Chapter 61 There's a Ghost
Guan Liuliu sat on the ground, her legs weak and unable to stand up. She looked at the tall Guan Zhiwei in front of her, who was smiling, the curve of her lips like a willow leaf knife.
She asked in a strange tone, "What kind of person do you think I am?"
Guan Liuliu curled up in a ball and pleaded, "Waaah, don't kill me, please, sister, I promise I won't say anything."
Guan Zhiwei looked at Gao Huan with a puzzled expression: "Am I some kind of scary person?"
Gao Huan comforted him, saying, "People are foolish and do not understand you."
Guan Zhiwei nodded; the man's words made sense. She said irritably, "How could I possibly kill someone so easily? I'm a renowned philanthropist; don't slander me."
“Guan Er Niangzi, he’s not dead, he’s just… asleep.” Gao Huan’s choice of words was subtle.
Jiang Shuzheng originally intended to cut the suspension bridge and trap people on the mountain overnight, but when he followed, he discovered that Guan Zhiwei was having a secret rendezvous with a man. He wanted to follow her and catch her red-handed.
Guan Zhiwei, being quick-witted, spotted the little mouse behind him. Without making a sound, he lured it into a secluded spot, then beat it to a pulp with a few punches and kicks, knocking it to the ground. He then used some sturdy willow twigs and wild grass to tie the man up.
Without any interrogation, the other party took the initiative to say that his surname was Jiang, threatening Guan Zhiwei that if she dared to touch someone with such a prominent surname, even the Marquis could not protect her.
Jiang Shuzheng talked a lot, but Guan Zhiwei found him annoying and knocked him unconscious.
She and Gao Huan discussed it and decided that they shouldn't let such a pawn, which had come to them willingly, go to waste.
Guan Zhiwei dragged Guan Liuliu up from the ground and assigned her tasks: "Go and tell Father that when you two met at the temple, Jiang Shuzheng was furious when he heard that Father was going to betroth you to Zhi Junyuan, and went to cause trouble for him."
"Then... what will happen to Jiang Lang?" Guan Liuliu was completely bewildered after venting her emotions.
"Whereabouts unknown."
"..."
Guan Liuliu's face turned pale. She glanced at Gao Huan and suspected that the two of them were trying to cover up their affair and kill each other to silence them.
"But don't worry, I won't hurt him. As long as you do as I say, I will give you back your lover."
After comforting her, Guan Zhiwei smiled gently and said, "If you don't do as I say, I will still return it to you, but I will return a portion to you every day."
Guan Liuliu's life was impacted. She thought the most intense conflict in her life was to use suicide by hanging to gain her mother's pity and exchange it for the opportunity to stay in the Guan family, thus squeezing Guan Zhiwei's living space.
What kind of human life is this? People are being torn to pieces! Just thinking about it sends chills down my spine.
"I can't do it, please spare me." She shook her head desperately, tears welling in her eyes.
"Believe in yourself, weren't you pretty good at dealing with me?"
"But you've made me harm my father..."
Guan Zhiwei chuckled: "You still call him father? What kind of father is he? He's been sold off cheaply."
Guan Liuliu sobbed, "Jiang Lang has treated me very well, I can't let him be in danger."
"What a load of rubbish! You all praised him to the skies, saying he was unparalleled. But what happened? He pretended to be stupid, he was both pretending and stupid! He caused some trouble, and you're the one who has to take the blame. Sell him off cheaply, sell him off cheaply!"
Guan Liuliu was dejected: "If I sell them all, what will I have left?"
"I'm the only one left."
Guan Zhiwei reached out her hand and gazed deeply into her eyes: "You just said that we are like incomplete mirrors, but together we are whole. Fate has entangled us, forever."
Guan Liuliu was at a loss for words: "Don't you hate me?"
"You are lucky to have met such an understanding and kind woman like me."
Guan Zhiwei was getting impatient. "You keep giving examples just to get me to refute you, don't you? You've already made your choice."
Guan Liuliu was momentarily stunned and speechless.
Gao Huan thought to himself that even the patience of a reasonable and understanding woman has its limits.
"Guan Er Niangzi, once Jiang Shuzheng disappears, do you think you'll still have a choice?"
"Choose from the options I've given you." Guan Zhiwei pulled her along, turned back to wave goodbye to Gao Huan, and mouthed: Wait, in less than ten days, I will welcome you into the city.
Several soldiers in plainclothes appeared behind Gao Huan and carried Jiang Shuzheng away.
He bowed respectfully and said, "I await your triumphant return."
The powerful clans of Yong'an City formed alliances based on blood ties and then monopolized the market through economic knowledge, making it very difficult for outsiders to enter.
Knowing that father and son were incompatible, Jiang Shuzheng's disappearance quickly caused a huge uproar, making their already fragile relationship even more precarious.
Zhi Junyuan insisted that he knew nothing about this matter.
But sometimes, suspicion alone is enough.
Lord Guan, at the center of the conflict, was overwhelmed with worry about the situation. He angrily accused the First Madam, "It's all your fault for causing this trouble. I told you to send her away, and I didn't beat her out with sticks. That was already showing consideration for our past relationship."
"How could this be trouble caused by me and Liu Liu? If it were true, if my husband hadn't sent me, his legal wife, to pay respects to your lowly concubine, the dancer, this wouldn't have happened!"
"It is precisely because you keep saying that the dancer is lowly and forbidding me from taking a concubine that I die with regret, that I hope she will be reborn into a good family."
"Is it that I forbid it? It's the rules of propriety that forbid it; it's just that the rules of propriety have put it into words through me."
Lord Guan sneered: "Turning around, you insist on raising that lowly commoner's daughter. Have you forgotten what you said?"
The First Madam was speechless.
Lord Guan turned and left.
The First Madam felt a tightness in her chest, and the servants quickly summoned a doctor. The doctor said it was an illness caused by qi stagnation and that she needed to rest.
The daughters were attending to her at the bedside, but Guan Liuliu was nowhere to be seen.
She had something on her mind, and after telling Guan Zhiwei what she had been told, she fell seriously ill and couldn't even get out of bed, sleeping in a daze all day.
One Qingming Festival, both mother and daughter fell ill. That same night, the people in the household heard a sound that seemed to be both crying and laughing, and they could hear it for several days in a row. So they secretly said in private:
"This means A-Wu has returned. This time she's been back for a long time, and her yin energy is too heavy, which is hindering the living."
The gossip spread in such vivid and detailed manner that it seemed to have a lot to say.
Guan Zhiwei had overheard a bit of the story. It was said that the First Madam was jealous of A-Wu's favor with the Emperor and had drugged someone, causing A-Wu to have a difficult childbirth and die within two days. Before she died, she only wanted to see her daughter one last time, and she didn't even close her eyes in her final moments.
Awu was unwilling to accept this, so she returned every year, and if anyone's life was too fragile, she would take their soul away.
Guan Zhiwei found it quite interesting. She had never seen a ghost before, so she took advantage of the dark and windy night to go and see.
In the dead of night, the overgrown path exuded a faint fragrance, and the locust tree grew wildly in the courtyard. The moonlight cast dappled shadows that trembled gently. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, accompanied by the sound of the window sash creaking.
There seems to be something behind the window.
She went near the window.
She could see in the dark without a light, but the vision lacked color; it was blurry, patchy, like a person but not quite.
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