Fairy, don't try to mess with my filial piety

The Queen had already told the female guard that if Xiao Yaoer wanted to go somewhere else for a stroll, she could accompany her. There was no need to force the little girl into the palace, as she was still a child at heart.

Empress Wen was, after all, a considerate woman. Even she felt depressed and bored staying in the palace, so how could she force the little girl to enter the palace every day?

The female guard said, "Princess Yao'er, could you please tell me where you want to go? I can accompany you."

"I want to go to a merchant's house in the west of the city. I heard there was a cat spirit there, and yesterday the constables from the yamen went to deal with it. I've never seen a cat spirit before, so I want to check the 'Cat Physiognomy Sutra' to see what kind of cat it is."

The female guard nodded and asked doubtfully:

"Princess Yao'er, you said the cat spirit has been dealt with. How can we still go and see it?"

The lovely and beautiful princess' eyes sparkled, and she said excitedly:

"The maid said that the cat spirit appeared again in the middle of the night yesterday and kept calling all night long!"

When the little princess was celebrating her first birthday, she first grabbed a book, and then she picked out "The Book of Cat Divination" from among the books. When she grew up, she just happened to like to look at all kinds of cats.

Her nickname, "Xiu Hu", is actually the name of a type of big orange cat.

Now that Princess Yaoer heard about a cat she had never seen before, it was normal for her to be curious.

The female guard understood the whole thing and knew that the little princess did not like to show off, so she disguised herself and pretended to be a maid of a rich family.

All the way to the west of the city, on the streets and roadsides, there was no shortage of discussions about yesterday's "catcher catching the monster" incident.

There is little entertainment in this era, and when something interesting comes up, the common people can talk about it for days.

Whenever she passed by a group of people engaged in heated discussions, Wen Yaoer would lean sideways while sitting on her horse, as if she wanted to stretch her ears to listen carefully.

The female guards were afraid that the little princess would fall, so the princess sat in the front and she sat in the back, and had to reach out to hold her from time to time.

"...Though the cat spirit was small, it could be eerily frightening when it became fierce. It vanished from thin air with a single leap, suddenly appearing above the constable's head, threatening to rip his skull apart!"

"In a split second, the wooden sword constable stood firm, his head unmoved, his eyes unblinking, his expression unwavering. He effortlessly captured the demon and crushed the cat spirit to death in one swoop!"

Princess Yaoer straightened up after listening to the passerby on her left. She found that the passerby on her right was also chatting, so she leaned forward to listen to the one on her right.

The versions told by all parties were similar, but the little girl couldn't resist her curiosity. Even though she knew the content was the same, she couldn't help but listen.

When we arrived near the residence of the merchant surnamed Li, the street was crowded with people.

Because from time to time, the sound of cats' meows could be heard from within the Li family's courtyard wall, continuously. It seemed that the constable who caught the monster yesterday had completely angered the cat spirit.

The female guard was struggling with how to get closer. If it didn't work, she might have to reveal her identity.

Otherwise, if she squeezed over slowly, Princess Yaoer might get bumped.

When everyone was hesitating, someone shouted, "The constable is here!" The crowd suddenly emptied out, and everyone wanted to see how the monster was caught.

Wen Yaoer also looked over curiously.

In front of the gate of the Li family's house, a young man in martial arts clothes came on horseback. He didn't look like a constable, but more like a folk martial artist. However, he was a handsome young martial artist. Even though his demeanor and expression remained calm, one could vaguely feel a sense of heroic spirit from the look in his eyes under his sword-like eyebrows.

He dismounted and walked, one man on one horse, which intuitively explained the term "tall and strong".

There were many passers-by watching and joining in the fun, but Chu Wuji standing there was particularly conspicuous. Even if you didn't look at him intentionally, your eyes would unconsciously move to him.

The female guard recognized the "constable" and said, "So it's Chu Wuji from the Martial Academy. I was told that there are no constables in the yamen who are good at catching monsters."

Wen Yaoer was very curious: "Sister Que, do you know him? Is he a famous person?"

The female guard shook her head: "I don't know him, I just know that he was beaten badly by Yu Hualong, the son-in-law of the Minister of Revenue, during the last sword fight at the Sword Tomb."

The little princess seemed to have heard something, as if she had heard the adults in the family talking about it, but she didn't care about these royal children fighting and being beaten.

She stretched her fair neck, tried to look inside the gate, and muttered:

"How come you come here to catch a monster empty-handed? You don't even have the talisman gourd with you. Are you planning to capture it with your bare hands?"

-

In the Li family residence,

The servants were busy packing up, and it seemed they were about to move away.

