The old woman put down the chair that Old Mrs. Chen was sitting on. Old Mrs. Chen leaned her walking stick on the ground and shouted in a very imposing manner, "You unfilial girl, you have never kowtowed to me since you returned to your ancestral home. Every time you go back to your parents' home, you never go to Wanshou Hall to see me. I heard that you came here specially to celebrate my birthday today, why didn't you go to Wanshou Hall but came here?" Her voice was as loud as a bell.
Chen Afu said, "Old lady, even if you didn't come here, I would have gone to Wanshou Hall to see you. One is to give you a gift to celebrate your birthday, and the other is that someone asked me to say a few words for you." Then he asked the maid to carry the gifts to the old lady, and said, "These wines were bought in the capital, and the brocade was the tribute satin given to me by Princess Huachang. I couldn't bear to use them, so I brought them all to you."
The old lady was so angry when she saw these gifts that her pale face turned red. She cursed, "You stupid girl, is this a birthday gift for me?"
"Of course, it's worth several hundred taels of silver. It's a great gift." Chen Ahfu said, "If the old lady doesn't like it, you can give it to my father and my sisters. They will definitely like it."
The old lady stared at Chen Ahfu and said slowly, word by word, "You must kowtow to me today. I have been waiting for this kowtow for a long time, and now you have to kowtow even if you don't want to! So many people are watching, if you come to celebrate the birthday and don't kowtow, it would be a great disrespect to your parents."
Chen Ahfu said very straightforwardly, "Okay, I'll kowtow to you after I finish telling you what you want to say." She raised her voice and said, "Old lady, I dreamed of my grandfather last night. He was so thin and pale. He cried and said that his illness should have been cured by a happy event and he shouldn't have died so early. It was because someone pretended to obey his orders but actually did something else that offended the Buddha, so he died early. He also asked me to say a few words for you, asking you to accumulate some virtue in your words and deeds. It's not easy for my father to get to this point, so don't completely ruin his reputation as an official. My grandfather also said that he missed you and would go to Wanshou Hall to see you these days. If you see a little white head floating in the air at night, don't be afraid, it's..."
Before Chen Ahfu finished speaking, the old lady screamed, "Ghost, ghost, ghost, don't come to me..." She screamed and yelled, her voice was so loud that it could blow the roof off, and she fell to the ground. The old woman quickly helped her up and sat her on a chair, she was still screaming, tears streaming down her face.
The old lady's fuss instantly caused an uproar in the house.
Qingfeng and Li Ma quickly helped Chen Afu to the far wall and stood in front of her. Chen Yuqing and her sisters were also scared and stayed away from the old lady.
Mother Song carried the frightened little girl Chu to another room. The little girl cried and hiccuped, and kept shouting, "Scared, scared, scared..."
Hearing her voice, Chen Afu felt extremely distressed. If he had known that the old woman was going to act like this, he should not have brought her here.
Jiang and many of the servants knew about the incident last year when the old lady made a scene in the middle of the night, saying that she had seen a ghost. Could it be that the deceased old master really died unjustly, and that the ghost was really the old master looking for the old lady in the middle of the night?
Jiang was so frightened that her face turned pale. She quickly ordered her servants to go to the clinic to call a doctor and carry the old lady back to Wanshou Hall to rest.
The old lady yelled, "I won't go back to Wanshou Hall, I won't go back to Wanshou Hall... That old thing is dead, why would he come back..."
Chen Ahfu sneered, "Old lady, if you haven't done anything wrong, you don't have to worry about ghosts knocking on your door. You are so scared, could it be that your grandfather really died unjustly? Tsk tsk, if you have done something wrong, you are afraid of ghosts knocking on your door."
The old lady didn't care about Chen Ahfu's ridicule. She shouted in a hoarse voice as if she was possessed by a demon, "You're already dead, why are you still here? You were a sickly person, so it's not my fault that you died early. Go and reincarnate, and don't come looking for me. Go, go, go quickly..."
I don’t know whether she wanted the ghost to leave quickly or she wanted to leave here quickly.
Jiang saw that the old lady's behavior would have a bad influence, so she had to summon Chen Yuhui and a few maids to push the old lady down on a chair and take her out of the main courtyard to arrange another courtyard for her. She also advised the old lady, "Don't be afraid, mother-in-law. Tomorrow, your daughter-in-law will go to the temple to burn incense for your father-in-law."
Chen Yuhui didn't want to bother the old lady at first, but when he thought that the old lady was the only person in the family who was truly kind to him, and he didn't want her to be scared to death, he had to muster up the courage to go with her.
It was impossible for Chen Afu to stay here any longer, so he said goodbye to the crying little girl Chu and the servants and went home. Chen Yuqing and Chen Yuxia sent them to the gate of the courtyard.
Chen Ahfu was frightened when he saw their pale faces. He thought that people in ancient times were superstitious and should confirm this matter.
Then he said to them, "I had this dream last night, and I have been wondering whether I should tell the old lady. If I don't tell her, I will feel sorry for the old man. If I tell her, I am afraid that she will be scared. Today, seeing that the old lady is in good health, I decided to tell her. As a result... it seems that the old lady may have really dreamed it... Oh, my grandfather is so pitiful, he is as thin as a piece of paper, and he cried so sadly..."
Chen Afu's words were evasive, and the faces of the two girls and the servants who followed them turned even paler. Chen Yuxia was even trembling a little.
Chen Ahfu touched her bun and said, "Don't be afraid, fourth sister. Grandfather is a good man. He knows who is good and who is bad, and he won't go after you, fourth sister."
Chen Yuxia calmed down and said, "Well, I have never done anything bad."
Chen Ahfu took Chu Hanyan into the sedan chair, coaxed the little girl, and then covered her mouth with a handkerchief and laughed hard. If I had known that scaring the old woman with ghosts would work, I should have done it earlier.
When they returned to the General's Mansion, it was already noon, so they went directly to the main courtyard western restaurant to eat.
The old marquis, Dabao, Alu and Li Xuan have already started eating.
Dabao wondered, "Didn't mom and sister say they were going to have lunch at grandpa's house? Why are they back again?"
Miss Chu patted her chest and said with lingering fear, "Grandpa's house is haunted and scared us back."
Chen Afu laughed and said that the little girl was smart and could speak for himself.
Dabao and Alu were both shocked when they heard this, and looked at Chen Afu with their big round eyes.
The old marquis smiled and said, "Yan'er can't talk nonsense."
Chu Hanyan ran to the old man, pulled his sleeve and said seriously, "Grandpa, I'm not talking nonsense. There was an old lady crying and making a fuss, saying that she saw a ghost. She looked so scary that I was scared to tears."
Chen Ahfu smiled at the old man and said, "It was the old lady of the Chen family. When I told her that I dreamed of my grandfather, she got scared and started crying and making a fuss, saying that she saw a ghost or something..."
The old man knew the character of Old Lady Chen, so he said, "She has done too many evil things and is afraid of ghosts coming to her house."
Chen Afu smiled and nodded in approval.
Dabao said quickly, "Mom and sister, don't go to grandpa's house anymore. It's not clean there. Don't scare you."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
