Chapter 30: He's a Male Ghost
Zhao Yuan acted swiftly and decisively, arranging a divorce for Wei Heng, taking back his sister's dowry, and returning home with the mother and her two daughters.
Meanwhile, among the onlookers, someone started talking about it, and then everyone began whispering among themselves.
Soon a woman came and sat down in front of her.
The woman was plump and wore a long cotton-silk printed coat. Her black hair was tied up in a bun and adorned with several silver hairpins.
She wore auspicious ruyi earrings and a gilded bracelet on her fair wrist.
This person is clearly not from an ordinary family.
Jingwu glanced at the black carriage that had come with her, a ripple of emotion flashing across his face, and asked, "What do you want to know?"
The woman took out ten coins and placed them on the table: "Master, my house is haunted. Can you go and catch the ghost?"
Jingwu looked up at her, signaling her to explain in more detail.
The woman sighed and slowly explained the whole story.
Her name was Zhang Xianzhu, and she was the wife of Jiang Yu, the owner of the pawnshop on this street.
The owner of the pawnshop was a nobleman from the capital. Being far from the emperor's reach, he didn't interfere in the affairs of the pawnshop, and the two of them lived a very comfortable life.
She was in her thirties, had a son and a daughter, and was very loving with her husband.
Just a few days ago, Jiang Yu suddenly told her that he had met a beautiful woman, and the two chatted very happily, as if they were soulmates.
Although Zhang Xianzhu felt a little jealous, she only made a few sarcastic remarks and then stopped caring.
Last night, my husband said he invited that woman to drink in the flower room.
Upon hearing this, she decided to meet her and see what kind of beautiful and interesting woman her husband kept talking about.
Thinking this way, when night fell, Zhang Xianzhu dressed up specially, carried a bowl of ginseng soup, and went to the flower hall.
But when she entered the flower hall, she only saw her husband. She thought the beautiful girl had left, but upon closer inspection, she saw a wine glass floating on the seat opposite her husband.
The wine glass moved forward slightly and clinked with her husband's.
Zhang Xianzhu thought she was seeing things, so she rubbed her eyes and saw that the wine glass was lying horizontally, as if someone had held it and tilted their head back to drink a glass of wine. The wine fell down but disappeared in mid-air.
Seeing this, her hands trembled involuntarily, and the ginseng soup she was holding accidentally fell to the ground and shattered.
The loud noise attracted Jiang Yu's attention, and she turned her head to look in this direction.
What brings you here?
Zhang Xianzhu snapped out of her daze, walked towards him, and asked in a trembling voice, "Who were you drinking with just now?"
"The girl I told you about, her name is Yang Yan." Jiang Yu gestured with his wine glass toward the empty seat, and the wine glass on the table floated up again, leaning over to clink glasses with him.
Seeing this, he smiled and downed his drink in one gulp.
Seeing this, Zhang Xianzhu couldn't help but tug at her husband's sleeve: "You, there's no one across from you! Are you drunk?"
Jiang Yu frowned deeply upon hearing this, and pointed to the opposite side, saying, "Can't you see such a big living person?"
Zhang Xianzhu panicked completely. She gasped for breath and trembled uncontrollably.
This is like encountering a ghost!
Her face turned pale, and she turned to run away immediately, but a wave of dizziness washed over her. Her vision went black, and she collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
When she woke up again, she asked her husband about it, but he said that only the two of them had been drinking the night before, and that he had never been there.
Zhang Xianzhu thought it was just a dream, but when she saw the ginseng soup spilled all over the flower hall, she immediately realized that this was not a dream, but a real ghost encounter.
She originally wanted to go to the Xuanmen Temple to invite a master, but someone told her that there was a particularly powerful master on South Street, and suggested that she come and take a look first.
So she rushed over.
After finishing her explanation, Zhang Xianzhu looked pleadingly at the young woman before her: "Master, can you help me calculate the origins of that ghost? Why is she haunting my husband? Is she some kind of 'yin peach blossom' (a type of malevolent spirit)?"
