Chapter 59 Chapter 59 Madam Shen is Ah Man’s…
The person guarding the door was a familiar face. It was the wife of the Liu family's housekeeper who came to visit a few days ago.
The housekeeper also had some impression of Shen Qing. When she saw Shen Qing in men's clothing, she was stunned for a long time before she recognized her.
"Mrs. Shen...?"
Chen Qing smiled at her kindly and explained, "Don't worry, Madam Steward. It was my idea that Prince Cang move Madam Liu and her daughter to this guesthouse. The Liu family is now being targeted by evil spirits, and Your Highness has important matters to attend to, so he has to temporarily stay in Yuanchun Tower. To ensure your mistress's safety, I have no choice but to resort to this last resort."
"Your Highness Prince Cang..." The housekeeper suddenly remembered the rumor circulating in Chang'an City about the engagement between the daughter of the Shen family and His Highness Prince Cang, and she no longer felt strange. But when she heard that the evil spirits were targeting the Liu family, she couldn't help but gasp.
"There are other people in the family..." Although most of them are just low-level servants, the housekeeper has developed feelings for them after living together for so many years.
"Don't worry, the evil spirit's main target is Liu Siqing and his wife. The rest of the people in the Liu Mansion are safe for the time being."
Chen Qing was about to ask to meet Liu Wanxiu and her daughter, but when she saw the housekeeper, who was clearly a few years younger than Liu's mother, she suddenly changed her mind. She said, "Excuse me, housekeeper, how many years have you been in the Liu family?"
Although the housekeeper was puzzled, she replied, "I entered the Liu family when my young lady was born, and it has been fifteen years since then."
"Has the housekeeper ever heard of or seen the sister that Madam Liu mentioned?"
"I have never seen her. I have watched the young lady grow up since she was born, and I have never seen the young lady have an older sister who she plays well with." This was also what confused her. Why would her wife suddenly say that the young lady had an older sister who she played well with when she was young?
Chen Qing was a little disappointed, but then he thought, since the case of Ah Chou had made Liu Siqing and his fake mother keep their mouths shut and refused to say a word, then it would not be difficult to replace all the servants in the family.
The housekeeper remembered something and said, "But when you were five years old, a strange thing happened."
Chen Qing asked, “What’s the matter?”
"When the young lady was five years old, she fell seriously ill and was unconscious for seven days. After waking up, she kept clamoring to see her elder sister. However, she was the only child in the family, so where could she find her elder sister? The servants couldn't find her, so she started crying and making a fuss, and became extremely thin for a while. Fortunately, she was still young at the time and didn't remember anything. After a few months, she put the matter behind her and recovered."
After listening to this, Chen Qing seemed to be thinking about something. This meant that the memories in Liu Wanxiu's "world" were all real. It seemed that even if he asked Liu's mother, she would not tell the truth. So he would just wait for the Happy Funeral Demon to come.
Maybe after being frightened by the Happy Funeral Demon, she would be willing to tell the truth.
Before leaving, Chen Qing decided to let the housekeeper convey a message: "Those who sow evil will surely perish. Madam Liu will be safe for the next ten days, but she will surely die after ten days. If you want your daughter to live, you might as well think about how to tell her the truth about what you did. Perhaps Liu Wanxiu still has a chance of survival." She returned the jade carp that Liu's mother had given her.
The housekeeper was confused after hearing this, but she told Liu's mother the truth.
When Liu's mother took the jade carp, she thought something had happened. Her eyes were red as she grabbed the housekeeper and said excitedly, "Didn't I give everything to her? Why did she return it? Is it possible that Wanwan is beyond saving, or has something happened to Madam Shen?"
After working hard for several days, Liu's mother's spirit has been stretched to a thread, and any slight disturbance is enough to make her on the verge of mental collapse.
Seeing this, the housekeeper's eyes also turned red. She whispered to comfort him, "No, Madam Shen said that the Liu Mansion was targeted by evil spirits. In order to protect the safety of the lady and the lady, she asked His Highness Prince Cang to take us to the guesthouse near His Highness, just in case."
She frowned, "Also... Madam Shen asked me to bring a message to Madam. She said that the young lady will be safe for the next ten days, but after ten days, the young lady will definitely die."
"Those who sow evil will surely perish. If you want me to live, you should think about how to tell the truth about what you did. Perhaps I can still have a chance of survival."
After hearing this, Liu's mother froze. Her lips trembled as she turned to look at her unconscious daughter in the bedchamber. "Those who sow evil will surely perish."
She shook her head blankly and said, "But I have no choice, I have no choice at all..." After mumbling to herself, she turned her head sharply and pulled the housekeeper and said, "Tell me again, why did His Highness Prince Cang place us here?"
"Because the Liu Mansion is being targeted by evil spirits, it's unsafe..."
