good season

At the fourth watch of the night, a woman emerged from a small inn that was rumored to be haunted.

Not far ahead, an old beggar appeared, his steps unsteady. The woman's solitary figure, like a ghost, followed closely behind him, neither too close nor too far. The two, one in front and one behind, were quickly swallowed by the night.
I don't know how long we walked, but we finally arrived at our destination—a back alley not far from Dali Temple.

The street where Dali Temple is located is called Liubu Houjie (Six Departments Back Street), and as the name suggests, there is also Liubu Qianjie (Six Departments Front Street).

It's easy to imagine that these two streets were lined with government offices, both civil and military.

Where there are government offices, there are officials. Officials are also human beings. They also need to eat, especially breakfast and lunch, which they often eat outside. After leaving their posts, they would often gather in twos and threes to complain a bit.

As a result, small restaurants and teahouses catering specifically to officials emerged. These shops were located near Liubu Street. They appeared to be small, unassuming businesses, but in reality, they were frequented by ordinary people.

The back alley that the old beggar led the woman to was behind these small restaurants. During the day, it was quite lively, with people delivering vegetables, goods, and collecting swill.

But now, it's very quiet here. Looking around, there's not a third person in the long alley.

The old beggar pointed to the eaves of the back door of a shop, indicating that the woman should wait there.

What are you waiting for?
When it was broad daylight and the streets were bustling with people.

The woman nodded silently, curtsied to the old beggar, and thanked him for leading the way.

Before dawn, a fog had risen, and the old beggar felt his face was wet. The fog blurred his vision and also obscured the woman's face.

A sense of desolation welled up in the old beggar's heart. Although he didn't know why the woman had come here or where her next stop would be, he knew that since someone was willing to pay him ten taels of silver to lead the way, the place the woman was going to must not be a good place; it might even be a place of death.

He had been in the capital for many years and this was not the first time he had received such a job, nor would it be the last. The reason he accepted the money first was because he was worried that he would be silenced. Now, the ten taels of silver were on him, and he needed to leave immediately. He should go out of the city and hide for a few days. The old widow in Xiaocui Village was interested in him, so he went to Xiaocui Village.

The old beggar, who had been staggering as he came, suddenly started running and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Seeing that he had left, the woman slowly raised her head, and her bright eyes shone brightly through the mist.

She whistled, and a dog and two cats darted out from behind her. Xiao Ye couldn't help but bark; he had been holding it in the whole way, and he was about to burst.

He was about to bark a second time when he received a claw strike to the face. The little demon glared at him angrily: "You stupid dog, shut up!"

Xiao Ye's cries turned into a sob. He's still a baby. What's wrong with him making a couple of noises? He didn't eat any of the cat's dried fish.

Zhao Shiqing patted his head. This kid still needs more experience. He'll become more sensible after a few more outings.

Xiaoye's grievances vanished instantly, and he became excited again, his tail wagging and leaving afterimages.

Zhao Shiqing said, "Let's go find someone to come and play the drums."

There is a hutong (alley) in Beijing that is very close to the Imperial Examination Hall and the Imperial College, called Gaosheng Hutong.

The triennial imperial examination drew candidates from all over the country to the capital. These out-of-town candidates mostly stayed in local guild halls or a few inns in the capital that catered specifically to candidates.

However, some people from well-off families will rent a courtyard, either alone or with a few friends, and stay away from visitors to focus on their studies.

Gaosheng Hutong became the first choice for these test takers to rent a house.

This place has produced two top scholars (Zhuangyuan), one second-place scholar (Bangyan), two third-place scholars (Tanhua), and three third-place scholars (Chuanlu). Moreover, all the scholars who passed the imperial examinations from this alley have had very successful careers.

Even Feng Ke, the Grand Secretary of the Qing Dynasty, once rented a place here.

Therefore, those guild halls and inns are only fully booked during the year of the Grand Examination, while Gaosheng Hutong is always packed with people.

In the most recent imperial examination, although the top three were not from Gaosheng Hutong, seven people, including Chuanlu, became Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations).

One of them was Lin Sen, who was at the very bottom of the class.

Of these seven Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations), four were sent out of the capital, two passed the examination to become Shujishi (junior compilers) and remained in the capital, and the last one, Lin Sen, also remained in the capital even though he did not pass the examination to become a Shujishi.

The rent in Gaosheng Hutong was not cheap, so although three Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) stayed in the capital, only Lin Sen still lived there.

