A thousand enlightenments in one night, starting from being a menial apprentice.

Chapter 400 Changle Street

Changle Street is the central street block of Shenyun Prefecture, and intersects with the Danjiang River which winds east-west through the city of Shenyun Prefecture.

The pavilions and the river view complement each other.

Those who can live in this neighborhood are either rich or noble.

Duan Rong, Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng, each riding a horse, rode slowly on Changle Street.

Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng were both wearing official uniforms, and passers-by who met them all gave way and walked away with a sidelong glance.

The residence of Shangshu Ling Zhu Shizhong is on Changle Street.

But at this time, the three of them went to Zhu Peng's house first.

It was still late summer at this time, and the weather in Shenyun Prefecture was still very hot and humid, unlike the four prefectures in the southeast, which was gradually getting cooler.

Zhu Shizhong was struck by lightning during a summer night thunderstorm. The place where he was struck by lightning was a cool room in Zhu's mansion.

This cool house is not very popular in the four southeastern prefectures of Qingzhou, and Duan Rong has never seen one before.

In Shenyun Mansion, this cool house has only become known among dignitaries in the past two or three years.

I heard that this cool house was invented and designed by craftsmen from Jizhou, which was controlled by the Shenyi Sect, and it was gradually spread to Qingzhou.

More than a month ago, Lord Zhu married Li Muping, a famous prostitute from Yanyue Tower, and made her his sixth concubine.

In order to please the beauty, he built a cool room in his mansion for Li Muping to live in.

In the hot summer, isn’t it wonderful to hide your beauty in a cool house?

But God was jealous and struck him dead with thunder!

Duan Rong had never seen a cool room, so he wanted to see it. The cool room in the residence of Lord Zhu Shizhong had been struck by lightning, so Duan Rong asked Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng where the cool room was and if they could take him to see it.
Zhu Cheng glanced at Zhu Peng. There was one in Zhu Peng's mansion, which was built half a year earlier than the one in Zhu Shizhong's mansion, but the specifications were slightly smaller than that one.

Zhu Peng touched his nose and agreed to take Duan Rong to visit his house.

Duan Rong smiled and told him that it was not a visit but a field research.

Zhu Peng's residence was not far from the Dali Temple. The three of them rode their horses leisurely and arrived there in no time.

They dismounted at the corner gate, walked along a path shaded by bamboo trees, bypassed a pond, and arrived in front of the summer house.

Next to the summer house, a waterwheel was turning slowly, and the clear water made a gurgling sound as the waterwheel turned.

As soon as he stepped into the cool room, Duan Rong felt that the temperature was obviously much cooler. His eyes brightened slightly, and he felt as if he had returned to the air-conditioned room of his previous life.

I saw a curtain of water flowing down the inner wall of the house, and there was a sunken gutter on the ground along the wall.

The water trough ran through the house, circled around the bed behind the screen, and then flowed back into the pond outside the house.

Zhu Cheng looked at Duan Rong and said, "The water in this pond is drawn from the nearby Danjiang River. The water flows through the waterwheel, reaches the roof, flows down along the inner wall of the house, and after being collected, passes through the house and returns to the pond. The design of this summer house is quite ingenious."

In fact, even if Zhu Cheng didn't say it, Duan Rong had already used his spiritual sense to clearly explore the design and structure of this summer house.

This cool house is really amazing. Judging from its effect alone, it is probably more comfortable than the air conditioners in previous lives.

It seems that the nobles in ancient times really knew how to enjoy themselves!
As soon as the three of them sat down in the cool room, the servants brought them some chilled fruits.

Duan Rong ate the cool fruits and looked at the clear water flowing past his feet, then thought of Zhu Shizhong. At this time, he might be able to take off his shoes and socks, wash his feet in the water, and hug a beautiful woman who was famous in Shenyun Mansion. Not to mention that God killed Zhu Shizhong, even he wanted to kill him!
Is this really too sinful!? Too corrupt!?
They only stayed in the cool room for a while before coming out. After all, they still had to go to see the death scene of Master Zhu Shizhong. If they stayed for a while longer, Duan Rong probably wouldn't want to leave.

Yi Yu could even die!
The residence of Lord Zhu Shizhong was some distance away from here, and they were already sweating when they walked over.

The mansion had been surrounded by heavily armored cavalry. It was clear that these people would not leave until the case was concluded.

The three of them rode their horses straight into the mansion and came to the summer house in the garden.

But at this time, there was already a pile of black coke.

