Seremban Village.

Wang Changgui, the head of the village, took Zhou Yong and his party to investigate the village, and they all covered their faces with white cloths to prevent infection. Zhou Yong found that except for a few of them, there was not even a single ghost on the entire road.

Wang Changgui explained as he walked: "Our Furong Village is vast and sparsely populated, although there are only a few dozen families in the village, everyone lives a harmonious and fulfilling life. But now the doors of every family are closed, and they dare not have much contact, for fear that they will be infected by the plague and kill them. After all, we poor people are no bigger than the big families in the city, once we get sick, where do we have any money for treatment? Even if you are lucky, if you can't endure it, it is all fate!"

Wang Changgui stopped in front of an abandoned courtyard, pushed open the crumbling wooden door, and several people followed him into the dilapidated house, in which five corpses were neatly placed, all covered with straw.

"These are the few people in our village who died of the plague. Strange to say, our village is far away from other villages, and we don't come and go often, but this plague has somehow spread, and all the dead are strong men! I think their deaths are so terrible that they have not seen a good person and they are shriveled to the point that only skin and bones remain, so I reported the case and wanted you to investigate!"

After Wang Changgui finished speaking, he carefully brushed away the hay with a pitchfork, and at first glance, the deaths of several people were almost identical, all of them were shriveled skin wrapped in bones, and two of them were so frightened that they took two steps back in an instant, and one of the newcomers ran out and vomited directly.

Zhou Yong and Qi Zuo stepped forward and examined the bodies of several people from beginning to end, and found that all the deceased were characterized by a bite mark on their necks, and scratches from deadly weapons on the back of their necks.

"What is certain at this time is that they all died from a fatal wound to the neck, like something sharp cut through the neck, causing blood loss and death. As for why it became such a wrinkled corpse, it is still inconclusive, old man, I have been a servant for so many years, and it is the first time I have seen such a strange way of death. ”

Wang Changgui listened to these words, and suddenly said with a frightened face: "I heard from the older generation that there is a mountain ghost in our back mountain, and he will occasionally kill the woodcutter who went to the mountain to cut wood to eat meat and drink blood! We are also afraid that it is the mountain ghost who will come to the village to make trouble, so we specially called someone to Guanyun Dao and want to invite a Taoist priest to do a ritual for us to drive away evil spirits and eliminate disasters!"

Zhou Yong pondered in his heart, since he couldn't find out the clue, he could only ask his boss to come out and take a look in person.

"I see that it is getting late, and there is still some distance to go back to the city from here, so I will go back first and report the situation to our lords today. It is not certain who did it, after all, it is not like an ordinary person, but it is not caused by disease. Village chief, you have to lock the doors of each household, and when the Taoist priest you invite comes over tomorrow, the people from our government will also come to investigate again. ”

"Okay, since the poor master has said so, then we can only wait for good news, and I will send you to the entrance of the village. ”

After Wang Changgui finished speaking, he led them out of the village, and after seeing them leave, he turned to leave but was stopped by a coquettish voice.

"This man, please stay!"

He turned and saw a beautiful woman coming up from behind a tree, her graceful figure swaying and full of imaginative desire.

"This lord, you see that it is getting late, the little woman is alone and has nowhere to go, I wonder if the lord can let me stay overnight?"

Her fox eyes flickered, and in an instant, the noble Wang Chang lost his soul, and the air seemed to be filled with the smell of blood again......

At night, inside the Shangshu Mansion.

Butler Mo gave Zhao She, who was handling official business, a cup of hot tea, and when he saw Zhao She holding a cup to drink, he casually glanced out the window, where he could see the wall in the backyard, and he quickly realized the meaning.

"The eldest young master is going to return home in a few days, and I heard that he has made a lot of contributions in the past two years!"

"Yes, Huai'er has always been brave and resourceful, and today he praised him in the court, saying that he would be rewarded when he came back!"

As soon as Zhao She's voice fell, her gaze as she read the file stopped unconsciously, thought about it and said, "If Tong'er has half of his brother's, I don't have to worry about him all day!"

Steward Mo stepped forward to add tea to him, and then looked at the blooming irises by the window and smiled.

"Since the beginning of spring, the flowers in our garden are all going forward and competing to bloom, you see how beautiful this iris blooms, as well as the lotus in the backyard pool, the gardenia in the front yard...... But we've forgotten only two!"

Zhao She looked at him a little inexplicably.

"What are you doing, jacquard?"

Steward Mo continued with a smile: "Master, when the epiphany bloomed in this house last year, you stayed here all night for it!"

Zhao She looked at the epiphany and couldn't help but sigh: "Yes! The light yarn was lifted to look at the delicate face, bursts of fragrance came from the garden, and the night was quiet and everyone fell asleep, and the epiphany was drunk and poetic." How many people have held on to it all night throughout the ages, just to see it bloom for a moment!"

Steward Mo continued with his words.

"The epiphany has to wait for a whole year but only blooms for a few seconds, and the plum blossoms have to endure all year round until the cold winter opens, the second young master and the eldest young master seem to be different, but they both have their own ambitions. At the beginning, the eldest young master insisted on joining the army, but you repeatedly stopped him from signing up, but he actually packed up his baggage and ran overnight to catch up with the expedition team! Now that the second young master is old, he is unwilling to follow you into this career, not because he does not want to make progress and does not seek progress, but he does not want to take the road that the master paved for him in front of him!"

Listening to Steward Mo's words, Zhao She was a little dissatisfied.

"What do you mean, I let him go to the imperial examination and enter the official career has become a forced requirement, is it possible to let him be a lifelong servant in that small Xiping Mansion? Besides, you still don't know how I have been an official for so many years, when will I break the rules because of my own personal feelings?"

"The hearts of the people in the world are unpredictable, and you naturally won't mess up, but what about those who want to cling to the master?"

After Steward Mo finished speaking, he picked up the teapot and cup and put them in the tea tray.

"This tea is already cold, and it is easy to change the pot, but it is a different taste when you brew it again. It's better to drink enough tea while it's still hot, after all, what others say about this good taste doesn't count, and if you taste it yourself, it's called life!"

Zhao She looked at Steward Mo, his frowning brows suddenly relaxed, and he smiled angrily: "You, for so many years, you dare to speak outright in front of me! Now that I am also old, I have worked hard for decades, what ups and downs have I not experienced? Madame left early, I naturally want them to have an easier road in the future...... Whatever he wants, let him go. But I have one condition: if he is still a small servant in three years, you can let him come back honestly to study for me and make a name for himself!"

In fact, Zhao She had already learned that they went to Qinglou just for the case, but he refused to let go because of his feelings, and Zhao Wuwu was just as stubborn and refused to apologize, and now this Steward Mo's words finally made him learn to take a step back.

After all, this person was born to come to this world for the first time, whether he is a parent or a child, which one has not grown up by making mistakes little by little?