At dinner time, Yuan Qi arrived at the dining hall early, for no other reason than that he was hungry.
The food was already on the table, and it looked quite plentiful, with a good mix of meat and vegetables, including steamed buns, mantou, and twisted rolls, as well as chicken, duck, fish, and meat. It looked very appetizing.
She went straight over and tore off a chicken leg.
The maid saw this and, though angry, was helpless; she couldn't snatch the food back and put it away. She could only advise, "Seventh Miss, the Marquis hasn't arrived yet, so you can't start eating. That's the rule."
Yuan Qi ignored all that, took a bite, and gave the maid a haughty look, saying, "I'm eating my own food, mind your own business."
The maid had no choice but to sigh softly and continue setting out the bowls and chopsticks.
Before long, Xiangli Mingzhu and several children from the Jiang family arrived. Yuan Qi saw the dead Du Haitang riding on Xiangli Mingzhu's shoulders, punching Xiangli Mingzhu's head repeatedly.
However, Du Haitang was a new ghost and had no ghostly power. No matter how hard she tried, she could not harm Xiangli Mingzhu.
Du Haitang was unwilling to give up. When she saw the maid bring out the piping hot lotus leaf and shredded pork porridge, she had a sudden idea. She got off Xiangli Mingzhu and quickly walked to the table to take the bowl of lotus leaf and shredded pork porridge.
Her hands reached through the porridge bowl, but couldn't touch it at all.
Before Xiangli Mingzhu reached the table, Yuan Qi whispered and quickly said, "Concentrate, and you can lift it with your mental power."
Du Haitang was startled: "You can see me?"
Yuan Qi blinked his big eyes, a slight smile playing on his lips, but said nothing.
Xiangli Mingzhu happened to walk over at that moment and sat down.
Jiang Bailu and the others then took their seats.
Jiang Songlu was a step too slow in helping Xiangli Mingzhu to her seat. She sat down next to Yuan Qi and said sarcastically, "You're so lazy when it comes to learning etiquette, but you're number one when it comes to eating."
After Yuan Qi finished eating a chicken leg, he wasn't so hungry anymore, so he turned around and asked the maid for a cotton cloth to wipe his hands.
No one could see Du Haitang; she was trying her best to control the object as Yuan Qi had instructed.
Jiang Songlu then criticized Yuan Qi: "You really have no manners. Don't you know that we can't start eating until Father comes?"
Yuan Qi slowly turned his head and stared at her: "Don't you know that one shouldn't talk while eating or sleeping? What are you making such a racket here for?"
Jiang Songlu: "You—"
Du Haitang tried many times but couldn't control the object. Somewhat dejected, she said to Yuan Qi, "It's no use, I can't pick it up."
Yuan Qi didn't speak. She knew what Du Haitang was going to do. She couldn't teach her any more, and if Du Haitang couldn't learn it, she wouldn't give her any more guidance.
Seeing that Jiang Songlu was always teasing Yuan Qi, Du Haitang thought that if she helped Yuan Qi to tease Jiang Songlu, Yuan Qi might teach her again.
He walked up behind Jiang Songlu and tried to push Jiang Songlu's head.
But she couldn't calm down and never succeeded.
All she could do was blow air into Jiang Songlu's back.
Jiang Songlu felt a chill on the back of her neck. She turned her head to look behind her, but there was no one there, and the window was not open.
What happened?
She looked around, her gaze finally settling on Yuan Qi: "Why do I feel a chill? Are you playing tricks on me?"
Yuan Qi scoffed, but still wanted to scare her, so he simply said, "It's not that I'm playing tricks on you, it's that you're making fun of me. Even the ghosts couldn't stand it anymore, so they're helping me play tricks on you."
Jiang Songlu indeed felt a chill on her neck, and she was very scared: "Did you ask her to play a trick on me? Make her leave right now, or don't blame me for being impolite!"
