imperial psychologist

Chapter 502
...Singing is over?
What do you mean by "singing and you're done"?
The girls froze for a moment, but were pushed forward by the turtle claws behind them.

There was no light in the courtyard, and it was pitch black everywhere. Everyone staggered and supported each other. The further they walked in, the more they smelled a pungent smell of smoke and fire.

Suddenly, Ai Songqing saw something, she gasped, and instantly grabbed Bo Ling's hand.

"Then... over there..."

Bo Ling followed Ai Songqing's gaze and turned his head to look. On the promenade not far away, there was a white flag hanging down.

Bai Ling frowned slightly.

Going forward, there are more yellow and white paper money on the ground.

The Turtle Claws led them into a very large courtyard through a back door. As soon as they entered the courtyard, everyone could faintly hear wailing.

Everyone's hearts sank.

"This is... Who is this singing for..." A girl standing in front looked timidly at the old housekeeper nearby.

"Give it to my wife." The old housekeeper said lightly, "Stop asking so many questions, and go change your clothes!"

The girls were herded backstage.

It seems that this is a courtyard specially set up to listen to operas. Although the backstage is small, it is well prepared for daily use, and many costumes are ready-made-of course it cannot be compared with Liyuan in Baihuaya, but it is also Enough to support a small troupe.

It seems that the lady who lives here really loves to play.

After the girls changed their clothes, they waited there tremblingly.

After a while, the old butler reappeared.
"Okay? Come here when you're done!"

Bo Ling walked among the crowd, and everyone walked through the thin aisle to both sides of the stage.

Looking forward along the side opening of the stage, from the only corner of view, everyone finally understood where the burnt smell just smelled came from.

——In the courtyard outside, someone was wearing a white hat and mourning clothes, kneeling on the ground and burning paper money.

As far as the eye can see, the yard is full of wreaths and long white streamers...

The girl who sang the buffoon was a little unsteady, she turned to look at the old butler, "...no...no one playing drums, and I didn't see any other musicians—"

"My wife likes listening to a cappella." The old butler said coldly, "Please."

The little girl shook her sleeves, bit her lips slightly, and several girls nearby surrounded her and cheered her up softly.

She forcibly suppressed her heart, walked sideways and slowly walked to the center of the stage with newly learned steps, and was about to raise her hand to show off, when suddenly she froze in the hall.

Her mouth was slightly opened, and her whole face was filled with indescribable horror—the next moment, a scream tore through the night sky, and the girl fell to the ground trembling all over, and then stood up on hands and feet trying to go run back.

But the hem of the costume tripped her up.

Everyone was taken aback by this situation, and for a moment they didn't care about the effect, and rushed to the stage to help.

However, when they also stood on the stage and saw the situation in the yard, everyone was shocked by the scene in front of them——

In the middle of the courtyard, there is an open coffin, with two boxes placed behind the coffin, so that the whole coffin faces the stage at a 45-degree angle.

Lying in the coffin was a woman in red dressed in a phoenix coronet and a xia drape. Her eyes were dark and she looked straight at the center of the stage.

Standing next to the coffin was a short middle-aged man—he was leaning against the coffin, with one hand inside, and he was holding the cold hand of the woman in the coffin.

"Nonsense!" The middle-aged man cried angrily, "What are you all doing! Sing for me!
"Wanwan... Wanwan can't see anymore, but she can still hear... You guys are not allowed to fool around here!"

On the side of the stage, the old butler strode forward, blocked the fleeing girls, and grabbed the clown by the hair.

"go back!"

The little girl cried and shook her head, "I can't sing... I really can't sing... Please, master, let me go..."

"Get off here quickly!" The old butler grabbed the girl's shoulders involuntarily, then kicked her on the waist, kicking her back to the stage.

The girl tried to stand up, and then just glanced down, seeing those dark eyes, her whole body trembled.

Her body stiffened for a moment, then she rolled her eyes and fell down heavily again.

Everyone was in a mess again and hurried forward to help.

Bo Ling and Ai Songqing have been standing behind, not knowing what happened ahead, but listening to the chat between the turtle's claws along the way, they already understood what happened tonight.

The woman who lives in this house on weekdays is surnamed Kong, who is the new concubine of the official Lin from Baihuaya last year.This time when Mr. Lin returned to Beijing, on the surface he made an excuse to return a few days later, but in fact he wanted to stay with Kong for a while.

——Bai Ling and Ai Songqing already knew this news yesterday.

But what none of them expected was that Mrs. Lin, the wife of the Lin family, had actually gotten the news a long time ago.She didn't expose it, but just used her tricks. Before her husband returned to Pingjing, she fabricated news of his death, reported it to the officials overnight, and planted that all of this was Kong's murder.

Mr. Lin's boat arrived at the pier outside Pingjing at noon today—but Mrs. Lin brought people here early in the morning, and gouged out Kong's eyes on the spot.

Kong wailed in the house all morning, but he left before Mr. Lin came back.

Bo Ling and Ai Songqing felt chills down their spines.

Life is at stake...

This place is at the feet of the Son of Heaven, how could anyone dare to commit such a horrific murder...

Even if this Mrs. Lin is jealous, but she is so cruel, isn't she afraid of being arrested by the government to pay for her life...

Ai Songqing stared blankly at Turtle Claw nearby, forgetting the other party's identity for a moment, and just asked in disbelief, "...how dare she?"

"Why don't you dare," the turtle claws were gossiping, raised their eyebrows and smiled, "this Kong is not a serious master, even if he lives here, he is still a 'slave'. Which big family doesn't die every year How many servant girls? They are all investigated, will the government be able to investigate them?"

"That's right. Besides, Mrs. Lin misunderstood that her husband was murdered. There was a reason for it."

"But—" Before Ai Songqing finished speaking, the old butler in front had already called out.

"Where are the little brothers from Baihuaya!?"

The turtle claws straightened up, "What's wrong?"

"Take care of your people!" The old housekeeper sternly said, "Our master paid for it! If you can't sing this play tonight, you have to pay us three times the money!"

The eyes of the turtle claws became serious, and they stretched their hands to the back of the waist again - to get the whip at the waist.

Looking at this scene, Bo Ling shivered for no reason.

……

Under the persuasion of the old housekeeper, the middle-aged senior official Lin wiped away his tears and exited the courtyard - since he came back in the afternoon, he has not had any water or rice, and he is indeed hungry at the moment.

After seeing off his master, the old housekeeper returned to continue negotiating terms with the turtle claws.

The turtle claws were very dissatisfied, "You didn't say you came to sing for the dead, did you?"

The old butler sneered, "I've only heard that the master's family chooses an opera troupe, but I haven't heard of any opera troupe who dares to choose the master's family.

"I don't care who sings or what tonight, but our Lin family has already paid the fixed fee. If you cry or howl tonight, you have to send someone up, and howl for me all night!"

(End of this chapter)