After appeasing the two big dogs who were guarding the house, Hongchen opened the small side door of the backyard that connected to the front yard, and the wolf dog and Ping'an loyally guarded her.

The big cat is still walking ahead, take a few steps and look back, and wait for Hongchen to catch up before continuing.

"What do you want me to do?"

The big white cat took the initiative to communicate with her, even if she wanted to ask for something, Hongchen felt that she could completely satisfy others.

The front yard is not like the backyard, it is brightly lit, and many guests gather together to chat and have tea by the way.

There are also people singing and playing the piano, but fortunately they know that it is the middle of the night, so they dare not disturb the people, and the voice is a little quieter, otherwise the courtyard is estimated to not be able to live in peace.

Although there were seven or eight people, the moonlight was thick, and the lights were bright, so lively, she only saw one person at first sight.

She is a lively beauty, sitting at the table dignifiedly, sipping tea, three men in their twenties gathered around her to offer courtesy, that diligence At first glance, it is really the same as a toad can't help drooling.

The beauty is not very young, at least twenty-six or seventeen years old, at the age of the Great Zhou Dynasty, it is not too much to say that she is old and decrepit, but even the most vivid twenty-eight beautiful girl standing beside her, I am afraid it will only be eclipsed.

She was wearing a green Luo skirt popular in the capital, wearing a big white pearl on her head, her facial features were very ordinary when separated, phoenix eyes, eyebrows were not thick or thin, and her chin was slightly rounded, not gorgeous at all.

"Miss Hongchen?"

When the kitten saw her, she hurriedly came over to greet her. There was also a little surprise on his face, "Why didn't you rest, but they were too noisy?" ”

His own lady still has to go to study, and the guests here are a little crazy, and he specially reminded him to be quiet, but he didn't think about it or alarmed the inner courtyard.

He said that his young lady was too good-natured, and at first she indulged the few regular customers of the teahouse, except for a few study rooms, which had to be kept quiet, and at night several pavilions in the garden were specially lit for them. One light is the night.

There are even two poor scholars from Jiangjiazhuang. In order to borrow the light and not return all night, there are also those in Qi County who dislike not being lively at night, and places such as the Qinglou Chu Pavilion will let their daughters-in-law scratch their faces and have nowhere to have fun. They all gradually gathered in the teahouse. Chat, drink tea, tell stories. It's also at ease.

Of course, only regular customers are allowed to stay overnight.

It is popular, and the home is relatively safe. Especially from Jiangjiazhuang, he is an old acquaintance with Hongchen, he is simple, and his relationship is good.

"It's okay, it's a little stuffy when I wake up, it's just breathable."

Hongchen's eyes were slightly condensed, looking at the big cat as if he was in a no-man's land, no one could see it, stretched his waist, walked in front of the big beauty very elegantly, and jumped onto her shoulder.

The big white cat was a little big, like a shawl around its neck, licking the face of the big beauty vigorously, and meowing at the red dust, but when it turned its head to look at the three big men, it was full of vigilance and anger.

After smiling and greeting each other, she realized that this big beauty and three young men were all guests who came to stay overnight tonight.

The few remaining are teahouse regulars.

The young man who was sitting next to the piano platform in front of him, tuning the strings with his hands, was the one who easily refused to play the piano to others, saying that it was difficult to find a bosom friend, Mr. Lu, who taught in the academy, but he had always seen the beginning and the end, and today he was playing one song after another, as long as the beauty showed her face and smiled, it would be even more energetic, and even her piano skills seemed to have become a lot more superb.

Sure enough, it's a hero who is sad to pass the beauty pass!

Hongchen gently passed, said hello to the beauty, sat next to him, this question only knew that the beauty surnamed Xu, from Jiangnan, and her husband Sheng Xuan returned to her hometown of Qianzhou, passing through Qi County, just happened to meet Sheng Xuan's two classmates and friends, warmly invited, and stayed for a few more days.

Sheng Xuan's identity comes from a clear background, he is a scholar, a native of Qianzhou, who went to Yong'an to study, but unfortunately he was not admitted to the academy in the capital, and stayed for a year, so he met his current wife.

It's not clear here, I think I'm hiding it well, but Hongchen understands it when I hear it, and the others are afraid that they also know it, and the origin of this beauty is probably not very easy to say.

Hongchen guessed that there were several possibilities, one was a prostitute, a woman was good, or else it was Miss Everyone's elopement.

If she is the first prostitute in the industry, she will definitely be famous all over the world, but I don't know which one it is? Liu Xiaoman, or Wang Anniang? These two are about the same age, and Zhao Yan'er is also beautiful, but she is young, she is in her twenties, and she is also the most famous, no more than the other two who have been famous for many years, and she is already very old.

