Qu Wanyue had never watched a horror movie since she was a child. Her parents were both researchers and had never told her ghost stories. Now, seeing the house full of memorial tablets and remembering the bride who got married in this courtyard last night, she felt goosebumps all over her body—she had really lived a long time and still saw ghosts!
Long Sen isn't afraid of ghosts, but he's still completely baffled by the alternation between day and night in this secret room.
As a sports school coach known for his "strong physique but simple mind," Long Sen knew his IQ was the lowest in the team, so he simply gave up thinking, looked at Xiao Lou, and asked seriously, " Professor Xiao, the room is full of memorial tablets. The bride we saw last night must have been a ghost bride, right? Does this mean there's something wrong with the cause of death of this family? What we need to investigate is their cause of death?"
Xiao Lou is still unsure of the theme of this secret room, but Long Sen's explanation is the most likely. He stood by the tree for a moment and said, "This family's death is definitely not simple. You stay outside and keep watch. Hanjiang and I will go in and take a look."
Long Sen and Qu Wanyue nodded and stood guard under a tree near the courtyard, pretending to chat but actually keeping watch.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Yu Hanjiang activated his Lightness Skill Card and flew Xiao Lou from the treetop into the courtyard.
This yard has been abandoned and has probably not been cleaned for a long time. The weeds in the garden are almost knee-high. Last night's storm broke several branches of the old trees in the yard, and the broken branches and rotten leaves were piled up all over the ground, making a mess.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang avoided the tree branches, walked quietly, one after the other.
This was a typical wealthy family home, with several small courtyards connected by arched walkways. In the middle of the courtyards was a pond, which had dried up due to long-term neglect, but the surrounding stone steps and pavilions were exquisitely constructed, and the feng shui layout was also very meticulous. Before the incident, this family must have lived a very affluent life.
The two walked around the pond and entered the hall.
Unlike the mess in the courtyard, the main hall was quite clean. There were no signs of a struggle inside, and the tables and chairs were neatly arranged. As Qu Wanyue had said, there was an altar in the center of the hall, upon which were placed numerous memorial tablets.
Xiao Lou carefully counted and found that there were 16 memorial tablets arranged in three rows from top to bottom, with their names written in red on each tablet.
The family's surname is Zhao, and the one on the top row is called "Zhao Chengrui." Xiao Lou said softly, "In the mourning hall, the memorial tablets of elders are usually placed at the top. This Zhao Chengrui may be the Zhao family's grandfather?"
Yu Hanjiang hummed in agreement, walked to the memorial tablets, and scanned all the names with his gaze. He said, "Those who don't have the surname Zhao should be women who married into the Zhao family. The first row is for grandparents, the second row is for parents, and the third row is for the younger generation. But there are four memorial tablets in the third row. Which one is the ghost bride who got married last night?"
The four names in the third row are Zhao Zeping, Zhao Zean, Zhao Zeshun, and Zhao Zesui...
Xiao Lou stroked his chin, carefully examining the three rows of memorial tablets, and said, "The last character of each of the Zhao family's names in this generation forms the phrase 'peace and prosperity.' It's clear that the elders hoped their children would grow up peacefully and safely. These four names can be used for both boys and girls, so it's impossible to tell which one is the girl who got married last night just from the names."
Yu Hanjiang said, "With so many memorial tablets on the altar, is the whole family dead?"
Xiao Lou frowned slightly: "Could it be... a family massacre?"
Yu Hanjiang turned around and looked into the room.
The furnishings in the hall didn't suggest a fierce struggle had taken place. He didn't have the modern police's investigative equipment, so he had to rely on his eyes. He scanned the area but found no trace of blood, suggesting the scene hadn't been cleaned up after the massacre. It was more likely the murders hadn't occurred here.
Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's search the entire courtyard first to see if there are any clues."
Xiao Lou agreed: "Yes, since the bride from last night got married from this family, she must have her own room at her parents' home."
The two left the mourning hall and went to the backyard.
The backyard was divided into many smaller courtyards. The southern courtyard, separated by an arched gate, was the living quarters for the maids and servants. The other courtyards had countless rooms, demonstrating the immense size of the Zhao family.
The layout of the courtyard was practically a maze, forcing Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang to mark each room with arrows and search them one by one. They first found the residence of an elder in the Zhao family, where they discovered many handwritten scriptures and Buddhist beads, indicating that the elderly man was clearly a Buddhist.
Then came the parents' generation's residence, nothing special. In one of the rooms, they found many exquisite medicine bottles with paper labels indicating the names of various medicines. It seems that someone in the Zhao family studied medicine and knew how to refine elixirs.
The younger generation's room style differs significantly from that of the older generation. Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang quickly narrowed it down to four rooms. To make it easier to organize clues, they named the rooms A, B, C, and D, and marked them temporarily with arrows of different colors.
Room A contains a reception room and a bedroom, and another suite is an armory. A row of wooden sword racks hangs on the wall, with seven swords of different lengths. These weapons look very valuable, as the owner of this house is fond of collecting famous swords.
Room B has a small study next to the bedroom, with bookshelves filled with ancient books such as the *I Ching*, the *Analects*, and the *Mencius*. The owner of this room clearly loves reading. Notably, there's also a cradle in the bedroom containing a small child's toy. Xiao Lou picked it up and saw it was a small red rattle drum.
