Chapter 34 Bai Xuan

Wei Yanqing chased Ming Huazhang all the way. Although he usually took care of his body shape, he had not exercised for a long time, so how could he compare with Ming Huazhang? He ran out of breath, and was shocked by the scene before him, so he couldn't even speak.

Jiang Ling was screaming and screaming as Ren Yao chased him. Ming Huazhang glanced at Xie Jichuan, who was straightening his sleeves with an expressionless face, and said, "Okay, you two, stop making trouble."

Jiang Ling quickly ran behind Ming Huazhang. Ren Yao rushed over with his fist clenched. Ming Huazhang stood still, not dodging. He looked directly at Ren Yao and said, "That's enough. This is the Wei family. Don't let the shopkeeper Wei laugh at you."

Ming Huazhang's eyes were calm and cold. Even though Ren Yao's fist had already rushed to his eyes, he did not waver at all, and had no intention of dodging or defending. Ren Yao finally stopped his movements, glared at Jiang Ling fiercely, and walked away in a bad mood.

Ming Huashang knew that it was her turn next, so she was very obedient and took the initiative to run to Ming Huazhang's side. She seemed scared, but in fact she hugged Ming Huazhang's arm to please him: "Brother, you are finally here! We were originally looking at the trees in the garden, and suddenly we heard someone screaming over here, so I followed Mr. Wei Dalang here. I don't know what happened to Mrs. Wei San, she insisted that there was a ghost and kept attacking the puppet, which scared me to death."

Ming Huashang looked frightened, but in fact, not a single word was superfluous, and she had cleared herself of all the charges. She was not pretending to obey, but was attracted by the screams and Wei Moyuan. It was not her fault, right?

Ming Huazhang glanced at Ming Huashang, who immediately blinked, revealing a well-behaved and weak expression. Ming Huazhang didn't bother with her and said, "Shopkeeper Wei, you just said that your second apprentice committed suicide and his soul has been liberated, and now your third apprentice is in trouble. What exactly do you want to do? Or are those previous words all lies, and there is indeed something wrong with your puppets? In this case, let's cancel the contract..."

When Wei Yanqing heard that the order he had signed with great difficulty was going to be cancelled, his heart skipped a beat and he quickly said, "Mr. Cui, calm down. This is a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding."

After saying this, Wei Yanqing looked at the timid Wei Moyuan and disheveled Wei Zhuyan, with an unpleasant expression on his face: "Look at you, what a joke you made in front of the distinguished guests! Tell me, what's going on?"

Wei Yanqing was elegant and gentle when talking to Ming Huazhang, and looked like a handsome middle-aged man with a good temper and good maintenance. But when he restrained his smile and faced the Wei family, everyone, whether it was his two disciples Wei Moyuan and Wei Zhuyan or the maids and servants serving around them, immediately lowered their heads.

It can be seen that Wei Yanqing is very strict in private, and not as gentle as he is to outsiders.

Wei Zhuyan still looked dazed. Wei Moyuan stepped forward and apologized, "Master, it's my fault. I didn't take good care of my junior sister and disturbed the distinguished guests. Master, please punish me if you want to. Please don't punish my junior sister."

"No!" When Wei Zhuyan heard that Wei Moyuan was going to be punished, he raised his head and said, "This has nothing to do with Senior Brother. I saw her, and she appeared in my room and said she wanted to take me away. I was scared and hit her hard, but she refused to leave. Her head rolled down, but she still refused to leave!"

The maids around looked at each other, and Wei Moyuan said with a look of heartache: "Zhu Yan, there is no one else, and you have been beating a puppet."

"Puppet?" Wei Zhuyan was stunned. She looked at the brightly colored puppet lying on the ground in pieces. She suddenly screamed and covered her head, saying, "No, it's not a puppet! It's her, it's really her. She possessed the puppet and talked to me!"

Wei Moyuan felt very distressed when he saw Wei Zhuyan like this. He ignored everyone's gaze and hugged the mad Wei Zhuyan tightly: "Junior sister, don't be afraid, no one will hurt you!"