It is said that he was originally planning to move away, but suddenly good fortune came his way and he was chosen by the emperor to meet the princess. So he gave up the idea of ​​moving away.

After moving out of Gaosheng Hutong, he couldn't find such a decent place to live anytime soon.

Ever since the emperor betrothed him to Princess Huixin, palace eunuchs would come here every few days to deliver gifts.

Although Princess Huixin did not have a high profile in the royal family, a princess is a princess and represents the dignity of the royal family.

As the prospective son-in-law, Lin Sen couldn't afford to be too low-class.

He rented a detached house with three rooms that were piled full of various gifts, almost overflowing.

Lin Sen's parents are already on their way to Beijing, and Lin Sen has already entrusted a real estate agency to prepare to buy a house in Beijing.

After he married the princess, he could live in the princess's residence, but his parents could not. Of course, if the princess agreed, that would be fine too.

However, he and the princess had just gotten married and he couldn't figure out her temperament yet, so he couldn't bring his parents into the mansion rashly. Therefore, he could only temporarily set up a house so that the rewards sent by the palace could be displayed in the house in a dignified manner. These belonged to the Lin family and many of them could be passed down as heirlooms.

Lin Sen was very busy. He was busy receiving people from the palace and the Ministry of Rites, busy receiving people who came to give gifts and congratulate him, both acquaintances and strangers, busy dealing with distant relatives, busy looking for a house, and busy with many other things.

Today, Lin Sen was busy until very late again. As the newly appointed prince consort, he had many social engagements.

He actually wanted to get to know other prince consorts, but prince consorts in the capital were extremely rare. Most princesses were either divorced and had no prince consort, or their prince consorts had died. There were also princesses like Princess Jiarou who refused to get married.

A few days ago, Lin Sen met Dai Fan, the consort of Princess Jiale. Unfortunately, Dai Fan had no family background and no future prospects. He was dull and taciturn, and didn't say a word to Lin Sen the whole time, which made Lin Sen feel very bored.

Compared to this acting prince consort, he would much rather get to know Princess Jiayi's husband, Xiao.

He had heard of Prince Consort Xiao before coming to the capital. This man was a top scholar in the imperial examinations, and not only that, he was also a descendant of the Xiao family.

The Xiao family of Qingquan was once a prominent clan in this dynasty. Although its population has dwindled, it remains a highly influential family in the Dayong Dynasty.

Moreover, Princess Jiayi is different from other princesses. She is the only legitimate daughter of the retired emperor. Of course, Princess Jiale's mother was also an empress, but this empress had long been deposed and died in the cold palace. Princess Jiayi's birth mother, on the other hand, was buried with the honor of an empress and is now waiting for the retired emperor in the imperial mausoleum.

Princess Jiayi's status alone gave Xiao the privilege of marrying into a wealthy and powerful family, not to mention his own excellent background.

Unfortunately, despite Lin Sen's efforts to pull strings, he has yet to meet Prince Consort Xiao.

Before going to sleep, Lin Sen was still thinking about this matter. He thought and thought and then he remembered a scholar from Liang who had said that his sister's husband's family was related to the Xiao family of Qingquan.

I wonder if this scholar from Liang is still in the capital. I'll ask a few of my fellow candidates tomorrow. It would be great if we could go to Princess Jiayi's residence with him.

As he pondered these thoughts, Lin Sen drifted off to sleep. That night, he had a dream in which he was captured and forced to perform, breaking large stones on his chest.

The heavy stone pressed down on him, making it hard to breathe. He wanted to shout but couldn't. He was sweating profusely and feeling dizzy. He reached out to push away the heavy object on his chest, but his hand touched something furry, and a wave of hot, damp air hit him in the face.

He was startled and opened his eyes abruptly, only to see a pair of eyes, a pair of eyes so clear they didn't belong to a human.

So close, so beautiful.

But the next moment, he saw the mouth beneath those eyes, a mouth panting with its tongue sticking out.

It's a dog!

Lin Sen isn't afraid of dogs, but that doesn't mean he's not afraid of a dog that climbs on him in the middle of the night and sticks its tongue out at him.

At this moment, Lin Sen was terrified, as if he had seen a ghost.

He tried to shout, but the sound got stuck in his throat. Lin Sen then realized that his mouth and tongue were completely numb and unresponsive.

Lin Sen tried to get up, but the dog was firmly pressed against his chest, making it impossible for him to move.

He stared wide-eyed in horror. Was this a dream? It must be a dream!
He closed his eyes, then opened them again, and the dog was still there. Good heavens, he actually felt that the dog was smiling at him, but the smile was too eerie and too terrifying.

