The Heroine Fell Deeply For Her [Quick Transmigration] 138p2

Chapter 138: Taken Home by the Princess Part 26(2)

“This ghost is disrupting everyone’s peace, I want to see what it looks like.”

“Hey, you know, Old Wang, the night watchman, saw the female ghost’s face. Dressed in red, her black hair covering her face, her tongue sticking out, like a hanged ghost.”

“I remember the Daoist priest also mentioned a hanged ghost.”

“But no one hanged themselves recently, everyone was behaving during the Zhongyuan Festival, only Squire Qian’s eldest son died, and his funeral was held that day, nothing else unusual happened.”

Someone nudged the speaker, winking: “How is there nothing unusual? You forgot, the girl from East Street, Zhou, was his wife.”

“You mean Miss Zhou, ah, she was so devoted, to actually…”

Mentioning the deceased, the commoners, respecting the dead, shook their heads and changed the subject.

And the current atmosphere wasn’t auspicious.

“Miss, your wontons are ready.” A bowl of hot, freshly made wontons was placed on the table, bringing Tao Ning back to reality.

The slightly plump woman wiped her apron with her hand, glanced at Tao Ning, and said, “I haven’t seen you before, Miss, are you new to Guang’an County?”

Tao Ning, not wanting to reveal her identity, said, “I’m here to visit relatives, I just arrived yesterday.”

The woman acknowledged her, seemingly very interested in the newcomer, wanting to sit down and chat, but she was busy serving customers.

Just then, another customer arrived, ordering a bowl of plain noodles.

She only had time to say, “My Liu Ji wonton stall has been here for decades, the broth made with fresh bones, enjoy, Miss, ask for more if you want.”

Tao Ning: “No wonder it smells so good, that’s what brought me here.”

As she spoke, she glanced to the side, a young woman in a white dress quickly averting her gaze, holding up two slender fingers: “Two bowls.”

The young man working at the stall said, “Same as usual, one with scallions, one without, right?”

The young woman nodded, handing him a food box: “The money is inside.”

Mrs. Liu, preparing the noodles, said, “I haven’t seen you in days, Jing Niang, are you feeling better?”

The woman, called Jing Niang, smiled faintly, her slender figure like a delicate pear blossom, her voice soft: “I’m much better, I was craving your wontons while I was ill, so I came now that I’ve recovered.”

Mrs. Liu’s eyes crinkled with a smile as she skillfully scooped the cooked noodles into a bowl: “You should have said so, I would have delivered them to you, it’s a shame you couldn’t come out for so many days.”

The young man also said, “Exactly, Miss Qi, if you want more, just have Carpenter Qi tell us, my mother will deliver them to you, we’re all neighbors, no need to be so polite.”

Qi Jing: “Alright, I will next time.”

With that, the two bowls of noodles were ready, and Qi Jing, taking the food box, turned and walked towards her home in the east of the town.

The eastern part of town was residential, the western part a marketplace, the northern part the main street she had entered yesterday, lined with pharmacies.

Tao Ning slowly finished her wontons, and Mrs. Liu, finally finding a chance, was about to sit down and chat when two constables approached, and she stood up again.

Mrs. Liu: “What can I get for you two? No more wontons left, but there are still noodles.”

Constable, waving his hand: “Not today, Junior Minister, we found you, the magistrate has been looking for you everywhere.”

The first sentence was directed at Mrs. Liu, the second at the young woman sitting there, their tone respectful.

Tao Ning, who had been enjoying her soup: “…”

Mrs. Liu and the young man looked at them, then at Tao Ning: “J-Junior Minister?”

As commoners, the highest-ranking official they had seen was the magistrate, they had never heard of a Junior Minister, but seeing the constables’ respectful demeanor, it must be a high-ranking official, and they became nervous.

It was lunchtime, and Magistrate Zhao, having waited for a while, hadn’t seen Tao Ning return. Hearing she was eating wontons, worried about his hospitality, he sent people to find her.

Tao Ning put down her bowl, smiled at the stunned Mrs. Liu, then turned to the constables, her smile vanishing: “Magistrate Zhao better have a good reason for looking for me.”

“…”

The two constables, one looking at the sky, the other at the ground, didn’t dare reply, silently indicating they were just following orders.

Tao Ning paid and left, passing by the alley mentioned by Li Ji, pausing to look.

The constables, seeing her stop, also stopped, watching as she looked around, then walked towards the alley.

Li Ji had said that last night, she had chased the red figure to the end of this alley, where it disappeared.

