Chapter 64 Appointment Clerk: Eating Favorite Snacks
The Imperial Study was much more lively than usual.
The council hall was set up. In addition to Zhang Pei, there was Wang Zhiyi, the commander of the Imperial Guards, Ouyang Guang, who was transferred back to the capital from Zuo Huai, and the ministers of various departments.
The former Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel was originally supposed to take over the vacant position of Minister, but he was implicated in a case from the previous dynasty by his second son and was dismissed and investigated.
Ouyang Guang was able to fill the vacancy.
Zhang Pei gave Wen Xu, the Minister of War, a cold shoulder. Originally, the purpose of the meeting was to confirm the topics for the imperial examination, but in their excitement, the two gradually turned into Wen Xu, a toad trying to eat swan meat, doing something unethical.
They looked down on Miss Zhang, but now they've changed their minds and insist on marrying her, even asking the emperor to grant them a marriage. What is this if not forced marriage?!
Zhang Pei was filled with righteous indignation, his beard bristling and eyes wide, almost pointing his finger at Wen Xu and cursing him.
Wen Xu was indeed in the wrong. Unlike the Grand Scholar, he was not eloquent and could only turn pale, unable to utter a single word, secretly blaming his unreliable son.
As the second son of the Wen family, Wenling naturally did not have very strict requirements because he had a successful older brother.
Before Zhang Wanying disappeared, the two families had discussed marriage amicably. At that time, the arrogant Wenling was out drinking with friends and declared, "I can't afford to marry the pampered young ladies in the capital. I'd rather be alone than marry a tyrant to serve at home."
These words somehow reached Zhang Pei's ears.
Grand Secretary Zhang was already quite old and only had this one granddaughter, so naturally he was unwilling to go through with this marriage. He even told people not to let the news reach Zhang Wanying's ears, lest it hurt the young lady's feelings.
But then Wenling suddenly changed his mind and resorted to dirty tricks, telling the official that both families had reached an agreement and hoping the official would grant them a marriage to appease Miss Zhang, who was filled with anxiety after being abducted.
Emperor Huizong of Tang was happy to act as matchmaker and readily agreed.
The Wen and Zhang families will get married in October.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Pei still can't swallow this insult.
When Bai Yan came in, Xiao Ji led the way to watch the excitement and even had a lot of tea and snacks served.
"Ahem, Prince Xiao has arrived." Xiao Ji coughed twice as a formality.
The imperial study finally quieted down.
Zhang Pei snorted coldly, not even glancing at Bai Yan, and cupped his hands in greeting, clearly harboring resentment towards Bai Yan as well.
The other officials bowed in greeting.
After Bai Yan sat down, they finally began to seriously discuss the topic selection.
The meeting did not end until late at night.
The sky was bright.
Jiang Yuzhi, bathed in the rising sunlight, led Diting and Chichi, eating as they walked, until they arrived at the funeral clothing shop.
Madam Zhou now works at the counter, helping customers settle their bills and learning to read while weaving umbrellas, trying her best to be of as much help as possible.
Jiang Yuzhi couldn't let her work for free, so she gave her more money each month.
After greeting Madam Zhou and carefully sensing her surroundings, Jiang Yuzhi, finding nothing amiss, calmly entered the backyard.
Zhiwu, Yanliu, and Yanqi have been temporarily staying in the backyard for the past few days. The three ghosts brought Jiang Yuzhi some good news.
Last night, Fan Wujiu delivered a new appointment document, which the ghost messengers imbued with their ghostly power and took effect immediately.
The three ghosts dared not make a decision first, and obediently put away the documents, waiting for Jiang Yuzhi to come and then make plans.
An ordinary scroll was handed to Jiang Yuzhi. Sensing its owner's presence, the scroll emitted wisps of dark light and wrapped itself around her wrist in an extremely obsequious manner.
The old resident on Hao's wrist—gold thread—flickered with a white light as the dim light approached. Before the dim light could even touch the gold thread, it seemed to be driven back, abruptly retracting the scroll and tentatively trying to get closer again.
However, this time the target of their approach was Jin Si.
Two beams of light of different colors flashed back and forth, as if they were communicating.
After a long while, the dim light gently and carefully touched Jiang Yuzhi's fingertips, blending into her skin.
Jiang Yuzhi frowned, thinking, "I have a feeling that the gold thread on my wrist, which has already stretched several times over, is having its own mind."
Once the document was successfully registered, the method of using it naturally came to mind.
Once a ghost messenger gains Jiang Yuzhi's approval, he will leave his unique mark on the document, thus successfully signing the contract.
Then, a trusted ghost messenger was sent to Wannan to have Zhiyi and the others branded, thus laying the foundation for the outpost.
The scrolls were like the Book of Life and Death; they would appear beside Jiang Yuzhi whenever she had a thought.
The Heavenly Dao has granted the ghost messengers under the scribes new abilities: to sense wandering ghosts within a certain range, freeze them in place, automatically add the ghost's information to the Book of Life and Death, and assign ghost messengers from the Underworld responsible for capturing souls to take them away.
The ghost messengers in the funeral clothing shop signed contracts one by one.
After careful consideration, Jiang Yuzhi sent Zhiwu to Wannan.
Zhiwu can make clothes and help Wannan's shop manage its business openly. In terms of martial arts, Ake and Xiaojin are enough.
In Kyoto, Yanliu and Yanqi first learned some odd jobs at the shop. If the two pilot projects went well, they would be sent to other towns to open new outposts.
