Chapter 28 Ajiu wants to tell a story to the evil creature
The butler held the wooden bird that exuded a strange aura, his face pale, and crawled into Chu Xuanyi's bedroom.
"My lord! Something bad has happened!" The butler's voice changed and sounded like crying.
Chu Xuanyi was racking his brains with anxiety, thinking about the "coincidence" at the Yongning Marquis's mansion. The housekeeper's shout frightened him so much that he nearly fell off the bed. He forced himself to sit up, frowning, "Why are you so frightened? Is the sky falling?"
"It's scarier than, scarier than the sky falling!" The butler tremblingly handed the wooden bird in his hand to Chu Xuanyi, "Look, sir! This is what Miss Jiu just fished out from the bottom of the koi pond! To me... it looks like one of those harmful evil spirits!"
Chu Xuanyi took the wooden bird, looked at it carefully, and his pupils suddenly contracted!
The rough carving, the two obsidian eyes that shone with a faint light, and especially the twisted and strange talismans painted with cinnabar under the wings, all indicated the evil of this creature!
"It's indeed a curse!" Chu Xuanyi gasped, feeling a chill running from his tailbone to the top of his head, instantly sobering him up. "This thing is sinister and vicious, nourished by the blood and resentment of living beings. Buried where the cursed person often is, over time, it can damage a person's luck and even take their life! No wonder... no wonder those koi fish died suddenly a few days ago, and were even wearing that strange 'crown'! That crown might also be the medium that triggered the curse!"
Just then, Ajiu came jumping in, holding a bunch of purple grapes with dew on them that had just been picked from the garden.
"Sir! Sir! Do you think this looks like the biggest bead on your hat?" Ajiu handed the grapes to Chu Xuanyi like presenting a treasure, and then she saw the wooden bird in his hand at a glance, and her little face immediately fell.
"Huh? Why is this ugly little bird here?" She tilted her head and looked at it curiously. "It looks so unhappy, its wings are drooping, and there's no light in its eyes. It looks like it's been crying for a long time and it's hungry!"
Chu Xuanyi and the housekeeper were both stunned.
Crying for a long time? Hungry? What nonsense is this girl talking about?
"Ajiu," Chu Xuanyi tried to make his voice sound gentler, "How do you know it's unhappy, crying, and hungry?"
"It said so itself!" Ah Jiu pointed at the wooden bird as if it was a matter of course. "It smells... well... like spoiled pickles from the kitchen, and a little... like the bitter taste of the burnt medicine residue in Aunt Zhang's medicine jar. It said it doesn't like water, it's too cold, and it wants to find someone... who also has that stinky medicinal smell and likes to sneak around and hide things at night..."
Chu Xuanyi and the housekeeper looked at each other, and saw a hint of horror in each other's eyes.
The dry smell of spoiled pickles? The bitter taste of burnt medicinal residue?
Who in the Imperial Master's Mansion would have such a smell? Who would be secretly hiding something?
The housekeeper suddenly remembered something, his face changed, and he said hurriedly, "My lord! I remember! That old flower farmer, Wang Wu, who's in charge of the garden and koi pond, has been complaining about feeling unwell for a few days. He made some herbal compresses and applied them, but there's always a strange odor! And... he's usually a bit dishonest, and likes to steal things from the mansion and sell them! Could it be... him?!"
Chu Xuanyi's eyes suddenly became sharp. "Go and fetch Wang Wu immediately! Seal off the Imperial Preceptor's residence and don't allow anyone in or out! This matter... is of no small importance!"
He looked at the wooden bird in his hand, then glanced at Ajiu who was concentrating on trying to stuff purple grapes into the wooden bird's mouth, and his heart was filled with mixed feelings.
Although this girl is a little silly and keeps getting into trouble, her extraordinary "perception" always comes in handy at critical moments!
"My Lord, the little bird won't eat grapes," Jiu pouted in distress, "Does it want to eat meat?"
Chu Xuanyi took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart. He said to the housekeeper, "You go ahead and do it. Also, prepare the car immediately. I need to go to the palace immediately to meet His Royal Highness the Regent!"
