C19

When the sky darkened, the group arrived at Liulin Village.

Liulin Village was a village in the northern mountain under the rule of the Cloud Prefecture. There weren't many people in the village, and they were scattered across the north, south, and west sides of the mountain. Furthermore, since most of the roads here were mountain roads, their families didn't rely on them as much as others.

"Wear them first. The mountain is much better than the mansion outside. Even a doctor would find it difficult to find them after suffering from a cold."

This time, Xiao Qinglang came here with Xu Chu, only bringing Wei Guang, the stall owner, with him. When the few of them were discussing which direction to stay for the night, they only saw Wei Guang silently blinking his eyes, indicating that he did not know.

"Big Brother Wei is truly a kind person. It's not easy to find a wife like this." It was rare to see Wei Guang's usually cold expression as he blinked his eyes in confusion, causing Xu Chu to feel that it was a little bit different. After all, they had met before, so it was normal to tease him a bit.

But before Wei Guang could react, Xiao Qinglang raised his eyebrow and asked: "Big Brother Wei?"

"That's right. Don't you think that Brother Wei has reached the age to find a wife?" Xu Chu imitated Wei Guang and winked at him.

Sure enough, after Xiao Qinglang heard this, he carefully looked at Wei Guang a few times before nodding in agreement, "It's not small, I'll introduce you to a good girl after I find the Chu Family's auntie."

When the somewhat bitter Wei Guang heard this, he immediately waved his hands and said: "Your Highness, please spare me. This subordinate has not recovered from my shock, you cannot let Auntie Chu come again." Saying that, he swallowed his saliva, looked at Xu Chu with difficulty, and said, "Lady Xu can no longer joke around, if I were to let Auntie Chu find a girl stronger than me, I would really be scared to death …"

King Jing'an's Estate loved to be a matchmaker. A matchmaker isn't that rare, what's strange is her sense of aesthetics. In her eyes, only those girls who are as big as a man's butt and as thick as his waist are good, well-bred and capable … The first time was when she tried to betroth Wei Guang to her, and even the happy Wei Guang could not hide his smile for a few days. When she took a look at her, she realized that the girl was really thicker than herself, even her fists were bigger than sandbags.

From then on, he hated that he couldn't avoid Auntie Chu every time he saw her, so why would he dare to take the initiative and send himself to their doorstep?

The three of them spoke as they walked towards the village. At this moment, they saw two people carrying fishing nets in their hands. The two of them, one old and one young, talked about their harvests for the day. It was obvious that the two of them were startled when they saw Xu Chu and her group, and stopped in their tracks.

"Are you foreigners? "Why is it so late for Tian'er to come to our mountain?"

"My two fellow villagers are well-mannered. My younger sister and I had wanted to have some fun in the wilderness, but we ended up in the village because we were lost. May I ask if you two could help us stay for the night? " The one who spoke was naturally Xiao Qinglang, he currently did not have the slightest bearing of a noble prince, and only had a gentle smile as he asked this.

Most of the people in the mountain were very hospitable. Seeing that these people didn't look like evil people and there was even a charming woman accompanying them, they didn't hesitate for long.

"We don't have many rooms in the mountain, I'm afraid you guys have made do for the night." With that, the two of them brought Xu Chu and the rest to the shore.

The ones who were staying for the night were a father and son duo. Their father was already over a hundred years old, and the wrinkles on his face looked very old. His son, Liu Tiedong, was also in his twenties. He was quite honest and honest. On the way to his house, Xu Chu and the others found out that the lives of the villagers in Liulin Village did not solely depend on the farmland owners, but also on the large area behind the mountain that had a pond that had appeared out of nowhere.

"There is living water in that pond, so there are always big fish. We common folk have no other hopes. If we can't find a good job, we would go and get a few nets of fish to trade for money." Seeing Xu Chu looking at his fishing net, Liu Dashan could not help but laugh, "From what the elders in the village said, this is the God of Mountain Lord's blessing for our village. Earlier, someone went up the water flow, but we were unable to find the source …."

"But can the fish in the pond continue to be fished? Won't we be finished? " Xu Chu was a little confused. She naturally wouldn't think that the old man was lying to her, but if he lived the life of a fisherman for a few generations, and this place could not be considered as the ocean, then she would feel that it was inconceivable.

