Chapter 42 Haunted
Xu Jingshu stared blankly at the person in front of her, unable to find a single flaw in his eyes. It seemed that he was supposed to be this cold to her, as if his previous indifference towards Chu Yu'an was just her illusion.
He's the one who changed...
“My affairs with her are none of your business. For example, you really didn’t need to send her a copy of the invitation yesterday,” Ji Jinghe said dismissively.
When did you fall in love with her?
Ji Jinghe: "Is it necessary to tell you?"
A chilling question left her completely speechless.
"Between you and me, it's only because of our teacher-student relationship." Ji Jinghe shifted his gaze into the distance. "That's all I have to say. Take care."
He turned to leave, but Xu Jingshu stepped forward. "She may not be sincere with you... You, you should be able to guess why she stayed."
Ji Jinghe stopped and uttered only one sentence.
"It's none of your business."
*
Yu An didn't have a moment to herself. She had planned to let Ji Jinghe sit down and embroider for a while since he wouldn't be back for a while in the evening. But then Ji Suyi came back in the afternoon.
She had no choice but to go with him to Rongshou Hall. After having dinner together, they chatted until dark before she returned home. When she got back, Ji Jinghe was already sitting in a chair waiting for her.
"Why are you back so early, sir?" Yu'an hung the coat he had taken off on the clothes rack.
Ji Jinghe put down the book in his hand and couldn't help but look at her. "It's getting late, it's already 9 PM."
Yu paused for a moment, then asked Baozhu to bring in some hot water without replying.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Ji Jinghe explained, "Zhang Yanche and I went to the Xu residence during the day and returned to the yamen about half an hour later."
That's a difficult question to answer...
Yu An sighed silently, "Do you want to wash first, or should I?"
There was no emotion in his eyes, as if nothing had happened. He had no choice but to reply, "You go first."
She deliberately avoided his words, so Ji Jinghe didn't insist that she respond.
She had been engrossed in her embroidery these past two days, spending her days either managing the household or sitting in front of the embroidery shed. It was probably shortly after she woke up from her afternoon nap that news came from outside that Lin Qiaoyan had arrived.
Baozhu was puzzled: "Wasn't he kicked out by the old man? Why is he shamelessly coming back again?"
The Lin family relies on the Ji family for their livelihood; if they don't shamelessly come over, they'll lose their rice bowl.
Yu An waved her hand: "Go out and tell her that I am still resting and it is inconvenient for me to see anyone."
She really doesn't want to see him again after all the mess and how ugly it was before.
Baozhu agreed and quickly went back.
Because of the trouble she caused, Lin Qiaoyan restrained herself a bit, but her nature was hard to change. Whenever someone disobeyed her, she couldn't help but hold her breath again.
She had just gone to Wanfang Courtyard, and Shen Qiulan hadn't said anything nice to her, saying that if she wanted the Lin family to have a way out, she should go and beg the people at Banmu Courtyard, saying that she couldn't make decisions for the Ji family now.
The same thing happened at Banmuyuan; they just kept making excuses, and nobody wanted to take care of it.
Lin Qiaoyan lowered her body as much as possible and said with a light smile, "I wonder when Sister Chu will return? If she doesn't wake up for a while, I will wait for her here."
Baozhu quickly stopped her, "Miss Lin, please don't... My young lady is tired today and probably won't wake up for a while. If I make you wait here, it's pointless. Why don't you go back today and come back another day?"
Just as Lin Qiaoyan was about to speak, Baozhu curtsied and left.
"This is outrageous!" Lin Qiaoyan cursed inwardly, a surge of anger rising in her chest.
The maidservant comforted her, "Miss, don't be angry. Didn't Madam say that you can come to the Ji residence again in the future? You can come to pay your respects another day."
Lin Qiaoyan gritted her teeth and muttered, "What do you know?"
The maidservant immediately lowered her head, unable to speak for a moment.
