Chapter 37 Doll
Qin Wan looked at Luo Zhaohan's reaction and knew that the marriage was over, so she walked out dejectedly.
Before leaving, he turned back to look at his daughter who was sitting by the window in a daze - why are the tips of her ears so red?
Luo Zhaohan sat in a daze for a long while. Only after his mind had completely calmed down did he carefully sort out what he had seen and heard in Xiangguo Temple in his mind.
The copper bells on the eaves jingled in the night wind. She closed her eyes and concentrated, recalling the scene of Liu Yueli and Madam Xie leaving together, the green satin shawl falling under the shadow of the tree, and Xie Wuqi's hurried departure, one by one, confirming again and again that she had not missed a single thing.
The lamp on the desk crackled and she stood up, rolled up her sleeves and ground ink.
The tip of the pen paused on the gold-sprinkled paper, and finally wrote a letter in small calligraphy with a hairpin flower: "Aunt's letter: I met Liu Yueli by chance at Xiangguo Temple today. She had a secret conversation with Madam Xie for more than half an incense stick..." The drum sounded outside the window. After the ink dried, she folded the letter into a square and called Chunxi to deliver it to Xie's house overnight.
As the candlelight flickered, she stared at the incense burner on the desk in a daze.
In the curling green smoke, it seemed as if I could see my past life again - Madam Xie was sitting in the hall, and Liu Yueli was bowing down with a teacup decorated with auspicious images of dragons and phoenixes in her hands.
"Miss, it's time to settle down." The maid reminded softly.
Luo Zhaohan rubbed his sore eyes, his gaze fixed on the almanac on his desk. In ten days, it would be the anniversary of the Crown Prince's death. The bloody witchcraft case of his past life should finally be showing signs of resurgence.
…
In the west wing of the Chu Mansion, Pei Ji had been staring at the flickering candlelight on the desk for nearly two hours.
The bronze candlesticks were thick with wax, casting a deep shadow on his brow. His mother had been frequenting the White Horse Temple recently, and the faint traces of cinnabar talismans beneath her Taoist robes made him nervous. The Crown Prince's death anniversary was approaching, and if he got involved in a curse at this time, he would probably die!
With a "pop", sparks suddenly burst out from the candle wick, and the remaining flame struggled twice before being completely extinguished.
The darkness flooded over the carved window lattices like a tide, but Pei Ji still sat upright like a pine tree, letting the cold night soak into his brocade clothes.
The sound of knuckles knocking on the rosewood table was terrifyingly regular, until familiar footsteps were heard from outside.
There were two "knock knocks" and the door panel shook so hard that dust fell off: "You little bastard, I can smell the evil spirit on you even through the wall!" Old Chu rushed in with a glass lamp in his hand, and the bright yellow candlelight instantly split the darkness in the room.
The old man slammed the lamp onto the table, shaking all the purple-haired brushes on the pen holder.
Seeing Pei Ji still looking down and saying nothing, Old Chu stroked his gray beard and circled around him three times. Suddenly, he slammed the table and said, "Last time I asked you to apologize to the young lady from the Luo family, did you scare her with your grave face?"
Before he finished speaking, he took out a gold invitation from his sleeve and said, "The Luo family rejected the engagement proposal from Prince Duan's Mansion today. Luo Zhaohan doesn't even look down on the prince's legitimate son. You, a blockhead, are so lucky!"
Pei Ji finally raised his eyes, the haze in his eyes still not fading: "Teacher, please don't joke, I am not worthy of Miss Luo."
"Who's joking with you?" Old Chu's beard trembled with anger. He pointed at his nose and cursed, "I've lived to be seventy years old, and I've never seen a girl as smart and intelligent as you." He paused, looking at his apprentice suspiciously, "You just said 'unworthy'?"
Pei Ji stood up suddenly, his dark robe sweeping across the moonlight on the ground: "It's late, teacher, please go back."
"Stop!" Old Chu suddenly rushed to the table and carefully examined his apprentice's expression under the glass lamp. His cloudy old eyes gradually shone with a gleam: "Could it be..." The words came to his lips but he swallowed them back. He smiled and walked away with his hands behind his back, "We'll see, we'll see."
