"Husband, please don't hit Xiaobao, please don't hit Xiaobao, I beg you, hit me if you want, but even if you kill me, I won't have any money to give you, sob sob—"

"Husband, how could you bring Widow Liu into our home, and even... Husband, you promised me that you would take care of me for the rest of my life, never take a concubine, and never betray me. Don't you keep those vows anymore...?"

“That’s the hairpin my mother left me. It’s the only thing she left me. She said that if I couldn’t pay back the money, those people would chop off my hand, so I gave you the hairpin. How did it end up in her hair?”

"Give it back to me, give it back to me, give it back to me..."

"Ah! Husband, you, you..."

Bi Xie muttered incantations, and circles of golden characters surrounded the beauty's face, emitting wisps of golden light.

After an unknown amount of time, the beautiful face finally calmed down.

Bitterness filled her beautiful face, and the blood and tears on her face had mysteriously disappeared, but her face was as pale as paper, filled with sorrow.

Bi Xie glanced at her and stopped reciting.

A beautiful face suddenly emerged from the Refining Yin Banner and knelt directly before Bi Xie. "Please, Master, do justice for me! I died unjustly, and I still long for my seven-year-old child. That's why I lingered in the mortal world, unwilling to leave. Later, I was subdued by He Gao and became a vengeful ghost within this Refining Yin Banner—"

"If you can find my child for me, and then let me avenge my husband and kill him with my own hands, I will be at your mercy."

She stepped out of the Refining Yin Banner, and Bi Xie realized that her entire body seemed to have been cut into pieces and then sewn together, but the sewing wasn't done with needle and thread; it was just loosely joined together.

It's like cutting an apple in half and then forcibly putting them back together. From a distance, they look seamless, but if you look closely, you can still see the cracks.

Bi Xie's eyes darkened: "Get up and speak."

The beautiful woman did not get up, probably because she was afraid that if she became emotional, the cracks on her face would widen and frighten Bi Xie. She lowered her face, her eyelashes trembled, and she said softly, "I was killed by my husband."

"I was born into a wealthy family. My father was a rice merchant, and our family was quite well-off. My mother died in childbirth."

"Less than half a year after my mother passed away, my father took a concubine into the family. The following year, the concubine gave birth to twin daughters, who are my two younger sisters. I didn't get along with them and rarely had any contact with them. But since we lived under the same roof, we saw each other all the time. The servants were opportunistic, and there was no place for me, the eldest daughter of the main wife, in the family."

"Back then, all I wanted was to grow up quickly, like in the stories, and meet a husband who would treat me with all his heart and take me away from that home that had no warmth at all."

"I met him at a teahouse. At that time, he was destitute and had run out of money for his trip to the capital for the imperial examination. He could only use his calligraphy to pay for the tea, but the teahouse owner did not recognize his calligraphy and painting at all. He ridiculed him and threatened to report him to the authorities if he could not pay for the tea."

“If a scholar like him were to be given to an official, his future would likely be ruined. I felt sorry for him, so I had my maid pay for his tea. He was very grateful and said he would definitely repay me.”

"He was handsome and spoke in a refined manner, which made an impression on me. The second time we met was at the Lantern Festival. He could quickly solve even the most difficult riddles and thus earned some spare change. He saw me in the crowd and insisted on returning the money I had paid for his tea earlier."

“I developed feelings for him and then often went to the teahouse where we met. He would always wait for me there. On my birthday, the whole family forgot my birthday, even my father forgot. But when he found out it was my birthday, he gave me a comb.”

The beautiful woman's voice was low and deep, as if she were lost in some beautiful memory.

But after hearing her nonsense, Bi Xie knew that what happened next would not be pleasant.

Otherwise, the beautiful face wouldn't have been subdued by He Gao and become the most resentful ghost in this Yin Refining Banner.

Sure enough, the beautiful woman paused here, then let out a few cold, mournful laughs. "Heh heh, Master, am I not so easily fooled? For a mere three-copper-coin comb, I entrusted my entire life to him, heh heh heh—"

Bi Xie remained silent.

After a while, the beautiful woman continued, "I often met with him behind my family's back, and I often used my own monthly allowance to help him. This went on for a while, and then he suddenly said he was going to the capital to take the imperial examination and asked me if I would like to go with him."

"At that time, I was a little hesitant, after all, I had never left Kangping County from birth until I met him."

“He said he wouldn’t force me and would let me think about it slowly. Even if I didn’t want to go to the capital with him, in his heart I was already his wife.”

"I thought about it for a long time and finally decided to stay in Kangping County and wait for him to come back."

"But I never expected that the day before he went to the capital to take the imperial examination, when I went to see him off, my two younger sisters actually saw me. They exaggerated the story to my father, who was furious and ordered the servants in the mansion to arrest him and give him a severe beating."

"After this incident, my aunt advised my father that I was getting old and should be married off. I was really panicked at the time, and with no other choice, I decided to elope with Chenlang."

“We left Kangping County. During that time, Chenlang treated me very well. We arrived in the prosperous capital city without incident and rented a house to live in. Chenlang studied hard every day. I felt sorry for his hard work, so I also found a job washing clothes. But I used to be a young lady who was served by others and had never done such rough work before. At first, I couldn't do anything well…”

"He can't even cook rice properly!"

“Chenlang did not despise me. Before he took the imperial examination, we got married. Chenlang told me that even if he became rich and powerful in the future, he would never betray me, so he must give me a proper status. I was deeply moved and secretly rejoiced that I had made the right choice! Chenlang is my good man.”

"However, Chenlang failed the imperial examination that year. He drowned his sorrows in alcohol and became despondent. I advised him not to give up because I believed in his talent, but Chenlang became increasingly frivolous. He could no longer concentrate on his books and spent his days either boating on the lake with scholars and literati or gathering in restaurants..."

“The family’s money couldn’t keep up with his extravagant spending. Once, I tried to stop him from going out, and during the struggle, he slapped me. I was pregnant at the time, and after hitting me, he just walked away!”

"He didn't earn any money and spent his days going out drinking and boasting with a group of literati. The family's money was quickly used up, and the jewelry I brought from home was almost all pawned. In the end, I was forced to move out of that rented house and rent a few small rooms in the north of the city."