Tragic tragedy
Among the chaotic group of floating souls, that figure was so quiet that it was out of place.
She was wearing a plain white dress with only a faded wooden hairpin in her hair. She stood in the corner looking at other souls, her eyes as lonely as a snowy wasteland.
Ruan Yunsheng walked up to her and asked softly, "What's your name?"
The woman slowly raised her eyes, and there seemed to be mist in her eyes.
"Song..." She paused, her voice so soft that it was almost inaudible, "Song Qingwu."
Ruan Yunsheng's heart skipped a beat. She seemed to have seen this name in the Zhuang family tree.
"You are the first wife of Ye Li, the eldest son of the Ye family!"
It wasn't that Ruan Yunsheng was questioning it, but the way she looked... Her face was haggard, she was so thin that she was almost shapeless, and full of traces of time. How could she still look like the elegant lady of the Ye family?
"What exactly happened to the Ye family?" Ruan Yunsheng asked softly.
"Heh." Ye Qingwu's voice was hoarse like sandpaper rubbing against each other. "Fate plays tricks on us, and the wicked take our lives."
Black and White Impermanence and Ox-Headed and Horse-Faced Demons also fell silent, leaving only Ye Qingwu's cold voice echoing in the secret room.
"That year, the Ye Mansion was at its peak, but a case involving an imperial merchant angered Eunuch Pei of the East Factory..."
Her soul trembled slightly, as if she had really witnessed that bloody night. In the heavy snow, all the male members of the Ye family were taken to the execution ground, but Ye Li escaped because of his young age.
"To survive, the women and children of the Ye family fled to Chuzhou with their meager belongings and moved next door to my house."
Song Qingwu's soul raised its head slightly, as if recalling something, and a trace of girlish shyness appeared on its withered face.
The eighth year of Yonghe, spring.
The sunshine in my memory was exceptionally bright. Song Qingwu, who had just turned ten, stood on tiptoe, helping to collect copper coins in front of his family's steamed bun shop. Suddenly, a thin figure rushed out from the mist rising from the steamer.
He was a boy of about her age. His clothes were old but starched to look white. His little face was dirty, but it couldn't hide his picturesque features.
He was squatting on the street corner, secretly picking up rotten vegetable leaves discarded by the stall owner.
"Who are you?" Xiao Qingwu ran over, holding a hot steamed bun. "Why have I never seen you before?"
The boy jumped up like a frightened rabbit, and the vegetable leaves were scattered all over the ground. He stared at her warily, then suddenly turned around and ran. His thin figure disappeared at the end of the alley in the blink of an eye.
Xiao Qingwu was a little at a loss, staring blankly at the figure that was gradually moving away.
That night.
"It seems like there's a new neighbor next door." Father Song leaned over the wall and looked around.
On the other side of the courtyard wall, a group of women were busy moving boxes and crates. The boy who had been there during the day was following behind them, covered in dust and dirt, holding a bag in his arms that was almost taller than him.
Song's mother cleaned up the leftovers on the table: "Really! This is a happy event, why don't we go and say hello."
But when he thought about it, there didn't seem to be anything worth showing off at home, so he frowned slightly, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Go ahead, go ahead." Xiao Qingwu tugged at her mother's sleeve and acted coquettishly, but her eyes kept glancing at the next door. "Even if you can just send a basket of steamed buns, that's fine."
Song's father and mother smiled and looked at the little ancestor of the family helplessly. They quickly agreed, held Xiao Qingwu in their arms, and knocked on the door next door.
She hid in her mother's arms and when she stepped into the strange courtyard, she saw the boy squatting by the well washing his hands. The spring breeze blew down apricot blossoms from the tree, and a few petals stuck to the ends of his wet hair, looking like broken gold in the setting sun.
Xiao Qingwu couldn't explain what she felt at that time. She only knew that this little brother was more handsome than any other she had ever seen.
The scenes in the memories are as warm as the spring breeze. The Ye family gradually got better under the management of the women. Ye Li's aunt opened an embroidery workshop, his aunt ran a medicine store, and even the youngest cousin could help with the bookkeeping.
The Song family's steamed bun shop grew bigger and bigger, and the two families often set up a table under the apricot tree to drink together, enjoying themselves very much.
Xiao Qingwu and Ye Li were inseparable. She accompanied him in collecting herbs, and he taught her how to read. She secretly saved the meat filling from the steamed bun shop to make dumplings for him, and he stayed up late carving a wooden hairpin for her.
Spring, the fifteenth year of Yonghe.
At the coming-of-age ceremony, Ye Li pinned a hairpin carved from apricot wood in her hair. With the apricot blossoms filling the yard as witnesses, the two families made a marriage contract for the childhood sweethearts.
On the day of the wedding, Ye Li wore a brand new indigo robe, and was so nervous that her hands and feet were on edge. Xiao Qingwu wore a phoenix crown and a red robe, and her face under the veil was as red as the fireworks of the wedding candles.
…
"A-Li!" Qing Wu held up the doctor's prescription and danced around in the yard excitedly, "We have a baby!"
The medical book in Ye Li's hand fell to the ground with a thud. He rushed over and picked her up. The two of them laughed and fell to the ground in the falling apricot blossom rain.
Song Qingwu's soul was immersed in memories, his haggard face was full of happiness and beauty, but suddenly...
The apricot blossoms were in full bloom that day. She stroked her slightly bulging belly, waiting happily for Ye Li to come home. But the person who opened the door was her most familiar husband holding the hand of a strange woman.
"Ali... who is she?" Song Qingwu's voice was trembling:
Ye Li didn't even glance at her. He gently tucked the woman's hair behind her ears and said, "Are you tired from the journey? I asked the kitchen to make you some ginseng soup."