The moonlight was like frost. Pei Ji looked at the shadows of the bamboos in the corridor that were blown to and fro by the night wind. The old arrow wound on his palm suddenly felt a dull pain.
I remember that year in the north of the desert, when a young girl, draped in fox fur, stood on the city wall, beating a drum. The sound of the drum shattered the Eighteen Beats of the Hujia. The golden spears and iron horses became a backdrop, only the white jade hairpin in her hair tinkled with the drumbeats.
The Xie family's inner courtyard had been peaceful these days. Luo Zhaohan's spies reported daily that Liu Yueli spent the entire day embroidering in the other courtyard, while Xie Wuqi was on duty at the military headquarters as usual. Only Madam Xie's attendant, Nanny Chao, frequently visited the other courtyard, always carrying a bulging bag.
"The day before yesterday, they sent me brocade, and yesterday, they sent me a red gold headpiece." The maid replied, kneeling in front of the tea table. "This morning, Sister Chun Xing, who is by Madam Zhang's side, reported that the pair of jade bracelets in Madam's private vault are missing."
Luo Zhaohan's hand, holding the chess piece, hovered in mid-air, as the white jade piece landed with a clatter on the catalpa wood chessboard. In her previous life, when Liu Yueli married into the Xie family, she wore the jade bracelet that Madam Xie had brought as a dowry.
Now it seems that this mother and son are more anxious than in their previous life.
"Have you prepared the return gift for Aunt Zhang?" She stroked the cold chess pieces with her fingertips. "Put out two boxes of the blood swallows my uncle sent me the other day, and add that square of pine soot ink."
A few wisps of autumn wind leaked in through the carved window lattice, carrying the sweet fragrance of osmanthus flowers on his face. Luo Zhaohan pushed open the window and stared at the yellowing ginkgo tree in the courtyard in a trance.
Calculating the date, it was time for Lady Changning to go to the White Horse Temple to seek her third talisman. On the day of the witchcraft case in her previous life, the Ministry of Justice seized a paulownia wood doll from the Pei family. It was wrapped in bright yellow silk and had seven blood-soaked mahogany nails pierced through its heart—the exact birth date of the Crown Prince.
"Miss, Lord Pei has sent more men to the White Horse Monastery." The secret guard landed silently in the corridor. "The talisman that the monastery master gave to the wife of the Earl of Changning today used cinnabar mixed with black dog blood."
Luo Zhaohan's fingertips suddenly tightened, pinching the skin on his palms until it turned white.
…
November 9th.
Today is the third anniversary of the Crown Prince's death, and His Majesty has specially canceled the morning court session.
On the surface, the court officials each performed their duties, but secretly they all had their own thoughts.
The emperor was in his prime at the age of forty-five, with the throne of heir vacant. Any slight movement in the court would cause people to ponder it a hundred times. However, thinking of the deep affection between the emperor and the crown prince, everyone dared not dwell on it. They only hoped to complete their duties and return home early—to be surrounded by their wives and children, with a warm bed and a cozy bed—wouldn't that be wonderful?
In the east courtyard of the Changning Marquis's Mansion, Pei Kaisong, the Changning Marquis, was leaning on the armchair in a loose blue shirt.
He sat with one leg bent and pressed under his body, in a casual posture, holding a piece of cricket grass in his hand, and occasionally fiddling with the cricket tube on the table.
"I heard that Madam is back today?"
This sudden question startled Laicai, the dozing servant next to him. He hurriedly bowed and said, "Master, the mistress returned home at 3 p.m., so she should be taking a nap now."
Pei Kaisong threw the cricket grass onto the table and leaned back lazily. "It's been ten days since she came back. We might as well move her boxes and cages to Xiangguo Temple to save the hassle of going back and forth." Before he finished speaking, he suddenly sat up straight. "Where's the young master? Why hasn't he come to pay his respects these days?"
Lai Cai stole a glance at his master's face and said cautiously, "Young Master has been staying at Old Chu's house these days."
"Good! Very good!" Pei Kaisong slammed his hands on the table, causing a few chirps from the cricket tube. "He really treats the Chu Mansion like his own home!" He stood up suddenly and said, "Come on, take the silver!"
