Chapter 2, at the He Mansion, in the Buddhist temple, the sky was overcast...
At the He residence, in the Buddhist temple, dawn was breaking.
The young scholar He Wenqing stood with his hands behind his back in his wife Wei's courtyard.
Inside the house, a woman's voice could be faintly heard screaming, "A ghost! There's a ghost, my lord!"
He listened with a frown for a while, and finally, displeased, he summoned Cuiwei, Wei Yin's dowry maid, and scolded her, "Tell Madam to shut up. What kind of behavior is this if these words get out?"
He Wenqing was a prudent young man who had read many classics and was devoted to Confucius's teachings of "not speaking of strange phenomena, physical prowess, disorder, or spirits." Naturally, he did not believe in such absurd ghost stories and had always looked down on those who were obsessed with ghosts and spirits.
But the woman he married, Wei Yin, was clearly a noblewoman from an official family, yet she was the most ignorant and foolish. Apart from her pretty face, she had nothing commendable about her words or actions.
After marrying into the family, she would spend her days either hiding in the mansion, having Taoist priests chant scriptures for her, or believing their advice to do good deeds and accumulate merit. She would often buy fish and turtles to release into the river. He Wenqing tried to persuade her about this several times, but she would always agree with him and then go back to doing things her own way after a while. When he was displeased, she would pretend to be innocent and coax him into the room... There was nothing he could do, so he turned a blind eye and let her do as she pleased.
But what he found most unbearable was that Wei Yin would mutter in his ear during their intimate moments, urging him not to become an official in the court, and that he should never become a treacherous and greedy minister, saying that he would be reborn as a hungry ghost or an animal after death.
He found it both funny and infuriating.
It's just that when they were arranging the marriage, she was pleasing to the eye, so she directly agreed to the marriage with her elders. Now, He Wenqing can only try her best to tolerate her various absurd behaviors.
Cuiwei hesitated, then said, “Young Master, what Madam is saying is probably not nonsense. Madam was terrified as a child, and she doesn’t dare to go out during the day without carrying a talisman. If it weren’t for evil spirits, how could she have wandered off inexplicably last night when she slept soundly? I heard from outsiders that the temple is indeed not very clean. Take that scholar Lu who hanged himself five years ago, for example. He was a perfectly fine young man, but he gave up his future and set fire to the temple before hanging himself. Wasn’t he bewitched by ghosts? Young Master, let’s go and ask someone to exorcise the spirit from Madam…”
Unexpectedly, Cuiwei's words immediately earned her a cold look from He Wenqing: "What did you say?"
Cuiwei trembled, then remembered that her son-in-law never liked people around him talking about these things, so she asked in a low voice, "I wonder if the son-in-law has gone to invite Miss Cousin over? Madam is still waiting for Miss Cousin inside..."
He Wenqing frowned. This cousin, Li Chang, was Wei Yin's cousin. Like Wei Yin, she firmly believed in ghosts and monsters. He usually didn't like her coming to visit, but when he thought of Wei Yin's beautiful face that had been terrified and haggard just now, and how Wei Yin, though somewhat foolish, had shown such a helpless and pitiful state in front of him for the first time, He Wenqing couldn't help but soften a little.
"I've already sent someone to invite him; he'll be here soon."
Just then, another maid ran in: "Sir, Madam says she has a terrible headache, please come in and take a look..."
...
When He Wenqing lifted the curtain and entered the room, Wei Yin was sitting dejectedly on the edge of the bed, rubbing her forehead and groaning in pain. When she saw her husband come in, she hurriedly reached out and grabbed his belt: "My lord, have you found a master for me...?"
He Wenqing was usually a very proper husband. Except for things that were a little unusual in bed, he always kept his clothes perfectly tied when he was with his wife in private. Even though he had been married to Wei Yin for five years, he was still not used to his wife pulling at him like that in front of the maids and servants in the house.
However, he was very well-mannered and did not confront him directly. Instead, he quietly pulled away Wei Yin's hand that was on his waist and patiently advised, "The doctor said that you thought you had encountered a ghost, but in reality, it was because you caught a cold while sleeping last night, which caused your head to be hot and your mind to be confused."
Normally, when her husband acted so tactlessly, Wei Yin would pester him for ages. But today, Wei Yin was truly terrified and had no mood for pestering. Her eyes were filled with fear as she said, "My lord, I know you don't like me saying these things, but this time it's not me talking nonsense. Last night, I saw with my own eyes those things, I don't know if they were ghosts or monsters, knocking and banging on the street. And that temple, it was fine when I got close, but suddenly flames shot into the sky, and then I saw Lu Hun hanged in the fire..."
After listening to her rambling, He Wenqing raised his long eyebrows and said calmly, "This is nothing more than you having heard too many ghost stories, which is why you dream about them at night. Besides, if there really were such strange things happening on the street last night, do you think that everyone else could hear them but you could see them?"
Wei Yin was caught off guard by the question and could only bite the bullet and say, "To be honest, my lord, I have already asked Cuiwei to investigate that so-called Dead End Alley. It turns out that Lu Hun really did live there before, just like what I heard last night..."
