He turned around and raised his hand to introduce: "This is Prefect Yao."
Aunt Tao blushed and was about to kneel down to salute, but was stopped by Prefect Yao.
"I am not wearing my official uniform today, so you don't need to salute."
After everyone was seated, Prefect Yao gave a brief account of the events surrounding Zou Yingguang's murder.
Others were puzzled by Zou Guangmao's completely different attitudes, only Gu Lingze and Zhao Chengmo looked calm.
No matter what, Xu Mingyan also felt that he had implicated two people because of this matter, because of the grudge between him and Zou Yingguang, Gu Lingze and Zhao Chengmo were taken to the government office.
Gu Lingze looked at his expression and knew that he was still carrying a burden on his heart, so he advised: "Brother Xu, since the two of us are safe and sound, you should stop worrying about it."
"As the saying goes, 'blessings are closely related to misfortunes, and misfortunes are closely related to blessings', as long as you keep calm, you can turn adversity into prosperity."
As soon as he finished speaking, Zhang Xuenian suddenly slapped his thigh, stood up excitedly and said, "Well said! My dear friend, may I ask where this sentence comes from? I have been well-informed for so many years, but I have no impression of this sentence at all."
Gu Lingze swallowed his saliva. He didn't even notice that he had just said something from the Tao Te Ching.
Just when he was in a dilemma, Zhao Chengmo beside him said, "His master said so."
It is reasonable to say that Laozi is the Taoist god of morality.
So Gu Lingze nodded quickly and said, "Yes, my master once mentioned some of this to me, so I remembered it."
After saying that, he gave Zhao Chengmo a look that said 'this kid is teachable'.
"Where is your master now? What works has he written? Can he meet with me?" Zhang Xuenian asked anxiously.
Gu Lingze couldn't help but sigh at the other party's love for books as much as for sex, so he could only shake his head and said, "Master, he traveled all over the mountains and rivers, and I couldn't find him."
Zhang Xuenian showed disappointment on his face. Seeing him like this, Gu Lingze said, "But I still remember some of the content. I can copy it for you to see."
Zhang Xuenian's face lit up, and he quickly said, "It's settled then. Remember to give it to me as soon as you finish writing it."
Gu Lingze could only grit his teeth and nodded.
The group had lunch first. Aunt Tao even borrowed the restaurant's kitchen and cooked their favorite dishes for the two of them, which made Gu Lingze smile from ear to ear.
After dinner, we prepared to get down to business.
Ever since the murder happened, Sanyuanlou, which used to be crowded with customers, has become gloomy and miserable. Manager Wang has a miserable face every day and can't even eat.
Prefect Yao asked him to open the door of Zou Yingguang's former room. When he entered, Gu Lingze said to him, "Manager Wang, don't worry about the current predicament. Sanyuanlou's business will be even better in the future."
Xu Mingyan will be the top scholar in the future. Are you afraid that the place where the top scholar lived will not be crowded with people?
Shopkeeper Wang smiled bitterly, bowed slightly and said, "Then I will accept your good words."
After the three of them entered, they found that the room was still in a mess and disarray, just like the day of the incident.
Originally, Xu Mingyan wanted to go along, but Gu Lingze considered that Xu Mingyan would have to take part in the provincial examination in a few days, and was afraid that he would be frightened and affected his condition, so he planned to tell him the truth later.
After Gu Lingze came in, he paced to a wall, placed his hand on a painting hanging on it for a long time without saying a word. Seeing this, Prefect Yao also walked over.
Prefect Yao looked at the signature on the painting and discovered that it was painted by Zou Yingguang himself. It seemed to be his masterpiece and he would carry it with him whenever he went out.
But in the eyes of Prefect Yao, this landscape painting was very ordinary from the brushwork to the painting. At best, it could only be described as bland and not worthy of such a careful scrutiny.
Prefect Yao was about to open his mouth to ask a question, but Gu Lingze spoke before him.
"Sir, do you believe in karma?"
Prefect Yao hesitated for a moment and replied, "I think that in life, one should live up to the four words 'a clear conscience'."
This sentence was not a direct answer, but Gu Lingze nodded in agreement.
"I asked you to come here today so that you can see with your own eyes how Zou Yingguang lost his life."
He took out the bottle containing the blood he had drawn earlier from his sleeve and signaled Zhao Chengmo to close the doors and windows.
After everything was ready, Gu Lingze turned around, walked to the bed, and sprinkled the blood on the bedding.
Prefect Yao was confused by his actions when suddenly there was a sound of water splashing on the painting on the wall.
The sound of water came closer and closer, becoming clearer and clearer. Magistrate Yao took a closer look and found that the mountains, rivers and waterfalls in the painting had come alive.
The splashing waterfall raises bursts of white mist mixed with water vapor that blows towards you.
Prefect Yao couldn't help but feel his whole body tense up, and before he could come to his senses, the scene in the painting changed again.
The water of the waterfall gradually turned black as it flowed. The whole painting was slowly rendered pitch black by the black water, and the sound of water gradually became smaller until it disappeared.
The entire portrait turned into black silk, and the flowing luster on it was strange and eerie.
At this time, the black water had already flowed out of the painting, flowed along the wall to the ground, and after landing on the ground, it turned into strands of long black hair.
At this time, Zhao Chengmo stood silently in front of Gu Lingze, separating him from his hair.
The hair on the ground accumulated more and more, and in just a few breaths it reached the bed. The hair meandered up like vines, tightly entwined around the blood-stained bedding, getting tighter and tighter.
At this time, Gu Lingze took out a talisman and stuck it on the painting, and the terrifying scene in front of him disappeared instantly.
It was early spring and the chill had not yet completely faded, but Governor Yao was so frightened by the sudden and horrifying sight that he was sweating through his heavy clothes.
He was always calm and composed, but now he was a little panicked.
"Sir." Gu Ling startled the other party as soon as he spoke.
"Oh, oh, go on." Prefect Yao hadn't recovered from his shock yet and seemed a little incoherent.
"Sir, Zou Yingguang was entangled to death by the hair that emerged from this painting."
Magistrate Yao now finally understood why Gu Lingze insisted that he come to Sanyuan Tower.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes today, he would never have believed that a painting could be the murderer.
"This painting... why is it like this?" Even now, Prefect Yao is still puzzled.
"Because there is a ghost living in the painting." Gu Lingze replied calmly.
When Prefect Yao heard this, he didn't want to hear any more about the further developments, but due to his duty, he had no choice but to continue.
"Zou Guangmao behaved out of character, is it because he saw this painting?"
Gu Lingze curled his lips slightly, "That's not the case."
"I just let him experience for himself how his son died."
If a person is born with extremely yin horoscope, he or she may see some "unclean" things, and under certain circumstances, he or she may even "empathize" with people who have just died.
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