"Master, today is the prince's death anniversary." Before Lai Cai could finish his words, he was hit on the head with a loud slap.
"What nonsense!" Pei Kaisong glared at him. "It's rare for the Madam to come home, go buy some of her favorite date paste cakes." He strode out and added, "Just say that everyone in the mansion gets a share, not just for her."
Laicai chased after him and shouted, "Master, please change your clothes!"
At that moment, in the west courtyard wing, the wife of the Earl of Changning sat blankly beside the carved couch, a faded jacket spread across her knees, her fingers repeatedly stroking the already frayed fabric.
This is the clothes Pei Ji wore when he was a child.
According to aristocratic family rules, a four-year-old young master should live alone in a courtyard. However, Pei Ji couldn't walk at two, and still couldn't speak at three. The imperial physician examined him again and again, ultimately declaring him mentally retarded. From then on, his wife stubbornly kept her son in a side room, caring for him personally.
"Ji'er... Damn Ji'er..."
Tears soaked the satin. She pressed the jacket against her cheek, feeling as if she could still feel the warmth of her young son. The scene at the old lady's birthday banquet that spring day ten years ago flashed back before her eyes.
That day she was busy preparing a banquet and entrusted Ji'er to the care of the servants. Unexpectedly, those servants took advantage of Ji'er's stupidity and allowed him to be bullied by the children brought by the guests.
The children surrounded Ji'er and sang distorted songs, used willow branches to pick insects to scare him, and threw stones at him. Ji'er was so scared that he hid in a fake cave and was not found until dark.
"It's all my fault." The lady's knuckles turned white as she clutched her clothes. That night, Ji'er ran a high fever for three days and nights, finally passing away in her arms. But the "Pei Ji" who woke up was no longer her child - how could a mother not recognize her own flesh and blood?
She remembered that her master had advised her to let her younger brother and sister-in-law take charge of the birthday banquet. But she insisted on being stubborn, wanting to prove that even if she gave birth to an idiot, she was still the rightful mistress of the Changning Marquis's mansion.
Now that I think about it, this obsession killed Ji'er and also trapped myself.
Outside the window, the north wind blew dead leaves against the window frame. The lady looked at the ever-burning lamp on the desk, and vaguely heard the weak "mother" that Ji'er said when he was burning hot.
The wife of the Earl of Changning curled up in a rosewood armchair, her skinny fingers tightly clutching the flowered brocade jacket around her knees.
The jacket was crumpled into a ball, and the lotus leaves embroidered with gold thread twisted and tangled in her palms. "Ji'er, Ji'er..." A hoarse sob came out from the jacket, "It's mother's fault..."
Aunt Ai stood outside the bead curtain holding a medicine bowl. When she heard the crying inside gradually weaken, she lifted the curtain and went in.
The dusk shone in obliquely through the swastika-patterned window lattice, and fell on the thin back of the wife of the Earl of Changning.
The green satin jacket hung empty on his shoulders, revealing half of a paulownia wood doll wrapped with a faded red rope.
"Madam, it's time to take your medicine." Aunt Ai gently placed the medicine cup on the table. Her eyes swept over the doll wrapped in black and red silk thread, and the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes suddenly trembled. "The talisman water from the White Horse Temple is the most effective. Why do you trust that wandering monk?"
"What do you know!" Lady Changning bolted upright, sending the doll crashing to the brick floor. She frantically scrambled to pick it up, her silver-streaked hair falling across her bloodshot eyes. "Ji'er has been possessed by an evil spirit for ten years. If those talismans worked, they would have driven it away long ago!"
She was choking with sobs before she could finish her words. She trembled and held the doll against her chest as if she were holding a swaddled baby.
Aunt Ai hurriedly squatted down to support him, but she saw that the eyebrows and eyes carved out of paulownia wood were shining coldly in the twilight, and the lips painted with cinnabar seemed to be smiling.
Three drum beats were heard outside. The wife of the Earl of Changning shuddered all over and suddenly grabbed Aunt Ai's wrist tightly: "It's the hour of You! Hurry up and get the cinnabar pen!" She staggered towards the Buddhist shrine. The yellow talisman on the altar moved without wind, and the three incense sticks in the copper burner suddenly broke.
