In the hall of the Zhou family's side courtyard, the old lady Zhou in mourning clothes was sitting on it, and the tea in her hand had been refilled twice, but there were still no guests.

The sun is just right outside, the rainy season in January and February is just about to pass, and it is not the main house compound, the courtyard is full of quilts and mattresses to remove moisture, at first glance it looks quite a bit of local people's feelings, but Mrs. Tai is a little out of place in this courtyard.

Next to her, there was a big girl Hui Ran who was trained by herself, and when she saw that there was no movement outside, she couldn't help but be a little anxious, and couldn't help asking: "Mrs. Tai, why is this person not trustworthy, saying that he will come early in the morning, and there is no one at lunchtime, you have been very tired in recent days, why don't you go back to the house to rest first, and when he comes, the maid will call you?" ”

Mrs. Zhou shook her head slightly, staring straight out of the door with a pair of old spicy eyes.

"No, I have to wait in person, this matter is related to whether my Zhou family can continue in this Quyun, and there can be no mistakes." She said in a deep voice.

The loss of a husband and a son is undoubtedly the biggest blow to people of this age, if you want to compare it with before, in addition to majesty and frost, Mrs. Zhou's face is more inexplicably determined.

Hui Ran naturally knows the importance of this matter, but she was sold to the Zhou family from the age of seven or eight, and the old lady values her the most, these words are out of a sincere filial piety, and Mrs. Zhou will be on her seventieth birthday in a few months, although the banquet is not on the table, but she is distressed, she should be an old man who is enjoying her old age, and now not only the husband and son are mourning, but also supporting the family in the most difficult time, which is not easy.

Then he persuaded again: "That gentleman has no name and surname here, it is not as trustworthy as the Shen family, at least he is a local, and he can't run away if something happens, right?" ”

Mrs. Zhou sighed lightly, and her eyes became even more gloomy.

"If he is useful to the Shen family, I don't have to invite others over, this matter has come to this point, Shen Chen is also concerned, I didn't care about him before, but after that, I don't want to see a Shen family interfere." She said in a cold voice, "I heard Steward Tao say that the young master went to the street the day before yesterday and met that boy from the Shen family again, and he ate in Linjiang Immortal for a while. ”

Hui Ran's eyes rolled, she already knew what to say, and replied: "Mrs. Tai is relieved, it is a good thing for the young master to make friends, and the Shen family is also a big family in Quyun, since it is always unreasonable to say hello when you meet them, it is always nothing to have a meal together." ”

Hearing these words in Mrs. Zhou's ears, the old lady naturally understood Hui Ran's thoughts, but now how to look at these two families seems to be separated by human lives, it is better not to see them.

"That kid of the Shen family doesn't learn and has no skills, he doesn't talk about eating, drinking and having fun all day long, a young master actually goes to learn opera, what kind of system is this? It's better for Jingchen to stay away from him when he sees him in the future. She said coldly.

Seeing that the old lady was a little angry, Hui Ran hurriedly changed her words: "What Mrs. Tai said is that I am a servant talking nonsense, and I have made you unhappy, haven't I?" It's really worth fighting. As he spoke, he picked a good-looking piece from the porcelain plate and handed it to the old lady, and said: "Come here this morning to sit, how can you just drink those porridge enough, Mrs. Tai will eat some snacks to cushion her stomach, don't be hungry, and I will have the strength to talk about business for a while." ”

Mrs. Zhou's expression softened a little, although her appetite is getting worse and worse these days, she still understands the truth, ordinary people can't stand it without eating, not to mention that half of her body has entered the earth, and now the Zhou family can't live without her.

Thinking about it, I couldn't help but sigh again, and finally took it and put it to my mouth, but before I could bite it, I saw Steward Tao hurrying in from outside.

Mrs. Zhou hurriedly put down her snacks, stood up and asked, "Coming?" ”

Steward Tao nodded, wiped his sweat and said: "Here, the sedan chair will be brought in immediately, I asked a few cronies to send all the idlers away, Mrs. Tai rest assured, no one should see it." ”

Mrs. Zhou nodded, there are not many people in the Zhou family, but she can still trust them.

"You go and pick up the sedan chair and bring them in yourself." She instructed.

Steward Tao ran out in response, and Mrs. Zhou took the handkerchief from Hui Ran's handkerchief and wiped her mouth, straightened her clothes and sat down.

After a while, a person was brought in by the Tao housekeeper outside, this person was about thirty years old, wearing a ragged gown, dark skin, a neutral figure, but the spirit was very full, and the steps when entering the house did not look slow, but it was much faster than the Tao housekeeper.

"Cui Xianrong in Xialonghu Mountain, I visited Mrs. Zhou." He arched his hand, his voice unusually loud, as if he had drunk it.

Mrs. Zhou also returned the salute, smiled lightly and pointed to the seat of the head to let him sit down, Hui Ran stepped forward to pour tea, and then closed the door with Steward Tao and went out.

