Chapter 52 Section VIII

"Probably when I was sixteen years old, one morning, I was woken up by the noise in my sleep. I got up and saw someone on the roof of Zhang Pengnian's house in Fuguili next door. It is obviously a ghost. I knew that someone in the Zhang family had passed away. It is normal to have funerals in this world, but this time the situation is quite different. It is said that the deceased himself was Zhang Pengnian, who was only 28 years old. , and he was so young, he was not under the old dead family, but was taken away by the ghost. Later, it was further said that his wife died because of dystocia, and the soul was the cause. It is said that the dystocia woman had a very difficult life in Zhang's What didn't go well, Zhang Pengnian was very stingy and mean to her, even her dystocia and death was caused by Zhang Pengnian's refusal to pay a doctor to treat her. So the woman kept resentful and took revenge for her. Your Majesty, you know , our people have always referred to ghosts who died of dystocia as 'breast ghosts', this kind of ghost is very fierce, once it is provoked, it will only lead to death."

My scalp is a little numb, although I can see the blue sky and bright sun in the yard when I raise my head a little, fear still grows like spring grass.I couldn't help but look back. Fortunately, it was a thick wall. I asked, "Is the suckling ghost really so powerful? Why is she so fierce? Why is she ranked first among all the ghosts?" He shook his head and nodded again: "Yes, anyway, there are such legends among the people. As for why the suckling ghost is ranked first, I think she does have her grievances that surpass ordinary people? You might as well put yourself in their place and think about them, The kind of female ghost who died due to dystocia originally hoped to conceive in October, and once she gave birth, she could enjoy the joy of being a mother, but when her wish was about to be fulfilled, she would return to the underworld with her unborn son. The biggest reconciliation in the world, shouldn't they be resentful and exhausted?"

I felt my heart suddenly cleared up. It really seemed like this. All the regrets in the world probably couldn’t surpass the woman who died in childbirth. She was originally pregnant in October and was full of hope, but in the end she didn’t even care about what her son looked like. less than.The same goes for the legendary female ghost Chibi in the Cangchi of my house. She has been dead for more than forty years. Has her resentment really not been relieved? I said, "Zi Gongjun, continue to tell your story." Hearing the words I called him, he seemed flattered, and his tone became more respectful: "Zhang Pengnian's death is said to be because he was in front of his wife's body when his wife's bones were still cold. Thinking, when the ghost died, he was resentful. How could he swallow his breath when he saw such a heartless thing? No wonder he hanged himself to death. Everyone rumored that he was bewitched by his wife's ghost. Even his servants said the same thing. And his sister specially invited the witch to explain it, and the witch also confirmed it, but the villain couldn't believe it was true. Because a villain I have never seen ghosts or gods. Two things, once Zhang Pengnian died, the first thing I thought about was who would benefit."

"Oh, what does this sentence mean?" I became more and more curious. He explained: "Your Majesty does not know that Zhang Pengnian's family property is rich, but he keeps it like his life. When his wife was about to give birth, he really refused to spend a fortune to hire a doctor for his wife, which caused his wife to die of dystocia. If we say that he It is justifiable for his wife to resent him for this. But the question is, has that kind of resentment reached the point of gnashing her teeth and even demanding her husband's life? In addition, Zhang Pengnian's family property is probably as much as a hundred gold, but he has no children to inherit , he has only one older half-sister who has been married long ago. According to the "Law of Posthumous Placement", after his death, only his older sister can inherit the family property, and this older sister and Zhang Pengnian have always been very few It is said that Zhang Pengnian was stingy."

"It doesn't seem to be a big problem." I said, "You mean you suspect that his sister killed him? Since the Zhang family is rich, there must be a few servants who are well guarded. How can his sister kill him?" Got him?" "The key point is that because of Zhang Pengnian's stinginess, the servants have always been very dissatisfied with him. But when he died, his sister generously released the slaves of the servants, and gave them money respectively, so that they could live on their own. How to make a living, aren't these mysteries?" Chen Tang said.

I said, "But there is no proof after all." He said: "Your Majesty is right, because the neighbors expressed contempt for Zhang Pengnian's adultery with his maid while he was in mourning for his wife, and the head of the village also firmly believed that Zhang Pengnian's death was the retribution of gods and ghosts, so no one raised it Objection. His sister finally donated part of his property to the servants, and returned to her husband's house after most of the sales. One of his servants went to the county court to report the truth about Zhang Pengnian's death."

"Oh, what's the truth?" I listened with great interest, although the word "truth" seemed to have a bit of a mysterious color, which made me a little apprehensive. Chen Tang said: "It turned out that Zhang Pangnian was actually killed by several servants together, because Zhang Pangnian was stingy with the servants and had a bad temper. He beat or scolded the servants. Zhang Pangnian's wife was very kind to the servants. The tragic death of the mother filled the servants with righteous indignation, and they felt that the days ahead would be even more difficult. In addition, Zhang Pengnian had a secret affair with the maidservant during the mourning period, which made the servants miss the dead mistress even more. After discussing a plan, they sent someone to pretend to be the ghost of the mistress to frighten Zhang Pengnian, which initially had some effect, but then Zhang Pengnian became suspicious, so the servants took the risk and strangled Zhang Pengnian to death. , and then unified the caliber to publicize that Zhang Pengnian was killed by a ghost. After his death, the servants were very lucky to escape the punishment of the government. Later, a servant accidentally told this story because he was drunk, and he was punished by him. Gamblers threatened to report."

"What a mysterious story." I sighed, and as if something suddenly occurred to my mind, I blurted out, "The gambler who threatened the servant to expose it is probably you?" Chen Tang blushed a little, and said sexually: "Your Majesty is really perceptive, and the villain also thinks that the gods are gods and people should not be killed alone, so that's why he asked that servant to report to the government. Although Zhang Pengnian violated the etiquette and morals , but after all, the crime is not worthy of death, please learn from the Lord." This guy is really thick-skinned.Judging from the law, he was indeed flawless and did what he was supposed to do.It's just how do you know that his accusation of adultery was not due to mutual dismantling among gamblers?What's more, he can get a lot of financial benefits from the denunciation.But this Zhuzi is indeed clear-headed, and the story he told was very inspiring to me, and my heart was faintly touched.Why should I blame him?I coughed and said: "Your Excellency always wants to sue adultery and share the emperor's worries. I really admire you. Don't call me Junhou in the future. I have already given up the title of Marquis to my younger brother."

He froze for a moment, and then flattered him: "Your Majesty is really filial and fraternal by nature, 'everyone is like a brother', there are very few people who are as loyal as Mr. Fu, and the villain is so respectful." What a talented Li Zi, who can quote casually when flattering.I secretly praised, and said: "Then in Jun's opinion, there are really no ghosts in this world?" He nodded: "Although I don't dare to be so sure, but the villain has lived for more than 20 years, and there have been at least ten incidents like the above, and none of them have been proven to be true. They are all living people pretending to be ghosts." , just to achieve your own goals.”

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