I am romantic

Ming, Chenghua 12 years.

It was the end of August, and the late-night heat in the capital had already faded away, and the coolness of autumn flowed quietly among the lanes and alleys.After three o'clock in the evening, the evening drum beats, entering the night ban time, and the criss-crossing streets and alleys become a huge empty net, only the figure of the fireman who is in charge of patrolling and guarding against theft passes by from time to time.

Li San and Li Si carried lanterns with the words "Soldiers and Horses of Five Cities" printed on them, and patrolled Mingshifang in Dongcheng together.

At this time, there are stars in the night sky but no moon, and the dim light can only illuminate a radius of two or three feet, and there is thick darkness like ink.

There seemed to be something moving vaguely in the darkness.Li San raised the lantern a bit higher, and squinted to see a white figure walking not far ahead.The light dimly illuminates the side, and it looks like a woman with loose long hair and a white dress.

"Stop! Who is it?" Li San shouted immediately.

Li Si also saw the white shadow, and wondered where such a bold woman could come from, didn't she know that she would be beaten fifty times at night?I'm afraid it's not a good home.

Pressing the handle of the knife, the two stepped forward quickly.However, that figure suddenly disappeared from their eyes within a few breaths—it is not appropriate to say "suddenly", but to be precise, it disappeared from their sight like a bubble.

Li San Li looked at each other in blank dismay, shocked.

Li Si walked back and forth a few times with the lantern in his hand, muttering, "Could it be my eyesight? Brother, didn't you see a woman in white just now?"

Li Sandao: "You saw it too? I thought it was my eyesight. Why did such a living person disappear in an instant? Even Lian Jiazi must bring some windy shadows, this... really evil!"

Li Si suddenly shuddered and tugged at his elder brother's sleeve: "Brother, do you think we... ran into a ghost?"

Li San's face suddenly changed when he heard this, and he stared, "What nonsense! You must be dazzled, seeing a piece of rag blown up by the wind as a human figure! Go, go, and continue patrolling!"

Didn't you see it too!Besides, where is the wind coming from!Li Si muttered in his stomach, but he didn't dare to refute. He turned around and took a few steps, feeling the tightness in the back of his neck.

He was startled and his legs were weak, and he couldn't help but look back.

This one glance made his liver and gallbladder tear apart—two clusters of faint green fire, like the fierce light from the eyes of a monster, rushed towards him from the darkness!

The lantern fell to the ground by mistake, and he grabbed Li San's belt and let out a shrill scream.

Dongcheng, Mingshifang, Masheng Hutong.

Cao Quan, commander of the East City Army and Horse Division, stood outside Zhao's house, feeling physically and mentally exhausted.Several disappearance cases of young children under his administration have not yet been resolved, and another murder case occurred overnight. He is already very busy these days, and he only hopes that the reinforcements will arrive soon.

Seeing a few riders coming from a distance, Cao Quan secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and went up to Ye Yangjingsu, who had dismounted from his horse.Although the other party is only a hundred households, but now the factory guard is powerful, he is not something that a sixth-rank official can underestimate, so he immediately cupped his hands with a smile and said: "Master Ye Yang is well."

"Not good." Ye Yang Jingsu replied with a wry smile, "It's not just that I'm not good, but your five city soldiers and horse commanders, including Xuncheng Yushi, are not much better. The Zhao family's massacre shocked the Ministry of Criminal Justice, and I'm afraid it will happen soon Shang Dasheng heard that if the murderer is not brought to justice as soon as possible, the three of us will not be able to afford it."

The public security of the capital is jointly responsible for the three parties of Wucheng Bingmasi, Xuncheng Yushi and Jinyiwei, but the first and lowest status is Wucheng Bingmasi.Thinking of his predecessor and former commander who had been dragged down by the emperor because of his "ineffectiveness in arresting robbers", Cao Quan suddenly felt a lot of pressure.