With a "click", Liu's mother collapsed to the ground.
"Those who sow evil will surely perish on their own. Those who sow evil will surely perish on their own. Haha..." Mother Liu hugged her head, half-smiling, but in the blink of an eye her face was already filled with tears, "She's back after all..."
The housekeeper had no idea what Liu's mother was talking about, so she could only kneel down in silence.
.
On the first day, the doors of Yuanchunlou were tightly closed and it was announced that it was closed for rectification. Everything inside the building was calm.
Liu's mother sat facing the window all night, and overnight, her temples and even her remaining black hair turned gray quickly.
On the second day, there were several strange auras in Yuanchun Tower. The ladies in the building closed the door tightly and did not go out. The door was covered with talismans. Only a few disciples in white clothes and carrying swords were wandering in the corridor. All of them were from Dongshan Temple.
Liu Siyuan refused to speak, his mother remained silent, and the head of the group, Madam, also played dumb. When asked about Ah Chou, she said, "I really don't know."
The rest of the residents were questioned, and some of the original group dispersed or died. The only two elderly people, Haitang and Shancha, who knew specifically about Ah Chou, were also murdered. A closer look revealed that the more experienced members of Yuanchun Tower, like the Liu family, had been replaced in a wave of personnel changes in the past few years without anyone's knowledge.
However, in this building where people are easily bored with the old and love the new, it is perfectly normal for old faces to leave and new faces to come.
At that time, Shen Qing looked at the small black snake the size of a jade bracelet coiled on his wrist and couldn't help but exclaimed: "Can you become smaller?"
The black snake stuck out its tongue and tried to shrink its body, making itself smaller again until it became as thick as a hairpin. Then it stopped. Its tongue was stuck out and it couldn't be retracted.
Qiu Ren had become quite fat and weak because of Li Daoxuan these days, and he hadn't seen blood for a long time. He was almost exhausted just by shrinking himself.
When Chen Qing pressed down with her fingers, it just raised its head and rubbed it, then retracted its tongue and coiled up on her wrist, motionless.
After having enough fun, Chen Qing held up his chin and looked up at the sky through the window lattice.
But the sun was blazing brightly in the sky, with not a breath of wind. Perhaps because he had seen Chen Qing sweating profusely a few days ago and knew she was afraid of the heat, Gu Yun had someone send over a few plain brocade bags. Upon opening them, he discovered they were the same brocade bags Li Daoxuan had given him that day.
Although Li Daoxuan gave her the recipe, it takes time to make these, and the servants haven't had time to deliver them yet. Now these brocade bags just happened to solve her urgent problem, so Chen Qing accepted them without hesitation.
Chen Qing looked at the lotus seeds she was peeling, pondered for a moment, and put a bunch of lotus seeds into the jade cup, ready to give it to Gu Yun to eat.
She had picked those to send home for her mother to eat, and now she could just give some to Gu Yun as a token of gratitude.
She pushed open the door, and just then a disciple came to the door and called out solemnly, "Young Taoist Priest, please stay."
The disciple was the same group that had originally gone to the tavern with Li Daoxuan to drink and catch monsters. Naturally, he knew Chen Qing. Seeing that she was dressed as a man, he pretended not to know and asked, "What's the matter, sir?"
"Thank you, Taoist Priest, for bringing this to Gu Yun for me."
Hearing Chen Qing calling Gu Yun by his name, the disciple quickly became curious and pricked up his ears quietly, but his hands did not stop moving: "No problem." He took the jade cup handed to him by Chen Qing.
There are white, tender and round lotus seeds lying in a row, which makes people's appetites whet.
He quietly widened his eyes, "Did the master peel this with his own hands?"
It was just a few lotus seeds, but the other party was so surprised. Chen Qing couldn't help but feel suspicious and said, "That's right."
The disciple also realized that he had lost his composure, smiled awkwardly, and made an excuse: "Oh, I used to like eating lotus seeds too. I just tried to peel them myself, but I was clumsy and couldn't peel them properly even after a long time. So when I saw you peel so many lotus seeds today, I was really impressed."
Seeing him say this, Chen Qing reluctantly dispelled the doubts in his heart, turned around and took out a lotus seed from the house and gave it to him, "This one is for the young Taoist priest."
The disciple was flattered and said, "No, no, how can I take it..."
"Young Taoist priest, you've been working hard patrolling the tower these past two days. It's only right that you eat some lotus seeds. Take them," Chen Qing said. Without waiting for the disciple's reply, he closed the door.
The white-robed disciple stared blankly at the two lotus seeds in his hands, stunned. When he reached the corner, he felt a chill on his back. He looked back blankly, only to see Li Daoxuan standing in the shadows with a sword in his arms.
