Chapter 197: The Qin Woman and Princess Hua

Both were almost awakened, and stood up with a "whoosh".

"Shixiong!"

The Junior Xiao Shimei faced him, but pointed to this open space:

"Where is Third Shixiong?"

"Don't be anxious!"

Lin Jue was also surprised and confused, looking around.

At this time, the rain had stopped, but there were still traces of rain in the mud and on the grass leaves around, and the air was still moist, only the small piece of land where they were was dry.

The surroundings were empty, and the events of last night seemed like a dream.

But where is there a dream that loses a Shixiong?

And not only was the Third Shixiong gone, but even the Third Shixiong's horse and his luggage were gone.

"Ying wu~"

The fox also jumped up, light and riding the wind, jumping several zhang high, stretching its neck to look around, and then landed lightly, telling them that it didn't see the Third Shixiong.

Lin Jue frowned, his first reaction was, could it be that Third Shixiong agreed last night?

This is really hard to say.

Although according to his understanding of Third Shixiong, he felt that Third Shixiong's ambition was in the world, and he shouldn't easily find a tie for himself, let alone put a shackle on himself so early. But thinking carefully, it seems that nothing Third Shixiong does is strange.

It's just that even if he agreed, with Shixiong's personality, how could he leave without saying goodbye without sending the Junior Xiao Shimei to the Daoist temple?

So he couldn't help but think, was Third Shixiong pitted by himself?

After a while—

The two people and one fox stood on the mountain head nearby, looking out.

Although it was a bit late when they walked here yesterday, this mountain hollow could vaguely match their memory.

After another while—

Lin Jue stood about dozens of zhang away from where the two of them woke up, facing a pomegranate tree. There were still more than ten pomegranates on the tree. He went up to check and saw traces of it being picked recently.

The Junior Xiao Shimei was reciting the manifestation spell not far away.

After another while—

The two returned to where they woke up, watching the fox digging fiercely on the ground nearby, soon digging out a hole, and digging deeper and deeper.

But there was only mud in the hole, and nothing else.

There were no graves here either.

The Shixiong and Xiao Shimei looked at each other, and they were really somewhat confused.

"Shixiong..."

"No need to be anxious. Although that person last night had different ideas from us, she didn't seem like a bad person. Third Shixiong is also skilled in fighting, and his experience in the world is rich, so it's not so easy for him to be harmed by others. I reckon Third Shixiong was also embarrassed to refuse her, found a reason, or left here for other reasons." Lin Jue comforted her.

"Maybe Third Shixiong saw that she was good-looking and went to marry her." The Junior Xiao Shimei also analyzed.

"It's possible."

"It's also possible he led her away."

"It's possible."

"It's also possible he was eaten!" The Junior Xiao Shimei said again.

"That's less likely." Lin Jue frowned, "Third Shixiong is not a soft persimmon. Even if he was harmed, how could it be silent? And how could they harm him, take away the horse and luggage, but leave the two of us and our luggage?"

"That makes sense!" The Junior Xiao Shimei thought for a while and nodded repeatedly, "Then what should we do?"

"We will wait here for a few days. Maybe Third Shixiong will come back in a few days, or maybe the pavilions and palaces will appear again at night."

"What if he doesn't come back, and they don't appear?"

"If we can't wait..."

Lin Jue said, suddenly remembering, reaching into his bosom to touch, and looking for where he slept last night, and indeed found a hairpin, picking it up.

This was a dangling hairpin, hollow pure gold, with fine snowflakes hanging on it with thin chains.

"Then there must be other unexpected things, but there is no need to be anxious. Anyway, we are going to the capital, and we have to go to the Western Peak to help that Princess Hua bring a letter. It just so happens we can ask that Western Peak Prefecture Lord."

"If only Sixth Shixiong were here."

"Yes."

Sixth Shixiong's Jixian can divine and calculate, predict good and bad luck, which is something the senior Fan doesn't know.

"But don't be anxious. Aren't we on the way to Qingyan County to find that 'Jun Niangniang Jun Niangniang Yao Hua' now? It is said that that 'Jun Niangniang Jun Niangniang Yao Hua' can also answer questions and divine for people. Maybe we can ask her about Third Shixiong's safety when we get there."

"That's right!"

The Junior Xiao Shimei then breathed a sigh of relief.

It can be considered that there are countermeasures for both near and far.

Lin Jue then sat down.

At noon, he picked pomegranates to fill his stomach.

Fortunately, there was no rain today.

Unknowingly, it was dusk again.

The chill of autumn was a bit heavy, and there was a cold wind in the wild. The two sat together, waiting silently.

The grass forest beside them swayed.

Fuyao and the colored civet came out of it one after another, one dragging a very large rabbit, the other dragging a toad, both placed in front of them, sitting and waiting for them to praise them.

Night slowly fell.

But there was only cold wind and wild grass in the wind, let alone pavilions and palaces, there wasn't even a piece of broken tile.

"..."

Lin Jue closed his eyes.

Waited here for three days.

During these three days, Fuyao and the colored civet hunted for them in this barren mountain grassland, providing food, and used the pomegranates on that tree to relieve the greasiness. If they were thirsty, they would climb two mountains, and there would be a small stream, from which they could take water to drink.

But they never waited for the returning Third Shixiong, Princess Hua, and her pavilions and palaces.

I don't know where they went.

And I don't know the reason.

"Sigh, I also prepared a letter for Third Shixiong, but I haven't had time to give it to him yet." Lin Jue said, standing up from the ground, with a cushion made of wild grass under him:

"Let's go first. Third Shixiong knows where we are going next, and he also knows where your Daoist temple is. Even if we can't find him, when he draws himself out of this matter, he will come to find us. Even if it is to put our hearts at ease, he will come to look for us."

"Oh."

The Junior Xiao Shimei also stood up with him.

The two packed their luggage, summoned the paper donkeys, and set off immediately.

"Shixiong, now there are only two of us left." The Junior Xiao Shimei looked left and right, and couldn't help but say.

"Yes."

Indeed, originally there were eight people, but now only two were left.

And two donkeys, as well as a fox and a cat that often played and fought by their side.

"But don't worry, no matter what, I will send you to the place you want to go."

"Hmm..."

The Junior Xiao Shimei's voice was not high either.

After one person was missing, this world seemed to have become broader, and she couldn't see the edge. The two led the donkeys through the grassland, the dew wet their robes, not fast or slow.

Not long after walking, they encountered that red fox again.

Lin Jue was very grateful to it, so he stopped to thank it, and asked it: "I wonder where there is a city where people live nearby? That is, a place built with stones where many people live."

"Ying ying!"

This fox also chirped, its eyes flickering, thinking for a long time, looking in the direction of sunrise, and pointing with its claws.

Lin Jue looked in that direction.

It was obviously unrealistic to walk straight through the grassland, but he remembered that the road they came from was from east to west.

"Many thanks."

The two then continued forward.

Walking along the small path through the grassland, walking on the road they came from, but walking in the direction they came.

Walking to a fork in the road they had walked before, Lin Jue chose to go in another direction.

The facts proved that this judgment was very correct. They walked for less than half an hour, and the road gradually widened, and they saw merchants and travelers. After walking for another half an hour, they saw a village by the road. The two asked them for directions and learned that there was a county town ahead.

And it was the Qingyan County they were going to.

Walking for another hour, a small city indeed appeared before their eyes. Leading the donkeys to look closely, the city gate was written with the two characters Qingyan.

"It really is Qingyan."

Lin Jue walked to the gate, showed his certificate, and entered the county town.

Because it was getting late, and they didn't know which way to go, they didn't rush to the cave of Jun Niangniang Jun Niangniang Yao Hua, but first found an inn nearby, asked for two rooms, and first let the waiter send hot water, took a bath, and changed into clean clothes.

After all, they had walked in the wilderness for a few days, and sat for a few days.

When they went downstairs after taking a bath, they were refreshed, and the dry clothes were on their bodies, and they felt a bit lighter.

It just so happened that Xiao Shimei was also walking down.

Her hair that she had just washed was not dry yet, but it was no longer dripping water, but hung behind her back slightly moist, making this Xiao Shimei who was born white and good-looking have an extra clean feeling, and even her face was a bit pink.

The two people's gazes met, and they sat down in the lobby.

"Shixiong, why is your hair dry so fast?" The Junior Xiao Shimei couldn't help but look at him and ask seriously.

"Because I know the Water Control Technique."

"Water Control Technique..."

"Now that there are only two of us left, if you want to learn, I can teach you on the way."

"Can I?"

"What's impossible about that? I originally prepared a few spells for you, and originally wrote them down to leave for you." Lin Jue whispered.

"! So you left this for the Shixiongs!"

"Smart, Xiao Shimei!"

Before they said two sentences, the waiter walked over and asked with a smile: "What would the two Daoists like to eat?"

"What good food does the shop have?"

"Do the Daoists eat meat?"

"We eat meat."

"That's it! Although the shop is not big, the small temple has gods, and the small shop has a good cook. The best thing is the steamed basin, and the gourd chicken from the capital." The waiter said proudly.

"I see you are very good at talking."

"Thanks to the Daoist for looking up to me..."

"Then listen to you, bring a steamed basin, and another gourd chicken." Lin Jue appeared very generous, "Besides, I have something to ask you."

"Oh!"

These two dishes were big dishes, and the waiter was somewhat happy:

"Daoist really looks up to me. If you have anything to say, just ask. I know everything, and I will say everything!"

