After the third watch, General Zhang's mother, Liu's mother, got up and went to the thatched house. This General Zhang is the famous warlord Zhang Zongchang, he is also a vassal and elegant "soul poet", his poems have no predecessors, no future, and his temper is the same, bold and cool.

The corridor was cold and empty, and Liu's mother passed by one dark room after another, and slowly walked to a small room with an oil lamp still on. This small lamp is particularly dim, in order to facilitate the maids who want to go to the thatched house at night, they are specially lit all night, the thatched house is too dark, the maids are timid, you can carry this lamp into the thatched house. When the sleepy-eyed Liu Ma brushed her hand on the door panel and was about to push the door in, she suddenly seemed to hear something, there were footsteps inside, gently, it sounded like she was jumping, "stepping on the foot", non-stop. Her relaxed spirit suddenly became nervous, and she said, this is a vacant room, there is no furnishings in it, just a table with oil lamps, and no one usually comes, who will come in the middle of the night? Is it haunted? She caught a glimpse of something in her peripheral vision, and when she turned her head, it was a shadow printed on the paper window, a strange shadow dancing, small, with a tail wrizzling, like some kind of animal. The old mother was bold, soaked the window paper with saliva, poked a hole, and squinted her eyes to look in.

However, her eyes widened with fright, and sure enough, it was an animal, a big cat with long red hair! The cat stood on the table, its front paws erect, like a man, its body erect, walking in a circle around the oil lamp, its steps were light and pleasant, tossing and turning, its two front paws also swinging, even twisting its body, its tail pointing straight up, and curling nimbly. This cat is dancing! Can cats dance? Mother Liu couldn't believe it, she stayed there, too scared to move, for fear of alarming this strange thing in the house. It took a long time for her to come back to her senses, isn't this the pet cat of the ninth aunt she serves? Aunt Jiu is General Zhang's concubine Xinna, and she was ordered to serve, she has been in the house for many years, and has served several aunts, but they all died of illness or anger, I don't know what the fate of this new wife is. This sixth aunt is too good-looking, I don't know what fascinates General Zhang, short and thin body, her face is not white, and there are dense freckles on her cheeks, and she speaks softly, and the other servants in the house call her "fried sparrow" behind her back. Aunt Nine likes cats too much, she came with this red cat when she came, and General Zhang also likes this cat, maybe it's because she loves the house and Wu.

The red cat kept jumping and jumping, and he didn't notice that Liu Ma on the window was jumping and spinning, and he vaguely saw its smiling face, and the cat had a smiling face, but at this moment, the red cat's smile was even stronger.

Mother Liu soothed her stiff muscles and bones, and quietly walked into the thatched house, no matter how scared she was, her hands still had to be relieved. When I came back from the hut, I passed by the room, bent down and passed, the light inside was still on, and the gentle fluttering footsteps of the red cat were still ringing, and it was still jumping, "stepping on it", I don't know what fun it was.

Mother Liu returned to her house and wondered in her heart, should I tell Aunt Nine about this strange thing? Forget it, let's not talk about it, maybe Aunt Nine knows too well, she likes this cat so much, maybe it's because it's different. However, she was afraid, could it be that this cat had become sperm? Since ancient times, it has been said that animals are all harmful to people. Ah, let's tell Aunt Jiu too much. She decided and slept peacefully.

