Painted Skin
After saying that, Zhu Rou Zhang turned around and looked at the three guys and said, "How can I handle this alone? Of course, I need help, right, guys?"
After putting the four people in jail, Wen Yici called for a carriage. Seeing that she was not afraid, he took her to Manxianglou.
It was early spring, the weather was cool and the breeze was blowing. The Manxiang Tower was bustling with people, and even extra tables were set up outside the building. Some people even brought their own servants and maids to serve them food and tea.
Wen Yici held her in his arms and walked up to the shopkeeper, pulling out a jade pendant with auspicious clouds. The shopkeeper, upon seeing it, bowed respectfully and said, "The owner of the building is in the Tianzi wing room. Please come in, young master."
The shopkeeper led Wen Yici to the third floor, where the place suddenly became much quieter. He drew aside the agate bead curtain, and a delicate scholar was sitting inside.
Without looking up, he said, "Your Highness, you are visiting me so late at night. Could it be that you have found evidence of my crime in Manxianglou?" After saying that, he put down the book and stood up to salute.
"The evidence of the crime is being collected. I came here today to ask you for information."
The scholar smiled, picked up the white jade cup on the table, took a sip and said, "Old rules, one for one."
"No, this matter is not just for me. You should go check the bones in the bucket in the kitchen. This murder case involves Manxianglou. We need to find out the truth so we can deal with the Dali Temple."
After hearing about the murder, the host still smiled calmly and sat there nonchalantly. He bent sideways and took out a food box from under the table, fumbled to open the lid and took out a soup bowl. Yuanli then discovered that the host, the fourth master, was a blind man.
He took out a large bone from the food box, held it out to them, and said with a smile, "Would your Highness like to try it?"
Yuanli swallowed hard, pretending to be calm on the surface, but in fact her uneasy hands had already held his. She took a few steps back and shrank towards Wen Yici.
"Xue Feng, don't scare my wife."
Xue Feng took back the bone and laughed, "Hahaha, it's just an ordinary pig bone. Since Prince Wen married his wife, he really has a soft spot." While chatting and laughing, Xue Feng supported his chin with one hand and said, "That's right. After all, she is the person I have been thinking about since childhood."
Yuanli looked up into his eyes, feeling mixed emotions and a bit sad. His recent meticulousness was not for her, but for this body.
Wen Yici just squeezed her hand and smiled at her, but it was a bit dazzling in her eyes.
The atmosphere was slightly off, and Xue Feng broke the silence by saying, "No unmarried women have gone missing in Kyoto recently, and Louge didn't notice the body entering the butcher shop."
After getting the answer she wanted, Wen Yici took her away from Manxianglou. At this moment, Yuanli looked at those wealthy businessmen who were eating heartily, and her brows couldn't help but frown.
As she suspected, the Dali Temple arrived overnight to take the bone broth back. However, the next morning, news of Pork Zhang selling human flesh spread throughout the streets and alleys.
The fire at the city gate affected innocent people as well. Now people can't help vomiting when they see meat. Other restaurants and pork jerky shops have also suffered. Their business is deserted, but the side dish sellers are particularly happy.
After three murders in succession, Wen Yici disappeared early. When Yuanli woke up, the quilt beside her was no longer warm.
She had just finished washing and was sitting alone in the yard waiting for breakfast. Suddenly, a white tiger head emerged from the white courtyard wall. The fat head shook its head as if it was stuck in the wall. The tiger smelled her scent and rushed in.
"Ari~" A clear male voice came. On the tiger's back, Heqi excitedly waved to her like a child, holding a green-faced and fanged animal head in each hand.
He Qi was wearing a moon-white gown, with her hair casually tied up with a jade hairpin, and a belt decorated with silver ornaments tied around her waist. The jade pendant and jade bead pendant collided, making a crisp and pleasant sound.
The white tiger with black and white stripes stopped steadily in front of her, its head taller than her.
"Ah Li, I saw you liked it yesterday, so I had nothing to do, so I rode my meat bun over to bring it to you."
Yuanli felt delighted when she saw the young man who had traveled a thousand miles to bring her the beast's head. Without his stuffy clothes, he looked like a lively and graceful young man. However, the name of this white tiger was a bit sloppy. Wouldn't calling it "Rou Bao" really make the other spirit beasts laugh at him?
"Thank you, Demon Lord, but this is too expensive."
The Demon Lord stuffed the beast head into her hand and conjured a hollow, carved silver bell. "Don't worry, don't worry," he said. "Seeing you're happy, I'm willing to give it to you. I'll also give you this magical silver bell. Brother Cha said it's inconvenient for you to carry this thing around in the mortal world. If you come across a treasure in the future, put it in the silver bell for extra safety."
As he spoke, Heqi demonstrated it to her on the spot, putting all the animal heads back in. Yuanli only had to learn it once before she could do it with ease.
Before leaving, He Qi kindly reminded her that Kyoto was filled with a strong demonic aura, suggesting it might be unsafe, and that she needed to be extra cautious. This person was no ordinary demon. Shortly after he arrived in Kyoto, the demon sensed his immense power and its aura subsided considerably. Furthermore, the ghost in her courtyard also had some of that demon's aura on it.
Yuanli seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw, and hurriedly begged Heqi to help her detect her breath. He agreed generously, and immediately recited the Dust-Avoiding Technique, carrying her to float in the air. The huge palace seemed very small at this moment.
