Chapter 22: Ghost, Monster, Begging for Favors

People died, and the matter became big.

Squire Wu hurriedly let people report to the officials. The government saw that it was Squire Wu reporting, so they didn't delay, and immediately sent Prefectural Yamen runners and coroners to the old guard's home to verify.

As a result, the coroner verified the body, but said 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 body, it was only five or six days.

The coroner didn't believe it at first, saying he absolutely wouldn't misread it.

General corpses first undergo rigor mortis, gradually turning black.

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

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

With the state of the old guard's body, the skin and flesh were rotten; it had to be at least a month-old state.

But countless people who had seen the old guard at the time all patted their chests and said they had just seen him a few days ago, and he was still alive and kicking then.

The more the coroner heard, the uglier the expression on his face became; he hurriedly pulled a steward of Squire Wu's family to the side, lowered his voice, and said: "This matter might have something dirty; the government can't manage it."

"You hurry back, let your Squire Wu find some monks or Daoists, do some rituals, maybe it will work."

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

Who knew, it was better not to invite anyone; once the master came to perform rituals, the situation went from bad to worse.

That master performed rituals and promised 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, so he sent people to report to the officials again; as a result, the Prefectural Yamen runners avoided them when they saw people from his house. Only after asking did they know that the coroner had returned home, also vomited blood inexplicably, and died within a few days.

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

A good home was suddenly in chaos.

Talking and talking, the time reached the present, connecting to the topic Li Miao heard at the beginning.

"My brother-in-law is bold; Squire Wu's house has been short of people these few days, and he pays quickly, so he went."

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

That person lowered his voice and leaned over mysteriously.

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

"He thought that anyway no one saw him, so he simply went back to his room to sleep."

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

"A female ghost, disheveled hair, wearing white clothes, 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*..."

That person spoke with great enthusiasm, even adding sound effects himself, simulating the sound of blood dripping onto the ground.

Li Miao was amused and also supported him: "And then?"

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

"Later, when he was recovering, he had a dream, which was also very scary. Look at this wine..."

"Oh, it's finished." Li Miao stood up, cupped his hands at the group: "Then I won't disturb you anymore, everyone drink slowly."

Those people looked at Li Miao walking away in disappointment, poured the inferior wine they were drinking into the wine 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.

He hadn't returned, so no one moved their chopsticks; Li Xiaosi and Wang Hai were still whispering, but Mei Qinghe had already opened her eyes, staring straight at a sweet and sour fish, not saying a word.

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, do you plan to play here for a few days?"

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

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

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

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

Li Miao said: "And it won't be short of your salary."

Wang Hai nodded in agreement.

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

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

After saying that, he walked out the door with slow steps.

Let us speak of this Pingshan Guard; it is not an ordinary prefecture or state city, but a guard station.

This Great Shuo inherited the prefecture-soldier system of the previous dynasty, establishing guard stations in various places, responsible for garrisoning, recruiting, and training soldiers. Soldiers need food and entertainment, and gradually villages and towns formed in the surrounding area, slowly becoming prosperous.

Different from the Great Ming of Li Miao's previous life, because Ordinary Jianghu vendettas were prevalent and ordinary government offices were unable to manage them, and because guard stations had soldiers patrolling, the public order was better than ordinary states and prefectures, so the surrounding commoners moved here one after another, and it was actually more prosperous than ordinary prefecture cities.

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

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

The soldier raised his head lazily and scanned Li Miao up and down.

Seeing that Li Miao, although in casual clothes and dusty, had a ruddy complexion and a loud voice, he didn't look like a simple person, so he didn't dare to neglect him.

He stepped forward and cupped his hands: "Does the guest have a visiting card or name card? I can pass the message."

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

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

"Please follow me to the guest room to sit for a moment; my Lord is handling official business in the mansion, I will pass the message immediately!"

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

In a short while, 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 thick-waisted; it was the Pingshan Guard Commander, Xu Siyuan.

His appearance looked majestic, but at this moment his expression was panicked, his clothes were loose, and there was a faint scent of powder.

It seems that whether his "official business" was public business or something else remains to be seen.

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

According to the official rank of the Great Shuo, the Pingshan Guard was actually on the same level as the Embroidered Uniform Guard; for this Xu Siyuan, a third-rank official, to be so servile to Li Miao, a Thousand-Household, was putting his attitude low enough.

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

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

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

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

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

"Ah? Ah ha ha ha ha—" Xu Siyuan was startled to hear Li Miao be so straightforward, first stunned, then laughed with relief.

"Nothing I won't allow, nothing I won't allow!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 23 =====