Visiting Relatives in the Underworld

Wen Yici clenched his fists, kissed her on the lips and said, "My lady, there is no need to wait for me, just go to sleep." After that, he hurriedly got dressed and went out.

Seeing that he had left, Yuanli sat on the bed, holding the necklace pendant and called A-Cha softly a few times. When she thought it was useless, A-Cha appeared behind her.

"What did you call me for, Ari?"

"Lord Pluto, can you take me to find a soul?"

"Um?"

Seeing him sitting on the stool with dissatisfaction, leaning lazily against the table without saying anything, Yuanli said helplessly: "Acha."

"Who are you looking for?"

"Three people died in the Imperial Examination Hall. I want to know how they died. For those who just died, does Ah Cha's Wangchuan have souls?"

"If you want, I can ask the Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced Demon to come here. It will take a while, so why don't you come with me to Youming Mountain to have some tea and wait?"

"Okay, okay."

Seeing that she agreed, A Cha picked up Xiao Bai and turned into another silly Yuan Li lying on the bed.

"What is Ah Cha doing? If I don't mention my soul, can the living also enter the underworld?"

"No, but A'li has me." A'Cha smiled slightly, his fingers emitted a faint silver light, and he took her to the underworld.

A Cha brought her to his mansion, brewed a cup of earthly tea and handed it to her. Looking at this familiar place, Yuanli felt very comfortable as if she was back home.

On the Naihe Bridge, Meng Po was still standing by the bridge with her left hand on her waist and a spoon in her right hand, distributing Meng Po soup. She was originally a young girl, but was portrayed as a white-haired old woman by the storyteller in the human world, causing all the little ghosts to ask her, "Where is Meng Po?" She turned the stall so many times that she really turned her hair white.

From a distance, they saw the Bull-Headed and Horse-Faced Demons pushing each other forward. The Bull-Headed Demon lost the finger-guessing game and had to tread slowly forward, saying, "Po Meng, your soup is becoming increasingly astringent. Many of the little ghosts are complaining."

Mengpo Ah Xiang said nothing, rolled her eyes, and continued to stir the Mengpo soup with the long wooden spoon that Yuanli had made for her before. Then she filled a bowl with soup and handed it to the little ghost in front of her. The little ghost looked at the earthen bowl as big as his head, swallowed his non-existent saliva, and asked weakly, "Master Mengpo, can I drink a little less..."

Before she finished speaking, Ah Xiang raised her head and made a "tsk" sound, then slammed the soup bucket with a large wooden spoon. The little ghost was so scared that he trembled and drank it in big gulps. He returned the bowl to Meng Po Ah Xiang properly, saluted her, and quickly ran across the Naihe Bridge.

Meng Po picked up a clay bowl, filled it up to the point of overflowing, and handed it to Ah Bang, saying, "If you find it too astringent, Ah Bang, please taste it for me and tell me where I can improve it."

Niutou looked at the bubbling green soup, with some unidentified objects floating on the top. He waved his hands and smiled awkwardly, "No, no, I won't waste your Mengpo soup. I'm just worried you'll be sad, so I came here to tell you not to worry. I'm leaving now, you go ahead and do your thing."

As Niu Tou was slipping away, Ah Xiang handed the bowl in her hand to the next little ghost. With the previous experience as a lesson, she glanced at Ah Xiang with grievance, then picked up the bowl and drank up all the soup.

When collecting the bowls, Ah Xiang glanced casually and caught a glimpse of her. Ah Xiang threw the spoon to separate the souls, then ran towards her happily. When she saw the Hades Ah Cha, she put away her smile and greeted him politely, and Ah Cha just nodded and stood further away.

Ah Xiang asked angrily: "Did the thief who kidnapped you bully you? Are you okay in heaven? Are you well fed and well clothed? Is there anyone to sleep with you..." Before she finished her words, Yuanli hurriedly covered her mouth in panic.

Yuanli looked back at A-Cha, picked out some good things and told her about her recent situation. Only then did A-Xiang calm down a little.

Ah Xiang put her hands on her hips and said disdainfully, "It's all that stupid bird's fault. What's so good about being a star god in heaven? Can it be better than being treated as a bed pet by Hades? How can the gods of heaven be as handsome as our Lord Hades? He can't even sleep with you..."

"Oh, my dear sister, please don't say that. I'm just a candle beside the couch. How dare Lord Hades sleep with me? Others will think too much if they hear it." Yuanli explained with tears in her eyes.

Ah Xiang frowned and looked at her in confusion, with a look that said, "You think you are the Holy Favor, who in the underworld doesn't know?"

"Anyway, Lord Hades really treated you very well. The day you disappeared, the entire underworld was shrouded in low pressure, and all living souls stopped crossing the river just to look for you." Ah Xiang looked around, pulled her sleeve and whispered in her ear, "I don't know if it's true, but I heard that Lord Hades really went to heaven and sat in the sea of ​​red spider lilies for a long time after returning."

Yuanli stared blankly at the nobleman sitting on the stone pier. When her gaze moved away, he smiled faintly and looked at her. The gentleness in his eyes and eyebrows was like a spring breeze, which made her stunned. Even Ah Xiang's words went in one ear and out the other.

After chatting for a while, she said goodbye to Ah Xiang and returned to the Netherworld Palace with Cha Suxun. The palace was brightly lit, with hundreds of candles lit from outside the palace to the inner rooms. Only the lotus lamp where it lived was empty.

Ah Cha took out a can of newly opened Kyoto Tieguanyin and brewed some tea for her. She vaguely remembered that the tea was from the old Ma family in Kyoto. It was very famous in Kyoto and very expensive. Wen Yici had bought some from them several times.

