Chapter 13 Speculation on the Fairy in the Painting

Xuan Yao, who was eating a small river fish, paused. With a small river fish in its mouth, it tilted its head and looked at Shao Yanzhe. Its heterochromatic eyes, one gold and one black, were full of doubt, as if it had not heard what he had just said.

"Meow?" it meowed unconsciously, puzzled.

Even Yun Weiyue, who was recuperating, couldn't help but shrink to the size of a palm and crawl out of the scroll, standing on the paper and looking Shao Yanzhe up and down as if she had never seen him before.

Shao Yanzhe stared at them in confusion, not understanding what was wrong with what he had just said that made them act so strangely.

"What's wrong?" he asked curiously.

Yun Weiyue gently sat on her calligraphy brush and controlled it to fly to Shao Yanzhe's side.

She chuckled a few times before speaking, "What do you mean? How could you have such an idea? Burning paper money for yourself? Hahaha!"

Shao Yanzhe said matter-of-factly, "So what? It's just burning paper money for yourself, what's the big deal?"

In modern times, so many people burn paper money for themselves, hoping to become the richest person in the afterlife.

He only burned one of his articles; it's no big deal.

Yun Weiyue flew past Xuan Yao, gently inhaling the aroma of a small river fish.

"Meow!" Xuan Yao meowed at her in displeasure.

Yun Weiyue didn't care. Now that she was a ghost, she couldn't eat anything and could only smell the aroma. It was so delicious that if she could taste it, she would definitely have a lingering fragrance in her mouth.

Upon seeing this, Shao Yanzhe chuckled softly. He wasn't in a hurry to get an answer. Looking at the scene before him, he felt a sense of warmth. He spread out a sheet of Xuan paper and began to sketch on it.

With just a few strokes, Xuan Yao, engrossed in eating fish, leaps off the page. A few more strokes, and Yun Weiyue, sitting on a brush and holding a small river fish, appears in the painting. Outside the window, the warm sunlight shines, creating a tranquil and beautiful scene.

Seeing Shao Yanzhe's actions, Yun Weiyue flew to the table, glanced at the painting he had drawn, and praised, "Not bad."

“If you like, I’ll offer you some next time, and you should be able to taste the food,” Shao Yanzhe suggested.

Yun Weiyue's eyes lit up, and she nodded, "Okay!"

Then, she began to explain information about literature and culture to Shao Yanzhe.

In fact, she did not reveal her idea that Wen Qi could be controlled by him in advance. However, since Shao Yanzhe was trapped in the Ghost Realm at the time, she took a chance and thought that maybe his potential would be unleashed when he was in danger, and maybe he could really use Wen Qi to protect himself.

She composed herself and said, "In the Dayong Dynasty, as long as scholars participate in the imperial examinations and obtain certain academic titles, they will naturally become involved with the court and will be protected by the nation's fortunes, thus giving rise to the literary spirit."

Becoming a student of the Imperial Academy means being protected by the nation's destiny, but one cannot control it and can only passively defend oneself.

Only after passing the imperial examination and becoming a scholar (xiucai) can one begin to control one's literary style.

Shao Yanzhe nodded thoughtfully: "I see."

Yun Weiyue continued to explain: "There is only one way for a scholar to acquire literary talent, and that is to continuously write articles that possess literary talent. There are basically no other shortcuts."

National fortune is a great tonic for ghosts and monsters; as long as they obtain it, they can quickly increase their strength.

However, the national fortune has a restraining effect on ghosts and monsters. Since ghosts and monsters cannot absorb it directly, they can only resort to absorbing literary energy as a second choice.

Therefore, a student like you is highly sought after by ghosts and monsters. As long as they can find a way to get you to contribute your literary energy, they can continuously obtain literary energy for cultivation.

You need to constantly conduct scientific research to improve your literary skills; otherwise, if you are captured by those ghosts and monsters, you will become a tool to provide them with literary energy.

"As for your previous question about why you couldn't obtain the literary energy of your own writing, it's because this method is a form of ritual, which only demons and monsters can receive. You are still a living human being, so of course you cannot accept rituals."

Of course, if you die, then this method can be used.

Shao Yanzhe seemed to be deep in thought, and couldn't help but think of the bookstore owner who didn't believe that he would stop taking the imperial examinations after only passing the first level. He figured that the bookstore owner must also know about literary energy and its attraction to ghosts and monsters.

"Okay, I understand. You all get some rest first, we'll talk about the rest later," Shao Yanzhe said.

He stayed in the ghost realm for six or seven days. Inside, he felt neither fatigue nor hunger, but after coming out, he was overwhelmed by exhaustion and fell into a deep sleep as soon as he lay down on the bed.

Shao Yanzhe knew he was dreaming, but he wasn't dreaming about himself; he was dreaming about Yun Weiyue's past experiences.

In the dream, from Yun Weiyue's perspective, the scene of her from birth to adulthood to marriage at the age of eighteen flashed by. She was indeed as said before, born with innate knowledge, intelligent and talented, and all the praise was well-deserved.