"Do you know that there is a barren mountain to the west of the city, with only wild grass and no households, probably dozens of miles wide?" Lin Jue still asked about Third Shixiong first.

"West?"

The waiter recalled: "It seems there is."

"Is there anything strange inside?"

"I haven't heard of anything strange. It's just that it seems to be the Wei River over there. Originally, there were merchants walking, walking over there, and taking a boat from there to the capital. Later, for a period of time, that pier didn't know why it seemed a bit uneasy, so no one walked over there, and they all walked from another county."

"So that's how it is."

Lin Jue didn't ask what he wanted, but he wasn't disappointed. According to his speculation, Third Shixiong should be fine.

But he still asked another sentence: "I heard that there was a story of a Qin woman here. I wonder if you know about it?"

"Qin woman?" The waiter thought again, "Is it the Qin woman who was rumored to have become husband and wife with a scholar in ancient times?"

"Exactly."

"I've heard it since I was a child!" The waiter was happy, "If the Daoist wants to hear it, I will tell you. Let me tell the back kitchen first, and stew the meat for the Daoist. It just so happens that it needs some heat, and I'm afraid the two Daoists will wait in vain, so I will kill time for the two Daoists."

After saying that, he turned his head, pulled his throat, and shouted at the back kitchen twice:

"Steamed basin, gourd chicken, the ones who give face are two Daoists from afar, use enough ingredients!"

Hearing this, Lin Jue couldn't help but smile.

Although he knew in his heart that even if the waiter shouted like this, the people in the back kitchen might not necessarily do so, or this was simply a trick they used to please guests, but it sounded really comfortable.

The waiter pulled out a stool and sat down beside them.

"It is said that many years ago, there was a scholar here. Maybe he was walking at night or something, and arrived at the door of a large mansion. He saw that the house was well built, so he went to knock on the door and asked for some food. As a result, after the maid went back to report to the owner, the owner actually invited him in as a guest.

"And that owner was a woman born with a beautiful face, we all call her the Qin woman.

"The Qin woman entertained him enthusiastically and gave him good wine and food.

"After eating, the Qin woman told him that she was the daughter of the King of Qin and was betrothed to the State of Cao. However, she died before she was married, and she had been dead for decades, becoming a ghost and living here all along.

"The Qin woman saw that he could come here and felt that it was fate, so she wanted to become husband and wife with him.

"However, because of the difference between yin and yang, the dead and the living cannot associate for a long time. They can only be husband and wife for three days, and they must part after three days, otherwise there will be disaster."

This person told it in more detail than the red-clothed woman told a few days ago, and there were some discrepancies, which should be caused by rumors.

And mortals and ghosts indeed cannot combine for a long time.

"But after three days, they couldn't bear to part, so when they were about to part, the Qin woman called the maid to take a box, opened the box, took out a pillow made of gold, handed it to him as a token, and then called the maid to send him out of the door.

"As soon as the man went out, he didn't walk a few steps, and he couldn't see any mansion. Behind him was only a grave. He ran out of the grave in a panic, looked down, and the gold pillow in his hand was still there!"

The Junior Xiao Shimei hugged the colored civet and put on a posture of listening carefully. A fox lay on the stool, also opening a pair of round, glistening eyes.

"Later, it seems that because of poverty, this person took the gold pillow to the market to sell. It just so happened that the Jun Niangniang of Qin went out to travel, passed by here, saw the gold pillow, felt it looked familiar, so she took it to check.

"This look! It's terrible!

"It's her daughter's burial object!

"The Jun Niangniang of Qin immediately questioned this person, where he got it, and almost arrested him and beheaded him. This person told the Jun Niangniang of Qin the whole process. The Jun Niangniang of Qin was very sad after hearing it, but she was also suspicious. It was just that he told it like it was true, so she found someone to push open the Qin woman's grave, and then opened the coffin to see...

"Guess what happened?"

The waiter said with a grin, looking at them, but didn't really wait for them to guess, and immediately said:

"Although the Qin woman died, her body did not rot. Unbuttoning her clothes to check, it really looked like she had become married!

"And the grave had no signs of being dug or stolen!

"Asking her about things before her death, he could also answer them all!

"Only then did the Princess believe it, so she brought this man back to the royal palace, conferred upon him the title of Commandant of the Imperial Son-in-law, and rewarded him with many treasures. People here all say that it was from that time on that people began to call a son-in-law a 'Fu Ma' (Imperial Son-in-law), which later gradually became the name for an Emperor's son-in-law."

The Junior Xiao Shimei listened carefully and opened her eyes wide.

So that is how the term 'Fu Ma' came to be.

Lin Jue was thinking.

The things in this story are quite similar to their experience a few days ago. It seems that this Princess Hua also grew up listening to this story and was deeply influenced by it. ===== CHAPTER 198 =====