"Alright." He Wenqing lost his patience as she spoke more and more absurdly: "These strange things are nothing but nonsense made up by ignorant people with shallow knowledge. Wei Yin, you are the eldest grandson's wife of the He family. I have tolerated your prayers and belief in the nonsense of sorcerers and Taoist priests in the past, but if you continue to believe such alarmist words, you are no different from those ignorant common women."
Wei Yin stared at him blankly.
After He Wenqing finished speaking, he realized that he had spoken too harshly.
He rubbed his temples in frustration. As a censor, he often impeached officials who were so enraged that they spoke recklessly and even got into fights. Yet he always remained calm and composed, never even faltering in the slightest.
But Wei Yin was the only one who could always make him lose his temper.
Seeing that Wei Yin remained motionless, sitting there with her head down, He Wenqing felt a pang of regret, though she had a lot to say. She knew that comparing her to an ignorant, vulgar woman had indeed offended Wei Yin. He Wenqing sighed, trying to calm herself, and patiently tucked the blankets around her: "It's getting late, and I have to go to court. I've already asked someone to come and keep you company. Just stay in your room and rest today, and don't overthink things."
He Wenqing was already quite good-looking, but he usually had a rather aloof demeanor, which made people hesitant to be presumptuous. Now that he was a little softer, he was extremely gentle.
Wei Yin had no interest in appreciating her husband's rare tenderness. Seeing that he didn't believe her at all, she refused to talk to him anymore. She closed her eyes, her head throbbing. He Wenqing could only tell her to rest and that he would talk to her when he returned in the evening.
Wei Yin didn't pay attention to when the other person left. She was restless and kept pressing the peace charm in her hand against her chest.
"Madam, Miss Cousin has arrived."
Cuiwei led in a young woman with an air of nobility and outstanding appearance.
It was Li Chang.
Li Chang's mother was Wei Yin's aunt. Because Li Chang's mother died early, she was raised by Wei Yin's mother when she was an infant. She grew up with Wei Yin from childhood. Later, the two sisters got married one after the other, but they never lost contact.
"Yin'er." Li Chang had clearly rushed over in a hurry, "I heard from Cuiwei that you actually saw Lu Hun, who used to study at our school, at the Bodhisattva Temple last night?"
Wei Yin then recounted everything that had happened the previous night to her cousin, and then tightly grasped Li Chang's hand: "Cousin, you must believe me, I saw it with my own eyes, it's definitely not a dream. I told my husband, but he doesn't believe me. Cousin, I... I'm so scared..."
After hearing what she said, Li Chang not only showed no surprise, but also shook her head with a bewildered expression, "I knew it, I knew it..."
Wei Yin asked in confusion, "What does my cousin mean by this?"
Li Chang did not speak immediately, but first looked to the side and saw that the maids and servants were all outside, with only Cuiwei serving on the side. She sighed and said, "Yin'er, do you still remember the rumor that when we were studying at home, your handkerchief, which you kept close to your body, was lost and taken by Lu Hun?"
Wei Yin didn't understand why her cousin would bring up that matter.
“At first I didn’t believe it. Lu Hun, though eccentric and withdrawn, seemed like a decent person, not the kind of person who would steal.” Li Chang lowered her voice and continued, “But later I heard from my brother that he saw Lu Hun pick up the handkerchief with his own eyes, and even… he saw Lu Hun secretly use your handkerchief to… do that kind of thing…”
Wei Yin didn't react at first, but when she saw Li Chang's shy expression, she, who had already experienced such things, instantly realized what was happening.
"It was then that I learned from my brother that he had secretly harbored feelings for you all along..."
Wei Yin frowned, recalling the pale-faced, gloomy boy from her school days.
Lu Hun was three years younger than her. Because of his poor family background, he always wore a coarse cloth long gown that was neither new nor old. He was quite handsome and upright, but his personality was very strange. He usually kept to himself and would hang his head down and not reply when people went to talk to him, as if he were mute.
The only time they ever crossed paths was when she brought cakes from home to school for breakfast one winter day. She saw him eating coarse bread with cold water while reading, and she felt sorry for him because he was young, orphaned, and raised by his blind grandmother. So she kindly shared some of her cakes with him. But he didn't even look at them, pushed her away, and ran out of the school, causing all the cakes to fall to the ground. She didn't get to eat a single bite of breakfast that day and went hungry for half a day.
Later, on the very night of Wei Yin's wedding, which was also the night Lu Hun passed the imperial examination, he inexplicably went mad, setting fire to the temple before hanging himself inside...
When Wei Yin heard this, he was surprised and felt quite sorry for him. He never expected that such a young man would be such a despicable person in secret.
She forgot her fear immediately and only felt nauseous.
“Yin’er, I understand now.” Li Chang suddenly said with a grim expression, “The night Lu Hun hanged himself happened to be your wedding night with your cousin’s husband. He had feelings for you before he died, but you married someone else when he died tragically. Now he is probably resentful and wants to pester you to go down and join him.”
"ah?!"
"How about this, cousin, you rest first. After dinner, I'll go with you to Lu Hun's house to see what's going on."
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