"I rushed here as soon as I received the order from above. The specific situation was introduced by Master Lao Cao."

Cao Quan led Ye Yangjingsu in, and explained: "Zhao Ling'an, a man from the capital, has been a drug dealer for three generations. Not to mention a wealth of money, his family is also well-off. This morning, Zhuang Han, who delivered the vegetables, found out that Zhao's house was full of people. The 47 people, including family members and servants, all died violently, together with the chickens, dogs, fish and birds in the house, the house was so huge that there was not even a living thing in one night!"

While speaking, Ye Yang Jingsu had seen the first corpse in the house, it was an old man who was the gatekeeper, lying face down on the ground, his back was bloody, and there was a large puddle of coagulated dark brown blood under his body.He squatted down and easily tore off the dead man's clothes to examine his back: "It's strange, every wound is deep into the bone, but it's uneven, it doesn't look like it was caused by a sharp knife..." He used his fingers to push away the cracked flesh at the wound, and moved closer to the wound. Double check.

The stench came over his face, Cao Quan couldn't help covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, and took a step back.

Ye Yang Jingsu got up, without wiping the blood on his hands, strode in, and examined the corpses of several servants one after another.When he entered the master's bedroom, he saw Zhao Ling'an's body sitting on the floor, without a coat, his upper body leaning against the edge of the bed, as if he had slipped off the bed.

The eyes of the corpse were protruding, the corners of the mouth were open, and the facial expression was very distorted and ferocious, as if he had seen something extremely terrifying before he died.

Ye Yangjingsu asked Cao Quan after the inspection: "Master Cao, can you find out what these wounds have in common?"

Cao Quan looked bloody all the way down, his face was as white as paper, and he was about to vomit.

"The wounds on the body of the dead vary in length, but the number is regular. Some have five wounds, some have ten wounds, and Zhao Ling'an has the most wounds, a total of twenty wounds, so the intestines are pierced and the ribs are broken out." Strange. What's more, these wounds seem to be in groups of five, with relatively even intervals in the middle, and it's not like they were caused by sharp blades, but rather..." Ye Yang Jingsu stretched his five fingers and slowly slid across the wounds, "Claw marks. "

"--what?" Cao Quan was taken aback, "claw marks? What claws?"

Ye Yang Jingsu shook his head: "We don't know yet, but it must be quite huge five claws to leave such a deep wound."

Cao Quan shuddered, and murmured, "Could it be that the Zhao family was attacked by ferocious beasts like bears and tigers..."

Ye Yang Jingsu glanced at him with a half-smile.

Cao Quan felt full of disapproval and a hint of ridicule from the eyes of the other party, and felt ashamed and annoyed: Where can such a beast come from a bustling place in the capital?Even if there is, the front and back doors of Zhao's residence are locked, so can they still climb in through the wall?Wild beasts attack people because of hunger, so how can they just kill and not eat... I just said something casually, but he clearly looked down on me, these royal guards are really arrogant and hateful!

Ye Yang Jingsu didn't care about his turbulent expression, and went straight to the yard to see the dead parrots in the cage and a pond of koi with their bellies turned upside down. These animals didn't have any wounds on their bodies.He squatted on the Taihu Lake stone by the pool, rubbed his fingertips over a few baits he picked up in the nearby grass, and thought silently.

A Tiqi came over and whispered something in his ear.

Ye Yang Jingsu got up suddenly, and said to Cao Quan under the eaves: "There are suspicious people peeping around the back door!"

Cao Quan was stunned, and saw Ye Yang Jingsu's figure flying past like a falcon bird. Obviously, he was very light-hearted, and he greeted his subordinates unwillingly: "Are you deaf? Go to the back door to hunt down the suspect!"

Ye Yang Jingsu jumped onto the wall of the backyard, condescending, and sure enough, he saw a man in green clothes and a cap, riding a white-eared donkey, inquiring about something with his neighbors, turning his head to glance at Zhao's house from time to time.He made a gesture, Jinyi Tiqi and the Bingma Siqi School who came after them rushed up and surrounded each other.