The next moment, a furry paw reached over his head and pressed against his eyelids. Lin Sen was so frightened that he almost suffocated. His hands felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, and he didn't have the courage to lift them up and open the paw.

Then, another furry thing pressed down on his other eye, and Lin Sen closed his eyes completely.

It turns out that when facing danger, closing your eyes is more terrifying than seeing it with your own eyes, because everything is unknown, and in your imagination, even more bizarre things may happen.

Soon, Lin Sen's guess came true.

A voice rang in his ear: "Do you remember me? I am a member of the Luo family."

The Luo family?
Is this a ghost?

Judging from the voice, it's a woman. Is it my second aunt? Or Luo Liqiong?
Could Luo Liqiong also be dead?

I haven't heard anything about it from my family.

Lin Sen made a gurgling sound in his throat. He wanted to say, "Your Luo family's affairs have nothing to do with me. It was all done by my parents. If you want revenge, go find my father and mother."

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't say the words. He didn't know what was wrong with his mouth; it was as if it wasn't part of his body.

It's sorcery, it must be sorcery!

No, it's a ghost, not a demon!

Before this, if someone said he had seen a ghost, Lin Sen would definitely say it was superstition and nonsense. But when it happened to him, Lin Sen didn't think that way anymore.

What he hopes for most now is that a Taoist priest who catches ghosts will pass by his door, smell the ghostly aura, and slay the demon and drive away the ghost, as the law commands!

Unfortunately, hope is beautiful, but reality is cruel.

The ghost didn't leave; instead, even more furry things pressed against his face, while the dog remained on top of him, drool dripping onto his face. Each drop sent shivers down his spine.

Then, something slipped into his blanket; it was slippery and sticky.

It's a snake!

The voice rang out again: "Welcome to the underworld, I am your guide."

Hell?

This isn't where he lives.

Could it be that what he just saw wasn't a dog?
By the way, that dog is black. Could it be the legendary Black Impermanence?

As if guessing what he was thinking, the voice said, "Lord Black Impermanence has twelve incarnations. What you see is only one of Lord Black Impermanence's incarnations."

So it really was Black Impermanence.

Lin Sen's head was spinning, the air was thin, and he was having more and more difficulty breathing. He still couldn't move his tongue and mouth. He felt that he might really be dead, otherwise why would he have this feeling?
The snake then coiled around his leg, and then his other leg was also entangled. It turned out that there wasn't just one snake that had crawled in.

Or perhaps he wasn't covered by a blanket at all, and he wanted to open his eyes to see, but his eyelids were pressed down tightly, so he couldn't open them and couldn't see anything.

The voice rang out again: "You killed me, yet I'm still going to guide you. Tell me, am I a good ghost?"

Lin Sen was horrified and could no longer hold on, so he fainted!

When he woke up again, he opened his eyes and found himself still surrounded by darkness, and the black dog was still pressing against his chest.

Or perhaps it wasn't a black dog at all, but rather the Black Impermanence.

When Lin Sen realized he could open his eyes, he was struck hard on the face.

"You've ruined me, I've come to take you to the underworld, come on, hurry up and go!"

The black dog's head suddenly disappeared, replaced by a long-haired female ghost!
The female ghost, her face deathly pale, stuck out her long tongue at him.

Lin Sen fainted again.

Regardless of its inner workings, whether bright or dark, beautiful or ugly, the capital of the Great Yong Dynasty was outwardly prosperous and bustling with activity. People from all walks of life, from the north and south, came to the capital in droves, astonished by its magnificent grandeur and the ever-changing gossip surrounding it.

For example, the biggest gossip today is the story of the Dengwen Drum.

That petition drum has stood in front of the Dali Temple for many years, seemingly since the time of Emperor Taizu.

Time has passed, and the officials of the Dali Temple have come and gone. Only the Dengwen Drum remains, standing there silently. The once vibrant, blood-red paint has long been eroded and peeled away by the years, much like the dilapidated court, which has lost even its superficial luster.

However, in the past six months, the honest and unassuming Dengwen Drum has suddenly become restless.

First, the white-haired parents of a prefect came and beat the drum. One died and the other was seriously injured, but the outcome was good. Although their sons did not survive, the murderer and the officials involved were all caught.

Only a few months have passed since that incident, and just this morning, a quarter of an hour ago, the most dutiful petition drum of the Dali Temple was struck again. (End of Chapter)