Room C was clearly a girl's room; the bed curtains and sheets were pink, and there were many flowers on the windowsill, but unfortunately, most of them had withered, with only a palm-sized cactus still stubbornly alive. On her desk lay a white handkerchief embroidered with a pair of mandarin ducks, and next to it were colorful needles and thread, indicating that the embroidery was not yet finished.
The last room was also the girl's room, with a large red "double happiness" character pasted on the window.
Xiao Lou and Yu Hanjiang exchanged a glance and carefully searched the room.
Unfortunately, this room had the fewest clues. Nothing special was found in the desk, drawers, or cabinets. The wardrobe and jewelry box were half empty, probably because the girl took her favorite jewelry with her husband's family when she got married.
The two walked to the window and began to discuss in hushed tones.
Xiao Lou said, "We found four rooms occupied by young people, two men and two women. In ancient times, it was common for the older sister to marry first, followed by the younger sister. What we can confirm right now is that room D is the boudoir of the ghost bride who got married last night. Room C is her younger sister's room. We found a half-embroidered handkerchief on the table, with mandarin ducks embroidered on it. What do you think?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "According to your analysis, my sister was not married yet, but she must have had someone she loved and wanted to embroider a mandarin duck handkerchief to give to him. Unfortunately, she died before she could finish it."
Xiao Lou nodded: "I think so too. Mandarin ducks have a special meaning, especially since they are hand-embroidered. They are most likely given to a sweetheart." He paused and then said: "The room with many books in the other two men's rooms should belong to the eldest brother, Zhao Zeping. He is already married and has a child."
Yu Hanjiang agreed: "Yes, the one covered in weapons is the second son, and he doesn't look married yet. The problem now is, how should the four children be ordered? The eldest should be a boy, but who is the boy and who is the girl among the second, third, and fourth children?"
Xiao Lou thought about the four names carefully and said, "I feel that Zhao Zean and Zhao Zesui sound like girls, while Zhao Zeping and Zhao Zeshun sound like boys. The four siblings in the Zhao family, perhaps in the order of eldest brother, second sister, third brother, and fourth sister?"
Yu Hanjiang smiled slightly: "That's what I guessed too. As for whether it's accurate, we need more clues to verify it."
Xiao Lou said, "There's one more key point."
Yu Hanjiang replied in tacit understanding: "Children's toys?"
Xiao Lou picked up the rattle drum found in his elder brother's room and said, "The cradle and children's toys found in my elder brother's room indicate that he was married and had children. However, we didn't find his wife's or children's memorial tablets in the Zhao family's mourning hall. Usually, the memorial tablets of husband and wife should be placed side by side, just like their parents' memorial tablets are placed together."
Yu Hanjiang added, "Moreover, there was incense in the mourning hall. When we went in just now, the three incense sticks were still lit, and more than half of them had burned. This means that not long ago, someone came to offer incense to the Zhao family's memorial tablets."
Xiao Lou said, "This person is very likely the survivor of the massacre—the boss's wife or child?"
Yu Hanjiang nodded in agreement: "I think so too."
The two exchanged a glance. Having walked side by side through so many locked rooms, their teamwork in solving cases had only grown stronger; they always seemed to be on the same page. From the distribution of the ancestral tablets to the investigation of the rooms, they had already figured out the general relationships among the members of the Zhao family.
The key figures are the bride and the wife and children of the eldest son who are missing.
What remains a mystery is—what exactly happened to the Zhao family?
Was the scene of the bride's wedding last night a hallucination, or a replay of a scene that had actually happened?
This is important.
If Second Miss died before her marriage, what they saw last night might have been a vision of "marrying a ghost wife" in the underworld. But if she died after her marriage, what they saw might have been a "replay of the past" formed by the ghost's obsession.
Xiao Lou suggested, "Let's go to the inn and ask around first."
Yu Hanjiang carried him away from the Zhao family.
Qu Wanyue and Long Sen had been waiting outside. Upon seeing the two of them come out, Long Sen immediately stepped forward and asked, " Professor Xiao, have you found any clues?"
Xiao Lou explained simply: "This family has four siblings in the younger generation. The eldest brother is already married with children, and the woman who married is likely the Second Miss. What we need to figure out now is what happened to the Zhao family back then, and how they were wiped out?"
Long Sen nodded, seemingly understanding, "Yes, shall we go to the inn?"
Yu Hanjiang said, "Let's go. I'll ask Lao Mo what's going on over there, and we'll meet at the inn later."
He pressed the voice headset, connected to the team's voice channel, and whispered, "Attention everyone, this locked-room case is quite complicated. We found a house full of memorial tablets at the house where the bride got married last night. The Zhao family was brutally murdered. Lao Mo, where are you and Liu Qiao?"
Old Mo quickly replied, "I took Liu Qiao to check on the family where she gave birth last night. It's an abandoned courtyard, and there's no one there. I asked the nearby residents, and they said that the family suddenly disappeared many years ago, and they don't know if they moved away."
Liu Qiao added, "They disappeared inexplicably overnight. The young mistress of the family had just given birth, and the next day, the neighbors went to check on them, only to find that the whole family had vanished."