The next morning, Liu's mother got up early, she got the kitchen to wash her face for Aunt Jiu, and when she went late, she was robbed by the girl in the other room. The old mother in the kitchen had already boiled the hot water, a big pot was boiling, steaming, Aunt Seven's girl Lin'er was leaning over the edge of the stove and scooping it into the pot with a spoon, and when she was almost done, she straightened up, and when she turned around, she saw Liu Ma standing in line behind her. The girl pouted and walked away. Liu's mother was angry and spat at her back. Unexpectedly, this girl's ears were so ruthless, she turned her head and glared at Liu's mother, and suddenly said in a weird manner: "There are so many sparrows this morning, and the chirping is really annoying." Mother Liu knew that she had something to say, this was scolding her wife, and she didn't show weakness, saying: "Even if you are a fairy, you are tired of seeing it." "Aunt Seven is too beautiful, and she is the seventh, everyone calls her the Seven Fairies, but no matter how beautiful the flower is, there are times when she gets tired of it, General Zhang has long left her behind, not to mention, this Seventh Aunt has a beautiful skin in space, she is vulgar and ruthless, and she will cry, make trouble and hang herself, and no matter how good the tempered man is, she will be annoyed by her, not to mention General Zhang's violent temper. In contrast, Aunt Jiu, who is still knowledgeable, is more likeable. Aunt Seven's girl was choked by Mother Liu, and she wanted to scold her back, but she was worried that the water would be cold if she delayed, so she had to leave hatefully.

Mother Liu carried the hot water, and went to the well to mix some cool well water, touched the temperature to the moderate, and then brought it to the ninth aunt's house.

Aunt Jiu's room is elegant and chic, there is a faint fragrance of flowers wafting in the air, she never uses perfume, nor does she like rouge powder, she seems to be different from other wives, she likes to read, especially poetry, I heard that before marrying the general, she was still a student in school. There was a large bookshelf on one wall in her room, full of books.

"Madam, the washing water is ready." Mother Liu stood at the door and said.

"Come in."

There was a thin voice in the tent, Aunt Nine hadn't gotten up yet. Mother Liu stepped into the threshold and put the kettle on the table, she heard a snoring sound coming from the tent, and knew that it was the general, so she couldn't help but be happy, let Qifang be jealous. This snoring sound invisibly breathed a sigh of relief for Liu's mother.

Mother Liu turned around and walked out to serve breakfast, there are rules in the house, whoever the general spends the night with, whoever eats alone in the room in the morning, no need to go to the dining room next door to the kitchen. In the past six months, only Aunt Jiu has such preferential treatment, and those wives are probably about to turn into dead wood. Mother Liu entered and exited through the side door of the kitchen, so that she did not have to go through the dining room, so that she could not see the jealous eyes of the other wives.

Mother Liu held a tray with three dishes and one soup on it, four flour buns, that flour bun was almost the size of a person's face, Aunt Jiu couldn't eat so much naturally, she was full with one at most, it was the general who had a large amount of rice, three flour buns were just full, and she had to drink a lot of soup. The general has to accompany Aunt Jiu to dinner every morning.

"It's time to eat, ma'am." Mother Liu said as she put the tray on the table, brought out the meals one by one, and then took the empty tray and stood aside, waiting.

Aunt Nine was reading poems to the general, both of them were facing the window, the general was sitting, and Aunt Nine was standing. Aunt Jiu looked like a student when she was holding a book, the general looked at her with a smile, listened to the poems she read, and the sunlight outside shone in, bathing the general in it, and the general's bald head seemed to be plated with a layer of gold.

Although Mother Liu was illiterate, from Aunt Jiu's gentle tone and elegant demeanor, she could vaguely hear that the poem seemed to be very beautiful. "How about Dai Zongfu, Qi Lu Qingwei. Creation Zhong Shenxiu, yin and yang cut dusk. Swing the chest to give birth to stratus clouds, and decide to return to the bird. It will be the top of the mountain, and the mountains will be seen at a glance. ”

"What does that mean?" After listening to this, General Zhang was a little confused, and asked in a bad voice.

"This is a poem about Tarzan." Aunt Nine said, "When you come back in the evening, I'll tell you about it." ”

"Naka-naka." General Zhang nodded, and he said again, "I've also seen this Taishan, and it's really fucking good-looking." I'll make a wet song now, and you listen. ”

General Zhang stood up, cleared his throat, paced back and forth, quite a great writer's temperament, he began, only to hear him say: "From a distance, Mount Tai is black, the top is thin and the bottom is thick." If Mount Tai is turned upside down, the bottom is thin and the top is thick. ”

Aunt Jiu burst into laughter too suddenly, clutching her stomach and falling on the desk in front of the window. Liu's mother also thought it was funny, she wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh, she only pursed her mouth and lowered her head. General Zhang's face did not change, and said, "What are you laughing at?" Badly done? ”

"Good, great." Aunt Jiu said with a smile, looking like she was about to get angry.

