stories that happened on a specific occasion

"You can talk?" Zheng Zhiheng looked at Duanqi and smiled.

"Don't you blame Duanqi, sir?" Duanqi asked Zheng Zhiheng.

Zheng Zhiheng shook his head and said: "But, these are cherry blossoms planted in front of my house, why do you have them?"

Duanqi showed a shy expression, and then said softly: "When I went to Dongshi at noon yesterday, I was attracted by the fragrance of this flower for some reason. Although it was quiet, it was very pleasing. So I followed the fragrance and found it in a corner. There are so many flowers. When I looked up, I realized that it was the home of Mr. Lang.”

"Everyone knows that the cherry blossom tree in Zheng's family is one of the rarest things," Cui Youning said, "I heard that it is a tribute, not something you can have if you want to have it."

Lu Peiqing also followed up and said: "That's right, it was once the property of Queen Zhenshun, and it was specially rewarded to the Zheng family." Then she glanced at Duanqi and said, "It's a precious thing that a Silla maidservant can't deserve."

Everyone on the side knew it, and couldn't help ridiculing a few words.Duanqi naturally felt embarrassed, so she covered her face and left the table.Not only did everyone not stop them, but they laughed even louder.

While everyone was talking and laughing, Zheng Zhiheng, who had been silent all the time, got up suddenly for some reason, and said to the others with a numb expression, "I'm going first."

"Where are you going?" Cui Youning shouted towards Zheng Zhiheng's back, and then signaled Lu Peiqing to chase him with his eyes.

Lu Peiqing stopped Zheng Zhiheng at the stairs and asked, "What's the matter? Are you really angry because of a Silla maid?"

But Zheng Zhiheng didn't answer, just looked at the cherry blossom in his hand expressionlessly, his eyes became loose, he threw away Lu Peiqing's hand and walked into the crowd.

After that, Zheng Zhiheng never appeared in front of these two again.

The above situation is also what Zheng Shangshu sent people to inquire about from Cui Youning and Lu Peiqing.

"That day, my family and I were drinking in the outer courtyard, and I didn't notice whether Zhiheng had returned." Zheng Shangshu recalled: "When the night was quiet, I saw candlelight in Zhiheng's room, so I didn't care."

After three days of carnival, Chang'an City finally regained its former calm.While people were still reminiscing about the Lantern Festival, the servants of the Zheng family suddenly told Mrs. Zheng something.

Zheng Jia Dalang has not slept for many days, and he has not eaten three meals in the past few days.

Mrs. Zheng immediately reprimanded her servants when she heard this, and hurried to Zhiheng's room.I saw Zhiheng with his back turned to him, wearing unlined clothes and sitting facing the courtyard, his tall and straight figure in the past was now much more decadent.Zheng Zhiheng didn't respond to the others' words, his face was ashen, and Gu Yi just stood by the door weakly looking at the yard in a trance.

"Heng'er?" Mrs. Zheng came to Zheng Zhiheng's side and whispered his name.

Zhiheng glanced to the side, but didn't make a sound.

"What's wrong? Is it uncomfortable?" Mrs. Zheng said and reached out to touch Zhiheng's forehead. "Why is it so hot? Why are you wearing such thin clothes?" Then he turned around and scolded the servants, "How do you serve people? You don't know how to wear clothes in the weather like this in the first month? If Dalang has any troubles, I will call him You look good!"

After finishing speaking, Zheng Zhiheng put on the fox fur cloak that was put aside.

"No, no need." Zhiheng pulled off the cloak again.

"Da Lang has been refusing to..." the servant who was serving him said cautiously at this moment.

Mrs. Zheng glared at the servants, then turned to coax Zheng Zhiheng and said, "Hey, listen to your mother, this is not okay. Go into the room and lie down, mother will make you some hot porridge, okay?"

Zheng Zhiheng shook his head, just staring at the courtyard in a daze.

Seeing this, Mrs. Zheng was also helpless, so she had no choice but to call out to the outside of the house: "Come here, wait for Dalang to go to bed, and then order someone to make some hot porridge."

Following an order, several people filed in immediately, made the bed neatly, and retreated.Then two tall servants came in, under Mrs. Zheng's instructions, they carried Zheng Zhiheng into the house, and closed the doors and windows.

Zheng Zhiheng wanted to resist, but his whole body was powerless, so he had to let them drag him from the corridor into the room.

Soon, another person brought up the cooked porridge.White rice porridge, mixed with some parsnips, can clear away heat and cold.

But Zheng Zhiheng in the bed still didn't give up, and still refused to eat a bite of the food served.He just lay on his side, staring straight at the sliding door facing the courtyard.

"Take a bite, okay?" Seeing Zheng Zhiheng's appearance, Mrs. Zheng felt distressed, but there was nothing she could do.

