Chapter Nine: Playing Tricks on the Gravesite
Su Yuan worked as a nanny for the mistress of a wealthy family, accumulating a considerable fortune, which she used to send her son to an academy. However, for some unknown reason, she has been in a coma ever since returning two or three days ago, and cannot be woken up no matter what she does.
We consulted more than a dozen doctors, gave her medicine, and even acupuncture, but she just wouldn't wake up.
Her husband said it might be due to something unclean. Just when she didn't know where to find a master, she suddenly remembered that Aunt Chen, who lived next door, said there was a very powerful girl on South Street who had predicted that her daughter-in-law would fall while heavily pregnant.
Thinking of this, she decided to give it a try. It was only ten coins anyway, and she wasn't allowed to go to another master.
Do you have your birth date and time (based on the Chinese sexagenary cycle) with you?
Su Yuan nodded and handed her the name and birth details written on a red paper: "Could you please take a look and tell me if my son is being haunted by something?"
Jingwu unfolded the red paper, looked at the birth chart and did some calculations, a sarcastic smile playing on his lips.
"He's been haunted by a ghost that died fifty years ago, but it was your son who provoked him."
"What? My son got involved? No way." Su Yuan couldn't believe it and looked at the person in front of her, asking, "Did he get involved unintentionally? My son spends all his time at the academy and sleeping at home. How could he have gotten involved with these things?"
“You and your son aren’t close. Every time you meet, it’s a rush.” Jingwu looked at the golden merit wrapped around her and paused. The mother had done so many good deeds, but the son was secretly committing sins everywhere.
Su Yuan looked embarrassed and nodded. As the lady's dowry maid, she was responsible for handling almost everything in the mansion.
For decades, she was very busy every day. She only rested for two months after giving birth to her son before returning to the mansion.
She was busy and often couldn't take care of her son. Each time she went back home, she would give him some money so he could buy what he liked to eat and drink.
Jingwu looked at her expression and guessed what she was thinking, so he spoke up.
"Du Nanze didn't get involved unintentionally. He was secretly addicted to brothels, spending his family's money there every day. Three days ago, he got drunk and took a brothel girl named Liu Youyao to the mountains. They made love at a grave. After sobering up, he was still shameless and angered the grave's owner, who is now reprimanding him in his dream."
"What?" Upon hearing this, Su Yuan recalled that her son had smelled of women's cosmetics on him a few times, but when she asked him, he only said that a classmate liked cosmetics and that he had picked up the smell.
I was busy going back home to handle some matters at the time, so I didn't think much about it. In the end, I realized that I had neglected my son.
Her hands involuntarily gripped the hem of her dress, and she looked at the clear-eyed girl in front of her with a trembling voice: "Is...is this real?"
Jingwu looked into her eyes and nodded, pursed his lips, and said, "The tomb owner won't take his life. He'll wake up naturally once he's vented his anger."
She really didn't want to get involved in this matter. After all, it was Du Nanze who did such an absurd thing in the cemetery, disturbing people's peace, and he should pay some price.
Upon hearing this, Su Yuan became anxious and immediately asked, "How long will it take for him to wake up?"
"It's hard to say, it depends on when your son admits his mistake." Jingwu glanced at the eight characters on the red paper, then looked up at the person in front of him: "However, judging from the divination, your son is very stubborn and will never admit his mistake."
Su Yuan took a deep breath upon hearing this, her heart filled with anxiety: "Master, is there no other way?"
Jingwu looked at the merits on her body and thought for a moment. He took out a ghost-repelling talisman from his bag and said, "Place this talisman under your son's pillow. He will wake up tomorrow. After he wakes up, prepare incense, candles, and paper money, and take him to the grave to apologize. If the deceased does not appear in your dreams again that day, the matter will be over. If he does appear in your dreams again, then continue to apologize."
Su Yuan took the talisman and nodded repeatedly: "I will definitely do as instructed."
"This talisman costs one hundred coins."
Su Yuan immediately took out some money from her purse and placed it on the table: "Thank you, thank you, Master."
Jingwu nodded slightly, watched her departing figure, and stretched.
There are no more customers today, it's time to pack up and go home.
She stood up, glanced at the whispering crowd around her, but didn't pay much attention. Seeing that Shao Che's sweet potatoes were sold out, she and he put the tables and chairs back at the steamed bun shop, packed up, and went home.
In the Shen residence, Shen Yulan's mother went to see Master Shen early in the morning and told him everything about her daughter.
The Shen family sent people to Chenjia Village to inquire, and they found that it was exactly the same as what Jingwu had said.
Chen Sheng did indeed have parents, and he was already married with two children. The money for his schooling in town wasn't raised by the villagers, but rather subsidized by his wife using her dowry.
When Master Shen heard the servant's account, he was furious and immediately ordered his steward to take men to arrest Chen Sheng.
When Shen Yulan heard this, her eyes were red from crying. She was angry, but also glad that she had listened to Jing'er and hadn't eloped with Chen Sheng yesterday. When she returned to her room, she asked Jing'er to give Jingwu ten taels of silver as a token of her gratitude.
When Jing'er arrived at South Street with the silver, Jingwu had already packed up his stall and gone home, so she had no choice but to head back home first.
Meanwhile, after returning home, Su Yuan immediately placed the talisman under her son's pillow, told her husband what had happened, and instructed him to keep an eye on him. She then went to the academy to gather information.
She lingered in front of the academy, then randomly grabbed someone coming out and asked, "Young master, could you help me find Du Nanzhe?"
"Du Nanze?" The man looked her up and down. Seeing that she was a bit old but had a pretty face, he chuckled and said, "You've come to the wrong place to look for him. You should go to a brothel to find him."
Su Yuan's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this, and she immediately asked, "Does he frequent brothels?"
"Yes, that guy barely went to school. He spends all his time in brothels. If it weren't for his mother being a nanny in the county magistrate's office and the magistrate's eldest son being willing to cover for him, he would have been expelled from the academy long ago. The other day, he even took a brothel girl to a graveyard to do 'that'." The man's face was sarcastic, and his tone was somewhat disdainful.
Su Yuan frowned deeply, a bad feeling creeping into her heart: "How did you know?"
"He said it himself, the whole academy knows." The man glanced at the sky, and seeing that it was getting late, he hurriedly left, muttering to himself as he went, "Du Nanze's taste is getting worse and worse, he's so old and he still dares to sleep with women."
Su Yuan felt a sharp pain in her heart as she listened to these words. This wretched son of hers had done something terrible and showed no remorse, even spreading it around everywhere.
She stood at the entrance of the academy for a long time before walking back, her steps uneven.
As soon as she entered the room, she saw Du Nanze awake, sitting on the bed looking at her. His face was still a little pale, and he obediently called out, "Mother."
Su Yuan was furious and slapped him across the face.
"Mom, what are you doing?" Du Nanze immediately jumped out of bed, unaware that his parents already knew everything.
"What did I do? Why don't you think about what you've done?" Su Yuan picked up a stick and pointed it at him: "I gave you money so you could study, not so you could go to brothels!"
Upon hearing this, Du Nanze realized something was wrong and immediately tried to say something, but he was beaten speechless by the stick.
“You go to brothels, you neglect your duties, and you even go to people’s graves to cause trouble, you…” Su Yuan hit him with a stick, her heart pounding with anger.
How did you know?
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