At this time, the red cat came out of nowhere, jumped on the desk, and yelled at General Zhang, "Meow~"

"Look at it, it's all good." General Zhang pointed to the cat. Then, he strode down to the dining table to eat.

Mother Liu stared at the cat, remembering the scene last night, and couldn't help but be in a trance, seeing the red cat's normal appearance at the moment, she questioned whether she had a dream.

After General Zhang left, Aunt Jiu and Mother Liu were left in the house, and the cat didn't know where to play. Mother Liu felt that this was a good time, and when she was cleaning up the dishes and chopsticks, she stopped what she was doing and said to Aunt Jiu who was looking in the mirror: "Madam, do you say it's magical?" Last night I saw the red cat dancing, and in the little room where the oil lamp was lit, dancing around the oil lamp, like a child. ”

Aunt Jiu stopped combing her hair, turned her head, and said unhappily: "Nonsense, how can cats dance?" You must be dreaming. ”

"Hey, maybe it's a dream. I've gotten older in the past few years, and I've become more and more mentally short, and I'm always confused. Mother Liu hurriedly agreed, lowered her head again, and was busy with the work in her hands.

The silence in the room was terrifying, and Mother Liu only felt trembling, this matter was vaguely not over, and she intuitively felt that Aunt Jiu's eyes were shooting at her from the mirror. She couldn't help but glance up, and sure enough, Aunt Nine was looking at her from the mirror!

"Mother Liu." Aunt Jiu said at this time, "If you know that you are confused, don't talk nonsense, don't worry, as long as you are loyal to me, I will not treat you badly." ”

"Yes, madam, how can this slave not be loyal to his master, if that's the case, he should be killed, don't worry, Mrs., I'm an old bone, I don't have any extravagant hopes, I just want to serve my wife wholeheartedly." Mother Liu said earnestly.

Aunt Jiu finally laughed, she said: "Aunt Liu, you are so good, this way, you are old, it is not easy, I will add you two more oceans every month." ”

"Oops! Thank you so much, ma'am. Mother Liu was as grateful as the official who had entered the knighthood, and she was about to kneel.

That night, it was very late, and Liu's mother lay down with a sore back as usual, and fell asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. I don't know what time it was, there was a knock on the door, Mother Liu hurriedly got up to open the door, it was Aunt Jiu who was standing outside the door, she said: "Something happened, Mother Liu, everyone is in the yard, you can also accompany me to take a look." ”

"Oh, yes, ma'am."

Mother Liu came out with Aunt Jiu, the yard was noisy, and there was the light of the torches, Mother Liu didn't expect that she would sleep so dead, and she didn't hear any movement. When I went out, I saw the ladies standing under the eaves and stretching their necks to look at the thatched house, and everyone's faces were yellow and clear against the firelight. Several men and soldiers stood in the courtyard with torches, but more gathered on the thatched house, and General Zhang's figure was faintly among them.

"What's wrong, second sister?" Aunt Jiu stood on the side of the second aunt, the second aunt was too good-tempered, and she was the most compatible with Aunt Jiu, so Aunt Jiu naturally asked her.

I only heard the second aunt say: "Something happened, the seventh sister's maid Lin'er died, died in the thatched house, and it has been dragged out." ”

Aunt Nine was taken aback and said, "How did you die?" It can't be hanging, right? ”

The second aunt suddenly lowered her voice and said very secretly: "Died strangely, I don't know what I was bitten to death, and there are two holes in my neck." ”

Mother Liu was standing behind them, listening, she couldn't help but gasp, her first thought was of wolves, but the house was heavily guarded, and there were general's soldiers at the door, how could a wolf come in? She seemed to think of something, but it was not always clear, and the answer floated in her mind, and soon she grabbed it, and it was a smiling cat's head. Mother Liu covered her chest and chanted Buddha in her heart.

