Mysterious Lotus Casebook

Chapter 19: That Wedding Dress is Ominous

The town of Xueyu was a lively place. And just ten miles past this place was Cailian Village. Speaking of Xueyu town, not everyone within a hundred miles knew of it, but when it came to Cailian Village, everyone knew about it.

There was a scenic spot nearby, with beautiful lush mountains and a pool of crystal clear blue water. Four streams flowed into this pool. The climate was warm all year round, and at this time, the lotus flowers were in full bloom. Speaking of the lotus flowers, the ones here were of a strange color, with light blue and green petals. They were elegant and beautiful and were favored by many literary scholars. Many visitors came here to pick the lotus flowers, so the place was named Lotus Picking Pond.

About fifty years earlier, someone paid a lot of money to buy land ten miles around the lotus pond, built a villa, incorporated the lotus pond into it, and named it Cailian Manor.

The current owner’s surname was Guo, and his given name was Dafu. Although his name was a bit common and simple, he prided himself on being refined.

Guo Dafu made a living by selling medicinal materials. He made money well and had no worries about food and clothing. The thing that worried him the most recently was his son, Guo Fu. Guo Fu’s name was quite auspicious, meaning “The source of fortune”.

Guo Fu could recite 300 poems at the age of three and was reading books like The Book of Songs and The Analects of Confucius at the age of five. He was truly a treasure in Guo Dafu’s heart.

Guo Dafu thought highly of Fobi Baishi, specifically Yun Biqiu, so when Guo Fu was eleven years old, Guo Dafu sent him to Baichuan Academy to study martial arts. Guo Fu’s father only hoped that the boy could study and learn martial arts, and learn from his master. Even if he could not become a great young hero in the future, he could still become a good person.

But one month ago, when his son returned home after studying at Baichuan Academy, Guo Dafu became troubled – apart from wielding knives and shouting, Guo Fu had forgotten all the things he knew when he was a child. He would read the words “Peng Lai” as “Liancai”, and he even thought Confucius was called Guo Zi. This made Guo Dafu so upset that he almost hit Guo Fu on the head with a pot from the kitchen. Guo Dafu’s son was now uneducated and had no skills. He believed that he was truly unlucky and that Guo Fu had brought shame upon the family name.

It was for this reason that Guo Dafu married Guo Fu to a well-educated wife early in his life, hoping it would do good for his unscrupulous son. He only hoped that the influence of his wife’s family would make Guo Fu improve.

He spent tens of thousands of taels of silver to persuade Gu Xizhi, the most famous and talented woman in Xueyu town, to marry his son. Unfortunately, the talented girl was frail and sick, having died before the two could get married. Due to this, Guo Dafu lost tens of thousands of taels of silver.

As a last resort, Guo Fu finally married Pu Susu, the most famous courtesan in Xueyu Town. Although Pu Susu was born in a courtesan house, she was less of a courtesan and more of a famous poet. Moreover, since she was famous, she was naturally much more beautiful than your average talented woman, so Guo Fu happily welcomed the bride. Unexpectedly, less than a month later, Pu Susu drowned in the Lotus Picking Pond.

It was appalling that within one month, two women associated with Guo Fu had died unexpectedly. People in Xueyu Town couldn’t help but start talking about it. Soon, a rumor spread, saying that Guo Fu had murdered both of his wives-to-be. This made Guo Dafu extremely troubled.

After the incidents that had occurred at Cailian Manor, the number of nobles and scholars that came to visit him and his famous Lotus Picking Pond had plummeted, which made Guo Dafu even more frustrated.