Aunt Ai stared at the incense ashes on the ground, her throat rolling twice, and finally she took out a gold-painted lacquer box from her sleeve.
Scarlet cinnabar mixed with black dog blood dissolved in the porcelain dish. The hand of Lady Changning, who was holding the pen, was shaking violently, and the tip of the pen was hanging in the eye socket of the paulownia doll and did not fall down for a long time.
Ten years ago, on a similarly damp and cold autumn day, twelve-year-old Pei Ji had a persistent fever for three days. She knelt before the Buddha, reciting sutras, when she suddenly heard the rustling of fabric behind her.
When she turned around, she saw the young man sitting up on the edge of the bed, his amber eyes looking at her clearly. It was clearly Ji'er's appearance, but he no longer refused to call her mother.
"An evil spirit! It must be possessing me!" Lady Changning suddenly screamed, stabbing the doll's left eye with a cinnabar pen. A crimson liquid trickled down the wood grain, resembling the medicine that had soaked through the bed that year. She forced Pei Ji to drink the exorcist's water. The young man vomited violently, but he stubbornly shook his head, "This child is indeed Pei Ji."
Outside the window, ginkgo leaves rustled, and Lady Changning seemed to see the shadow of whips again. The witch said that willow branches dipped in black dog blood could dispel evil spirits, but no matter how hard she whipped, the boy remained silent, his lips pursed.
The most brutal time, when his dark brocade clothes were ripped into strips and his back was covered in blood, he leaned against the door frame and turned back to ask her, "Mother, are you relieved?"
"Madam!" Aunt Ai's exclamation brought her back to reality. Looking down, she saw that the cinnabar pen had pierced her fingertip at some point, and blood was dripping onto the yellow talisman. The Lady of the Earl of Changning suddenly laughed foolishly, writing her birth date and eight characters in blood on the doll's heart: "It's done... is it done?"
As the evening drum beat, Aunt Ai quietly stepped back. She watched Lady Changning wrap the doll in bright yellow satin, then watched her withered fingers stroke the mahogany nails. Suddenly, she remembered the banknotes she had stuffed into her sleeve pocket that morning.
The wandering monk in the back alley of Baima Temple was clearly shouting and yelling in the gambling house the day before yesterday.
"Madam, look!" Lady Changning suddenly turned around, her cloudy eyes gleaming frighteningly. "Ji'er is coming back!" She hugged the doll tightly and circled around the room, her embroidered shoes trampling through the incense ash on the floor, leaving messy trails on the blue bricks. "When the evil spirit dissipates, my Ji'er will come back to me."
The voice stopped abruptly.
The bronze mirror reflected a crazy and distorted face, with a few red threads entangled in his messy hair.
…
On the ninth day of the eleventh month, the Qin'an Hall was filled with the scent of sandalwood.
The Emperor stood before the Crown Prince's ancestral tablet, his bright yellow dragon robe accentuating his imposing presence. The forty-five-year-old emperor's eyes tinged with red, and his hand, gripping that of his grandson Chao Yunye, trembled slightly.
The little grandson looked up at his grandfather, and his tender fingers quietly wiped the cold sweat from the old man's palm.
Prince Rui came forward in plain clothes to burn incense, his eyebrows and eyes reflected by the white jade crown were handsome: "Brother..." This soft call made the emperor's throat choke.
Among his three sons, the crown prince resembles his first wife, Empress Xiaoduan, the most. Now, looking at his second son's profile that is similar to his first wife, the eldest son's gentle smile appears in front of him again.
Suddenly, there was a rustling sound outside the hall. Pei Ji, the Junior Secretary of the Dali Temple, looked up and saw the Chief Eunuch Ying Shuo peeking out from the vermilion lacquer door.
He curled his fingers slightly under his crimson official robe, knowing that he could not avoid what was coming.
"Your Majesty," Ying Shuo hunched over and approached the emperor, his voice as soft as a mosquito. The young grandson tugged at his grandfather's sleeve, "Grandpa Emperor, what did Eunuch Ying say?"
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