Chapter 38: The Wronged Ghost
"There's a ghost! The ghost is here to take my life!"
Suddenly, a sharp cry was heard in the yard, causing Qian Deng and Cui Fufeng, who were in deep thought, to look up at the same time.
Lady Dingxiang rushed in, completely losing her ladylike demeanor, and ran up to them with a pale face.
Seeing that her face, which resembled her mother's by some distance, was now pale and had blue lips, Qiandeng asked someone to bring her tea and let her sit down to catch her breath.
Aunt Xuanji, who came in with her, was also shocked and said to Qiandeng, "County Lady, something happened at Gutengzhai just now!"
Qian Deng was still thinking about the two bloody handprints, and was a little confused for a moment: "Why, bloody handprints appeared again?"
"No, it was a fire!" Aunt Xuanji had just uttered these words when Madam Dingxiang had already dropped her teacup and started shouting anxiously, "It was Shi Jingning! I was applying medicine to Huaijiang when I suddenly saw a charred ghost figure. He somehow appeared in our house! He said... he said he died a horrible death and wanted to burn down the entire backyard!"
"How could there be a ghost in broad daylight? Auntie must have been too worried about my cousin and mistakenly saw it..." Qian Deng naturally didn't believe it. "Besides, Shi Jingning was kind to others when he was alive and never did anything bad. How could he be committing evil in the backyard after his death?"
"Isn't he doing evil? He's hurt Huaijiang like this! Huaijiang is so badly injured and frightened, how can he be alive now?" Madam Dingxiang tugged at Aunt Xuanji's sleeve, looking like she was about to collapse. "Tell the county lady that the ghost wanted to burn Huaijiang to death! Did you see it too?"
Aunt Xuanji said with some difficulty: "When I rushed over, Gu Tengzhai was indeed on fire, but no ghosts or anything... I and no one else saw any."
"If there wasn't a ghost, how could Huaijiang's bed catch fire while he was lying there peacefully? If I hadn't helped Huaijiang jump out of bed quickly, it wouldn't have been the bed that was on fire, but the entire house and the entire backyard. Huaijiang and I wouldn't have been able to escape!"
Hearing that only one bed was burned, Qian Deng felt a little relieved and said, "Aunt and cousin are blessed by nature, so how could they be invaded by evil spirits? Aunt Xuanji, please quickly send a new bed from the warehouse to cousin. Be careful with fire and candles in the future..."
"No! Huaijiang won't live in that damn place!" Lady Dingxiang screamed hysterically. "The county magistrate still remembers that he's your cousin and doesn't want to force him to death. Just move him to the front yard and call in more monks to chant sutras to pray for his soul's reincarnation, lest...lest his wronged spirit linger and follow us here again!"
As long as Yang Huaijiang remained under her watch and didn't leave the palace, Qian Deng naturally had no objections. She immediately comforted Madam Dingxiang, saying, "Don't worry, Auntie. I will definitely assign more people to take care of cousin. Auntie Xuanji, quickly take someone to pack up cousin's things and send him to my aunt's residence in the front yard to recuperate."
Yang Huaijiang, who had just moved into the backyard in a show of force, moved out of the backyard sadly and miserably after just two or three days.
Last time, his luggage was moved in with great fanfare by Lu Wulin and his men, but this time it was Lady Dingxiang who helped him pack up and move out exhaustedly.
As Madam Ge was helping Madam Dingxiang count the boxes and crates, she kept muttering, "What a fool of Wu Lin! We're so busy here, and yet he insists on rushing back home!"
Lady Dingxiang waved her hand wearily and said, "I think the doctor in Chang'an is unreliable. We should ask him to go back and find a doctor he's familiar with. Besides, we came here in such a hurry that we didn't expect there would be so much going on here. We should ask him to bring a few more capable people with us."
Qian Deng also came over and took a look at the burning situation of Gu Tengzhai.
As Lady Dingxiang had said, the fire wasn't widespread; the entire bed was reduced to charred ash, and the blue brick floor was covered in burn marks. Fortunately, the Gutengzhai had thick brick walls and a high, open roof, so the fire didn't spread to the entire building. Only the ashes on the bed curtains against the wall hadn't been swept away.
However, there would naturally be smoke and dust when there was a fire. When the servants in the mansion passed by Qiandeng carrying boxes and baskets, they would occasionally smell the stench of smoke and burning.
Seeing her frown, Madam Dingxiang deliberately raised her voice and said to Madam Ge, "This damp, sunless place is so dank that the smell of food can't get rid of it. Move it to the front yard and let it air out properly!"
Qian Deng seemed oblivious to her pretentiousness and simply replied, "Aunt is right. The west courtyard is large, so you can dry the trees however you want. Everything will be as Aunt wishes."
But when she left, she couldn't help but take another look at the bloody handprint on the rockery.
The snow gradually melted, and the bloodstains had long been blurred by the water.
A handprint so similar to Shi Jingning's, a fire that started for no reason...