He was so frightened that he almost drew his sword. When he saw the man's face clearly, he said, "You are so good, Li A'man, you really scared me!"
Li Daoxuan stared at the two lotus seeds in his hand with an expressionless face. He had just seen Chen Qing call him over and personally handed the two lotus seeds to him.
Seeing Li Daoxuan staring at the two lamps in his hands, Zhang Qingcheng narrowed his eyes and suddenly smiled knowingly.
He took the initiative to say: "Oh, this is given to me by Madam Shen. She asked me to give this one to Zicheng..." After saying that, he paused for a moment, raised his eyes and secretly looked at Li Daoxuan's reaction, but saw that he was indifferent. Zhang Qingcheng couldn't help but hesitate.
Could it be that he guessed wrong and Li A'man didn't like Madam Shen?
"This one was peeled for me by Madam Shen, who understood my hard work." He emphasized the word "by her own hands".
To his disappointment, Li Daoxuan's expression didn't change as he had hoped. He remained stern throughout, ignoring his words. He said businesslike, "I'm going to interrogate the man. Please return quickly after you've sent him off. Don't let the demon take advantage of the situation."
After saying that, he strode away with his hands behind his back.
Zhang Qingcheng hissed and said, "How strange! Could it be that Li A'man really doesn't like Madam Shen, and this marriage was decided by a saint?" He shook his head and walked towards the guest house next door.
The two of them sat cross-legged on the wooden steps, chewing on the lotus seeds that Chen Qing had peeled herself. Zhang Qingcheng said, "Zicheng, are you kidding us? Ah Man doesn't seem to be showing any signs of being attracted to you."
Gu Yun said with great conviction, "There's definitely something fishy going on! Let me tell you, back in Mount Li, Qiu Ren had already set his sights on Madam Chen and followed her wherever she went. And now, he's set Qiu Ren free again, letting him follow Madam Chen."
He stuffed a lotus seed into his mouth, "You know how important Qiu Ren is to him," chewed, chewed, chewed.
Zhang Qingcheng pondered for a moment: "Qiu Ren is not Ah Man, what if Qiu Ren likes Madam Shen?"
"No, absolutely not." Chew chew chew.
Zhang Qingcheng was annoyed by his disjointed words and punched him in the stomach. "Let's talk after we finish eating."
Gu Yun retched and nearly vomited up the leftover food. He covered his mouth, swallowed the lotus seeds with difficulty, and pointed at them, saying, "You, you, you—"
"Alright, Lady Zhang, I'll tell you the truth. Li A'man is such a person he won't do something, even ten oxen can't pull him back. Have you forgotten that there was a lady from a noble family who fell in love with A'man and was so determined to marry him that she even went to Dongshan Temple to suffer with him?"
Speaking of that person, Gu Yun couldn't help but admire her sincerely: "That girl's mother couldn't persuade her, so she had to send her up. She is quite determined. She endured the Dongshan Temple for two years and even alarmed the saint to intervene."
"What happened?"
"Li A'man gave up the luxurious life of Chang'an City just to see her. First, he made a scene with the Saint with his sword, then he followed his master on his journey. It wasn't until the maid couldn't wait for him and was betrothed to another man that A'man returned. He had lost a lot of weight."
Zhang Qingcheng's name is homophonic with "Qingcheng", and he was born with fair skin and a beautiful face, so his brothers often teased him as "Beauty Zhang".
At first he was angry and beat them all up, but later, perhaps he became numb, and when he heard the title again, he obviously accepted it well.
"So since the Saint was able to successfully grant the marriage, Li A'man must have been relieved."
When Zhang Qingcheng heard this, he immediately felt that it made sense and nodded.
The two brothers held the lotus seeds and chewed them.
When the lotus seeds in the bowl were almost finished, Zhang Qingcheng suddenly asked, "No, Madam Shen is Ah Man's fiancée. Why would she peel the lotus seeds for you instead of for Ah Man?"
Gu Yun waved his hands hurriedly: "That's because I saw she was very hot, so I gave her some summer heat sachets. Madam Shen probably gave me lotus seeds in return for this."
Zhang Qingcheng nodded thoughtfully.
.
Chen Qing accidentally stained his hands while drawing the talisman. He was about to ask someone to fetch water to wash his hands. As soon as he opened the door, he saw a sculpture-like figure standing in front of the door.
Ever since that day when they had an inexplicable quarrel, they hadn't seen each other again. When Chen Qing first saw him, she felt a little dazed: "What are you doing here?"
Li Daoxuan said nothing.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Chen Qing didn't want to make things awkward, so she walked around him and went to find someone to get some water.
What she didn't see was that a bewitching red light flashed in Li Daoxuan's eyes, and then Qiu Ren, who was hiding on his wrist, suddenly woke up, and after swelled several times, climbed to Chen Qing's waist.
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