The neighbor who was gesticulating after receiving the favor fee was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, while the man in Tsing Yi on the donkey calmly glanced at a circle of soldiers with swords drawn, and finally looked at the young man on the top of the fence wearing a flying fish suit with an embroidered spring knife on his waist .

Ye Yang Jingsu's eyesight is excellent, and he can still see clearly from a distance of several feet. The man in Tsing Yi is only fourteen or fifteen years old. He is a handsome young man with picturesque features.The young man looked straight at him without hesitation, the phoenix eyes raised from the corners of his eyes were exquisite and cold, with an air of arrogance that did not match his age.

With a little tiptoe, Ye Yang Jingsu slid down the wall, approached and interrogated: "Who are you? Why are you spying on the murder scene?"

The young man in Tsing Yi turned his face sideways and squinted at him, as if he was too lazy to answer.

Ye Yang Jingsu said in a deep voice, "Take it!"

"—Wait!" A voice shouted from afar.Ye Yang Jingsu followed the prestige, and Cui Ling, the censor of the patrol city, was coming on horseback, with sweat all over his face, "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding! Lord Ye Yang, this is the king—"

"My surname is Wang," the young man in Tsing Yi interrupted, casting a glance at Cui Ling, "My name is Zhi."

"Yes, yes," Cui Ling wiped off her sweat, "This is Prince Wang Zhi, the Royal Envoy of Zuodu, Mr. Wang—"

"Nephew." The boy in Tsing Yi said.

Cui Ling nodded: "Yes, nephew."

"But the Crown Prince Taibao, the Minister of the Ministry of War, and the Censor of Zuodu, King Yue Wang?" Ye Yang Jingsu asked.

Cui Ling smiled apologetically and said, "Exactly. This case of extermination of the Zhao family was supposed to be investigated by the lower officials together with Master Ye Yang and Master Cao, but the lower officials have little knowledge and are not as intelligent as the prince, so they have to trouble the prince to do it for him." Investigate..."

Ye Yang Jingsu asked again: "Is this what you mean, Mr. Cui, or Mr. Wang Yue?"

Cui Ling looked a little embarrassed: "My lord Wang values ​​you very much, and I also want to use this to practice..."

Ye Yang Jingsu didn't ask any more questions.Zuodu Yushi is in charge of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and is Cui Ling's immediate boss. Whether Cui Ling made the decision arbitrarily in order to please Shangguan's nephew, or it was really at the behest of Wang Yue, it has nothing to do with him, a hundred households of Jinyiwei.I just hope that Wang Yue, a capable minister with both civil and military skills, won't make such an idiot nephew to drag him down.As for investigating the case, he couldn't even count on Cao Quan, how could he count on a fourteen or fifteen year old boy?

Waving his hands to dismiss the soldiers, he smiled at Cui Ling: "Since Mr. Cui is here, do you want to investigate the case together?"

Cui Ling waved her hands again and again: "It is enough to have a prince here, I am ashamed to be an official, ashamed." As she said that, she slapped her ass and slipped away.

...Every one of them is a mess waiting to die.Ye Yang Jingsu sneered from the bottom of his heart, and turned back to Zhao's house.

Wang Zhi got off the donkey, walked into Zhao's house as if no one else was there, and walked around in a circle.

The Wucheng Bingma Division belongs to the Ministry of War. Cao Quan wanted to flatter Lord Shangshu's nephew, so Dian Dian'er followed him and asked, "Your Majesty, what did you discover?"

Wang Zhi didn't take him seriously at all, instead she glanced at Ye Yang Jingsu who ignored him, and said in a gentle voice, "Yes. First, the murder weapon is not an ordinary weapon. Second, the cause of death of all the dead is blood loss. Too many, with only two exceptions. Zhao Lingan, there was a small blood hole in the hairline next to his temple, and he died of craniocerebral injury caused by a sharp instrument piercing, followed by chest and abdomen wounds; A boy around the age of [-] was cut open and his brain was taken out, and then his scalp was sewn on."