Hongchen poured a cup of tea for the with his own hands: "Madame, try it, this is our homemade wild tea, not to mention that it is comparable to the world's famous tea, but it also has a unique flavor." ”

The took a sip of the teacup very coldly, and her eyes became slightly gentle: "It's good." ”

The entrance is slightly bitter, but the aftertaste is long.

"The spring water used to make tea is very special, cold and sweet."

"Yes, the tea in our teahouse is different in spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the water is even different, and even the morning and evening are different."

As soon as Hongchen stretched out his hand, he picked up Ping'an, who was lying at her feet, rested on his knees, and gently scratched its long hair, Ping'an turned over, revealing her belly, and let her scratch her belly, and kept humming quietly in her mouth, and her voice was soft.

After playing for a while, the little guy pounced on her, grabbed her neck, disguised himself as a little scarf of dog skin, and remained motionless.

obviously like small animals too, so she laughed, pursed her lips, her cheeks were red, the coldness just now gradually dissipated a little, and the tiredness between the corners of her eyes and eyebrows disappeared: "Love these little guys well, they are more reliable than people, I used to have a cat, but it is inconvenient at home, I can only feed it secretly, I am hungry and full, but it is very obedient." Bathing it never makes a fuss. ”

Hongchen's eyes slipped around the white cat, and sighed: "Hey, that lady left home, I'm afraid that the cat will be very sad, I went out for two days, my family is not happy, and I will be tired of coming back for a long time." ”

The just smiled, didn't reply, turned her head and laughed with a few young people again, and made a fuss about drinking.

"Okay. Drink. I'm going to buy it! One of the young men stood up and laughed, "When I came here just now, there were people on the side of the road selling liquor from the wine, so I don't care what it is." Such a beautiful day. There must always be wine. Even the inferior ones are okay. ”

A group of people all said yes.

"It's a pity that there is no alcohol in the teahouse." Sheng Xuan spread his hands, "I can only trouble our Xiao Meng to run." ”

The kitten hurriedly went over to clean up the table for them, and said with a smile: "It's just a matter of drinking at night." It's not good during the day, we are a teahouse here, or a book house, a lot of readers are here, and it's not good to drink all over the body, come on, the small one will get you a few snacks, and the small one still remembers that the cook left two stewed chickens, and it's just right to be hot, so don't dislike it. ”

"What do you dislike, who doesn't know that your teahouse dishes are number one!" Mr. Lu, who had just received the lyre, came over and said with a smile.

Hongchen smiled: "I really don't know whether to say thank you for the compliment." "A teahouse, let people say that the food is good, and it is fresh enough.

She sat on the side and observed, and didn't notice anything wrong, the big deal is that a few young people have admiration for beautiful women, but this is normal, although the Xu family lady is married, but the young man with strong blood loves a woman, this kind of feeling can't be suppressed It's not a big deal, although it's not moral, but the people are not looking for trouble, and others won't say anything.

Could it be that the big white cat felt that its master was robbed, so she was unhappy and asked her to drive away the wild bees and butterflies for her master?

Hongchen lowered her head and held her chin, she was not sleepy at this time, and she was more tired when she drank tea, and she was not happy to go back to sleep for a while, so she simply spent it here, and saw what the cat wanted to do! In fact, she is more considerate and patient with animals than with people, and if she were to change to a different man or a woman now, she would have been too lazy to pay attention to it, and at most she would find an excuse to send everyone out of trouble, so as not to cause trouble.

After a while, Shun smoothly bought back the wine, no accident at all, the group got together, drank and chatted, even Hongchen also talked about sex, only drank tea without alcohol, and also chatted with Mr. Lu They talked about some customs and customs, she was well-informed, erudite, although the piano skills are not good, but can taste good or bad, although some places have not been to, but the local specialties and humanities, can also, easy to talk more like a breeze, not at all like a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl.

After a while, Mr. Lu also praised her endlessly and looked at her differently.

There is nothing difficult about this, Hongchen has been a lady for many years in his last life, and he is the young lady of the Xia family, so communication is indispensable, and he gradually learned to speak and communicate with all kinds of people on various occasions and things.

Xu Niangzi glanced at her, quite surprised, smiled, and said in a low voice: "If Miss is from Dielou, I'm afraid that the sisters will have no chance to get ahead." "The voice is very weak, if it weren't for the fact that Hongchen was close enough, and his ear power was first-class, he would never be able to hear it.

This time she didn't mind when she heard it, in a place like Dielou, a woman from a good family would frown and disdain when she mentioned it, but which man in the world didn't think that the girls there were only aware of the interests and were confidants.

At that time, Xia Cicada was praised by Mrs. Wen, the owner of the Butterfly Tower, which made her famous in the circle of noble sons in the capital, and she also hung up King Li because of this, and later climbed to the position of the imperial concubine step by step, overwhelming the crowd.