Seeing that her blowing cool air was effective, Du Haitang blew even more vigorously.
Yuan Qi finally smiled at Du Haitang: "Why don't you give it a try?"
This statement was addressed to both Jiang Songlu and Du Haitang.
Encouraged, Du Haitang focused her mind, pinched a strand of Jiang Songlu's hair, and used her mental power to lift it upwards.
"Ha! It worked! It was that easy!"
Everyone could see clearly that a strand of Jiang Songlu's hair floated up on its own. Jiang Bailu and Jiang Jiulu pointed at her hair, their faces turning pale.
"ghost!"
"There's a ghost!"
"Ah—" Jiang Bailu realized that the ends of her hair were scratching her face, and screamed in fright, then ran towards Xiangli Mingzhu.
Xiangli Mingzhu was also frightened and scolded Yuan Qi: "Stop playing tricks! Guards, guards!"
Seeing that Yuan Qi had been implicated, Du Haitang dared not tease Jiang Songlu any further.
Jiang Juncai, the leader of the Imperial Guards, walked over and shielded his mother and sister behind him. He looked at Yuan Qi warily and warned her, "Seventh sister, you started eating before Father arrived. That was wrong of you. And now you won't even let people talk about it? Stop your tricks, or you'll be punished when Father comes."
Du Haitang was intimidated by Jiang Juncai's imposing manner and instinctively hid behind Yuan Qi.
Yuan Qi rolled his eyes, clearly unconvinced: "You've been watching me the whole time, but did you see me do anything? She offended the ghost herself, how can you blame me?"
At this moment, Jiang Zhengqing came in and scolded everyone: "What's all the noise about? Sit down."
Jiang Songlu was almost in tears: "Father, there's a ghost."
Jiang Zhengqing didn't believe it: "What nonsense are you talking about? There are no ghosts in the world!"
Jiang Zhengqing's face was stern, and no one dared to refute him.
Everyone ate in silence.
Seeing that Jiang Zhengqing showed no sign of sadness, Du Haitang felt a chill in her heart.
She cried to herself in the corner, then walked back behind Xiangli Mingzhu, focused her mind, and forcefully pressed her head down.
"Ah!" Xiangli Mingzhu's face was placed into the porridge bowl, her face covered in rice grains and soup.
Yuan Qi wanted to laugh, his lips curved into a smile, but he held it back.
Du Haitang was overjoyed, but seeing Jiang Zhengqing's stern expression, she immediately slipped away.
"Mother!"
"Mother!"
Jiang Juncai and Jiang Bailu exclaimed in surprise almost simultaneously.
Xiangli Mingzhu was terrified. She clearly felt someone pressing down on her head. Ignoring the rice grains on her face, she glared at the maid behind her and asked, "Was it you?"
The maidservant quickly knelt down: "No, Madam, even if you gave me a hundred lives, I wouldn't dare!"
Concubine Li was also afraid, but she was more gloating. She knew that Jiang Zhengqing did not dote on Xiangli Mingzhu, so she directly mocked, "Sister has done too many bad things, and now she's getting her comeuppance."
She glanced at Yuan Qi and realized that today's events must have been Yuan Qi's doing.
Several maids quickly came up to serve Xiangli Mingzhu and tidy her up.
Xiangli Mingzhu's heart pounded like a drum, her chest heaving with anger as she glared at Yuan Qi: "Are you playing tricks on me?"
Yuan Qi hurriedly denied it: "You did something wrong, what does that have to do with me? Don't make false accusations. We cultivators are most concerned with cause and effect and retribution. If I were to use ghosts to harm you, I would be punished by Heaven. I would never do anything that would damage my merits!"
Xiangli Mingzhu's voice was much louder: "Who else could it be but you?"
Yuan Qi stopped eating, crossed his arms, and tilted his chin up to remind her, "Think about what you've done wrong lately! As the saying goes, if you haven't done anything wrong, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking at your door in the middle of the night!"
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