing thought for a while and said, "Big sister is well-informed, and sooner or later she will know, rather than hearing about it from other people's mouths, let's just say it." Fourth sister, why is your face so bad? ”

Odd! Since this grandfather knows the eldest sister, these words should have been deliberately said to his cousin! What do they want? Xu Miaojin sighed, but said in her mouth: "I probably heard that the ghosts and gods were afraid, second sister, I want to sleep with you tonight." ”