After a while, General Zhang scolded and walked to his study, although General Zhang did not know a few big characters, but he liked vassal elegance, he naturally set up a study for himself, and specially invited a teacher to teach him to read words and poems. Of course he didn't scold Lin'er, he scolded the murderer. The seventh aunt was too crying and went into the study with General Zhang. Lin'er's body was carried out and buried that night.

General Zhang naturally thought that it was a wild beast, and the family servants also thought so, because there was a mountain not far from the mansion, and the dense forest on the mountain was clear, and there were wild beasts, and it was common sense for wild beasts to run down. General Zhang sent some more troops to guard it, which was exaggerated to the point that it was densely standing on the courtyard wall.

After a few days, everyone recovered from their fear, and a lot of soldiers were withdrawn, after all, a little girl died, and she was quickly forgotten by everyone. But Liu's mother was always panicked. Lin'er often spoke ill of Aunt Nine behind her back, which made it clear that Aunt Seventh was dissatisfied with Aunt Nine and was instructed by her. These winds blow into Aunt Jiu's ears from time to time, she is really angry, causing her to be often depressed, Mother Liu is old, and she has been in Zhangfu for so many years, so she naturally has to be respectful, she will not chew the root of her tongue everywhere like Lin'er, so Aunt Nine has no subordinates to send to retaliate back, did she send her own weird cat? Mother Liu felt a chill in her heart when she thought of this, she thought about resigning, but she didn't dare, who dared to guarantee that Aunt Jiu would not kill her?

Tonight, there is no moon, it is dark everywhere, when Liu's mother fell asleep, she was beaten and woke up, she opened her eyes to see, two green faint lights floated in front of her, she was so frightened that "Mom", sat up, the two green lights seemed to be shocked, bounced away, the two green and shiny lights that were originally round and slippery, bent downward into a crescent moon at this moment. Mother Liu wondered what this was, and she suddenly understood that it was the cat, and the green thing was its eyes, and it was smiling at her, and its eyes narrowed with laughter, and they became crescent moons, and it was it that knocked her head with its claws just now. The light was gone, and the cat was out. Mother Liu knelt and kowtowed in the direction where the cat disappeared, and recited Amitabha Buddha in her mouth.

The red cat didn't seem to mean to hurt Liu's mother, and after a long time, Liu's mother was relieved.

General Zhang is a lustful man, even if Aunt Nine is too talented, he can't contain his heart, a year later, Aunt Ten entered the door, Aunt Nine tasted the taste of being left out, she is not beautiful, once she falls out of favor, it is similar to entering the cold palace, General Zhang lingers in various aunts' rooms, but does not enter her door. The lonely and lonely Aunt Nine is accompanied by books and talks to cats.

Early this morning, General Zhang came out of the tenth aunt's room, the golden sun shone on his bare braincase, the braincase seemed to be plated with a layer of gold, he suddenly wanted to go to the woods to practice marksmanship, the plan of the day is in the morning, early morning is the time when the animals are active, by the way to hunt a few game back. As soon as he said to go, General Zhang stepped on his horse and went in a hurry, without even bringing his entourage.

The humidity on the mountain was very heavy, and the dew had not yet receded, General Zhang looked around with great interest, but he didn't see any animals, not even the shadow of a sparrow, he couldn't help but feel strange, the quiet around was too unreasonable. Seeing that there was no hope, he did not want to go back, and when he went out, he told his men that he had come to hunt, and if he returned empty-handed, he would not be able to save face, so he rode down the valley on a tall horse.