Ren Yao couldn't help but look at the puppet on the ground. The puppet was slender and delicate. If the head was included, the overall height would be about her shoulders. Its clothes were not painted on, but were worn like a real person.

However, no matter how realistic it is, it is still very different from a living person. It is impossible to mistake it for a person, and you will not hear the puppet speak.

In broad daylight, Ren Yao felt something eerie. She hugged her arms and asked, "Who is she talking about?"

Wei Yanqing sighed as he looked at the messy yard and said, "The misfortune of our family is due to my short-lived second disciple, Wei Baixuan."

"Wei Baixuan?" Ren Yao frowned, "Isn't she dead?"

"Yes." Wei Yanqing said, "But Zhu Yan and her second senior sister have a deep friendship and she has always refused to believe that the second sister is dead. She always says that she can see Bai Xuan's ghost. I asked a doctor to come and see her, and he said it was probably hysteria. In a few days, no, tomorrow, I will ask a monk to come and exorcise the evil spirit for her."

Wei Yanqing was being polite, but Ming Huashang looked at Wei Zhuyan's attitude and didn't think he had a deep relationship with the Second Senior Sister. Ming Huashang asked, "Did someone pretend to be a ghost to scare the Third Senior Sister? Has anyone come to the Third Senior Sister's courtyard during this period?"

Two maids were huddled behind the pillars, trembling with fear. When they noticed Wei Yanqing looking over, they shook their heads in panic, "Miss San wanted to sleep, so she sent us out. We have been guarding outside the courtyard, but we didn't see anyone come in."

"It's just Zhu Yan's hysteria." Wei Yanqing insisted, "Bai Xuan is dead. She was worried too much and saw hallucinations. Help Sanniang go in and rest. Mo Yuan, go and deal with these things."

After saying that, Wei Yanqing looked at Ming Huazhang and smiled gently again: "Mr. Cui, this is all a misunderstanding. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you. There are still some details of the order that need to be finalized. Please move aside, let's go to the living room to discuss in detail."

Ming Huazhang gently rubbed his knuckles with his fingers, pondering in silence.

Wei Yanqing clearly had the attitude that his family's shame should not be made public, and he did not want them to pry into the matter. However, there were still many unclear points in this case, so it seemed that they had to find a way to get Wei Yanqing away and find someone to get some information.

But Ren Yao was not good at covering up, neither at dragging people along nor at asking lies; it would be good if Jiang Ling didn't sell them out, Ming Huazhang really didn't dare to count on Jiang Ling; and his best and only choice - Xie Jichuan was now with his head down, his whole mind focused on the stain on his sleeve, and he probably wouldn't care even if the sky fell.

While Ming Huazhang was considering, Ming Huashang behind him suddenly grabbed his hand and said, "Brother, I feel a little uncomfortable."

Ming Huazhang lowered his head, while Ming Huachang covered his chest with his hands, frowned and said, "My chest hurts a little, my chest feels stuffy, and I can't breathe."

As she spoke, she fell to the side weakly. Ming Huazhang reached out and caught the frail and sick Ming Huachang, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Wei Yanqing saw this and asked with concern, "What happened to Madam Cui?"

Ming Huazhang felt helpless, but he still had to cooperate with her and said, "She has been in poor health since she was a child, and her heart cannot stand stimulation. Maybe she ran too fast just now, and her old illness relapsed."

When Wei Yanqing heard this, he quickly said, "It's all our fault for not hosting you well. I'll ask someone to invite a doctor right away."

"It's okay." Ming Huashang leaned against Ming Huazhang and said weakly but considerately, "I often do this. Give me a clean room and I can rest for a while."

Wei Yanqing didn't dare to let Cui's wife do anything bad in their house, so he quickly sent someone to clean up the guest room. Ming Huazhang looked at Ren Yao and said, "You stay with her. I'll go discuss the list with the storekeeper Wei and I'll be back soon."

