“It’s a person!” Zhang Cuiyun’s eyes widened, and after a moment she said, “No wonder the talisman you sold me, Sister Xu, didn’t work. It turns out she wasn’t a ghost at all.”
Xu Xiangu felt a little guilty upon hearing this.
Her cultivation was limited, and she could only draw a limited number of talismans each day, but many people came to ask for them, so she could only sell a mixture of genuine and fake ones.
Zhang Cuiyun was a regular customer of hers, and she dealt in the business of the dead. She was also very bold and had never gotten into trouble. The talismans that Xu Xiangu sold to her were becoming increasingly fake.
Zhang Cuiyun, however, was completely unaware of this.
After she finished speaking, she put her hands on her hips and started cursing at Jiang Fuyi and Liu: "You two damned old hags, you made me arrange a ghost marriage for her before she was even dead. You are so immoral and don't you care about retribution?"
Jiang Fuyi's face turned ashen.
He was certain that Jiang Xianya was indeed dead when she fell from the mountain; he had personally checked her pulse and breath.
How did this brat come back to life?
Upon hearing that her granddaughter was not dead, Liu rushed into the courtyard to confirm it for herself.
A ghost marriage costs only 100 taels of silver, but if the person is alive and marries into the prefectural city next year, they will receive 200 taels. They might even be able to send some money back to them every year.
Of course, being alive is the most valuable thing.
Liu ran to the big locust tree and saw Jiang Xianya calmly drinking chicken soup. She couldn't help but scream, "You heartless little slut! I've raised these ten chickens for half a year, just waiting to sell them at the market in town to buy new clothes for your younger siblings. And you actually ate two of them! You spendthrift, you good-for-nothing! Are you a reincarnated starving ghost?!"
The more Liu cursed, the more offensive it became, and she reached out to slap Jiang Xianya in the face.
Anyway, that bitch Ye Miaoyun isn't here, so no one is protecting Jiang Xianya.
Jiang Xianya grabbed the kitchen knife from the stone table, startling Liu, who pulled her hand back and took two steps back.
She plopped down on the ground and started wailing loudly, but not a single tear fell from her face.
“Everyone, come and see! This is my granddaughter, whom I raised with so much love and care. Not only did she bring death to her own father, but today she tried to kill me with a knife. She has no conscience at all! What sins have I committed? If I had known this would happen, I should have drowned her in that pond at the east end of the village when she was born. I shouldn’t have kept this scourge alive…”
"Big sister, are you crazy? This is Grandmother! How dare you lay a knife on her!" Thirteen-year-old Jiang Qiurong rushed over, her face almost identical to Liu's in its harshness.
She pointed at Jiang Xianya and said aggressively, "You immediately kneel down and kowtow to your grandmother ten times, then take off the pair of silver bracelets on your wrist and give them to your grandmother as compensation. This matter will be over, and I will plead with my grandmother to spare you this time. Otherwise... your grandmother will at least whip you fifty times and punish you by not allowing you to eat for three days."
The pair of silver bracelets on Jiang Xianya's wrist were a gift from her maternal grandmother to her eldest uncle when she turned ten. They were not only heavy, but the lotus flowers carved on them were also extremely exquisite. Jiang Qiurong was very envious of them, but never had a suitable opportunity to possess them.
After Jiang Xianya "died," Jiang Qiurong wanted to take it, but her grandmother said that things belonging to the dead were unlucky and promised to buy her a new one later, so she didn't take it. Now she regrets it deeply.
Jiang Qiurong's mother, Chen Guilan, stepped forward and said to her mother-in-law, Liu, "Mother, you've seen it too. This is an ungrateful wretch. She seems obedient and well-behaved all the time, but it's all an act. She dared to use a knife on you, so what else wouldn't she dare to do?"
“This brat is just like my sister-in-law. She seems obedient, but she has done things that have brought shame to our Jiang family. What kind of good daughter can a mother who does not uphold the virtues of womanhood raise? In my opinion, you should find a suitable family for her as soon as possible and marry her off.”
“That’s right, it’s absolutely embarrassing. My granddaughter has been too ashamed to go out these days,” Jiang Qiurong added fuel to the fire.
Liu had long wanted to stop raising Jiang Xianya in the Jiang family. She gritted her teeth and said to her second son, Jiang Minghe, who was standing beside her, "You should set off for the prefectural city tomorrow and tell that Master Li that we are willing to marry Xianya off a year earlier."
So what if I haven't reached the age of marriage?
I heard that Master Li is not only a high-ranking official, but also has a particular fondness for young and beautiful girls. They arranged for Xianya to marry into the family ahead of time. Even if they don't consummate the marriage, they will still take care of her, so as not to keep her in the Jiang family and cause them any trouble.
Since their eldest daughter-in-law had already been kicked out of the Jiang family, and no one was protecting this wretched girl anymore, her marriage would be decided by her grandmother.
"Mother," Jiang Minghe said with a troubled expression, "Xianya is not yet of marriageable age, so let's wait until next year to get married."
Upon hearing this, Liu's eyes widened.
Wasn't it the second son who arranged this marriage for Master Li? It was also he who suggested that Xianya marry Master Li as a concubine. Why did this kid suddenly change his mind?
Just as Liu was about to ask for clarification, she heard Xu Xiangu's voice.
“We people who make a living believe in cause and effect. I’ve gone to great lengths today, and the agreed-upon fifty taels of silver is due. You must bring the silver quickly, as I need to go to the county town to exorcise evil spirits for Master Liu’s family.”
"Xu Xiangu, could you please reduce the price a bit?" Seeing Jiang Fuyi wink at her, Liu quickly got up and went to Xu Xiangu, asking with a fawning smile.
"No," Xu Xiangu said coldly.
"We really can't come up with that much money... Even if we sold our little courtyard and tea plantation, we still wouldn't be able to raise that much," Liu said pitifully.
If they hadn't been terrified at the time, and if the villagers hadn't been pressuring them to quickly invite Xu Xiangu to exorcise the ghost, they wouldn't have reluctantly agreed.
Fifty taels of silver!
That's way too much. If they really gave it to them, all of the Jiang family's savings over the years would be gone, and how would their two grandsons continue their education?
Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Xianya said, "She's lying to you. There's a small house behind the main hall of the Jiang family. Inside the house is a large vat, and inside the vat is a wooden box containing five hundred taels of silver notes, each note worth ten taels, a total of fifty notes."
As soon as Jiang Xianya finished speaking, the entire courtyard fell silent.
Qingya Village is located in Tianhe Province, west of the Great Yan Dynasty, and is a remote mountain village.
However, Qingya Village is backed by Danhua Mountain, which produces tea. Every household in Qingya Village owns land on the tea mountain, some more and some less.
In addition, there are many ancient tea trees on Danhua Mountain that are hundreds of years old. As long as you are not afraid of danger and dare to go deep into the mountains to pick tea, you can still live a prosperous life.
However, being able to save one or two taels of silver each year is already quite remarkable.
Five hundred taels of silver was a huge sum of money for the people in this small mountain village.
"You...you're talking nonsense! Where would our family get so much money?" Jiang Qiurong shouted.
Jiang Fuyi, who was in charge, remained silent with a sullen face.
How did that brat know there were silver notes hidden in that big vat?
Liu looked at Jiang Fuyi with shock in her eyes.
Could it be that there really were five hundred taels of silver in that big vat?
Two days ago, she found a wooden box in the large vat. She wanted to open it to take a look, but found that the wooden box was locked.
When the old man saw her holding the wooden box, he scolded her and told no one to touch it. Then he chased her out and locked the little house.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com