Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 725: Non-professional Ghost Pretender
An hour ago, the gate of the Kong family's East Mansion was closed. Unlike the West Mansion of Grand Secretary Kong, there were no soldiers from the Sharp Cavalry Battalion standing guard or patrolling. Only the two lanterns hanging in front of the gate made it clear that this was an official residence. Although the owner, Master Kong Jiu, a doctor of the Ministry of Rites, was not of high rank, the mansion was no less shabby than the West Mansion judging by the walls.
A black shadow flashed in front of the door, and in a moment it ran to a side wall. Seeing three little guys crouching in the shadow of the wall, looking around, he couldn't help but step forward and flicked each of them on the head, including the Fourth Prince, and then pointed at the wall without saying a word. The Fourth Prince, who understood the meaning of the music, had no intention of showing off, and jumped on the back of the person with a happy face.
Seeing Ah Liu carrying the Fourth Prince on his back so easily and climbing over the wall, Peanut couldn't help but suck his teeth.
But before he could decide whether to show off his true abilities or not, he saw Xiao Cheng climbing up the wall with ease. He panicked , not wanting to be left here to watch, so he spat twice into his palm, jumped up, and started climbing without saying a word.
When he climbed over the wall, his heartbeat quickened as he hadn't done anything like this for a long time. He jumped down hurriedly without taking a look at what was going on inside. After he stood firm, he realized that it was pitch black all around him, just like the street outside. Thinking of when he lived in Zhang Garden, the lights would be turned off in uninhabited places at night, he couldn't help but murmur.
Could it be that Mr. Kong Jiu's family has few people, so many houses are empty and no one lives there, so there are no lights? No, that's not right. There must be something mysterious about the place that Ah Liu chose to sneak into! Looking at the shadows and swaying branches around, is this... a garden?
"Sixth brother, why is it so dark here? Don't you turn on the lights?" Someone soon asked Peanut's question, and it was the curious Fourth Prince.
Ah Liu's answer was not only as frugal as always, but also as choking as always: "It costs money to light the lamp!"
Seeing the Fourth Prince dumbfounded and Peanut not knowing whether to laugh or cry, the usually serious Xiao Cheng couldn't help but interrupt and said, "I heard from Brother Zhu that the Zhaoguo Mansion also has a lights-out time every night. After the lights are turned off, only one light is left at the door of each courtyard. It's the same in the palace, right? It's just that you didn't come out in the middle of the night."
After hearing this, the Fourth Prince blushed, and Peanut was speechless. But Ah Liu didn't intend to waste time here, and immediately said unhappily: "This is the garden of the Kong family's East Mansion. Are you lighting a lamp in the garden in the middle of the night for the ghosts to see?"
Hearing that it was a garden, and being choked by Ah Liu's words about showing it to a ghost, the Fourth Prince was speechless for a moment, but then he said eagerly: "I heard from my father that although the Kong family is a family of scholars, they actually believe in ghosts and gods the most. Before, I said that we should sneak in and interrogate him to find evidence, but I just thought about it. After all, we are trespassing, so why not force the interrogation, but pretend to be a ghost to scare him? Maybe we can scare the guy to death and trick him into giving us some evidence or something?"
After hearing this, Peanut, who was a little worried that it was too reckless to force his way in, immediately agreed. But when he saw Ah Liu glance at him, he suddenly remembered whether Ah Liu would let him come out to dress up as a female ghost, and his expression changed immediately.
He never wants to pretend to be a woman again in his life!
But at this moment, he heard Xiao Cheng cough lightly, and he volunteered, "If you want to play a ghost, I'm very good at it. I've scared many people by playing a ghost before, especially the timid ones who would fall down at the slightest scare!"
The fourth prince was delighted when he saw that there was a professional ghost-dressing expert after he proposed an idea. He left the confused Peanut behind and grabbed Xiao Cheng to discuss the matter. However, before he could even open his mouth, Ah Liu interrupted him.
"Don't waste your time. If someone sees you, you'll be a thief if not a thief. Xiao Cheng, you said you're good at pretending to be a ghost, so pretend to be the one Jiang Zhuoer said, the child Kong Jiu asked him to kill. He should be about your age."
Accompanied by Zhu Tingfang, he met Jiang Zhuoer and listened to the detailed account of the various transactions that Dr. Kong had concluded with others in the black market. The Fourth Prince and Little Peanut now understood who Ah Liu was talking about.