I heard from the pig demon Old Afu that the Dust-avoiding Technique is an advanced magic that can only be used by the great demons in both the demon and devil worlds. It was created by the previous Demon Lord Li Wan when he was 20,000 years old. When one does not know the strength of the enemy demon, the Dust-avoiding Technique can be used to conceal one's own demonic aura. However, there are also drawbacks. The strength of this technique varies according to one's own magic power.
As the younger brother of Demon Lord Li Wan, he is very good at using the Dust-Bidding Art to perfection. Today he has really broadened his horizons.
Floating in the air, the Taifu Mansion was shrouded in a black gas, which was gradually spreading to the surroundings, and the black gas was even thicker in the backyard.
"Painted Skin Demon, low level."
Heqi pinched a small flame out of thin air with his fingers and placed it between Yuanli's eyebrows, then blatantly walked through the wall with her. Following the dark aura, Yuanli came to a quiet and elegant women's boudoir.
Behind the sandalwood carved door, a graceful woman was sitting in front of the dressing table with her back to them, waving a fine wolf hair brush in her hand.
When he got closer, he found that the woman in the paulownia mirror had no face. Instead, there was a human skin placed on the huanghuali table. As the woman waved her paintbrush, the face on the human skin became more and more beautiful.
Yuanli, combining what the storyteller and Heqi had said, learned that most painted-skin demons were female, relying on absorbing the essence of men to maintain their appearance. Without essence, their skin and flesh would wither. However, some would directly peel off the skin of women for their own use.
The corpse in the Imperial Examination Hall and the female corpse in the pork shop were probably the work of this female demon with painted skin.
Suddenly, a maid knocked on the door and said, "Miss San, there's a message from the palace."
The Painted Skin Demon put on human skin and smiled coquettishly at himself in the bronze mirror. He seemed to be in a very good mood and asked the maid outside the door to come in and answer.
The maid entered the room, knelt, and said, "The Crown Prince has decided on you and the Liu family. Tomorrow, both the Liu and Lin families must attend the garden party. My master is the Crown Prince's tutor, so the Crown Prince naturally favors you. My master has sent this maid to tell you to stop thinking about that man at the border. How can love in this world compare to power?"
"Tell my father that he is worrying too much. Tell him not to worry. Lian'er will definitely get the position of Crown Princess." After saying that, Lin Lian'er nonchalantly picked up the lip balm and applied it on her pink lips.
After hearing this, Yuanli wanted to pick up a bench and smash it at her. Although she had not had much contact with the prince, he was still the younger brother of the original body, and therefore her younger brother.
But she didn't know the purpose of the Painted Skin Demon, and she was afraid that it was also related to the jade hairpin, so it was difficult for Yuanli to take action.
After Heqi sent Yuanli back to Prince Wen's Mansion, he left reluctantly. After he disappeared, Yuanli asked Ziyun to call Hongxiu over.
Hongxiu's peach blossom eyes were swollen like walnuts, with a dark circle under her eyes. She looked listless. The plain dress that Ziyun found for her last night made her look even more listless.
Yuanli had never been attracted to any handsome young man, so she didn't understand her sadness at the moment and didn't know how to comfort her. She just told her to stay and wait until she figured it out before reincarnating.
Hongxiu just listened the entire day without saying a word.
Night fell and it was still a little chilly in spring. Yuanli waited for Wen Yici to come back and have dinner together. She heated up the dinner several times, but he still didn't come back.
Nearing the time of garrison, Lin Jian came hurriedly to report the news, saying that his father was worried that the candidates for the Imperial Examination would be killed again, and ordered Wen Yici to garrison the Imperial Examination Hall with the Black Armor Guards.
Because the deaths of the three candidates were so bizarre, the Imperial Examination Hall, which was already sealed off, was now surrounded by three layers of black-armored guards. There were so many black-armored guards that there was a black-armored guard standing in front of each candidate's table, staring at you.
Yuanli hurried back to the room and prepared some spare clothes and coats for Wen Yici, along with the carefully prepared dinner.
At night, Yuanli tossed and turned on the couch, unable to sleep. Without Wen Yici's quilt, the bed was not as warm as before.
It was almost midnight when Yuanli felt tired and fell asleep. As a result, she had to rely on Ziyun's repeated reminders to stay awake in the morning.
The garden party was scheduled to be held in the Imperial Garden. Suzhou, Jiangling and other places had recently offered many famous flower species as tributes. All the daughters of important officials in the capital were invited, and each of them was dressed up to be more gorgeous than the flowers.
It was called a garden party, but everyone knew that if a young lady could catch the prince's eye, she would become the crown princess or the future queen.
She and Hongxiu, who was pretending to be a maid, sat in a corner, searching for Lin Lian'er among the ladies of high status. She finally arrived when everyone was almost there.
The elegant and simple ice-blue silk dress made her skin look even whiter. The hairpin on her head swayed gently with her steps. The mutton-fat jade earrings and the thin bracelet on her wrist echoed each other's elegance, making her stand out among the young ladies who were trying too hard.
The prince saw her at a glance.
In comparison, although Liu Qingshu, the eldest daughter of the Liu family, was no less beautiful than her, she was still lacking something.
While admiring the famous flowers, Concubine Xiao kept talking to Lin Lian'er, and she responded with a smile, but suddenly, for some reason, Lin Lian'er hurriedly left the table.
Hongxiu followed him all the way, but lost him halfway. After turning around for a long time, she heard some strange noises in a side hall at the corner.
Through the crack in the window, Hongxiu saw her pinching the palace maid's neck and sucking her blood to repair her withered left hand. A gust of cold wind blew up her hair in front of her forehead, and a familiar face came into view.
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