She also mentioned a well at the end, with a pulley and overgrown with weeds, long abandoned.

The constables hurried after her: “Junior Minister, where are you going? That well is inauspicious, someone died there. A few years ago, a drunk man fell in and broke his neck, his body frozen solid in the winter, what a tragedy.”

Tao Ning continued walking, thinking the story didn’t sound like an accident: “Someone died there? Did you catch the killer?”

One of the constables replied, “Yes, he owed someone money and couldn’t pay it back, so he pushed the man into the well.”

Tao Ning shrugged indifferently: “Since the killer has been punished, the vengeful spirit should be gone, and I, a righteous official, have nothing to fear.”

Her words were so matter-of-fact that the constables could only follow.

Reaching the end of the alley, they saw a slender figure in light-colored clothes by the well, her back to them, her long hair cascading down her waist.

The two constables, still thinking about the gruesome image of the drunk man’s corpse, were startled by the sight of the white-clad figure, like a female ghost, and they yelped, startling the figure as well.

Tao Ning, seeing her face as she turned around, asked, puzzled, “Miss Qi?”

Carpenter Qi had done some work for the magistrate’s office, and his daughter often helped him. The constables recognized her and called out, “Miss Qi? What are you doing here?”

Qi Jing, seemingly shy, glanced at them before replying, “I dropped my hairpin, I’m trying to retrieve it.”

Tao Ning stepped out of the alley’s shadows and into the sunlight: “You dropped your hairpin?”

Perhaps it was the earlier story, but even in broad daylight, a chilling air emanated from the well, making the constables shiver.

They wanted to leave immediately: “Just forget about the hairpin, Miss Qi, this place is inauspicious, you’re not well, you should go back.”

It was all because of the recent “Woman in Red” incident, making everyone, from the magistrate to the commoners, talk about bad omens, and the amulets sold by fortune tellers were selling like hotcakes.

Qi Jing’s eyes welled up with tears, and she bit her lip, looking longingly at the well: “But that silver hairpin was my mother’s, and I lost it.”

The two constables, having watched Qi Jing grow up, sympathized with her, having lost her mother at a young age. They scratched their heads and looked into the dark well: “But this well is dry…”

Tao Ning, who had been silent, suddenly spoke: “The well is dry?”

Constable: “Yes, it’s dry, that drunk man fell to his death, it’s very deep.”

Tao Ning ignored the last part, rolled up her sleeves, tying them with a ribbon, and instructed, “Get me a rope, I’ll go down.”

The constables were alarmed: “That won’t do, Junior Minister! You’re here to investigate a case, what if something happens to you?”

Tao Ning’s tone remained unchanged, continuing her deception: “Investigating the ‘Woman in Red’ case is for the people’s well-being, and retrieving a hairpin is also for the people’s well-being, there’s no difference between big and small matters, if I can help, why not?”

Actually, she just wanted to go down, a classic case of “since we’re here.”

But this was a trivial matter, not something a high-ranking official from the capital should be doing.

However, her words moved those present, unexpectedly encountering such a righteous official, concerned about even the smallest matters.

The constables found a rope, and Tao Ning, slender and agile, could easily fit through the well opening, unlike the two constables, whose shoulders would get stuck.

After she went down, the two constables regretted their decision, pacing anxiously around the well. This was a high-ranking official sent by the court, if anything happened to her, even their lives wouldn’t be enough compensation.

Soon, the rope twitched, and the two constables pulled Tao Ning up, a pearl hairpin in her hand.

She stood on the ground, brushing the dust from her shoulders, and handed the hairpin to Qi Jing: “Miss Qi, this is all I found, there’s no silver hairpin.”

Qi Jing lowered her head: “I misremembered, it was a pearl hairpin, not silver.”

Tao Ning hummed, staring at her intently, making her scalp tingle.

Qi Jing looked back at her, puzzled, then blushed and lowered her head again: “Junior Minister, why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on my face?”

Even a fool could tell the difference between a pearl hairpin and a silver one, especially their mother’s keepsake.

Tao Ning handed her the hairpin: “Here you go, now that you’ve found it, it’s getting late, you should go back.”

“Thank you, Junior Minister, I’ll be going now.” Qi Jing put the hairpin back in her hair, nodded, and quickly left.

Seeing her disappear in the distance, Tao Ning pulled a piece of red cloth from her pocket, brushing off the dust, revealing intricate patterns.

It looked like a piece of fabric from a wedding dress.