This matter was beyond his ability to handle independently. This amulet had appeared in the Imperial Preceptor's residence. Was it him or someone else's target? Who was behind this? This wasn't just an internal matter at the Imperial Preceptor's residence; it was likely connected to some shady faction within the imperial court.
He must inform Xiao Yu of this as soon as possible.
The butler took the order and left in a hurry.
Chu Xuanyi looked at Ah Jiu, not knowing what to say. If he let her stay in the mansion, wouldn't she be in danger if the mastermind behind this had another trick up his sleeve? But if he brought her into the palace... Thinking of the "grand occasion" of the last flower viewing banquet, Chu Xuanyi felt his liver ache again.
"Ajiu," Chu Xuanyi pondered for a moment, trying to speak in a negotiating tone, "I have to go out on a very important matter. Please stay in the mansion and don't go anywhere, okay? When I come back, I'll buy you some candied haws."
When Jiu heard there were candied haws, his eyes lit up immediately and he nodded vigorously: "Okay! Jiu will wait for the adults to come back! Jiu will also accompany this ugly little bird. It's so pitiful. Jiu will tell it a story!"
Chu Xuanyi: "..."
Telling a story to a talisman? This... only this clueless girl could come up with this idea.
But that's good, at least she won't run around.
Chu Xuanyi quickly changed into court clothes. While the housekeeper dispatched people to closely control Wang Wu and strengthen the security of the Imperial Master's Mansion, he had already boarded the carriage heading to the palace.
The firewood room of the Imperial Master's Mansion has now been temporarily converted into an interrogation room.
Wang Wu, the old flower farmer who usually tended the garden and carried a complex herbal aroma, was now trembling on his knees, not daring to raise his head. The butler wore a stern face, and two burly guards stood beside him. The atmosphere was so solemn that it seemed to drip with water.
"Wang Wu!" the housekeeper slammed the gavel (actually a thick piece of firewood from the woodshed) and shouted, "Do you admit your guilt?!"
Wang Wu shuddered all over and cried, "Master Steward, please spare my life! I... I don't know what crime I have committed! I have always worked diligently in the mansion and dare not slack off for even a moment!"
"Hmph! You still dare to quibble!" The butler sneered, "That evil creature at the bottom of the koi pond was put there by you?!"
When Wang Wu heard the word "evil thing", his face turned pale and he shook his head like a rattle: "No, no, no! It's not me! No matter how brave I am, I wouldn't dare touch that kind of dirty thing! Master Butler, you are wise! That thing... that thing can kill people!"
"Oh? You knew it could kill people?" The housekeeper's eyes sharpened. "Tell me! What do you know? Did you hide that thing? The lingering smell of medicine on you, and your usual sneaky behavior of hiding things, don't think we don't know!"
Wang Wu was sweating profusely after being questioned. He hesitated for a long time before he confessed incoherently under the intimidation of the guards.
It turns out Wang Wu was indeed addicted to gambling and deeply in debt. A while ago, a masked man approached him, offered him a large sum of money, and asked him to help hide a small wooden box at a specific location at the bottom of a koi pond. The masked man explained that the box contained a treasure used by a nobleman for "blessings and good fortune," and that it must not be seen. He said that if he hid it on time, he would receive a generous reward. However, if he dared to open it, peek, or leak the information, his entire family would be killed.
Wang Wu, blinded by the money and fearful of the other party's power, bravely accepted the job. The medicinal smell on his body was due to his own folk remedies for years of rheumatism, but the masked man didn't seem to care.
As for the wooden bird, Wang Wu really didn't know what was inside. He just followed the instructions and secretly stuffed the oilcloth-wrapped wooden box under the bluestone slab pointed out by Jiu on a dark and windy night.
"What does the masked man look like? What are his characteristics? When will he contact you again?" the butler asked.
Wang Wu said with a sad face, "I... I really didn't see his face clearly! He was wrapped up tightly, and his voice was hoarse, so I couldn't tell his age. He said he would come back to me after the matter was done, but... but he hasn't come yet! Master Steward, everything I said is true, please spare my life!"
The housekeeper frowned. It seemed that Wang Wu was just a fool who was being used. The key clue still lay with the mysterious masked man.
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