As Chu Wuzhi walked into the gate, the cat spirit made another hoarse and mocking sound, so sharp and piercing that passers-by outside got goosebumps.

Li Liangxin was calm. He had been listening to this noise since last night and was a little numb.

Seeing the constable from yesterday coming over, Li Liangxin sighed helplessly:

"Sir, you killed the cat spirit yesterday, and that evil creature escaped in the middle of the night. We have given in and are ready to move and admit defeat!

But I still want to thank you for taking the trouble to come again. I hope you can do me the honor of having lunch at the restaurant!"

Chu Wuji recalled his godmother's introduction to Lu Ban's technique and said:

"If this matter is not thoroughly dealt with, I'm afraid that those with ulterior motives will continue to harass the Li family, and the situation will remain the same when we move to the new house."

The Li family members looked desperate: "Ah? What should we do then?"

Chu Wuji just said, "Let me take a look around first," and then tried to find the clues mentioned by his godmother.

There were foreign objects on the beams and traces of a newly dug pit in the yard.

After walking a few steps, the cat spirit appeared again. It appeared silently from the side and pounced from the air. It was obvious that it was holding a grudge.

Chu Wuzhi remained calm, grabbed it with his bare hands again, and threw it aside. The cat spirit's body showed signs of burns.

The neighbors and passers-by who had been discussing it for most of the day finally saw it with their own eyes. Some of them had not even realized what was happening when the cat spirit was killed.

"No, is it really that easy? I just realized the cat spirit appeared!"

"The beast howled all night long last night. It was terrifying. It died so hastily."

Wen Yaoer blinked her bright eyes. She thought there would be a battle of spells, so she blinked blankly and confusedly, and said in surprise:

"It's just like what the people said, with a blank expression on his face, and it's over with just a grab!"

Chu Wuji looked at his palm in confusion. "I didn't use the peach wood knife and talisman water this time. Does that mean it's my touch that's burning the cat spirit?"

But since he couldn't find anything special about it, he stopped paying attention to it and asked his servants to check the suspicious areas together.

The Li family is a wealthy family, but not to the extent of being wealthy. Their house is not very big, so it doesn't take much time to search.

Soon, a servant dug out a jar from a new mound of earth next to the toilet.

As soon as it was opened, a foul odor hit me in the face. Inside was the body of a female cat. The cat's stomach was ripped open, and there were several dead kittens in its belly, which looked like they were not fully grown.

It seems that this is the real body of the cat spirits.

The little kittens that were running around in the Li family house before were probably looking for their mother.

There is also a piece of yellow paper in the jar. This is the "every wrong has its perpetrator, every debt has its owner" spell in Lu Ban's magic. The reason and both parties involved must be clearly stated before it can take effect.

His godmother had told him about several common Lu Ban techniques, including this one.

Chu Wuji did not hide anything and directly read out the above content, saying:

"...I, a commoner, Li Seoul, have lost everything I have lost to a ruthless businessman from my village, Li Liangxin, who took advantage of the price difference and took kickbacks. I hereby ask the ancestor Lu Ban to punish the traitor and avenge my anger!"

Li Liangxin's face flushed red with anger, and he glared at her, "It really is that shrew. She's caused so much unrest in my family for so many days! And she's still slandering me!"

-

The government attaches great importance to political achievements. When they heard that the case could be solved, they immediately sent constables to handle it.

When the real detectives showed up, they actually captured Li Shouer from Lijia Village outside the city.

Li Shouer, a middle-aged woman, has a bloated figure and a face that looks a bit fat. Even when she cries, she looks disgusting and frowns.

After she was escorted here, she knelt on the ground without saying a word and howled, her voice even harsher than that of the cat spirit:

"This collusion between officials and businessmen is unjust! I spent all my money to buy a large batch of blue silk cloth, which I even borrowed money to buy. It could have been sold for three hundred taels, but this Li Liangxin just helped with the formalities and took fifty taels as a commission!

The government doesn't care about evil-hearted villains, so I can only ask my ancestors to help me get justice, but now the government is here to arrest me!"

The neighbors outside were originally there to join in the fun, but when they felt sorry for the Li family's plight, their expressions suddenly changed.

The people all hate unscrupulous businessmen. Although the people living in the capital sound like city people, to be honest, they are still at the bottom of society and live a tight life.

I was cheated out of a few more taels of silver today, and I will have to live on steamed buns and pickles for the next few days. I have been frugal elsewhere, and I haven't been given any reason, so I can only sulk.

If they weren't afraid of being implicated, they would have wanted to curse out loud.

The female guard didn't want the little princess to be involved in these things, and she was about to drive her horse away, but Wen Yaoer shook her head, her little face looking depressed and lost.