"Ye Li!" Ye's mother shouted, "What are you crazy about?"
Ye Li, who used to be as gentle as jade, suddenly became rude and pushed away Song Qingwu who came forward to argue: "Get out!"
She fell heavily to the ground, feeling a tearing pain in her abdomen. Blood flowed like a river on the bluestone slabs, dyeing the falling apricot petals red.
Amid the exclamations of the female relatives, the last thing she saw was Ye Li hugging the woman without looking back.
A few months later.
Song Qingwu lay on the dusty bed like a living dead. The apricot tree outside the window bore fruit and then withered, just like her rapidly withering life.
She didn't believe that her husband, who loved her so much, would change overnight. She endured her frail body and waited for his arrival again and again.
But in the end, he waited for the woman that Ye Li brought back - Yao Niang.
"Don't waste your energy," she leaned against the door, her lips as red as blood. "A-Li is completely focused on me right now and has no time for you."
"Tsk tsk tsk." Yao Niang looked at her with disdain, full of disgust.
Song Qingwu panted heavily and asked fiercely, "Did you do something to Ali?"
Yao Niang chuckled, walked slowly to her side, leaned close to her ear, and whispered: "I'm not afraid to tell you, it was me who did it."
She raised her head proudly, looked down at the broken woman on the bed, and said disdainfully: "What can you do? No one will believe you."
After saying that, she turned and left indifferently.
After getting the answer, Song Qingwu seemed to see hope. He quickly called the maid to fetch Ye's mother and used his last bit of strength to grab her sleeve: "That Yao Niang is a bad person. It's her who made Ah Li become like this!"
But all he got in return was a look of pity: "Qingwu, you've lost your mind."
Song Qingwu stared with bloodshot eyes, unwillingly calling one female member of the Ye family after another, but he got the same answer in every case.
Gradually, everyone thought that the eldest lady of the Ye family had gone crazy, and no one paid any attention to her anymore.
Winter of the sixteenth year of Yonghe.
When Song Qingwu's body was found, the apricot tree outside the window was covered with snow.
Ruan Yunsheng listened to Song Qingwu finish his life story. His throat seemed to be blocked. He didn't know what to say. His voice was hoarse: "What happened next?"
"Later..."
Song Qingwu's soul was floating in the secret room, and the voice seemed to come from far away.
She found herself transformed into a ghost, trapped in the room and unable to leave until her body was discovered. She watched her body being hastily collected and watched the Ye family numbly handle the funeral.
And Ye Li, the boy who was once as clear and bright as the moon, is now emaciated, with his eyes sunken like two black holes.
The most terrifying one is Yao Niang, who is radiant and has skin so smooth that it glows.
The eighteenth year of Yonghe.
The dying Ye Li suddenly opened his eyes. It was the first time that Song Qingwu successfully possessed him. She controlled his skinny body and stumbled towards Ye's mother's yard.
"Mother! Yao Niang is a witch!" She screamed through Ye Li's mouth, "Wake up quickly, don't be fooled by her!"
But Ye's mother just stepped back in fear: "Li'er...what nonsense are you talking about..."
Seeing that it was useless, Song Qingwu rushed to the street again, grabbed the clothes of passers-by and asked for help, but everyone ran away as if they had seen a ghost. In their eyes, he was just a madman with a male appearance and a female side.
"Disobedient toy..." Yao Niang's voice suddenly sounded behind her.
Song Qingwu felt dizzy and when he regained consciousness, Ye Li's body was hanging on the beam of the ancestral hall, and his toes were still twitching slightly.
"It's all thanks to him that he caused this trouble. Otherwise, I wouldn't have figured out how to end this." Yao Niang stroked the sleeve of the Taoist priest she had invited. "Now the whole city knows that the eldest son of the Ye family is possessed by a female ghost. The ghost's revenge is amazing..."
The Taoist priest waved his whisk, and a blood-colored formation appeared on the ground of the ancestral hall. Song Qingwu watched helplessly as the souls of every member of the Ye family were forcibly pulled out of their bodies and sealed in the wall while screaming.
And she herself was pulled into the abyss by a blood-stained red line and nailed to the center of the formation forever.
Ruan Yunsheng stared at Song Qingwu's soul and asked softly, "Do you know who Yao Niang is? Has the Ye family ever had any grudge against her?"
Song Qingwu shook his head blankly, his eyes filled with sadness: "The Ye family has always been kind to others and has never made enemies with anyone."
"If she truly hated the Ye family, why didn't she just take action directly, but instead lay dormant for so many years?" Ruan Yunsheng frowned. "There must be someone behind her, and her plans are serious."
Song Qingwu's soul trembled violently, and regret surged like a tide: "It's all my fault. After death, I only cared about indulging in Ye Li and didn't even bother to find out about Yao Niang's background... Now that time has passed, how can I find out clearly..."
Ruan Yunsheng patted her shoulder gently and said soothingly, "Isn't there still that Taoist priest? You said he was from Qinglong Temple?"
"Yes! Not far from the city!" Song Qingwu's eyes lit up with hope. "I remember what he looked like. He had a scar on his left eyebrow, a crooked nose, and he always liked to touch the jade pendant on his whisk when he spoke."
Ruan Yunsheng nodded, his eyes swept over the confused souls of the Ye family in the room, he took out the jade flute, and the clear song of the afterlife echoed in the secret room.
One by one, the souls gradually regained consciousness, bowed to Ruan Yunsheng to express their gratitude, and walked towards the gate of the underworld. As for Ye Li, he looked deeply at Ye Qingwu, his lips slightly opened, but he finally lowered his eyes and choked, and left in a depressed mood.
"Let's go." Ruan Yunsheng put away the jade flute, his eyes gleaming with determination, "Let's go to Qinglong Temple to meet that 'high monk'."
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