At the beginning of June of the third year of Tongzhi, Pu Zixuan and his entourage, except for Su Sanniang, who went to Tianjing alone, the other four people had arrived in Zhejiang, and the first stop was Changhua County, Hangzhou Prefecture.

Maybe it was because he had learned that his father, who had been missing for many years, was in Zhejiang, or maybe it was because of the addition of new companions Zhu Yuanliang and Xiaoshu on the road, Pu Zixuan was no longer lonely on the way from Guangxi to Zhejiang. In addition, because there are small trees to cover the power of purification, everyone did not encounter monsters along the way, but encountered some mountain demons, and even used it as a different pastime.

However, in Changhua County, Pu Zixuan soon felt the strange atmosphere.

Changhua County, located on the border between Zhejiang and Anhui, was recovered from the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom by Zuo Zongtang three months ago. The four of them came to an inn called "Jiuli Yang" in the evening to seek accommodation, but Pu Zixuan argued with the store at the counter, the reason was that Pu Zixuan asked the four people to live in three rooms next to each other, but the store insisted that the four people live next to each other, which was not a big deal, but Pu Zixuan got into the horns.

"Hey, I said the store, we four companions live in the hotel, and arrange three rooms next to each other for us, this request is reasonable, why don't you agree? It's so weird! ”

The shopkeeper looked to be in his thirties, and his face was not a kind person, but he may have been surprised by such doubts, and he did not appear impatient, but explained with a smile: "The four guest officers don't know, our Zhejiang is different from other places, the Qing army has just recovered, isn't this the recent plague in the Jiangzuo area?" The government requires that in order to prevent the spread of the plague, people must maintain sufficient distance from each other, take our Jiuliyang Inn as an example, we have a total of 38 guest rooms in the courtyard of these two floors, 19 rooms on the upper and lower floors, but only 10 rooms on each floor can be opened in the air, and the nine rooms between the intervals are not allowed to live, let alone two people living together. Alas, as soon as this decree came out, our small shop, which was already mediocre, was even more hit, but there was no other way than to implement it according to the regulations. ”

"The plague?" Pu Zixuan was stunned for a moment, and said, "That's okay, my body is not afraid of the plague, you arrange three rooms for us, one each for this child and Fat Dun, and I live with the girl, if we are infected, count it as our own, and never trouble your store, okay?" ”

The shopkeeper kept shaking his head and said: "Alas, don't say it, what the government is most afraid of is the cohabitation of men and women, saying that it is the highest chance of contracting diseases, I just have ten guts, and I dare not disobey it, and I also ask the guest officer to understand and cooperate with us." ”

Pu Zixuan said unhappily: "I said that the infection is our own problem, as long as you agree, how about I give you a room increase?" ”

The shopkeeper was puzzled: "No, guest officer, this is not a lot of money."

There are fewer problems, but the government often comes to check in the middle of the night, if it is found that an inn violates this regulation, it will be immediately sealed, and then we will be arrested and imprisoned! ”

Pu Zixuan was the most angry that he and Chen Shuqing couldn't sleep together, and said angrily: "You don't do the business of giving money? If not, let's change the store! ”

The shopkeeper was not angry, and persuaded confidently: "It is your own freedom which inn the guest officer wants to go to, but I still want to give a piece of advice, the whole of Zhejiang, let alone Changhua." It is precisely because of this regulation that there is a shortage of inn rooms in the city, and it is not too early now, maybe only we have a few vacant rooms here, if the guest officer hesitates, I am afraid that there will be no place to live tonight. ”

If it was changed before, Pu Zixuan would have turned his head and left, and it would have been a big deal to let Chen Shuqing turn into a hammock, but now that there are two more people in the team, this trick is really inconvenient to spend the night, so he has to scratch his head and scratch his ears.