"Sister Que, wait a minute. I want to finish watching... The mother cat in the jar, along with the kittens in her belly, was thrown to death alive, just to be used as a curse. The resentment was clearly directed at Li Seoul..."

Inside the courtyard, the officials from the yamen didn't care about these things. The case file stated that it was a cat spirit causing trouble and disturbing the people's lives. They only cared about this and could not resolve any other economic disputes.

The constables were looked at by the neighbors with the expression "you dog official" and they felt unhappy, but what else could they do?

They did not write the laws.

At this time, Li Liangxin walked into the inner room with a dark face, came out with a pile of account books, and threw them on the ground.

The above records the market prices of various commodities, with changes recorded almost every ten days, which is very detailed.

"I'm cruel? Open your eyes, you shrew!"

"To drive up the price of this batch of blue silk cloth, you borrowed money and bought all the cloth woven in the neighboring villages. You delayed the delivery for a month! But do you know how quickly the market for goods fluctuates?"

"The cloth shops have already bought all the goods from other places. No one is buying your overpriced cloth!"

"In the month you were daydreaming about raising the price, the market value of your goods dropped from three hundred taels to two hundred taels!"

"Out of consideration for our fellow villagers, and also because you're borrowing money to stockpile the goods, I'm using my services to allow the merchant to purchase them at the original price of three hundred taels! Is my favor only worth fifty taels?!"

"You have two hundred and fifty taels now, at least you can get back your capital!"

"If I hadn't asked for a favor, you wouldn't even be able to pay back your debt! Because there are people from other places scrambling to sell this kind of goods. You may not be able to sell it for 200 taels. You have to keep selling it at a low price to attract people's attention!"

"I sold my favor cheaply to help you make your money back, but in the end, you cursed and harassed me!"

"A shrew like you deserves to bring trouble to your family and be hounded to death by creditors!!"

Chapter 11 Whose Child?

Compared to Li Shouer's irrelevant remarks and using volume to support his momentum, Li Liangxin's side is much more reasonable and well-founded.

He was in the reselling business and kept a close eye on the price changes of goods. These figures were clearly recorded in the account book. If you flipped through a few pages, you could easily find the part about blue silk cloth, which basically matched what he said.

Chu Wuji was afraid of other misunderstandings, so he took Li Liangxin's income and expenditure account book and took a look, and found the fifty taels of income.

Then things became clear.

Li Shouer relied on borrowing money to accumulate capital and collected all the cloth produced in several nearby villages. She felt that if she had all the goods, the company would not be able to purchase them from other places, and she would have a monopoly position and could easily raise the price.

But she didn't expect that the company had really purchased all the goods from other places, and Li Seoul's goods would rot in his hands.

Li Liangxin sold the goods out of consideration for his fellow villagers and used his connections to help them, and then took some hard work fees.

However, he didn't expect that just because of this little bit of hard work fee, Li Seoul would hold a grudge against this fellow villager who was engaged in reselling.

As a result, there have been incidents of cat spirits disturbing homes for several days.

Li Seoul saw that he was not in the right, so he raised his voice to make himself seem right:

"In the end, you didn't actually pay anything. You just talked and took fifty taels of silver from your fellow villagers' hard-earned money! You're so mean!"

You can say that without actually paying any price!

Li Liang laughed angrily. Looking at this fat and rascally woman, he was in no mood to argue or explain anymore. She simply couldn't understand what he was saying.

"My biggest mistake, Li Liangxin, was mistaking a pig demon for a human. This is God's punishment for my misjudgment!"

Chu Wuji picked out a few pages that could be used as evidence from the account book on the ground and handed them to the constable:

"This is conclusive evidence. This is the concrete proof that the shrew unilaterally persecuted Li Liangxin. She had no excuses. Take her away and close the case."

Constable Yan Daliu knew this martial arts academy apprentice and gave him a thumbs up, admiring him:

"Yesterday, I was drinking with my colleagues and was talking about an unlucky guy who was sent here to suffer. I didn't expect that you would completely solve the case on the second day after you arrived!"

He lowered his voice again and said:

"I'll keep that bitch locked up for a few more days, until your competition, and then close the case. Otherwise, you'll definitely be sent off to work on another difficult case. From now on, you'll just nominally be accompanying us, and every day you'll track down the source of this house-harassing sorcery."

The incident has become so serious that almost everyone in the west of the city has come to watch, and it will definitely reach the ears of the martial arts academy coach.

Constable Yan Daliu assigned some symbolic work to Chu Wuzhi to save him from the subsequent running around.

He helped the government handle a trivial and difficult case, so he could still give them some face.