"Open the door." Zheng Zhiheng said suddenly.

"Don't open it."

The servant was about to get up to open it, but was stopped by Mrs. Zheng.

"You're still sick, you can't catch a cold." Mrs. Zheng said to Zhiheng.

"Open the door." Zheng Zhiheng shouted hysterically.

The servant hurriedly looked at Mrs. Zheng, but dared not open the door for a long time.

Seeing that there was no movement from the servants, Zheng Zhiheng struggled to get up to open the door.

Mrs. Zheng looked at it, put down the porridge in her hand, and stopped while crying.

"My son, my son, what's wrong with you?" Mrs. Zheng cried and hugged Zheng Zhiheng into her arms.

At this point in the story, Xia Zongyi couldn't help feeling curious, why did Mr. Zheng Jiadalang become so out of his mind after he went to Pingkangfang?However, why is there a demonic aura in the house?Is there any connection between these two things?

Just as Xia Zongyi was pondering carefully, Mrs. Zheng's family suddenly came out from behind the red sandalwood screen.Before Xia Zongyi had time to salute, he saw Mrs. Zheng salute to himself first, and then burst into tears.

"Ma'am, what are you doing here?" Zheng Shangshu helped his wife to sit down.

"I'm worried." Mrs. Zheng said to Zheng Shangshu while wiping away her tears: "Zhiheng has been like this for several months and hasn't recovered. Can you tell me that I am not worried?"

Then, he said to Xia Zongyi: "I heard that the Xia family has been an expert in catching ghosts and eliminating demons in Chang'an since their ancestors. That's why I sent a slave to invite you. I hope you can save our family." After speaking, wept again.

"I'm ashamed, I'm ashamed, what I know is just some magic formulas to seek good luck and avoid bad luck, they are all trivial skills." Xia Zongyi said.

In fact, Xia Zongyi knew that what Mrs. Zheng said was not false.Self-effacing at this time is entirely out of caution.If he didn't know what was going on and followed Mrs. Zheng's words and admitted that the Xia family was a Taoist family that learned Yin-Yang and Five Elements from ancient times, he would probably be in trouble.

"Master Xia Bu doesn't need to be modest," Mrs. Zheng said, "We also know that Master Xia Bu has always kept a low profile. As long as you can save Zhiheng's life, Zheng Lang will definitely thank you." Shang Shu winked.

"Naturally." Zheng Shangshu continued his wife's words, and said, "A talent like Master Xia Bu is just a third-class official from outside, and he is simply a poor talent. As long as you can cure Dalang, I will definitely recommend it to the Taishi Bureau." , at least you can be promoted to the seventh rank."

Xia Zongyi couldn't sit still when he heard Zheng Shangshu's words, he got up and declined politely and said: "No, no, Zheng Shangshu flattered me. I am very satisfied with my current official position, and I also ask Zheng Shangshu to let me continue to work in the Taibu Department. Can."

Seeing that Xia Zongyi was not interested in the promotion, Zheng Shangshu and his wife were also very embarrassed.

"Then, what do you want?" Madam Zheng asked.

"Madam, don't worry, I don't want anything." Xia Zongyi replied: "Madam, please tell the truth about Zheng Dalang's situation, and I will try my best to help."

When Mrs. Zheng heard what Xia Zongyi said, she was extremely moved.While wiping tears, he nodded.

"Master Xia Bu, please sit down," Madam Zheng said, "I will tell you what happened before in detail."

Since Zheng Zhiheng didn't eat or drink for a few days, Mrs. Zheng compromised.She discussed with Zheng Zhiheng that if the courtyard door was opened again, she would have to eat on time.

Zheng Zhiheng also compromised and agreed to Mrs. Zheng's proposal.

In this way, five days have passed since the Shangyuan Festival.Zheng Zhiheng, who was already in a semi-conscious state, finally drank half a bowl of hot porridge.

From that day on, no matter morning or evening, Zheng Zhiheng would not allow anyone to close the door facing the courtyard again.

And he himself seemed to be fascinated, as long as he was awake, he would lie on his side, staring blankly at the courtyard.It often takes a whole day to look at it.

Speaking of which, are there any strange things in the courtyard?The Zheng family didn't think so.

If it is a rare beast, or a golden treasure, it is absolutely impossible.The only thing that can be called a rarity is the cherry blossom sapling that Wu Huiniang gave to Zheng Shangshu back then, and now it has grown into a big tree with a crown of flowers and branches.Although this tree is indeed a rare species, this tree has been here for 21 years. It is something Zheng Zhiheng has seen since he was born. He has never seen anything weird, and naturally he has never found it strange.

Apart from that, there is nothing else.

Mrs. Zheng also asked Zheng Zhiheng, what is he looking at?But Zhiheng just smiled foolishly and never answered.