He was the youngest son of an old Jinshi who had once had disputes with Master Kong Jiu and later competed for the title of Taichang Doctor. It was a pity that the old Jinshi passed the imperial examination at the age of fifty, and when he finally enjoyed a happy life after many setbacks, his precious young son, who he had managed to save with great difficulty, happened to be frightened by a horse during a trip, and died at the age of nine.
Xiao Cheng had been influenced by Liu Zhiyuan and Zhu Tingfang for many years. Although he had done some unethical things like pretending to be a ghost , he later begged Zhu Tingfang to compensate those people who had bought Liu Zhiyuan's old house but were scared by his ghost and sold the house at a low price. He also kept saying that he would pay back the money in the future. Therefore, everyone here knew his serious and focused character and his hatred of evil.
At this moment, Xiao Cheng listened to what Ah Liu said, and nodded heavily, "I understand, let's go now!"
Peanut saw that they were actually going to pretend to be ghosts, and he was so scared that he couldn't help asking, "Are you going like this? If you want to pretend to be a ghost, don't you need to change your clothes, let your hair down, and get some blood on your body? That would give it that mood and atmosphere?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the three people in front of him looking at him in unison. The Fourth Prince's eyes were even full of surprise, as if he had discovered a more professional ghost actor. Even Ah Liu was examining him carefully. He couldn't help but cover his forehead and sighed: "Xiao Cheng, you said you were going to dress up as a ghost, you're not just going to wear this outfit to scare people, are you?"
"That's what I did before." Xiao Cheng looked innocent, as if he didn't realize there was anything wrong. "I would just sneak in, eat some of the food in the kitchen, throw the dry firewood everywhere, and then swish around in front of people so that they couldn't catch me. After asking monks and Taoist priests to catch ghosts failed several times, I would be scared away."
Ah Liu raised his eyebrows thoughtfully, and finally remembered what Hua Qi had told him before, that he had secretly taken care of Xiao Cheng.
There is no doubt that the reason why Hua Qi was able to successfully dress up as a ghost and scare the owners who bought the Liu family’s house to run away faster than the last was not because of his outstanding skills in dressing up as a ghost, but... because Hua Qi did more things behind the scenes, including but not limited to scaring away the monks and Taoist priests who were catching ghosts!
So, he made a prompt decision and said, "Okay, you guys stay here, I'll go prepare things and check where Kong Jiu is staying tonight. Remember don't move around, if there's any movement you can still climb over the wall and escape, understand?"
Seeing the three of them nodding their heads like chicks pecking at rice, although he was a little worried that these three would cause trouble once he left, he knew that if he took them with him, he would not be able to accomplish anything. So he turned around and left without hesitation.
Anyway, he had noticed someone following them and Zhu Tingfang's group into the city, and he thought it was the imperial attendant. As for how people would react when they saw him and the three little guys climbing over the wall into the Kong family's East Mansion, he didn't have time to care. It was estimated that someone would be anxious to report to the madman, and someone had quietly followed them in.
Although it was a tough job to stay in the garden in the cold weather, they were all wrapped up tightly and had company beside them. The three of them stamped their feet and rubbed their hands, and finally did not dare to move. Even the most unruly Fourth Prince was concerned about the consequences if he was discovered and brought before the Emperor to be questioned.
It’s okay to dress up as a ghost to scare people, but if you get caught in the act… it’s better than being caught as a thief before you even finish dressing up!
Two of the three were the most talkative, but since Ah Liu wasn't here, no one dared to say anything. They waited and waited until they were almost frozen. Suddenly, they saw a flash before their eyes. Ah Liu finally came back, holding a bundle in his left hand and... a chicken in his right hand! No matter if he was knocked unconscious or what, it was a chicken anyway!
The fourth prince's eyes widened immediately. Before he could say anything, Ah Liu had already thrown the bundle at him. He hurriedly reached out to take it, opened it and saw a white dress. He was slightly stunned, then quickly shook the white dress open and put it on Xiao Cheng. Xiao Cheng was busy putting on the dress and tying the belt, while Ah Liu moved his hand and twisted the chicken head off.
When the fourth prince was dumbfounded, he saw that Xiao Cheng's face and body were covered with blood splashed from the chicken's neck. Even though he had always been fearless, when he saw Xiao Cheng's bloodstained clothes and his face that looked even more hideous under the blood, he was so scared that he took several steps back and turned pale.
