The Ming Dynasty's henchmen, working from nine to five

Chapter 8 Ghosts

"Sir, you're busy, we'll go do our duty right away!"

Liu Baichuan brewed a pot of hot tea for Zhou Xiong, and then pulled Shen Lang and the other man towards the door.

Just then, a notification sound rang in Shen Lang's mind.

On my first day at work, the NPD manager was being domineering. I decided to strike first and teach him a lesson: workers can't be bullied. Give him a try!

"My lord, I have something to say!"

Several people looked up at Shen Lang at the same time, including Zhou Xiong.

"What is it?"

"You didn't explain clearly earlier how the shift schedule should be arranged when you go to work at the Jing'an Prince's Mansion?"

"What do you mean?"

Zhou Xiong raised his head slightly, looking puzzled.

"I am on duty from 9 am to 5 pm, and my shift ends at 5 pm. I am only on duty for four hours each day."

What's meant to happen will happen eventually... Qin Erniu twitched the corner of his mouth.

Look at him, he's already acting like a traitor on his very first day on duty!

"What did you say?"

Zhou Xiong was stunned, as were Liu Baichuan and the other two. It was the first time they had ever seen someone make requests before taking on a job.

"I only work four hours a day and have two days off every five days. Please be aware of this, sir."

Shen Lang repeated himself and added a few more details.

"Snap!"

Zhou Xiong slammed the book onto the table.

"Who gave you the audacity to be so insolent in front of me?"

"Liu Baichuan!"

"have!"

"Go to the clerk's office to retrieve the case file. I want to see who recommended this arrogant brat, that he's so overbearing and unreasonable!"

"yes!"

Liu Baichuan glanced at Shen Lang, hesitated, and finally shook his head helplessly before leaving.

Inside the yamen, the atmosphere plummeted to freezing point.

Zhou Xiong was so angry that he blew his beard and glared, while Shen Lang remained calm and composed, as if nothing had happened. The rest of them all lowered their heads and didn't dare to breathe.

Until Liu Baichuan returned.

"Sir, these are their files!"

Zhou Xiong took it and immediately began to examine it. When he saw the signature at the end, his pupils suddenly contracted.

"Is this a special approval from Lord Zhang Xian, the Commander of the Northern Garrison?"

Zhou Xiong snorted angrily: "Although I can't afford to offend the Garrison Commander, I will never serve you, sir. My yamen is too small to accommodate such a big shot. You'd better find somewhere else!"

Shen Lang clasped his hands and said, "My lord, I have not been presumptuous."

"To work at sunrise and rest at sunset, this has been the way since ancient times."

"The imperial court's henchmen are also human beings and need rest. I don't think there's anything wrong with that."

Zhou Xiong, his face cold, stared intently into Shen Lang's eyes and said:

"I can tell you right now that there is no one to take over. You are the only one responsible for the safety of the Jing'an Prince's Mansion."

"Whether you work four hours or six hours is your own business; I only care about the result."

"If the Princess Consort of Jing'an and Princess Yongning suffer even the slightest mishap before the case is closed, you will be dealt with according to military law!"

Zhou Xiong snorted angrily and stormed off.

"Brother Shen, what did you mean by what you just said?"

Liu Baichuan was utterly puzzled. You're just a green recruit, and you've already angered your superiors right after you arrived. This isn't something a normal person should do!

Wei Linrong sighed and said, "Actually, working under Commander Zhou is very casual. He usually doesn't care about trivial matters like roll call. If you want to rest, you can just sneak home. This behavior is really inappropriate."

Qin Yue also shook his head: "Commander Zhou is very particular about etiquette. You have really offended him today. You're probably going to suffer for it in the future."

Only Qin Erniu said in a low voice, "On the first day of duty, of course we have to set rules. Brother Lang has always done things this way. You'll get used to it from now on."

Shen Lang smiled and said, "Don't worry, everyone, I know what I'm doing."

"Brother Liu, may I borrow the case file of the missing woman that the lord just mentioned?"

"Hey, you really are... Just wait, I'll go find it for you!"

Before long, Liu Baichuan returned with a stack of folded paper.

"Here you go, it's all here!"

"I've worked on this case before. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."

"Thank you, Brother Liu."

Shen Lang nodded and began to carefully flip through the pages.

The case is actually not complicated. In short, a ruthless thief has appeared in Yujing City, targeting young women, robbing and murdering them with extreme cruelty.

"As of yesterday, there were six dead... Brother Liu, when did you start getting involved?"

Liu Baichuan thought for a moment and said, "About a month ago, when the first victim appeared."

As he spoke, he pointed to a page in the file: "This Huang Cuier's body is the one I pulled out of the dry well."

Liu Baichuan shook his head and sighed, his face full of sorrow: "You have no idea what kind of torture that young lady suffered. There wasn't a single good piece of flesh on her body, even her... was torn apart. Alas, it was too tragic."

Shen Lang asked, "Brother Liu, why didn't you continue the investigation?"

Liu Baichuan said, "The murderer was extremely cunning and was never caught. Later, the women who were killed became increasingly high-ranking, and even the only daughter of the Minister of the Court of State Ceremonies was murdered. So the higher-ups made other arrangements."

Wei Linrong leaned closer and said mysteriously, "I've heard that the murderer isn't human, but... a ghost!"

"A ghost? Tell me more!"

Qin Erniu moved closer, and Shen Lang also put down the dossier and glanced over.

Wei Linrong lowered his voice and said, "This matter is actually not a secret; it's been circulating in the streets."

"It's said to be a 'ghost wedding,' with vengeful spirits from the outer city coming to claim their lives!"

Qin Yue also joined the discussion: "The other day I saw with my own eyes that Minister Sui of the Ministry of Rites invited a Taoist priest to my home to set up an altar to exorcise evil spirits."

Wei Linrong said, "That's right. Recently, powerful and influential people have been closing their doors to visitors. They must have heard some news!"

Qin Erniu's eyes widened like saucers: "Serving in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and you still have to capture ghosts?!"

Shen Lang asked curiously, "Are there really ghosts in this world?"

Monsters do exist, and they are mentioned in many folk tales. Shen Lang himself even executed one, but he had never actually seen a ghost.

But thinking about it carefully, it's not so strange. This world is far more mysterious and complex than it appears on the surface.

Liu Baichuan shook his head and said, "I don't know either. Who can say for sure about these things?"

"But even if there really are ghosts, we don't need to worry about it. The officials of the Imperial Observatory will take care of it."

Shen Lang flipped through the case file and quickly discovered the unusual aspects of the case.

The person in charge of the case made a special note that at each murder scene, a small piece of faded red silk and some fragments of joss paper with the character for "happiness" were found.

Residents living nearby claimed that they had heard faint, mournful suona sounds late at night.

Witnesses also reported seeing a "groom" in a red robe with long hair covering his entire face abducting a woman.

"Is this where the rumors are coming from?"

Shen Lang closed the file, lost in thought.

Judging from these records alone, the case is indeed somewhat strange and does not seem to be man-made.

However, further investigation revealed no concrete evidence; all the findings were based on speculation and assumptions by those in charge, as well as one-sided accounts from self-proclaimed eyewitnesses.

"This kind of case record doesn't seem like the style of the Northern Garrison Command."