My younger sister insisted on marrying me and made me the Marquis' wife.

Chapter 472 Skeleton Words

"Did he go out to play in the graveyard?"

Hongye couldn't help but speak out.

Kang Ge'er shook his head: "Sister Hongye, I picked it up from the dry well in the yard."

Qin Yuan stood up suddenly and said, "Then let's go and take a look."

Kang Ge'er led the way and the group walked towards the side courtyard in the southeast corner. There were towering ancient trees here, and the shadows were even darker as the sun set.

"A-choo," Hongye couldn't help shaking her body, "It's so cold, it's scary."

Kang Ge'er said, "It is said that this place has been abandoned for many years and no one has lived here."

Qin Yuan leaned forward slightly to hold his hand and asked, "Are you cold?"

Kang Ge'er shook his head: "I am a child, I have a hot temper."

Cui Ming just laughed.

Kang Ge'er said, "Madame Rong said so. I'm not lying to you. My hands are warm."

As he said this, he reached out to pull Cuiming's hand again.

Cui Ming quickly retracted her hand and said, "My hand is cold, please don't let Young Master Kang feel cold."

Qin Yuan touched it and asked curiously, "Why are your hands so cold now? I'll give you a few injections when I have time."

Kang Ge'er was surprised and asked, "Is Auntie so powerful? Sister Cuiming didn't do anything wrong, why did you stab her?"

"That's right. If you don't obey me, I'll stab you."

Qin Yuan scared him with a smile.

A few people arrived at the place while chatting and laughing.

It had indeed been abandoned for a long time, and there were broken walls and ruins everywhere as far as the eye could see. Standing outside, one could see that the yard was overgrown with tall weeds, and a child could hide inside by squatting down.

Gu Shiliu and several guards were guarding somewhere in front of the house. Two monks were standing next to them, with their hands clasped together and their heads down, muttering something.

Master Gu Liu squatted on the ground with his back to him.

"Why are you here, madam?"

Gu Shiliu raised his eyes and saw it, and asked hurriedly.

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "I heard from Kang Ge'er that the Xu family's child picked up a skull, so I came over to see what happened."

Gu Shiliu looked embarrassed. "Madam, there are grass and mosses everywhere. I'm afraid it's hard to walk. Besides, this skeleton looks quite old. I don't know when it was thrown into this dry well. It's better not to come in, so as to avoid any bad collision."

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "It's okay. I'll come over and take a look. After all, this is the family temple. The ancestral tablets are here to protect us."

Gu Shiliu was about to persuade him, but Qin Yuan had already walked in.

In her previous life, she had seen a lot of things when she followed Lin Ziqi to take up a post in a poor county in Jiangxi. She was not afraid of things that ordinary people were afraid of.

Hongye and Cuiming also came in to help her.

Kang Ge'er was hugged by the nanny beside him and coaxed, "Young Master Kang, just wait outside. These are all adults' business. We shouldn't go over and cause trouble."

Kang Ge'er snuggled in the nanny's arms, nodded, and stared at everyone in the yard.

The courtyard was desolate. The house was dilapidated, with vines crawling all over the collapsed half, and dry weeds standing upright on the roof of the remaining half, rustling in the wind.

Stepping on the chaotic footprints left by everyone on the thick rotten leaves and moss on the ground, Qin Yuan and others stumbled to the dry well they were surrounding.

After they stood still, Qin Yuan asked, "How long has it been since anyone lived here?"

The old monk had a pair of long, drooping eyebrows, as if he was always sympathizing with the people of the world. Upon hearing this, he immediately said, "Female donor, no one has lived here for at least several decades."

Qin Yuan asked for the Dharma name, and then asked: "Master Zhiguang, how long have you been in the temple?"

Monk Zhiguang said, "It has been more than 30 years. My master came from Shu to visit a friend in the capital. He was recommended to stay in the temple of the Marquis's mansion. I followed him to meditate here and have been staying here since he passed away."

Qin Yuan looked at Master Gu Liu, who was squatting on the ground, staring at the skull and muttering something. She listened carefully and found that this man was reciting "Skull Song".

"…The grass in the thorn bushes covers the hills, it’s chilly, the wind blows the lotus leaves and makes me sad. Skull! Skull! The green grass is like a felt and the moon is like a lamp. It’s so lonely, and there’s no one to visit… Whose family are you, the first to die? The rain and wind blow like snow and frost… Skull! Skull! You are left with only a pair of eye sockets. How long can life last?…"

At the end of the recitation, he said: "Tonight my family will pray for my deceased wife, why don't we make an appointment to go to the West together..."

Qin Yuan sighed and said, "Since Sixth Brother thinks so, why not have someone place an incense burner and candles next to the dry well and have someone come over to chant sutras to pray for the soul to be reborn?"

Master Gu Liu stood up and asked, "Third sister-in-law, is this okay?"

Qin Yuan nodded and said, "Of course."

The two monks relaxed their expressions a little and said with a smile, "Your Excellency is kind-hearted. Let this lonely ghost have a place to go. He will surely be rewarded in the future."

Qin Yuan nodded and said, "We don't ask for anything in return. As long as our clansmen and families are safe and sound, that's enough."

Master Gu Liu put his hands behind his back and sighed, "When a person dies, it's like a light goes out. I don't know what kind of person he was in his life, but he was abandoned here. Maybe his parents, brothers and sisters are still at home missing him and worrying about him?"

Gu Shiliu scratched his head, not knowing how to respond.

Qin Yuan smiled and said, "Sixth brother also said that when a person dies, everything is gone. It is useless to think about it. We can't ask anything from bones. If a person does not waste time while alive and treats relatives and friends well, he will not live in vain. Don't you think so?"

Master Gu Liu nodded: "Third sister-in-law is right, but I have been feeling a lot recently. I feel like these years have been like a dream, and I have wasted a lot of time. I just met this person... I suddenly feel sad."

Qin Yuan looked at the two monks standing nearby and persuaded Master Gu Liu, "It's cool here, so we shouldn't stay here for too long, or we'll get sick from the wind. Let Sixteen handle the rest."

The uncle and his wife bowed to the dry well before leaving.

Qin Yuan was silent all the way, and only said after returning to the meditation room: "Go and call Gu Shiba."

Seeing her solemn expression, Hongye hurried to call Gu Shiba.

After a while, Gu Shiba came.

Qin Yuan whispered, "Go find Sixteen later and tell him what I said. Find a few people to watch over them in the yard and perform the ritual so that the monks can't touch anything in the yard."

Gu Shiba asked: "Madam, do you think..."

Qin Yuan said, "Who would die in a dry well? His body must have been dumped here. Monk Zhiguang said he followed the wandering monks to stay in the ancestral temple for more than 30 years. He looks at least 50 or 60 years old, but his accent is not from Shu. His Beijing accent has a Yuzhou accent. This is a bit suspicious. Even the monks in the ancestral temple should be thoroughly investigated, so that the ancestral temple will not become a place for filth and corruption. If something big happens in the future, the Marquis' Mansion will not be able to escape responsibility."

Gu Eighteen said admiringly: "I will tell Sixteen right away to watch carefully and not let them have a chance to wipe out the traces."

Qin Yuan responded, then suddenly remembered and asked, "Why didn't I see Baozhu much today?"

Gu Shiba said, "Miss Seven went to the nearby Shuijing Temple to ask to see Aunt Wen."

Qin Yuan thought she had misheard and asked in surprise, "Who?"