Seeing that Xiao Huasheng looked normal, Xiao Cheng remained calm even though his face was splashed with blood and his white clothes were stained with blood, making him look like a ghost from the underworld. At this moment, the Fourth Prince finally understood what his father meant when he said that many scholars and officials were boastful but would lose their souls when they saw blood.
He had seen a bit of the world, but he was still shocked at this moment. He thought that if Master Kong Jiu saw Xiao Cheng dressed like this, he would definitely not be much better than he is now!
The fourth prince, who had reacted, saw that Ah Liu had thrown the live chicken high into the air, and had actually thrown it outside the wall, leaving only the bloodstains on the ground that showed the "killing" scene. He couldn't help but whispered, "Sixth brother, isn't your 'destroying the body and covering up the traces' a little too crude? We can find out what happened later. Do you want to clean up the mess?"
They couldn't possibly take the dead chicken with them when they left, right? Even if they took the dead chicken away, there would be no way to clean up the bloodstains here!
The puzzled kid saw Ah Liu frowning. He was afraid that people would think he was doubting his ability, so he wanted to explain a few more words. As a result, Ah Liu asked him back and he was speechless again: "As long as we are not discovered, why do we need to clean up the mess?"
This really... makes a lot of sense! Realizing that it was he who suggested going to the Kong family to seek justice, and that it was he who came up with the idea of playing the ghost, the Fourth Prince felt that he, the instigator, was simply tying himself up in knots. But now it was too late to regret it, because that would be too unfair to Xiao Cheng who had already made a huge sacrifice!
Therefore, he felt very bad for just talking, so he stepped forward and grabbed Xiao Cheng's hand, totally ignoring the fact that Ah Liu had just roughly grabbed the chicken's neck and sprayed it at him, leaving Xiao Cheng's hands covered in blood.
"Xiao Xiao, this time it all depends on you! I will definitely thank you later!"
Xiao Cheng looked at the Fourth Prince's shaking hand with a little disdain, but when he looked up he saw the sincere smile on his face. Thinking that although this Prince was annoying at times, he was a good person, he muttered softly, "No need to thank me! Such a vicious guy should be punished... By the way, Sixth Brother, where does that guy named Kong live?"
"He is alone in the study tonight."
When telling the news, Ah Liu saw the three little guys heaved a sigh of relief at the same time. He knew that even if they were very enthusiastic when they were shouting, if they pretended to be ghosts and scared other innocent people in the Kong family, then not only would Xiao Cheng feel guilty, even Xiao Huasheng and the Fourth Prince might not be able to do it calmly.
He did not mention a word why Master Kong Jiu stayed alone in the study today - it was not because someone was worried about his future and life, so he cultivated his character. On the contrary, Master Kong Jiu was different from his cousin, Scholar Kong, who could not enjoy the company of women every night.
It was because he had used some cruel means that the steward who was in charge of arranging Mr. Kong Jiu's sleeping arrangements became obedient. As a result, the concubine that Mr. Kong Jiu wanted to get close to was either sick or inconvenient today.
In this regard, the superstitious Master Kong Jiu thought it was a sign of something, and he didn't want to go back to stay with his wife, so he decided to live in the study. Moreover, he deliberately drove the servants and maids out, and stayed alone in the study, but he couldn't sleep no matter how he tossed and turned, so he planned to find a few people to help him with the planchette and divine his fortune tomorrow.
He was very suspicious whether he had offended someone recently, otherwise how could he be so unlucky when he had always been successful!
Although Master Kong Jiu slept on a bed against the wall, there was a lamp on in the study. This was his habit, even when he was having sex with his concubines. He usually felt that the flickering light made him feel very erotic, but today, with the same light, he felt drowsy and annoyed even when he closed his eyes.
Finally, in a state of annoyance, he kicked open the curtains in front of the bed and was about to get out of bed in his slippers, but at this moment, he heard a rustling sound. He initially thought it was a mouse, but after frowning and listening carefully for a while, he found that it was not. When he found that the lamp suddenly flickered and suddenly went out in an instant, he suddenly felt that something was wrong.
But before he could call for help, he suddenly felt a gust of cold wind blowing in his face. Then he saw that the window that was obviously closed suddenly opened wide. The next moment, a small figure seemed to appear out of thin air and sat quietly on the window sill.
When their eyes met, he saw the other person wearing a white robe that was too big for him, his face was covered in blood, and there was even a fishy smell coming towards him. He almost had his hair stand on end. At this moment, he heard a voice so cold that it almost made him faint: "Give me back my life!"