Although the person in front of her was young, she had been watching her in the crowd for a long time. Seeing how accurate her fortune-telling was, she decided to ask her to try it first. If it didn't work, she would go to the Xuanmen Temple to ask a master for help.
After hearing this, Jingwu shook her head: "This ghost is not Yin Taohua, but was brought back by your husband himself."
"What? He, he, he raises ghosts?"
"No, it must be that the ghost possessed some object and followed him home. Think carefully, has your husband brought anything home recently?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Xianzhu thought about it carefully and suddenly sat up straight, saying, "Yes, yes, a few days ago my husband received a painting. He said he felt an instant connection with the painting and brought it home to hang in the study."
"It was not long after this painting was hung that my husband told me he had met a soulmate who truly understood him. Master, is it this painting?"
Upon hearing this, Jingwu nodded: "If the soul is attached to a painting and cultivates for a few years, it can indeed manifest its form."
"Master, could you please exorcise this ghost? I'll pay you whatever it takes."
Jingwu thought for a moment, then stood up and said, "Let's go, take me back to your home."
Since we haven't had any customers today, we might as well close up shop early.
Jingwu moved the tables and chairs back to the steamed bun shop, and then followed Zhang Xianzhu back to her home.
As soon as I entered the house, I smelled a faint gloomy aura.
She followed the yin energy forward, walked to a room, pushed open the door, and went inside.
The first thing that catches the eye is a painting about the length of a person hanging next to the bookshelf.
The painting depicts mountains, rivers, pavilions, and towers—everything one could desire.
Jingwu bent down to look at the androgynous red figure in the pavilion in the painting, and narrowed his eyes.
She reached out and touched the figure, and felt a burning sensation on her fingertips.
Jingwu withdrew his hand, glanced down at his already reddened fingertips, and pursed his lips.
"Master, this is the painting my husband brought back. Can you take a look and see if the female ghost is hidden in this painting?"
Jingwu said with a half-smile, "It's this painting. This ghost died unjustly, and its soul accidentally got attached to it and can't leave. Now, it can only find a substitute ghost to enter the cycle of reincarnation."
Zhang Xianzhu paced anxiously, looking at the person in front of her and said, "Master, can you subdue this female ghost?"
"The woman in the painting isn't a ghost."
"What? Is there a second ghost in the house?"
Zhang Xianzhu almost fainted again. Having one ghost in the house was scary enough, how did another one come?
Jingwu shook his head, and just as he was about to speak, a man hurriedly walked in.
When he saw people gathered in front of the picture, his face immediately turned cold, and he reprimanded them in a low voice.
"Zhu'er, how dare you bring people into my study so casually?"
Zhang Xianzhu was stunned for a moment, then reacted and said, "Husband, you're back so early? This is the master I invited back. I asked her to catch that female ghost."
The person who came was Jiang Yu. Upon hearing this, he immediately turned his gaze to the girl standing in front of the painting. Seeing how young she was, he knew that his wife had been deceived.
His face darkened further, and he immediately said in a cold voice, "Where did this ghost come from? Don't be fooled by her; there are plenty of charlatans out there."
Zhang Xianzhu was displeased upon hearing this, her face immediately darkening with jealousy as she said, "You won't let me invite a master, is it because you want to keep that female ghost by your side? You can't bear to part with her?"
"What does Yang Yan have to do with this painting?" Jiang Yu frowned as she looked at her. "Besides, I've told you many times that we're just close friends!"
"She is the ghost in this painting. She is not a confidante at all; she just used you as a scapegoat."
"You're getting more and more superstitious. You actually believe these nonsense stories?" Jiang Yu immediately retorted, annoyed. "You've turned a perfectly healthy young woman into a ghost. How will she ever get married?"
"You and she are just close friends, why are you interfering in her marriage?" Zhang Xianzhu retorted sarcastically.
Jingwu watched the two arguing helplessly, then raised his hand to interrupt, saying, "Who said she was a female ghost?"
The two of them turned to look at her, not understanding what she meant.
"Master, what do you mean by that?"
"The figure in this painting is a male ghost."
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