"Then why do you think it's a monster?" Xia Zongyi asked suddenly.

Mrs. Zheng was about to answer, but she still looked at Zheng Shangshu.Zheng Shangshu sighed and raised his hand as a signal.

Mrs. Zheng then continued to Xia Zongyi: "The servants who serve Zhiheng once told me one thing."

Zheng Zhiheng is the eldest son and the only male in the family. Naturally, he has received a lot of attention and care since he was a child.Therefore, there are more than a dozen servants serving him.They each performed their duties and took care of the Zheng family man from diet to daily life in an orderly manner.There are three servants in Zheng Zhiheng's room. Apart from making the bed and waking up, changing clothes and taking a bath, etc., these three people also need to take turns to wait outside Dalang's room at night, on duty all night.

And these three people have mentioned one thing to Mrs. Zheng respectively.That is, in the middle of the night, I heard lights in Dalang's room, and there were chatter and laughter.

But not every day, just occasionally.

From Dalang's illness to now, he has discovered it intermittently five times in the past three months.

The first time I discovered it was the night Zheng Zhiheng drank the half bowl of hot porridge.In the dead of night, Dalang's room was suddenly brightly lit, and someone was talking.

At that time, the servants thought that Da Lang had woken up, so they planned to enter the house to serve him.But when the servant wanted to push the door to enter, he found that the door was locked from the inside, and the servant had to lean against the door panel to listen to the movement inside.

In addition to Zheng Zhiheng's voice, there seemed to be a very soft woman's voice.The two people in the room were talking and laughing, but their voices were very soft, and it was unknown what they were talking about.

After the servants discovered such a thing, they knocked on the door several times but no one answered.Not long after, the room suddenly turned dark again.Listen carefully, and all the voices inside have disappeared.

Mrs. Zheng also sent someone to guard Zheng Zhiheng's room with the servants, but she never encountered such a thing, so she felt that the servants were lying.

But just after giving up, the second servant encountered exactly the same thing when he was on duty at night.

This time Mrs. Zheng started to feel something strange, but when she sent someone to stay on guard again, she didn't find anything in the middle of the night for several days.

After hearing about this for the second time, Mrs. Zheng ignored Zheng Shangshu's obstruction and began to guard Dalang's room by herself.But every night, I unconsciously fell into a deep sleep and didn't wake up until dawn.

And during the few days when Mrs. Zheng was guarding the room, the servants in Dalang's room responded that they saw candle lights in the room late at night and heard people talking and laughing.

When Mrs. Zheng heard this, she was naturally incredulous.For the past few days, I have been guarding the room all the time, but I haven't heard any movement, and I haven't seen Zheng Zhiheng get out of bed, so naturally it is even more impossible to joke with others.

Therefore, Mrs. Zheng had no choice but to order her servants to guard Dalang's room from that day on, and to remove the door lock.

I thought that as long as something weird happened again, I would definitely be caught.

But strange is strange here.

When this happened for the fourth time, the servant who was guarding the room suddenly found that he had fallen asleep at some point, and he was still on the corridor outside the room.Turning around again, I saw candles flickering in the room again, and there was a man and a woman talking and laughing softly.

The servant hurriedly reached out to push the door, but for some reason, the door was locked from the inside again.No matter how hard the servant tried, he just couldn't push it away.

The door lock was obviously in the hands of this servant, but the door couldn't be opened no matter what.

Just as the servants hurriedly went to invite Mrs. Zheng, the room suddenly became pitch black.The servant took courage and tried to push the door again.

This time, with just a slight push, the door creaked open.

After that night, the servant also fell ill from fright and did not recover for a long time.

In this way, the fifth time also happened, and there were still no direct witnesses.No matter what method is used, the person on night duty either falls into a deep sleep, or wakes up to find that he has been moved out of the room at some point.And the room cannot be pushed open without a lock.

"This is indeed strange." Xia Zongyi said thoughtfully after hearing Mrs. Zheng's description.

"At first I thought it must be the work of the seductive goblin in Pingkangfang." Mrs. Zheng said indignantly.

Since Mrs. Zheng believed that there was a monster in Pingkangfang and performed some enchantment on her Dalang, Mrs. Zheng sent people several times to torture the Silla girl mentioned by Lu Peiqing and Cui Youning.

However, no matter how much he tortured him, there was still no result.In the end, he could only give a sum of money to the fake mother bustard in Caifeng Pavilion, and found a random reason to drive the Silla girl out of Chang'an City.

He thought that as long as this girl from Silla of unknown origin left Chang'an, the matter would be resolved naturally.

However, when it was early spring, Zheng Zhiheng's illness not only did not improve, but became worse day by day.Moreover, the strange phenomenon in Dalang's room described by the servants has not disappeared, and it still appears suddenly in the middle of a certain night from time to time.