Later, the imperial court issued a decree allowing women to participate in the imperial examinations.

Although many people opposed it at the time, they could not change the emperor's order.

Yun Weiyue was the first woman to participate in the imperial examination. She was learned and erudite, and passed the examinations as a student, a scholar, and a provincial graduate. She then participated in the metropolitan examination and the palace examination. As long as she was selected by the emperor, she could become the first female top scholar in the Dayong Dynasty to achieve the highest score in all six levels of the imperial examination!

However, the court officials would not allow Yun Weiyue to become the top female scholar in the Dayong Dynasty, so they instigated Yun Weiyue's husband to falsely accuse her of cheating in the imperial examination.

They were very well prepared, and the fabricated witnesses and evidence were impeccable. Yun Weiyue was convicted, and the title of top female scholar that was about to be hers was gone.

With the emperor's help, Yun Weiyue was not executed, but instead stripped of her academic titles and forbidden from participating in the imperial examinations again.

This incident caused a great stir. People around her, unaware of the reason, assumed she had really cheated on the imperial examination and would point and whisper about her whenever they saw her.

Yun Weiyue was under increasing pressure and couldn't even get a divorce from her husband, so she was depressed all day long.

Later, while relaxing by the lake one day, she was pushed into the water and drowned, as Yun Weiyue, who was not good at swimming, was drowned.

Shao Yanzhe suddenly opened his eyes, feeling extremely suffocated.

The person who ultimately pushed Yun Weiyue down was none other than the person who had falsely accused her, namely her husband, Shen Moyuan.

"What a scumbag!"

With nowhere to vent his anger, he could only pound the bed board with his fists, treating it as if it were Shen Moyuan.

Xuan Yao was awakened by the noise he made. It raised its head and looked at the two-legged beast pounding the bed board, its eyes full of confusion.

"Meow?"

Yun Weiyue also emerged from the painting. After recuperating, her soul body stabilized again, and maintaining its basic form was no problem at all.

She held a book in one hand and a calligraphy brush in the other, occasionally writing and drawing on the book. She would glance at Shao Yanzhe and wonder why he was pounding the bed after waking up.

Finally, Shao Yanzhe had vented enough. He tidied his somewhat messy hair and clothes before sitting down on the bed to rest. Unexpectedly, he met the eyes of a cat and a ghost.

He felt embarrassed when he thought about his previous behavior, but he was always thick-skinned and pretended that nothing had happened.

He coughed lightly, got up and sat down in the chair behind the desk.

"Now that you've all rested, let's discuss how to get rid of the Soul-Severing Fiend on me and how to avenge you."

As he finished speaking, he looked at Yun Weiyue.

Upon hearing this, Yun Weiyue tightened her grip on the book slightly, a flash of hatred crossing her eyes.

Shao Yanzhe was stunned. Yun Weiyue's expression just now was very similar to that of the woman in red.

Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck him.

Could Yun Weiyue and the woman in red be the same person?

Once the idea came to mind, it could no longer be suppressed.

The woman in red was not present in Yun Weiyue's previous experiences, meaning she did not appear in Yun Weiyue's life.

Shao Yanzhe stared at Yun Weiyue and suddenly asked, "Do you have a twin sister?"

Yun Weiyue was taken aback, then realized what he meant.

She shook her head and denied it, saying, "My mother only had one son and one daughter, she did not have twins, I am very sure of that."

Shao Yanzhe looked at her seriously and said, "If that's the case, is it possible that you and that woman in red are actually the same person?"

one person?

Yun Weiyue was completely stunned.

"This... this can't be right? I'm sure I am who I am, and I'm not missing anything," she said, unusually flustered.

Shao Yanzhe asked, "Is your soul complete?"

Yun Weiyue nodded and said, "That's right! If my soul is not complete, then I will not have consciousness, but will be in a state of idiocy, and that person will be the same."

Shao Yanzhe hesitated before voicing his guess: "Is it possible that you have a split personality?"

In fact, his guess was not impossible. At that time, Yun Weiyue was ostracized by those around her, and even her husband who falsely accused her could not retaliate. It was not impossible that she would have some mental problems.

Yun Weiyue asked in confusion, "What is dual personality?"

"It's a condition of dual souls or separation of souls," Shao Yanzhe explained.

Yun Weiyue understood immediately. She lowered her eyes, frowned, and pondered, carefully recalling her memories of the time she was imprisoned.

Soon, her calm expression turned panicked.

"I only just realized that before I was murdered, there were gaps in my memory, which must have been because that person controlled my body and did something."

Are you sure?

Yun Weiyue nodded: "I'm sure. I was born with knowledge and have a photographic memory. From birth to my death, I remember those memories clearly."

Shao Yanzhe nodded: "Then next we need to verify whether that woman in red is another personality of yours."

Yun Weiyue looked at him and asked, "How do we verify it?"

After thinking for a moment, Shao Yanzhe spoke up and said his thoughts: "Actually, I'd prefer you to ask her. I think it was her who made you enter that scroll. She has no ill intentions towards you."

"After all, you are one person."

A note from the author: