Chapter 22

People died, and the matter became big.

Squire Wu hurriedly asked people to report to the officials; the government saw that it was Squire Wu reporting, so they didn't delay and immediately sent yamen runners and coroners to the old guard's house to check.

As a result, the coroner checked the corpse and said that this person had been dead for at least a month.

But from the time the old guard left Squire Wu's house to the discovery of his corpse, it had only been five or six days.

The coroner didn't believe it at first, saying he would absolutely not be wrong.

Ordinary corpses start with rigor mortis and gradually turn black.

After five or six days, they start to swell, becoming what is commonly known as "giant view."

By about twenty days, the skin and flesh gradually collapse.

With the state of the old guard's corpse, the skin and flesh were rotted, which was at least a state of more than a month.

But countless people had seen the old guard at the time, and they all swore that they had just seen him a few days ago, and he was still lively then.

The more the coroner heard, the uglier the expression on his face became; he hurriedly pulled a steward from Squire Wu's house aside and lowered his voice: "This matter might involve something dirty, and the government can't handle it."

"You go back quickly and let your Squire Wu find some monks or Daoists to perform rituals; maybe it will work."

The steward reported to Squire Wu, and Squire Wu was also scared, so he invited a famous local master to set up an altar and perform rituals at home.

Who knew, it would have been better not to invite anyone; once the master came to perform rituals, things took a turn for the worse.

The master performed the rituals and swore to Squire Wu at the time that the dirty thing had been driven away.

As a result, the master started vomiting blood when he got home, then fell ill and couldn't get up, and died within three days.

Squire Wu had no choice but to send someone to report to the officials again; as a result, the yamen runners avoided his family when they saw them. When asked, they found out that the coroner had also vomited blood for no reason when he got home and died within a few days.

The news spread, and everyone in the Wu family was panicked, and many hired servants fled one after another.

A good home was suddenly in chaos.

As they talked, the time reached the present, continuing the topic Li Miao heard at the beginning.

"My brother-in-law is bold, and Squire Wu's house has been short of people these past few days, paying money readily, so he went."

"As a result, he really bumped into a ghost!"

The man lowered his voice and leaned over mysteriously.

"Just the night before last, he was walking in the courtyard and felt the wind blowing colder and colder, so cold he couldn't stand it."

"He thought that since no one was watching anyway, he might as well go back to his room to sleep."

"As a result, on the way back, he saw the ghost."

"A female ghost, disheveled hair, wearing white clothes, her face covered in blood."

"Two black holes under her eye sockets, and the blood flowed out from those holes, dripping onto the ground."

"Plop, plop, plop..."

The man spoke with gusto, even adding sound effects himself, simulating the sound of blood dripping onto the ground.

Li Miao was amused and also played along: "And then?"

"Then? Then he fainted." The man reached out to pour wine from the pot, but only a few drops came out, and he looked at Li Miao ingratiatingly.

"When he was recovering from his illness later, he had a dream, and it was also scary. Look at this wine..."

"Oh, it's finished." Li Miao stood up, cupped his hands at them: "Then I won't bother you anymore, gentlemen, drink slowly."

The men watched Li Miao walk away in disappointment, poured the inferior wine they were drinking into the pot Li Miao brought, rinsed it hard, shared it among themselves, and continued chatting.

Li Miao walked back to the table, and the dishes were already served.

No one touched their chopsticks when he didn't return; Li Xiaosi and Wang Hai were still whispering, while Mei Qinghe had already opened her eyes, staring straight at a sweet and sour fish, saying nothing.

Li Miao walked to the table and said with a smile: "Eat, what are you waiting for?"

The group then started eating one after another.

While eating, Wang Hai asked Li Miao: "Brother, how many days do you plan to play here this time?"

"Play what?" Li Miao glanced at Wang Hai.

"I saw your eyes brighten just now, and I knew we couldn't leave." Wang Hai smiled.

"Anyway, this trip is to see the world with you; whatever you say, we'll do."

"It sounds like you've suffered by following me."

Li Miao said: "Your salary won't be short."

Wang Hai nodded in agreement.

After the meal, the group was full of food and wine.

Li Miao stood up and said to the three: "You wait here for me; I'm going to find us some money and a place to stay."

After saying that, he walked out the door with a leisurely pace.

Let's talk about this Pingshan Guard; it's not an ordinary prefecture or state city, but a guard post.

This Great Shuo inherited the garrison system of the previous dynasty, establishing guard posts in various places, responsible for stationing troops, recruiting troops, and training troops. Soldiers need food and entertainment, and gradually villages and towns formed around them, slowly becoming prosperous.

Unlike the Great Ming in Li Miao's previous life, because Jianghu feuds were prevalent, the ordinary government was unable to manage them, while guard posts had soldiers patrolling, so public order was better than ordinary prefectures, and the surrounding people moved there one after another, so it was actually more prosperous than ordinary prefecture cities.

Li Miao was going to the door of the main official of this Pingshan Guard, the Pingshan Guard Commander, to beg for favors.

He walked to the Pingshan Guard Commander's office and said to the soldiers guarding the door: "Is your Commander here?"

The soldier guarding the gate looked up lazily and scanned Li Miao up and down.

Seeing that Li Miao was in plain clothes and dusty, but his face was ruddy and his voice was loud, not like a simple character, he didn't dare to be negligent.

He stepped forward and cupped his hands: "Does your Excellency have a visiting card? I can report it."

Li Miao didn't speak, took out the Embroidered Uniform Guard waist token, and flashed it in front of the soldier.

The soldier's face changed in horror, and he bowed to the ground: "My Lord!"

"Please follow me to the guest room to sit for a while; my master is handling official business in the mansion, I will report it immediately!"

Li Miao nodded and walked into the office with him, and servants served tea. The soldier hurried off to deliver the message.

Before long, he heard hurried footsteps outside the door, and saw a person walking in quickly from outside.

This person looked to be in his forties, broad-shouldered and round-waisted, and was the Pingshan Guard Commander, Xu Siyuan.

He looked majestic, but at this time his face was panicked, his clothes were loose, and there was a faint scent of powder.

It seems that the "official" in his "official business" was a matter of debate.

Xu Siyuan walked over quickly and bowed directly to Li Miao, who was still sitting: "I didn't know your Excellency had arrived, I failed to welcome you!"

According to the official rank of the Great Shuo, the Pingshan Guard was actually on par with the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and this Xu Siyuan was also a third-rank official; being so subservient to Li Miao, a Battalion Commander, was putting his attitude very low.

This couldn't be blamed on him; the Great Shuo had inherited the guard system, which had long since rotted, and eating empty pay and drinking soldiers' blood had become an unspoken thing. Every generation of emperors basically had to cut off a few heads to kill the chicken to warn the monkey.

The person who cut off the head was often the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

So it was not strange that Xu Siyuan acted this way.

Li Miao hurriedly stood up: "My Lord, no need to be so polite."

"I have other official business on this trip; I came here today to ask you for a convenience, nothing else."

"Ah? Ah hahahaha——" Xu Siyuan was stunned when he heard Li Miao be so straightforward, then laughed with relief.

"Anything is fine, anything is fine!"

(End of chapter)