Zhu Yuanliang smiled at Pu Zixuan and said, "Hehe, Xiaoshu and I must be fine, it's up to you." ”

Chen Shuqing also said: "Forget Xiaoqi, since there is a plague and the government is so tough, let's cooperate, so as not to violate the regulations and make some extraneous trouble." ”

Pu Zixuan also knew that he had no other choice, but he didn't know how to vent his grievances, so he asked: "Shop, is there really a plague in Zhejiang?" If there is a plague, then I am afraid that it is not only accommodation, it should be food, transportation, isolation policies should be implemented, and the streets should also be strictly controlled, but I think this Changhua has this requirement in addition to staying in the hotel, but everything is as usual in other aspects, how does this look like there is a plague? But what else could it be? ”

"Hehe, the guest officer is really long-sighted." The shopkeeper cautiously glanced around, saw that there was no one else, and didn't want to lose Pu Zixuan's customer, so he whispered: "I'll tell you the truth, just listen to it, but don't spread the word." In the city, it has long been spread, at the beginning of this year, a long-haired general named Wang Dun in Jinhua Mansion stayed overnight in Lanruo Temple in the north of Jinhua City, and met a banshee, this banshee has a strange ability, can control a man's mind, so that the man is fascinated by her, once infected with lovesickness, it will be squeezed out of the most important person in the heart, infectious evil spirit. The closer the two get together, the stronger the contagion will be, and if a man and a woman sleep together, the man will die of illness in less than half a stick of incense. As a result, Wang Dun died in the temple that night, and people suspected that he had an affair with his beloved woman when he went to Nalanruo Temple. As for who the woman was, no one knew her, nor did anyone know her whereabouts. On the second day, the Chu army commanded by Zuo Zongtang recovered Jinhua Mansion and made this control measure to strictly control the accommodation distance, so that even if a man was recruited, it would not attack so quickly. ”

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Zixuan suddenly became interested and said, "Well, it sounds like that." It's just that since the banshee is haunted by Lanruo Temple in Jinhua Mansion, what is the matter with this Hangzhou Mansion? ”

The shopkeeper said with a smile: "Although the banshee mainly haunts Lanruo Temple, it is not inevitable, and there are people in the entire Jiangzuo region who have encountered such evil things. After speaking, he said in a low voice: "I heard that even Jiangsu is the same, that day Wang Hong Xiuquan did not die of a normal illness, but was caused by the banshee disguised as a harem and sneaking into the Heavenly King's Mansion." ”

Just as she was talking, a woman with a toddler in her arms came out of the side room and coughed loudly twice, as if to signal the shopkeeper to shut up, and the coughing sound also startled the toddler to cry, and the woman kept patting and coaxing: "Oh, oh, good, don't cry, don't cry......"

The shopkeeper also realized that he had gone too far, and immediately stood up straight and said in a straight voice: "Of course, these heresies that confuse the public are categorically false, how can there be any monsters in this world?" The real situation must still be a plague. Don't believe it, our Jiangzuo region has been in war for many years, corpses are everywhere, and the plague has been raging for many years, this is not me making it up, Shen Zi's "Diary of Avoiding Kou" knows, right? Don't say far away, let's just say the past few years, Xianfeng ten years, Changshu, Wuxi, Wuzhen and other places plague prevail, Xianfeng eleven years, we Zhejiang Lin'an, Changhua, Jiaxing plague and cholera, Tongzhi first year, Jiaxing, Changshan, Shaoxing, and their long-haired capital, plague has broken out, resulting in the population of Jiangzuo in these years plummeted by nearly half, alas, I think, long-haired people are not exterminated for a year, the plague will not stop for a year. ”

Pu Zixuan listened to the "long hair" on the left and a "Kou" on the right of this shop, and then he understood that in the area where the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had ruled for many years, people's hearts had already floated, no wonder this regime had come to an end, and he also sighed Fortunately, Su Sanniang was not in the team, otherwise according to her loyalty to the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, it would be difficult to accept, at least, to reason with this shop.

At this time, there was another car of guests outside the inn, and they got out of the car, which seemed to have the meaning of accommodation.

The shopkeeper glanced at the visitor, then turned his head to Pu Zixuan and said, "Okay, this is the situation, whether the guest officers will stay according to the regulations, please decide as soon as possible." ”

Seeing this, Pu Zixuan didn't say much, and responded: "Okay, okay, then let's book four rooms according to the regulations of Zhejiang, and ask the store to arrange it quickly." ”

The shopkeeper collected the money and told Pu Zixuan again: "I am relieved of the others, so I ask the guest officer to abide by the rules, and do not sneak into the girl's room at night, otherwise once we find out, we will immediately expel the guests and leave." ”

"Got it, alas." Pu Zixuan reluctantly agreed, in exchange for a burst of laughter from everyone.