"I have heard that there is a Heavenly Master's Mansion on Longhu Mountain, and there are some strange people on it, and today I saw Mr. Cui, it is really extraordinary." She said bluntly.

Cui Xianrong's face did not change, this person's eyes were very strange, he was really like a tiger's eyes, not angry and self-threatening.

"The old lady is polite, since the Heavenly Master has taken over your post, the affairs of the Zhou family should be covered by me." He said, "I want to find out what the evil thing has to do with your mansion?" ”

Mrs. Zhou had already prepared her speech, and she was not in a hurry, so she took a sip of tea and said, "This matter has indeed been said for some years, if Mr. is not in a hurry, please listen to me slowly." ”

Cui Xianrong nodded and said "please".

Mrs. Zhou put down the teacup, cleared her throat, and said slowly: "This matter is really a long story, Mr. should know that although my Zhou family is not a well-known person, but it has also been based in Quyun for nearly two hundred years, and the reputation is still some, in the third year of Xianfeng of Qing Wenzong (1853), I married into the Zhou family that year, and I took a fancy to this clear name." ”

"The lord of the Zhou family was my husband's brother, named Huaide, when he was 16 years old, he was also a well-known talent, at that time the most famous woman in Quyun was the singer of the calligraphy and painting boat, named Wei Zhen, she had a younger brother named Wei Chang'an, this sister and brother were born to two compatriots, both famous for their talents, my father-in-law was young and vigorous, and one day he would go to ask for advice."

"The calligraphy and painting boat seems to be a place that everyone can't go, and the women there say that the best ones are singers, and the bad ones are prostitutes, but no one can pull him, and when he looks at the boat, he can't take his eyes off it."

Speaking of this, she paused for a long time, and seemed to be grateful for the past, and her expression became sad for a while.

"But he is the head of the Zhou family, how can he marry a dusty woman as his wife? Even if it is a concubine, it is not qualified, at that time the old man was still there, so he sent someone to secretly give the woman a sum of money, and also helped her redeem herself, let her take her younger brother to live elsewhere, what I didn't expect was that this woman turned out to be a temperamental person, one did not accept my father-in-law's money, and the other refused to leave, my husband's brother is a living person in the end, and he can't be locked up, so he knows about it. ”

At this time, Wei Zhen said that she had a child of the Zhou family in her womb, and she had to enter this door. My father-in-law was so angry that he fell ill in bed, and my husband's brother also understood that this matter could not be forced, especially since the whole city was waiting to see the jokes of the Zhou family, but this person could not help but marry, and then he thought of a way to damage it. ”

The old lady's eyes became more and more resentful, and then she said, "He actually wants my husband to marry that woman to fill the house!" I had only been out for a few months, so what was that? I couldn't do it, he couldn't force someone in, but he wanted my husband to speak on his own. ”

"On the Shangyuan Festival that year, I went to the temple fair to worship, and he secretly brought Wei Zhen into my husband's room! A woman who had already had an affair with him and had a child was carried to my husband's house, and thanks to my dowry girl who secretly came to me, I drove straight back to the house in a fit of anger and kicked the woman in the stomach. ”

"As ......a result," she sneered, "that woman is not pregnant at all, my husband's brother had to confess, this is the plan of the two of them, they want to marry her into the Zhou family with a blood relationship, but they did such an ugly thing out of human ethics, and brought my husband, how can I bear it?" ”

"I swore at the time that as long as I had a breath for a day, she would never want to enter the door of my Zhou family, and it was also because I provoked it, my father-in-law was already moved, but she Wei Zhen, in the end, was still turned away, but what I didn't expect was that this was the beginning."

"After another two years, before my father-in-law left, I told my husband's brother that he was a good sister-in-law, named Ai Jing, and within a year, they had a child.

"My father-in-law has gone, and no one can take care of them anymore, but poor my sister-in-law, who was locked up in the door all day as soon as she had a child, and within a few months, the child fell ill and died. As for Wei Zhen, she and my husband's brother acted in harmony all day long, and my sister-in-law hanged herself on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival. ”

"Bloody red clothes, since then, the Zhou family has been haunted, and when they invite people to come and see, they all say that Ai Jing's unjust soul refuses to leave, and he has to pay for his life. The more docile people are on weekdays, the more ruthless they become, and I know that, but fortunately I have always had a relationship with my sister-in-law, and these things have not been twisted and turned in our yard. ”

"Seeing that woman was about to be forced to die by a ghost, my heart was also happy, but I didn't expect that at this time, her younger brother Wei Chang'an actually died inexplicably!"

"At that time, it was reported to the official, but the news that the Zhou family had ghosts was rumored early, and the county magistrate didn't dare to care about it for a while, but he just dragged it slowly, dragged it on, and Wei Zhen's child actually died."