At that time, Zheng Shangshu saw that his wife and the servants of the family had tossed and tossed for several months, not only had no results but had the opposite effect, and also saw that this matter had already caused panic in the house, so he began to worry a little.What Mrs. Zheng said before was regarded as nonsense, Zheng Shangshu suddenly became concerned.The more I thought about it, the more strange I began to feel, and I asked a few servants in Dalang's room to ask carefully, only to find that this was not a good thing.

But when it comes to finally making Zheng Shangshu completely believe in this matter, it is also due to Zhou Buling.

Although, Zhou Buling in the imperial court often received Zheng Shangshu's eyes.But out of good intentions, when Zhou Buling met Zheng Shangshu in the palace, he secretly told him about seeing the black smoke that day.

Although Zheng Shangshu still sneered at Zhou Buling's words on the surface, he became anxious after returning home.

Only then did Zheng Shangshu become convinced that it must be a monster that caused Da Lang to be seriously ill on the bed.So today, three months later, Xia Zongyi was immediately invited over.

"Have you ever consulted a doctor?" Xia Zongyi asked.

"I've looked for it." Mrs. Zheng replied.

It can be said that Zheng's family searched all over the city for apricot grove masters, but all the big butchers who came to see him only said that Zheng Zhiheng had suffered from the wind and cold, so he just needs to rest.But since recuperating, not only has his condition not improved, he is even on his deathbed.

"May I meet Da Lang?" Xia Zongyi asked.

Zheng Shangshu nodded.

Together with Zheng Shangshu and his wife, Xia Zongyi walked through the corridor, entered the second gate, and came to the inner courtyard.

Zheng Zhiheng's room is on the west side of the inner courtyard, a room connected to a small courtyard.But if you want to enter this courtyard, you can only get there by passing through Zheng Zhiheng's room. On weekdays, this courtyard is also taken care of by the servants in his room alone.

Xia Zongyi came to Zheng Zhiheng's room and saw Zheng Zhiheng lying in the middle of the room.He has long since lost the appearance of Yushu facing the wind in the past. At this time, he is described as thin and bloodless, with severe peeling on his lips and face, and has been in a coma.

Xia Zongyi went into the room and took Zheng Zhiheng's pulse.Although Xia Zongyi was not a person who practiced medicine all the time, he had read some medical books since he was a child, and he could still judge some pulse conditions.

Apart from being very weak, Zheng Zhiheng's veins really had nothing special about him.

Xia Zongyi looked at the courtyard behind the house again.

It is only a few steps from Zheng Zhiheng's couch to the courtyard.Outside the wooden two-way sliding door, there is an eaves, and below is a short veranda that is flush with the inside of the house and suspended in the air.On weekdays, it is used as a place to drink tea and enjoy flowers.

The courtyard facing the verandah is not big, but it has been carefully cared for.In addition to the common flowers, there is also a shallow pond the size of a wellhead surrounded by pebbles in the courtyard, which is very pleasant.The ground is not loess, but paved with emerald green moss and fine sand, and a path is paved with cobblestones, leading to the weeping cherry tree in the corner of the courtyard.

Xia Zongyi walked out of the room, came down from the verandah, and followed the path to the cherry tree.

This cherry blossom tree is indeed rare.

Xia Zongyi has seen Bell Flower Cherry, Mountain Cherry, Tokyo Cherry, Double White Cherry, but none of them are as breathtaking as the cherry blossom tree in front of him.

The height of the tree is more than 20 feet. The branches hang down from the crown in all directions like willows in perfect arcs. The flowers are colorful but very elegant.Inside the pink petals, the stamens are straight to the outside, which is really uncommon.At this time, the cherry blossoms on the branches are luxuriant, and the branches that are lowered by the flowers hang down gently, and a close view is like a shy beauty, Tingting, nodding and smiling affectionately in a corner of the courtyard.The splendor of the trees is like a cloud bathed in the morning sun from a distance, or a rosy glow floating in the evening sunset, which is refreshing.Not only that, this cherry blossom tree also exudes a very faint and elegant aroma.The breeze only needs to gently stir, and you can see the trees and flowers swaying in front of your eyes, which is as beautiful as a dream.

This is not a weeping cherry tree that can be seen in any ordinary house in Japan. If it is, then even if the envoys sent to Tang Dynasty worked hard for several months to bring this sapling from Japan to Chang'an to dedicate to the saint, it would be meaningless.

This cherry blossom tree is also a rare species in Japan.Even if Xia Zongyi asserts here that this cherry blossom tree is absolutely unique in Chang'an City, it is not an exaggeration.

This cherry blossom tree is the rare Yucheng weeping cherry tree.