Nongmen Shenjue

Chapter 275 Ruan Family

Changping Town is four or five days away from Luoyan Mountain, which is not far.

The road conditions were good, and the carriage traveled steadily. Seeing that they were about to arrive in Changping Town, the sky suddenly changed.

When I got up early in the morning, the sky was gloomy, and the north wind was howling, which made people's faces hurt.Sitting in the carriage, I first heard the crackling snow falling on the carriage, and after a while, there were snowflakes the size of goose feathers mixed with falling.

Jiao Li drove the car ahead, seeing this, he drove the car faster.

If it is delayed, let alone the heavy snow blocking the road, if there is too much snow falling, the wheels will slip.Originally estimated the time, it would be sure to arrive this evening, but now I have to speed up and arrive at noon.The speed of the car was high, and bumps were unavoidable. Fortunately, Chen Shiliu did a good job and made the interior of the car soft and comfortable.

"Young Master, Changping Town has arrived!" Jiao Li said.

At this moment, the sky and the earth are completely white, and the heavy snow is falling so densely and urgently that the sight is affected.

Jiao Li's coir raincoat and bamboo hat were covered in a layer of snow, and the wind and snow hit his face. He ran all the way down, even if he had internal strength, he couldn't hold it back.Passing through the village earlier, I found a farmer to buy a pot of strong shochu, and drank a couple of sips from time to time to warm my stomach.

The inside of the car door is a layer of cotton curtain, and the outside is a layer of bamboo curtain, which completely blocks the wind and snow outside.

Mu Qingyan hugged the hand warmer, feeling sleepy.

Changping Town is a big town with official roads, many businessmen and tourists pass by, and the locals can make ends meet by running a small business, so the whole town is relatively affluent.During the winter slack, the weather is cold, it is inconvenient to go out, and there are fewer business trips than usual, and the town is cooler than the previous days.

The carriage stopped in front of an inn, and a young man came up to greet him immediately.

"Wait!" Wen Jixue stopped Mu Qingyan who was about to get out of the car, and opened the curtain to ask outside, "Did something happen in your town last night?"

Xiaoer was taken aback, and quickly smiled and complimented: "Guest, you are very well informed! No, there was a big incident in the town last night. In the middle of the night, the old house of the Ruan family caught fire. It was the watchman who saw something wrong with the bright lights over there. It was only then that the fire was discovered. The fire burned too fast, and when the big guys went to put out the fire, more than half of the whole house was burned down. What a pity, the house is not small, although the townspeople are taboo, but many outsiders are willing buy it."

"Which direction is the Ruan's house?"

"The Ruan family's house is easy to find. Go east along this street and there is a big lotus pond. There are only a few households living on the other side of the lotus pond. The Ruan family's house is the largest, and now most of it has been burned down. Some people wanted to go inside to find leaks. , was stopped by the Baochang and the others, it is said that there are still people in the Ruan family who come back every year to worship their ancestors."

Wen Jixue threw a piece of silver at Xiao Er: "Two upper rooms."

The room is only reserved, and the three of them are going to Ruan's house to take a look.

Wen Jixue has deep internal energy, sharp ears and eyesight, when he entered the town, he deliberately let go of his ears to listen, and happened to hear someone on the street talking about yesterday's fire, and mentioned "Ruan's family", so he asked Xiaoerer one.

"Looks like it's a step too late." Mu Qingyan guessed without going back, that the fire had nothing to do with Zhu Yi, otherwise it would be a coincidence.

At the end of the street, there is a stone bridge on the lotus pond. The lotus pond is not very wide, but it is quite long. There are teahouses or wine shops at both ends of the bridge. It is winter and there are many guests. Drinking tea, tasting wine, talking, Extremely leisurely.The location on the other side of the lotus pond is a bit off, there are not many residents, and every house is quite new and big, obviously it was rebuilt later.

The old house of the Ruan family is very conspicuous. At a glance, the white snow covers the black wood, stone, bricks and tiles. Although the courtyard wall is intact, the house inside has been burned by the fire and has collapsed a lot.

The carriage stopped at the side of the bridge, Mu Qingyan and Wen Jixue got out of the carriage, tightened their cloaks, and walked towards the opposite side slowly.

Jiao Li went directly to the restaurant at Qiaotou, asked for a bowl of wine, started a conversation, and quickly found out the situation of the Ruan family.The matter of the Ruan family is no secret, especially the fire last night, now the town is talking about the Ruan family.

The door of the Ruan's house was closed and locked, two or three young men wrapped in half-worn cotton jackets, with their shoulders hunched, were whispering to the Ruan's house, their eyes rolled around, obviously they didn't have any good ideas.However, in broad daylight, they didn't dare to climb the wall to get in, and besides, they said something happened, the town was strict, and now they could only feel itchy.

He didn't enter the house, so it's hard to trace back the specific situation, but Zhu Yi's figure entering and leaving the house is very clear.

After Zhu Yi left, the house caught fire.

This fire was exactly what Zhu Yi did.

"When Zhu Yi left, she had an extra burden in her hand." Mu Qingyan noticed it, but couldn't guess what was inside.

"Come and see at night." Wen Jixue scanned the word "Ruan's house" on the gate, but failed to connect with any character in Jianghu.The Ruan surname is rare, if such a person is really such a person, there will be no impression.

Back at the inn, I learned about the situation of the Ruan family from Jiao Li.

The Ruan family is an immigrant family. They moved to Changping Town more than 40 years ago. They said they bought a few mountains nearby and started a timber business. There was no one in their family, so they simply moved here to settle down.When the Ruan family came, they were a couple, with a dozen male and female servants, bought land and built a house.These are nothing, what is really strange is that the Ruan family is so rich, and Master Ruan is in the prime of his life, but he only guards one wife.This Mrs. Ruan was quite capable of giving birth, and she gave birth to seven girls in one go, and she got a boy when she was nearly 50 years old.