When I was on the mountain, the sun was full of joy, and when I reached the bottom of the valley, the light dimmed, and the wind blew a little cold, and it was quiet here, but fortunately there was a stream flowing, but the lonely sound of flowing water added a touch of melancholy. Faced with such a situation, General Zhang could not help but be excited, he touched his beardless chin, and made a wet song, but listened to him read, "This valley is so pure, and there are no wild beasts and birds." This valley is really pure, pure and pure, true and pure. ”

"Hahahahaha、、、、、、"

A loud laugh came from the front, as if someone was laughing at his wetness, General Zhang followed the man, and finally saw it on a large rock, the thing looked like a cat, standing upright, standing there like a human, a few hundred meters away from him. Since the cat had its back to the sun, it was black and looked like black. General Naqi, cats can talk? It's fucking evil. He wanted to destroy this monster, so he picked up the gun, and with a "bang", he saw that it had hit.

"Haha, I didn't fight."

General Zhang looked at it, and the cat was standing there well, with a round thing on its little paws, which was not very real, like a shield. The cat shielded the bullet, and the bullet was embedded in the shield, and the cat was unharmed.

General Zhang fired another shot, "Bah"! "When"!

"Hahahaha, I didn't fight again."

General Zhang's temper came up, and he hit a few shots in a row, "Dang Dang Dang 、、、、、、" and "Dang Dang Dang 、、、、、、"

"Hahahahaha."

General Zhang wanted to continue to release the gun, but the bullets ran out, and there were a few empty sounds.

The cat stopped laughing, and suddenly his hair exploded, threw his shield aside, pounced, and ran towards General Zhang. But this little thing doesn't know the intelligence of human beings, General Zhang still has a spare gun, just pin it on the waistband of his trousers, just listen to the sound of "bang", it was hit by a solid shot before it got close. The cat "meowed" in pain and turned back, but General Zhang didn't have time to shoot the second shot, it flicked its tail and turned away.

General Zhang rode to the place where the cat threw the shield, picked up the shield, and took a closer look, which shield it was, it was clearly a pot lid, which was densely covered with bullets.

"Divine beast, this is a divine beast!" General Zhang sighed. Since it is a divine beast, then this pot lid must be unusual, and General Zhang took it home.

The lid of the pot was hung in the study by General Zhang.

In the evening, General Zhang studied the pot lid while reading poems, and Aunt Ten walked in, her eyes were immediately drawn by the pot lid, and she exclaimed: "Shout~ General, why did you get the pot lid in the kitchen here." No wonder the cooks complained that the lid was gone, and it had been up and down for a day. ”

General Zhang was stunned, thought for a long time, and suddenly slapped the table and got up, startling the tenth aunt, she saw the general rushing out in a hurry, and went straight to the ninth aunt's house.

There was no lamp in Aunt Jiu's house, and the moonlight came in, and the shadows were full of shadows, which was very sad and did not look like someone. General Zhang held a gun in his hand, and with the other hand touched the lamp rope on the wall and pulled it on.

Everything in the house is as before, but Aunt Jiu is gone, and Aunt Liu is lying on the table, next to an empty tea bowl.

"Wake up! Wake up! General Zhang rudely shook Liu's mother awake.

Mother Liu opened her worried eyes, and when she saw the general's angry face, she was so frightened that she immediately knelt down.

"What about Mrs. Nine?" General Zhang said.

Mother Liu thought about it for a while, and immediately said, "I don't know, General, this morning, my wife rewarded me with a night of tea, and then I don't know anything." ”

General Zhang was so angry that he went out, he already knew that Aunt Jiu wanted to harm him too much, and when he saw that he didn't succeed, he slipped away.

Aunt Nine is gone, and I don't know where she went. General Zhang never understood whether she was the enemy's spy or just because she fell out of favor and harmed him. He turned her room upside down, hoping to find some clues, but there was nothing unusual except for a dead cat under the bed. General Zhang picked up the dead cat, it was Aunt Jiu's pet red cat, the cat's body was already stiff, it was killed by a gun, and the bullet was embedded in the chest below the throat.

General Zhang ordered the cat to be buried in that valley, where he killed it.