Heavenly Dog Haunting

After returning from Brocade Fragrance Courtyard, Sun Shaozong first sought out his nominal elder brother to inquire into Chou Yunfei's background—one could despise an opponent strategically, but tactically, one still had to know oneself and know one's enemy.

To explain that fat, fair fellow's background, one first had to introduce the organization of the capital's garrison. The hundred thousand-odd Imperial Guards defending the capital were broadly divided into Four Battalions and One Guard: the Four Battalions were the Tiger Brave Camp, Divine Machine Camp, City Defense Camp, and Patrol Defense Camp; the One Guard was the Dragon Forbidden Guards, directly under the Emperor's command.

Leaving aside the Dragon Forbidden Guards, the Tiger Brave Camp stood foremost among the four Imperial Guard battalions, with the Divine Machine Camp second. The City Defense Camp and Patrol Defense Camp were tied at the bottom—and Chou Yunfei's father had originally been commander of the City Defense Camp, roughly equal in status to Divine Might General Feng Tang.

Last winter, when the Tiger Brave Camp's commanding post fell vacant, the two families fought like dragons and tigers. In the end, General Chou had the last laugh. Not only was he promoted to commander of the Tiger Brave Camp, he also took on the post of Right Commander of the Five City Garrison, becoming a Grand Commandant Chou in name and fact.

That was precisely why Feng Ziying had been so indignant two days ago, picking a fight and beating Chou Yunfei black and blue, calling it "avenging his father."

Once he understood the full sequence of events and compared it against the way he had handled matters at the time, Sun Shaozong felt even more at ease.

Thus, when he returned to his own small courtyard, he naturally told Ruan Rong about his experiences at Brocade Fragrance Courtyard as an amusing tale.

Who would have thought that when Ruan Rong heard how Xue Pan, drunk and babbling nonsense, had offered to hand over his beautiful concubine, she blurted out, "Why didn't Master agree? It would have saved Sister Xiang Ling from being tormented by him!"

Speechless, Sun Shaozong reached out and poked her forehead with one finger. Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, he said, "That Big-Headed Xue was only talking nonsense in his drunkenness. It was enough just to listen—how could you take it seriously? Besides, what woman actively gathers other women for her own man?"

Ruan Rong knew she had misspoken as well. She playfully stuck out her little pink tongue, yet could not help saying, "If it were any other woman, even if Master wanted to bring her home, you would first have to get past me—but Sister Xiang Ling is truly pitiful. She is honest and well-behaved too. If we could save her from that sea of suffering, what would be wrong with indulging Master for once?"

With that, she recounted one by one the bits of gossip she had heard from Daiyu.

It turned out that Xiang Ling had originally been born a young lady of a wealthy family. At the age of five, she had unfortunately been abducted by human traffickers, then at twelve or thirteen sold into the Xue Family as a servant. Her life had been so tragic, yet she did not harbor the slightest resentment toward Heaven or blame others. Every day, she was warmhearted and loved doing good to others.

At this point, Ruan Rong could not help sighing. "Put kindly, she is now Xue Pan's concubine. In truth, she holds no more than the position of a Face-Shaving Maid. That Fool Overlord is a reckless brute, always stirring up trouble every few days. Who knows how much hardship Xiang Ling suffers ordinarily."

As she spoke, she felt a large hand reach over her lower belly and knead about as though working dough.

Ruan Rong's face immediately reddened. Hastily batting away Sun Shaozong's claw, she spat, "Pah! In broad daylight, don't go provoking me!"

"What are you thinking?"

With an "innocent" look on his face, Sun Shaozong said, "I was just wondering whether you might already be pregnant. Otherwise, why would you see a motherless child and suddenly be overflowing with maternal love?"

The phrase "overflowing with maternal love" sounded novel, but its meaning was simple enough to understand.

Since they had missed dinner, the two could not be bothered to dress and get out of bed. They casually ate some pastries, then called for old women to carry in a bath barrel so they could wash up simply before returning to bed and falling asleep in each other's arms.

Around the fourth watch, they vaguely heard the courtyard gate being pounded loud enough to shake the hills, along with repeated cries: "Second Master, Second Master! Get up quickly! Something terrible has happened!"

Sun Shaozong shot upright in bed and listened closely for a moment. He could vaguely make out that the voice belonged to the old steward, Uncle Wei, so he hurriedly threw on some clothes and shouted toward the outer room, "Are you all dead asleep or what? Hurry up and open the gate for the old steward!"

By then, Ruan Rong had also startled awake from her dreams. Still bleary-eyed, she prepared to rise and help Sun Shaozong dress and wash.

Sun Shaozong hurriedly pushed her back onto the bed. "Rest first. It won't be too late for you to get up after I find out what this is about."

With that, he hastily pulled on his boots and rushed to the outer sitting room.

When he reached the sitting room and saw that the old steward's flustered face still carried a trace of fear, Sun Shaozong's heart tightened at once. Could it be that my nominal elder brother violated some Imperial Law and the court found out?!

Thinking of Sun Shaozu's usual extravagant spending, it really did seem somewhat possible!

Though uneasy inside, Sun Shaozong remained outwardly calm. Smiling, he asked, "Uncle Wei, what exactly has happened that you had to come wake me in the middle of the night?"

"Second Master!"

The old steward anxiously said, "Someone has come from the yamen. They say Vice Minister Ge Qingfeng of Works suddenly died in his home, and they want you to go at once and investigate the matter!"

"Oh, I thought it was something serious."

At those words, Sun Shaozong's heart settled completely back into his stomach. Grinning, he said, "Vice Minister Ge is neither kin nor friend to us. If he died, he died—was that worth making you so nervous, Uncle Wei?"

"Second Master!"

Seeing that he seemed rather unconcerned, Wei Licai hurriedly added, "He is a proper Six Ministries Hall Official. Now that he has suddenly died, there must be an explanation! If the case cannot be solved, I fear..."

Though the old steward did not spell it out, Sun Shaozong understood. He was likely afraid that Sun Shaozong might accidentally become a scapegoat. Smiling, he reassured him, "Uncle Wei, never mind anything else—I do have some knack for solving cases."

"Alas, if it were an ordinary case, Second Master would naturally capture it as easily as reaching into a bag. But this case..." The old steward hesitated for a long while before finally saying, "This case is the work of a Heavenly Dog haunting! Where could one possibly look for any real culprit?!"

A Heavenly Dog haunting?

No wonder the old steward had looked as though his soul had not yet returned to his body. So this case actually involved talk of ghosts and spirits!

According to the old steward, while Vice Minister Ge had been enjoying the cool air in the Back Garden in the summer before last, a Shih Tzu had somehow bitten off three of his toes. Vice Minister Ge had flown into a rage afterward, ordering every dog in the residence put to death and strictly forbidding anyone in the Entire Residence from keeping dogs again.

There had originally been nothing particularly strange about that. But from then on, Vice Minister Ge developed an inexplicable odd habit: every few days, he would drive away all those attending him elsewhere and spend the night alone in his study.

And whenever that happened, barking would come from inside the study—sometimes cheerful, sometimes mournful and plaintive, enough to make anyone who heard it shudder with terror!

Afterward, some people gathered their courage and asked him about it, but Vice Minister Ge would always snap harshly, insisting that he had not heard even a single bark.

Later, the matter spread like wildfire through the streets and alleys. Everyone said that Vice Minister Ge had been possessed by a Heavenly Dog and would sooner or later suffer retribution—and now, tonight, retribution had truly come!

Thanks to readers "Feng Feiyang" and "Wan Xiaobao" for their tips.