Cao Quan's legs went limp, and he stood up while leaning on the table, with a trembling voice: "Dug out the brain? This...is really insane, and it's outrageous!"

Ye Yang Jingsu was quite surprised.His attention was attracted by those wounds just now, and he did overlook some details.After checking, he looked at Wang Zhi again, and felt that this young man in Tsing Yi might really have some knowledge.

Cao Quan shivered and sat down next to the armchair, and suddenly thought of something, his face became very ugly: "Could it be true, as they said, that it was... a demon fox?"

"What demon fox? Who are 'they'?" Ye Yang Jingsu asked.

Cao Quan recounted the recent rumors in the market, saying that there are monsters haunting the capital at night, sometimes turning into beautiful women, sometimes in the form of foxes and dogs, who specialize in snatching young children and sucking human blood.He had two bunkers under his command. He had encountered them during night patrols a few days ago. They escaped with their lives and came back. One of them was seriously ill and couldn't get out of bed until now.Now looking at the claw marks on the corpse, the brain sucking out the marrow, and the extinction of all living things in one night, there is a strangeness everywhere, where it is beyond the reach of manpower, it is clearly caused by monsters.

"Bewitching words to confuse people, you're so stupid!" Wang Zhi reprimanded unceremoniously, with a look of contempt on her face.

Cao Quan blushed but did not dare to contradict him. He suppressed his anger and turned his attention to Ye Yang Jingsu.

"I don't believe in the theory of demons and ghosts either." Ye Yang Jingsu said calmly, "Even if there are real ones, they are demons in evil deeds and ghosts in people's hearts."

"That's right." Wang Zhi casually brushed off the non-existing dust on her cuffs, "You, a well-dressed man, still have some brains, unlike this Cao who doesn't know anything."

Cao Quan was so angry that his teeth itch, if it wasn't for Master Shangshu's face, he would have covered him with a big slap.

"You still have the face to be angry, am I wrong? Have you ever seen a fox demon who sucked out human brains and sewed it on with a needle and thread? You idiot." Wang Zhi twitched the corners of her mouth in disdain, showing a hint of arrogance Childish.

Cao Quan was so angry that he was about to vomit blood, and he jumped up against the case: "The lower official is sick, and I can't investigate the case for a while, so I leave it to the two adults to handle it!" After saying this, he walked away.

"It's better to go, so as not to be delayed." Wang Zhi sat down on the armchair, patted the armrest: "You sit too, I have something to tell you."

Ye Yang Jingsu felt displeased when he saw his young, old-fashioned and domineering appearance, but the other party did it very naturally, exuding a kind of natural nobility, thinking that he would behave like a child of an aristocratic family, just bear it. There's no need to argue with a child.

"I found clues from Zhao Ling'an's neighbors, saying that he was out on a business trip for a while, and when he returned to the city at dusk yesterday, he met a beautiful woman in white at the side of the road, penniless and unable to walk, and asked him for help. Zhao Ling'an Seeing the beauty, he covered her face with a veil and took her back to the mansion. The man didn't know what happened after that, after one night, Zhao Lingan's family died suddenly."

"A beautiful woman in white? I have checked all the corpses in the house, but none seem to match." Ye Yang Jingsu said.

Wang Zhidao: "Indeed not. If what that person said is true, this woman in white who disappeared is the biggest suspect in the murder."

Ye Yang Jingsu nodded in agreement, "I don't know her name or appearance, how can I find this woman?"

"Start with this hairpin." Wang Zhi said, and put a blood-stained silver hairpin on the table, "I found it under Zhao Ling'an's bed, and it coincided with the wound on his temple. It should be that woman's hairpin." After assassinating him, he accidentally disappeared at the scene."