Lin Qiaoyan looked at the scene in the courtyard and suppressed her anger before she was willing to leave.
Baozhu stared out the window for a long time, and only felt relieved when she saw that there was no one left at the gate.
"They don't even look at what they've done, yet they have the nerve to come and visit. They're shameless."
Yu An laughed at her, saying, "If we hadn't had a backup plan back then, we'd both be somewhere by now..."
The master and servant continued their conversation, laughing and joking for the first time, when a letter arrived from outside.
There was nothing written on the outside. Baozhu opened the envelope and handed it to Yu'an.
After Yu'an finished reading it, she told her to put the letter back in its original place and "lock it in my dressing case."
Baozhu asked curiously, "What important thing did Xin Ke say?"
Yu An: "A letter from my father's former student asked me to say a few good words for him to my grandfather. Of course, I can't agree to that, but I can't let my grandfather know either."
Baozhu: "When Master was in trouble, they all cowered like turtles and not one of them was willing to help. Now that they need our help, they're shamelessly begging us. How can they be so shameless?"
Perhaps due to the back-and-forth travel, Ji Suyi did not stay at the Ji residence for more than a few days before her old illness relapsed, with a fierce onset, much like Yu'an's last illness.
Yu'an and Ji Shu went to see him every day, but they saw no improvement in his condition. They tried several imperial physicians and several prescriptions, but to no avail.
Holding Ji Suyi's grandson in her arms, Ji Shu listened to her aunt's incessant coughing, feeling a mix of emotions.
"Your illnesses are truly inexplicable. I'm around you every day, and I haven't caught a single bit of it. How come you're so weak, and no matter how much medicine you take, you don't get better?"
Yu'an handed him a glass of honey water and comforted him, "Just hang in there a little longer, and you might get better someday."
Ji Suyi laughed as she drank, “I’m living so comfortably at my parents’ house, and you all come to see me every day, I’m sure I’ll get better. The ailment I developed when I was young keeps recurring every spring.”
Yu An: "If Aunt needs to change the imperial physician, just tell me and I will send someone with the master's nameplate to the Imperial Hospital to request one."
Ji Suyi waved her hand: "It has nothing to do with this."
Ji Shu casually remarked, "The national mourning period is over, it can't have been destroyed by floods, can it?"
“You child, you know these things at such a young age… Your grandmother and I have never believed in these things, so you should give up this idea.”
Ji Shu pouted and teased, "I think it's possible. Look at my sister-in-law, she went to Changping to hide for three or four days, and when she came back, she was much better."
Yu An ignored her, saying, "Aunt, don't listen to her nonsense. I got better by taking medicine."
Ji Suyi pointed helplessly at her niece, "You child, you're almost old enough to get married..."
Ji Shu had just mentioned this matter in front of everyone when strange things happened that very night. The Jianjia Pavilion was constantly filled with the cries of babies, making it impossible for her to sleep.
Caiqi went out for a walk but found nothing. Ji Shu pulled her to sleep with her, but as soon as she closed her eyes, the voice haunted her like a ghost.
Finally, the master and servant, each with blue eyes, went to find Yu An.
"Sister-in-law, please send someone to help me find out which cat is causing this trouble. I think it's a cat meowing."
Caiqi felt a chill run down her spine: "But I clearly went to check, and there was no cat."
Baozhu was also puzzled. "We don't keep cats in our household, and Jianjia Pavilion isn't near the street. How could we hear stray cats meowing?"
Ji Shu slammed her hand on the table. "Isn't that strange? If there are no stray cats, where did the sound come from?"
Yu An comforted her, "Don't worry, it might just be from last night."
Ji Shu listened to her words and rested as usual. However, in the middle of the night, the voice was even sharper and more sinister than the previous day, making people feel uneasy.
"Caiqi, go find the lantern. I want to see what's causing this trouble."
