The morning light is approaching, and a pale white light rises above the land in the east.
Xia Zhaoyi led her horse and stopped by the stone bridge. The lights in front of her were bright, and people from every house came out, standing uneasily outside their own doors. There were many people running around among them.
Behind Xia Zhaoyi, the sound of wind and water together made a noise between heaven and earth.
After a while, several middle-aged men ran up to her and said, "Miss Ah Li, I have asked all the families who have girls, and none of them have lost their girls!"
Xia Zhaoyi's beautiful face was cold and indifferent under the morning light: "Are you sure? But according to what I said, you have seen it all with your own eyes?"
Another man said: "I know all the people in this area. I looked at them one by one. I really haven't lost anything!"
"So when I came here, you were outside shouting to catch the thief, but did anyone lose anything?"
"No," the leading man shook his head, "it was a woman who shouted to catch the thief, or she was crying, so we ran out."
Xia Zhaoyi frowned, frowned, and said, "You guys go back to sleep."
She turned around, climbed on the horse's back, and drove away.
The water on the earth is surging, flowing continuously from the Dianqing River. Xia Zhaoyi walked down the river embankment. More and more people got up early, including those who swept water, those who carried burdens, and those who grinded tofu. Because she was riding a horse,
A lot of eyes were looking at her.
Xia Zhaoyi looked at them as they walked, and from time to time turned his eyes to look at the houses on both sides of the bank.
As the morning light became brighter and brighter, the visibility also became wider. Suddenly, Xia Zhaoyi reined in the reins and his eyes fell on a stone pier.
She got off her horse and picked up a rag beside the stone pier. The rag was about the size of the palm of her hand. It was stained with blood. The blood was not completely black yet. Judging from the color of the blood, it was within two hours.
Xia Zhaoyi took out the small oil ball lamp and soon found a blood stain on the ground.
She stretched out her hand to pull the reins behind her, holding a small oil ball lamp in one hand, and followed along the road.
The bluestone floor was uneven, with some water-filled depressions and slightly higher areas. Xia Zhaoyi found bloodstains and faint footprints on several flat stone floors and mud floors outside the stone floor.
The pace was very chaotic, with some spots where he seemed to be staying in place or walking slowly, and some spots where the distance between the footprints was uneven.
From these marks, it is clear that the owner of the footprints was injured and exhausted, and that the injury was definitely to the right leg, which matches exactly where Wang Fengnian said Chu Zheng was injured.
Suddenly the sound of gongs and drums sounded in the distance.
Xia Zhaoyi looked up and saw that the distance was slightly far away, about a mile.
The sound of gongs and drums was loud, accompanied by the sounds of sorrow and joy, accompanied by the wailing of several women.
Xia Zhaoyi thought for a while, then led the horse towards the source of the sound.
Neighbors who heard the mourning and music nearby gathered around, while those who had not yet gotten up opened their windows and looked down.
According to Hengxiang's funeral custom, the coffin must be carried out of the city before the chen hour. The funeral of this family is quite large, with two bands in front and back. In the tear-jerking vocal music, paper money is raised all the way and spread all over the ground.
Xia Zhaoyi doesn't like these bustling things, but these bustling things can make people hide in them very well.
She tried her best to take in every face in her eyes, but unfortunately the mess of paper money really interfered with her vision.
After the funeral procession moved away and the mourning and music faded away, the voices of passers-by on both sides could be heard.
"Where was it brought out? I didn't hear any sound just now."
"Yes, it seems to have appeared suddenly."
"Hey, do you know which family this is from? Why do they look so unfamiliar? It seems like I have never seen them before."
"I haven't seen it either, I thought you knew."
…
Xia Zhaoyi stood behind the crowd and listened, then led his horse to look for the place where the music came from.
I inquired with many people along the way and found an open space along the way. No one knew where the coffin was taken out from.
There was a big banyan tree planted next to the open space, and Xia Zhaoyi found blood stains on the soil under the banyan tree.
Judging from the blood stains, Chu Zheng had stopped here.
Xia Zhaoyi stood up, looked towards the direction where Ai Le left, and counted gently with her slender fingers.
All the hexagrams she made were only for good or bad fortune, and they were rarely guided by guidance, but this time, she was determined to obey.
Xia Zhaoyi gently pulled the reins, mounted the horse lightly, and chased in the direction of Aile.
·
"What?" Du Xuan, who had just returned to Qingyue Pavilion, said in surprise, "The young master didn't come back, Wu Shaoning didn't come back, Wei Dongyou didn't come back, and Zhu Chang didn't come back either?"
Dai Yu frowned: "I still want to ask you, didn't you go with the young master?"
"The young master said he was going to the Yamen, and he left long ago."
"What are you doing in the Yamen, young master?"
"Look for Ali."
Dai Yu raised his head and looked at the sky: "It's already so early. Not to mention going to the Yamen, it's time to go back to the Chen family ancestral hall outside the city..."
"Master, I'm not worried," Du Xuan said anxiously, "Wu Shaoning and the others, how long have they been here... and they haven't returned yet."
"Hour Rui hasn't come back either," Dai Yu said.
The more Du Xuan thought about it, the more uncomfortable he became. He looked at Ye Zheng and others: "You go and rest first. I will send someone to the Yamen to talk to the young master."
"Hey, let me go!" Dai Yu shouted, "I fell asleep at least, you all go and rest!"
After saying that, he walked away quickly.
Du Xuan looked at his back and left, his heart was racing, and he couldn't think of sleeping.
·
Paper money was flying all over the sky, and after landing, it was stuck to the wet ground, and was stepped on by the footprints of passers-by, causing the winding road out of the city to become muddy and muddy.
Regardless of whether it is a good or bad event, as long as gongs and drums are beating, the roadside will always be crowded with people.
Under the gaze of thousands of pairs of eyes, the long funeral procession carried the coffin and slowly left Hengxiang.
Xia Zhaoyi did not follow closely. The further away she was, the clearer she could see how many people were in the funeral procession and whether they had left the procession.
After leaving the city, the long queue continued southward, and many people gathered in the countryside on the outskirts of the city.
Several women who had been crying all the way in the city had their tears dried and their voices hoarse as they walked tiredly.
The men hired to hold the flags were also tired. In this case, they were allowed to lower their arms temporarily.
There were also those who played sad music and put down the instruments they had brought along.
Even the paper money was thrown away by no one.
As we approached Ruan's house, there were fewer and fewer pedestrians around. A group of people appeared, and the long queue gradually stopped.
This team was led by a woman in her forties. The woman was short, dressed in sackcloth, with a sad face and a cold temperament. Although she was short, she had a temper that was not easy to mess with at a glance.
She walked slowly to the coffin, gently touched the coffin with her fingers, and slowly slid over the coffin lid.
A young man behind the woman shouted worriedly: "Aunt..."
"I'm fine," the woman said.
His voice was too flat, and although his face was filled with grief, there were no tears.
After a while, the woman said again: "Except for those holding flags and throwing paper money, let everyone else go."
"Um."
Chen Yunqi held the small bamboo basket with a little paper money left tightly and looked at Chu Zheng.
Chu Zheng's face was expressionless. The wound was bleeding due to the long walk, but she didn't even frown.
The men behind the woman came over and took over carrying the coffin. The woman also walked beside to support the coffin and said coldly: "Paper money."