Ye Yang Jingsu picked up the silver hairpin and looked through it. It was in the shape of a spirit snake spewing mist and decorated with "enamel color". It can't be called luxurious, but it is quite unique.He ordered his subordinates to take it to various jewelry stores in the capital for comparison to see which store it was sold from.

Wang Zhi stood up and said, "Hurry up and investigate."

Ye Yang Jingsu asked: "How can I notify you if there is any news? Find Cui Yushi?"

Wang Zhi turned her head and smiled slightly: "No need, I will come to you."

Jin Yiwei Tiqi searched all the jewelry shops in the capital, but there is no news about this silver hairpin. It may be an old item, and even the seller can't remember it.

The thread seems to be broken.Ye Yang Jingsu thought for a while, got up and went to Dongcheng Bingma Division to interrogate the two shop soldiers who said they saw "the demon fox coming out at night".

Li San dragged Li Si to lie on the ground, and after describing the situation that night in detail, Ye Yang Jingsu asked: "Do you confirm that the person in white who disappeared is a woman? What does it look like?"

Li San trembled and said: "Going back to Lord Baihu, I can see that she is indeed a woman. As for her appearance...it's a mess, I really didn't see it clearly."

"What happened to those two green lights I saw later?"

Li Si's complexion was sallow, and he shouted hoarsely: "It's a fox demon! The eyes of a fox demon! It has fists, no, it's as big as a sea bowl! It's terrible, it's terrible! Just jump at me like this—" He stared The eyeballs that were more white than black fell back, and he fainted.

Ye Yang Jingsu had no choice but to order someone to carry him down, and asked Li San, "Where did you see that woman?"

"About a hundred feet to the east of Chongwenmen, near the root of the city wall."

"Have you seen it anywhere else?"

"Not anymore... Oh, another patrolling brother also saw a woman in white there. I also heard people say that not only our East City, but also Midtown and West City have seen demon foxes, mostly on the side of the city wall on thunderstorm nights .”

"Okay, you can step back. But my ugly words are up front," Ye Yang Jingsu's voice turned cold: "The most evil person in the world who confuses people and incites people's hearts, if I hear any more gossip, I want you to experience the Imperial Prison of Jin Yiwei."

Li San was too frightened to speak, and kowtowed like garlic.

It was night, and Ye Yang Jingsu came to the city wall on the east side of Chongwen Gate alone.He didn't bring his men or light a lamp, and he lurked in the shadow of the house like a black panther and waited quietly.

After a long time, the clapper struck at the third watch, but there was still no one around, it was a kind of dead silence.

Ye Yang Jingsu suddenly felt someone approaching, and turned his head suddenly with the handle of the knife in his hand.

Wang Zhi stood two feet away, still dressed in Tsing Yi and a small cap.

He was a little horrified in his heart: according to his own hearing ability, he didn't realize it until the other party was so close. Could it be that this kid possesses superior internal strength at such a young age?

Wang Zhi approached quietly, and said in a low voice: "Stay on the sidelines and wait for the rabbit? A stupid way. But, maybe it's a way."

Ye Yang Jingsu didn't respond.The two waited in silence for more than an hour until Dongfang Xiwei, but they didn't see any suspicious traces, so they had to return without success.

Before leaving, Wang Zhi said: "Qin Tianjian predicts that there may be thunderstorms tonight, we will come again after the night ban."

When the sky became dark, the wind really blew up, lead clouds fell densely, lightning jumped in the clouds, and a thunderstorm was ready to go.

At the second watch, the night sky was surrounded by electricity, and it became brighter and more terrifying. Ye Yang Jingsu was staring at the stone road beside the city wall.After a flash of lightning, he suddenly saw a woman in white clothes with loose long hair approaching from far to near...

"I see." The voice of the young man next to his ear was extremely low, breathing hot air.

Ye Yang Jingsu grabbed Wang Zhi's wrist, beckoning him not to act rashly, then raised his hand crossbow to aim at the woman's leg, and shot out a small and sharp steel arrow.