A dozen heavily-armored soldiers were guarding this place in different positions. Under the sunlight, their heavy armor glowed faintly.

Next to the summer house is a small lake.

Duan Rong looked carefully at the lakeside and found that the lake was as smooth as a mirror. Except for a red dragonfly flying by, there was not a single fish poking its head out.

Duan Rong had read the files and knew that there were originally nearly a thousand koi in the lake, but unfortunately on the night of the thunderstorm, a huge bolt of lightning passed over the lake.

It is said that the lake was so bright that the soldiers found thousands of koi dead on the lake surface the next morning. It took them several days to clear them all.

Duan Rong looked at the mirror-like lake and thought of the tragic scene of thousands of koi dying in one day. He still liked koi quite a lot.

Duan Rong walked along the lake and came to a collapsed and blackened ruin with only a few pillars still standing.

Zhu Cheng pointed to the place where the bodies of Zhu Shizhong and Li Muping were found.

When they died, they were on the bed, already turned into charcoal, and were hugging each other.

Duan Rong listened to Zhu Cheng's story silently without saying a word, and just walked around the collapsed ruins.

Duan Rong suddenly bent down and picked up a piece of blackened wood. He held it in his hand for a while, then threw it aside and picked up another piece.

Duan Rong pursed his lips and silently picked up and put down pieces of broken walls and tiles in front of the collapsed ruins.

Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng looked a little stunned.

Zhu Peng asked, "What is he doing?"

Zhu Cheng shook his head and said, "I don't know."

Zhu Peng asked, "Could there be some clues under the ruins? How about we go over and help move them?"

"Alright."

The two walked over, and Zhu Cheng said, "Master Duan, have you found any clues? Can we help you?"

Duan Rong raised his head, patted the black dust on his hands, and said with a smile: "No need! You guys are going to mess it up easily, right?"

"Chaos?" The two of them failed to understand what Duan Rong meant for a moment.

"Besides, you can't tell!"

Zhu Cheng frowned slightly and asked in confusion: "I wonder, Master Duan, are you saying that we can't see anything?"

"All things have spirits. They can talk." Duan Rong smiled and said, "I'm going to pick up all the debris in this ruin." Duan Rong paused, looked up at the position of the sun, and continued, "I estimate it will take until the second half of the night. You two adults can do whatever you want, and you don't have to wait for me."

"Pick them all up?!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng looked at Duan Rong in astonishment, as if they were looking at a madman.

The two stood there for a while, and saw Duan Rong really there, picking up the broken tiles piece by piece and piling them up in the empty space at his feet. Then, the two left the place and came to the lake.

Zhu Peng's newly formed good impression of Duan Rong had already disappeared. He pouted at Duan Rong who was busy in the ruins and said, "Is this guy sick?"

Zhu Cheng's face also looked a little ugly. In his opinion, picking up all the broken walls and tiles in the ruins was a complete waste of effort.

Zhu Peng asked, "Did you hear what he just said? Didn't he say that the rotten tiles could talk? Isn't this a mental illness?"

"Alright! Keep your voice down!" Zhu Cheng glared at him.

Zhu Peng said, "Why don't we just close the case? I don't think there will be any results if we continue investigating this man like this."

Zhu Cheng sighed and said, "Wait two more days. After all, he was transferred here by the ancestor, so we have to be able to explain it to him."

Zhu Peng said, "Then you can deal with this matter with him. I won't come here anymore! I really can't stand his mysterious and mysterious ways!"

Zhu Cheng said, "It will only take two or three days. Can you be a little patient? After three days, if he still can't find any clues, we will tell him that the case is closed."

Duan Rong could clearly hear the conversation between the two people by the lake by using his spiritual sense, but he didn't care at all. He just continued to bend down and feel the broken walls and tiles piece by piece.

As the sun sets and dusk falls, many bats are hovering in the low sky, catching insects.

The soldiers guarding the area saw Duan Rong still struggling, so they held up a lantern and gave it to him.

Duan Rong hung the lantern on a pillar beside him and straightened his stiff waist.

He worked until nightfall and had only finished a small part of it. It seemed that his original estimate was a bit optimistic. To finish the whole thing, he would probably have to stay up all night.

Duan Rong wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand, and suddenly he circulated his internal energy, lifted up the half-broken beam at his feet, and then continued to feel the broken walls and tiles piece by piece.

At dawn, Duan Rong finally sat down on the dirty stone steps next to the summer house. His face was covered in black dust, and a lot of dust was stuck on his eyelids.

