With the Ye family's affairs settled, new business soon came knocking.
An old acquaintance, Zhuang Xiyan.
Three years ago, Jiang Shumiao cured her face, and since then she has made a name for herself.
This time, the visit was still to ask for a favor.
"This humble servant greets the Princess."
Zhuang Xiyan first bowed to Jiang Shumiao.
Seeing her worried face, which even the heaviest makeup couldn't hide, Jiang Shumiao asked in surprise, "Sister Xiyan, have you encountered a ghost?"
Zhuang Xiyan was taken aback, then her eyes widened, and her voice trembled slightly, "How did the princess know?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, I felt they were superfluous.
Is there anything the goddess cannot calculate?
She quickly said, "I've been having this strange dream lately, and in it there's a man..."
At this point, she felt both ashamed and angry. A woman dreaming of a man would only be labeled promiscuous if told otherwise. She was already married and didn't want to cause her husband any resentment, so even though she was haunted by that dream every night, she was too ashamed to speak of it.
However, the recurring strange dreams had disrupted her normal life. Desperate and hesitant, she finally sought help from Jiang Shumiao.
Thinking of this, she gritted her teeth and said, "I don't know who that man is. He keeps saying strange things, and that he's been waiting for me... I... I'm really not human. Is he a ghost? Why is he haunting me?"
Zhuang Xiyan was about to cry.
She had always been self-conscious about the freckles on her face since childhood, and never dared to go out and meet people. She finally met a benefactor who cured her face and helped her find a good match. But then, for no apparent reason, she was haunted by wandering ghosts. Who could be more unlucky than her?
Jiang Shumiao had already discerned something from her facial features.
"You've been arranged into a ghost marriage."
Zhuang Xiyan was struck dumb.
"Ghost marriage?"
Jiang Shumiao frowned, her expression also looking unpleasant.
Matching people in ghost marriages is extremely immoral, yet there are still unscrupulous Taoist priests who make money off of this unethical practice.
As expected, Lan Ying's situation was not accidental.
First, a demon possessed a mortal's body to survive, then evil spirits caused chaos.
If this continues, human order will inevitably be disrupted.
Powerful families are often rife with corruption and intrigue; which family doesn't have a couple of wronged souls? But the underworld is even faster at capturing people; the underworld officials are already waiting nearby before the person is even dead. Those who manage to remain in the mortal realm either have too much resentment and manage to evade the underworld officials' notice, or they have been caught by external forces.
For example, if someone is guilty of murder, they will ask a Taoist priest to perform a ritual to seal the ghost in the coffin, so as to prevent the deceased from going to the underworld to complain to Yama, the King of Hell.
Without exception, these Taoist priests are all wicked and greedy.
The Taoist priest who took money from the Li family to exorcise the ghost was no good. He not only aided and abetted evil, but also raised ghosts. Jiang Shumiao was so angry that she directly extracted his soul and threw it into the underworld.
"You go back first. Tonight I'll enter your dream and meet that ghost."
Zhuang Xiyan was already terrified and at a loss for what to do. Upon hearing this, she nodded repeatedly, then hesitated and asked, "Could we go to my parents' house?"
Jiang Shumiao asked curiously, "Why?"
Zhuang Xiyan stammered for a long time before whispering, "I'm afraid my husband will mind if he finds out."
Jiang Shumiao was shocked. "He is your husband. Seeing you being tormented by evil spirits, shouldn't he feel sorry for you suffering this calamity? Why are you bothered by it?"
Zhuang Xiyan was taken aback by what she said.
She was taught from a young age that women should be gentle and obedient, and that chastity was of utmost importance.
Large families value their reputation most.
She was innocently harassed by evil spirits, but others would only think that she was immoral and that's why she was haunted by ghosts. Otherwise, why would ghosts haunt her alone?
Justice rarely prevails over women in this world.
Zhuang Xiyan's face was ashen, her heart filled with bitterness, and she didn't know where to begin.
Jiang Shumiao understood the rules of the human world, and having seen many strange things during her travels in the mortal realm, she was well aware of the situation and said earnestly, "If your husband cannot understand you when you are in trouble, then he is not a good match. A ghost marriage is due to external factors. You were tricked by someone, which is not shameful, and there is no need to keep quiet about it."
Zhuang Xiyan is actually somewhat insecure at heart.
After all, having been an "ugly duckling" for over ten years, the psychological trauma cannot be dispelled overnight.
Therefore, it is very sensitive.
She always harbored unspeakable worries, fearing that she would return to her former self, be ridiculed, or even lose everything she had now, which led to her overly cautious personality.
Otherwise, if she had known that Jiang Shumiao had already returned to the capital, she wouldn't have waited until now to ask for help.
"Princess, does it have to be at night?"
Jiang Shumiao understood her unspoken meaning, "Did he come looking for you during the day?"
Zhuang Xiyan shook her head.
“I sometimes can’t help but doze off during the day, but I don’t dream. He only comes when it’s late at night and all is quiet.”
Jiang Shumiao shrugged. "Then I'll just have to wait until tonight, when he comes to find you again, and I'll catch him. But don't worry, I'm very fast at catching ghosts, and I won't alert anyone else."
Zhuang Xiyan breathed a sigh of relief and said gratefully, "Thank you, Princess."
She hurriedly went back.
When night fell and all was quiet, Jiang Shumiao slipped out of the house and followed Zhuang Xiyan's scent. She was already asleep, and it wasn't until a faint dark aura appeared on her face that Jiang Shumiao entered her dream.
Zhuang Xiyan is running hard.
"Don't follow me. I'm already married. I'm not your wife."
A ghostly figure followed slowly behind, its voice low and mournful, as if deeply saddened, "Yan'er, our horoscopes have been matched, and our marriage is sealed. It cannot be changed. Come with me now."
Zhuang Xiyan covered her ears with her hands, unwilling to listen, but ran even faster.
"Princess, Goddess, save me!"
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