The steel arrow pierced through the air, passed through the woman's figure like a stone thrown into water, and penetrated three inches into the wall with a "Duo".The woman in white was still walking quietly and gracefully, like a ghost.

Ye Yang Jingsu was stunned.

Wang Zhi also showed a look of astonishment.The two couldn't help but clenched their palms tightly, and their breathing was rapid due to tension.

Another flash of lightning flashed, Ye Yang Jingsu suddenly jumped up, and the narrow, long and sharp Xiuchun knife came out of its sheath clangingly, a cold light shone on the lonely alley, as if to split the whole night in half.

The figure of the woman in white melted instantly like the first snow falling into a lake.The blade completely hit the air, leaving a crack on the hard bluestone ground.

Ye Yang Jingsu's muscles tensed up, and the veins on the back of his hand, which was tightly gripping the handle of the knife, were exposed.He blatantly stared at the darkness, his gaze was like a sharp blade that had been tempered repeatedly in the blood and fire, it wanted to pierce the night and reach the back of the scene, sending out a sharp and provocative light towards the dark power that manipulated all this.

He saw two green lights in the darkness, glowing from the face of a fox-like dog-like beast, rushing towards him.Holding the Xiuchun Knife in both hands, his tongue burst into spring thunder, and he shouted: "—Come on!"

Pure white lightning blinded his eyes, and rolling thunder exploded from the sky.After the lightning, the green light and the fox shadow suddenly disappeared, and everything seemed to be just a waking dream.

The rain curtain that had been accumulated for a long time poured down.Ye Yang Jingsu was puzzled, thinking, and slowly lowered the blade, allowing himself to be washed by the heavy rain.

Wang Zhi stepped forward from the shadows and said softly, "Have you ever seen a mirage?"

Ye Yang Jingsu turned his head and glared at him: "You want to tell me that all this is an illusion? I'm fighting against hallucinations like a madman?"

Wang Zhi shook her head: "That's not what I mean. I always feel that the images of the woman and the fox are very real. Maybe they did pass by here, but not tonight, or the night they were seen by the patrol soldiers, but in the Earlier...do you still remember the rumor about the fox coming out at night, can you find out the key words in it?"

Ye Yang Jingsu thought for a while and said, "Late at night, thunderstorm, near the city wall."

"That's right." Wang Zhi looked up at the night sky of lightning and thunder, and stroked the scarlet-painted city wall, "Actually, strange things like city wall phantoms are not uncommon inside and outside the Forbidden Palace. Monsters are haunting me. But I feel like drawing, because of this lightning, this iron-red paint on the wall, the old scene is recorded and reappeared during the thunderstorm.”

"The old scene reappeared? Why? How did it happen?"

"What's the trick? Even well-educated scholars don't know it, so how can I know it?" Wang Zhi smiled, "Perhaps after a hundred years, someone will reveal the secret."

Ye Yang Jingsu pondered, nodded and said: "You are right, at least I can see the woman's face clearly."

Wang Zhi raised her eyebrows unexpectedly, "Can you see this clearly?"

"There is an obvious tear mole in the corner of her left eye. After returning home, I asked someone to draw a picture, and the whole city wanted him. At the same time, I checked the families who had feuds with Zhao Ling'an in the past to see if there was any female relatives like this."

Wang Zhi looked at the drowned Ye Yang Jingsu, and suddenly asked: "Is that girl really as beautiful as the rumors say?"

Ye Yang Jingsu thought about the case, and answered absent-mindedly, "It's quite beautiful."

Wang Zhi snorted coldly, flung her sleeves and left.

Ye Yang Jingsu looked at the slender figure in the rain inexplicably, and felt that this kid was not only arrogant, but also eccentric, and he was really difficult to serve.

The author has something to say:

The second part, the story that Yingwu Jinyiwei and the mysterious boy (?) have to tell...