From the existing clues, Zhao Fusheng entering the city, becoming the Demon-Suppressing Bureau magistrate, her later strange good fortune, then being plagued by bad luck, and finally being killed by a ghost—even her parents didn't escape the ghost's clutches. One could generally conclude that these Fan brothers had no good intentions from the moment they bought her.
Unfortunately, there were far too few clues.
The original Zhao Fusheng had little knowledge, a narrow perspective, and a small heart. She simply hadn't investigated many things in detail.
But the Zhao Fusheng who transmigrated here had a personality completely opposite to the original's. She was calm and meticulous, and what she was best at was finding things beneficial to herself from fragmentary clues.
According to the original's memories, although the Fan brothers were twins, after spending several months with them, the original Zhao Fusheng had found some methods and tricks to distinguish the two.
The elder brother, Fan Bisi, was calculating and scheming in personality, reserved in speech, somewhat deep in his machinations, and his skin tone was slightly darker than his brother's.
The younger brother, Fan Wujiu, though also not easy to deal with, couldn't hold his temper as well as Fan Bisi. He was more hot-tempered, had paler skin, and most importantly, he had a small mole on his earlobe.
Moreover, through the original Zhao Fusheng's observations, these two seemed to have some special abilities, though she didn't dare investigate specifically what they were and couldn't find out. But one thing was certain—Fan Wujiu's hearing was sensitive. Even when ordinary people muttered quietly, it couldn't escape his ears.
These two brothers had probably deliberately set a trap for the original Zhao Fusheng. Initially, they were very cautious when speaking with her. Even later in the process of getting along, though they knew Zhao Fusheng was dull and timid, Fan Bisi always upheld the principle that "those who talk much err much" and never revealed useful clues to her.
However, there was one initial explanation that, thinking about it now, was problematic.
The Fan brothers had mentioned that the chief magistrates stationed at the Demon-Suppressing Bureau had all died, and only the two of them remained in the entire bureau.
How large was a county prefecture in the Great Han Dynasty? Having just arrived, Zhao Fusheng wasn't entirely clear. But from her memories, Jiumen Village was just one of many villages in the local town, and that local town was just a small town under the county's jurisdiction.
The entire Wan'an County governed countless towns. Calculating this way, if a county's Demon-Suppressing Bureau wanted to completely cover local peace and security, at the very least, the chief magistrates and magistrate assistants in the bureau absolutely couldn't be supported by just two people.
Even if ghosts ran rampant and the court was short-handed with ghost-suppressing and ghost-expelling personnel, in Zhao Fusheng's view, such a large county should have at least ten people in the Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
Besides the proper ghost expellers, there should also be some servants and such.
But after the original Zhao Fusheng entered the city, she hadn't seen any other people in this Demon-Suppressing Bureau.
The office spaces on both sides and the rear wing rooms had long been abandoned, clearly having been uninhabited for a long time, showing signs of decline.
Recalling past memories now, Zhao Fusheng always felt those buildings emanated a ghostly aura of blood, as if many people had died there, with a feeling of lingering resentment.
Besides this, the Demon-Suppressing Bureau's status was extraordinary. Logically speaking, even if there were personnel losses, if a county operated well, they should recruit more people or report to the court to request more magistrate assistants. How could it be as casual as Fan Bisi described?
'Following the previous chief magistrate's guidance, bringing an ignorant peasant girl into the Demon-Suppressing Bureau to become the bureau chief'—this kind of thing sounded absolutely absurd. But the original Zhao Fusheng thought it was a pie falling from the sky and hadn't suspected it at all.
"..."
Zhao Fusheng was speechless at the absurdity.
Adding to this, her resurrection from the dead last night—the Fan brothers didn't know what they'd experienced. When they spoke this morning, perhaps thinking there were no living people in the bureau, they weren't as cautious as before. During their conversation, they'd mentioned some things.
Initially, her consciousness wasn't very clear, and she hadn't heard the complete conversation.
But from the limited dialogue between the Fan brothers, Zhao Fusheng extracted some key information: Boss Zhang, the Demon-Suppressing Bureau was cursed by a ghost, ghost domain, rules, blood contract.
She rubbed her forehead.
During this time of her silent contemplation, the Fan brothers continued staring at her. Fan Bisi's expression gradually changed, from initial caution to suspicion. His eyes revealed a cold, appraising look that made Zhao Fusheng somewhat alert.
These two brothers had ill intentions. From her entering the Demon-Suppressing Bureau, her luck first good then bad, finally dying at the hands of a malevolent ghost, combined with phrases like 'the Demon-Suppressing Bureau was cursed by a ghost,' Zhao Fusheng could easily guess that these brothers had used the original Zhao Fusheng as a scapegoat.
She grew wary of these two. Seeing Fan Bisi continuously sizing her up, she said:
"I don't know what happened either. Yesterday I seemed to be attacked by a ghost. I also thought I would surely die, but in the darkness I heard thunder and lightning, and eventually I woke up again."
Speaking of this, she remembered the feeling of being attacked by the evil ghost in her dream. Her face turned deathly pale, and she couldn't help reaching up to touch her neck and chest.
A ghost hand had once penetrated her body. This body seemed to still retain the intense pain of dying at a ghost's hands. She subconsciously trembled continuously.
But Zhao Fusheng quickly controlled her emotions. The wounds on her body had healed, but the shadow cast by the malevolent ghost might continue to affect her. Facing the Fan brothers' suspicious gazes, she suppressed the horror:
"I don't understand the specific situation either. In any case, I should be considered alive now."
Fan Wujiu turned to look at his brother, his face showing confusion.
Fan Bisi's expression was gloomy. After a long while, he finally nodded:
"That's good then."
Finally, he asked again:
"When did you wake up?"
As soon as he asked this question, Zhao Fusheng vaguely sensed the ill intent in his words. After that, seeing her expression, Fan Bisi simply stopped hiding his intentions:
"Did you hear our conversation earlier?"
"Conversation?"
Zhao Fusheng weighed things briefly in her heart, then decided to play dumb again:
"When I woke up, these past few months felt like a nightmare, and I couldn't quite believe it. So as soon as I woke, I rushed out of the residence gate to see where exactly I was..."
She'd just awakened not long ago. Though she'd already sensed the Fan brothers weren't good people, she was weak and alone, in the dark about many things. Naturally, she temporarily chose not to tear off the façade.
"Brother, she..." Hearing her say this, Fan Wujiu's heart relaxed. Just as he was about to speak, Fan Bisi smiled slightly:
"That's even better."
After saying this, he said gently:
"What ghost attack? You probably just had a nightmare. When people are attacked by ghosts, how could there be survivors? Don't think too much."
After speaking, he added:
"You just woke up, rest a moment. Wujiu, come with me."
He beckoned to his brother.
Fan Wujiu walked toward him. The two brothers went around the courtyard and slipped behind a wing room on the left side. Fan Bisi's expression immediately turned gloomy with a 'swish':
"This girl has gotten smart."