Everyone says that a serious good woman should not be famous outside, and should abide by her duty, but the noble sons of the Great Zhou Dynasty don't eat that, and people love those famous talented beauties, so if you want to climb rich, and the conditions in your family are not first-rate, then show yourself to the fullest, as long as you are talented and good-looking, you may be able to catch a golden beetle son-in-law.

like to drink very much, and the amount of alcohol is also large, and those who come do not refuse, while she drinks, the cat rubs and rubs on her neck, and whispers while rubbing.

Hongchen didn't see it, when she looked at the person Xu Niangzi, she knew that she couldn't persuade her at all.

The two young men were still coaxing, holding wine glasses and pouring her, Sheng Xuan sat on the side and just laughed, smiling gently, and he didn't mind at all.

"Come, come, Madame, I'm the matchmaker for the two of you, you have to drink this glass with me today!"

The expression of the was very cold, and she drank a lot of wine. casually picked up the wine jug in front of him, and poured a glass for Brother Gongzi.

The pink-faced brother was obviously also drunk, his whole body was sticking to it, holding the's arm weakly, his eyes were glued to her snow-white neck, he swallowed his saliva, and smiled with a slightly big tongue: "Mrs. poured the wine herself, even if she drank it to death, I still have to drink it." ”

"Meow!"

The big white cat's fur stands on end, and its sharp claws are even more intimidating in the moonlight. Hongchen shrank back. Closed his eyes.

"Ouch!"

The young boy covered his eyes and took a step back, his face covered with blood, "What caught me?" ”

Everyone else was taken aback.

"What's going on?"

"What the hell!"

When he put his hand down, everyone looked at each other. There were a few bloody paw prints on this man's face.

"Didn't you catch it by a fox?" said. Another young man shuddered. Sheng Xuanyan's face was also a little ugly when he heard this, and he took his wife's hand and said. "Go get some medicine!"

Everyone else turned their heads to look around, but there were no other animals in the empty garden except the sound of birds!

Hongchen was also dragged to look for a long time, and the kitten was still very worried, for fear that something would be fast, and the invisible little thing would hurt her own lady, and the whole person was nervous.

The big cat that was causing trouble stretched lazily and jumped onto the's shoulder.

After looking for a long time, no one found any abnormal animals, so tossed, the interest was gone, and the group said a few words and said goodbye to the host's house, and went back to the guest room to rest by themselves.

The big white cat meowed several times, rolling around on the shoulders and backs of the, crawling around, looking very anxious, Hongchen's eyes were slightly condensed, his expression was slightly dull, he shook his head lightly, and said in a low voice: "Don't worry." ”

As soon as she said this, the cat was a little quieter.

and they walked for a long time, Hongchen watched her back disappear, and then slowly turned around and went back to the room, others didn't notice it, but she knew.

Although the drink was bought by someone else, the added a strange medicine to it.

Just now, the old ginseng and the little jasmine, as well as the two ten-year-old golden cinnamon trees in the yard, all said that the medicine in the wine is very powerful, and they will die within two hours after drinking, of course, it is not very difficult to solve it.

The old man was triumphant: "Hehe, when I was not ignited by you, I met an old man on the mountain, who especially liked to make messy medicines, and tasted them himself, and I had seen the medicinal powder in the wine." ”

Hongchen raised his eyebrows: "You can understand what others are saying when you are still a native of old ginseng?" ”

"Of course I can, I'm not stupid!" The old ginseng rolled his eyes, "It's just that you people can't understand us, what's so difficult about your language to learn, it's easy to die!" ”

Hongchen suddenly didn't dare to look directly at the pots of orchids placed in her house, although she hadn't lit them yet, these pots were all very well-behaved, ordinary, and only responsible for showing off the beautiful flowers that made people look at them.

"Forget it, go to bed early."

She went to the kitchen herself, cooked a large pot of sobering soup, and told the kitten to send it to the men who had drunk too much, and to watch them finish drinking, and then went back to the house, and as soon as she entered the door, washed her face, and lay down to sleep.

Before dawn, there was only a faint red light, and suddenly there was a commotion outside, and there was chaos.

Hongchen turned over in a daze, lay on the pillow, opened his eyes, and first fell into a trance, Luo Niang rushed into the door, hurriedly put clothes on her, her hands and feet trembled a little, and her body trembled slightly.

"What's wrong?"

asked in a dumb voice, Hongchen was suddenly surprised, but his face didn't change much, "What's wrong?" ”

Luo Niang fastened the button for her, and then whispered: "Someone is here in the yamen, there was a murder in our teahouse, and three of the guests who stayed overnight last night died." ”

She is actually used to seeing dead people, all kinds of horrors, rotting corpses are not unusual, this time she just knows that there are dead people in the family, and she doesn't see it at all, so she doesn't have to worry so much, but it's not the same, for her, the place under her feet is already home, and she is not a passerby, but a place to live for a long time.

