In the south of Jiangnan in the twelfth lunar month, the snowflakes that fly from time to time also give people a pleasing feeling. A piece of snowflakes fall on the river, accompanied by the sound of flowing water, as if you hear a burst of private sighs.

Mudu Town is divided into two by a small river. The residents of the town know that there is a woman in Hedong named Chenxi. Her father was a famous wealthy businessman in the town. Three years ago, his family moved to Youzhou in the north.

To the west of the river, there is a carpenter named Cheng. After his second son disappeared three years ago, Carpenter Cheng has been crazy. Except when he was working, he always looked at the sky in the north, his eyes were dull and empty. At a glance, it was a day. Carpenter Cheng has four sons, named east, west, south, and north, and his second son is called Cheng Xi.

The river that crossed Mudu Town had no name. Erlang heard from the old man in the town that this river was called Mulan. Erlang was a waiter in Tailai Pavilion. He was lonely and helpless since childhood and was taken in by the shopkeeper of Tailai Pavilion as a clerk.

Before the sun rose, Erlang yawned and pushed open the window. Tailai Pavilion was the best restaurant in Mudu Town. It was facing the Mulan River. Through the window, you could see the scenery by the river. However, Erlang did not have such a good atmosphere. He opened the window just to breathe and prepared to greet guests.

Rubbing his eyes, a little bit less sleepy, Erlang saw a woman wearing a red dress dancing gracefully on the riverside. The gorgeous dance reminded Erlang of something. He patted his head and remembered that it was Cheng Xi, the son of Cheng Carpenter, who had pointed to the dancer on the other side of the shore and said to him that this was Hu Xuanwu from Youzhou. Erlang still remembered that after Cheng Xi got drunk, he said to himself that her favorite was Hu Xuanwu.

Erlang pulled down the rag on his shoulder, wiped the table in front of him, and did not continue to look. His greatest wish was to save enough money to marry and have children. He could not understand the charm of these young ladies and did not want to understand them. He looked at them and the most impressive thing was not the dancing girl's dance posture, but her red robe dress. Although it was extremely gorgeous, it was a bit old. Erlang vaguely remembered that it seemed like a few years ago, I had seen the young lady of Chen wearing this clothes. Today I saw it again. Erlang just said in his heart that this person was the young lady of Chen. Is this lady wearing the same clothes as me, Erlang, for a few years?

The customer had already entered the store, and Erlang immediately went up to meet him. A young man and several porters entered Tailai Pavilion. This was his first business today. Erlang was naturally very attentive. The young man in a gorgeous dress went straight to the second floor. The shopkeeper put away his pen and ink and went upstairs in person. Erlang brought tea and took care of everything. After the young man gave a few instructions, Erlang went to the kitchen and started busy with the chef.

Vaguely, Erlang knew that the young master was the eldest son of the Chen family. He came back to worship his ancestors today. He didn't dare to listen too much. After the food was arranged, he went downstairs to greet the porters who were accompanying him. There were no many concerns in front of these servants. Erlang even chatted with them for a few words. He heard these porters say that after the Chen family moved to Youzhou, the young lady Chenxi was not suitable for the environment and was weak since childhood. After several twists and turns, she finally died of fragrance. It was common for birth, old age, sickness and death. Strangely, after Chenxi passed away, her clothes and jewelry disappeared inexplicably. The Chen family was quite convinced of the affairs of ghosts and gods, and invited several Taoists to do several rituals. This time, the young master of the Chen family returned to his hometown, one to worship his ancestors, and the other to send his sister's ashes back to his hometown.

Erlang was quite shocked when he heard this. He thought that the woman dancing by the river was Chenxi. Only then did he realize that he had guessed wrongly and laughed secretly.

Three days later, Chenxi's ashes entered the Chen family's ancestral grave. After a while, it was rumored that the quiet Mudu Town was haunted by the river at midnight and early morning. People often saw the dead Chenxi appear by the river, wearing his life clothes and dancing the gorgeous Hu Xuanwu. Erlang was already timid, but when he was frightened by the rumors, he was even more frightened. He had seen the female ghost dancing.

Later, the town's constables patrolled together, which made the female ghost disappear. After this time, no one saw this female ghost again. In the cold winter, the river channel had frozen, and the rumors about the female ghost were gradually forgotten as time passed.

When the coldest solar term was reached, the sky was filled with goose feather-like snowflakes, floating and the residents of the town were all living in simplicity and gradually spent this cold winter. After this winter, Carpenter Cheng still did not wait for Cheng Xi to come back.

The constable in the town found a corpse in the most remote corner of the town. The body was wearing a bright red dress and a thick powder was applied to his face. This was a big event in Mudu Town. The coroner immediately rushed to the autopsy, but finally found that the body dressed by the woman turned out to be a man.

In the ruined temple where the corpse was found, the constables also found a large number of women's clothes and accessories. The most expensive one was the man's clothes. Some people recognized it as the clothes of Chenxi's lady Chenxi. Some even exclaimed that it was Chenxi's clothes after seeing the corpse. The appearance of this corpse was exactly the same as that of the dead Chenxi. Even the feet turned into a three-inch golden lotus like Chenxi. In the end, the identity of the corpse could not be determined, which became a unsolved case.

Later, when Carpenter Cheng saw the corpse, he burst into tears. Everyone couldn't understand why he held the corpse and shouted "morning light". He couldn't get sick from then on and passed away a month later.

Only Erlang seemed to hear the two words that Carpenter Cheng called out were - Cheng Xi.

The morning light, the end
Chapter completed!