He sat there for a while to catch his breath, then went to the lake to wash his face, then walked out of Zhu Shizhong's mansion and went to the street to eat.

After staying up all night, he was already starving.

After finishing his meal, Duan Rong returned to the post station, covered his head and fell asleep. He did not wake up lazily until noon.

He got up, washed up, had lunch at the inn, and then walked to the teahouse on the street.

This time he didn't go to the second floor, but sat down somewhere on the first floor.

He came to listen to storytelling!
He devoured weapon spirits for a whole night at the ruins where Shang Shu Ling was killed by lightning. Although he had a good sleep, he had not yet completely digested and absorbed those weapon spirits.

Duan Rong stayed in the teahouse, drinking tea and listening to storytelling while waiting for the many spirit objects he had swallowed to be completely absorbed.

About two hours later, Duan Rong was listening attentively, but suddenly his face changed. Most of the information that was digested and absorbed by the spirit weapon was useless, but just now, a very important information entered Duan Rong's brain.

The old man was just talking about the most exciting part, spitting everywhere, and all the guests in the room were silent. But suddenly Duan Rong jumped up and rushed out of the teahouse.

The moment Duan Rong jumped up, the old man almost choked on his breath.

This was the passage he was most proud of. When he reached the climax of his speech, Duan Rong suddenly rushed out. In his opinion, it was almost like a slap in the face in public.

He always felt that if he talked about this part, even if your father had died, you would have to listen to it before leaving.

This was the first time since he went on stage to give a book lecture that someone walked out here.

It's just that he didn't see Duan Rong's face clearly just now, otherwise he would definitely ask him what happened later that made him leave at this time?
If there was no reason that could convince him, this scene would become a thorn in his heart, keeping him awake all night.

This made him doubt his own skills. But how could anyone let it go after hearing this?
Duan Rong naturally had no idea that his sudden departure would so hurt the sensitive and proud heart of such a noble old storyteller.

If he knew, he would have spat before leaving.

After Duan Rong left the teahouse, he came to Changle Street and went directly to the residence of Shangshu Ling Zhu Shizhong.

Duan Rong walked to the door, but the heavily armored cavalry stopped him.

Duan Rong immediately produced the Taiyi Order and said that he had come here yesterday with Zhu Sizheng from the Dali Temple and was an outer disciple transferred by the sect to assist in this case.

The gatekeeper then let him in.

Duan Rong entered the mansion and immediately ran to the collapsed ruins by the lake.

The moment he stood beside the ruins, his spiritual awareness suddenly released.

The tentacles of the spiritual consciousness were as dense as a net, searching in the collapsed ruins.

Based on the information in his mind, Duan Rong soon made some discoveries.

When his spiritual sense detected something, his figure flashed and he squatted in the corner like a ghost, rummaging through a pile of broken debris.

Duan Rong took out something from the pile of junk.

It seemed to be a piece of wood on the roof beam, but there was a deep square groove in the middle of the wood.

Duan Rong knew that at this time the waterwheel would bring cool water to the roof and to the water-flowing groove on the roof.

But at the bottom of the deep groove, there was a slender wooden handle protruding from the side.

The groove was quite deep, with a shadow at the bottom, and the wooden handle was extremely thin, not much thicker than a toothpick, so it was difficult to find.

However, on the groove not far from the wooden handle, there was a very small round hole, and there was a black pointed object faintly sticking out of the tiny round hole.

Duan Rong touched it with his hand and it seemed to be a needle tip.

After investigation with spiritual sense, it was found that the needle tip and the wooden handle were connected together.

Duan Rong sat on the stone steps not far away, holding the things in his hands, and fell into deep thought.

After a long time, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Someone deliberately drew down the thunderbolt and killed Lord Zhu!"

Disguise murder as a natural disaster!

What a good trick! What a good idea!
Duan Rong immediately stood up and walked to the heavily armored guard not far away. He looked at the heavily armored guard and said in a deep voice, "Please go to the Dali Temple and ask Master Zhu Cheng and Master Zhu Peng to come over. Tell them that Duan Rong has something important to discuss with them."

After hearing that, the man just stared at Duan Rong blankly, and seemed to have no intention of moving.

Duan Rong suddenly raised the Taiyi Order, and shouted in a stern voice, "If you make any mistakes, I'll twist your head off!"

Duan Rong's aura seemed to change suddenly at this moment.

The man didn't know why, but he suddenly shuddered, his face trembled, and he immediately rushed out with a knife in hand.

(End of this chapter)