Could it be that Shi Jingning was really feeling uneasy underground and came back for revenge?
The men in the backyard naturally couldn't fail to notice the movements of Gu Tengzhai.
"Let's go and watch the fun."
In the nearest chrysanthemum garden, Ji Linyou and Xue Xiyang were playing chess. Seeing that he was about to lose, Ji Linyou heard a noise outside, dropped his chess piece, and ran out.
Seeing a group of people carrying large and small boxes out of the backyard, he was overjoyed: "That wretched thing actually wanted to enter the county lady's backyard, he is simply dreaming!"
But when he thought that the price of killing Yang Huaijiang was Shi Jingning's death in the sea of fire, his expression became gloomy again.
Xue Xiyang leaned against the door and looked at the team going away in front of him, with an elusive smile on the corner of his lips: "Why, do you think Yang Huaijiang harmed Shi Jingning?"
"I'm close to Gutengzhai, so I can see everything going on over there." Ji Linyou raised his chin, gesturing to the messy snow on the rockery. "How did the bloody handprint appear there? And how did Madam Dingxiang and Yang Huaijiang see that ghost? They must have been hallucinating because of their guilty conscience, and in the chaos, they knocked over the fire!"
Xue Xiyang said indifferently, "We can all think of this. The county lady is extremely intelligent and must know better. However, she has not taken any action so far. Instead, she has moved Yang Huaijiang to the front yard to recuperate."
"Then... maybe they haven't found conclusive evidence yet. Once they do, let's see where Yang Huaijiang can escape to!"
A meaningful smile appeared on Xue Xiyang's face. "The county lady's backyard is truly a place full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers... Speaking of Ling Tianshui, your cousin, he seems to be quite favored by the county lady now."
Ji Linyou couldn't help but feel envious when thinking of Ling Tianshui: "Yes, everyone should have a skill. I didn't expect that my uncle worked as an assistant to the coroner, and Tianshui was able to learn some skills from it. He was appreciated by the county lady and now seems to be quite close to her..."
When Xue Xiyang thought about his previous behavior of revealing Ling Tianshui's secrets to the county lady, he wanted to run over and pull his former self back and sew his mouth shut.
"However, your cousin's appearance and aura make him look like an ordinary person. It's no surprise that the county lady appreciates him."
"Yeah, I didn't expect that the little follower back then would have grown up like this." Ji Linyou was also a little bit unbelievable, "If it weren't for the mole behind his ear and the scar on his arm being the same as when he was a child, I wouldn't have recognized him."
"I thought your cousin was here to help you, but who knew he'd ask Meng Lanxi for help when the county lady fainted?" Xue Xiyang's upturned peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, as if thinking about something. "It's amazing! With just a small gesture, the county lady and Meng Lanxi's relationship has suddenly become extraordinary. I heard that now that Meng Lanxi, this pitiful and charming flower, has used perfume and medicine, the county lady always sleeps well..."
"This is a good thing. The county lady has too many things on her mind. It would be great if she could get some sleep." Ji Linyou forced a smile.
However, the figure that had been lingering in his mind appeared in his mind again——
Behind the brocade window, in the dark night, the figure, illuminated by the swaying light like the ripples on water, always loomed in front of his eyes, and every time he closed his eyes, it seemed to appear before him.
In the end, who will be able to hold her hand, embrace the figure that he longs for in his heart, and become the ultimate winner?
"...What do you think?" Xue Xiyang's voice brought him back to his distracted state. "Time is running out. Who will the county lady choose to lead the ceremony for Lady Qi?"
"Who knows? Only the county lady knows."
"There were ten of us running for the position originally. Su Yunzhong, Yu Guangling, and Shi Jingning are all dead, and Nanyu has been exiled. Among the newcomers, Jian Anting committed suicide, and Yang Huaijiang was disfigured. But Cui Shaoqing and your cousin Ling Tianshui also showed up." Xue Xiyang picked up the chess piece, tapping it thoughtfully. "Actually, if you think about the group of us in the backyard, the county lord doesn't have much room to choose from."
Ji Linyou clenched the chess piece tightly, feeling a burning sensation in his heart, unable to control himself.
If it were normal times, he would always call a group of friends and fight randomly on the training ground for a while, letting the wind and sand and fighting calm the heat in his heart.
But now, the burning heat in his heart was hitting his chest, making him feel at a loss and not knowing how to relieve it.
In his life, he had faced slaughter and bloody fights on the battlefield, but he had never imagined how to defeat a powerful enemy in the county lord's backyard and fight for the result he wanted.
Xue Xiyang propped up his chin, his expression rather resentful. If he were not a man, one could apply the popular poem about women's resentment, "The beauty rolls up the pearl curtain, sits deep in thought with her eyebrows furrowed," to him.
"You, me, and the few gentlemen who are still safe and sound, each one will rely on their own abilities. Now that two more people are missing, who will make it to the end... Anyway, I won't leave. I'll wait and see."
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