"When did Ah Cha start to like collecting tea from the human world?"

"When I went to visit an old friend in the mortal world, I saw she was drinking and was in a good mood, so I bought some for her."

After saying this, Ah Cha cast a spell and took out the Yang Scroll, handed it to her, and said: "This is the Yang Scroll. You should have seen it when you were in my palace. It can be used to check the life history of mortals. If you want to know anything, you can search it at will."

A'li was a little flattered. The Yang Scroll and the Yin Scroll were both treasures of the underworld, and were not easily seen except by the King of Hell and the King of Hell. But he gave them to her so casually.

She carefully picked up the scroll and looked up the life stories of the three people. The more she read, the more puzzled she became: "A-Cha, their life spans haven't even ended yet!"

"I know. Have you found any other useful information?" Cha Suxun said calmly.

Yuanli shook her head in frustration, and Cha Suxun conjured up a red spider lily out of thin air and said, "Hold the stem."

She held it, not understanding why. He then held the flower head back a little. Under his loose robe, it looked like they were holding hands. He turned around and said softly, "Hold it, Ah Li."

Then, he cast a spell and took her to the place where the souls of the three people were. Because they had died unjustly and their life spans were not yet over, they were imprisoned in solitary confinement. After questioning for a long time, the three people could not explain the reason. They only vaguely remembered that night, there was an extremely beautiful woman with skin as white as cream, but her hands were as dry as branches.

After hearing this, A'li was a little worried about Wen Yici. Now, she really hoped that the one who killed and sucked blood was Hongxiu.

Seeing that she was uneasy, Ah Cha suggested sending her back to the mansion. In broad daylight, the little white Yuan Li was hanging on Wen Yici like a wooden chicken, her hands and feet firmly restraining him. He did not get angry and continued to write official documents.

Fortunately, Xiaobai is a male, otherwise, she would also stew snake soup.

"A-Cha, those three people haven't reached the end of their lives yet. Perhaps it's the work of evil spirits. Will the underworld take care of this?"

"The human world is under the jurisdiction of the Heavens, and the Underworld only governs the reincarnation of souls. Furthermore, the Heavens have not yet returned my treasures. Until then, I will not intervene in any troubles that arise in the human world or in the Heavens. However..." Ah Cha lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "If Ah Li asks, I am also happy to help."

Before the breath spraying around her ears completely dissipated, Xiaobai stood up and opened the door, turning back into her true form. The next moment, she returned to the human world, and A Cha also disappeared.

It was the afternoon when the kitchen boy came back with a lot of pork. He said that the pork shop had been closed for two days, so his scale was the fullest and the pork was the freshest. Many people were his regular customers, and there were many people buying today, so the queue was a little longer.

Yuanli was in high spirits, so she immediately went back to her room to change into light clothes and prepared to cook dinner for Wen Yici herself.

As soon as she entered the kitchen, a small piece of lean meat on the table caught her attention. She pointed at it from a distance and said, "Did the accountant pay too little money? There are so many people in the palace, why did they only buy a small piece of this lean meat?"

"My princess, the pork stall is selling lean pork today, even with the skin removed. They also sell cooked meat fried in rapeseed oil, which is delicious. I was late and the cooked meat is gone, and there's very little raw meat left, so the pork stall is limiting the amount they sell. I've sent my servant to the pork stall on East Street to buy meat for dinner."

As they were talking, a wild cat rushed in from nowhere and headed straight for the plate of raw meat, breaking the plate to pieces and staining the meat.

"Where did this wild beast come from? How dare it offend the princess? Catch it and beat it to death." The chef in the kitchen waved a kitchen knife and cursed. The servant hurriedly bent down to catch the kitten.

"Forget it, forget it. Maybe it's hungry. Give it some kitten food. Don't hurt it. All living things have spirits. Don't always shout and kill. The meat is dirty. Throw it away."

The people in the kitchen nodded repeatedly and hurried to deal with the raw meat and the kitten. After this farce, Yuanli lost interest and casually made a few simple dishes and sent them to him.

However, it was already evening, and he wasn't there. Lin Jian had hurriedly invited Wen Yici to the Imperial Examination Hall. The dinner hadn't even been touched yet, so Yuanli had no choice but to pack a lunch box and take a carriage to the Imperial Examination Hall. The guard wouldn't let her in, and she was afraid of implicating the soldiers, so the situation remained at a stalemate.

Fortunately, Lin Jian heard the sound and came out from the side door, quietly bringing her in. The Imperial Court was filled with guards, and it was quiet. Only when they walked to the inner courtyard corridor could they hear the intermittent sound of an old man crying.

"Princess, the Minister of Revenue, Song Yu, is currently discussing matters with the prince. Please wait in the next room. Once the prince is done, I will inform him immediately. Is that all right with you?"

Yuanli nodded, and when she followed Lin Jian past Wen Yici's door, she looked through the crack in the door and saw Wen Yici standing in front of the window with his back to the door, admiring the scenery and turning a deaf ear to the old man who was kneeling on the ground crying.

"Prince Wen! My son's death was so unjust. He is my only child. Please, Prince Wen, give my son justice..."

The voice gradually faded away. Lin Jian opened the door and invited her in, then left in a hurry. As soon as she sat down, Yuanli poured herself a cup of tea. When she picked up the cup and was about to drink, a drop of blood fell into the cup with a "plop" sound, spreading out. Yuanli stood up suddenly to be on guard.

The collision sound of her legs and the stool seemed to attract the attention of the person hiding on the main beam. She fell from the beam with her back against the wall. Her center of gravity was unstable when she landed, and she made a muffled sound, but she still quickly grabbed Yuanli's neck.

"If you don't want to die, shut up."