Hearing Xu Chu's words, Liu Dashan could not help but laugh out loud, "Young lady's words are correct, if it was just a windfall, then there would be no end to it. "Before the ice freezes in the autumn of every year, our village would always buy some seedlings to put in. After fishing for a whole winter, we will be able to catch up …"

After a few words, they arrived at Liu Dashan's house. Now they pushed open the wooden door and shouted that their family was back. Just as he finished speaking, he saw a yellow-skinned woman with a coarse cloth wrapped around her hair come out of a wooden house. She wiped her hands as she asked, "Did you catch any fish today?"

She hadn't thought that someone would come to her house, especially someone who looked like a noble and dressed very decently. Now, when he raised his head and saw a person from the courtyard, he was shocked for a moment.

"Aunt, we are siblings who passed by, and we want to temporarily borrow your home for the night." Xiao Qinglang cupped his hands and said.

"Sigh, lodging isn't a big deal, it's just that I'm afraid the people at home despise such a simple and crude place."

That woman was Liu Dashan's old wife, Liu Dashan, and was also a simple and honest person. Originally, her family only ate some porridge and vegetables, but now that guests came, it was naturally not easy to wait for. Thus, she decided to slaughter a fish and ruthlessly dug out a bowl of noodle soup to boil it.

Perhaps it was because they had not eaten any meat for a few days, and with Xu Chu, who liked all kinds of food, they enjoyed their food to their heart's content. As for Xiao Qinglang, he was no longer concerned with food or conversation. After Xu Chu scooped a few mouthfuls of food into the bowl in front of him, he also frowned as he continued to eat without batting an eyelid.

After eating their fill, Xu Chu helped Aunt Liu clean up the dishes. At home, she often did these jobs, so her movements were quick.

By the side of the kitchen, Xu Chu and Auntie Liu were squatting on a rock and washing the dishes, chatting along the way.

"Aunty, I heard that twenty years ago, something big happened in our village?" Xu Chu's face was filled with curiosity, as if he was filled with suspicions.

"Sigh, be quiet. That is a life threatening matter." When Aunty Liu heard her asking so casually, she thought that the old man's words were getting worse and worse. However, she liked it when she saw that Xu Chu was not as smart and diligent as the others, and knew that he did not have the airs of a rich family. Looking left and right, seeing that night had fallen and that there was no one around, she whispered, "Looking at your age, I'm afraid you were still a baby then."

"Twenty years ago, a few bandits came and killed quite a few people in our village. At that time, the entire village was in a state of panic and no one dared to open the door." Lady Liu sighed, "Later on, on the south coast, a few people killed the bandit leader together, and even captured a few small bandits. "It's just that someone died. No one in the village would dare to take a look. It's fortunate that the old master of the Wu family is a coroner of the yamen. He knows how to talk to the officials of the yamen. That's why we didn't let those families go against him …"

"Afterwards, there were a few ruckus on the south coast. Those people were also moved away, so no one in our village dared to go there." Seeing that Xu Chu was confused, she pointed to the south, "It's over there. I heard that there's still a ghost fire at night, it's scary. In the past two months or so, there were still people who heard the sound of wailing coming from that side at night. It was so miserable that it was terrifying. "

"It's been decades. Auntie, do you still remember the surnames of those families? Those people are really bold, they even dare to capture those vicious bandits. "

"How could I not remember? There are only so many people in our village. The Zhang Clan, Li Clan, and Wu Clan were all moved away after receiving the appreciation from the government. I heard that they even made a fortune outside." Only the brothers Liu Da Fu and his son did not move out. They asked for a piece of land from the village and then took the bounty and married each of their wives. They are living quite a hot life now. " Saying that, Auntie Liu sighed, "It's just a pity that the Li family's children were killed by that bandit. The corpse that was examined by Mister Wu was completely different from the face of the bloodied forest …" "A half-grown child, you know how to be smart …"

"Then does Aunt remember that sickly daughter-in-law of the Li family?" Xu Chu remembered what the Li Family butler had said and immediately asked.

"What sickly and sickly daughter-in-law? That Li family's daughter-in-law is a capable person. She's an expert at everything outside of home. She doesn't even get a headache every year." Aunty Liu raised her voice slightly, and looked at Xu Chu, "Many of the women in our village are envious of the Li Family for marrying a strong and capable daughter-in-law. We country folk are not like the city, if really sick hands can't lift shoulders, that is deadly. "Speaking of which, their family is very diligent. All in-laws are kind people, and men and wives are sincere as well. Now that they have money, it's only right for them to be happy outside …"

Hearing this, Xu Chu froze, as if something exploded in her heart.

Li Jin's original wife had a strong and healthy body. It was impossible for her to die after a few days of hard work and bumpiness. In other words, Li Jin had made up a story from the very beginning. If he became ungrateful because of his sudden wealth, why didn't he reconnect the string later? But if it wasn't because of his ungrateful heart, then why in the world …

Seeing Lady Liu sigh, Xu Chu also sighed to show her sorrow. In the conversation that followed, she was somewhat absent-minded. Only when Lady Liu saw that she was distracted did she ask if she was tired from the journey and urge her to rest.

Before night fell, Xu Chu and Xiao Qinglang met up in the room and naturally told each other the news that they had gotten from Aunty Liu's mouth.

"This is interesting." Xiao Qinglang indicated for Xu Chu to take a seat, then took a deep glance at Xu Chu, and said with a smile in her eyes, "This king coincidentally found something as well. After the bandits escaped from this village twenty years ago, they were caught or killed, but their numbers are different. In the past, the criminal files of the county's prison had all been accidentally burnt, and the Ministry of Justice's death row files had also been destroyed. However, after this king had looked through the initial three years or so of records, the number of prisoners I have deduced is far greater than the number of bandits that were recorded to have committed the crime twenty years ago.

As he said that, he handed over the long combed book in his hands to Xu Chu. Xu Chu took the book. After a long while, her face turned serious as she looked at the records in her hands and said, "Let's not talk about the Ministry of Justice. Even the management of the county magistrate's office has been very careful.

Xiao Qinglang did not frown. Instead, he slightly leaned forward, pointed at the place he marked, and slowly said: "These people were people who were randomly arrested and imprisoned during that period of time. They are all lonely people, without any relatives or friends. This King sent people to investigate secretly, but they were unable to find any traces of these people. "

Of course, this was a strange thing. If they lived, they would not be able to see the corpse.

At this time, the two were extremely close to each other, so Xiao Qinglang couldn't help but touch his fingertips that were on the booklet. A warm feeling spread through his fingers, causing him to look over in surprise.

"Your highness already knew?" Xu Chu raised her eyebrows, "That's why we have the Liulin Village."

"I was just suspicious before I came. This case shall be investigated by you, but as for this king being in charge of the matter of the prison, naturally, I cannot slack off. " Xiao Qinglang's gaze swept across Xu Chu's face unwittingly, and then, as if she had thought of something, she started to chuckle. The smile was like the resuscitation in the springtime, causing ripples in the human heart, even Xu Chu could not avoid it.

Xu Chu was in a daze, when she came back to her senses, she was looking into Xiao Qinglang's warm and dark eyes, causing her heart to start beating faster. She didn't dare discuss the details of the case with Xiao Qinglang again, and hastily kept her letter and the booklet to the side, then left in a hurry.

Only Wei Guang was left confused. He stretched his neck and looked at the dark sky, thinking, could it be that the Lady Xu was panicking?

Instead, it was Xiao Qinglang who had an indescribable good mood, as he stared at the space between his fingers in deep thought.

In the Liu Family's cabin, Xu Chu sat on the wooden bed, wrapped in her cloak, deep in thought. As for why it wasn't a blanket, it was because the blanket was not yet warm.

On the south coast, a few families had killed bandits before, and the surnames of those families were directly facing the Zhang, Li, and Wu families … The other two families stayed in the village and moved to other places, such as Liu Da Fu and Liu Da Gui.

And just before the first case, people had heard miserable cries and haunted things from the south coast. Excluding ghosts and monsters, who had appeared on the Southern Shore that had been abandoned for decades?

Just as she was lost in her thoughts, she suddenly heard what seemed like faint cries coming from outside. There were men and women crying like ghosts. The sound of the weeping was deep and mournful, as though it carried endless resentment and resentment. It appeared in the village filled with venom, causing the entire village to be shrouded in a terrifying atmosphere …