Since entering the Wei Mansion, or more precisely, the secret meeting point of the Xuanxiao Guard, Ming Huazhang has shown a calmness beyond his age, deploying troops and issuing orders in an orderly manner. Ren Yao and Jiang Ling are also the stars in the sky outside, but facing Ming Huazhang, they seem to easily enter the role of obedience and naturally accept Ming Huazhang's leadership.

Ren Yao nodded and helped the "sick" Ming Huashang away.

Ming Huashang was very gentle and soft throughout the whole process, holding her heart. After sitting in the guest room, the maid saw that Ming Huashang was still holding her heart, and she was a little scared: "Madam Cui, do you still feel uncomfortable in your heart?"

"Yeah." Ming Huashang nodded weakly and said, "It's an old problem. Just bear with it and it will go away. Do you have any new things? Tell me about it. If you have other things to think about, the pain will not be so unbearable."

The maid was a little overwhelmed by the favor. She thought hard and said, "I serve in the inner house all day long. It's the same things over and over again. There's nothing new."

"Then tell me about your life." Ming Huashang lowered her voice and asked, "I heard that the eldest son and the second lady in your family are engaged, but today I saw the eldest son hugging the third lady, this..."

Gossip is indeed a common hobby of human beings. The maid was obviously very excited. She knew clearly that she shouldn't do so, but she couldn't help her nature and whispered to Ming Huashang: "Madam Cui, this is related to the reputation of the master family. I shouldn't say too much. I just tell you, please don't spread it."

Ming Huashang nodded immediately. Ren Yao stood beside the couch, admiring Ming Huashang's ability to be familiar with others. At the same time, he perked up and listened carefully to what the maid said next.

The maid said, "The shopkeeper has a miserable life. He has such a big business, but he has no children in his life. Da Langjun is the shopkeeper's apprentice in the theater. He suffered a lot in his early years and followed the shopkeeper all the way from being penniless to building up the family business today. So the shopkeeper trusts Da Langjun the most, and the family business must be handed over to Da Langjun. Unfortunately, Da Langjun is a down-to-earth and stable person, but he has no talent in business. In fact, this is not a difficult problem. The shopkeeper has already opened up the way. As long as Da Langjun treats people with sincerity, those nobles will be willing to continue to take care of the Wei family. But the difficulty is that Da Langjun does not know how to make puppets. The shopkeeper has taught him for many years, and the second lady who came in later has learned it, but he can only do the most basic things."

Ming Huashang nodded slowly: "So, that's why Manager Wei wants his eldest disciple to marry his second disciple and inherit the Wei family together?"

"Yes." The maid continued, "The eldest son and the second lady are childhood sweethearts. If they can get married, it would be a good thing, but fate is hard to say. After the shopkeeper taught the second lady, he didn't plan to take in any more disciples. But one time when the shopkeeper went to the Buddhist temple to burn incense, the stalks said that the shopkeeper had a calamity and a blessing in his life. The calamity was a man, who would make the shopkeeper lose everything, and the blessing was a woman, who would help the shopkeeper make a comeback and be rich and worry-free. After the shopkeeper left the Buddhist temple, he happened to see a girl who was lost. The shopkeeper waited for a few days, but couldn't find the girl's family, so he took her in as his third disciple, who was the third lady Zhu Yan."

Ren Yao raised an eyebrow, having already guessed where the story was going: "So, after the new junior sister came, the senior brother fell in love with the younger one?"

"Yes." The maid sighed, "The third young lady was very young when she came to the Wei family. The shopkeeper was busy with business at that time, and the second lady was carving puppets in the workshop all day long. The third young lady was basically raised by the eldest son. The third young lady became more and more beautiful, and her temperament was lively and active. She could talk and laugh. No one in the Wei family disliked her. Moreover, since she came, the Wei family's business has been getting better and better, and everyone thinks that she is blessed. The shopkeeper is so strict with his apprentice, but in the name of the third lady, he is reluctant to beat or scold her, and almost spoils her like a daughter. In comparison, the second lady is a bit too boring.