Hongchen obviously didn't expect Luo Niang to be so nervous, reached out to grab her shoulder, and patted: "Don't worry, let's take a look." ”

Luo Niang held her arm and frowned: "The official arrested the suspect, saying that it was the companion of the three of them, and it was Sheng Xuan's wife." Hey, that is going to be taken away. Really, such a beautiful woman, why can't she want to kill people! ”

Hongchen's face seemed to be smiling, very peaceful, and not a little flustered, Luo Niang was stunned: "Ah Chen, why aren't you surprised at all?" ”

"Who said that, I was surprised." Hongchen held his face and looked at Luo Niang very seriously, "Let's go." As a master, you can't just hide at this time. ”

She's fast. Took Luo Niang's arm and went to the front yard, the front yard was very chaotic, and many guests looked confused, standing in the yard and pointing.

Some officials dressed in government offices poked around.

Hongchen is now a big celebrity in Qi County. Although he didn't have any contact with the county officials of the county government. But there are many people around you. The local parents and officials are at least three points jealous of her, and the officials in the yamen are all well-informed, so they treat her even more angrily. As soon as I saw her coming, no one stopped her, and a catcher surnamed Li stepped forward a few steps forward and whispered: "Miss, don't go in, there are dead people, it's very unlucky, don't worry, we will clean it up for you, and ensure that there will be no messy news." ”

It is not a good thing to open a store to do business, and it is not a good thing that there is a murder in the store, and most of the shopkeepers want to turn big things into small things, and they don't want to turn into gossip in the streets and alleys.

At this time, the has been escorted out by two officials, she is still so graceful, the makeup on her face is much more delicate than last night, the fragrance powder is delicate, and she has also changed into a sky blue Luo skirt, which is very beautiful, but when she went out, her body was soft and she staggered.

Hongchen immediately saw that the expressions of those officials were also distorted, and it obviously took a lot of effort to not stretch out his hand.

Beautiful women are too lethal.

Several guests around were in an uproar, and Mr. Lu shouted: "What are you doing here!" Let her go. ”

Several of the servants dangled by the collar, dizzy.

It's just that there are many people in the courtyard who read.

They are majestic in the Yamen, but they can't just call this majesty to the heads of the common people, and they are even shorter in the face of the scholars, so they have to smile bitterly at this time: "Sir, don't be like this, Xu Niangzi has a major suspicion, it is better for us to bring it back to the Yamen and hand it over to the county magistrate for personal interrogation." ”

Mr. Lu looked incredulous and said angrily: "What nonsense! Why did the kill someone, let alone kill her newlywed husband, who doesn't know that the two of them have a good relationship, like honey blending oil? ”

Zhu Kuai also frowned, reluctantly let himself look at the overly gorgeous face of the, and sighed: "Look up, does this surviving person who seems to have just lost her husband?" What's more, Sheng Xuan died in her room, in her bed, and as a result, she stayed with a corpse for most of the night, and when she woke up, she didn't hurry up and report to the official, but only cared about applying grease and powder, dressing up, if it weren't for the mother-in-law who kept vigil in your teahouse to bring her water, she suddenly found out that something was wrong, and I don't know how long it would be delayed! ”

When everyone looked over, there was indeed no trace of sadness and fear on the lady's face, but a trace of mysterious beauty.

Mr. Lu did not speak for a long time.

Several guests murmured: "Such a beauty, such a beauty...... I am afraid that she knows that she is a devil who can kill, and there are countless men who can moths to the fire.

By this time, the officials had already carried the body out.

Many people turned their heads and didn't dare to look, but the lady walked over, lifted the white cloth very casually, stared at Sheng Xuan's gray face, laughed softly, covered her lips, but the look on her face was dignified and serious, lightly opened her lips, and said with a smile: "It's just a few beasts, if you die, you will die, do you want me to be sad?" They deserve it too! ”

The people around were stunned.

Because she was about to confess, she didn't stop her, and the group watched as the stood under the morning light, stretched out her slender jade fingers, and scratched the corpse's face with her long nails.

"When the love is strong, he swears a mountain alliance, a sincerity, wants to redeem me, and there are countless men who want me to entrust my life, he has no gold and silver, he is not considered a high power, and even his talent is like that, and his temperament is also arrogant, but his position as a wife is vacant, I will respond, what do you like or dislike, a woman like me, but ask for peace."

sneered, "But what about him?" What did he do, for the sake of a remnant inkstone, for a fragrant ink, he lent me to two so-called classmates and friends to humiliate, and kept saying that he was true love for me, and he would not dislike me no matter what, and he would definitely marry me home, how funny was it, thinking that I was rare and he couldn't succeed? ”

Those servants and catchers were stunned, and Hongchen sighed: "I hate Lang without beads!" She said this for the. (To be continued......)