The town joked that the Ruan family had a "seven fairies daughter".

Hearing this, it was actually the same as Yunjiazhuang.

In other words, it was Mrs. She's deep obsession that "moved" the situation of the Ruan family into the Yun Family Manor.

The Ruan family loved their daughter, and they gave their daughter a generous dowry. In addition, the girls of the Ruan family were good looking, and they all married well.Unexpectedly, 20 years ago, the girls married out of the Ruan family had accidents inexplicably. The interval was only two or three days.Rumors spread all over the place, saying that the Ruan family offended the ruthless man, and that the other party first attacked the married woman.As if to confirm this statement, within half a month, twenty or thirty members of the Ruan family also died.Even if they were careful about their diet, they still didn't escape.

Back then, this matter was a big deal, and the magistrate came to investigate the case himself, but it was still nothing.

The Ruan family has no close relatives, but there is a cousin in the next room, and the Ruan family's property belongs to him.

Although the townspeople were envious and jealous, but so many people died in the Ruan family, no one dared to approach in broad daylight.The nephew of the Ruan family also didn't dare to live there, so he sent a deaf-mute old servant to look after the house, and every New Year's day, he would burn paper to the Ruan family's grave, and the hills were sold off.

The so-called "nephew from the next room of the Ruan family" is probably tricky, after all, it is Mrs. She who comes back to visit the grave every year to pay respects to the ancestors.

In this regard, they inquired about the situation of the fourth girl of the Ruan family.

Nanxi once said that Mrs. She was the fourth of the Ruan family sisters, and she was supposed to be raised as a daughter.

Twenty years ago was the time when Mrs. She retired from the world. Such a coincidence, presumably it had something to do with the destruction of the Ruan family.Inquiring about the specific time, the Ruan family had an accident from March to April, in just one month, not a single married woman died in the Ruan family.At the same time, Mrs. She committed a crime outside, and the one who robbed was the escort that Feng Heng's father was in custody.It was also after that crime that Madam She disappeared from the world.

Miss Ruan Si's name is Ruan Xijun, she is not in good health, and has not been engaged for a long time.When he was 15 years old, he had a high fever, which was irresistible and passed away.

Ruan Xijun died 20 years after the Ruan family had an accident.

In this way, after a little calculation, today's Mrs. She is at least 55 years old.I have to say, just looking at his face, you can't tell it at all.

If his 15-year-old was a fraudulent death, there would still be a five-year blank period before he appeared in the arena to commit crimes.What happened in the past five years?

Leaving aside the unresolved mysteries about Mrs. She, the Ruan family alone is somewhat unclear.For example: Why did the Ruan family raise Ruan Xijun?Ruan Xijun must not be a parent of the Ruan family, otherwise the Ruan family would have no son for a long time, and they would never raise him as a daughter.

It was dark and after dinner, the town became even quieter.

The two came to Ruan's house.

There was white snow everywhere, and the two had good eyesight, so seeing things was not a problem.

According to the layout of the house, the inner house was the most severely burned, and even two or three courtyards in one place were almost completely burned.These courtyards are not too big, they are a little closer to the garden, and near the main courtyard, so they should be for the girls of the Ruan family to live in.If the fire started from the inside, especially since the Ruan family was no longer inhabited, everyone would have guessed that the fire was not easy.

The deaf-mute old servant who guarded the house also died, and fell in the yard. There was no wound on his body, but he died of freezing.

——The time goes back to last night.

It was pitch black everywhere, and the wind shrieked, making the windows whine.

The Ruan family's old house is not like other houses, only a dim yellow lantern moves around the house.The deaf-mute old servant saw that the sky was about to change, so he looked around with a lantern and closed the doors and windows.Just after checking one place, when I turned around, I saw a shadow floating in front of me, and fell to the ground in horror, with a big mouth and a cry of "ah, ah, ah".

The one who appeared here was none other than Zhu Yi!

"Who else is in this house besides you?" Zhu Yi asked.

The deaf-mute old servant repeatedly shook his head and waved his hands, gesticulating with both hands, not knowing what to say.

"Show me!" Zhu Yi was impatient.

The old servant still waved his hands, but then simply knelt and kowtowed, his eyes full of fear.

Zhu Yi suddenly changed the topic: "Where do people who come back to worship their ancestors at the end of the year live?"

The old servant tremblingly raised his hand and pointed towards the backyard, and led him to a small yard.

If you look closely, this small yard is obviously cleaner, and the flowers and plants are also very well trimmed.The courtyard door and the room door were all locked, so Zhu Yi broke open directly, looked around in several rooms, and finally entered the master bedroom with a torch.This is a woman's boudoir, and all the utensils and furnishings are not old-fashioned, pink white, pink blue, light yellow and other colors, showing the beauty of a young girl.

Zhu Yi searched every place carefully, and finally found a mechanism under the bed board of the canopy bed. When she pressed it, the bed board sank, revealing a dark entrance.

Going down the stone steps, the air is damp and stuffy, with a strange smell of stench and decay.

Zhu Yi's footsteps stopped, because he didn't feel the breath of any living person.

When the brazier on the wall was lit, every corner of the basement was illuminated, and the white skeleton in it came into view impressively.On the skeleton and the surrounding ground, there are large and small snake sloughs, unglued fur, and maggot shells... No matter what it used to be, now there is no living thing, even the skeleton. vice.

The skeleton is not wide, it should be a petite woman.

There were still some pieces of clothes left under him, purple in color, and a dozen scattered purple jade bells the size of peanut grains.Originally there were eighteen bells in total, and they were worn around the wrists by strings. Over time, the strings rotted and the bells fell off. Now the number is all wrong.