Caiqi was unwilling, but since her young mistress had spoken, she had no choice but to put on her clothes and get up. Ji Shu put on her outer coat and went out before Caiqi was ready.
Ji Shu walked aggressively toward the sound, but the closer she got, the softer the sound became until it was no longer audible.
"What kind of demons and monsters are you? Show yourself if you dare!" Ji Shu said, hands on her hips. "I'm not afraid of you, your grandma."
A cold wind rustled, and the thin sound even echoed a few times. It was so quiet that there wasn't a single noise in her ears. Only after confirming that the strange sound was gone did Ji Shu finally feel completely at ease.
Just as she turned to walk back, a figure flashed across the high wall in front of her.
Her heart skipped a beat. Ji Shu took a step forward and called out "Caiqi," but there was no response. Just as she was about to call out again, she heard a piercing scream from inside the house.
"Caiqi?"
When Ji Shu ran in, she saw Cai Qi huddled under the table, her head in her hands. She knelt down and asked her what was wrong, and saw Cai Qi pointing tremblingly at the peep mirror next to the dressing table, "A ghost, there's a ghost..."
ghost?
Ji Shu turned around and saw a dark shadow flash past the mirror. Following the direction, it disappeared into the distance beyond the window in an instant.
Ji Shu lifted the curtain and looked around, but as usual, there was nothing there.
After this commotion, Caiqi lost her courage. Ji Shu, being outnumbered, simply called up all the servants in Jianjia Pavilion, and lit up the entire courtyard until it was completely bright.
Yu'an woke up early and heard Baozhu talking about the ghost story, but she still didn't believe it. Before she could finish breakfast, Ji Shu rushed over.
"Is that really true?" Yu An asked, still somewhat skeptical.
“Caiqi said she could see it clearly: a tall man dressed in white, with cold eyes and an extremely ugly face.”
Ji Shu grabbed her hand anxiously, "I only saw a shadow, I didn't see the ghost's true face... Sister-in-law, what should I do?"
Yu-an patted her back to comfort her: "Where's Cai-qi?"
"That woman was timid to begin with, and last night she was so frightened that she was bedridden and couldn't get out of bed without someone to look after her."
Ji Shu shook Yu An's arm, actually feeling quite scared, "Sister-in-law, I don't want to live in my own yard anymore, I want to live with you and my brother."
Yu An nodded, "Okay."
"I will send people to patrol the mansion tonight to find out who is causing this trouble."
Ji Shu frequently visited Banmu Courtyard. Over time, Baozhu and Caiqi developed a good relationship, so Baozhu decided to bring Caiqi to live with her.
When Ji Jinghe returned for dinner, he saw that Ji Shu was also there, and he heard about the incident.
Confucius said, "I do not speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits." Ji Jinghe naturally did not believe in such things, just like Yu An. He ordered the servants in his household to patrol the mansion.
After two days of peace and quiet with nothing unusual discovered, everyone assumed it was just someone deliberately putting on a show, so Ji Shu and her servant moved back to Jianjia Pavilion.
The storm had barely subsided when it started brewing again.
Before going to bed, Yu'an drank a couple more sips of tea. She was woken up in the middle of the night and went to the clean room. Just as she lay down again, half asleep and half awake, she heard that crying and sobbing sound above her head.
With her eyes closed, she felt increasingly uneasy as she listened, until she couldn't bear it any longer and opened her eyes. There, without warning, was a dark shadow staring straight at her.
"ah--"
Yu An cried out, and the shadow by the window vanished instantly.
Hearing the noise, Ji Jinghe immediately opened his eyes, sat up, and asked softly, "What's wrong?"
Yu An suppressed her wildly beating heart and sighed deeply, "I just saw a dark shadow fly over there."
Ji Jinghe looked in that direction but saw nothing unusual.
Seeing that her chest was heaving for a long time, he had no choice but to put on his clothes, get up, and go outside the courtyard to look around. After confirming that everything was normal, he went back inside.