After receiving the order, Zhiwu immediately set off and left the underworld.
Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Jiang Yuzhi sensed that several more ghost messengers had appeared on the document.
She breathed a sigh of relief; everything was proceeding in an orderly manner.
Next, let's go and visit Madam Zhang and Madam Shen.
Jiang Yuzhi subconsciously tugged at the rope holding Chichi, but the resistance was quite strong. Looking down, she saw that the grass around her and the rope's radius had been completely gnawed away, and even the bluestone pavement had been chewed through in several places.
The leash on Diting's dog was purely symbolic; it was afraid Diting would bite it and kept its distance.
Jiang Yuzhi pulled hard on the rope, and the grass in her mouth was pulled up by the roots. She spat it out twice, spitting out the soil stuck to the roots.
It's really strange; it's been a long time since I've eaten anything I see like this.
But Jiang Yuzhi didn't sense anything unusual about her surroundings.
Even the Di Ting (a mythical beast) couldn't detect any strange smell.
"Ah Ting, do you feel anything is wrong right now?" Jiang Yuzhi asked, forcibly pulling Chichi back to her side while calling Di Ting over.
Di Ting sniffed again, this time adding his magical power, and finally detected a barely perceptible trace of resentment in the air.
Very weak.
Di Ting scratched its ears with its paws in annoyance. "It was my carelessness. Taotie loves to eat negative emotions. There's some hatred in the yard that I don't know where it came from."
Jiang Yuzhi: "It's not your fault. These aren't your strengths. Maybe it has something to do with the ghost wall we encountered last night. Let's go check next door first."
Di Ting nodded and worked together with Jiang Yuzhi to bring the food out of the shop.
First, we went to Chen Zhenzhu's food stall.
Jiang Yuzhi noticed this when she arrived; neither of the two shops was open.
She knocked on the shop door, and it took a long time for someone to open it.
Zhang Yue peeked out from behind the door, her face looking haggard. Seeing it was Jiang Yuzhi, she suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, "Manager Jiang, you've come..."
Jiang Yuzhi: "What happened last night?"
Zhang Yue shook her head blankly, then seemed to remember something and whispered, "...The paper figure is gone."
After she finished speaking, she realized that the two of them were talking through a door. "I'm sorry, Manager Jiang, my sister is sick, and I'm not feeling well either. I apologize for neglecting you."
Eating made him stronger and stronger, and he tried desperately to squeeze through the crack in the door.
Jiang Yuzhi calmly controlled it, "Let me see, maybe I have a way."
Zhang Yue hesitated for a moment, then opened the door a crack just wide enough for one person to enter. "Thank you for your trouble, shopkeeper."
The sweltering heat was somewhat reduced inside the shop.
Jiang Yuzhi knew this wasn't a misperception; even though Chi Chi didn't show a strong appetite, she could sense the unusual atmosphere in the shop.
There was no ghostly aura, but the overwhelming malice almost made her drown in the air.
The interwoven black and white light silently protected Jiang Yuzhi's soul, trying to make her feel better.
Jiang Yuzhi, holding Chichi and Diting's hands, followed behind Zhang Yue, asking, "How much do you remember about last night?"
Zhang Yue had her back to them, her voice filled with exhaustion, "My sister and I walked for a long time on the street before we got home. We really had to trouble those two guards."
Jiang Yuzhi knew this; when encountering a "ghost wall," one simply didn't know where the ghost came from.
Could it really be the family Zhang Yue warned her to be wary of?
Zhang Yue: "I finally got back, but I still felt uneasy. I thought I'd sleep with my sister tonight, but when I was getting ready to wash up, the paper doll the shopkeeper gave me disappeared!"
Zhang Yue became agitated, stopped and squatted down on the spot, seemingly trembling. "I was a little scared, but I pretended to be nonchalant and managed to fall asleep with my sister."
“I had a dream, a dream… There was a child, no, not just one, there were three or four children, boys and girls, calling me ‘Mother,’ saying they were in so much pain, blaming me for giving birth to them and then causing their deaths…”
"But...but I've never been pregnant..."
Zhang Yue's condition is very bad.
Jiang Yuzhi had no choice but to secretly loosen the rope around Chichi's neck a little.
The little lamb stealthily strolled over to Zhang Yue's side, inhaling the air around her.
Zhang Yue's trembling subsided. "When I woke up, my sister was lying next to me, repeatedly saying, 'It wasn't me, it wasn't me.' I guess she had the same dream as me."
“My sister couldn’t wake up. I noticed her forehead was burning hot, so I immediately went to get a doctor. The doctor said my sister had convulsions and that unless she broke free on her own, he could only prescribe some calming medication.”
Zhang Yue stood up, completely dazed. "The medicine is useless."
Chichi licked his lips contentedly and returned to Jiang Yuzhi's side.
Jiang Yuzhi: "If the doctor can't cure it, let the Taoist priest take a look."
As if grasping at the last glimmer of hope, Zhang Yue suddenly turned around and was about to kneel down.
Jiang Yuzhi reacted quickly and caught him.
Zhang Yue: "Manager Jiang! My sister is my last remaining family! I beg you, I beg you, you must save her! No matter the cost! If she's gone, I have no reason to live anymore!"
Jiang Yuzhi: "Get up first, let me take a look first."
Zhang Yue wiped her face and straightened up. "Okay, okay, I'll take you there right away."
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Author's Note: [Let me see]
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