Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 38 Xianren Lake Murder Case
Facing Lord Xu's enthusiasm that bordered on flattery, Liang Zhongzhi simply smiled faintly and said, "I came here this time because I observed the celestial phenomena last night and discovered that there was a demonic aura rising to the sky south of Moyang City. I'm afraid a bloody disaster has occurred. So I came here specifically to inform Lord Xu."

Talking like this is really very pretentious.

Moreover, although Confucianism these days is more inclined towards the pragmatic school of investigation of things and extension of knowledge, the concept of the correspondence between heaven and man still has a large market.

Anyway, the fact that great scholars would "observe the celestial phenomena at night" is deeply rooted in people's minds.

Lord Xu believed it.

He shuddered and came back to his senses, "South of the city? Isn't South of the city the Fairy Lake Pier? If something happens there..."

He had scared himself.

That is the most prosperous and densely populated place in Moyang City.

Then he hurriedly called out, "Quick, go to the dock and take a look... No, I'll go with you too."

After a while of commotion, Xu Zhizhou went to the dock surrounded by a large crowd of people.

Zhao Yifu looked at the constable who was leading the way in front of him... He was sharp-eyed and immediately noticed that the constable's clothes had been worn by someone else, and the constables who had come to his house to cause trouble before were nowhere to be seen.

Obviously, they have lost this layer of skin because of that incident.

Come to think of it, this is normal. According to the situation at that time, even if Xu Zhizhou couldn't deal with these people, Master Lu would definitely not let them have an easy time.

Zhao Yifu and Liang Zhongzhi advanced through the crowd, eagerly anticipating what would happen next...

It took about an incense stick of time for them to arrive at the dock area.

It was still early, but the hard-working laborers at the dock had already started busy moving goods.

Moyang City is a very important port in Xianren Lake. Not to mention Nanhu Prefecture to the south, but when the tributaries of the river in the west flow into Xianren Lake, the first place to stop is Moyang Port.

The northeast of Moyang is a fertile grain-producing plain, but the grain produced will be shipped to Moyang City and Nanhu City for shipment, and then transported to the hinterland of the capital by water.

But because Moyang City is also connected to a tributary of a large river, even though Nanhu City is the capital of Nanhu Province, the economy of Nanhu Prefecture where the provincial capital is located is actually inferior to Mozhou where Moyang City is located.

Xu Zhizhou looked at the busy scene at the dock and saw nothing amiss. He looked at Liang Zhongzhi curiously and said, "Mr. Zhengfang, is there something wrong? It doesn't seem like anything bad is going on."

Liang Zhongzhi pointed to an area east of the dock and asked, "Really? Why is everything else so busy, but this area is so quiet?"

Zhao Yifu looked in the direction of the sound and saw four large pleasure boats docked on the shore.

Behind these four pleasure boats, there were three more pleasure boats floating in the distance on the lake.

Of course Zhao Yifu understood what was going on, but he would not come out to explain such things himself. He just waited for others to explain.

As expected, Lord Xu didn't want to say more, so with a look from him, his miserable advisor Lu Ce could only step forward and say, "Replying to Lord Zheng Fang, these pleasure boats are actually romantic buildings floating on the water. They are brightly lit at night, but very quiet during the day."

Liang Zhongzhi listened without comment.

At this moment, a gust of wind blew over the lake, and Yiyi, who was held in Zhao Yifu's sleeves, suddenly opened her mouth and let out a cry with a trembling sound.

Zhao Yifu felt something was wrong when he heard it, because his Yiyi had never called him like that before, and there was obvious fear in the voice.

He didn't care about the occasion and pulled up his sleeves to reveal the little kitten in his palm.

Originally, Yiyi was only the size of Zhao Yifu's palm, but now, more than two months later, it has actually grown quite big.

It just kept clinging to Zhao Yifu and didn't want to leave, so Zhao Yifu had to make his sleeves bigger so that it could serve as a nest.

Seeing him showing the cat at this time and seeming to be petting it, everyone had different expressions.

Xu Zhizhou was clearly surprised, but Lu Ce was more envious, envious of Zhao Yifu being able to stand beside Liang Zhongzhi in such a relaxed manner. In the eyes of ordinary scholars, a renowned scholar like Liang Zhongzhi was like a god.

Instead, Liang Zhongzhi saw Yiyi in Zhao Yifu's arms arching her back with her fur standing on end, and he praised her: "Good cat slave, it was she who discovered the clue first."

"The problem lies with these pleasure boats. We'll know once we investigate."

The great scholar still had a strong credibility. When Xu Zhizhou heard this, he was not at all vague and immediately sent people to check.

First, they went to the four pleasure boats that were docked. After they opened the doors, they searched them, causing chaos on the boats.

But it was actually almost noon, so apart from some disheveled girls catching up on their sleep, nothing unsightly was happening. Of course, the disaster Liang Zhongzhi had mentioned hadn't happened either.

But at this moment, a brothel owner who was being searched and questioned pointed in a direction.

That is, the pleasure boats they run usually leave the port with a boat full of girls and patrons before the night curfew, so it is not considered a violation of the curfew.

The ship will not dock again until after the city gates open at dawn to drop off passengers and provide supplies.

It was almost noon, and the pleasure boats docked at the pier were actually the second batch of supplies.

Some of the first batch of supply pleasure boats have been booked for lake cruises, while others are floating near the port.

But there was only one very strange ship. It did not dock for supplies nor leave. It just floated far away without any movement.

Liang Zhongzhi immediately interrupted, "Where is that ship?"

The madam dared not breathe a word. She pointed to the farthest pleasure boat on the lake and said, "That's it. It's been at anchor and hasn't moved."

Liang Zhongzhi said: "Let's go over and take a look."

Although there has been no concrete discovery yet, no one dares to disobey the great scholar's words.

Soon everyone requisitioned the pleasure boat and asked the helmsman to steer the boat towards the ship floating in the distance on the lake.

This wasted some time, and they finally approached the pleasure boat half an hour later.

But when he got closer, Zhao Yifu frowned and found something wrong.

He said, "The smell of blood, such a strong smell of blood."

Only then did he understand why Yi Yi had been so angry. Its nose was much more sensitive than a human's, and it must have smelled the blood on the shore.

Liang Zhongzhi said calmly, "What a monster! I didn't expect him to be so vicious."

At this time, the two pleasure boats had already docked, and the constables and yamen runners jumped onto the sampan and went to the other ship.

As for Zhao Yifu and Liang Zhongzhi, they remained on the original boat and waited for the time being.

It's not to put on airs, but to take Lord Xu's feelings into consideration.

After all, which state has parents who lead by example?

However, before long, several constables who had entered the cabin scrambled out onto the deck, clinging to the side of the ship and vomiting violently.

“Dead people…all dead…how tragic!”

In the end, the new chief constable had stronger psychological qualities and came to Xu Zhizhou with a pale face to explain the situation.

(End of this chapter)