There's nothing outside.
Ji Jinghe gently patted her back, watching her silently after being frightened.
"Didn't you hear anything just now, sir?" Yu'an asked.
Ji Jinghe shook his head: "Perhaps I was sleeping too soundly, no."
Yu An sat on the bed in a daze, touched her face, and after a while, was comforted by Ji Jinghe and lay down again.
"There are no ghosts or gods in the world. I will send people to search carefully tomorrow. It must be someone pretending to be a ghost."
He tucked her blanket in tightly, then lowered the thick curtains between the beds, completely enclosing the bed and preventing any light from getting in.
"Sleep peacefully, I'm here for you."
Yu An lay on her side facing him, burying half of her face in the blanket, bringing the two of them visibly closer together.
At first, he thought it was just a trick by someone else, but after Yu'an was frightened, he took it to heart.
Unexpectedly, at noon the next day, I heard that there was also some activity at Wanfang Courtyard.
Shen Qiulan usually believed in these things the most, but after hearing and seeing them with her own eyes, she fell seriously ill and never recovered.
Everyone in the mansion was in a state of fear; apart from Rongshou Hall, there wasn't a single clean place.
Ji Jinghe summoned his secret guards to patrol, but to no avail.
“I’d rather go to Xishan to pray for blessings for half a month. That’s what my mother-in-law meant when she called me over today,” Yu’an said.
Ji Jinghe put down his chopsticks, his face completely calm. "You also believe in ghosts and gods?"
“Of course I don’t believe it.” Yu’an lowered her eyelids. “But if it can put my family at ease, it’s not a bad thing.”
As she expected, Ji Jinghe did not budge.
"Even if you want to pray for blessings, you don't need to go in person."
“It’s only sincere of me to go,” Yu’an said frankly. “Shortly after I returned from Huairou, this kind of thing happened at home, so naturally I should go. Maybe it’s really because of me…”
"Nonsense."
Ji Jinghe never believed in these things.
"I came back from Huairou with you. According to you, I'm not clean either?"
Yu An looked up at him, intending to say something more, but Ji Jinghe completely dispelled her idea.
"Although the Western Hills are not far, they are not as good as the capital. You have just recovered from your illness and cannot go there. If Mother wants to send someone to show sincerity in front of the Bodhisattva, she can send Shuer. Consider it a trial."
Frustrated by Ji Jinghe's refusal to budge, Yu'an had no choice but to temporarily abandon the idea, feeling inevitably irritated and becoming less talkative.
Ji Jinghe noticed her changes, but he couldn't say anything.
"I have some business to attend to tomorrow night, so I need to stay at the government office for the night," Ji Jinghe instructed early in the morning.
Yu An straightened his robes and asked, "Is there anything you need to bring?"
"Qingque will handle it."
Yu An understood and didn't ask any more questions. Seeing that he kept glancing at her face, she asked, "What's wrong?" Ji Jinghe shook his head.
"If you are afraid at night, you can call Shuer to come and keep you company."
"I know."
He was pressed for time in the morning, so he left after giving me a few words of advice.
The yamen wasn't really busy. He stayed overnight and heard Wei Ji report the same result, which made him start to doubt whether his guess was true.
Wei Ji: "Everything inside and outside the mansion is as usual, with nothing unusual. Are you sure you want to continue sending people to investigate tonight, sir?"
"continue."
Wei Ji accepted the order and left. Ji Jinghe then instructed Qing Que: "Go back to the manor and tell them that I have business to attend to today and will return tomorrow."
Qingque replied, "Yes."
Once Hai Shi (9-11 PM) had passed, Ji Jinghe waited in the carriage for a full hour, not far from the mansion, until Chou Shi (1-3 AM).
At first, Qingque was confused, but after seeing Wei Ji arrive, he understood.
Wei Ji: "Sir, we've found out. The haunted person is in the mansion..."
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Author's Note: Ji Shu: [Clown]
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