In the dead of the night, when He Da shouted, the ensuing chaos was undeniable... Not only the house servants were startled, but also the lord and lady themselves were awakened by his voice, exerted to its utmost capacity.
The first to reach the scene were those five sleeping in the room next to his, only to find, by their arrival, Zhao Daqiang sitting on the ground, having wet his pants, with no other soul in sight.
Soon, the steward and other house servants arrived, gave Zhao Daqiang a couple of sips of hot water, and slapped him twice to calm him down so he could retell what had just occurred.
However, when asked where the "ghost" had gone, he could not say; he only mentioned that the moment his gaze diverted, the ghost had disappeared.
From that moment until just before dawn, those hours became unbearable... everyone in Zeng Mansion, including Mr. Zeng who had been briefed by the steward, dared not close their eyes again.
Back in those days, people were apprehensive about these matters. Even though many had never encountered a ghost, they always maintained a certain reverence toward spirits. So, Mr. Zeng immediately ordered all the servants to rise, hold lanterns, and patrol back and forth in their backyard — within the confines of leisure land — and report back immediately if anything unusual occurred.
This continued until dawn. As soon as the sun rose, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, for devils and evil spirits cannot withstand sunlight.
Thus, the matter was temporarily settled.
At this point, He Da and He Er were still unaware that this incident had anything to do with them...
That afternoon, taking the opportunity to dispose of the slops, they slipped into a nearby pawnshop, hoping to sell the glass fish.
Upon seeing the item, the pawnshop employee immediately called the Shopkeeper over. After only a cursory glance, the Shopkeeper cast it aside, instructing He Da and He Er to take the item away, declaring that they would not accept it.
This puzzled the Hes brothers, as they knew no reason why a pawnshop would refuse goods. But when they pressed for answers, the Shopkeeper remained silent, merely insisting they remove the item quickly, or he would throw it out himself.
Having no other choice, they took the fish back, planning to try their luck at another pawnshop further away the following day.
Thus, they returned the glass fish to Zeng Mansion, tucked away in He Er's bosom.
That night passed without incident.
Unexpectedly, the next morning, He Da woke to find He Er missing; he immediately feared his brother might have taken the item and fled alone.
He got up in a hurry, asked everyone, searched everywhere, but nobody had seen He Er.
He Da was furious, convinced He Er had abandoned him and eloped with the money from selling the item, possibly leaving Lu Zhou to trade elsewhere.
Yet, in such a vast world, with He Er having no distinctive features, where could He Da even begin to search?
Reflecting on this, He Da was filled with remorse, cursing his trust in his brother who had now left him with nothing.
A day later, the steward approached He Da, inquiring about his brother's whereabouts and why he hadn't come to work. He Da had no choice but to reply that he didn't know; the Hes brothers were merely laborers, not bound servants to Zeng Mansion, free to leave once paid. Hence, He Er's disappearance before his wages were settled didn't merit further inquiry from the steward, as the large household could easily spare a worker or two.
On the third day... two things happened.
The first — Zhao Daqiang died of illness. Ever since the "ghostly encounter," Zhao couldn't eat, sleep, or keep food down, and doctors could not diagnose him, attributing his condition to sheer fright. They prescribed him a generic sedative, but he vomited it immediately after ingestion...
Being a mere house servant, the mansion couldn't provide any extraordinary care; securing a small room for him to rest in was considered sufficient.
Thus, after several days of neither eating nor sleeping, someone found him deceased by the evening.
Almost simultaneously, in the backyard of Zeng Mansion, a second event transpired — He Er's corpse was discovered floating in the leisure pool.
Finding two dead bodies within half an hour was no trivial matter.
Handling Zhao Daqiang's death was straightforward, as he had been sold to Zeng Mansion in his youth, where not even a violent death drew concern; but addressing He Er's demise was less simple.
He Er had died mysteriously within the premises of Zeng Mansion, and he had a brother who was still alive. They weren't permanently employed by the mansion but were merely helpers. Some explanation was owed to the grieving party.
Initially, Mr. Zeng had no intention of reporting to authorities, preferring to assume that He Er had drowned by accident. He thought to compensate his brother with some silver and send him on his way.
But as for He Da, his thoughts were straightforward. Although he couldn't fathom how his brother had drowned, with He Er now dead, the "fish" was solely his. Being quite old and accustomed to a life of labor with no prospects of improvement, He Da saw the sale of the fish combined with silver compensation from Zeng Mansion as a chance to start a small business and marry, which was not a bad prospect.
With this mind, he found no reason to mourn his brother's death rather saw it as a fortuitous event; he had no interest in investigating the circumstances surrounding it...