The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 106

People streamed through the streets of Shengjing.

Dressed in ordinary clothes, Zhao Li walked alongside Han Yin and Han Yin’s former maid, A-Bi.

The three young women shared candied chestnuts as they went.

Even passersby could not help smiling at the sight.

They made their way to one of Shengjing’s property brokerages.

As the capital of Great Jing, Shengjing saw houses bought and sold every day.

The brokerage bustled with people coming and going.

Those who worked there all had exceptionally discerning eyes.

One glance at a new customer was enough for them to rank the person by wealth and status.

The moment Zhao Li and her companions entered, a shrewd-faced middle-aged man brightened. He hurriedly set down his teacup and came forward with an enthusiastic welcome.

His face was so excessively welcoming that, for one instant, Zhao Li nearly expected him to call out, “Welcome to our establishment!”

Han Yin was likewise unaccustomed to such enthusiasm. In the past, she would never have had occasion to interact with a man from such a lowly trade.

But thinking of her future, she gathered her courage and explained why she had come. “I want to buy a house.”

A house?

The broker’s eyes lit up. A large transaction meant a larger profit for him, and he immediately became even more enthusiastic. “This humble one’s name is Mei San. May I ask what requirements you have, miss?”

Mei San waited expectantly, but Han Yin’s answer disappointed him somewhat.

“I want somewhere quiet, safe, and inexpensive.” After thinking a moment, Han Yin added, “Preferably with a frontage on the street, so I can run a small business.”

At the word inexpensive, some of the anticipation faded from Mei San’s eyes. Still, he rallied. “Please come inside, ladies. I’ll fetch the property registers.”

With that, he led the three into the inner rooms.

The rear of the brokerage contained private reception rooms. Once Zhao Li and the others sat down, female servants eagerly brought tea and refreshments.

Before long, Mei San and an assistant carried in a towering stack of registers listing properties for sale.

He searched through them for some time, then quickly pulled out one volume and opened it to a particular page. “Please look here, miss. There is a small, two-courtyard residence on Brick Pagoda Lane in Shengping Ward.”

As Han Yin listened attentively, Zhao Li did not interrupt. She casually picked up one of the registers on the table and began leafing through it.

This brokerage deserved its reputation as a chain operating throughout Shengjing. Its work was meticulous.

Besides the address, each property listing described the owner in detail and explained the reason for the sale.

The more elaborate entries even included floor plans.

Zhao Li flipped through the pages at random, then suddenly stopped.

A three-courtyard residence in Xinghua Ward by the Western Market was listed for urgent sale at only three hundred taels!

At that price and in that location, they might as well have been giving it away.

The entry even noted that the furniture was included.

There had to be a catch. Intrigued, Zhao Li asked, “May I ask what’s wrong with this residence? Is it a haunted house?”

Mei San had been describing another property to Han Yin. At Zhao Li’s question, he took a closer look at the listing, and an odd expression flashed rapidly across his face.

He did not conceal the truth. After craning his neck to make sure no one else was nearby, he lowered his voice. “I wonder, ladies… do you believe there are ghosts in this world?”

Zhao Li thought, Hadn’t he just stumbled directly into her professional field? She nodded firmly. “I do!”

Having received her answer, Mei San continued, “The laws of Great Jing forbid talk of gods and the uncanny. Please treat what this humble one says today as nothing more than a story. Once you leave this door, I will deny every word.”

Fear appeared on Han Yin’s and A-Bi’s faces. They were no longer certain they wanted to hear the rest.

“Go on, go on.” Zhao Li lifted her teacup, plainly ready to enjoy a story.

Mei San had a gift for storytelling and loved an appreciative audience. Pointing to the page in the register, he said, “You asked whether this was a haunted house, miss?”

“I may want to make money, but I’m not so heartless that I would personally shove someone into a fire. To tell you the truth, this residence isn’t merely ominous—it is exceedingly ominous!”

“The house originally belonged to a merchant family. The merchant traveled north and south selling furs. He could not compare with the capital’s wealthy official families, but he was very prosperous.”

“His parents were alive, he had a virtuous wife and lovely concubines, and both sons and daughters. The entire family lived in harmony.”

“But in the winter of the year before last, all fourteen members of the fur merchant’s household suddenly died inside the residence.”

Mei San paused and looked up to gauge their reactions. “Can you ladies guess how the fur merchant’s entire family died?”

Frightened, Han Yin tugged A-Bi closer to Zhao Li while shaking her head.

“They froze and starved to death!” Mei San suddenly raised his voice, making Han Yin jump.

Zhao Li was unmoved by his theatrics. “A breath turns to ice in Shengjing’s winters. People freezing to death is hardly unusual.”

It happened not only to refugees outside the city. Even people with homes occasionally could not afford charcoal, and entire families froze to death huddled together.

Mei San shook his head. “What you don’t know is that those people freeze and starve because they lack food and clothing. When the fur merchant’s family was carried out, they were still wearing thick padded coats and furs, and the heated beds inside the house were burning warm.”

“The afternoon before, the merchant’s elderly mother had even told a neighbor that the family had bought half a pig and made cured meat to hang from the rafters.”

“Yet by the next day, the whole family was dead. Their bellies were hollow without a morsel of food inside, and every one of them had wasted down to skin and bone.”

“But the rice and flour bins in the kitchen were full, and a bowl of cured pork was still sitting on the stove. How could an entire family starve to death in a single night?”

“Everyone said that because the fur merchant had spent years selling pelts and skinning raccoon dogs alive, he had offended a resentful bane.”

By this point, Mei San seemed somewhat frightened himself. He licked his lips. “After the fur merchant’s whole family died, his clansmen swallowed up the assets of his extinct household, and this residence fell to one of his relatives.”

“Who wouldn’t be delighted to receive a fine residence in a good location for nothing? The relative did not wait long. He invited a nun from Longhua Nunnery to recite scriptures, then impatiently furnished the place and moved in.”

“They moved in one day, and the next, the entire family was carried out exactly as they had entered.”

“They died in precisely the same way as the fur merchant’s family. Leftovers from the previous day’s welcoming feast were still on the stove, yet every member of the household had frozen and starved to death.”

“The terrifying part is that these deaths occurred in high summer.”

Han Yin and A-Bi were both badly frightened. Zhao Li stretched out her arms and comfortingly drew one against each side.

“With yet another whole family dead, anyone could tell something was wrong with the house. The residence then passed to a relative of that relative.”

“No one dared live there, so they listed it for sale to see whether they could find some unfortunate fool to buy it.”

Mei San said solemnly, “Ladies, don’t be tempted just because it’s cheap. Buying this house could cost you your lives!”

Despite his warning, Zhao Li was desperately tempted. A haunted house was perfect!

Buy the haunted residence for three hundred taels, solve the haunting, and in that location it would sell for at least two thousand.

Zhao Li did not have that much silver on hand, but she did not intend to keep the opportunity to herself. She would bring in her brothers at the Night Watch Bureau and let everyone earn a share.

Everyone who knew about the opportunity deserved a share, so Han Yin would be included as well.

Having finished her calculations, she slapped the table and was about to declare that she would buy it.

An assistant knocked and entered. He took the register from in front of Mei San and gossiped, “Mr. Mei, that residence in Xinghua Ward has been sold!”