Ming Huashang heard this and asked, "Are you talking about Wei Baixuan? What kind of person is she?"

The maidservant felt a little sorry and said, "Second Lady is also a miserable person. It is said that she was abducted when she was only five or six years old. She was sold to several places. She first worked as a maid in a wealthy family, but was sold again because she offended the manager. Later, if our shopkeeper had not bought her from a human trafficker, she would have been sent to a kiln to be a prostitute. Because of these things, she became particularly silent and uninteresting. She only spoke one sentence when asked. She was always talking. They all stayed in the workshop, and everyone thought she was weird. The second lady's appearance was very mediocre among ordinary women, and even worse than the eldest and third ladies. If the third lady hadn't come into being, the second lady and the eldest would have been a good couple, but unfortunately, the shopkeeper took in another apprentice. We servants can see that the eldest and the third lady are more suitable, so the second lady's love is in vain. "

Ren Yao was very sad when he heard this. Ming Huashang asked, "Does the Second Lady like the First Master?"

"Of course I like it." The maid said without hesitation, "When the second lady first came to the Wei family, she was as boring as a gourd with a saw blade and was very unpleasant. The shopkeeper couldn't help but get angry when he saw her. Thanks to the help of Da Langjun. Begging for mercy. Later, the second lady carved wood. Oops, the shopkeeper's anger became less intense as she got into it, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that she had always liked Da Langjun, but he was kind to everyone except him. I really like the third lady.”

This is really a common but helpless love triangle. Ming Huashang asked: "Since you all know that the eldest disciple likes the third disciple, then the shopkeeper Wei should also know it, right? Why did he let the eldest disciple and the second disciple get engaged?"

The maid looked around and was obviously a little scared, but she couldn't help her gossiping. She came closer and said to Ming Huashang, "Because the shopkeeper said that there should be order of seniority and we can't mess up the hierarchy. But according to the servants who serve the shopkeeper, it seems that the second lady wanted to take it."

Ming Huashang raised her eyebrows: "Do you want to pinch it?"

"Yes." The maid whispered, "Although the shopkeeper bears the title of the Wei family puppeteer, in fact, most of them are made by the second lady. The second lady is quite talented in this aspect, even better than the shopkeeper. Those puppets ordered by the rich and powerful were actually carved by the second lady."

There are many puppet-making businesses in Luoyang City. The reason why the Wei family is the leader is because the puppets are made exquisitely and can even be customized according to the wishes of the rich and powerful. Ming Huashang always thought that Wei Yanqing was gifted, but now she knows that these are all made by Wei Baixuan.

Ren Yao felt sorry for Wei Baixuan at first. She herself was a person who could not speak and could only express her feelings through actions, so she felt very sympathetic towards Wei Baixuan. But now, she felt that she might have jumped to conclusions too early.

This could be a total villain game.

Ren Yao asked: "Why did she want it?"

"Use her puppet making skills." The maid said as a matter of course, "The shopkeeper cares most about the reputation of the Wei family. The second lady has made so many puppets for the Wei family. She just wants the eldest son to marry her. How could the shopkeeper refuse?"

Ren Yao was speechless for a moment. The maid said that Wei Moyuan and Wei Yanqing had shared hardships and had a deep affection as master and disciple. She thought they were very affectionate, but it turned out to be nothing more than this.

Ming Huashang sighed: "Love is a word that can make even the most sensible person unable to escape once they fall in love. If Wei Baixuan got what he wanted, why would he commit suicide?"

"Because the eldest son and the third lady didn't want to." The maid also felt that the foolish man and the resentful woman were pitiful and sighed, saying, "The eldest son was the apprentice of the shopkeeper when he was in the theater. He couldn't make puppets, but he was good at singing opera. Unfortunately, after the shopkeeper's voice was damaged, he hated to listen to people singing opera. The second lady was like a wooden head. She listened to whatever the shopkeeper said. The eldest son had been very lonely in the past few years, but after the third lady came, he became interested in those operas. The servants were very interested in the play. More than once, the servants ran into the eldest son and the third daughter singing together. They were a handsome man and a beautiful woman, and they were in love. The words of the play seemed to be written for them. The eldest son was a good man and the third daughter was also likable. No one had the heart to tell the shopkeeper, so they just pretended not to know when they ran into them. But that day, when the eldest son and the third daughter dismissed the servants and were rehearsing in the house again, they were bumped into by the second daughter.

Ming Huashang's eyebrows moved slightly: "That day was..."

"It was the day before the Second Lady committed suicide." The maid seemed to be thinking of something and was a little scared. She said, "That day, the First Lady drove everyone away. We don't know the details. We only heard that they quarreled later. The First Lady was very excited and said that he would report to the shopkeeper to cancel the engagement. He only had the Third Lady in his heart and would never marry the Second Lady. The Second Lady was also very angry and said that she would go to the shopkeeper to complain and accuse them of secretly practicing opera."

Ren Yao took a deep breath. Every step of the Wei family's affairs was beyond her expectations. She didn't know what to say: "And then?"

"Then the Second Lady went to find the shopkeeper." The maid said, "I don't know what she said to the shopkeeper, but the shopkeeper was angry and asked someone to take her to the workshop to make puppets and keep her quiet. Later, the shopkeeper called the First Lady and the Third Lady and scolded them, threatening to kick them out of the house if they didn't obey. We don't know why the shopkeeper and the Third Lady were so angry. All the apprentices were angry. For two days, everyone served carefully, fearing that they might touch a mold. The next day, the person who delivered food to the workshop found that the food was untouched. The shopkeeper thought that the second lady was angry, so he ignored it. Later in the evening, the eldest son was afraid that the second lady was hungry, so he asked someone to force the door open, but he found... he found that the second lady was lying on the ground, bleeding from her neck, dead. "

Ren Yao sighed, but Ming Huashang noticed that the maid looked a little strange. She asked calmly, "It's a pity that the second lady committed suicide, but she was trapped in love and couldn't figure it out. The shopkeeper has performed a ritual to help her pass away, so it can be considered a good fate, and it has resolved the cause and effect between her and the Wei family."

Sure enough, after Ming Huashang finished speaking, the maid looked very strange, and hesitated to speak. Ming Huashang pretended to be confused and asked, "What's wrong? Was I wrong?"

The maid sighed. This was the kindest young lady she had ever seen. She was said to be from the Cui family. The maid liked Ming Huashang very much and could not bear to harm her, so she disobeyed Wei's strict command and whispered to Ming Huashang, "Madam, you are a good person. I don't want to see you frightened, so I have to say a few more words. The puppets of the Wei family... are very weird. You should try not to buy them. When the second lady died that day, many puppets fell around her. It looked like the puppets killed her. What's more terrifying is that when the eldest son saw the dead body, he hurried to call for help, but when the shopkeeper came, the body was gone!"

Ren Yao and Ming Huashang both widened their eyes. Ming Huashang asked in surprise, "Gone?"

"Yes." The maid's face turned pale with fear, and she kept rubbing her hands. "This matter is too weird. The shopkeeper invited a Taoist priest to perform a ritual and also posted a talisman to drive away ghosts at the door of the workshop. After that day, the Wei family has been restless. First, the puppets ran around everywhere. We didn't take it seriously at first, thinking that someone forgot to take it. Later, a puppet holding a knife appeared at the head of Sanniang's bed. Isn't this exactly the same as the day when the second lady was killed? Later, ghosts could be seen even in broad daylight. Sanniang kept shouting that she saw a ghost. We thought she was hysterical, but one day a puppet suddenly appeared in the main hall, sitting on the main seat and looking at people. Suddenly, blood came out of all seven holes. Not only the shopkeeper and the housekeeper, but even the guests saw it! The shopkeeper invited monks and Taoist priests, but it was useless. Today, those things appeared again!"